Melinda St.James, one of the younger (and more innocent) characters from the Valentine series, has decided on what she wants to do, when summer arrives. Here’s a snippet from the upcoming Valentine 5, which features a conversation between Melinda and Jo Fuentes. Enjoy!
“Hey, I know what I want to do this summer,” Melinda said. “I heard someone at school talking about the Pride Parade in June. I wanna go!”
Veronica, Val and Jo all turned to her in surprise. “The Pride Parade?” Val asked.
Melinda set her bowl on the coffee table and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!” she said. “Can we go this year?”
“Uh, sweetie, do you know what the Pride Parade is for?” Jo asked.
“Sure,” Melinda said. “It’s about celebrating who you are, and being proud of yourself and your friends.”
Jo turned to Val and Victoria and smiled. “She’s so innocent, it’s too adorable,” she said. She turned back to Melinda, and said, “Well, you’re not wrong. Pride celebrates the LGBTQ community. It reminds people to be tolerant and open-minded, and embrace everyone’s differences. It helps the community be more aware of people like me.”
Melinda blinked at her in surprise. “What, do you mean, like, other Marines?”
Jo raised her eyebrows. “You’re really adorable, do you know that?”
Melinda beamed, and picked up her bowl of cereal. “Thank you.” Victoria leaned over and whispered something into Melinda’s ear.
Jo smiled at Val and Veronica. “This year, she should lead the Pride Parade.”
Greetings, everyone. June has ended; July is here, and this is the first blog entry for the month of July. I struggled to come up with a theme for this month, mainly because I was struggling with something else. I have begun the drafts for Valentine 5 and Righteous, and I paused one day to realize, I was writing the final books in two of my series. Valentine 5 will definitely be the last book in the Valentine series, while Righteous may or may not be the last book in the Our Lady series (I may publish another companion book somewhere down the road). I had this same problem when I published Fortune’s Wing: Flies Again. Something that has been part of me for so long, is finally coming to a close.
Valentine 5
I have a subtitle in mind for this last book, but I may not use it. I’m still exploring other options. In the meantime, this is it! Everything in Val’s life, has been leading up to this point. Its time for the final showdown between Val Entienne and John Rafferty. The only way for this to end, is for one of them to die…
Righteous
Amy and company have grown together, as friends, business partners and as a band. Now, they’re going on tour for the first time, and preparing to show the rest of the country what they’re really made of. With David’s band touring at the same time, you can imagine, things are going to get ugly…
SO, this month, I’ll discuss the end of Valentine, Our Lady, and I’ll go back and revisit Fortune’s Wing. Until next week…
Hello, everyone. Here we are: another Monday, another Monday Blog. This week’s entry will be a short one. We’ve come to the last Monday in June, so I’m just going to wrap things up.
The sequel to Novocaine, titled Another Shot of Novocaine, is now available for sale thru Amazon.com and woolastonentertainment.com. I’m thinking about hosting a giveaway, in which the winner would receive both books (it just makes sense to give away both the first book AND the sequel). We’ll see.
I’m currently working on Valentine 5, and Righteous. I expect to have Righteous ready for the editing phase within the next two months. Valentine 5 may take a little longer, since it will be the final book in that series.
Next week kicks off a new month for W.E, which means a new theme, which I still haven’t decided upon! (blargh!!!). But I’m working on it. Until then, please feel free to forward all of your questions and comments, via the Contact Page on woolastonentertainment.com. Tootles!
Greetings, everyone! Welcome back to the Monday Blog. This week I wanted to talk a little about how Erin, the main character in Another Shot of Novocaine, has changed since her last stand-alone book.
In Novocaine, you met Erin when she was a fresh-faced (and fresh-mouthed) teenager. The story begins when Erin is seventeen, and graduating from high school. She and her mother decide to listen to Erin’s Uncle Nikos and move from Virginia to Georgia, with the promise of a new life. Things quickly turn sour, and Erin finds herself facing some new and unexpected challenges. Over the course of a few years, she makes new friends, gets a boyfriend, and lands a fantastic job working for Our Lady of Righteous Rage. She transforms from quiet, worried teenager, into a young adult who is finding herself and is less afraid to speak her mind.
