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In this issue:
Author's Note: Happy Holidays! I hope you are ready for whichever holiday you celebrate. Christmas is almost upon us and I'm totally not ready. I usually start preparing early, this year I haven't even decorated yet. *shakes head* I better get my booty in gear! This month I'm pleased to announce an interview with Aspen Mountain Press's Senior Editor and head of the Del Fantasma line. Got Cody? I sure do! Tied up and waiting for me and my melted chocolate...just don't tell Sandra ;)- Cody's her baby.   Interview with Nikita Gordyn Michelle: Welcome Nik! How long have you been an editor? And how long have you been with Aspen Mountain Press? Nik: Now everyone that knows me, knows I have a lousy memory, so...I've been editing for around 7 years *thinks* Yep, I'm pretty sure that's right. I've been with Aspen Mountain Press since before it opened *grins* Sandy approached me about coming up with the logo for the company and I've been there as a cover artist, editor and graphic designer for several other projects from doing magazine articles, to business cards for some authors ever since. Michelle: Aspen has a friendly atmosphere. As someone who's been around from the beginning, as the company expands, does it become less personal and friendly? Nik: Absolutely not. The friendly atmosphere that Aspen has is very important to Sandy Hicks (owner), the staff and to all of our authors. Aspen has a unique family feel to it that everyone works to keep. Authors and staff alike are happy to jump in with help or advice to anyone that needs it, from help with research for stories, giving ideas for anyone that's stuck in a story, to help and ideas with marketing and promotion. Everyone feels that working together as a team ensures not only success for the company, it ensures success for each and every member of the Aspen Mountain Press family. Michelle: Not only are you an editor, but you also do cover design, like for the fabulous Del Fantasma line. Which do you enjoy more? Editing or designing covers? Nik: Umm...not sure? LMAO!! Basically it comes down to the mood of the moment. I love both ends of the creative process, and being a true to form Gemini, I need outlets to both the academic and artistic areas. *grins* Some of my friends tell me that I just can't make up my mind, so I jump from art to editing. Michelle: What kind of errors do you often see in manuscripts that make you flinch? Nik: Content errors. The ones that make me go, 'OMG!' are characters that go completely out of character for no reason at all, leaps of logic that go really bad, stories that aren't researched, and sentences like, the plane took off...no getting onto the plane, no indication that the person was even at an airport, nothing. Settings are very important; they bring the readers into the story so that they're carried away with the characters as the story unfolds. Michelle: Can you tell us about the Del Fantasma line? Nik: I adore this line *grins* Cody is the owner of the Del Fantasma bar where all manner of people and creatures come together to have a good time. Cody is unique; he's a vampire that was turned in Afghanistan about 30 years ago while in the armed forces, and when he came home to the U.S., he settled in Point Loma, California, which is just outside of San Diego, and opened a bar. Where Cody is truly unique is that he's a matchmaker-he's not invasive, and he can be really sneaky as to how he sets up a couple, or more *grins* Actually, we have several of our authors that simply love him to death, and they're 'debating' over who gets to write his story LOL! Michelle: *looks around innocently* I have NO idea who you could be referring to. Nope none at all. Michelle: What kind of stories are you looking for, for the Del Fantasma line? Nik: We're looking for all manner of stories, from sensual to very erotic, sweet to very dark, and as long as there's a paranormal aspect to them, anything goes for cross-genre. We just released one called Undertow, which features mythical race of sea creatures known as merrows, and we have other stories that have vampires, shapeshifters, dragons, sirens, and its been a rumored that there may be a unicorn in the Del Fantasma's future. The characters have to either meet at the bar, meet somewhere outside the bar and have a scene play inside, or have a couple, or friends meet after a parting of the ways. At least one scene has to be in the bar to make it into this line. Michelle: *whispers*With Cody bartending who wouldn't want to spend MOST of their story at the bar? *louder* What kind of stories are Aspen Mountain Press looking for? Nik: Aspen is looking for pretty much all fiction genres: romance, mystery, fantasy, paranormal, science fiction, horror, action/adventure, westerns and cross-genres are good too! We release holiday anthologies as well, so submissions for those are always welcome. Michelle: How many Del Fantasmas release a month, and are you looking to increase that number? Nik: At the moment we're releasing one Del story a month, but as we get more and more submissions for this line, we may up the releases to one every 3 weeks or 2 a month in the future. Sandy has been thinking about releasing the Del line in print, so that may be something that we'll see in the not too distant future. Michelle: Print will be very nice ;) Michelle: What advice can you offer to authors and aspiring writers wanting to submit to AMP and/or the Del Fantasma line? Nik: First, I'd say read the submissions guidelines and follow them. If anyone sends a word .doc, it won't even be opened because it's easy to end up with viruses that way. Second...please, please, self-edit and if you can, have a critique partner/s that you trust to give honest opinions and pointers go over your story to find any character and story flaws. Following this advice, authors have a much better chance of being accepted, since all of the rough editing will be done. Your story will be a better read for our acquiring editor, and it won't scare her off with the amount of time and work that's necessary to bring the work up to release quality. Michelle: If you had a free day, what would you do? Nik: OMG, a free day? I have no idea...sleep? LOL!! I'm a workaholic simply because I get bored very easily. When I get bored, I get extremely agitated and snarky *grins* My kids head for the