Talaria Press: Thanks for joining us, today we’re kicking off the Talaria Press interview series by speaking with Dr. Nicole Salem. Dr. Salem, thank you for being here.

Nicole Salem: Please call me Nicole.

TalP: Alright, Nicole, let’s start with your profession. What do you do for a living?

NS: I’m an archeologist on the payroll of the Field Museum of Natural History inChicago,Illinois.

TalP: That must be interesting. How do you feel about your profession?

NS: I love it. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl.

TalP: What’s your favorite part of what you do?

NS: I’d have to say the excitement of discovering things that haven’t been seen or handled in thousands of years. It’s a pretty amazing experience, to open a site; a lot of people would find it tedious, but I guess I’m one of those strange people who likes scraping away the dirt little by little to see what’s hiding underneath.

TalP: What’s your least favorite part of your job?

NS: Oddly enough, there can be some pretty big egos in the field which can be a challenge to deal with.

TalP: Tell us about your family. Are your parents alive?

NS: Yes, they’re both still alive. My dad was an Army aviator when he was younger and when he left that, he went into construction inChicago. Mom was a housewife most of our lives, until we got into school, at which point she started helping Dad out at the office. They’re pretty amazing people.

TalP: How about siblings?

NS: I have a younger sister, named Janie.

TalP: What’s your relationship with her like?

NS: Complicated.

TalP: Complicated? Care to elaborate on that?

NS: I love my sister, but we’re so vastly different that it’s hard to get along with her. When we were young, we got along really well, but it seemed like when I hit college, Janie decided that I abandoned her or something and started acting out.

TalP: Siblings can do that sometimes… Speaking of your childhood, where did you grow up? What was your childhood like?

NS: My parents still live in the family home inEvanston, which is where we grew up. It’s a little upscale suburb outside ofChicago. Overall, I’d say I had a happy childhood.

TalP: What were you like in school?

NS: (laughter) Remember Hermione from Harry Potter? Yeah, that was kind of me, except my hair was better behaved and I didn’t have buckteeth. Admittedly, I was a bit of an obnoxious overachiever in everything I did.

TalP: (laughter) Well, let’s also not forget that it was often Hermione’s nerdiness that got Harry and Ron out of trouble. So, do you have any tattoos or scars?

NS: It’s not really a tattoo or scar, but when I was chosen by Sekhmet, a mark in the shape of her sigil appeared on the back of my left shoulder. It looks like a tattoo though so I guess that counts.

TalP: Do you have a significant other?

NS: Significant other? (laughs) That’s a very diplomatic way of asking if I have a girlfriend without directly asking if I’m a lesbian.

TalP: Okay, okay, guilty. I don’t assume either way. So, are you seeing anyone?
NS: (more laughter) Well, that’s kind of a personal question, but I am seeing someone. He’s a pretty amazing person… he’s really inspired me to push beyond my normal boundaries and grow into a much better person.

TalP: Sounds like he’s very special.

NS: Oh, he is. That’s all I’ll say about it, though.

TalP: Fair enough. So, do you have any children? If no, do you want them?

NS: Wow, with the personal questions… No, I don’t have any children. Honestly, I’ve never given it much thought, but I don’t rule it out.

TalP: Alright, stepping away from the personal issues, what do you like to do for fun? Do you have any hobbies?

NS: I studied martial arts in my youth, and made it into the competitive circles for a while. I parlayed that into collecting ‘primitive’ weapons and learning how to use them.

TalP: Do you prefer books or movies? Favorites?

NS: Both. I’ll read or watch just about anything that’s really well written. I love old-school sci-fi like Heinlein.

TalP: Do you have a favorite food or drink?

NS: Growing up inChicago, I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of foods growing up. I’ve always been particularly fond of Italian and Polish, though.

TalP: So, let’s go into a few more esoteric questions… What quality do you like most in a man?

NS: Willpower

TalP: What quality do you like most in a woman?

NS: Integrity.

TalP: What scares you most?

NS: Um… spiders.

TalP: On what occasions do you lie?

NS: (smirking) When people ask me about my greatest fears.

TalP: (laughter) Touché. Alright, then who do you admire most in the world?

NS: Wow, that’s a tough one. There are so many to choose from. I guess I’m going to have to say my friend Aramair. She’s the kindest, gentlest woman I’ve ever known, but she’s also tougher than people think. She’s also absolutely brilliant and a talented doctor on top of all that.

