Beyond Words

As the world now knows, we lost a magnificent talent on Saturday, February 11, 2012. Ms. Whitney Houston was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room. I was a Whitney fan, but really didn't give her much thought after 1990-something. Once Bobby got his hooks into her and took her down the road to Hell. But, I haven't written a single word since her death, nor do I feel like it. All inspiration has been sucked out of me...sigh :( The problem is television and the media coverage of her death. I had to watch the Grammy's last night to see how they would acknowledge Whitney. And now I find myself obsessed with wanting to know how and why she died. It's not a morbid fascination, it's more of a feeling of loss. She was so talented and let it all go. Sometimes I feel that way about writing. I can write. I'm good at it. But I'm by no stretch of the imagination the Whitney Houston equivalent to the literary world. Still it makes me think about life and death and u...

From Gone with the Wind to Confederacy of Dunces to the The Sookie Stackhouse series the southern gothic style has appeared in almost every type of fiction since its inception. The first gothic novels were born on the banks of Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816 when Lord Byron hosted a ghost story competition between himself, Percy Shelly, Mary Shelly and John William Polidori. That contest produced both Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Polidori’s The Vampyre. Almost 200 years later the vampire novel has evolved but is still as popular now as it was when it first sunk its teeth into the reading public. The heart of the gothic novel is extremes; greatness turned tragic, lofty affluence fallen to social squalor, heroic acts of bravery ending in madness and death. And few places can you find more examples of great ventures turned disastrous than the American south. The image of the old southern plantation fallen to ruin; aristocrat turned r...

XchylerConn has spent her life writing. She is a mother to the best three-year-old ever and a wife to her highschool sweetheart. To date she has three published works with five more on the way. Her key genres are YA Fantasy, and Paranormal. You can find her throwing together magic, mythology, creatures and an adventure anywhere she can hold her computer, or a pen. Tell us about your story and where readers can purchase a copy. Well the blurb for Part One of the 3479 series is: The King’s actions have set a war into motion. His people are bound by magic to fight for his wrongs. James did not always live his life in the dark, though his life pointed him in that direction. Join Sammie and Ryder as they choose their path and what journey to take, as they learn the true history of their King. This is just Part One to the 3479 series. Part Two will be focused on what Ryder has to offer, and Part Three will explain itself. http://www.solsticepublishing.com/products/3479-%252d%252d%252d-P...

Nicholas Andrews grew up in Dayton, Ohio. After graduating from Bellbrook High School in 2000, he went on to attend both Ohio University and Wright State University. He worked as a freelance video editor for various independent pro wrestling companies for three years, before returning to his first love of writing. He has been writing stories since he was ten years old. He is also the nephew of Ted Andrews (1952-2009), award winning new age author. Tell us something about yourself and how you became a writer. I was born and raised in southwest Ohio. I graduated from high school in 2000, and have attended two different colleges. I've been creating stories for as long as I can remember. When I was very young, before I knew how to write, my main way of expressing myself creatively was through drawing. I would draw depictions of "let's pretend" games with my friends and have my parents write the words I wanted to say. Later, around age eleven or so, I distinctly remembe...