MISTER JANUARY: ED WILLIAMS

Rie: First off, let me say thank you, thank you, thank you for being Mister January, Ed. If anyone can pull Mister January, it's you! Ed and I are old friends but we haven't spoken much lately. As with everyone, we get busy, we have our families and lives and then the holidays showed up again…whew! Anyway, Ed, as always, is the epitome of the southern gentleman and he always makes me laugh.

Ed, I recently read that your book Sex, Dead Dogs, and Me is being revived at Champagne Books. What's that all about?

Ed: Rie, first off, thanks for havin' me, it's always fun to play online with you! Sex, Dead Dogs, and Me, it's funny. It's my very first book and was published in hardback back in 1998. First thing I've ever written in my life, and it ended up being published through a series of fluke-type events that can only be described as Forrest Gump-like. After it was published, it actually starting selling. After initially appearing in three bookstores in Macon, Georgia, it ended up being stocked nationally in the Books A Million stores and all over the southeast in the Barnes and Nobles. It literally, and literarily, got me out there, all the speaking gigs and articles and subsequent books came from it.

Fast forward to the present. SDDAM has been officially out of print for years as the small Texas publisher who initially put it out closed up shop. Even at that, copies still sell on Amazon and other outlets sometimes for fairly significant bucks. Seeing that, Ellen and I talked about potentially offering it again in the current digital formats, so that's what we've decided to do. I'm pleased to announce that Sex, Dead Dogs, and Me will be released by Champagne Books in January of 2011!

Rie: Last year you wrote a book called ChristmaSin and the reviews were varied. What do reviews mean to you?

Ed: I think they express one person's opinion about your work, and that's fine. I knew ChristmaSin' was going to be interpreted differently by the people who've read it. It's written in the first person - I'm actually narrating it as a sixteen year old boy back in my hometown of Juliette, Georgia (its one claim to fame is it's where the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed). I took actual events that happened there years ago and weaved them into a pretty real rural Southern Christmas story. Since the book was written using the dialect and slang of the time and featured some adult language and events like cockfights, I knew it wasn't the typical Christmas story. As a result, I expected the reviews to be mixed and I'm glad they were, I really don't want to be everyone's cup of homogenized tea.

Rie: I read you have been the guest speaker at the Kiwanis International, Rotary International, and the American Advertising Federation. How did that come about?

Ed: After SDDAM got popular, I was asked to appear on the Georgia Public Radio program Cover to Cover. I didn't realize it at the time, but that program is really popular, has been for years. My hour long stint on it garnered lots of call-in interest, I was told afterwards we drew more callers and listeners than they'd ever enjoyed before. A few days after the program aired I got a call from the Georgia Kiwanis Organization, and they invited me to speak to a luncheon meeting they were having at their upcoming statewide conference on Jekyll Island. I agreed to do it, thinking I'd get a night or two of free lodging on Jekyll in exchange for a talk in front of maybe forty or fifty people. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I was going to be speaking to a group of almost five hundred people! I just about crapped in my pants when I learned that, but I somehow managed to survive it. After that, I began getting invites from other groups, and my speaking activities just kinda went from there.

Rie: Is public speaking difficult for you, or do you imagine everyone in their underwear and just go for it?

Ed: I always get a little nervous, but I have a bit that I do that sets the tone and is kinda in line with my wild literary persona. I always get up there and tell the audience that there's always one woman in every crowd that I wish I could do the mattress tango with, and that I'm looking at her right now! For some reason everyone laughs, and afterwards I usually get one or two questions from folks wanting to know who it is!

Rie: You've been called the "literary Hank Williams, Jr." What a compliment! How do you feel about that title?

Ed: I love it! Bocephus is an all-time favorite of mine, and to be compared in any way with him is a total honor. I could listen to him for hours, and I love how he separates his public persona from his personal life, there's an art to doing that.

Rie: You refer to yourself as a Southern Outlaw. What does this mean?

Ed: I write kinda wild material, Southern humor but humor as it actually happened. I don't clean up the language and situations much, and I'm not trying to be everyone's favorite writer. I'm one of those types who'd rather stay true to the story than bland them down for more general consumption. I guess that pretty well sums up what I mean when I call myself a Southern Outlaw writer.

Rie: You and your friends, Ray and Hugh are members of The Brotherhood. Can anyone join? Is there an application? Are there dues?