TalP: Do you support any charitable organizations? If so, why those particular ones?

NS: No formal charities, but when I’m not out at a dig somewhere, I’m one of the researchers the Field prefers to send out to visit schools and children’s groups. I also help out with occasional overnights for kids at the museum. As you might imagine, I have  a vested interest in encouraging a love of history in kids.

TalP: That definitely makes sense. Bearing all that you’ve said in mind, what do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

NS: Well, that’s hard to say. I suppose I would have to say my acceptance as NuruSekhmet. It wasn’t without its controversy and stress, but it’s really been a turning point in my life.

TalP: Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty intimidating proposition. So, what are your goals for the future?

NS: That’s easier: defeat the bad guys, live happily ever after.

TalP: Well, if there’s any such thing, I’d say you deserve it if you beat the bad guys. One last question: If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

NS: Wow, I really don’t know. I’m not really a sit on the couch and veg kind of person. Probably just spend time with my friends and family.

And there you have it, our interview with Dr. Nicole Salem. Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for future interviews!

I’m incredibly proud to announce that my third novel and the culmination of the Sekhmet’s Light Trilogy, Shomu, has gone live in Kindle format. For those of you that have been reading for the last couple years, it means finding out what I’ve been keeping to myself for a while now: how Nicole’s story ends. 

It’s kind of surreal knowing that her story has been told, but gratifying at the same time to know that I’ve actually completed the trilogy. I hope that you’ll agree that the ending fits nicely with the mythology I’ve established. 

As of right now, I’m looking forward to what comes next. There will be one last touch on the SL universe, possibly before the end of the year. A collection of stories that I’m titling The Days Upon the Year to continue the calendar theme of the titles.

As readers will know, Ancient Egyptians had a three-season calendar, each containing four 30-day months. That 360 day calendar, however, leaves us with 5 rogue days unaccounted for. These are the epagomenal days, or Days Upon the Year. Each of these days is said to be the ‘birthday’ of the most powerful gods in the panthon (Osiris, Horus the Elder, Isis, Set, and Nephthys). They’re also said to occur outside of normal time and people believe that strange things happen on them.

For my purposes, each “day” will present a story that ties in with the Sekhmet’s Light trilogy or was touched upon in the novels, but wasn’t shared in its entirety to avoid bogging down the main narrative. You’ll get to see things like the story of the first NuruSekhmet, Aramair’s story, and others. They’re things that add flavor to the universe, but aren’t absolutely necessary to Nicole’s story. 

I’ve also plotted out my next novel, the first in my as yet untitled supernatural thriller series and was blessed with the idea for the second of that one as well. I’m also producing some short stories for the next Talaria Press Founder’s Anthology which has a fairy tale theme to it which should be fun, in addition to helping with proof-reading/editing my husband’s second novel.

Factor in my efforts to find a new day job and I’m on massively busy girl!

Ahem.

So, I hope that you’ll pick up Shomu, if you’ve been reading along. If you haven’t, I have a treat for you. In celebration of the completion of the series, I’m offering the first novel, Akhet, for your kindle Sunday through Tuesday this week. This is a great opportunity to grab it and start on the series, knowing that the whole story is there just waiting to be read!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to break out the ‘tasty adult beverages’ to celebrate!

Happy Birthday to ME!

That’s right, tomorrow, March 21st, is my birthday, but I’m giving you guys the present this year! Tomorrow, you can download my first novel, Akhet, for your Kindle for the low, low, low price of… FREE!

Shelfari Review

A nice 4-star review of Akhet was posted on Shelfari earlier today. 

Quests & Answers

I’m extremely proud to share with you the new anthology of short stories. I helped create this volume along with my husband Garth, and our friends Ren Cummins and Quiana Kirkland, aka, my partners in Talaria Press. 

The seven stories include new, original tales of our established worlds; Sekhmet’s Light, the Children of Divinity, and the Chronicles of Aesirium. There are also several featuring brand new, never before seen original stories. 

We’re all incredibly pleased with the stories and hope that you’ll check them out and enjoy them as much as we did creating them.

Akhet for Free?!

Yes, it’s true. As a KDP enrolled title, all Amazon Prime members have the option of ‘borrowing’ the book and reading it for free… However, that’s not what this post is actually about!

