Month: October 2017

Have you met Kelsey Ferrara?

Kelsey Ferrara, Editorial Novella Intern – Ink Smith Publishing

Kelsey has had an unwavering love of reading and writing ever since she was very young. She dreams of one day becoming a published author and has tackled a number of literary projects in order to improve her writing. Kelsey graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in English and a minor in Professional Writing. This minor allowed her to focus on Multimedia Communications which emphasized coding and digital writing methods. While attending this beautiful college, she also wrote for the campus newspaper and contributed regular columns to the food section. Outside of school, she worked as an editor for a number of different publications including The Fox Magazine and Vocalady Magazine. She is currently working on Shelli Frew’s sci-fi, time traveling novel Time Sailors while interning with Ink Smith Publishing.

The Last Odinian is Coming!

When Edward Koenig arrives at the lonely coastal town of Pinemist Bay, the only thing on his mind is finding his family. With just a telepathic message from his daughter to guide him, only one thing is clear. His wife and daughter are in mortal danger.

In order to find them, Koenig must place his trust in a few locals and delve headlong into the mysterious past of Pinemist Bay – a past centered around an ancient Scandinavian pagan rite that has all but vanished from the rest of the world.

Beneath its insouciant guise, Pinemist Bay conceals both the hidden truth of Koenig’s family’s past and the key to an intrinsic bond with his daughter that he never could have imagined. But in order to save her, he must first play cat and mouse with a zealous pagan cult whose only goal is to lure him into the arms of an arcane presence that waits in the shadows of the pine forest.

Say Hello to Eric Marsh!

Eric Marsh, Editorial Fiction Intern – Ink Smith Publishing

Eric Marsh’s fiction has appeared in The Bicycle Review and 12th Street Literary Journal. He received a B.A. in Creative Writing from The New School where he was a Riggio Honors Fellow. He has lived in Minneapolis, Brooklyn, Portland, and Los Angeles where he is now working on his second novel.

My Desk

A short, true story, by author Helen Pugsley.

 

I had the stupendous and rare fortune of purchasing my mentor’s home, The Nest, as she named it. June Wilson Read and I shared the only town I want to live in all through my childhood. She has helped me in all things writing since I began. Being in her 80’s she wanted to move closer to family. With her home came her desk. A door laid across two wooden filing cabinets.

“I’m so happy you’re the one getting my house!” she said, “And my writing desk!”

I grinned through that last part. I was and am madly in love with the sun-drenched cottage but as soon as a replacement could be found I had every intention of throwing the door down a ditch and stacking the filing cabinets on top of each other to save on floor space. I could use one of the nice metal desks my family keeps in the garage until I got the guts and finances to purchase an antique roll-top!

But winter came…

First, my mother said, “You’re going to trade wood and good memories for cold steel?!”

Being porous, wood absorbs a lot of things. That’s why I won’t use wooden cutting boards. As well as beef blood I hope wood sops up talent! “Ack! Fine. I don’t feel like moving the heavy summagun anyway,” I reasoned to her.

Next, there was going to be a washer dryer set there, right in my dining room.

“But Dad! Actually having a desk will keep me from writing in bed!” A terrible habit. Guess where I penned this?

“You should really quit doing that! But find somewhere else. The washer and dryer will go here.” You can’t argue too much when someone is financing the labor and the appliances.

However, the contractor inadvertently took my side. “A water line on an exterior wall? Are you crazy?!” The huge, rectangular window is amazing for gleaning enough natural light to write by until twilight. It is not so great for keeping water lines above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A stackable apartment sized washer/dryer will now set next to my oven.

When she left she handed me a pile of pelts. June was truly a Wyoming woman. Not knowing what else to do with them, I set them in one corner of the desk in a neat pile with an axe. Later, the axe got moved to my bedside.

A short while ago a neighbor of mine wanted some kittens. In a week she discovered she was horribly allergic. So now Iris and Wilhelm live with me. When they’re not in their heated bed they like to sleep in the pelt pile on my desk. I like to think of it as the kitten annex.

Even newer than the kittens is a kitchen chair I picked up at a second-hand shop for under $10. The silk seat is perfect for resting my feet on when I’m feeling rebellious. I sit with my tooshy on the desk and a notebook in my lap.

One day my mother and I got to looking at the door-desk very carefully and realized it’s probably my closet door. It is literally a part of my home. I can’t just throw it down a ditch! Not when the empty door knob socket is perfect for stringing a laptop cord through! And how could I when that desk is where June Wilson Read penned most of her book, Frontier Madam?! Maybe parts of Whistle Creek and Other Wyoming Tales. Also a score of unpublished works she tells me she keeps in a trunk. How could I throw it down a ditch?! That’s my desk!

