C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

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Hats Off Corner Welcomes Roland Yeoman

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I have a bit of old business from last week before I turn everything over to Roland today. First, those amazing writers Jess and Steph, of Fairday Morrow fame, won a copy of Sudden Secrets for this meme. Just didn’t want to leave them out of the winners’ circle.

The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow




Hats Off Corner

And now start the drum roll. Hereeeeer comes Roland! Hope you’ll start a dialog with this author and find out what his new adventure is all about.

“Hope is a waking dream.” 
- Aristotle
Fairy Girl on Dragonfly
See how she reaches for the light!
Roland Yeomans here:
Lee has let me slip into her “Hats Off Corner” on her blog in my 
“Don’t You Hate Book Tours?” Book Tour.


Lee asked what gave me the idea for my latest novel:

To talk of my dream and how it is working out.

How it is working out?  
I haven’t sold a single copy.  
Why continue writing then?

Let me go the side route on this:
There is an older woman who has moved somewhere in my square of blocks.  Her back is permanently bent so she must walk always looking at her feet.
On my way to work, I see her walking to the grocery store pushing her brightly painted red shopping cart (She cannot drive with her head pushed down.)
She is always jauntily clothed in gaily colored garments done in impish style.  Her eyes may be forced to look at the dirt, but her mind is looking up into the clouds.

That is why I still write.  

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
 – Leonardo da Vinci

Our circumstances may force our eyes down, but our hearts can ride on the wings of dream, wonder, and hope always upward, always reaching out to touch the impossible.

Who knows?  One magic moment we may just make it.

Each of us are on that journey to the dream of becoming a self-supporting writer. We are at different stages of that adventure.  We wave at one another to rally each other.

Just that recognition lets us know we are not alone.

When I wrote Death in the House of Life, (my 1895 Egyptian Steampunk Adventure), I had Mark Twain speak of the voyage he made famous in his The Innocents Abroad. I thought: why not tell that tale?

The Not-So-Innocents Abroad is a 1867 Steampunk journey: the maiden voyage of the Xanadu, the first Air-Steamship where …

A man with the blood of death in his veins is embarking on a perilous journey of learning how to be married to an alien empress…

11 year old orphan, Nikola Tesla, finds himself mentored by Mark Twain who is as much a child as the boy …

An insane Abraham Lincoln and a crippled General Sherman ally themselves with monsters to enact revenge upon Samuel McCord only to find it is a journey leading to dark places …

The twin sister of the empress finds herself falling in love with the husband of her hated sister – the man who sees the hurt little girl bruised by living in the cold shadow of her regal twin.

A global war of vampire kingdoms is being waged unknown to the living …

The vampiric Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Empress Theodora circle one another, looking for weakness in their opponents, blind to their own.

A Being older than the creation of light is moving his pieces on the board of the world as he has for millennia …

Yet, like The Lord of the Rings (especially The Fellowship of the Ring), my novel is one of friendships won, lost, and regained, of how the darkness around us is not as important as the light we carry within us, and of how that light is born of two hearts hesitantly reaching out to one another and finding its soul-mate.
The journey we start is never the one we finish.

Give my novel a chance.  Go to its Amazon Page and try the LOOK INSIDE feature:

I write to music.  Do you? Here is the selection that I am writing a scene in the sequel, The Not-So-Innocents at Large where the Sidhe fly their sky-boats to challenge the Empress Meilori Shinseen, flying over England.

Much to their regret, the Sidhe learn Meilori is, indeed, a star-child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hguvzsLUD5E 

And there you have it folks! Want to give Roland a boost and venture over to good old Amazon? Take a look at what’s he’s created. And since Roland’s already provided us with two great quotes, I’ll let those be my quotes of the week. 

Comments

  2. What a fantastic story of the old woman! And, yes sir, we must keep looking up. Thank you for the inspiration. 🙂 Good luck and have a lovely weekend!

  4. terrific quotes - and we have to keep looking up, looking down is depressing! we will find our audience, no matter the size, and the only way to keep putting ourselves out there!
    persevere, Roland - you're a great example!
    and dragonflies are my favorite bug!

    have a great weekend you guys!

  5. It's odd how that question keeps coming up. I just released my own book and still wonder why I do this, and yet I know the answer. Because I can't stop. Marketing, that's easy to stop, although I think my publisher would disagree. 🙂

  6. Not-So-Innocents-Abroad is a great title and I'm sure Twain would be proud (although the airship reminds me more of Jules Verne). Congratulations and keep creating, Roland!

