Character Interviews: Meikle Talks Love

Meikle has kindly [sort of kindly] agreed to continue with our interview under the condition that no questions be asked about her bag. Meikle, did you want to address my editor’s inquiry regarding your interest in Troy Tombolo?

Meikle: Troy isn’t only my other best friend’s boyfriend, but he’s not my type. I like them a little more fragile…the kind I can chain up, break down, and break in.

Interesting [disturbing]. So, in general, what are your thoughts on love?

Meikle: Love is lust in disguise…the big bad wolf wearing the skin of a little lamb he just ate.

Um…care to expand?

Meikle: No.

Please…for our readers, I mean?

Meikle: Fine. People feel guilty about lusting after one another, so to ease their minds, they slap on the ‘I Love You’ and go at it like rabbits, guilt-free.

Does that mean you don’t believe in real love?

Meikle: Haven’t seen it yet.

What about your friends, Marina Valentine and Troy Tombolo?

Meikle [laughs, sort of]: Yeah, I guess. Closest thing to it, given how they’re able to restrain themselves. If those two ever drop the formalities and give in, the earth with crack in two.

How about you? Are there any Merpeople you’re interested in?

Meikle: Maybe. Maybe not.

Can’t you give us a hint?

Meikle: Sure I could…but I won’t.

Do you think there’s a mutual attraction with this person?

Meikle: I think he’s afraid of me.

Does that worry you?

Meikle [smirking]: It turns me on.

Are you the aggressor in a relationship, then? Or do you wait for them to come to you?

Meikle: A little of both. I like being the aggressor without the guy realizing it.

Have you ever used magic to cast a love spell?

Meikle: Love spells are for novices. There are more reliable magical methods of securing a guy.

Ooh, care to share?

Meikle: Really no.

Right. So, from an insider’s perspective, what went wrong with Troy and Katrina Zale?

Meikle: For starters…she’s a merwhore-merbitch who has a soul gunkier than mud. Yeah, think that’s enough. Marina came along and showed Troy what something real was all about.

How long do you give Troy and Marina?

Meikle [with a sarcastic chuckle]: Depends. However long we have to live, I guess, which seems to vary every day, but leans mostly toward the shorter sell by date.

Final thoughts on love before moving to our next topic?

Meikle: Love is like a shooting star—catch it cleanly, and you might have something really special; fumble it, and you’ll be burned to a damn crisp.

Uh-huh, well, that’s…yeah…so stay tuned for next week when Meikle gossips about her friends. Should be…interesting.

The Merworld Water Wars: Normal Meikle Martinez on Witchcraft

Do you ever wish you didn’t have powers? 

Meikle: No. Being a witch is what I’m supposed to be, and I’m damn good at it. If people can’t handle it, they can suck it. 

What do you say to those who believe your talents make you dangerous?

Meikle: Closed-mindedness makes for a far more dangerous individual. 

What’s the best part about being a witch?

Meikle: People don’t screw with you, and if they dare…you know you’re going to win.

Some might call that cockiness. What is it, cockiness or confidence?

Meikle: It’s truth. I never think someone is going to defeat me. Doesn't matter what you do, if you think you're going to fail, you probably will.

Are there any witch-related movies, books, characters, or shows created by humans that you enjoy?

Meikle: First off, they weren’t created by mere humans. Every single creative individual behind supernatural books, shows, and movies has supernatural connections. I’m surprised this isn’t more widely known. Anyway, yeah, loads...but you really can’t beat Harry Potter, can you? I also thought Nancy Drew was pretty cool. 

But she wasn’t a witch…

Meikle: You sure about that?

So, could you take Hermione in a fight?

Meikle: We’d be on the same side. Now, if we’re talking Bellatrix…I could take her down in under five. 

Minutes?

Meikle: Seconds.

You know, I actually don’t question that at all. Polly Purdue is one of your best friends and a fellow Normal. Have you ever tried to cast a spell that would free her of those demon bits?

Meikle [frowning…think I’ve angered her]: Why would I do that? 

It’s just…she doesn’t have the best social skills because of her talent--the ability to soul swap with demons. I just wondered if…

Meikle: If I’d change one of my best friends to make her, what, more politically correct? There’s enough [expletive] in the world. Why the [expletive] would I add to it? She might be thoroughly screwed up, but she is who she is, right?! Stupid freaking [expletive]. Oh, son of a freak…not again. [glowers at another blue puff]

Editor, in the form of blue puff lips: Is it true you want to steal your other best friend’s boyfriend? And what exactly is in your bag?

