10Q Tuesday with Tina Marene Ordone

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I always dreamed of becoming a teacher, once I realized that being a ballerina, astronaut, or firefighter was out of the question. Then, in high school, after taking drama all four years, I wanted to be a film or television director, but I also was interested in being a journalist. I started college as an English major with a minor in Communications. I couldn’t major in Journalism because there wasn’t a program at that college. So then, when I transferred to another school, I started to major in Print and Broadcast Journalism, only to realize that finishing that degree would be nearly impossible with the hours I was working. I’m now in school for web design, but I enjoy doing my true passion, which is writing.

What group did you hang out with in high school? I had a plethora of friends of all types, but my closest group of friends and myself were called The Lunch Club. It was obviously a twist on The Breakfast Club. There were a lot more of us though and unfortunately, with real life happening, I only talk to a few. Over the years, thanks to Facebook, I’ve reconnected with quite a number of them and we get together when everyone is available at least once a year. Also, our ring leader, Shelle gave us roles one year with certificates, if my memory serves me. I was the creative one. *chuckles* I was known, even back then, as the one who could write, but I doubted it until recently. Those were the days! *laughs*

Morning Person? Or Night Person? How do you know? I am, without a doubt, a night person. Most of the time, I can’t get to sleep before four a.m. My mom goes to bed at like nine or ten p.m. and my dad and I stay up and watch TV together and then I go in my room and watch more TV or get on the computer then go lay down. I’m not out the bed before noon most days. Working from home has its perks!

What is your favorite color? My favorite color is green, dark green more specifically. I've liked the color since high school, but I have a number of others that I enjoy looking at, such as black and gray, as weird as that may be.

Tell us about your family. My family is one of my favorite things to talk about. My mom and dad are two of the most important people in my life. They are my best friends and since I live with them, I get to spend lots of time with them.

I have a brother and a sister, who are both older than me. I have a niece who is four and a nephew who is about to be twelve.

I also have a wonderful Maltese and poodle mix named Fiona and she is truly the best dog I've ever met.

Do you play games? What kind? I like to play the Xbox. My favorite games are Fallout and Fable. I also play some computer games like Nancy Drew and The Sims. I play Second Life, which isn't really a game as much as it is a visual chat thing.

What are your favorite TV shows? My favorite show of all time has to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars. Out of the shows that come on now though, I like Big Brother (when it's on), American Idol (when it's on), Gossip Girl, 90210, yea, all the teeny bopper shows. * laughs * I'm a big kid. I also like Chuck, House, and Amazing Race.

What is your favorite meal? That's an easy one! Anything cooked by my dad! Gumbo is my particular favorite. I also like Chinese food and Applebee's.

What do you do to unwind and relax? Usually, during the day, I'm on the computer answering emails or promoing or whatever, but at about five, I go in the living room with my parents and watch TV with them and have dinner. So I guess the simple answer would be that I watch TV.

What would we find under your bed? Board games! Monopoly, Life, etc. That's it. * chuckles *

Tina Marene Ordone

Twice Upon a Time...

Decadent Publishing is pleased to welcome authors/artists/friends/cool people S.L. Carpenter and Sahara Kelly. Scott and Sahara are currently involved in two projects at Decadent Publishing, the Twice Upon a Time anthology, available now in ebook at Decadent Publishing, and a co-authored bawdy romantic fiction story called Princesses Gone Wild, coming soon!

What kind of Fae WOULD you be if Fae COULD you be?

Sahara: Hoo boy. That’s tough. I’d love to be a faery...to flit around in cute outfits, scattering faery dust and making trouble now and again. LOL I think I might enjoy being a water sprite. Playing with dolphins, dancing on the waves, hiding from the storms at sea in cozy caves...do those sea shell bras come in my size, I wonder? LOL

Scott: A Fae of laughter. I love making people laugh. Do water sprites get to play with Mermaids? That might be fun. Of course it would have to be the fairy tale mermaids, not the real life ones that are butt ugly, ewwww.

