Sunday Interview #25 – Kelly Said

Welcome to the first Sunday Interview of 2013!

With scheduling and unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to interview Kelly during the month of December when the blog tour was happening, but I’d still like to introduce you to Kelly Said, another of the talented contributing authors to the Make Believe anthology. In case you haven’t yet had the chance to pop over to Kelly’s site, you can find it here. In the meantime, please give a resounding welcome! (Whoot! Whoot! Clap Clap!)

Hi, Kelly! Please tell us what you are like when you are home?

Ooo! Home! My favorite place to be–aside from the bookstore or library, hehe! When I’m home, I’m in my writer’s wardrobe of soft pants, fuzzy socks, comfy shirt, with my hair up in a messy bun or braided back so I can wear a knit or crochet beanie. Then, in no particular order, it’s either, reading, writing, hanging out laughing with my Hubs, playing around with our bullyboy Jayne (I’m a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, so, yeah, I named my dog after Jayne Cobb, hehe! 🙂 ), checking in on my social network sites, or doing chores. Actually, chores come last, pretty much always, hehe!

I hear you! Chores are pretty much at the bottom of my list of things to do, too! And I’m a huge fan of Firefly/Serenity so I think it’s cool that you named your dog Jayne. 🙂

For anyone reading your blog lately, you seem to be fascinated by other writers’ workspaces. Please allow me to turn the table on you. What does YOUR workspace look like?

Hehe! Yes, I’m always curious how “other writer’s do it,” like, how do they manage the demands of their daily lives and whip out these amazing stories?! It all looks so effortless on the outside, but once we get a peek inside, it’s nice to see that they’re just like me, working hard to balance everything and writing where and when they can. Here’s a pic of my writing space. I don’t have a desk, so I set up a table tray next to the couch in the living room and make sure I have everything close at hand, computer, caffeine, and a sweet treat (usually a cookie 🙂 ).

Oooo, I just had a ‘Twilight Zone‘ moment! That looks like MY workspace – same laptop, although the TV table and coffee cup look a bit different! 🙂

What one thing that you’ve ever seen or done has been the most inspiring for you and your writing? In other words, what made you start writing in the first place?

When I was little, I drew. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. I also liked to read, devouring books in a day sometimes. So, it felt natural for me to try and tell my own stories, only, instead of drawing them, I wrote them out. Mostly for fun, or for creative writing classes. I didn’t take myself seriously until a couple years ago, when I summoned the courage to write a story based on a prompt and submit it for publication. That was my story in Fangtales and I’ve been having so much fun writing that I’ve just kept going. I think that’s the key, to just keep writing, keep making new art, finishing what you start, and moving on to the next idea. 🙂

Wow! We have so much in common! I dabbled in drawing, myself, and was even asked to illustrate a children’s book, but I prefer using words to paint a story. 🙂

Like the other authors of Make Believe, you were given the picture prompt, which became the anthology cover. What did the picture tell you when you first saw it and how did that first impression evolve into Petrified?

When I saw the picture, my first literal thought was, “What the heck is this girl doing out in the middle of this snow covered field wearing only a cape? She’s got bare arms for goodness sake and she’s not leaving any footprints behind, why?” I figured she wasn’t expecting the drastic change in weather, and once I figured that she was summoned there for some sort of emergency, the rest of the world just built itself from there. I actually did a bit too much world building and had to work to condense it down to the 10k word requirements.

Maybe we’ll see more of that world in future? (hint! hint!) 🙂

Since little girls are always looking for a prince to sweep them off to distant lands, what is it about Prince Sterling that would attract a princess, lady-in-waiting or a young wicca?

Well, I like to think of Sterling as someone who’s swoon-worthy although not entirely perfect, he’s still got a lot of things to learn and is willing to do so, he’s loyal, has a strong sense of duty and respect, loves fiercely, and has a tender heart that only a few are allowed to see. I think that’s an incredible thing, being that special, trusted girl, the only one granted access to the soft spots of another’s heart.

I agree!

