Wednesday, November 27, 2013

BLANK LUPE VII


This is deleted scene number seven from my upcoming novel. It's the sequel to Warrior of the Ages. Technically it is a prequel, but this is how I wrote it and it is no secret that I suck at math.

Photo Credit: S. R. Karfelt




 The scene is deleted for purposes of publication. Enjoy the random hotel mirror photo. This was taken...somewhere...and I was traveling for...some reason. I think this is in AZ, NM, or maybe CA--just in case you're looking for a hotel with a mirror like that, I've now narrowed your search considerably. 




Sunday, November 24, 2013

Quantum Physics Detention Home


Photo Credit: LaDonna Cole


LaDonna Cole recently published her first novel. It’s a Young Adult story about a kind of quantum physics detention home. This quantum physics interest is something I share with LaDonna, for real. When I say I read everything I mean it. LaDonna made the sad mistake of agreeing to be interviewed here in the glitter globe, so let the games commence.

Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop?  That would be Sir Gonagan Beuford O'Mally, famous Bard of the 1600's. I know you're shocked, right? You thought it was Elvis, didn't you?  'fess up.

Seriously though, my glitter globian interest in quantum physics is fueled in large part by the fact that I have a qubit brain. Qubits as you well know can store both 1’s and 0 at the same time, enabling them to perform multiple calculations simultaneously, all well and good, except they forget their memories in less than a second. What fueled your interest in quantum physics?  I read an article that said something like, waves and particles cannot be seen until they are observed. They call that popping a quiff. (Thank you, Physicist Fred Alan Wolf for that amazing term.) Which leads us right back to Elvis, you know. (Brownie points to the first person who knows the connection!)  Anyway, it struck me that it sounded very familiar.  I remember a passage I read in the Bible that said He calls "things that are not as though they are." And another one that says "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."  And I thought, hmm, there is something to this. I've been studying quantum physics since then. I find it fascinating.

I’ve described your book in my words, would you like a turn? Sure! 

Abducted to exotic worlds in quantum spheres, a 16 year old beauty, Kate Wilson, and a team of teen misfits confront inner monsters and demons brought to life by quantum science. Dragons, aliens, sentient tornados, and tree dwelling natives terrorize them as they fight for survival on strange planets and other worlds, and struggle to overcome emotional turmoil and mental illness.  Kate is torn between sizzling passion and loyal stability, when two very different boys vie for her attentions. Trapped between self-loathing and independence, Kate must choose to live with horrifying consequences or kill the monster who loves her. A romantic thriller with action packed adventure, passion, science fiction and fantasy overtones for young adult readers of all ages. 

Few books that I’ve read have ever provided a theme song like yours did. I have Christina Perri’s song “I Have Loved You for a Thousand Years” just crammed in my head, stuck between Vampire Weekend’s “Oxford Comma” and The Token’s version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.  As a psychiatric nurse can you recommend a way to knock those songs loose? If you find a way will you tell me?  Right now I have the Immortal Song, the actual theme song of the book, playing in my head. My friend Annie Adams put it to a wonderful tune and I haven't been able to forget it.

Were you inspired to write the “I Have Loved You for a Thousand Years” scene from hearing that song, or was it a coincidence? No one will ever believe me, but I wrote the scene before I heard the song. When I did hear the song, I almost had a wreck. "No WAY!" was my reaction as I stared at the radio, then had to jerk the wheel to stay in my lane. After that it became one of my favorites. I'm so glad it is a good song, or else I probably would have scrapped the scene.

What default songs are stuck in your head? The last song I heard usually takes a couple of hours to be crowded out. But most of the music in my head comes in the form of original ditties and songs that match the mood of the moment.  When I heard Gungor's "This Is Not the End", I couldn't believe that someone had listened inside my brain and made a song that sounds exactly like what plays in my head most of the time.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Cjt83wWDk (sorry about the doggy breath add attached to it. Ick.)