Erin’s personality in Another Shot hasn’t changed very much since the end of Novocaine. She’s still bold, and still a punk/Emo. She has learned to navigate her new job, and she’s become even better at it. All of the events she dealt with in Novocaine are going to help her face her greatest challenge: reconnecting with her estranged father.
I debated on how to have Erin react to the news her father gives her in Another Shot. Should she be alarmed, or excited, or happy? Then, I asked myself, how would I react? After reading Another Shot, I think you’ll find Erin’s way of dealing with the situation suits her personality.
Another Shot of Novocaine is coming soon! Until next Monday…
Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the first Monday Blog for the month of June. I’m releasing the sequel to Novocaine this month, so the blog posts will mainly revolve around this new book.
Another Shot of Novocaine
This story takes place between Rowdy and the upcoming Righteous. Erin is preparing to go on tour with Our Lady of Righteous Rage in March of 2013. However, someone from her past decides to resurface: her father, Aaron Michaels. He’s the lead singer for the band, Metal Hills. Erin finds herself looking forward to reconnecting with him, until he tells her something very disturbing.
Much like the other “side stories” from the Our Lady series, you can read this book independently of Our Lady, Your Fame Will Destroy You and Rowdy. However, if you have read the other books, that helps. While there aren’t any song lyrics in this book, I believe readers will enjoy Erin’s humorous outlook on life.
Another Shot of Novocaine will be available within the next two weeks. Until next Monday…
Happy Monday, everyone! From now on, I will repost the Monday Blog from woolastonentertainment.com, on this WordPress site. This week, I wanted to talk about Novocaine. This book is part of the Our Lady of Righteous Rage franchise, but it’s not a numbered book in the series. It’s more of a companion book. Even if you haven’t read the rest of the series, you can read Novocaine without getting totally lost.
Novocaine follows Erin, one of the characters in the Our Lady series, as she and her mother make a decision to move to Georgia to be closer to their extended family. This is shortly after Erin graduates from High School. She’s excited by the idea, at first, until everything goes to hell. Her uncle (her mother’s brother) made a faulty investment, and it may cost him his house. Erin and her mother find themselves without a place to live, and manage to make it from Georgia to New York. There, Erin eventually gets a job working at the Urban Collective, where she meets the members of the band Our Lady of Righteous Rage.
One of the most interesting aspects of Novocaine, is Erin’s transformation over the course of the story. She goes from bookish-nerd, to scared teenager, to bad-ass Goth/Emo chick. Many of the events that transform her, transformed me as well. That is to say, while this is a work of fiction, there’s a lot of truth weaved into this story. A great example, is how Erin is introduced to the music of Green Day. Her experience mirrors my own: using the power of music to get through a difficult time.
I don’t want to give the impression that Erin is just some brooding teenager. She’s dealt a pretty rough hand in this story, but she handles it the best way she knows how. In the upcoming sequel, Another Shot of Novocaine, Erin is a little older, a little wiser, and not afraid to speak her mind.
Let’s say you’ve written a wonderful manuscript. You’ve done all the editing your mind can handle. The cover is ready. You’ve already begun promoting your new title. Everything is set. The book has been published! Hooray!!! So, now what?
Of course, now you can really focus on promoting your book. However, as a writer, you can’t spend every minute of every day, promoting. Writers write. It’s what we do. There’s another book in you, waiting to come out, but perhaps you’re not quite ready to start another new draft.
I recently ran into this problem. I had just completed the next two books in a series I had been working on, and finished the final book in yet a different series. Being someone whose mind needs constant stimulation, I tried to decide what to do next. Then I thought, “I’ll publish a book of short stories! Yes!”. So I did. But now that book is complete. I have another book in mind, but I’m not ready to work on it just yet. So, the question became: How do I fill in the time between working on the last book, and starting the next book?
I know I can’t just sit around and do absolutely nothing. It’s against my nature. However, I know if I start another book before I’m ready to, I won’t put 100% of myself into it, and the book will ultimately…suck. Therefor, I have come up with a few ways to keep myself busy in the meantime.
Read! If you’re a writer, chances are, you’re also a reader. Reading is a fantastic way to pass the time between books. While working on Our Lady of Righteous Rage, I read several books about punk rock, guitars, etc. Even when I’m not working on that series, I still read punk-related books and magazines. I often find sources of material for the next book.
