Made by MeghanI'm a writer. I also bake. And knit. A lot. My novels are available anywhere ebooks/paperbacks/audiobooks are sold online. Find more info on my blog: http://www.madebymeghan.ca
These sweet peas just came into bloom (that is how awful our weather has been in Vancouver this spring/summer). They are in the window box on the kitchen window so I can see them from inside while prepping dinner or baking – so pretty and sweet (they are obviously aptly named). The pinks really stand out against the mountain of green that is this years garden.
Not sure this could even be considered a small batch harvest… maybe a teeny, tiny harvest?
However tiny, this luscious handful of berries rocked last night’s ice cream dessert, so there are certainly no complains in the (big!!) taste department.
After The Virus is now available on iBooks.
$2.99 (allowing for currency conversions) on all six i-Tunes stores:
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So please select one of the above links to read this post-apocalyptic love story via iBooks.
Synopsis: After the virus decimates 99.9% of the world’s population, and all traces of humanity along with it, Rhiannon and Will are forced to move beyond their past fame, fortune, and personal demons to rescue a mute girl from the clutches of two warring cults.
Keywords: post-apocalyptic, dystopia, survival, zombies, suspense, thriller, horror, love
Categories: Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Action-Adventure, Fiction
ENJOY!!
Coming soon: iBooks!!
It is pissing rain Vancouver. PISSING. I can feel my autumn instincts trying to kick in. Suddenly, I crave hot chocolate paired with a good book, or to bake dinner rolls or corn bread or at least a bunch of cookies, with spaghetti or maybe chili for dinner… then knitting a blanket or sweater in front of the TV afterwards.
Except the TV currently sucks and I’ve barely managed to harvest anything out of the garden! WTF?
I guess we are just skipping spring and summer this year, hey Vancouver?
This post is part of a Blog Tour supporting Indie Authors and their self-published books. I hope you enjoy getting a little bit of insight into the writer’s mind & craft. If you like what you read, please consider supporting the author by checking out their work (links below).
Pitch us your book!
A self-deluded corporate loser encounters an eccentric woman from the desert who shows him another way of looking at life and at himself.
What compelled you to write this particular story?
I encountered a coyote on the way to work one morning. It stood on a hill in one of the last vacant lots of desert near central Las Vegas. From an aerial perspective, imagine a postage stamp of brown surrounded by an endless sea of clay-tile rooftops. That little square of brown was its home. Nearly every morning I used to see it there, chasing hares, transporting pups, sniffing around for grub. This time it was just standing still, watching the sun rise over the Strip. I never saw it again after that. The lot now lies beneath a subdivision of cheap, cookie-cutter tract homes, and the only wildlife left in that part of town are pigeons, cockroaches, and rats.
Did you stumble upon any interesting facts or trivia or insights while writing and/or researching your book? How did you incorporate this into your work?
I didn’t have to research much as I’ve lived in Las Vegas for over thirteen years, and four of those years were spent shuttling tourists around in a bus and limousine. While chatting with passengers I used to impart plenty of trivia and Vegas-related facts. Sometimes I got uncomfortable looks. Did you know that the Luxor is one of the most common places people commit suicide?
Pitch us your next book and/or project!
My next book, Saw a Rainbow, is a metaphysical thriller about an ancient general who wakes up as a homeless drunk, with partial amnesia, in modern Las Vegas. I love movies that mess with your mind: Inception, The Matrix, The Truman Show, Memento, Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you like those movies, you should enjoy my next book.
What are a few of your favourite things (books/movies/comics/hobbies, etc?)
I’ve mentioned some movies. I love books that make me see things differently — stories that whisk me away to strange mental landscapes. Books by authors like Haruki Murakami, Masanobu Fukouka, Douglas Adams, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Raymond Carver, Anne Rice. I love prose that is economical yet colorful. I like coffee and wide open spaces.
Favourite cookie?
Rosettes. Though I’ve never had a cookie someone made for me that I didn’t like.
Where can we find more of you (website/blog/twitter/goodreads, etc.)?
Indie Snippets — where I help promote indie authors.