If, as a Kindle user, you’ve been pondering reading the first book of Sekhmet’s Light, or if you know someone who has, on February 1st, I’m offering Akhet for free! Yes, you can download it for yourself, or gift it to a friend for absolutely no money.

But why would you do this, Heather? Don’t you want to make money?! Well, yes, of course I do… believe me this is not something I’m doing purely out of the goodness of my heart. It’s my hope that when you’ve read the first novel, you’ll be willing to shell out the cash for Peret (book two) and Shomu (book three which will be available in the next couple of months!). So, please, if you’ve been on the fence or you know someone who’d like it, feel free to download it!

Thanks for reading! :D

Score: Four out of Five Stars

This is a well-researched book and you will learn some Egyptian words while reading it. I found this very interesting. 

The main character doesn’t look like me at all so I wasn’t able to imagine myself as her, but the author did a great job of in description.  All I can say is I’m not tall and lean with an angular face and dark hair long enough to brush the waistband of my pants when pulled back in a ponytail.  The research done shows in the work and was very thorough, while the descriptions are clear enough that this should be a graphic novel.  Even though the characters are adults, the way subject matter is handled well and this is safe for early teens. This story might help inspire a new generation of Indiana Jones wannabes.

I’ve been closely following the events surrounding the creation of Amazon’s KDP Select program. Because of my intense curiosity and my desire to embrace new tools and technologies to get my work noticed, I’ve decided to register my first novel, Akhet, for the program. 

What does this mean for you, the reader? Well, it means that in accordance with Amazon’s terms for the program, I’m pulling Akhet down from BN.com and Smashwords, at least until April 10, 2012 (the end of the three month period that Amazon wants).

Peret and Shomu (when it’s published in the next couple months) will still be available through these distributors. 

The hope of this experiment is, of course, that the ability to borrow the book for a month and read it will cause a nice spike in my sales and lead to more success. We shall see.

In the meantime, I appreciate your understanding and hope that you don’t hate me too much! :)

 2012. Is it just me or does it seem like time is speeding up? It seems like just yesterday, I was 18 years old and looking to take on the world.

 A lot has changed for me in the almost 20 years between then and now. My mother passed away, I met my husband, and relocated from the deserts of Arizona to the Pacific Northwest. Maybe it’s strange, but by and large, I have very few regrets about my life, and maybe that’s because I’m naïve, but I prefer to think it’s because I accept that even the bad things that happened have made me into the person that I am today… and, for the most part, I’m pretty happy with myself as a person.

 2011 was a pretty big year, both good and bad. I was laid off from my day job, which sucked… but I took it as an opportunity and ran with it. Between looking for jobs and the occasional interview, I wrote and published my second novel and banged out the third which is now in the thick of the rewrite process. I also helped edit my husband’s first novel, formatted said novel for both ebook and print formats, and helped him set up his blog and other social media promotional outlets. I also participated in breaking ground, so to speak, on a new small press with Garth, another fantastic author we know, Ren Cummins, and editor extraordinaire, Quiana Kirkland.

 So how does one follow up a year like 2011? You continue to turn the volume up to 11, that’s how!

 Here’s a sneak preview of what you can expect to see:

• Shomu: Sekhmet’s Light, Book Three
• The Sekhmet’s Light Trilogy Omnibus edition
• The Days Upon the Year (a collection of 5 short stories/novellas set in the Sekhmet’s Light universe to fill in some backstories that were alluded to but not explored in the series)
• The Talaria Press Founder’s Anthology which collects stories from me, Garth, Ren, and even Quiana in a single volume!
• Emerald City ComiCon appearances by me, Garth, and Ren
• And finally, I’m hoping to have time to break ground on a whole NEW series of supernatural thriller novels!

 Cripes, seeing it all spelled out like that, 2012 is going to be even busier than I expected, especially considering that I’m still looking for a new day job. Well, I guess all we can do is rip that volume knob right off and rock on! 

A lot of people like to look at books that people they know have written and try to figure out ‘who’s me in this book?’ I also know that a lot of people like to write friends and family into books… I’m not one of those people.

To me, the decision to base a character on a real person can be fraught with incredible peril. The chances that you’re going to have someone upset with you over the way they’re portrayed in your book are just too high. To date, there are only two direct character-to-loved-one correlations in my novels.