Faerytales; anti-feminist clap-trap or fun, fanciful escape? (THIS is meant to be a FUN question, not an in depth Gloria Steinem exam)

Sahara: Well, darn. There goes my dissertation on the sociological gender biases of fantasy-based myths and legends. LOLLOL They’re mostly fun. Although I remember a couple that gave me nightmares when I was little. I often wonder how they got to be accepted bedtime reading. I mean...some of those Grimm tales...they’re flat out GRIM!

Scott: All I remember is Fairy tales were always about dreams and fantasy. I read them to my kids and they were all escapes and usually had some underlying meaning. Disney's basically taken all the good ones and made cartoons out of them.

Is writing your sole source of artistic gratification or do you have other outlets?

Scott: Writing is a lot of fun for me. It's how I get all my goofy stories out of my head. I write a lot with Sahara and have a bunch of books myself. My main outlet is cover art though. I love creating something from nothing. Taking an author’s story and giving it an image to go with it is really exciting.

Sahara: I’ve dabbled a bit in cover art myself – nowhere near as proficient as Scott, though. He’s my art GOD. LOL  I do love making costumes, too. I’ve always sewn, so patterns don’t  intimidate me too much. These days, it’s threading the damn needle that’s the real issue. LOLLOL


What sort of genres do you typically write about when you are not writing comedy about hoochie princesses or modern-day faerytales?

Sahara: When Scott and I write together – we really don’t have a typical genre. We’ve done a lot of contemporaries, since we’re both very comfortable with those. But we also did a paranormal ghost story and we’ve talked about a variety of different settings. One thing you can be sure of, there’s gonna be some laughs in there someplace. We just can’t resist the urge to slip one or two jokes in, no matter how intense the plot. <g> I think Scott’ll agree with me on that...since he’s most often the one cracking me up with his one liners...

Scott: Whatever she said.

Sahara: I can never make up my mind if I like when he says that, or if it makes me nervous. LOL


Sahara, you are now a Queen. Tell us about your plans for reigning terror...eerrr, I MEAN SPLENDOR....at RT?
Sahara: Well, let me see. First my co-Queen, Amanda McIntyre and I will review our troops, then we’ll probably raise a goblet or two of mead at a banquet...you know the sort of thing. LOL Actually, we’re both fans of the Tudors TV series, so I’m thinking we’ll count ourselves lucky if we keep our heads for the entire night. <g> Seriously...the Faery Ball is the culmination of so much hard work by so many people – it always awes me to see it come together and to know that almost every RT guest will be there sharing the fun. And yes, I will admit that one of the biggest pleasures is taking my shoes off at the end of the night. LOL Anything to add to that, Partner?

Scott: Yes dear. Foot massage? Yes dear. Everyone at the Fairy Ball only has to deal with her for a week; I get it all year. 3000 miles away and I feel the hair standing up on the back of my neck when I say something to ruffle her feathers. Scary. Gives me shivers.

Sahara: (grins) It’s good to be the Queen. And I have dibs on a foot massage again this year...

Scott: Honestly, I like all the fun themes and the way all the writers get so enthusiastic at the RT party. It takes all year to plan everything you ladies do. I know I wouldn't be able to do it. Especially wearing a corset.


About Tina Gerow, Fellow Fae. Tell me something special about the inspiration behind this project.
Sahara: I first met Tina in Orlando at the debut Faery Ball. She was such fun; together with Isabella Clayton, the two of them had us in stitches. Since that time we’ve shared every Faery Ball and it was devastating to hear of her illness – she’s so young and always so vibrant.  It’s not often that one gets chance to actually DO something in circumstances like these. We hurt, we send our prayers and hope for the best. But this time, circumstances allowed nine of us Fae, both present and former, to actually help in a practical way. It says a lot about Tina that we never hesitated. And Scott was right there as well...

Scott: When I heard about what happened it was heartbreaking. Tina is such a sweetheart. From the first time I met her she was just so fun and sweet to me. She's cute too. But when I heard about this project, I didn't hesitate to offer any help I could. So I offered to do the cover. Everyone has been great to work with on the project. Which shows how much Tina has touched people. It was a project from the heart.