  8. Hi Lee and Roland - what a great constructive post - about creativity and ideas … and then never giving up - writers can never stop and they shouldn't … so true .. cheers Hilary

    • What would the world of poetry be if Emily Dickinson gave up because her poetry was not appreciated, right? Thanks for being my friend, Hilary.

      The flooded roads may last night of blood runs frightening and lengthy — I slept until right now in preparation for doing all over again tonight. Aaaargh!

  9. Such an inspiring post.

    We all need to keep our eyes on the sky and keep going. (Although, I've found that glancing at the ground every now and then is a good way not to trip. ;-))

  10. Great post, Roland. You are an inspiration! I don't listen to music when I write but I do hear music in everything - the tapping of my keyboard, the birds chirping outside the window, the neighbours chattering across the garden fence, the slamming of car doors at the local bakery and my favourite - the chiming of the local church bells every half hour. My environment is my music and my writing companion. Wishing you lots of new happy readers. I'm sure your story will inspire many. Thank you for sharing!

    • ps: Just checked out your book on amazon Germany (where I live). Will you also be offering it for Kindle or just print?

    • Thanks for enjoying my post. I like your "music" while you write. Every one of my Kindle books has been pirated, making my Kindle sales nose-dive. 🙁

      So for the time being I am not doing any new Kindle books. BUT I have two Kindle tales with the same characters a few years in the future of this tale: 1895.

      Set in 1895 Egypt, THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT and DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE spin tales of ancient ruins, buried alien star-crafts, vampire kingdoms still at war with one another —

      with Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla, Oscar Wilde joining Samuel McCord and his alien empress wife in more adventures of a lifetime.

      http://www.amazon.com/Death-House-Life/dp/B00NNX4L06/

      The book trailer for both:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ffS8RH45KU

      I hope you will try one to see if it entertains you. I have audio books of both as well. 🙂

      Thank you, Nicola, for such a nice comment.

    • Jess & Steph did a fun, great job, didn't they? Wow, two Sherry's in a row (but spelled differently) Sort of like a name echo, right? Sometimes when knocked on the ground it is tempting to stay there. But the clouds beckon and murmur, "We're waiting." You just have to get up. 🙂

  15. Wow, your novel sounds crazy interesting! I also love that Leonardo Da Vinci quote and what you said after it. Gorgeous <3

    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbositybookreviews.wordpress.com

    • That particular Leonardo Da Vinci quote is at the start of INNOCENTS, too. It seemed fitting. 🙂

      Why don't you see if you can win of the 3 remaining copies Amazon is giving away FREE? https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/1b4510a1b3decb51

  16. As you well know, Kerouac listened to Jazz when He wrote, (on those long endless rolls of paper, as you mentioned recently). Best of Grace and Luck to You, My Friend. It's been delightful watching your growth as a Writer - Artist, over these last 18 years. You have arrived, a long time ago.

    • What? I've arrived? And no one told me? 🙂 Yes, Emily Dickinson arrived and stayed when she continued to write her poetry that no one appreciated in her lifetime. I guess we must carry the music within us, right, old friend?

      Oh, Amazon is giving away 3 FREE COPIES of INNOCENTS right now. Enter and see if a good friend can get one of them! https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/1b4510a1b3decb51

  17. Roland is a wonderful writer. I've come to love his blog posts, which are always both humorous and insightful.

    It's sad that his anti-blog tour hasn't resulted in sales, but I believe in you, Roland! Never give up.

  19. Have I told you yet that I love that Tesla's in your story? I was excited when I learned he'd lived here in Colorado Springs for awhile. My son is just now starting to get interested in him.

    • In this story, I took a few liberties with his life so as to be able to insert him as a 11 year old on the cruise. But for my Egyptian Steampunk tales, DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE & THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT, I played it straight with Nikola.

      Oh, in the extra short story I gifted at the end of this book, I had Tesla lock horns with Edison one last time. 🙂 I think your son would like that tale, Shannon.

      Amazon is giving away THREE FREE COPIES of The Not-So-Innocents Abroad: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/1b4510a1b3decb51

  20. I wish you happy trails and many sales, Roland. Writing is a hotly-contested arena. Those gifted with promotional skills will be streets ahead. We need to find a way in the darkness…:-)

  21. I really like the idea of a story that focuses on the lights we carry within ourselves, and of friendships regained.

    May your newest book find gobs of readers and new fans for you, Roland my dear!

