It’s the penultimate day to the big release, and coach five on our LesFic Eclectic blog train brings another four authors into the station for your entertainment: the brand new voice of Tabetha Dale, and emerging authors E.V. Bancroft, Valden Bush, and Maggie McIntyre. Volume Three is released tomorrow on Thursday 23rd December, but you can download Volume One and Volume Two right now.
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How excited are you to be involved in this project?
Valden: I’ve really loved it. To be in books with authors you admire gives you a huge buzz. I’ve been in each of the three volumes, and it has given me huge confidence as a writer to get words on paper and have them published. The experience is irreplaceable.
Tabetha: It is an honour and privilege to be involved in this project. This is the first work I have had published and I’m very excited to have the opportunity to share my writing with the wider world.
Maggie: Extremely. This Is the first short story I have published, and It’s been a most enjoyable challenge.
E.V.: It’s great to have the chance to hone my skills and also an opportunity to have my story nestled between some fabulous writers—well, their stories anyway!
What’s your story about and what genre does it fall into?
Valden: My story is about a couple, one of whom is injured and in hospital. The genre is romance.
Tabetha: It’s Poetry’s birthday. Spending time out on the water with her dad in their little fishing boat should have been an idyllic day for them. When a storm sets in, Poetry and her dad are in danger from the raging sea. But what else waits beneath the waves around Whispering Skerry…waiting to change their lives forever? Find out what Poetry’s destiny will be in this young adult fantasy fiction.
Maggie: It’s a contemporary lesfic romance, between an older woman and a younger one, about taking a chance, and finding new hope and a new love in unexpected places.
E.V.: It’s a contemporary romance. Not interested in romance after a bad break up, Beth has decided the only love in her life is her rescue dog, Darcy. A dog emergency challenges her perspective.
What kind of fiction do you like to write and why?
Valden: I like space opera and adventure because the stories can be gripping with action and movement, and they can have heroes and lots of romance and love.
Tabetha: I’m enjoying exploring my writing style and young adult fiction is certainly not something I thought I would enjoy…but how wrong was I? Tapping into my latent teenage angst has been intriguing. Exploring the darker side of life is something I’m curious about too.
Maggie: I write lesfic romance, but usually with a gritty, realistic undertone which addresses some deeper Issues on the way. I especially like the ice queen trope. All my six novels so far have definitely had happy endings as I am a hopeless romantic.
E.V.: I enjoy the more lyrical romance genre, so I’m striving for the sweet spot between lesfic and literary fiction. Why? Because I have a passion for the classics and love lesfic novels that also have some depth and commentary about life in them.
Tell us something about yourself that readers might not already know.
Valden: I worked in the Vice Squad for a year.
Tabetha: I’ve had the amazing experience of swimming with turtles, penguins, lizards, seals, manta rays, and even a shark in the waters around the Galapagos Islands…and perhaps a mermaid.
Maggie: I tend to fall in love with my main characters, so have written two series to see what happens to them next. I alternate between UK and US settings and characters.
E.V.: I can touch my nose with my tongue. Come on, admit you didn’t try it! :0)
What’s your favourite line from your story in LEV3?
Valden Bush ~ The White Feather
Does anywhere exist with waves that are equal in length? Where did they come from?
Tabetha Dale ~ The Mermaid of Whispering Skerry
I’ve got to breathe. I jerk, and twist, and water rushes up my nose. I open my eyes to see my last bubbles of breath escape to the surface.
Maggie McIntyre ~ Zumba (Taking a Chance)
With the scent of warm scones still floating on the air behind them, Hilary reached for Jackie’s soft, smiling mouth yet again, and resolved to make up for all the wasted years.
E.V. Bancroft ~ The Left Behinds
Even I couldn’t ignore the smattering of tell-tale signs that individually meant nothing but together signified so much, like an artist who makes a few seemingly random strokes until gradually you pull back and see the whole picture.
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