Ten Questions About 'A Disturbing Affair'

Tell Us About Yourself:Who Am I?:

My name is Sarah O'Hara, female, thirty, and married. I grew up in the states somewhere in the bible belt. These days I live across the pond with a man I found there and eventually married. I work part time at the local post office and it's completely true what they say about postal workers. 

Give Us the Elevator Pitch:

Some people will do anything to have a paycheck, and some people take advantage of that fact.

Where Does This Story Come From?:

This makes it sound like I have a mental disorder. The idea for this came from a dream I had about Elizabeth Hurley. If you do take the time to read it, the dream was most of the scene in the art gallery.

How is This a Story Only I Could Have Written?:

Well, it was my dream! I suppose someone else would have just dismissed the dream offhand and not written about it all, but I thought it was interesting enough to pursue it further and A DISTRUBING AFFAIR came from it.

What Was the Hardest Thing About Writing A DISTURBING AFFAIR?:

Probably just writing it. I start it with NaNoWriMo and got interrupted and was unable to finish it for another six months.

What Did I Learn Writing A DISTURBING AFFAIR?:

I already had the main scene 'pre-written' as it were and building an entire book around that scene was something I hadn't done before. I knew I couldn't just plonk it down in the middle and hope it would work, so getting things sorted took some brainstorming.

What Do I Love About A DISTURBING AFFAIR?:

It is a really unique story, it may be a bit too out there for some readers, but this was a story I enjoyed writing because it seemed more personal to me. It was something born out of my unconsciousness.

What Would I Do Differently Next Time?:

Not wait so long after being interrupted to finish a story, though I kind of did that with my most recent work too, so maybe not!

Give Us Your Favorite Paragraph from the Story:

Deidre polished off her wine glass and set it on a side table next to an ornate antique phone. "Now then, shall we get started? I've missed you terribly Janice." Deidre advanced on her. Janice darted across the lounge to the other side, but Deidre was quicker and grabbed her left arm halting her escape. She twisted it around behind Janice and pinned her between the side table and herself. "That's not very friendly now Janice. Perhaps you need a little persuasion, I had hoped we were past that now." Deidre fumbled around in the drawer of the side table and came away with a small syringe. Janice gasped and struggled against her, but Deidre was stronger than she looked and held firm. As Deidre slide the syringe open Janice groped behind her for something to use as a weapon. She felt the sturdy base of the antique telephone and gripped it tightly.

What's Next for Me as a Storyteller?:

Hopefully getting another book or two out this year. I'm in a slight backlog of things that need to be published.

A Disturbing Affair: Smashwords / Amazon UK / Amazon US / CreateSpace

Ten Questions About 'Bleed'

Tell Us About Yourself:Who Am I?:

My name is Sarah O'Hara, female, thirty, and married. I grew up in the states somewhere in the bible belt. These days I live across the pond with a man I found there and eventually married. I work part time at the local post office and it's completely true what they say about postal workers. 

Give Us the Elevator Pitch:

A man develops a strange obsession based on a freak childhood occurrence. Now that he's an adult his obsession becomes rather dangerous for those around him.

Where Does This Story Come From?:

My husband actually gave this idea to me. You know the saying everyone has one good book in them? This was his. However I took it in an entirely different direction to what his original idea had been.

How is This a Story Only I Could Have Written?:

I do have an art background, I took art classes all through high school and then had a minor in fine arts at college. I won't say I'm an expert or anything, but I do have a basic grasp of the arts. I like to think that factored into my writing.

What Was the Hardest Thing About Writing BLEED?:

Making it believable. The first half of the book was easy to write, the second part, not so much. He had to be believable in his processes and how things progressed and that was the hardest part. I'm still not entirely sure I pulled it off.

What Did I Learn Writing BLEED?:

Since I wrote BLEED during Script Frenzy I learned the basics of script writing, and then I learned how to edit the mess into a manuscript. It was fun, but I don't think I'll be doing it again.

What Do I Love About BLEED?:

I really like how the first half of the book went. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have written more about his childhood. I also love the fact that my husband trusted me with his idea in the first place!

What Would I Do Differently Next Time?:

I found out that Script Frenzy really isn't my thing. Although it was fun to write in that format, I won't being doing it again any time soon. Sorry!

Give Us Your Favorite Paragraph from the Story:

He dies, you die, we all die, even my art. It dies with me. It dies now. Here they come.

What's Next for Me as a Storyteller?:

I've always got something in the works, but this year I'm working on finishing up the things I started writing last year and didn't finish, and editing works that I've written and haven't published yet. I'm hoping to get four books out by December 2013.