I know for a fact that you live your life on the ragged edge, LaDonna. What have you done this year that has pushed you out of your comfort zone? The biggie is stepping out there to publish. HUGE departure from keeping my writings to myself. Also, I traveled abroad for the first time. I went to London with my son and 150 students and parents from his school. I can't begin to describe what that did for my trove of writing inspiration. Full to overflowing!  Then I went to the Bahamas with my daughter and found bliss. Beautiful tropical waters and island atmosphere will be making an appearance in my future books, absolutely. I found out that snorkeling is the THANG! Loved it. Can't wait to do it again and again. Traveling is a passion and luckily an occupational necessity for writers.


Photo Credit: LaDonna Cole


The sphere has landed! Welcome to the next jump in the adventure. Leave a comment on this page and collect the item for your survival pack.
Take this item with you, write it down or copy/paste into a doc: The answer to the question "Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop?"

Screeeeech! The sphere is coming! Your next stop is: J. S. Bailey on Facebook

If this was your first and now is your last stop, go to LaDonna's author page on Facebook where The Torn release party is going on! Enter all of your answers into a comment under the pinned post, Falling Spheres, for a chance to win the Grand Prize package.





Saturday, November 23, 2013

BLANK RULES VI


Photo Credit: S. R. Karfelt





Scene deleted for purposes of publication. But once again I've left up an awesome picture. This one is of one of the missions outside San Antonio, taken with my cell phone. Wow. Right?

Thursday, November 21, 2013

BLANK DODGEBALL V


Photo Credit: Pika Miklitsch

That horse is what a teen does with an Amazon gift card. Just saying. I happen to find it amazing. What do you think? It makes me want to give teens Amazon gift cards for all occasions. By the way it also has no correlation with today's blog, which is a continuation of the deleted scenes from my upcoming novel, BLANK - a shieldmaiden's voice. BLANK is the second book in the Warriors of the Ages series


Another scene deleted for publication purposes. But I left you with the epic picture of teenage boy and his dog. What more could you want?




Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Monday, November 18, 2013

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Thursday, November 14, 2013

BLANK SPOT

Busily editing the second book in the WOA series. So much behind the scenes work goes on, but I'm not fussing - never think that - because I adore traveling between universes. Even the somewhat creepy, dark world of Private Carole Blank, USMC. She's the warrior you'll be getting acquainted with in BLANK - a shieldmaiden's voice, Book Two in the Warriors of the Ages series, by S. R. Karfelt*.

Right now scenes are being reworked and deleted for the sake of flow. Oh, the pain, the pain of chopping up my baby. So what I'm going to do is toss some deleted scenes out into the metaverse. I think I have enough to fill a black hole. Feel free to let me know what you think, or just drive on by.

Photo Credit: S. R. Karfelt-Keating


Scenes deleted for publication purposes.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Living Books





Living books is a term for books that basically become part of your psyche, something that you relate to on a deep visceral level. Sometimes it can be just a line from a book, but it can be a character that touches you, a philosophy, whatever. You know how, especially in movies, the whacked character is running around with a copy of J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye? I suppose that could be considered one, but mostly a living book would touch your life for the better, like that line in Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl “I still believe that people are good at heart.” We all know that Anne’s life ended in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. For me that line was written on my heart in the tragedy column, but it is that line that took root inside me, and to this day, and no matter how I end, I will believe it is true.

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is another one for me. The part where all the little pigs are being herded up a ramp to be processed, and the horrible excess of a seemingly mindless meat processing facility surrounds the reader, and Sinclair tosses out, “And now was one to believe that there was nowhere a god of hogs, to whom this hog personality was precious, to whom these hog squeals and agonies had a meaning?” I read The Jungle out loud (ouch) to my hunter son, and we both shuddered. I think of it sometimes, when I look at that case of hams at Costco. I honestly doubt he thinks of it while archery hunting, but I know, though I had to almost hog-tie that boy to get him to listen to that book at first, in the end he agreed it was brilliant.

