I love merging genres into something else. Modern noir with werewolves? Done. How about Dragons with Sci-fi? Why the @#%$#$% not? That kind of mash-up is the specialty of Scott Coatsworth. I talked to him about his new book, The Dragon Eater.
Alright, who’s J Scott Coatsworth and what are you about?
I’m a late-blooming author who has been writing professionally for nine years. I started out in my twenties in the early- to mid-nineties, but when my first book was rejected by ten big publishers, I gave up. I came back to it in my mid-forties, and went a little crazy, publishing more than short stories, novellas, and novels. I write diverse sci-fi, fantasy, sci-fantasy and magical realism.
What’s the new book about?
It’s about a guard in love with a thief… no, it’s about a thief who swallows a (little) dragon… no, it’s a coming-of-age tale about three friends… it’s all of those things, and a sci-fi tale masquerading as a fantasy at a time of great change when three civilizations will come together in an epic clash that will leave none of them unchanged.
Well, that clears it up! Dragons aside, this book has a lot of sci-fi elements. What intrigued you about this story?
I love working in sci-fantasy, because it’s fun to mix elements from both genres. So we have flitters – basically sci-fi helicopters – and a small silver AI, alongside apparently magical abilities that the three main characters manifest. In The Dragon Eater,two of the characters connect with the world of Tharassas and are able to do amazing things, while the third gets his abilities from an offworld invader.
Who do you read my readers should know about?
I’m a huge fan of Peter F. Hamilton’s works – the idea of trains connecting worlds and ships with minds made me happy. I also loved Anne McCaffrey, especially her Pern books, and there’s a little Pern DNA in Tharassas. Other faves are Kim Stanley Robinson for his Mars trilogy, Shirley Tepper for her books that always left me thinking for weeks, and anything by Guy Gavriel Kay.
In the LGBTQ+ sci-fi market, it’s SI CLARKE (again for her Mars books), Angel Martinez, and Kim Fielding.
I know you have a special offer for anyone who’s interested. Where can they learn more about you, the book, and the goodies?
I’m wide, which means just about everywhere – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play, Smashwords, Bookstores via Ingram, and a bunch of smaller venues. You can also find buy links for all my books at https://www.jscottcoatsworthc.com (and get a free book when you join my email list.)
Want another free book? Buy The Dragon Eater and send me a proof of purchase to scott@jscottcoatsworth.com and I’ll send you the prequel collection Tales From Tharassas free.
What is my author brand? When you think of what you’ve read from me, what do you think of?
Most of you reading this are not writers, so you probably don’t know what I’m about to tell you. In December, I had a book come out. Last week, I had a second. You’d think as an author that would be a very good thing. Everybody who bought the first book would buy the second, right? Guess again.
The thing is, readers who enjoy silly thrillers about Lycan gumshoes are not necessarily the same bunch who are reading serious books about making their remote teams work. That
doesn’t even include my short fiction, which has been published all over the world and in every conceivable genre. In fact, if you think about my work, including historical fiction like Count of the Sahara and the Lucca Le Peu stories, the Venn diagram of possible readers looks like this:
What I”m trying to say, is if you read my work, you are in very elite company, and I appreciate you. If you enjoyed The Long-Distance Leader, maybe take a chance on Acre’s Bastard or Count of the Sahara. The same brain, for good or evil, created all of them, and I hope you find, read and enjoy my work.
Plus, you’re in an exclusive club, and that’s kind of cool, right?
If you are wondering how to help your team deal with virtual, remote and hybrid work, or want to start creating a great team culture instead of just reacting, this is the book for you.
Here’s what you’ll find in this book:
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Getting Started: Defining the Overused Terms
Chapter 1: Defining the Team.
What does it mean to be on a team? What are the types of teams? How does all of this impact a long-distance (remote/hybrid/flexible) team?
Chapter 2: Defining Culture.
Let’s get past the buzzword and talk about what culture really is. We’ll share some specific examples of why this matters so much.
Part 2: The Building Blocks
Chapter 3: Establishing Ownership.
It’s time to recognize who the owners are—it may not be (only) who you think.
Chapter 4: Rethinking How We Work.
It’s possible for long-distance/hybrid work to create better results than we’ve experienced in the past.
Chapter 5: Applying The 3C Model of Team and Culture Design.