  22. Keep the dream alive Roland. You're always my inspiration. I wish I could write to music. I have severe ADHD and my doctor said I have some kind of an auditory distraction problem. Certain sounds really distract me and I never know which sound will completely ruin my ability to concentrate or focus. One day it will be a song that I loved listening to the day before. It can make my mind wander, which is often a good thing, but not, if I never return to my manuscript. It can be a sound that other people never even hear unless someone brings it to their attention, like the click - click -click of the ceiling fan or the humming sound of a refrigerator. Sounds are so irritating and distracting and I hate that something as beautiful as music is considered a detriment to my writing. Comgrats to Roland. It was very nice of you, Lee to have him on your blog. I enjoyed visiting.

    • Thanks, Melissa, for spotlighting my Amazon Giveaway on Twitter. It was very nice of you to do that. 🙂 Certain noises bother me, too — like someone else's music next door!

      Wasn't Lee nice to do this for me?

  23. Congrats are being on this blog and very nice to be recognized here. I
    love the image of the older lady since I know someone like that. I also love the Da Vinci quote. One must continue to dream, work on the dream and act on the dream. Congrats for you in doing this since so many people don't.

    • Thank you, Brigit. I wonder if the older woman knows what an inspiration she is to so many? It was nice for Lee to have me here, wasn't it? She is a gracious hostess. 🙂

  24. That was inspirational. =) I say as long as you're loving what you are doing, keep writing. Over night success never happens over night after all. There's a lot of nights spent with no sales.

    • Making the insane Lincoln close to his personality and wit was a fun challenge. All of us are one bad day away from crossing the line … but we would keep much of our personality while going to the Dark Side. 🙂

  27. This steampunk adventure sounds interesting. The Youtube link is great. That's some atmospheric music right there.

    Steph and Jess made a fantastic meme.

  28. I love the Fairy Girl image!

    Hi Roland! My dream will always keep me writing. 🙂 I always write to music. Mostly music with lyrics too.

  29. I agree with the point that if we really love something, we shouldn't give up striving for it just because the way is hard. Wishing Roland much success! 🙂

  30. It has been lovely to see Roland out and about on his (non) tour.
    I hope his book goes gang-busters.
    I suspect that a true writer writes, because it is an integral part of who they are. Rewards would be nice, but they will write (must write) anyway.

  33. I think you're totally right. We have to make the best of what we have right now. And if something brings us pleasure, why isn't that enough?

    I went to your Amazon page and there is no ebook version listed. When you have one, shoot me an email.

  34. Thanks for sharing! It's great that you are still writing and doing what you love. Your work sounds quite fascinating, and yes, I do write to music. I tend to tune it out after awhile, but I like finding songs that fit the mood of what I'm writing and it gets me going.

    -Lauren

  35. We do support anything with skyboats! And skygoats too… not that Roland has them in his novel.. at least we hope so…

    • Thanks, Holly.:-) May your own dreams come true. Do you know the dedication to my new book?

      TO CAMELOT, TO XANADU …
      TO THE HOPE THAT ALL OUR DREAM WORLDS WILL COME TRUE …
      KNOWING THAT FAERIE LANDS HOLD THEIR DANGERS, TOO.
      AS YOU READ, I WILL BE ON THE ROADS TO THEM.
      READ AND BRING THEM HOME TO YOU.

  38. I've known Roland for a long time, and hope to meet him one day in the realm of forever. I LOVE his writing — so poetic, so musical — and his ability to utilize his vast knowledge of characters and places connected to planet earth in the most imaginative of ways.

    So…thanks, Lee, for hosting him here, and for leaving a comment on my Spirit Man story that brought me here. And thanks, Roland, for being my friend. I am going to buy the book right now. It will be the one book I will buy (hoping our main person gets it in the correct mailbox) this month. Many many cheers. And NEVER STOP WRITING. I don't think you can. It's part of who you are — your soul mate.

    • Thanks so much, Ann. I, too, feel we are kindred spirits. Your tale of the lost Navaho rancher was evocative and touching on your blog.

      Your words warmed me this morning. And thank you, Ann, for being my friend. I just re-read your review of RETURN OF THE LAST SHAMAN — it was beautiful. Thank you for it and for buying my new book. Mark Twain will make you laugh. And to see Nikola Tesla as an eleven year old will make you smile I think.

      May we meet before the forever realm. 🙂

  40. You know, I've had The Last Shaman (1st book) on my Kindle for a long time, and just finished reading it. Although I'm not much into horror I liked the Native American perspective and was truly impressed. I loved how your brought philosophy, psychology, and magic together. I'll be reading more of your stuff. So… keep on dreaming!

    Also, and I don't know why it's taken me so, I've become a blog follower!

    • This is grand of you, Bish. The Last Shaman has a sequel which is not horror but science fantasy with romance thrown in — and wise-cracking Abby returns!

      Thanks for becoming a blog follower — I lose so many these days.

      You've made my morning! 🙂