 

About Helen

Helen M. PugsleyHelen comes from a small town of twenty in eastern Wyoming. She has been passionate about writing since she was small. Helen enjoys traveling and is always thrilled to excite friends with tales of playing music on the streets for money, conversing with the drunks who frequent gutters, and the epic struggle of finding a decent bath when living in a car. Visit her on Facebook‘s War and Chess page!

#ShareYourGlass Free Book Giveaway!

#ShareYourGlass with @inksmithpublishing for your chance to win a copy of D.A.Sciortino’s debut novel, Just How Long is a Lifetime! Just snap and post a photo of your wine glass, tag us in your photo, and use the hashtag #ShareYourGlass for your chance to win this love story that transcends time and space.
#love #freebooks #lovestory #wine#contest #giveaway #free #fiction#bookgiveaway #sip #liquidgrapes
Contest ends November 1!

Winner will be notified via Instagram message.

 

About Just How Long is a Lifetime?

When Luisa, a young girl in nineteenth-century Sicily, falls in love with Giovanni, she is destined for heartache. Luisa’s father has plans for her – to marry the heir of the vineyard that both Luisa’s and

Giovanni’s families work on. Avoiding trouble, Giovanni’s father decides to leave the vineyard after the young couple is caught together.

Following her father’s orders, Luisa marries the heir, Lorenzo, and together they build a family. But fate leads Giovanni back to the vineyard, this time working for Luisa’s husband. All too soon, Lorenzo learns of their past and jealousy sets the barn on fire.

While Giovanni perishes in the flames, Luisa remains unharmed – and extraordinarily, eternally 32. As her family ages around her, Luisa is forced to adapt to each new decade, the mystery of the fire burning in the back of her mind. Will Luisa finally find the answers to a happy ending, or is time against her even when things start to fall into place?

Welcome, Angela Johnson!

Angela Johnson, Children’s Editor Intern – Native Ink Press

Angela is an educator, editor, writer, and poet. She received her Masters of Fine Arts and Masters of Science in Education in New York City where she worked as an elementary school teacher. Her classroom was always filled with literature and she learned earlier on in her tenure that she wanted to edit/write children’s books. Angela has been an editor for two years, and currently works as a freelance writer and poet.

Meet Rachel Allcock!

Rachel Allcock, Editorial Fantasy Intern – Ink Smith Publishing

Rachel recently graduated with her B.A. in the Arts, majoring in English with Creative Writing Emphasis and a minor in History. She grew up around literature ever since entering the hallowed halls of the library and bookstores. She has been interested in book publishing ever since her third-grade trip to a bookbinding facility. Her love for words influenced her overactive imagination to someday bring her own characters and stories to life, with hopes to be published. Reading and writing give Rachel a passionate and compassionate purpose in life. Rachel believes books provide life lessons and assistance when one suffers from harsh world realities. Her current project with Ink Smith is with Nicki Cusumano and her debut novel Death’s Smile!

Have you met Kayla Darling?

Kayla Darling, Editorial Fantasy Intern – Ink Smith Publishing

Kayla Darling graduated from Lycoming College with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing.  An avid reader and writer, she can usually be found with her nose in a book or squinting at a computer screen, and hasn’t been without a personal writing project since elementary school.  She currently works as a content writer, in addition to interning with Ink Smith. We are ecstatic that we have her. Her current project is with new author A. R. Masterson and her book Love of the Sea, a YA adventure novel filled with mermaids, sailors, and a fight for a crown.

Meet Lorna Brown!

Lorna Brown, author of Debris (available in Spring 2018), has been writing for at least 13 years whenever she gets the chance. She earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College, and her stories have been published in numerous magazines. She lives in Massachusetts and goes back to her hometown in Ireland when she’s working on a story. She loves getting up at 5:30am-6:00am when the house is quiet to get work done (although she can’t stand it if there are no bananas!), or after her daughters go to sleep. And even when she’s not physically writing, she’s always thinking about her stories.

Regarding Debris specifically, the final draft is actually a rewrite of a story she wrote years ago. The story changed a lot from the rough draft to the final cut, so she essentially had to start over. She only spent four months (on the rewrite, when everything was all said and done) writing Debris, but she learned a lot of lessons along the way. Writing this book has helped her figure out her writing style and method, such as wanting to have a more detailed outline for her plots and subplots, as well as character development.

She has three daughters who she loves immensely and says they’ve made her a “big softie”- so much so she cries easily when she watches movies and shows, like The Voice. She loves to go hiking with her family and their dog and sees life as an adventure. She’s traveled extensively and finds it hard to stay in one place.

She is very excited for Debris to be available to the public. The release date for this fiction piece is Spring 2018 under the pen name L.M. Brown.