Bryan Dennis – Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Check out Bryan’s novel, An Epitaph for Coyote, here:
AMAZON US
AMAZON UK
SMASHWORDS
I have not had the opportunity (aka time) to read Bryan’s book, but his sample pages are awaiting me on my iPAD. Bryan’s novel, A Epitaph for a Coyote, has some great reviews including this one:
“This is an intelligent and at times very funny novel as unpredictable as life, and as memorable. The “message” is so cleverly presented as well-written and engaging fiction that one may find oneself rereading the last few chapters, again and again.” — Publisher’s Weekly
Continuing the blog tour theme around here, check out this guest post on Lena Hillbrand’s blog in which I pontificate on the the use of screenplay structure in the 1st draft of a novel.
Now, if I only followed my own advice, think how many more of these first draft novels I’d have completed!
This post is part of a Blog Tour supporting Indie Authors and their self-published books. I hope you enjoy getting a little bit of insight into the writer’s mind & craft. If you like what you read, please consider supporting the author by checking out their work (links below).
Q. Pitch us your book!
A. Draven is just another law-abiding vampire citizen in a world ruled by vampires—until one night he catches Cali, an escaped human. What begins as one small act of defiance against his society forever alters the course of his mundane life when he vows to purchase the human, whatever the cost.
Q. What compelled you to write this particular story?
A. I had read a couple other vampire books where the vampires were very powerful and even had superpowers. I wondered why they didn’t try to dominate humans, since they were clearly capable. Plus, they’re the next step up on the food chain, so it makes sense that they’d control the human population. I decide to write a book (or seven) about it.
Q. Did you stumble upon any interesting facts or trivia or insights while writing and/or researching your book? How did you incorporate this into your work?
A. I did some research on vampires, which was very interesting and fun! I got to learn a lot of different vampire lore from all different countries. I think the only unplanned thing that made it into my books was an incubus slipped into one after I read about them.
Q. Pitch us your next book and/or project!
A. That’s easy! My next book is the next book in the series. It’s called The Vigilantes. You might think you know what it’s about after reading the first one, but it definitely won’t be what people are expecting. Or at least I don’t think so.
Q. What are a few of your favourite things (books/movies/comics/hobbies, etc?)
A. I love reading, talking about books, writing, etc. Also I scrapbook when I have time and try to spend time outside when I can. My love of nature makes it into most of my books. And I love music, chocolate, funny movies, and my family, although not in that order!
Q. Favourite cookie?
A. Homemade oatmeal raisin.
Q. Where can we find more of you (website/blog/twitter/goodreads, etc.)?
After the Virus received a new review on Amazon.com yesterday. I’ve copied & pasted from the Amazon.com page for After the Virus to share here:
4 out of 5 stars
Kicks serious ass, June 28, 2011
By Scott F Gray
This review is from: After the Virus (Kindle Edition)
Deftly mixing post-apocalyptic survivor thriller tropes with a wickedly morbid sense of humor, Meghan Ciana Doidge’s “After the Virus” manages to be both the funniest and most kick-ass action/adventure narrative I’ve read in ages. (Not exactly a spoiler, but skip this but if you like to be completely surprised when you read: “The Boss, completely focused on Snickers, turned to violently vault the girl across the room. Instead, he discovered the three-inch-heel of her previously so impractical shoe buried his throat, which was a bitch, as she’d aimed for his eye.”)
The novel tells the story of two survivors of a world-destroying biological plague — A-list actress Rhiannon, who finds herself the unwitting central figure in the plots of a maniacal fascist boss; and ex-pro quarterback Will, intent on living his life alone but looked to by a population of scattered survivors desperate for someone to lead them. The darkness of the story speaks to the trials of its characters and the strength of its setting (which will particularly resonate with any resident of Vancouver who’s ever asked “Could this city possibly be more unlivable?”) But at the same time, Doidge builds her narrative on a firm foundation of hope for the future, manifested in an 8-year-old girl known only as Snickers, who becomes the point of emotional entanglement connecting Will and Rhiannon as they’re dragged through the darkness and back out again.
BUY THE BOOK – Kindle USA
BUY THE BOOK – Kindle UK
BUY THE BOOK – ePUB via Goodreads