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Calisa Rhose welcomes Erin Fanning to the Round Pen #mfrwauthor #guest #pnromance

Osiyo~

Welcome one and all! Grab a beverage of choice, something sweet and sinful. No-no, not the men. What’s the matter with you? You know the hands-on rules… The guest gets first pick! 😉 Take a comfy seat for another, or a first, spin in the Round Pen.

I’m thrilled to welcome my wonderfully talented guest today, Erin Fanning, who is sharing their book, Blood Stitches with us!

Please show Erin some real Ranch love!

Before I get to the nosy 5-3-4 part of this interview, tell us a bit about you.

I split my time between the mountains of central Idaho and the lakes and woods of northern Michigan. When not writing and reading, I can be found kayaking, hiking, skiing, biking or knitting and sometimes working on my bowling game, which has to be the most frustrating activity ever created.

I’m jealous! You have two places to inspire you, I have one. 🙂 Okay, I’ll begin with five questions, then follow with three more, and end with four final ones. My writing area at the moment is a recliner in my living room. What does your writing space look like?

I like to take my laptop and crawl into a big comfy chair, which is more conducive to reading (and napping) than writing. But I definitely get my best writing done when I’m confined to a place (like a library), where I have no distractions and can’t procrastinate by doing the dishes or laundry.

I’m a procrastinator for sure. For a lot of writers it’s a life-altering event coming up with titles and character names. Others it comes as naturally as breathing. Which is it for you?

I would say it’s probably the former—I don’t really find any of the writing process to be as easy as breathing. It’s a lot of work and coming up with titles and character names is usually a long process of brain storming and elimination.

Mine typically come easy, but lately I’ve been challenged on every one I need. LOL What advice would you offer aspiring and new writers?

Never give up: the publishing world rewards hard work and dedication. Sometimes I think success in writing has more to do with patience, perseverance, and the ability to revise than raw talent.

Very true. The constant shift of the industry makes me often scratch my head and ask ‘what next?’ So, what do you think it takes to be a successful author at the moment?

I think you have to be willing to promote yourself through all available avenues—social media, blogging, and reaching out to readers. But I also believe that many things always remain the same, which includes the time and hard work that writing requires.

I completely agree, Erin. Who would you like to meet in the publishing industry- dead or alive- and why?

I admire so many authors that’s it’s hard to narrow it down, but I think it would be lovely to have tea with Rosamunde Pilcher at her home in Scotland. I love her ability to capture the setting of her books, particularly in Winter Solstice, and it would be wonderful to ask her about her writing process.

It’s time for 3 in 1! I’ll ask the questions and you answer them in one word. 😆

Favorite animal?

Snow leopard

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter?

Summer

Favorite food?

Key lime pie

Snow leopard, cool answer! Well done! 🙂

Okay, Flash four. Ready?

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a sequel to Blood Stitches. It begins about a year after the events in Blood Stitches and continues the adventures of Gabby and her friends.

What are you sharing today?

Blood Stitches

It’s called El Toque de la Luna–The Touch of the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving–or devastating–the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head–until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters–and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.

Where can we find you and your books?

At my website/blog— erinfanning.com

You can find Blood Stitches on Amazon– www.amazon.com/Blood-Stitches-Erin-Fanning-ebook/dp/B00ONTR8I6

Barnes & Noble– www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-stitches-erin-fanning/1121044500?ean=9781616506735

and other retail outlets.

Where will you be next?

I’m heading over to Christa Maurice’s website tomorrow— christamaurice.com

What a cool coincidence, Christa will be visiting me in July. Thank you so much for playing along , Erin! Wishing you much luck with your book and writing. I hope you’ll come visit again one day.

Dodadagohvi~

Posted in Blog Tour, Interview, Pen of the Dreamer, Promotion

2 Comments

Tags: Blood Stitches, Calisa Rhose, Erin Fanning, guest, Pen of the Dreamer, Writing

Calisa Rose presents ~ Blood Stitches by Erin Fanning #NApromo #paranormal #MFRWAuthor

Feb 25

Posted by Calisa Rhose

Survival Knitting: How an earthquake inspired a book.

In 2009, an Italian woman, trapped underneath her bed after an earthquake, kept herself occupied by knitting. Author Erin Fanning read about the incident around the same time she was learning how to knit. She imagined firefighters digging through the rubble and finding the woman wrapped in a knitted afghan.

The story tumbled around in Erin’s brain, somehow intersecting with her interest in Mexican culture. From there, she discovered the Mayan twin myth and the battle with the demon Vucub Caquix. Bits and pieces of Mayan mythology adhered themselves to her imagination, morphing into a history of magic and needlework.

Soon characters formed, along with a question: what if you could not only knit your way to safety but also create a disaster through knitting? It wasn’t long afterward that Blood Stitches pushed its way through her fingertips.

Blood Stitches

By Erin Fanning

Coming May 12, 2015 from Lyrical Press

Love and danger intertwine…

Blurb:

It’s called El Toque de la Luna—The Touch of the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.

Excerpt:

A gust of wind scattered leaves across the University of Seattle campus. My hair tangled over my face. New contacts tortured my eyes, and books weighed down my backpack. It didn’t matter. A tornado could have snatched me up. As long as it carried me home and put an end to the anniversary of the worst day of my life.

“Watch out, Gabby.” My best friend Frank thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his pinstriped suit. “We’re being followed by a giant candy corn.”

“Giant candy corn? Yeah, right.” If I turned around, Frank would laugh and say, “Gotcha”, or some other dorky thing. The mind-numbing boredom of Calculus I, our last class of the day, always set Frank off, making him zanier than usual.

“I mean it. We’ve got a candy corn on our tail.” Frank whistled a Lester Ruben song as he sauntered ahead.

“Okay, okay. Let me see this Halloween wonder.” If I didn’t give in, Frank would never leave me alone. I whirled, ready to hear Frank’s laugh, and almost ran into a man. His face glowed orange, like someone who’d spent too much time in a tanning booth, and he wore a white cap pulled down to his ears. A yellow scarf hid his neck and chin. For once, Frank wasn’t kidding. The man resembled a giant candy corn.

Shredded paper and a postage stamp poked out of his scarf, and a moon decorated an edge of the knitting, like one of my older sister Esperanza’s creations. It didn’t seem possible, but no one else I knew added garbage and a signature moon to their knitting. A wool coat covered the rest of him, except his face and steel-tipped boots.

“Sorry.” I jumped back.

Frank’s chuckles mixed with squirrels chattering in a nearby tree. Drizzle moistened my forehead, and a cold dampness seeped into my bones. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, like watching Esperanza unravel her knitting one stitch at a time to fix a mistake.

***

About the author:

Erin Fanning spends her summers on a northern Michigan lake, where her imagination explores the water and dense forest for undiscovered creatures. In the winter, she migrates to central Idaho, exchanging mountain bikes and kayaks for skis and snowshoes. She’s the author of Mountain Biking Michigan, as well as numerous articles, essays, and short stories.