See Scott Carpenter's magnificent cover for Twice Upon a Time and purchase it HERE. This one-of-a-kind anthology includes the literary talents of Eden Robins, Amanda McIntyre, Sahara Kelly, Taige Crenshaw, Vijaya Schartz, Janet Miller, Joy Nash, Liddy Midnight and Kayce Lassiter...and a contribution from you--the buyer of this book! Every author is donating 100% of their royalties to the fund established to assist Tina with her medical bills.

Another wild romp by Carpenter and Kelly, Princesses Gone Wild--coming soon from Decadent Publishing!

Read more about how Decadent Publishing Gives Back HERE

Spotlight Sunday with Lindsay Marene Ordone

Tell us about your current release.  

Ah, my baby! Most Eligible was started back in high school, right around when Joe Millionaire and the like were popular. They may still be but I don’t watch them, so I wouldn’t know. Anyway, it didn’t quite end up the way it started. It actually started off as a woman being the subject of the show with women vying for her heart. She was also quite a bit younger than Gavin ended up being and it was a mess.

So, Gavin is a twenty-nine year old successful writer of historical mysteries. He writes with a pen name, however and so in his everyday life, he is a journalist for a huge newspaper in L.A. One day, his agent calls him, practically begging him to go on this bachelor reality show, but he is reluctant. He agrees, but only if none of the ladies know who he is prior to the end of the show.

The weekend before the show starts, he meets Aislinn, and by the end of the weekend, he doubts his own feelings of going on the show. He is immediately taken by her and so he must decide what to do.

It was really interesting getting into a guy’s head, when in real life, I don’t understand them at all. It was nice meeting Gavin and all the other characters. All I did was tell their story for them, while they actually did all the work. *laughs*

How do you get your character’s names?  

Here is a list of how I got them:

Gavin: Gavin is a character name on one of favorite shows called Degrassi. His name is actually Gavin Mason, but he goes by Spinner in the show. I loved the named Gavin so much, I wrote it down as one of my “to-use” names. Gavin’s name was originally Christian, which was close to Christine, so I had to change it so it wasn’t so close.

Christine: My mom’s birth name is Christine Brita, but she goes by Tina and she writes under both Tina and Brita (Addams). Christine’s name was originally Tina, but I wanted to use Christine instead.

Victoria: My niece’s name.

Aislinn: An actress named Aislinn Paul plays a character on Degrassi named Clare. I loved her name, so like with Gavin, I wrote it down and since it was Irish and I needed an Irish girl’s names, voila! Aislinn’s name was originally Fiona, which is my puppy’s name, but since it’s Scottish, and I needed her to be Irish, it had to change.

The rest of the names don’t have any significant meaning to me, so I just picked them as I was writing them.

Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers? If so, what are they? 

My only suggestion is one that I’ve been given and I used it to finish Most Eligible. Write daily! Even if it just for a little while, set some time aside and do it. Don’t burn yourself out, but try and make it a part of your daily routine. It really helps you to get motivated, especially if you give yourself a goal of when you’d like to be finished.

Plotter or Pantser? Why? I’m a little of both, actually. In Most Eligible, there was a time line I had to complete and if I hadn’t written it down, I would have been lost. When I was done mapping it out, it looked like a line chart. *laugh* I had lines going from here to there and everywhere. It was ridiculous. I will tell you it didn’t end up being what I had written down. Names changed and so did the looks of the characters. Gavin’s name started out as Christian, then it changed to Gavin when I wanted to make Gavin’s agent, Tina’s name, Christine (after my mom’s birth name) and the names were too close. Aislinn started out as Fiona, but I changed it when I decided I wanted Aislinn to be Irish and not Scottish. Victoria, the show’s producer, was Colleen, but I changed it to Victoria because that’s my niece’s name.

I plotted out what everyone looked like, particularly Gavin and Aislinn. In the big picture though, I just wrote the book with the little plotting I did and filled in the gaps. I didn’t know where Gavin would take me next half the time, but he led me to the end and for that, I’m grateful. *smile*

How do you describe your writing style? 

My writing style is a lot like how I talk. I mostly write contemporary because it’s what I know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any way opposed to research. Hell, I count on it, but I can live in the now and I’m a little more in tuned with what a person today would be thinking and feeling and saying, etc.

