Saturday, July 28, 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

D. Musgrave grew up being told more often than not that daydreaming was a waste of time. What a crock that turned out to be. Those wild, fanciful dreams were to one day become the fodder for the erotic tales that now flow onto the pages of D.'s stories.

Since then, a variety of genres have been dabbled in, but the 'other' works had no audience, until he connected to the Internet and a whole new world of possibilities for his writing unfolded. Many struggles and much effort later, D. discovered that he indeed could write and, most surprisingly, people wanted to read the words that spilled out of his mind. If anyone is interested in sampling those daydreams that became stories, please visit D.'s website: www.dmusgrave.com.


ABOUT THE BOOK:


BLURB:

Emily is trying to rebuild her life after the loss of her fiancé. As she's having a house built on her family's land, she discovers that her great-great grandfather was the leader of a Calvary brigade that massacred an Indian village. A set of strange hauntings begins and Emily must find some way to repay her ancestor's debt and find peace in her new life before she loses everything, including her mind.

EXCERPT:

Her scream echoed through the valley. Emily hit the kill switch on the tiller as fast as she could. The tines slowed to a stop, but not before more bones were dug up by the plow. She jumped to the side, trying not to step on the skull that had rolled out on top of the ridge of dirt. At first, she didn't believe her eyes when she saw the first long white bone. When she saw another, then another, she knew something wasn't right. But it wasn't until she saw the human skull pop up out of the soil that she believed it was anything more than a dead animal.

All she could do was look at the skull, staring back up at her. There was a large hole in the forehead that looked as if something sharp and hard had stabbed through the head. Dirt was packed into the eye sockets and worms oozed out of the holes in the cheeks. It looked as if it were smiling at her, but that couldn't be. There was no skin or hair left on it. She reached out with the toe of her boot and flipped the skull over. The back was caved in and it looked as if something hard had bashed in the back of the head. Suddenly, she felt cold, even in the blazing summer sun. She rubbed her arms, but still she shivered.

Crouching down, she reached out to touch the skull. When her fingertips made contact with the cold bone, a loud rolling yell rang in her ears. Snatching her arm back, she fell on her backside and thought she saw the skull move. She reached out again and touched the skull. This time there was no sound.

Shaking her head, Emily climbed to her feet. She told herself that she was being stupid. Just because all the locals believed that the ghosts of the Cherokee warriors who died in the Black Witch Creek Massacre haunted her land, didn't make the stories true. It was just ghost stories. No superstitious story was going scare her off the land her family had owned for generations.


INTERVIEW:

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
When I first saw the following blurb on the cover of the MYST RPG box cover art, it rekindled a desire to write that I'd long ignored and pushed out of my mind.

The reader is entertained by the journey of another, but the writer is the changer of worlds. D'ni proverb.

Once I returned to writing, I wrote a handful of very rough and short stories. I posted them on a small net community of fellow writers. The feedback was astounding. Not only did I have the stories to tell, but people wanted to read my wicked words.

Looking back into my youth, I've always been inclined to create stories to entertain myself. I was the boy in the back of the classroom who was always staring out the window. Now, those silent pauses are when I'm 'working'.

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
I love the whole creative process. I get a huge sense of gratification out of taking a story idea that's been bouncing around in my head and bringing it to life on the page. I even enjoy the editing and revision process.

The one part of being an author that I'm not crazy about is the vast amount of promotions it takes to get my name recognized. It's a process that I don't ever feel is completed. There's such a balancing act too. I have to be cautious not to promote too much, but still do just enough so my name is recognized.

However, I love talking about writing with readers and fellow authors. That makes the promotions easier to undertake.

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
This is a tough one for me and many other writers. I have to work a full time job to support myself, add to that the upheaval of life in general; finding a steady time to write is a challenge. For me, I need a good chunk of time without interruptions to create effectively. I have to get myself into the right mindset and that can take as much time as the writing itself.

So just getting blocks of time here and there has never worked for me. It's more a matter of scheduling a set time every day. In essence making an appointment to write. Unfortunately, the only guaranteed time is in the early mornings. It's been rough, but it's just a sacrifice I'm willing to make to have the opportunity to write.

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
I've written in a vast array of methods. It largely depends on the story I'm writing at the time. If it's a shorter piece, I'll have a blurb or some short synopsis to keep the main storyline in mind at all times. With the longer, more detailed works, I've found that a detailed chapter by chapter outline is the only way I can keep all the major plotlines and subplots in the right order.