Let’s understand and apply the 3C (Communication, Cohesion, and Collaboration) model of long-distance team design.
Part 3: Designing for Success
Chapter 6: Designing a New Team.
Time spent consciously designing a team is necessary for ultimate success. Here’s a process to help you do that reliably and effectively.
Chapter 7: Redesigning an Existing Team
If your team has been operating at a distance and now you want to adjust, here’s how you can use the design principles to redesign your team.
How to use our framework to define and create the cultural description that everyone can get excited about.
Chapter 9: Building The Micro Inside the Macro.
Your team culture needs to fit inside the organizational umbrella. Here’s how to create the alignment.
Chapter 10: Making the Culture Come to Life.
Once the culture is defined, here’s how you start to create it.
Part 5: Applying Core Principles
Chapter 11: Applying the Power of Expectations.
Use mutually clear expectations as a driver for your team design and culture.
Chapter 12: Creating Agreements.
Your team design and culture ultimately will succeed or fail based on what the team agrees to do and how consistently they do it. Here is a process to create team agreements.
Chapter 13: Creating Engagement.
Whether overtly stated in your aspirational culture or not, engagement is required for your team’s success. Let’s talk about what it really is and how to nurture it.
I can’t even remember how long ago I wrote “Stuffed Pikachus.” It was a writing experiment to see about creating a traveling carnival world that may or may not be a setting for a future longer work. I like it, even though it defies categorization. Maybe that’s why it took so long to place.
After over a year of submitting, Janine and the team at Corvus Review took it in and gave it a home in their Fall-Winter 22/23 Edition. You can download the PDF of the issue here. I’m on page 40-something. There’s lots of good stuff from cool writers on the way.
This is a lovely way to start 2023. 2022 was a mix of highs and lows both personally and for my writing. Yes, I managed to take The Duchess to Paris and London, which was quite literally the last major thing on my bucket list. It was also kind of a crap year financially, for the dreaded day job, but sales is cyclical and the training business is as well. That also explains that I am behind on Johnny Lycan 3 but hard at work, and it will be worth it, as Cthulu is my witness.
There were lovely visits with old friends, balanced out by Covid and a lovely case of shingles on my face (fortunately, my least valuable body part.)
Writing-wise, 2022 saw the launch of Johnny Lycan and the Vegas Berserker, from Black Rose Writing. It’s off to kind of a slow sales start but people seem to really like it. (Reviews, people. If you’ve read it and liked it please share!) It’s also wound up on a couple of best-indie book review lists, and I’m deeply grateful.
I also had two short pieces published (if you don’t include Stuffed Pikachus which technically came out in 2023). A flat-out horror piece called The Voyeur appeared in the aptly named Horror Sleaze Trash mag, and my very personal flash piece, A Simple Purse, not only appeared in 300 Days of Sun, from the folks at Nevada State College, but it was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, for which I am proud and grateful.
Thank you for joining me on my writing journey so far, here’s to more good stuff in 2023 and I wish you success and happy reading.
Recently, as part of a price promotion, I came across a few fantasy authors I really enjoyed. One is LS O’dea and her Lake of Sins series. It’s a unique combination of the races in the Time Machine meets Doctor Moreau. Figured you might enjoy meeting her…
Okay, lady. Tell us about you.
Hmm. I hate this question because I’m not very exciting – on the outside. Inside my head is where the excitement happens.
Internal conversations are a constant for me. They aren’t always stories but there’s always talking going on in my head. When I started writing, almost everything was dialogue. I had to go back and add description and scenery. I’ve gotten better at it over the years, but those parts of the stories don’t come easily for me. Dialogue, on the other hand, just flows.
Because of these conversations, I was an odd-ish child. Even my mom said so. 😊 Like most people, I didn’t realize I was odd because I am who I am. It’s normal to me. When my mother mentioned that I was a bit different as a kid (I was an adult when she said this), I was surprised, but I believe her. She had seven kids, so she knows what “normal” children do, and that wasn’t me.
Unlike my annoying (my words not my mom’s) siblings, I entertained myself. I’d sit for hours and play, talking to myself. What she didn’t know was that I was actually talking to the characters in my head. I never realized that everyone doesn’t do this until she mentioned that. I’d be so lonely without those voices.