Speaking of wicca, there was a woman in my first writers group who practiced wicca and was instrumental in helping me understand how magic works so I could use it properly in my own story. When creating your character, Lochlyn (love the name, by the way!), what research did you have to do in order to present the magic in such a knowledgeable way?

I think that is the coolest thing, that you were able to meet with people to chat about craft, especially the healing properties of certain herbs and such. I didn’t have that valuable of a resource so I used what I knew about wicca through non-fiction books and did a lot of pondering on current medical practices, ordinary people and our relationship to nature or the world around us, for instance, how did we figure a way to use divining rods to find water, or how some cultures dance to call for rain, or how medicine men/women use their knowledge of the minerals and plant life around them to ease the aches of others? Then, well, I took some creative liberties and amped up the qualities of calling to the elements and gave my Wiccae’s the ability to bend space and time to travel to where they’d been summoned. 🙂

That’s the beauty of fiction! lol

The magical incantations you used in the story appeared to be Celtic. Did you study the language or were they just made-up words that look like they could be Celtic or are they based on another language entirely?

I hope they’re not made up words, as I searched and asked and proofed them in the hopes that they were genuine. It’s difficult when you’re not fluent in the language, to know whether you have the translation correct, so many things can be misinterpreted with a misplaced letter or apostrophe, what one person means as hello can take on a terrible opposite if not translated correctly. 🙂

I know what you mean. I’ve attempted to put bits and pieces of other languages in my stories but have been fortunate to have people proof them so they are as accurate as possible. I love that you used real Celtic words, as it is a language I’d like to learn more about, some day. 🙂

Petrified is a wonderful story and I would love to see more of the characters. What are your thoughts about expanding the story into a novel or larger format? Would you consider it? Why or why not?

Thank you so much, I had a lot of fun spending time in that world, hehe! I do have some rough outlines for a potential expansion, I mean, when I was writing I felt very much like Petrified was a prelude to a bigger story. Maybe we’ll see more of Sterling and Lochlyn sometime in the future. 🙂

Oh, I certainly hope so! 🙂

I understand you have a story in another anthology or two. Please tell us about Tidal Whispers and Fangtales and where can we find them?

Thank you! Tidal Whispers is another anthology released by J.Taylor Publishing in June 2012, based on a prompt requiring the story to feature water elementals. My story, Pearl of Pau’maa, is about an island girl named Miki forced to choose between marrying a local wealthy boy or risk starving with the other villagers, but before she seals her fate, she takes one final dive to her hidden lobster trap at the bottom of the sea. What she finds is a treasure that can not be claimed without great sacrifice or true love. I had a lot of fun writing this story and it made me giggle to see some reader reviews calling for a secondary character get his comeuppance, hehe!

Fangtales is a young adult, vampire themed anthology put out by Wyvern Publications in October 2011 and was the first time ever one of my stories appeared in print. The editor had specified “traditional vampire tales only — no sparkling in sunlight, or ignoring other rules of vampire folklore” and each author had to add a unique twist to such a popular theme. My story, Sanctuary, is about a teen boy, a junior soldier in the Church’s vampire-slaying army, who discovers a terrible truth when he puts his neck on the line for the girl of his dreams. It’s very much a horror story, completely different than Pearl of Pau’maa or Petrified and was a total blast to write. 🙂

Both stories sound like they’ll be a lot of fun to read. I’ll have to check them out! 🙂

What are your writing plans for the future? Any Works In Progress you’d like to tell us about – unless you’re superstitious about talking about it? If that’s the case, forget I said anything!

Hehe! I’m not superstitious or anything, I appreciate you asking! I’m currently working on a short story for another anthology submission coming up. I’m sorry I don’t have a blurb or excerpt for you yet, the story is so new and fresh, only 1500 words in and I find that some ideas I express in early drafts don’t always make the final cut. It’s, like, my early drafts are heavy with world building, character backstory, and detailed descriptions of settings. It’s only after I take my editing machete and start ruthlessly hacking away during revisions that I get to the meat of the story, the core conflict, the most interesting parts of all.

Okay, I am now officially intrigued. Please let us know when it’s done!

If my readers would like to learn more about you, are there any social media links you’d like to share with us?