hills, fast, when I get bored. Michelle: LOL Michelle: If you could be anyone or thing you wanted (For just one day) what or who would you be? Nik: *dreamy smile* I'd love to be an exotic princess with a harem of gorgeous men to play with. Oh, the things we could do... LOL!! Can we do this for at least a few weeks? It may take that long to do all that I want to... Michelle: I'll have to see what I can do about joining you. I mean about arranging that... ;) Michelle: What do you do, if anything, to get into the mood for editing? Nik: Hmm, I chase the kids out of the house, put on some Loreena McKennit or Celtic harp music, and just relax. I find editing pretty relaxing, so it has benefits. For me, editing is one of my best stress relievers...but only if I shut down my email and IM's LOL! I love to immerse myself into the story I'm working on, so even though I'm working, I'm taking a mini-vacation. The graphic art is pretty much the same thing, only the music I play has a hard, driving beat and it’s played LOUD. Michelle: I do the same, but I blare my music to drown out my kids ;) Michelle: Why did you decide to become an editor? Nik: I used to review ebooks, and the errors I saw in them drove me insane. I approached a publisher and asked if they needed editors. I was sent an editing test, and shortly thereafter, I was hired. I have my diploma in Desktop Publishing, so I do have formal education in most of the publishing areas, which I'm sure made my entrance into the publishing industry quite easy. Michelle: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview. Nik: Thank you so much for asking me to the interview, I enjoyed it!!  Del Fantasma is Aspen Mountain Press' paranormal romance series that is focused around the Del Fantasma bar in Point Loma, California and the bar owner, vampire Cody Warren. Cody is said to have a story behind every drink he serves and each story must be titled after a real bar drink that somehow relates to the story.  Photographer Lara Saunders has a lifelong secret – she can see and hear ghosts. When she was rescued from a near drowning by the ghost of a lighthouse keeper, he set her on a mission to document historic lighthouses and the lives of their keepers so they were not forgotten. Now on her third book in the series, Lara has arrived in San Diego to document the Old Point Loma Lighthouse but hasn’t counted on becoming the target of Cody Warren, the matchmaking owner of the Del Fantasma bar. Or falling in love with a handsome Park Ranger whose secret is even more strange than her own.  What's your favourite cocktail? Try the flavour! Shayne's heard great things about the bar, Del Fantasma. Experience has taught him to be careful when it comes to relationships, even relationships that last for only a few hours. Still, he's a young gay man and if there's one thing he wants tonight, at the very least he'd like to get laid. The trouble is, he has poor taste in men. Cody Warren, owner and bartender of Del Fantasma might just find him another flavour. Leon's disillusioned with life and haunted by his past. To complicate matters further, he's a shape-shifter. He wants companionship, even needs it, for he fears if he doesn't have someone in his life he might just wake up one day with no reason for life to continue. He wants someone he can feel comfortable with long-term, rather than the organised sexual encounters designed to repopulate his species, but, so far, he's not met anyone emotionally strong enough to stick around for long. Shayne's looking for something out of the ordinary and he can't say he hasn't found it. Leon's looking for another type of relationship but Shayne's not quite what he expected. This time, surely Cody Warren's matchmaking skills must be off-kilter. When Shayne asks for a Slow Screw in order to capture the bartender's attention, he's not aware there's more than one blend of the cocktail. The question is whether he'll enjoy such a new and interesting flavour.  Tara’s not looking for love, and will go to great lengths to avoid becoming intimate with a guy. Brandon is tired of taking no for an answer. He loves Tara, and when a mysterious stranger takes a very active interest in her, it’s time to stake his claim.  Black Dragon by Aline de Chevigny What is an assassin to do when she finds herself protecting her mark instead of killing him? She sends him to Del Fantasma, where she hopes her old friend Cody will take care of him until she can resolve the mess she's gotten herself into. Will her Vampiric abilities be enough to keep Remi Dragonsblood alive? Or will the dragon shifter's seductive charm get them both killed? Silk Panties by Celia Kyle Lisa Bradenton is breaking out of her shell. What better way to take a walk on the wild-one-night- stand-side than a visit to the infamous Del Fantasma? At the urging of her friends, Lisa goes to the bar with the hopes of finding a lover to take her mind off her ex-boyfriend. Soon after walking through the doors she's overwhelmed by the sexy bartender who has a quick smile, sexy eyes and deep rumbling voice. He is definitely one-night stand material. Definitely. Jonathan and his inner beast crave the sexy, sultry and curvy siren's touch. A smile and good conversation aren't enough for him. Even after he's gotten her in his bed, he still craves everything about the seductress. Her looks reeled him in, but her uncertainty and open nature snare him forever. But after one night of bliss, she disappears. What the hell is he supposed to do now? Lisa is his mate and without her, he's lost. Black Wolf by Jade Buchanan Adam Bates is in trouble. He's virtually penniless, is being threatened by his landlord, and now he's late for work at his new job. Expecting to be chastened by his boss, Adam doesn't expect Cody to provide him with a protector instead. He definitely doesn't expect his minder to be a big, bad wolf with attitude. Marcus Black has just arrived at Del Fantasma after his latest black ops mission. He's ready for some R and R, but Marcus won't refuse Cody when he asks him to help a little tabby cat. When Adam is threatened by his landlord in front of Marcus, his alpha wolf won't let him stand by and let it happen. Adam is about to find strength in submission, and his own set of claws. Marcus is about to find the mate he's been searching for in a deceptively small tabby. Now, if only they can hold on long enough to survive. |
