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Recently having reviewed Tangled Minds for author Yvonne Mason, it is a great pleasure to have her here with me this week! Check out www.bookreviewsbycrystal.blogspot.com for Yvonne's review! Also she is hosting a contest for a personlized autographed copy of Tangled Minds so make sure to enter! Thanks so much Yvonne for sitting around with me this week!
(due to my blogger set up the banner may not show up clearly) Click Here to Enter the TANGLED MINDS CONTEST!
CA: What genre(s) do you write?
YM: I write in the crime genre for the most part. Murder, Mayhem and Madness!
CA: Why do you write the stories that you write?
YM: I have an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice that has enabled me to know both the criminal mind and law enforcement. I am also a bounty hunter. I hunted in Georgia before moving to South Florida in 2006. The criminal mind is an interesting mind. They all have illusions of grandeur and illusions of being smarter than those who hunt them. They are very predictable, however, including those who are serial killers and other victim type criminals. They all have a comfort zone. They all believe they are invisible.
CA: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
YM: When my mother taught me how to write which was before I even started school. I always was better at writing my emotions instead of talking about them. Most children have invisible friends when they are little. I had characters in my head fighting each other to be put down upon paper and brought to life.
CA: Who or what was your inspiration for writing?
YM: My first inspiration for serious writing came when I was in seventh grade and had to write two papers. The first was a paper based on the book In Cold Blood and it was not your ordinary book report. We had to explain which criminal was the less guilty and why. It required me to seriously consider my argument and explain it in detail at the early age of twelve.
The second paper was to write a situational story about seven people who were in the middle of a nuclear war. There was one bomb shelter. Each of the seven people had things that would contribute to the new world. The catch was the shelter could only hold five people. I had to explain who was chosen and why. These two projects required me to think outside the box and those lessons remain with me to this day.
My brother Stan is equally an inspiration - even after my writing was rejected all those years I never stopped believing - because he doesn't. Stan believes he can do anything he wants to do and will not take "you can't do that" for an answer. He finds a way. So have I . Dreams will become real when one believes. Truly believes.
CA: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
YM: Since I am semi-retired, I am able to write when I want or the characters scream to be heard. I am always writing in my head. The characters never sleep. When one hushes for a while another takes over.
CA: Your book is about to be sent into the reader world, what is one word that describes how you feel?
YM: This is like giving birth. Tangled Minds is my second published work. Stan's Story, A Touch of Love was my first. Stan's Story took 25 years to complete and another 10 years of rejections before it was born. The feeling is comparable to sending your child out on its own for the first time. You know you have done the best you can do in raising it. You only hope that you have done enough. Once it has left the nest you turn your attention to those left at home and watch from afar as the fledgling finds its way in the world. So it is with my books. They are fledglings leaving the nest. I only hope I have raised them right and that those who find them will enjoy them and pass them on to others. In every book I write there is more than a story. There is something for each reader to keep with them long after the last page is turned.
CA: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
YM: It seems like I am always writing but when I am not I like to research other stories, grow orchids, and travel.
CA: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
YM: Tangled Minds is my second. Stan's Story, A Touch of Love was my first. My third, Brilliant Insanity, will be out in the fall of 2008. In 2009 there will be a true crime book released. It is the story of Gerard Schaefer who was the first serial killer in South Florida where I live. Behind these, there are several more waiting to emerge.
As to which is my favorite, that is like asking me which child is my favorite. I have no favorite. I love them all because each has contributed to my life in different ways. Stan's Story brought courage, hope and the feeling that if we accept ourselves for whom we really are then we have already succeeded. This book is about my brother who is challenged. Tangled Minds brought healing in novel form. While the characters for this novel were all my imagination, the basis for the story was real. Brilliant Insanity brought my love for the criminal mind to the forefront. It gave me the opportunity to entertain while showing how serial killers really portray themselves in their world. The Gerard Schaefer story is long over due. This book brings to the world the destruction of lives, which should have never happened. It shows how a cop in Martin County used his badge to kill at least nine women and maybe as many as 34.
CA: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
YM: Both. Stan's Story is about my brother who was born in 1952 when there were no resources for the challenged. The doctors told my mother to either put him away or prepare to bury him. He was never given any chance of success. My mother refused and Stan succeeded in his life and is still successful today. Tangled Minds is a novel based on a real crime that happened in Gainesville, Georgia. A young man I knew went to prison for ten years because of his involvement with the crime in this story. Brilliant Insanity is all my imagination but my husband was the inspiration and idea for the book. He is retired from the State Attorney's office in South Florida. Gerard Schaefer is real and he was one of the cruelest and most horrible serial killers to date. Trust me when I say this book is being written in a way that has never been done before.
CA: How can a reader contact you or purchase your books?
YM: My books can be purchased online at http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.barnes&noble.com/ or http://www.borders.com/. They also can request the bookstores to special order as well. Any readers who would like a signed copy, which I love, can reach me at http://us.f812.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ysam51@yahoo.com for information.
In closing, I would like to say - without readers we as writers would have no reason to write - we greatly appreciate them as well as their continued support for our craft.
CA: What's this I hear about a contest?
YM: I write in the crime genre for the most part. Murder, Mayhem and Madness!
CA: Why do you write the stories that you write?
YM: I have an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice that has enabled me to know both the criminal mind and law enforcement. I am also a bounty hunter. I hunted in Georgia before moving to South Florida in 2006. The criminal mind is an interesting mind. They all have illusions of grandeur and illusions of being smarter than those who hunt them. They are very predictable, however, including those who are serial killers and other victim type criminals. They all have a comfort zone. They all believe they are invisible.
