Hello everyone!

Welcome to the first in my series of author chats.

I’d like to welcome Madame Z to my blog today.  Her newest book is Wanderland from Decadent Publishing.

Now, to find out more about Madame Z…..

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?

I’ve received no criticism thus far… If “I” had to criticize myself, then I’d say I need major help with story-structure. It has always been a struggle to write the intro, the rising action, the climax, the dénouement, the end. I tend to write in circles, a lot.

What is the easiest part of writing for you?  What is the hardest part?

Easiest part of writing is coming up with new ideas. The hardest part of writing is the editing and polishing of the work.

Do you have any advice to aspiring writers?

Just know that the beauty of writing (of art, really) is that there is no limit to where your imagination can take you.

Name some of your favorite movies.

Star Wars (original trilogy), The Matrix, Indiana Jones (the first three) and anything by Michelangelo Antonioni; anything by Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris, Stalker).

Name some of your favorite books.

Works by Anne Rice (The Queen of the Damned), Victoria Holt (On the Night of the Seventh Moon), Ai (poetry from Cruelty and The Killing Floor), and Dan Simmons (The Hyperion Cantos).

Do you have a writing regimen?

I probably should, but presently I do not. I often think on my work, what I will write, how and the order of things, but daily, hourly schedules of sitting at the keyboard to write? I do not have.

What are the perks of being an author?

Perks for me are the ability to create worlds and to control the characters and situations within those worlds. That’s power. That’s something we all have. Tell a story or a lie verbally or write it down and make someone believe. It is an art, the ability to do this, no matter how amateur or how excelled you are at writing. Also, telling tales lends to the ability to live vicariously through your characters. It is escapism and entertainment, for you and for your readers.

You are having a dinner party.  You are able to invite one literary character, one president, one musician, one sports figure and one movie villain. 

Literary Character: This is tough. I think I might like to sit across the table from “The Shrike”. (re: Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos).

President: Abraham Lincoln. I would have liked to see how the rest of his presidency would have played out had there been no assassination.

Musician: Gavin DeGraw. I like the themes he explores and uses in his music; themes of chivalry, honor, respect to the earth, connection to the planets, mythology, etc. I feel like he doesn’t get the full praise he deserves. I met him once. Nice dude. I would like to have a cup of coffee with him, get in his head and feel him out on what he’s working on next.

Sports Figure: The Williams Sisters, Venus and Serena, because their story is the stuff of legend. They are great models of hard work and determination. I once fancied the sport of tennis. Alas, there is no hope for me. I live through them.

Movie Villain: I’m going to go out on a limb and say “Jim Profit”. Not a movie villain but a television villain expertly portrayed by actor, Adrian Pasdar. The character was based on (loosely) Richard III and I think (don’t quote me) on Shakespeare’s Iago. But he is a fascinating character. The lengths he would go to manipulate those around him and to no real end, really. He just enjoyed the game. And that’s well and good on the surface, but the character has his demons; ghosts from the past that haunt and remind him of who he was before the “villainy” set in. There’s a depth to him that resonates. He’s not just a two-dimensional character. Not in the least.

Quickies:

Fuzzy socks or slippers? Fuzzy socks.

What’s your favorite shape? Circles.

Crayons, markers or paint? Paint.

Spanish or French? Español!

Word Association:

Writer: Creator.

Cheese: Brie.

Bestseller: Stephen King.

Supermarket: Brookshires’

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions, Madame Z!

Thank you for having me!  -Madame Z

Blurb:

With a new job in a new city and two love interests vying for her attention, what’s a girl to do? Art Gallery Assistant Tam Wilde experiences the highs and lows of new love with nightclub owner Michael Dawson. But when she takes on a job working for industrialist Xavier Clark, her relationship with Michael suffers a serious blow once Xavier reveals an unlikely, but true past he shared with Tam. He wants her again and is determined to have her, no matter the cost. Tripping through a Wanderland of twists and turns, in the end, Tam makes a decision for the betterment of her family, ultimately leaving one man broken and the other complete.

Excerpt:

“About the other day, when last we spoke….”

She offered him nothing except an open expression.

“I didn’t mean to upset you by telling you the truth.” He took a step closer. “I only wanted you to remember…to know who I am.”

She looked down, placing the glass on the shelf. God, he was a narcissist. He wanted validation? She’d give him validation.

“Okay,” she stated simply. He frowned. Did he want more?

“I remember you, Xavier. Bits and pieces, nothing too specific. So don’t ask me to try.”

“That’s good.” He nodded more to himself than to her.

“Yes, we’ve established we knew one another once upon a time. As wild as it might seem—” she waved a hand “—we were…playmates, at times, but that’s it. That was then and this is now and now, we work together—”

He crushed her mouth with a heated kiss, burning a hole into her brain by pressure of his tongue dipping lightly into her mouth. Just as on the night at the club, her hands flew to his chest, to push away, to hold on, or maybe both. She returned the kiss with a mixture of trepidation and excitement and ultimately pulled back, for fear the action would progress to something else.

“Xavier.”

She should’ve seen it coming. Actually, she had seen him moving closer and closer, centimeter by centimeter, progressing at such a slow rate, it was almost impossible to detect as movement. One second he stood opposite her, and the next he had pulled her to him, holding her face with one hand, tilting her head to just the right angle to receive the kiss she also knew would come.

She managed to pull back from the kiss, from his caresses. He glanced to her again, eyes molten with a deep-seated heat. They seemed to question, to consider the possibility of what next, and if she would allow for a what next.

Luckily, his phone rang, interrupting any course of action he would’ve taken. He released her, righting himself, then took the few paces to the desk to answer.

Buy Links:

Decadent Publishing
Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble Nook
All Romance Ebooks
Smashwords

Find Madame Z online:

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I hate to admit it, but I do watch Cupcake Wars.  I don’t care so much for the sniping between the bakers and the smart alecky comments by the panel, but I do enjoy seeing the unique recipes that the bakers create with th mandatory ingredients.  Imagine a sweet tea cupcake or a lemongrass one?

My recipe is not as exotic as the ones on the telly, but  what could go wrong with carrot cake cupcakes?

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups finely shredded carrots (watch those fingers or use a food processor!)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners if desired.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly while mixing.  Mix at high speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl every minute.

Pour batter into cupcake liners until they are 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pans then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield 3 cups
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1.5  teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.