Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Talent Tuesday: Rie Sheridan Rules!



Good Morning everyone!

Please welcome Rie Sheridan for Talent Tuesday!

Rie’s visit with us is especially meaningful to me. Ten years ago I joined Writer’s Village University in a quest to learn the craft of writing. Rie and I met there and I’ve followed her growing career on and off over the years. To have her here, for the first ever event and on Talent Tuesday, is definitely serendipitous.

Rie Sheridan has been writing since she first picked up a crayon. In 1998, she entered HalfPrice Books' "Say Goodnight to Illiteracy" contest, was one of 20 national finalists, and published in the 1999 Annual Anthology. She has also had poetry appear in print in Dreams and Nightmares and Mythic Circle and short stories in online zines, Dragons And Vampires, We Love Writers, Spaceways Weekly, and T-Zero Xpandizine. She likes to spend her spare time reading, writing, and role-playing, and collects action figures, musical instruments, and non-sports cards (though she is really proud of her Joe Montana rookie card....) Rie lives in Texas with her husband Newell and several cats, all spoiled rotten.

A thought about what makes a person a writer:

What makes a person a writer…? Well, to give the short answer, they write. Everyone fits into that category each time they put pen to paper to make out a grocery list. However, in a deeper sense, a writer is a person who lives and breathes words. Must you be published to be a "writer?" No.

My father--one of the wittiest writers I know--shares his insights only with a select group of e-friends--but is he a writer? Oh, yes. Because he manipulates words with the ease of a circus juggler, and creates pithy vignettes that will make you think twice about life. He is only now beginning to expand the readership for the wonderful life-slices he serves up. Although he has always written them, they were personal speculations--private musings. That doesn't make him any less a writer.

I first realized that I was a writer--or wanted to be--as soon as I began to read what other people had written. As I was growing up, when asked the inevitable, "What do you want to be…?" question, my answer was always whatever the flavor of the month happened to be--detective, scientist, teacher--"...and a writer." I started my first novel when I was nine.

I've been published in many non-paid venues. However, I must admit--the $5.00 check from my first professional sale is still uncashed because it is so awesome to show it to my friends and say, "Look! I sold something."

To sum it all up--a person who writes because they have no choice…because the words pour from their fingertips into their pen, or into the keys of their computer, that is a writer. Does this person have to be paid? No. Does it help? There ain't nothing like it!


Rie's short stories appear in Double Dragon's From Within The Mist ebook and The Stygian Soul as well as Mundania Press' Beyond The Mundane: Flights Of Mind. Her anthology RieVisions is available from Mundania Press and novel The Lute And The Liar is under their Awe-Struck Books imprint.

Writer's Exchange re-released her Young Adult fantasy, The Right Hand Of Velachaz, and Yard Dog Press is home to humorous horror chapbooks Tales From The Home For Wayward Spirits And Bar-B-Que Grill and Bruce and Roxanne Save the World…Again.

Midnight Showcase carries romantic fantasy Sidhe Moved Through The Faire. She also has several poetry anthologies – Take Out from the Writers Café; If My Sandcastle Drowns…Can I Live With You?; Dancing on the Edge; and Straying from the Path: A Baker’s Dozen of Fairy Tale Poems.

Some surprising insider information about Rie:

Sidhe Moved Through the Faire was a NaNoWriMo project several years ago that got picked up for publication by Midnight Showcase.

She wrote the lyrics and original music for a song called “Soul of a Harper” that was tweaked musically and performed by The Brobdingnagian Bards on several of their albums. They even performed it live at their final concert together (YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYCAYdq9uPM.)


Rie has generously agreed to offer up three autographed books for today’s event!


From Yard Dog Press:



Tales From The Home For Wayward Spirits And Bar-B-Que Grill (http://yarddogpress.com/tales.htm )

One of the stories in Tales from the Home For Wayward Spirits And Bar-B-Que Grill – “Zombie Invaders from Mars…or Someplace Like That” – was originally a runner-up in the Killer Frog contest to write the worst possible horror story. I have been told it contains the best way to destroy zombies since Mars Attacks!