So…besides for being an odd child, I was also a tormented child. Growing up the youngest of seven in a time before 24/7 TV, computers, the Internet and video games, kids had to be more creative in their entertainment. Unfortunately for me, that meant teasing and tormenting me. In some ways I can’t blame my siblings. One of them was always stuck with me tagging along. I’m four and a half years younger than my closest sibling. That means nothing as adults, but as kids…that’s a lot of years.
The easiest way for them to not have to watch me was to get me to go home on my own. That always meant teasing me until I cried and ran home.
One would think that they would’ve gotten into trouble for this, but this was also before there were pre-made meals, fast food five minutes away, and dishwashers. My mom was busy. Really, really busy. Unless we had a broken bone or we were bleeding profusely she didn’t deal with our tears. Plus, if she’d punished my siblings for making me cry, she would’ve had to make them come home and then she would’ve had more kids under her feet and in her way.
Instead, when I came home crying my mother would make me take a bath and then I was in for the evening. The good thing was that when my siblings did come home, they still had to take a bath (we didn’t have a shower) and they always missed some of whatever TV show we were watching before bed. It wasn’t much, but I relished that small vengeance.
The other good and bad things were that I learned to deal with their teasing because I didn’t want to go home and take a bath. That was good because I was well prepared for life. The bad thing was that they had to escalate the torment in order to get the result that they wanted. It was kind of a vicious cycle.
With all that being said, I get along very well with all of my siblings. We are a close family. Was I teased and tormented? Yes, but they also played with me, and I knew that they always had my back against anyone outside of the family. Inside of the family it was every kid for themselves. Lol.
What is your series about?
I’ll tell you about Escape, which is the first book in the Lake of Sins series.
This book takes place on the earth of the future, but instead of a story filled with new technology, this world is more forest than city. It starts hundreds of years after the Great Death ravaged the world, killing most humans, all domestic animals, and most other animals. The humans who survived had to rebuild and in doing that they changed – genetically.
As far as the characters know, the only descendants of the human race are the Almightys. The other classes are something else, but the characters don’t know what they are. Just like a dog doesn’t know it’s a dog; it just is who and what it is.
The first book gives a very narrow view of the world of the Lake of Sins because the story is told from the point of view of two Producers. The rest of the books build on that world view with new POV characters.
The two POV characters in Escape are in the class of beings that produce all the food for the other classes. Every year after harvest, the teenage Producers are either chosen to stay and assigned a mate or removed from the encampment. Trinity knows she’s not going to be picked to stay because she’s not a good specimen. She’s not even all Producer. Her father is a House Servant, but that secret will get them all killed.
Trinity escapes into the forest one last time, hoping to find her friend who was taken last year. She has a good idea of where her friend might be, but she doesn’t plan on being chased and hunted by Guards and predators that shouldn’t even exist. When she’s surrounded by a River-Man in the water, a team of Guards in one area of the forest and an unknown predator in the other direction, she must choose which enemy she thinks she may be able to escape.
Where did this come from? What are the roots of your story?
The roots of my stories vary. I’m not one of those writers who has trouble coming up with ideas. I am flooded with ideas from things I see, articles I read and many other things that happen in my daily life.
The roots of the Lake of Sins series goes back a long, long time to the movie Soylent Green. I saw the movie when I was a kid. I don’t remember much about it except the horror of the main character finding out what Soylent Green was.
Add to that, my personal decision to become vegetarian and you have the beginning of the main theme in the Lake of Sins series. I began to ponder what us humans would do if some catastrophic event killed all domestic animals and all other larger animals.
I’m also fascinated and a bit horrified with our tinkering with genetics. These things were tossed together in my cauldron of a brain and the Lake of Sins series was born.
The Chimera Chronicles series is a spinoff of the Lake of Sins series. There was a lot of interest by readers in the Rive-Man character in the first book of the Lake of Sins series, so I decided to tell his story. Rise of the River Man is Mutter’s story of how he is genetically modified and turned into a River-Man.
Once that book was written, I realized that I had to tell the stories of the other “monsters” that appear in the Lake of Sins series.
I’m not positive how the Immortal Defiance series came about. It probably stems from my love of Greek mythology. One of my favorite things to read as a kid were the various stories of the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. I started to wonder how they felt about going from being revered and worshiped to being nothing more than a myth. These thoughts rolled into A Demon’s Gift.