I really admire my mom Tina Ordone/Brita Addams because her historical romances are so on point with history because take it from me, she researches, researches, researches. I couldn’t do historical if my life depended on (but I’d try) because she is the historical novelist in the house and I’m not. I’m ok with that.

With the idea that I write how I talk, I don’t talk using modern day slang, nor do I intellectualize everything that I say. I talk like a human being, so that’s how I write too.

What is the hardest part of writing your books? 

  I think the hardest part for me is fleshing it out. I know what I want to do and I’m in a rush to get there, so I have to sit back and relax and let it happen. If I’m not on some tirade when I’m writing, I will probably come out better for it. Sometimes I have to remind myself that not everyone will know what I’m getting at in a story unless I say it, so I have to be mindful at all times that I’m not just writing to entertain myself, but others as well.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned while writing your books? I never realized before I started writing the modern day Most Eligible that your characters tell YOU what THEY want to happen. They tell you that they want a glass of bourbon or they want to go for a walk, or have dinner or breakfast or whatever. They tell you how they feel about other characters and they demand that you write it down for them. If you don’t, they will get angry and go off and do something silly. *laughs* Gavin has a very subtle sense of humor, but he does like the finer things in life. You may notice that he will find things funny when others may not, I know he made me take a step back a few times and say, “Boy, what are you thinking?” And, man, did he tell me!

Tell us about your favorite character from your books. I think that even though Most Eligible is in Gavin's POV, Aislinn is my favorite character because she was sort of based off of a character in one of my favorite books. Only a couple aspects are the same, but I love her personality and passion, plus she is totally cute on the cover. Although Jimmy Thomas is Gavin on my cover, so that's hard to beat!

Where do you research for your books? I research all over, but because my books are contemporary, all I really have to research are locations and flight durations, etc. For flight durations, I use orbitz.com.

Has someone helped or mentored you in your writing career? My mom has really helped me a lot. She is an author as well, so she helped to keep up my spirits and with the editing and suggesting process. Thanks, Mom!

Tina Marie Ordone

Show & Tell Saturday with Rita Hestand!

In the editing process right now, my second book coming out with Decadent Publishing is a civil war story. Maggie is the "Black Widow" spy for the north. She lives in northern Arkansas during the brunt of the war and plays a vital key to the victories there by the Union Army.  But Maggie has a story of her own, and it has little to do with the war. She's half mullato and half white, a runaway slave from Louisiana that seeks shelter in the mountains of Arkansas.  At sixteen she escaped the horrid plantation owner and fled for higher ground. But there is a price to pay for that freedom, and Maggie becomes one of the most famous in the Union Army. Everyone knows about the venom of the "Black Widow". At eighteen she meets Jesse Coleman, a confederate spy who has been ordered to bring her in.

Neither of these two unsuspecting people planned on falling in love so quickly, or so hard. But it happened. Jesse found Maggie irresistible and despite his orders, he couldn't stop the flames of desire. Even after making love to her thoroughly, he knew he had to bring her in, especially when she escaped to warn the Union Army. When she returned, Jesse took her captive. He knew she'd never forgive him, and it broke his heart to turn her in, because he was sure he loved her.

When the war was over, Maggie's troubles weren't. The prison guards had sworn to find her and kill her.  Making good on  their promise, Maggie left the fort, her daughter with her, and headed for Jesse's place in Texas.  Jesse helped get her in this mess, he would help get her out. He owed her. And she was collecting. Even though her heart melted from his touches, she had a new set of rules for Jesse and he would respect them. 

But could Maggie live with her own Love Rules?

This magnificent couple comes together to fight for survival, with a burning desire and a love that cannot be denied. 

 

I hope you will stop by and check this one out. It's coming soon from Decadent Publishing.

What's next, a spring off of Beyond the Dream Catcher, Lee's story, which is still in the works. A new contemporary series and many more books.  I hope you'll stop off at Decadent often and check my books out as I'll be writing up a storm.

Rita Hestand

Decadent Publishing.com

RitaHestand.com