1. Garth-Kemsefet: Kemsefet is very much based on my husband’s personality. He’s very supportive and loving, but he’s also more than willing to look at me and tell me ‘no’ if I’m getting out of control… which is something I do need from time to time. He does a great job of balancing out my weaknesses with his strengths.
2. Jeannie Sue (the nurse who cares for Nicole when she’s injured in Peret)-My mom: Naming a caring, nurturing minor character after my mother was my way of honoring her. She was a major force in my life, always my biggest fan. Even though she didn’t really like or understand the genres I preferred to write, she always wanted to read my stuff and always expressed her utmost confidence that I would be writing books one day. 

I have no plans to put other friends or family into my books for the reasons stated above. Maybe that will change one day, but I don’t really see it happening.

    I’d like to take a moment to promote the work of some wonderful people who also happen to be incredibly talented. If you’re stuck for what to get that book-reader in your life for Christmas, this is a great post for you!

    Do you have a James Bond or superhero fan in your life? Then Garth Reasby’s Children of Divinity series is a great choice. The first book is now available, with book two coming soon!

• Awaken
• Evolve (coming 2012)

    For the steampunk or anime fan in your life, check out Ren Cummins’ Chronicles of Aesirium Series. It’s a fantastic read and suitable for all ages from about 10 on up!

• Reaper’s Return
• The Morrow Stone
• The City of the Dead
• Reaper’s Flight
• Into the Blink
• The Crook and the Blade (coming later this month!)

    Finally, don’t forget about my own Sekhmet’s Light series as well. The first two books are out with book three slated for release in early 2012!

• Akhet
• Peret
• Shomu (coming 2012)

    Oh, and one last thing… If you want to give a wonderful gift that costs nothing more than a moment or two of your time, please leave a review for a book you read this year. It doesn’t have to long, just a sentence or two to let the author and other readers know whether you enjoyed it or not is fabulous!

Thanks for reading!

    I’ve recently shared the fact that I’m an author with my guild in Rift (it came up when I had to log early for a meeting with my editor and people asked about it). One of my friends commented that it sounded like my books would be right up his oldest daughter’s alley so he would suggest them to her.

    I spoke to him again day before yesterday and he told me that his daughter already owns my first book and that he was planning on picking up the second one for her for christmas! Of course, this had me utterly tickled pink, particularly when he asked how much I’d charge to sign them for her.

    I told him I don’t charge for signatures and that if he wants to send me the cover price via paypal I’ll be happy to sign a copy of Peret and send it to her since I still have one on-hand from the last shipment I received.

    Having the opportunity to interact with people who’ve read my book is a huge thrill to me and if it means getting a dad some extra kudos in the process, I’m totally down with that!

As an author, I’ve been asked on multiple occasions if I have a specific appearance in mind for various characters in the series. Generally speaking, I tend to have actors and/or models picked out for characters as I create them which is immensely helpful for me when it comes to visualizing them.

And so, without further ado, here are the major men and women of Akhet: Sekhmet’s Light, Book One, in alphabetical order:

Dr. Alexander Hodges - Bruce Campbell!

Amir Haad - Oded Fehr (Yes, the character himself is a very small role, but he’s a major catalyst to the story so I’m including him.)

Atif, High Priest of Apep - Faran Tahir

Haifa Haad - Serine Abed Alnour

Imanekhet, High Priest of Horus - Erick Avari

Kemsefet, Blade Master of Horus - Dwayen “The Rock” Johnson: This one, I think probably deserves some explanation. I’ve really tried to stay away from casting non-Middle Eastern actors/models as the Egyptian members of my cast, but Kemsefet is a special case. For me, there was never anyone but Dwayne for the role, but not for the reasons that people might think (his role in the Mummy and Scorpion King movies). The fact is that there’s a LOT of my husband in Kemsefet’s personality and Garth looks a lot like Dwayne… to the extent that people who have actually worked with Dwayne have remarked on it.

Dr. Marcus Wright - Kevin McKidd

Meshrew, High Priestess of Sekhmet - Wafaa Ibrahim

And finally, Dr. Nicole Salem / NuruSekhmet - Daniela Ruah

So, there you have it, the men and women that I envision when I think of the characters in Akhet. Keep an eye out for the men and women of Peret!

Interviewed by Ren Cummins

Ren asks some really fun questions during this interview. Check it out!

New review of Akhet!

A brand new review was just posted on Amazon.com of Akhet, book one!