Sure! My website and blog are found on kellysaid.com

My twitter handle is @Kelly_Said (twitter.com/Kelly_Said) where I can be found tweeting all sorts of silly randomness and helpful links I like.

And finally, my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKellySaid where I sometimes share funny or inspirational pics, more personal updates about me, it’s the place where I like all the things! hehe!

Any final words before we go?

I would just like to thank you so much for hosting me on your amazing blog, it was such a pleasure exchanging emails with you and your questions totally made me smile. 🙂

I’m glad you enjoyed the experience and I want to thank you for joining us, today, Kelly. I wish you the best of luck with your writing career. 🙂

For those of you who missed it, my review of Petrified is here. I hope it will encourage you to pick up your own copy of Make Believe. Oh, and please check out her other stories. I know I will! 🙂

Review of Petrified by Kelly Said

Although the Make Believe Blog Tour has come to a close, I didn’t have the chance during December to talk about some of the other stories in the anthology. I want to take the time, today, to review Petrified by Kelly Said. Since the inspiration for all the anthology stories was the picture on the anthology cover and all the stories have some element of the cover art in them, I think Kelly’s story really embodies the essence of what you see. Here is the blurb on the J. Taylor Publishing site about it:

Petrified by Kelly Said

A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow. Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either. 



The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.  

I absolutely loved the premise of Kelly’s story because I am a fan of the fairy tale with princes and magic and I love a good mystery. She had me at the first sentence, “An aberrant cold whitened the sky and crystallized the air”, which perfectly set the opening scene. Kelly’s description in that one sentence brought up memories of just such a cold. Being a resident of the Canadian prairie where temperatures can drop to thirty below zero for days on end, I have experienced this many times in my life, although that kind of cold was far from ‘aberrant’!

Kelly created some fascinating characters. Prince Sterling August is a strong and honourable man, yet vulnerable in the face of his personal tragedy. His motto ‘Family First’ says a lot about the man, how he thinks of his family before himself. I certainly like a man like that, don’t you?

Lochlyn is a beautiful young Wiccae (white witch) who is summoned to help deal with the obvious magical problem. Although Sterling’s family has linked their own Wiccae to the household, Sterling suspects that she is hiding something, so he is determined to learn her secret.

The story begins with Sterling returning home after investigating the extent to which the unnatural winter had spread. Then, there is a sudden switch to Lochlyn’s perspective in a warm sunny location, which was such a contrast to the dismal weather that the prince was experiencing. This brought home the strangeness of the winter weather weirdness that surrounded Castle Kestral, since elsewhere, the lands were bathed in summer, deepening the mystery.

I have to admit, I was totally off-base when I tried to guess the cause of the ‘aberrant’ cold, which is another reason I liked the story. I don’t like it when I can predict the ending, so this was quite satisfying. I’d definitely recommend Petrified. I think it appeals to a broad audience, but especially to those who like fairy tales, magic, and mysteries. 🙂

To learn more about the author, Kelly Said, come on back here on Sunday, as I will be resuming my interview schedule (if I can find enough willing participants!). 

Review of Make Believe short story, Escort To Insanity by J. A. Belfield

Happy Saturday, folks!

Today, I’d like to catch you up on the Make Believe Blog Tour and let you know what I thought of J. A. Belfield’s short story. First off, on Thursday, J. Keller Ford interviewed Jennifer Eaton, her fellow anthology buddy who not only has a story in Make Believe, but is also launching a seasonal Christmas story in the anthology, For the Love of Christmas by Still Moments Publishing. You’ll also find out what Jennifer and some of the other authors of Make Believe have in common! Jennifer’s story, Last Winter Red was also reviewed on Kaiden’s Seduction, in case you want to learn more about the Dystopian tale created by this talented writer, as well as the other stories in the anthology.