Not all living books go in the tragedy column. While I sit here writing on a rainy morning the line “and they sat in the house all that cold cold wet day” often springs to mind. Thank you Dr. Seuss. If you’re a fan of Horton Hears a Who, you should know that even my dog – when he’d done something particularly foul – was aware that the quote “BOIL THAT DUST SPECK” meant he was in trouble. I can actually clear a room with that quote. When Mom isn’t happy…right? Then there is the wonderful Kevin Henkes quote from his children’s book, Chrysanthemum, “The day she was born was the happiest day in her parent’s lives…” For years my daughter lit up at that line – while my son wilted a bit if she quoted it to him – which she of course would never have done ten or twenty thousand times.


You get the gist of what a living book is I’m sure. Now share yours. For better or worse, good, bad, or funny, what books have attached themselves to your DNA? And what line, if you don’t mind sharing?

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

FREE Books FREE FREE FREE

WOA - Warrior of the Ages Book Giveaway


  1. The old-fashioned kind of book made out of genuine paper. Gen-You-Wine Paper.
  2. Autographed. Legibly. Okay, autographed.
  3. Delivered to your address, FREE.
  4. With a mini skeleton key tucked inside.
  5. Oh, and a matching bookmark.
  6. Because I know how to do FREE.

by S. R. Karfelt

Nothing is free. FALSE!

So not true. Like oxygen, laughter, and eye contact, ten copies of my Action Adventure novel, Warrior of the Ages, are free!

Free is a great price.

You just click the widget below and will be instantly transported to the Goodreads site.

Caveat? You have to live in the USA. Why? Because the publisher just saw the bill for shipping a pile of WOA books to UK and Australia from my last giveaway, and they said something subtle to me like, WHAT THE HECK?! So not paying for this! We said USA!

Oopsie.

That totally cut into my dark chocolate fund. I had to dress up on Halloween and go door to door on my knees pretending to be a kid just to score some chocolate for my addiction.

And it was all milk chocolate. Bleh.

Of course I'm kidding. Who would do that? Well, I possibly would, but fortunately for me I happen to know where someone's secret chocolate drawer is, and it is closer than crawling around the neighborhood.

So this month's giveaway is USA USA USA.

So what's the book about? You could check out the video trailer on YouTube for WOA.

You could click over to Amazon - or wherever you like to get your books and see for yourself - but all that extra clicking is exhausting.

This is the blurb from the back cover.

Immortality means one thing to Kahtar. Duty.

For millennia the ancient immortal warrior has returned to guard his people from the outside world. This time, Kahtar must moonlight as a cop to guard the entrance to paradise.

Beth White is drawn to the idyllic little village of Willowyth, Ohio, unaware there is a terrifying reason for her unnatural attraction. She soon learns a place full of secrets is nowhere to hide her own.

When a man's duty is to protect his kind from outsiders, what happens when he discovers one of his own living in the wrong world?


Where is truth and honor when worlds collide?

Though it's about a lot more than that. It's about never being able to escape your past. It's about belonging. It's about prejudice. It's about endurance. And that's just the part about the stinky dog.

I like big books and I cannot lie. I mean I like big stories. So if you do too, gather your energy and click away!






 
 


    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

        Warrior of the Ages by S.R. Karfelt
   

   

     


          Warrior of the Ages
     
     


          by S.R. Karfelt
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends December 06, 2013.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   


      Enter to win



My name is Stephanie Karfelt and I'm the writer, as evidenced by the fact that it is 3:32 a.m. in the morning and I'm writing a blog. It's what I do. I can only hope that this blog is in some small fraction as humorous to you during daylight hours as it is to me and my muse in the middle of the night.