CA: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
YM: When my mother taught me how to write which was before I even started school. I always was better at writing my emotions instead of talking about them. Most children have invisible friends when they are little. I had characters in my head fighting each other to be put down upon paper and brought to life.
CA: Who or what was your inspiration for writing?
YM: My first inspiration for serious writing came when I was in seventh grade and had to write two papers. The first was a paper based on the book In Cold Blood and it was not your ordinary book report. We had to explain which criminal was the less guilty and why. It required me to seriously consider my argument and explain it in detail at the early age of twelve.
The second paper was to write a situational story about seven people who were in the middle of a nuclear war. There was one bomb shelter. Each of the seven people had things that would contribute to the new world. The catch was the shelter could only hold five people. I had to explain who was chosen and why. These two projects required me to think outside the box and those lessons remain with me to this day.
My brother Stan is equally an inspiration - even after my writing was rejected all those years I never stopped believing - because he doesn't. Stan believes he can do anything he wants to do and will not take "you can't do that" for an answer. He finds a way. So have I . Dreams will become real when one believes. Truly believes.
CA: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
YM: Since I am semi-retired, I am able to write when I want or the characters scream to be heard. I am always writing in my head. The characters never sleep. When one hushes for a while another takes over.
CA: Your book is about to be sent into the reader world, what is one word that describes how you feel?
YM: This is like giving birth. Tangled Minds is my second published work. Stan's Story, A Touch of Love was my first. Stan's Story took 25 years to complete and another 10 years of rejections before it was born. The feeling is comparable to sending your child out on its own for the first time. You know you have done the best you can do in raising it. You only hope that you have done enough. Once it has left the nest you turn your attention to those left at home and watch from afar as the fledgling finds its way in the world. So it is with my books. They are fledglings leaving the nest. I only hope I have raised them right and that those who find them will enjoy them and pass them on to others. In every book I write there is more than a story. There is something for each reader to keep with them long after the last page is turned.
CA: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
YM: It seems like I am always writing but when I am not I like to research other stories, grow orchids, and travel.
CA: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
YM: Tangled Minds is my second. Stan's Story, A Touch of Love was my first. My third, Brilliant Insanity, will be out in the fall of 2008. In 2009 there will be a true crime book released. It is the story of Gerard Schaefer who was the first serial killer in South Florida where I live. Behind these, there are several more waiting to emerge.
As to which is my favorite, that is like asking me which child is my favorite. I have no favorite. I love them all because each has contributed to my life in different ways. Stan's Story brought courage, hope and the feeling that if we accept ourselves for whom we really are then we have already succeeded. This book is about my brother who is challenged. Tangled Minds brought healing in novel form. While the characters for this novel were all my imagination, the basis for the story was real. Brilliant Insanity brought my love for the criminal mind to the forefront. It gave me the opportunity to entertain while showing how serial killers really portray themselves in their world. The Gerard Schaefer story is long over due. This book brings to the world the destruction of lives, which should have never happened. It shows how a cop in Martin County used his badge to kill at least nine women and maybe as many as 34.
CA: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
YM: Both. Stan's Story is about my brother who was born in 1952 when there were no resources for the challenged. The doctors told my mother to either put him away or prepare to bury him. He was never given any chance of success. My mother refused and Stan succeeded in his life and is still successful today. Tangled Minds is a novel based on a real crime that happened in Gainesville, Georgia. A young man I knew went to prison for ten years because of his involvement with the crime in this story. Brilliant Insanity is all my imagination but my husband was the inspiration and idea for the book. He is retired from the State Attorney's office in South Florida. Gerard Schaefer is real and he was one of the cruelest and most horrible serial killers to date. Trust me when I say this book is being written in a way that has never been done before.
CA: How can a reader contact you or purchase your books?
YM: My books can be purchased online at http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.barnes&noble.com/ or http://www.borders.com/. They also can request the bookstores to special order as well. Any readers who would like a signed copy, which I love, can reach me at http://us.f812.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ysam51@yahoo.com for information.
In closing, I would like to say - without readers we as writers would have no reason to write - we greatly appreciate them as well as their continued support for our craft.
CA: What's this I hear about a contest?
YM: I value my readers and fans very much. To show my appreciation, I am running a contest to win a personalized autographed copy of Tangled Minds. Details can be found on my "Tangled Minds Contest" blog located on my Myspace website http://www.myspace.com/authorsdream57. The contest will run from February 11, 2008 through March 3, 2008.
(due to my blogger set up the banner may not show up clearly) Click Here to Enter the TANGLED MINDS CONTEST!
6 comments:
What an interesting life you have had! I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to be a bounty hunter. (Perhaps there are characters in your mind telling you a book should be written about this!)
You are an inspiration to writers who want nothing more than to simply write, and yet their words cannot see the light of day.
Kudos to Stan for keeping you going and to you as well for hanging in there all of these years.
Your hard work is paying off and I wish you much success!
wow, thats waht i always wanted to do. LIVE life
how very lucky you are@!!
HI Ravenn and blackroze! I totally agree with both of you, it must be awesome being a bounty hunter! And think it would make for a great story!
Yvonne also does something really cool, growing orchids! I love them...they're so beautiful and fragile. I've never had a real orchid b/c its supposed to be very hard to care for them. Maybe Yvonne can give me some tips on how to keep them alive :)
Wow! This one sounds really intriguing. I'll have to visit the links next.
I'm still shuddering about the serial killer. Eeeuuuwww.
Kudos to your mom and your brother, and to you for bringing all this together in beautiful stories.
I have had bounty hunters on the brain, and here I read an interview with someone who lived the life! (I write historical fiction and have drug addicted bounty hunter of sorts running amok in my book. He is on the wrong side of the law however) I would think it is a very stressful but facinating life.
Jennifer
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