Iatee is a Punishment Spirit who refuses to conform with the times. He has no interest in becoming a kinder, gentler spirit, and he is punished for his disobedience to the gods. When the story starts his spirit is trapped inside a stuffed teddy bear.
Where can people learn more about you and your books?
I’ve created a series page that will give you an idea about the books in that series. The Chimera Chronicles and the Immortal Defiance series are standalone. The Lake of Sins series needs to be read in order.
When you write historical fiction, it’s easy to get caught up in the history part of things and forget that you’re telling the stories of real people. They have lives. And families. And grandchildren, as it turns out.
That brings me to something I haven’t shared with many people. Earlier this year, I received a lovely email from a woman in South Africa, named Genevieve Manderstam. Turns out, she’s Byron’s granddaughter.
Her mother and aunt were taken away from their father when they were very young and even had their names changed, so Genevieve knew only the tiniest amount about her famous grandfather, and not much of that was nice.
Here’s the kicker. She thanked me for telling his story, warts and all. It meant a lot to her. Given it wasn’t a completely positive tale, that should tell you where my boy stood in relation to the family.
Recently she sent me this hand-written note which means a lot.
She also sent me a picture holding my book. Look at that smile.
As a writer, this kind of stuff makes me happy. Certainly happier than if Johnny Lupul ever has kids. Them, I’m not sure I want to meet…..
I am someone who wears many hats. I was one of those who didn’t really have a plan for the future. I went to college and became an engineer because I thought it would be easy to get a job. And it was. There, I met my husband to whom I’ve been married 22 years. We have two teenagers now. I then changed countries and professions. I moved from Mexico to the US and became a teacher. At first, I wasn’t sure it was for me, but later I understood how to help kids and even studied for a Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education. I’ve been a teacher since 2003 and my favorite grade to teach is Kindergarten. All through that I have read and written stories. The first book I read for pleasure was Jurassic Park. But the book that really changed my life was Interview with the Vampire. I really liked movies about vampires, witches, werewolves and all things fantasy, and with Interview with the Vampire I realized that people wrote about these things too. I was was 17 when I wrote my first fan fiction. Years later I thought about my own stories and began to write them down. I have been writing them down ever since.
So what’s your series about?
My first series is an urban fantasy. It is completed and has 6 books and 2 short stories. It’s about a secret agency where vampires work to solve paranormal conflict. The witches are their allies and the werewolves their main enemies. Some agents hunt werewolves, and other hunt rogue vampires.
The story begins with Rebecca, an ordinary woman with nothing to lose. She meets Dylan, and he convinces her to join the vampire agency. The first book is about discovery. Rebecca has a lot to learn, and not only about being a vampire, but also how to become a werewolf hunter. At the end of her training, she must be tested. The rest of the books focus more on the conflict between the werewolves and the vampires. I don’t think my stories follow any tropes, and I think mine are a different type of vampires. You’d have to read and see.
Yeah, about that killing werewolves thing…. but that’s for another time. What is it about that form of magic and worldbuilding that appealed to you?
The story originated with a dream. I dreamt about a vampire in a room full of people and how the only way to identify a vampire was when his eyes turned read. Everything started from there. The scene ended up in book 2, and it went through a complete revision to make it the first mission Rebecca needs to survive as a new werewolf hunter.
Who are the authors that influenced you? Who do you read?
I love reading. I have read most of Anne Rice’s books, as well as JK Rowling, Marissa Meyer, Marie Lu, Kiera Cass, Naomi Novak, Andy Weir, Jeff Lemire, Isaac Asimov, and Stephen King.
If you want to read about a werewolf detective who ISN”T being hunted by vampires, may I suggest Johnny Lycan and the Vegas Berserker, now available from #blackrosewriting.
At long last, Book 2 of the Werewolf PI series, Johnny Lycan and the Vegas Berserker, is available. If you’ve preordered, blessings upon you and you should get it soon. If you haven’t, you can buy it at BlackRoseWriting (my publisher) The ebook is available at Amazon for Kindle and Kindle Unlimited,and the paperback can be ordered pretty much anywhere you buy books.
What are people saying about it?