Meikle: That’s it. [many expletives as she abruptly leaves the interview room]

Oh, but we’re not done! Um…pause here while I try to bring her back.

To be continued…

FINNED: Meet the Normals--Meikle Martinez, Witch

Today, lovely readers, we meet our first Normal. Meikle Martinez is known for being very dark, unemotional, and quite intimidating. Try not to hide behind your coral couches, readers! Here we go…

Hi Meikle! I’m Clarissa Smoggrove, chief reporter for the #1 selling merperson magazine, Sandierays. Thank you for taking time to answer some burning questions for our curious readers!

Meikle [swinging her illustrious purple sequined bag]: We’ll see if you still thank me by the time we’re done.

Uh, right. [wipes brow]

Meikle: What is that thing? Looks like some sort of elongated hourglass that spits out…sandpaper?

Oh, it’s a Sandblastwriter. It transcribes everything we say—even my mental notes—and automatically sends it to my editor, so she can read it in real-time. She can even send her suggestions or questions. See this slot on the right side? If she wants to insert thoughts, small blue clouds will puff from there, transform into lips, and ask you questions. Don’t let it frighten you.

Meikle: Nothing frightens me.

Yes, well, shall we begin?

Meikle: Thought we already had.

[nervous laughter] So, when did you first realize you were different from other children?

Meikle: I was five. This little jerk named Tommy McMathers shoved me into a hornet’s nest behind the school playground. I turned the hornets into dragonflies…which mysteriously attached themselves to Tommy’s head and face. One even went up his hairy nostril. Did I mention he was deathly afraid of dragonflies?

Uh, no, you didn’t mention that. How did Tommy react?

Meikle: Oh, he screamed like a little girl. It was great.

Is that how the Imperia found out about you?

Meikle: Doubt it. Tommy was too afraid of me to tattle. Besides, according to Trey, the Imperia has some kind of early warning system. Basically, anyone who’s different is institution-bound.

Life in the institution must have been awful. Would you like to talk a little about your experience there?

Meikle: No.

Oh. Um. Maybe just a brief statement of your experience for our readers?

Meikle: Sucked.

Well…

Meikle: You did say ‘brief.’

I did, didn’t I? All right, then…can you tell us a little more about Madame Helena Hambourg? She’s the founder and principal of The Helena Hambourg House for Maladies, but she also heads up The Hoodoo Council, is that right?

Meikle [glaring murderously at the Sandblastwriter as a puff of blue smoke emerges and begins floating around her head]: Yep, she’s the head hag of both. Helena’s House of Hell was the first institution created for our kind. It filled to capacity pretty quickly as more and more kids emerged with unexplainable gifts. I think our government thought it was an anomaly at first—just a weird transmutation in a containable group that would go away with treatment. When our kind grew exponentially, the government crapped a brick house and opened lots of institutions. The Hoodoo Council oversees them all. What does this annoying thing want? It’s pissing me off. [gestures editor’s floating blue puff]

My editor would like to ask a question.

Meikle [tightly gripping her bag]: Then stop circling my head and ask the damn question.

Editor, in the form of blue puff lips: Does The Hoodoo Council hear every Normal transgression, or is there another deciding body?

Meikle [shaking head]: Didn’t I just basically answer that?! Your editor needs to be timelier in her inquisition. Uh, yeah, they preside over every Normal in every institution. Everything goes through them.

Helena Hambourg’s a pretty big deal in the movement against your kind, then.

Meikle: Ya think?

But she possesses powers as well and, I understand, uses them. Is that not a bit hypocritical on her part and that of your government?

Meikle [one corner of her mouth curling into the slightest of grins]: The world is full hypocrites and contradictions. But…one day, it will happen. One damn day…

What will happen one day?

Meikle: Tables will turn…and I’ll be doing the turning.

What are three words that best describe Madame Helena?

Meikle [grinning]: None are safe for your publication.

Next week: Meikle talks about being a witch!

NOTE: Once again, there are big gaps between paragraphs. NO CLUE how to fix it; they don't show at all in the preview or in the 'compose post' screen. :/ I'm so sorry about that. :/ Maybe it's how Meikle wants it to look, who knows?! lol 

OVERFALLS, The Merworld Water Wars Book Two Cover!

 I didn’t think it was possible to love a book cover as much as I love the one for FINNED…then I saw the one for my second baby, OVERFALLS. 