Ed: Ray Pippin and Hugh Foskey are my two best friends. Ray and I literally grew up together, Hugh we met at Georgia College and State University back in 1976. Collectively we're known as "The Brotherhood." We've had some helluva good times and some wild fun together - believe me, I haven't written about half of it yet! Since Hugh was our last member and was inducted back in 1976, I guess you could say that we have a very tight membership, we joke about being the most exclusive social organization in the world!

Rie: You are one of the biggest flirts I've ever known. How does your SO feel about that? (I personally love it!)

Ed: I love women, appreciate women, and have always been that way. I guess I've never seen what was wrong with telling a pretty lady she's a pretty lady, and no one is pointing a gun telling anyone that they have to flirt back. So darlin', I am what I am, and those close to me recognize that. They also recognize that there's a difference in my public and private personas, too.

Rie: Christmas 2010 is over (and 2011 will be here in a flash). How did your family celebrate the holidays? And what will you be doing for New Year's Eve?

Ed: Just low keying it. Ray, Hugh, and met over at the IHOP (our lake home on Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, we're only about four miles from Flannery O'Connor's Andulusia, imagine that) for our annual Christmas celebration, and I enjoyed the usual one with my family.

New Year's Eve, I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet, but there are already a couple of wonderful possibilities! Ask me this question again in about a week!

Rie: This will post on New Year's Day, are you hung over?

Ed: Glisrae asada aeaagwrjhbkbwasd  badklajrfea.

Rie: Ha! Ha! Ed, thank you so much for being here. I look forward to interviewing you again when that new book comes out! Please, tell everyone where they can find you on the web.

Ed: Rie, you know I love ya to death, and anyone wanting to find out more about me can do so by clicking these links:

www.ed-williams.com 

www.christmasinthebook.com

www.twitter.com/ELW3 

                                                             

                       

Author Bio:
Ed was born June 19, 1956, to Ed and Barbara Williams in Forsyth, Georgia. He was raised in Juliette and is a proud product of the Monroe County public school system. He graduated from Mary Persons High School in 1974, obtained an Associate's degree from Gordon College in 1976, a BBA from Georgia College and State University in 1978, and an MBA in 1991 from the same university. Ed is married to Debbie, his wife of 29 years, and has two children, Alison (26) and Will (Ed IV - 23). He and his family currently reside in Macon, Georgia.

Wyntress Nyght's Supernatural Crack: Exes & Hexes by C.H. SCARLETT

Title: Wyntress Nyght's Supernatural Crack: Exes & Hexes
Release Date: June 14, 2010
Author: C.H. SCARLETT
Author Website
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing 
Buy Link
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy/Humor/Erotic Romance


Blurb:
"Good evening my delicious little darklings of darkness. Wyntress Nyght, here, serving up your forbidden dose of supernatural crack. So hook up your IVs, roll up the psychic and toke her, or offer up your shot glass for some ectoplasmic delight. For I have the phantasmal kick you have all been jonzing for. No DTs here, my darklings, only the monster of all dragons for you to chase . . . me! Now, for those readers who are new to my witch-board of communications, allow me to sinfully boast a little about the place I haunt. It’s the Other World, the Underworld, or a label I am rather fond of and prefer, Hell." 


*Gasps* Did she say Hell? 


That she did, so flip a page and you’ll realize what a hilarious but darkly adventurous thrill ride Hell can be. And who knew it would have all started with an ex-Fanger and the kidnapping of his new coffin screamer. Toss in a lusty Were, a mischievous Zombie, a Dominion of Chaos, some too-damn-sexy Demons, a mysteriously malicious and hidden plot, plus whatever other zany characters of Hell pop up, and we have the reasons why there’s never a boring moment in the death of Wyntress Nyght! 
Now, grab a dry pair of knickers just in case yours get moist from laughing, and open the book already. Wyntress hates to be left waiting by the grave! 

Welcome, C.H. Scarlett. I’m thrilled to have you as my guest.
Can you tell us the journey you embarked upon to your first publishing contract?
Well it was a long and clueless road. I didn't have any idea as to where to begin, which is probably why it took me years to figure it out. Sooner or later, though, you get into the right circles, someone points you into the right directions, or you start figuring out what to Google.


Which author(s) inspire you and why?
My inspirations don't really come from fiction. They come from non-fiction. I adore Normandi Ellis for showing me that simplicity can expose divinity. And I adore Barbara G. Walkers for showing me that no matter how sore the subject, how controversial or how protested, it's worth writing about.