BLEED: Smashwords / Amazon UK / Amazon US / CreateSpace

TERRIBLEMINDS: Flash Fiction Challenge

Title: Departure
Prompt: Choose Your Random Sentence
WC: 60

TERRIBLEMINDS: Flash Fiction Challenge

Title: Battle of Wits
Prompt: Super-Ultra-Mega Game of Aspects
Aspects: Sci-Fi Satire; Inside Someone's Mind; A Difficult Choice!; A Bad Dream; Sex is power;
WC: 499

Read an eBook Week, Flirty Friday, and Updates

Around the Web...

Smashwords is participating in Read an eBook Week, which occurs the week of March 3rd and lasts until March 9th. What does this mean for you and me? For me it means a chance to promote my two latest books, Love Hearts, and After Life / Bleed / A Disturbing Affair. For you it means loads of ebooks at discount prices and sometimes even free! Head on over and check out the great deals this week.

Elodie Parkes has graciously agreed to host Love Hearts for her Flirty Friday blog post on March 8th. Elodie is a writer of erotic romances and hosts other writers of romantic fiction.

At Home...

Currently finishing a story that I started last year during NaNoWriMo. About halfway through the month a family emergency struck and I was forced to abandon it. Then of course came the holidays and it got put off even further. It's currently titled Sabrina after the main character, but it's possible I'll change it by the time I get it published later this year, hopefully late summer or early fall.

I recently revamped the layout for both my blog and my website. I think it looks a lot cleaner, and isn't so focused on the color scheme of just one book.

TERRIBLEMINDS: Flash Fiction Challenge

Title: Strange Symbolism
Prompt: Game of Aspects, Redux
Aspects: Technothriller, The Capital City of a Lost Civilization, A Mysterious Stranger
WC: 633

Ten Questions About 'After Life'

I thought I would take a page from Chuck Wendig and answer ten questions about each of my novels. It will give you a little more background into how I write as well as the stories themselves. Let me know what you think about this feature in the comments below.

Tell Us About Yourself:Who Am I?:

My name is Sarah O'Hara, female, thirty, and married. I grew up in the states somewhere in the bible belt. These days I live across the pond with a man I found there and eventually married. I work part time at the local post office and it's completely true what they say about postal workers. 

Give Us the Elevator Pitch:

A man wakes up with amnesia only to find out he's not the only one who's dead.

Where Does This Story Come From?:

The idea for this story came to me while I was working at my hometown bar years ago when I had nothing better to do but watch reruns of CSI and Numbers. I think one of the episodes mentioned ghosts for levity and an idea sprang forth.

How is This a Story Only I Could Have Written?:

Wow, this is a harder question to answer than I thought. I'm nothing special, anyone could have had this same idea and ran with it, in fact I'm sure it's happened before. However, I like to think that every writer approaches idea differently and that my interpretation of a ghost solving crime is different from the next one.

What Was the Hardest Thing About Writing AFTER LIFE?:

Everything. No, really. I had to force myself to write it during NaNoWriMo 2009, which was the only reason it ever got written in the first place. Then it took me two years of procrastinating to get the thing edited properly and figure out what to do with it.

AFTER LIFE was my first novel so I had no motivation to finish it because I had no idea what to do with it after I did finally complete it.

What Did I Learn Writing AFTER LIFE?:

Not all of my writing will be gorgeous lines of prose, a lot of it will be craptastic and those bits need to go away. Finishing a work is the best feeling ever, better than any drug or maybe even sex.

What Do I Love About AFTER LIFE?:

I love that I finally finished it! Well, seriously though I do like how it ended up (no spoilers), the end was exactly how I wanted it to go. The story line also left me enough room to write two short stories (Living & Dying and Haunted City) I had thought of while writing the main plot.

What Would I Do Differently Next Time?:

I would not force myself to add so much 'filler' to the plot when doing something like NaNoWriMo. Just write what needs to be written and if I run out of words before I reach the target to just write something else instead. It makes editing easier later on.

Give Us Your Favorite Paragraph from the Story:

That’s when he heard an engine humming somewhere near him. He turned around to find a garbage truck inches from running him over. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

What's Next for Me as a Storyteller?:

I've always got something in the works, but this year I'm working on finishing up the things I started writing last year and didn't finish, and editing works that I've written and haven't published yet. I'm hoping to get four books out by December 2013.

After Life: Smashwords / Amazon UK / Amazon US / CreateSpace