*THUD* 

Yeah, that would be me falling off the chair. I’m so completely and totally IN LOVE with this cover! Not only does it speak to a VERY important part of the story, but the way the clouds circle Marina…it’s like she’s in the eye of a particularly nasty storm (which, well…yeah, I’ll shut up now). 

Sigh. I want to hug it.

 

So, without further ado…please meet OVERFALLS, the second wave in The Merworld Water Wars series: 

Cover Art: Claudia McKinney at Phatpuppy Art ~<3~ Typography: Ashley, The Bookish Brunette

Two secret wishes. Only one will be granted. Let the Mer-Nor Games begin.

Unlike most high school seniors, Marina Valentine isn’t sweating college (she’s outlawed from even applying), the prom (she has her dream date…possibly), or graduation (though surviving to rock the ill-fitting gown is iffy). No, she’s a little preoccupied with succeeding as a walking myth post-graduation. So, when Marina awakens as the one and only Siren Savior, she thinks the tide is about to turn on the merbitch’s mer-psycho family. Unfortunately, she has issues with her flighty Savior powers, and the timing couldn’t be worse. For with the arrival of a feared foe, comes the promise of a disastrous year…and that’s an understatement.

For years, mythological beings have awaited the fulfillment of a mysterious prophecy involving Merpeople, Normals, an epic clash, and a wish that could forever change one group’s destiny. But the real trouble begins when an assassin known as The Dealer starts sending her cryptic messages written on potentially lethal playing cards.

The Dealer makes one thing very clear: someone Marina loves will die. Now, she must find The Dealer before he (or she) finds his victim. But with everyone either a suspect or a target, how will Marina be able to uncover the truth before time runs out?

Not even the Siren Savior in all her power can prepare for the devastating answers.

Roping the Roundup, Part Two: Cover Reveal, Reviews, & Upcoming Character Interviews

It seems when I remember to post things on FB or Twitter, I forget to add them here and vice versa. *shakes head*

Roundup: 

*Cover Reveal: Ooooh, it's here! It's here! It's time! The cover for my second baby is all ready! I'll be doing a thorough post and summary on here tomorrow. If you'd like to see it sooner, please stop by The Zombie Queen herself: 

The Bookish Brunette-The Merworld Water Wars Book Two  Cover Reveal! 

* Reviews: FINNED has received a couple of truly AMAZING editorial reviews from Ashley at The Bookish Brunette and PaulHarrison of A Role Model. I reverted back to my seven-year-old self when I read them, and Mom and I actually jumped up and down and cried (did I really just admit to that?).

Here are a couple of snippets from each (**SQUEAL**). The links to the full reviews can be found in the above paragraph (done especially for you, Mom; now you can just click the link, since I know how much you hate to type in web addresses ;) ) 

 "Two words: Freaking Awesome...FINNED is a fun, sharp-witted tale of Merpeople, Normals, first love, some heart-pounding action and a centuries old war that everyone is still fighting. And MerRacing?? Oh. My. God. BEST THING EVER!!! Seriously- one of the coolest freaking scenes I've ever read in my life..." -The Bookish Brunette

"...FINNED is fun and witty. It's so packed full of charm that it is simply irresistible. The book is fun from start to finish. It's entertaining in a way that very few indie books are, and for that its more than worthy of recommendation." -Paul Harrison, ARoleModel

* Mandy's Top Ten: I also recently answered Mandy’s Top Ten on her blog, I read Indie.  Her questions, like her blog, were an absolute blast! The giveaway is over now (and stupid me didn't remember to post about it here--just FB and twitter. Hey, at least I got 2 out of 3). If you’d like to read her awesomeness and my silliness, as well as an excerpt from FINNED, pop on over by clicking this link: 

Top Ten with silly me! 

* Character Interviews: Well, the Merpeople have finally secured interviews with the local Normals (i.e. Non-merfolk, but powerful nonetheless…albeit extremely quirky). Please join chief reporter from the top selling merfolk publication, Sandierays, Clarissa Smoggrove as she attempts to dig up dirt on the resident outcasts of Saxet Shores, Texas (operative word being ‘attempts’).

Let’s just say these interviews could get very, very messy.

First up on Ms. Smoggrove’s radar is Meikle Martinez, a powerful witch with a dark, somewhat unemotional demeanor. Well-known for her mysterious obsession with her purple sequined bag (rumored to hold some unknown power), Meikle is a self-proclaimed non-hugger, prefers black to all colors, & shows unwavering loyalty to her friends.

Coming soon! :)

NOTE: I'm so sorry for all the big spaces. It doesn't look that way in the edit/create post page. I have no idea how to fix it. :/