Windthrow Book Release

Today, I'd like to welcome A. B. Keuser to the blog. She's been a writing/blogging friend for a long time--I can't even remember when/where we first met, but I'm thrilled to tell you she released her first novel Windthrow. Check out the book blurb, Q & A with A.B., and links to her novel and social media sites.

Book Blurb

Ash Larkwood has run her private freight business long enough to know there is only one hard and fast rule in the galaxy: stay as far away from the heartless, war-like xy as possible. When she reluctantly takes Rand Fife on as a passenger it seems breaking that rule is inevitable. He’s gorgeous, paying her a ridiculous fare, and yet things are not the proverbial piece of pie she hoped. When a xy destroyer sets upon them demanding she hand him over and a pair of the skeletal aliens sneak aboard her ship, she knows it’s time for some answers. A pretty face is no excuse for the bucket of lies he’s tossing on her.

What is unique about your novel?

In Windthrow, I've created a multicultural cast that dismisses erroneous stereotypes and allows for diverse heroes. An Asian woman owning her own freight company, the ruler of a galactic-wide empire who is not a white man, and a black woman owning and running the system’s largest mine while her husband keeps house, are not out of place in the worlds between these pages.

My non-human antagonists are super awesome (and awesomely gross) aliens who’s skeletal bodies are made of a metallic keratin and whose neural pathways run throughout all their cells (they have no actual brain).

Also, fun things with trees and a dragon festival.

Tell us about your main character.

Ash Larkwood is an entrepreneur fighting an uphill battle in an industry dominated by men. She’s adventure seeker who longs for the freedom space gives her but loves and misses her family and home planet. Independent, creative and tough, she’s built a network of friends to keep her sane. Her taste in men can be horrible, her taste for drinks leans toward the sweet. I’ve always imagined her actor stand-in as Fan Bing Bing.

How did you start writing?

Boredom. I know it’s not a very fun answer, but I needed something to occupy my time and keep my fingers warm in a freezing office. My first book was written very quickly –130,000 words in the space of a month – and extremely poorly. But that atrocious first novel made me realize how much I love telling stories, and now I’ve got a dozen complete drafts under my belt, and I couldn’t be happier.

Why do you write Science Fiction?

I’ve always loved SF. My dad and I watched two things when I was little, Westerns and Star Trek the original series. I think there’s something completely wonderful about the freedom science fiction gives you with plot, setting, and even genre. I almost feel like it should be a category that other genres can fall into. I love playing with those options.

I lean toward space-bound SF because I love the fact that space is its own tertiary antagonist. There’s a whole lot that can go wrong in the void and you always have to be mindful of that.

I deeply want society to advance because I love what I see in the innovations of science and love the idea of what could be. I also love exploring the things that can't be fixed by technological advance. The deeply ingrained human flaws that last the test of time…in all their ugly and disgusting glory

What’s your method of writing? Plotter? Pantser? Does your character build the story? Etc.

My writing method changes around quite a bit. I’m mostly a plotter, but the first draft of this novel was completely pansted. Over the course of 20 days in August of 2010, I tapped out the 70,000-words that would eventually become Windthrow (at that point the file was titled “SF”). And then, it was revised, and revised again, and sent to crit partners, and revised again, and again… and here we are almost 4 years later and at about 110k-words. (That four years is why I usually plot my books out in advance)

What’s your favorite childhood book?

The first books I remember loving in elementary school were Anne of Green Gables and The Wizard of Oz. Both were well worn tomes in the Milner Crest library, and I’m sure I helped crack their spines further. Later, I got lost in the Goosebumps books, The Horror at Camp Jellyjam was one of my favorites. But by middle school, I was already on the Thriller bandwagon and devouring Clive Cussler novels.

Links:

Amazon Print: http://www.amazon.com/Windthrow-A-B-Keuser/dp/149973154X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1404149555&sr=8-6&keywords=a+b+keuser

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Windthrow-B-Keuser-ebook/dp/B00LEQ1UNA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1404149555&sr=8-3&keywords=a+b+keuser

Website: www.abkeuser.com

Blog: www.abkeuser.blogspot.com

Screwing Up Babylon, release date

Assuming my proofreader makes it through the confluence of storms without being flooded out, Screwing Up Babylon should be available by next Tuesday! (Probably sooner.)

As soon as the book is live on Amazon, I'll post it here.

It's getting exciting. I've bought a bottle of champagne, smoked salmon, gourmet crackers, and Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. (And, of course, chocolate--dark chocolate with blackberries and Cabernet.) So we'll be celebrating soon. I'll post photos.

In the meantime, here's a photo of my office wall.

Monkey Madness Blog Hop and Excerpt

With the release of Screwing Up Babylon coming quickly, I’ve been trying think of ways to promote the book that support other writers too.

One idea that caught my attention is doing a themed blog hop. (I’ve seen this done once before, and fellow blogger Katie from Creepy Query Girl mentioned it in one of her posts.) In Screwing Up Babylon, Mark meets a monkey who becomes his friend and nemesis. (And in a hint to future things, Mark has a bizarre experience with a peacock in the Screwing Up Time short story, "Screwing Up Mongolia," which will be coming out in December.) So I thought it might be fun to share strange animal experiences--funny, scary, or odd. In the hop, everyone who participates would write a post about an unusual animal experience. 

If you’re interested in participating, contact me at connie (dot)m(dot) keller (at)gmail.com (or just leave me a comment). If there’s enough interest, I’ll set everything up and get the details to you.

Here's an excerpt from Mark's experience with Charlie the Chimp:

The monkey grabbed a lime off a platter and threw it. It grazed my temple. If I hadn’t ducked, it would’ve hit me smack in the face. If the Yankees needed a new starting pitcher, Charlie the Crazed Chimp would fit the bill.

He grabbed another lime.

I’d had enough of this. The Crazed Chimp was going down. I would—

Hailey put an arm in front of me.

“What?”

She pulled a strip of candied orange peel from a pocket in her tunic. Charlie lowered his arm. Slowly, Hailey waggled the candy back and forth. The lime rolled from Charlie’s hand. He stepped toward us. 

“Come on, Charlie,” I encouraged. “You know you want the candy.”

He scurried toward us. His nostrils twitched, and his hand reached for the orange peel. The note fell to the floor.

I snatched it, trying not to gloat. After all, he was only a monkey, and Hailey was the one who outsmarted him, not me. Still, I couldn’t resist saying, “Man over monkey any day.”