Re-read your other books. This may sound like a crazy idea, but it can come in handy. I know: you probably read your other books to death while you were working on them. But here’s a scenario: you’re writing the third book in a series. Maybe there are a few details from the previous two books you have forgotten. This has happened to me. It may be helpful to go back and re-read the other books.
Study your competition. Let’s say you’re writing a book about a group of children with unusual or magical powers, but you’ve never read Harry Potter or Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. This may be a good time to read other books that fall within the genre you’re writing for. This will give you an opportunity to see what makes those other books so popular among readers.
You can still promote your older books. Just because you published a certain title three years ago, doesn’t mean you should just stick it on a shelf and forget about it. I published Fortune’s Wing in 2009, and I still tweet about it and post about it on Facebook. If I forget about the book, so will the rest of the world. You can use this time to devote a little attention to the previous books you’ve published.
Do you have any hobbies that tie into your writing? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Everyone is different. Playing guitar and listening to music led me to write Our Lady ofRighteous Rage, so while I worked on that series, I also played my guitars and listened to a ton of Green day, MCR and The Clash, to name a few. Doing this inspired me, and gave me some fresh insight for the next books in the series. If you’re a sci-fi writer, maybe watching a few sci-fi movies will keep you in the spirit of your writing.
Jack, my Fender, who keeps me company when I’m not writing.
I hope my advice was helpful. Keep writing, folks.
The other day, someone asked me if I considered my self to be a feminist writer. I hadn’t thought about that, until that moment. I considered my style of writing, and the characters and stories I’ve created over the years, and realized, YES, I suppose I am a feminist writer. The majority of my characters a female, and they’re not the “damsel in distress” type. Take the “Valentine” series, for example. The first book starts out with 19-year-old Val Entienne (aka, Valentine) driving from Chicago to L.A. to find her father. She’s a young woman, armed with a pair of handguns, and a serious “can-do-will-do” attitude. She knows the trip is dangerous, but she’s willing to risk her safety to find her father. Throughout the rest of the series, Val does several things that art generally not associated with her gender. Aside from knowing how to shoot (and being a very good shot, I may add) she knows a lot about cars and how to fix them. She has no problem stepping into the role of “leader” of her family. She’ll do anything to protect the people she cares about. All in all, Val is a badass.
But she’s not the only one. The “Valentine” series is full of strong female characters. Two of them, just appeared in their own books. Lola Vencent, John Rafferty’s former valkyrie, and Jo Fuentes, have their own back-stories. Both Lola and Jo are hit-women, and both are extremely skilled and good at their jobs. Aside from being a hit-woman, Jo is also a United States Marine (extra street credit there).
Val’s cousin Veronica is another force to be reckoned with. If Val needs someone to back her up, Veronica is right there. She comes off as the voice of reason in the Entienne family, but she can be tough when she needs to be. At one point, she even pulls a gun on Rafferty.
I’ve been inspired by strong women most of my life. My primary source of inspiration, is my mother. She raised me single-handedly, and she has always been my rock. There’s a little bit of her, in all of my female characters.
I recently had an opportunity to read a collection of poetry by author and US Marine, Christopher Pascale, titled WarPoems. The poems are written in free verse, which I happen to be a fan of, simply because it gives the poet more freedom to create his or her own writing style. A description is present for each poem, which contains some background info about the poem itself. Each poems flows in a way that made me feel like they needed to be read out loud, at a café where spoken word is welcomed, or a t a poetry slam. This is especially true for “196 Chicago Ave”. One of my personal favorites, is “Autumn”. This poem feels like it has a dual meaning: Autumn could be the season itself, or a person. I also like the sense of loneliness in “Chanelle”.
While “Camping With Dad” is fictional, it definitely feels real: a child’s point of view of a veteran parent’s flashback. Anyone who has ever experienced being poor, or just down on their luck (I certainly have) can relate to the feeling of desperation in “Falling Down”, another one of my favorites.
Whether you’re looking for new poetry, or simply in search of work from a new author, War Poems is definitely worth reading. These poems are raw and filled with emotion, and describe places and feelings many of us will never experience, and perhaps, take for granted.
About the Author:
Christopher Pascale served in the US Marine Corps from 2003-2008 as a combat engineer. He currently lives on Long Island.
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