Currently, I've rediscovered the classic tried and true method of carrying a notebook with me most of the time. That way when a thought strikes me, I'll whip it out and jot down the thought, or if I have time, expand a bit on the thought. That doesn't work well in all situations, like going out on the town. It's hard to explain to someone why I'm bringing a notebook into the pub, restaurant, or movie.

As for how my story ideas form; they come to me in a plethora of ways. I've had as little as a sentence spark a storyline, while other times, I've had a full blown character develop in my mind over a period of time, then one day, they beg me to tell their story.
That doesn't sound schizophrenic does it?

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I have and continue to write in several different genres. I'm comfortable in everything from erotic romance, to mainstream crime thrillers. The key to me is the story itself. I don't go into a story with a predetermined genre. Telling the story as it needs to be told is what matters, the genre will be what it is.

I write because I have to. My muse won't let me stop. Even if I never sold another story, I'd still write. I just love it too much to imagine stopping.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Most of my characters are a composite of people I've met or have known for years. There are a few characters based on real life people, but out of respect, I won't name them here. I will say this much, every character in Foxy! A Smoking Hot Tale of Bikers and Babes was based on real people and several real events from my past.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I can't say I have a favorite character. I loved them all for differing reasons. Jake Edmonds from Foxy was a fun one because of his growth and the depth he revealed as I discovered his story. Richard Hurtz in Jaded Dick was just great fun. Being able to dig into a character who hid his pain and self doubt behind a wall of cynicism and bitterness was a blast.

Most recently, I've revived a character who made an appearance in my short story, The Vault from Hidden Treasures: Discovering Eros. There was something about his strength that made me want to be him. He was in charge of guarding and cataloguing all the great works of an era, but he was also ran a household of submissives. The character was so powerful that I knew his story had to be told. Right now, the plan is to have his story detailed in the first of a series tentatively titled Portal of Eros.

Portal of Eros - Ascension: Kreed's story.

Ascension is the first title of the Portal of Eros series. It tells the story of Kreed. A young man who's a lost soul. He arrives in a world unknown to him through a portal in a book. Unbeknownst to him, he was summoned from his known realm to this other existence by a woman of great power—the Keeper of the Portal.

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
I want readers to be entertained and get an escape from the noise of life. To me there's no comparison to the rejuvenation I get from reading. It's more interactive than even the most so-called interactive forms of entertainment. The reader decides how things appear in their mind's eye and if the story is compelling, they can feel a part of the story.

Beyond that, if someone discovers that their wants and needs aren't wrong or wicked, then that's good too. GRIN

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
I'd say read your contemporaries. That's the first thing I did once I decided to take writing seriously. It's not important to find an author to emulate, it's more important to know what others are doing.

Second, take your time to learn the craft of writing stories. Most people were never taught how to write a book. We were only given the basics of what it takes to communicate. To truly understand how to craft a compelling story takes real work and practice.

What are you reading right now?
I'm not currently reading any erotic romance. My nephew has goaded me into reading a series he's discovered. Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's surprisingly well done. I was worried that it would be too much like the Harry Potter series, but it's not even close. I'm not feeling like this was dumbed down for the younger audience. It's got enough sophistication that adults can enjoy it too.

If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be?
I would love to be a full-time writer and still support myself. That's one of the big myths of being published. Just having a book, or many books, published does not guarantee financial comfort.


REVIEWS:

Rating: 8 Gargoyles
"Romantic, tender, sensual, and erotic, Blood Creek Haunting is a noteworthy tale. This is more than Emily's love story; readers are given a glimpse of Little Deer and Fighting Eagle's love story. As a romantic, I enjoy the idea of loves finding each other after years of separation or even realizing what was before them all along, something Musgrave brings to life admirably. In the dedication, Musgrave mentions trying new genres and this novella proves his/her ability to write romance well. Not to be missed."
-- Safiya Tremayne, In The Library

***

"BLOOD CREEK HAUNTING is a sizzling read in just 60 pages. Musgrave serves up a mixture of sexual stimulation and the paranormal in quite a satisfying batch. When Emily confronts her desire for Tessa, the heat fairly jumps off of the pages. Be careful not to singe your fingers while reading this one."
-- Ariel Summer, RRT Erotic Reviews


Blood Creek Haunting by Derek Musgrave
ISBN 1-59426-991-2
Rating: 3 Novas
Length: Photon (25K words)
Release Date: March, 2007
$3.50 from Phaze Publishing


Purchase Blood Creek Haunting by Derek Musgrave HERE!!