GUEST BLOGGER: Maria Zannini

My guest blogger for this week is Maria Zannini! Please welcome her!



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A Hit On The Side Of The Head

When I was a kid my mother used to give us a two minute warning before she launched into kamikaze mom mode. There were six of us so it was imperative she keep us in line. This was back in the day when children were seen and not heard. Yes, that's right. Olden times.

Kids being what they are, occasionally one or more of us would start to get whiny or else we'd ask too many questions, beg for too many sweets, or stand around dense as a post when we were asked a direct question.

At this juncture, my mother would sigh loudly and wave her hand palm forward and threaten the offending sibling with: "Keep it up and you'll get a hit on the side of the head."

Of course, this NEVER happened to me because I was a perfect child--I also knew my mother had a mean right hook. :o) (It's amazing I was never rechristened, "Bob-And-Weave")

But I digress.

The point is, whenever I get frustrated with myself I remember that very powerful message and counter with "D'oh!"

TOUCH OF FIRE was born as a result of a hit on the side of the head. A little more than a year ago, a friend of mine talked me into entering a hook contest at Samhain that only required the first five lines to a novel. I didn't have a book. I didn't even have an idea. But I have been a copywriter for a number of years so I said: "What the heck. I can write five lines" --and off I went.

Five weeks later, I won that contest and I floundered all day trying to figure out how to write the rest of the story.

But that very day I had also picked up an old book about the Mayas that mentioned how weird it was that their calendar stops at the year 2012. Speculation runs the gamut from the end of the world to a new beginning.

It was then my mother's imaginary hand thumped me on the side of my head. "That's it!" It was my eureka moment and the catalyst I was looking for. I've always been fascinated with post-apocalyptic stories and this was the perfect jumping off point. The story literally wrote itself.

TOUCH OF FIRE takes you 1200 years into the future and introduces you to the civilization that rose from the ashes of the 21st century. Future books will delve more into the time travel aspect and give you deeper reveals on how (and why) society changed, but this book is the seed that starts it all.

If you like futuristic fantasy, you'll love this one. It's got a touch of sci fi, paranormal and…umm…fire.

I hope you'll visit my blog and website. You can also follow me on Twitter where I occasionally say fascinating things. But more importantly, I hope you buy TOUCH OF FIRE and put a review up on the web. And if you don't see it at the bookstore--ask them to order it. Just show them a picture of my mother. They'll understand.

Want a chance to win a prize package? From now until May 28, 2009 at 12 Noon you earn a point for every time you put these words and my website link on any blog, forum, or social networking group.

The Apocalypse Is Closer Than You Think. Buy TOUCH OF FIRE by Maria Zannini.

http://www.mariazannini.com/

If you write a review for Touch Of Fire on Amazon or any other review forum, you earn 5 extra points. The person who mentions and reviews Touch Of Fire the most by 5-28-09 will receive a prize package worth $100. See my blog for details.

Thanks for reading this far and just to whet your whistle here are the lines that started it all.

The Reverend Mother used to tell acolytes that if men were going to brawl, they should at least be naked and glistening with oil.

Leda’s money was on the hulking brute with the Cydian blade, but right now she needed the other guy to win. That one had information she needed, and she wasn’t going to get it if he got himself killed. She was just about to intercede when her quarry tripped on his feet and knocked himself out cold.

Idiot.

Touch Of Fire comes out in print on April 28. Find it at:
Amazon
Barnes & Nobles
My Bookstore and More
Read an excerpt at Samhain Publishing

Thanks, Rose Marie for letting me hang out at your blog…and recalling fond memories from my childhood.

Maria, aka: Bob-And-Weave