Bruce and Roxanne Save the World…Again (http://yarddogpress.com/bruce&.htm )

From Mundania Press:


RieVisions (http://www.mundania.com/books-rievisions.html )

“Steel Velvet” – one of the RieVisions stories – was inspired by the texture of the industrial machine I was feeding parts into when I was bored one night at work. And another in that collection – “MacKenzie’s Rose” – was written by hand on scrap paper originally as I worked too. It was a productive environment.

You can find Rie on the internet here:

website: http://www.riewriter.com
Blog: Water Off a Crow’s Back http://riesheridan.livejournal.com/
Facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rie-Sheridan-Rose/38814481714

Thank you so much for hanging out with us today!

Warmly,
Jenny

33 comments:

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Thanks for having me, Jenny. With a warm welcome like that, I hope I can live up to it. :) If anyone has any questions, please ask, because I am a guest blog virgin, and I can use the help. :)

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

I almost forgot -- but I saw your free ebook listed on your page(I'll have to get a copy!), and it reminded me...I have a free gift on writing for all your readers too. Just drop me an email at riesheridan@authorsden.com and ask for a copy of "Building a Three-Legged Stool". This is a collection of writing columns that appeared in various venues, as well as a bonus short story. :)

Unknown said...

I get to read her father's pithy bits of wisdom and consider myself lucky to be in the loop!

Unknown said...

"Rie Sheridan Rules"... I had no idea there were rules.

Doc Stardust said...

I didn't know you wrote "Soul of a Harper!" I love that song!

Doc Stardust said...

Of COURSE there are rules, Bill. Didn't you get the memo?

Boy, are YOU gonna be surprised!

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Thanks, Anthro-gal. :) *blush*

Yes, I wrote it especially for Marc Gunn when I first met him, and it took him several years to actually learn it...lol. Though I may never write another song that anyone finds worth recording, I will always be proud of that one.

wcholmans said...

Thanks to Rie and Bill for making me feel much more important than I am.

Jenny seems to have a class act here, and I intend to put it on my "follow" list. Write, Rie,write! And, of course you know I'll say....."MORE POETRY!!!!"

Willie C

Unknown said...

I know you from gaming, but I have yet to really read any of your works! It's good to see you here, and I am glad to take the break from highly addictive Facebook games to say Hello!

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

I am so pleased to see everyone! Clay, if you want to get a taste of my stuff without having to open your wallet -- which I know is hard on everyone these days -- I have free short stories up at http://www.cyberwizardproductions.com/AbandonedTowers/fantasy/whine.html (one of my favorite stories "Whine") and http://www.rogers-vincenthomeforwaywardspirits.info/skeletonstory.html (a Bruce and Roxanne story written specifically for the website.)

Willie C said...

I'm going to hit you with another one, simply to test my identity. This is a test.....I'm not saying anything, simply checking what the comment will look like. Before, I didn't see the option to post as myself (I think)

Willie C

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

You wanted more poetry, Papa? Here's one for you from a collection I am currently working on:


Convict Hill


The wind blows cold
On Convict Hill
where once rock was
torn from the ground
by lawless hands…

As prisoners quarried
for limestone walls
that lawful men would
hide behind.

Chained like dogs to
the rock they dug—
thick iron links fettered
to heavy bars driven
deep in stone.

Derricks rose like
gallows—black against
the Texas sky—
ready to shift the
quarried blocks.

Some say eight men
died on that hill,
buried beneath their
labors lost.

Others say that the
restless wind blows
only memories, not ghosts.

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Just skimming through Jenny's wonderful write-up again, and I realized that an update is necessary. :) While my dad used to only share his thoughts with a few people, he now has a wonderful blog of his own here on Blogger -- http://williebug.blogspot.com/ -- I highly recommend it. :)

Willie C said...