Here’s my review, with further links to follow below:

Escort To Insanity is a wonderful romp through Hereford and surrounding areas, just east of the Wales border. It begins with Nicole Harrington, daughter of wealthy man, who hires an escort to a huge charity auction that her parents expect her to attend. Her escort, Benjamin Gold, is a tall, yummy (ahem! clears throat) . . . I mean, handsome man, who demands attention when he walks in a room. I especially liked Julie’s description of another woman’s appraisal of him: “her attention roamed over him like a wave across a beach.” Benjamin plays his part well, jumping in with some impromptu quips when asked about their relationship and he was very intuitive and attentive to Nicole, going well above and beyond the call of duty, which I loved. (It doesn’t hurt that Julie’s humor is impeccable! 🙂 ) Benjamin was especially helpful in dealing with Cole’s ex-boyfriend, who was especially sleezy – everything that Ben was not.

After overhearing a disturbing conversation in the ladies washroom, Cole quickly drags him away from the pretentious affair – and then the fun really begins. Nicole discovers Benjamin’s true nature in a heart-racing adventure through Mersian Park and outlying areas of the city. I had to chuckle at her reference to the children’s song with the line, ‘If you go down to the woods today…’ Ironically, Cole does end up with a ‘big surprise’, but certainly not anything like the song or the nursery rhyme might suggest!

Although I don’t usually read this particular type of story, I quite enjoyed Escort To Insanity. Julie has a way of quickly drawing in the reader to empathize with her main character. I really have no idea how it must feel like to be from a filthy-rich family, but I think everyone can relate to the obligation Cole felt to do a favor for her parents, something she really did not want to do. As far as the romance part goes, Julie certainly created the perfect leading man for this story, as you can see by this quote: Cole was “trying hard not to get distracted by the sweet, sweet curve of his bum as it tick-tocked with each step”. As you may have guessed by what I’ve told you already, Benjamin Gold is breathtakingly handsome, strong and has a wonderful sense of humor, as well as a strong sense of responsibility for his friends, which comes out later in the story. Cole has her reservations about the man, but soon finds herself quite taken with him, until she learns his dark secret for which she is totally unprepared.

I highly recommend getting your own copy of Make Believe, and not just because of this particular story, which was enough to make me want to read her other books and I hope we see more of Benjamin and Cole at some future time.

All the shorts in this anthology are excellent, I must say. I will review the others later in the month, as well as provide interviews of their authors. In the meantime, I hope you will look forward to my interview of J. A. Belfield, scheduled for Monday. However, in case you can’t wait to learn more about this author, pop over to Kelly Said‘s site and learn more about how she (maybe) gets some writing done and what her workspace looks like. Kelly also gives us a peek into J. Keller Ford’s ‘writing lair’ , here. 🙂

Over at Terri Rochenski’s blog, Scribbler’s Sojourn, you can read an interview of Kelly Said, as well as Lynda R. Young, so please drop around to give them a gander.

Have a great weekend! 🙂

Make Believe – Official Kick-Off

Over at Jenny Keller Ford‘s blog, she posted a link for a Make Believe anthology give-away, hosted by Jennifer Bielman. If you pop over there now, you might have a chance of winning an e-book version of the anthology produced by J. Taylor Publishing. You can also read the blurb for her story, The Amulet of Ormisez as well as for the other stories and reviews.

Over at Julie Reece‘s blog, Julie is interviewing Jennifer M. Eaton about her Dystopian Romance, Last Winter Red, found in the Make Believe anthology. If you’re interested in learning more about the story, be sure to pop in on Julie to read her interview.

J. A. Belfield’s story in the anthology is called Escort To Insanity. You can find her blog tour schedule by clicking on the Make Believe button on the sidebar.

At Terri Rochenski‘s blog, you will find some reviews of her short story, Sacrificial Oath and she is offering the chance to win signed bookmarks and a signed cover, so pop over there to see what’s happening and how you can register to win. She even has a widget that will help you order an authorgraphed version if you’d rather not wait for the contests to end and want your own copy of Make Believe, available at these on-line stores: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Amazon UK / All Romance  /  Diesel eBooks /  Books on Board 

Lynda R. Young‘s blog, Scribbler’s Sojourn, tells how excited she is about the launch of the anthology, which includes her story, Birthright. There is a brief blurb about it and links to her blog tour schedule, as well.

Kelly Said, whose story is Petrified, has a list of places where she will be hosted during the tour on her blog site here.

I think that’s all that’s going on with the tour, today.