Do you have a favorite book that you’ve written, and if so, what is your favorite scene?
Well that would probably be the one I just released, all because of the mood I am currently in. My favorite scene would probably be all of them. It's hard to choose when it comes to Wyntress Nyght.


But if you ask me tomorrow, it might be something else. lol


Your favorite book by another author?
The only fiction author that really comes to mind, that really rocked my world is VC Andrews. I remember reading Flowers in the Attic when I was a teen thinking how addictive is it to read about something more dysfunctional than what exists behind my own shut doors. And believe me, it was a bloody miracle that I could find anything more dysfunctional than my , lol. Still, I miss books like that. I think stories should be written under the notion that 'Anything can and will freakin' happen.' I get so stressed seeing debates on message boards concerning fiction movies and or books where someone says, 'that is not possible.' or 'a person would not do that.' To me, anything is possible . . . and while WE might not do that, or we assume we wouldn't because how do we know firsthand, that character would, and gods love em, they did!


What book(s) are reading right now?
Right now, I am reading a book called Interdimensional Communication. I'm afraid that I read more non-fiction and more reference books rather than anything else now days. Anything that deals with myths, lore, gods, goddesses, mystical or mystic, I am totally hooked on.


If you could choose one author to co-write a book with who would it be?
Probably no one. I hate to say that, but it's true. Other writers scare the hell out of me lol. 
  
What do you think makes a good Paranormal or Fantasy story?
When someone can take an original subject or an old favorite and make something new happen. I can tell when someone has researched something because usually, it doesn't include a myth that was created by another author years, or even centuries ago. It takes a true writer to go out there and dig up origins or the actual legend, or to create a new origin or legend. What makes a good story is when a writer doesn't get hung up on what CAN happen, or what IS possible . . . and they just let their imagination fly. Those writers are out there, too, but they are usually with smaller pubs because the bigger ones are sometimes frightened to publish what is 'different.'

What makes a scene sexy?
The surrounding circumstances, the moment, and the characters.


Who gets the best lines in your stories? Males or Females?
Well, it depends. Wyntress Nyght rules but she has those who run a close second. (Don't tell her I said that, though.)


What is one of your favorite lines said by one of your characters?
Geez, there are so many . . . but as of now, I guess it would be when Wyntress tells another character . . .  "The best of you ran down the crack of your momma's ass and stained the bed sheet." I don't know why but I love that saying . . . maybe because it applies to so many lol. Joke.


If you could be a character in one of your books, which book and what would your character be?
Depends on what day you catch me. Some days I want to be Samanthŕa from Bound by Blood. Most days I am envious of Wyntress Nyght, though, and she knows it.


Do you think a geeky, nerdy, dorky H/H would be as interesting or accepted as the beautiful Greek god/goddess ones we read about all the time?
Yep, in fact more so. Because we are only geeky, nerdy, and dorky in the eyes of those who follow trends, and want to be the Barbie's of society. While media says this is what we want . . . we know damn well it isn't. All it takes is a good writer to emphasize what we already are . . . and that's where the true God and Goddess exists . . . through our worlds, in the birth of fiction. There, if you tell the geeky, nerdy, dorky H/H that they aren't all that, then they kick your butt with some cool super move, while catching the eye of the hottest hottie. Because sexy is sexy, no matter what.


If you were a villain in a new book you were writing, what type of villain would you be and what’s the title of the book?
Hmmm, again, it's all in the world of Wyntress Nyght. But that's anyone there . . . because they are all bad, and we love and envy them for it.


You are super hero in the hypothetical book, When Planets Collide, what is your super hero name and do you wear a cape and tights?
Hmmm, well I don't know about that book but in my own version, I'd be Wonder-Bitch and would have a Wonder-Bitch cape. I don't think it matters what I am wearing since I have the Wonder-Bitch cape on. Who would argue with me? Who would tell me my fashion sucks?


What was one of the most surprising things you learned writing your books?
Wow, I can play god and it is really fun to muck with people (characters).  


Before we say goodbye, could you tell us about your latest release and maybe give us an excerpt?
Well, first, thank you for the opportunity. The book is called Wyntress Nyght's Supernatural Crack: Exes & Hexes Book 1.
I think the blurb I posted above really says it all. And just so I don't destroy the space on the blog or anything, I'll link you to my publisher's website where they have an excerpt up, an entire chapter, even.