BONO!!!That's a good one!

Thanks,

Willie C

Unknown said...

Thanks, Rie. I will be sure to check those out!

Jim Reader said...

Howdy Rie,
fancy seeing you here. ;)

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Howdy back attcha, Jim. I'm working on your chapter -- but the lack of page numbers is slowing me down. ;)

Donna said...

I am so glad to see you here and even more glad that you get to follow your dream with such passion! I must admit that of all your wonderful works, I am most fond of your Straying From the Path. No not because of the illustrations, but because I love the twists in your take on the classic tales! Keep following your dream.

Jim Reader said...

D'oh!
okay, many apologies there...
and if you wanted to post another example of your poetry here, I think we'd all really enjoy it.

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Thank you so much for the sweet comment, Donna. Personally, I always tell people that it is the illustrations that make those poems sing. :)

I still hope to put out a deluxe edition of that one someday.

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Here's one for you, Jim. It comes from the STRAYING FROM THE PATH collection Donna was talking about:


Red


How long should I play this game?

"What big eyes you have!"

I'm not a child—

does he really think I do not
see?

Grandmother was old and dying...
perhaps the end was kind—

but I have no intention
of joining her.

`Tis fortunate the woodsman
is young and handsome
and our meeting
is arranged.

I stall for the little death
that will be
all the sweeter on a

wolfskin rug.


(the formatting is lost, but the words are the same. :))

J.R. Turner said...

So awesome to see everyone here!! Rie, it's a thrill to have you guesting on my blog ;)

We should have a bunch of readers coming in soon as they get off of work ;)

This is great though and you've been so generous to offer everyone a free copy of "Building a Three-Legged Stool"--it sounds like a blast!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

I'm delighted to be here, Jenny. I have to slip off between 7 and 10, but I'll check in for any last minute questions/comments posted while I am gone. :)

Izzy Moon said...

I loved this blog entry and enjoyed learning about this wonderful author who, I'm ashamed to say, I've never heard of. Her works sound right up my alley! Reading this was both entertaining and informative.

— And NOTHING beats tales of real-life experiences. Truth is always stranger (and often funnier) than fiction.

Iz

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Thank you for your kind words, Izzy. I hope that you find something of interest somewhere in all the free stuff so you can get to know my work a little and then -- feel free to order something from Amazon. ;)

June said...

Books! Music! I'm in heaven. I'm off to check out the song and your books, Rie.

Thanks, Jenny, for having Rie here today!

Congruations, Rie, on your many publications!

Take care,
June

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

Thank you so much for dropping by, June. :) I've been really lucky.

Christy said...

Hello Rie! I like your thoughts on writing. I have long written in my personal journals, dabbled in writing poetry, and I have enjoyed writing short exercises and participating in writing collabs. Recently however, I've indulged myself with writing an actual story which for me seems more like a marathon rather than a sprint. My question is, with such talent in the various arenas of writing, how do you keep your discipline to focus on the longer stories. Do you set aside your desire for writing poetry and shorter stories when writing longer bodies of work?

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

That is a fascinating question, Christy. I find I don't really write as many short stories as I used to, and definitely not when I am working on a longer piece, but poetry is different. I write poetry to relax. Most of it just flows...whether that is good or bad is another question. ;)

I think if you are writing a long haul novel, it does help to have something else in the works so that you can take a break from the grind of the novel without taking a break from writing.

But I am not one to ask about focus...just ask my husband! lol

J.R. Turner said...

Rie, it was truly a blessing to have you here today. I'm so thrilled that you were a part of this special blog launch for me.

I hope you'll consider coming back again sometime soon :) I loved having you here!

Warmly,
Jenny

Rie Sheridan Rose said...

I enjoyed every minute of it, Jenny. I'd be happy to come back any time.

Sheri said...

Hi Rie,

I'm always a day late and a dollar short to these things, but enjoyed your spotlight!

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