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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Author Guest Blog & Contest with Alex Hughes

So I just read this amazing book. I only finished it this morning so I haven't added my review to the blog yet but it was an extremely good debut. So it is only fitting that my author guest this week is the writer responsible for this spectacular read!

Alex Hughes contacted me about his debut book, Clean, and I asked him to be a guest. I will admit I was a little sceptical about the book. Clean is a futurustic paranormal but to my relief it is not the over the top 'everyone has a robot' kind. It is actually a thrilling mystery which involves telepathy, addiction, a lack of computers and some flying cars. I loved it!

Clean, the first in the Mindspace Investigations series and my review will be coming soon. Until then there is a nice blog post from the author which I hope you all will enjoy. Then make sure you enter the contest for your chance to win a copy of the debut!



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How I Got Into Writing

A blog post by Alex Hughes


I actually wrote my first novel when I was very young – too young to know better  I was reading a book one day and decided I wanted to write one. I went to my mom and said, “I want to write a novel.” God bless her, she didn’t even blink. Instead, she said, “Then you should write a novel. Let’s get you a document on the computer.” I think she was surprised when she came back to several scenes a few hours later. After that, one of her answers to me complaining about being bored was, “why don’t you go work on your novel?” My parents never made a big deal about it, but they always made it very clear they thought it was completely within my capabilities.

Meanwhile my favorite grandfather handed me a copy of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight. I was hooked and read everything she wrote - a whole new world opened up for me, with dragons and heros and heroines, with death that rained from the sky and harpers who changed the world. Then I found The Ship Who Searched at the library, and the book touched me so deeply and brought me such joy that I decided that this was what I wanted to do with my life – this novel thing. I decided then and there I wanted to be a writer.

Of course learning how to be a writer, how to write good books complete strangers would want to read, takes a very long time. For me, it took fifteen years, multiple teachers, hundreds of rejections, and more than one crisis of faith. But I stuck with it, and I didn’t give up. I kept getting better, and after many years, my hard work paid off. The Call from the editor arrived.

I went to the bookstore this last week and saw my name – my name! – on the shelf next to big name authors. My childhood self – and my grandfather – would be so, so proud.

This one’s for you, grandpa.


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Contest Time!

I am giving away a copy of CLEAN to one lucky person!

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25 comments:

Barbara E. said...

I'd like to be able to selectively read minds. I wouldn't want to not be able to turn it off, but there are certainly times when I'd like to know what someone was thinking. :D

Barbed1951@

SandyG265 said...

I'd like to be able to read minds when I wanted to but not hear what everyone is thinking all of the time.

books first love said...

I know it would be weird and wrong at first but I am a pretty insecure person so I think it would help me if I would be able to read minds.

Mary Preston said...

I can see an upside & downside to reading minds. If I could control it, I would love to.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

off2europe2005 said...

It's one of those things...damned if you do, damned if you dont. but yes, would love to read the other sexs mind.

off 2 europe at yahoo dot com

debbie said...

Ha, that was the first thing I learned to do when my son was a teenager. LOL.
I would like to do it only when I want to.

Dovile said...

No, it would be awful.

Dovile said...

newsletter subscriber Spamscape

JenM said...

I always thought it would be cool to read minds, but after reading the Sookie Stackhouse books, I changed my mind and now I don't want to be able to - it doesn't sound like fun at all.

magic5905 said...

Absolutely. I have always wanted to read minds. I am very bad at reading people and this would help.
magic5905 at embarqmail dot com

Unknown said...

I agree with you guys. I'd love to be able to read minds but definitely not all the time.

felinewyvern said...

I'm not sure I would want to read minds unless there was a way of selecting which minds I read. Too much information otherwise.

ilona
felinewyvern at googlemail dot com

Stephanie said...

No, because I'm not sure I'd like what I'd hear.

skk25@aol.com

Deirdre said...

I think I'd like to be able to read minds, though I'd also like to be able to block people too

Mardel said...

I love when a debut author is excite to see her/his name up on the shelves. It's cool, isn't it? congratulations!

Mardel said...

**just noticed the question to answer**

I think I would like to be able to read minds if I could control it. pick and choose when I want to listen in - it'd be awful to hear all the little mean comments we all can't help thinking. :)

sienny said...

no! absolutely no. it'll be such a burden and makes life so much more complicated.

Aurian said...

No, I really do not want to know what other people think. Of course sometimes it would be handy, but my own thoughts are jumbled enough already ;)

NoraA said...

Yes I would, but only if I could also filter stuff out, or shut things out.. or I might go crazy.

Anonymous said...

I guess yes. But only if I can stop it if it get's too much or I don't want to listen to the thoughts of a specific person.

trichie said...

Yes I would love to know what people are really thinking

wade2121 said...

It could be fun to read minds.

clynsg said...

As long as there was a way to pick & choose the time and place of reading the mind, it might be very useful. However, if it was completely uncontrollable it would be miserable!

cgclynsg0 @ gmail dot com

shaunesay said...

No, I really don't think I would, because I think I would hear things I'd rather not know!

Spav said...

No, I think I'm better off not knowing what other people think.