“I loved this book. A rollicking, clever ride with a story so good you forget it’s a genre novel. If Jack Reacher was a werewolf, he’d be Johnny Lycan.” -John Wing, Jr., comedian and author of A Car to Die For
“Witches, a Werewolf, and a Berserker. Only in Vegas, Baby! Johnny, Shaggy, and the gang are back in this page-turning, magic-infused thriller of epic proportions. Beware: Johnny Lycan and the Vegas Berserker will cast a spell on you!” -Jean M. Roberts, author of The Heron and The Frowning Madonna
“As usual, Wayne’s fast-paced writing style draws you in immediately. Johnny Lupul is in fine form once again as he tries to keep some of Shaggy’s darker instincts in check and help those who can’t help themselves. If you’re hankering for a hairy good time, pick this novel up now!” -Katie Berry, author of the Claw and Abandoned series
And, as always please review it and share your love as soon as you’ve read it to help others discover the book. Blessings upon you all, and don’t let Shaggy run the show.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably securely in my orbit, and I”m grateful for it. In exactly 8 days, my fifth novel, Johnny Lycan and the Vegas Berserker enters the world. Here’s how you can help, if you’d be so kind:
If you’ve already ordered the book from my publisher, blessings upon you. If you’ve ordered it from Amazon, or plan to, I’m going to make a big ask. Here’s how you can help me:
Mad Max and his pet werewolf is already excited about Johnny Lycan & the Vegas Berserker
If you haven’t yet ordered the book: If you have kindle Unlimited, you can download the e-book for free. If you’ve already ordered the book, thanks. PLEASE leave a review as a verified purchaser.
If you’ve ordered the book from somewhere else, like from Black Rose Publishing or from me personally, you can still review on Amazon if you state where you got the book from.
Wherever you purchase the book, you can review and rate the book on Goodreads Early reviews are accepted there. Then there’s Facebook groups, TikTok or wherever you communicate with your friends.
Finally, if you can share on your tweetfacelinkbloggram pages and social media and tell your friends. I’d love to make this the biggest launch yet ( a low bar, to be honest) and you play an important part in that.
If I haven’t said it before, I appreciate each and every one of you. I hope my stories are worth your precious time. Here we go…
One thing I have learned about the Urban Fantasy genre is that it is incredibly generous. There are a number of folks I’ve crossed paths with and they all seem to support each other (or at least aren’t intentionally vicious.) One such person is C L (Courtney) Cannon.
Hello, I’m C.L. Cannon, aka Courtney Cannon. I am an author, publisher, editor, formatter, graphic designer, and lots of other occupations with the -er sound at the end of it. I’m basically a huge dork that enjoys reading and fandom. I’m a meme hoarder, and I communicate best via GIF! I write Fantasy and Science Fiction, and I really enjoy adding themes of love and friendship to those genres.
Once Upon a Wicked Heart sounds like a blast. What’s the theme of the book and what can we expect?
Our anthology is all about the villains! The collection includes dark fantasy retellings and origin stories of villains from fairy tales and myths. There are some truly gifted authors in this book, and I feel privileged to be able to publish them!
Here are some short descriptions of each story: ‣ a Faerie queen with a score to settle ‣ a jilted goddess who starts a bloody war ‣ a heart of ice that will either thaw or shatter ‣ a cursed maiden who finds worth in her affliction ‣ a serial killer who might have just met her match ‣ a nymph who seems to have found true love at last ‣ a mechanical heart that could be a young woman’s undoing ‣ a sister who seeks vengeance against those who wronged her ‣ a betrayed witch who vows retribution for the slights against her ‣ a mistreated queen will take her rightful place, no matter the cost ‣ a sea witch who learns that love cannot be so easily manipulated ‣ a god who takes back what was stolen from him in a gruesome fashion
What is it about villains and fairy tales that intrigues you so much?
I’ve always been a huge fan of fractured fairy tales, particularly tales told from the antagonist’s point of view. I love exploring the why of every character I write. What made them the way they are? What events molded this being into its current form? That is fascinating to me. Probably also the reason that one of my guilty pleasures is watching trashy reality tv! I love analyzing what makes people tick!
A collection of twisted fairy tales from the Villain’s perspective.
Who do you read?
I am a bit of an eclectic reader, so keep that in mind! I love J.R.R. Tolkien, Jane Austen, Sabaa Tahir, Leigh Bardugo, V.E. Schwab, Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Casey L. Bond, James Lovegrove, Neal Shusterman, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, and so many more!
If people are interested in learning more about you and all the cool stuff you have going on, where can they find you?
