Friday, December 14, 2007 Review of Nelson Pahl's Bee Balms & Burgundy

Snow's Place Where you can share your creative mind with other writers, Talk about anything and Make new friends. Friday, December 14, 2007 Interview of Nelson Pahl's "Bee Balms & Burgundy" 1. When did you start writing? Nelson: I think I've been writing in my head all my life. But, I began writing fiction in concrete form in 2004. 2. How, why and when did decide you wanted to be a published writer? How did you go about it? What did you do to achieve this end? Nelson: I let my parents and a few friends read what I wrote. They all said the same thing: You're good, and you should do something with it. 3. How would you describe the writing you are doing? Nelson: Cross-genre fiction. 4. Who is your target audience? What motivated you to start writing for this audience? Nelson: Primarily women 25 to 45-years-old. Why? because they're society's best, brightest, and most literate. 5. In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you most? Nelson: Really, probably Emerson and Thoreau. I've always been captivated by them. In reference to my descriptive writing, without question I'd say Frances May. She's the best descriptive writer I've ever read. She can make dust sound interesting. 6. What are your main concerns as a writer? How do you deal with these concerns? Nelson: Accuracy, word efficiency, the rules of fiction, activating everything I write, believable dialog, and sense-liberating descriptive writing. How do I deal with these concerns? I nit-pick the hell out of everything I write, and I write and edit and write and edit and write and edit... 7. How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing? Nelson: LOL. Well...listen, the more you experience, the more you have to write about. Each day older I get, the more things I see and the more I find to write about. At the same time, sometimes I experience things that dictate what I WON'T write about in the near future. I lost two souls I loved more than myself this past year. The last thing I want to do is write another deep or dark story, like my first two books. 8. What are the biggest challenges that you face? And, how do you deal with these challenges? Nelson: Marketing. It's always a challenge to market an independent/small press. And all you can do is put in more hours than your major house competitors. 9. How many books have you written so far? Nelson: Two. Bee Balms & Burgundy, published in hardcover September 2007 by Cafe Reverie Press, and Two for Tuesday, published in December 2007 by Cafe Reverie Press. 10. What is your latest book about? How long did it take you to write it? Nelson: Well, my "latest" is Bee Balms & Burgundy. It's an award-winning loves story about a 30-year-old post mastectomy breast cancer survivor and her lifelong yearning for her childhood neighbor. My "last" book is due out in December. It's a "romance noir" called Two for Tuesday. It's the tragic story of a young professional couple that befriend a troubled teen. 11. Where and when was it published? How did you chose a publisher for the book? Why this publisher? What advantages and/or disadvantages has this presented? Nelson: I write on the Cafe Reverie Press imprint. Like any independent/small publisher, marketing and marketing dollars are always the challenge. , the author still owns all rights in this independent realm. That's a definite advantage. As for marketing, you just need to work harder than your competition and come up with as many ingenious, money-saving promotional methods as you can muster. 12. Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult? Why do you think this was so? Nelson: Cover design. We wasted money on three designs, until we got it just right. 13. Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most? Why is this? Nelson: Editing. I love making something good great; I like to pare it all down and make every single word count. 14. What sets the book apart from the other things you've written? Nelson: It's brighter, softer. 15. In what way is it similar? Nelson: It's romantic and intensely sensual at times; it's undeniably witty. 16. What will your next book be about? Nelson: A horror story about a couple dealing with rape. 17. What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer? Nelson: My style. No one writes like I do. You read me, you know you're reading ME. If you'd like to get your own copy of "Bee Balms & Burgundy" just visit Nelson Palh's site, It's http://www.nelsonpahl.com/ It's a great read! Posted by Snow at 9:23 AM 3 comments Thursday, December 6, 2007 Review "Bee Balms & Burgundy 3 Comments Close this window Jump to comment form Blogger Cheryl said... Nice interview snow and Nelson. Cheryl M. December 14, 2007 11:17 AM Blogger sydney molare said... Hey Nelson,I never could "target" my writings for a specific audience. Was it difficult? December 14, 2007 1:27 PM Blogger Cat Muldoon said... Nelson, Now that your book is out, do you find that you have a significant group of folks who are outside your intended market who read your book? For example, my book is a fantasy suspense novel, but a bunch of people who ordinarily would not like fantasy are not only reading it, but recommending it to their friends. Cat (also on tour with you this month) December 14, 2007 1:31 PM