Monday, November 4, 2013

ReRun Monday ~ Topic: Pets (Sorta)

Photo Credit:  Stephanie Karfelt

Once Zeus had a pet snake named Houdini. At least that was the name he eventually earned, being as he escaped and roamed the house at will. In an effort to keep the snake confined, Zeus duct taped the lid on Houdini’s cage. Returning home afterwards, Zeus discovered his snake wrapped in duct tape and dangling dejectedly from the roof of his cage. Since I tend to brake for butterflies, Zeus considers me an animal lover. So he brought me his duct taped snake, as though I’d know what to do about it. Though the man is a big, tough giant and all, I could tell he was attached to this two foot reptile and resisted the urge to put it in an airtight bag and toss it into the trash while I could. I called the vet. The Vet laughed really hard, and repeated the story several times to coworkers. I kept the phone tight against my ear, so Zeus wouldn’t hear them laughing. It isn’t a good idea to laugh at a giant over his pet snake. And that is how I ended up wedged in a tiny bathroom with a giant, soaking a duct taped snake in a sink full of warm water. As the Vet predicted, Houdini was more than a little ill-tempered about having duct tape peeled off his body. He lost quite a few scales in the process, but Zeus kept a firm grip on his head as I worked. Perhaps you’re apathetic about Houdini’s fate, or perhaps you’ll be happy to know he lived – though he was forevermore a few scales short.
Photo Credit:  Arthur's Free Snake ClipArt

People are odd about their pets, aren’t they?  I’d like to think it bodes well for our species that we can love even the sorriest, most unlovable creatures so fiercely. Surely you know someone who has a cat or dog that is anything but worthy – but that is pampered and loved inexplicably. My BFF had a cat once, I forget its name. Let’s call it Humper, because that is what that cat did. It specifically liked to have at it with anything that belonged to BFF. Her hats, slippers, pillow, etc. It was a big, fat, white thing that pretty much shed and made love to BFF’s belongings. Oh, it slept in her dresser drawer and ate on her kitchen table too. When Humper went to the great dresser drawer in the sky, he was in the process of jumping off the kitchen table after eating. He ate – alive – and landed – well, dead. BFF told me about this over the phone. Though I clamped my hand over my mouth as fast as I could, she heard the inappropriate laugh that escaped. Let me just take this opportunity to apologize to my BFF again for my demented sense of humor. (Normally she appreciates it, but everyone has their limits.)  It wasn’t funny that the cat died – it was just the visual that got to me.
Clyde T. Brown is an East Texas cowboy, chaws tobacco, drives enormous gas guzzling vehicles, and in all the time that I’ve known him I have understood about 10% of anything he said due to the plug in his mouth and his accent. Clyde also has a pile of teeny dogs that look like mops. Am not sure how many there are, they move a lot and are hard to count. When Clyde goes anywhere, he takes the horde with him. I ran into him in a parking lot once, and he put an arm out the window to gesture towards something. I gasped in horror. It looked as though he’d almost lost the appendage to a shark attack. Since there are hardly any sharks in Texas, I asked what happened. Couldn’t really understand much of the answer, but apparently the horde had turned on him when he was feeding them. For me that is a deal breaker, but I’ve never had a pet horde.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Karfelt

Unless you count the butterflies, (but they were more of a scientific study to my way of thinking) wherever I’ve lived in North America I raised Monarch Butterflies. Thousands of them. It started as a Kindergarten project, and eventually morphed into a migration tagging project through The University of Kansas ( http://www.monarchwatch.org/ ). I won’t give you the dissertation on what can be learned studying the insects, but I will tell you that my family cringes when they see milkweed, and my daughter has never recovered from the summer of exploding chrysalis’s. A few gross of butterflies can endear you to your neighbors, they tend to hang around once you release them – so there were usually butterflies around our house. But a few gross of caterpillars can have quite the opposite effect, especially if your neighbors stop by during litter box cleaning hours.
Photo Credit:  Stephanie Karfelt

Have you or someone you know ever loved an unlovable pet?  Your Mother’s Doberman that once ate an entire Thanksgiving turkey?  The Rat-Terrier that once ate your Easter basket?  A pet mouse that escaped and ate a curtain?  How about those guppies that teach young children that some parents do eat their young?  What is the best or worst pet story you have?