Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Five Secrets From Author Eilis Flynn and the The Sonika Stories


I love Five Secrets blogs. I always wonder when I open my guest's document what I'm going to find.  Eilis has been a treat to work with, wait until you read her opening line and then go on to find out what her book is about.  It's "super".


Hey, L.A. thanks for having me. My middle name is Myrtle. I am determined to make it a popular name again!

Glad you have you, Eilis. Please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about “The Sonika Stories” or you, but will after today!

1) Thanks for having me today. “The Sonika Stories” is the republishing of my super-heroine novel, “Introducing Sonika,” bundled with two Sonika short stories and a World of Sonika glossary. Yes, it’s “re-introducing Sonika,” so to speak.

2) It took a while for me to offer it up again because I also wanted to make sure the second novel in the world of Sonika was ready to go, so that’s going to be available in April!

3) I come from a comic book background (I sold my first comic book story at the tender age of eighteen), so writing a novel about a super-heroine came as second nature. I’m glad that super-heroes and comics are finally hip!

4) The origin story of Sonika’s powers has been truly secret: The idea of manipulating sound came to me as I was slogging away at the gym. I may have blacked out as I started to plot out the story because when I came to, I was about done on the elliptical. After I hopped off, I had to find something to write on and began to scribble madly on the back of the magazine I was reading! The novel itself I wrote in three months, the fastest I have ever done. It just came together.

5) Sonika’s uniform has had numerous redesigns, but no matter how it changes, it’s also yellow.


The Sonika Stories
It’s not easy being a super-heroine
Blurb :
If you had the power to save the world, what would make you give it up?

Trained by her parents to use her abilities to fight criminals, Sonya Penn gave it all up after her parents were killed by their archenemy, Gentlemen Geoffrey, turning away from what would have been her life as a super-heroine.

And yet, when she finds herself drawn to scientist John Arlen, his thirst for revenge against the criminal who murdered his father forces her to confront her choices. She finds herself falling in love with this man, who has secrets he seems unwilling to reveal to her. 

Or she could finally take up the mission her parents intended her to pursue—even if it means his death or hers.

As she fights her way through her first official adventures as a super-heroine with Arlen by her side, she begins to understand the highs and lows that come with the job—and discovers something about the profession: You meet the oddest people!


Buy: 


Find Eilis:

Bio:
 1977—79
DC Comics
• “The Weak Link” (Action Comics #475) (Lori Lemaris)
• “One of Those Days” (Action Comics #477) (Lex Luthor)
• “Hero for a Day” (Action Comics #486) (Clark Kent)
• “Two-Edged Sword” (Elvira’s House of Mystery #6)
• “Super-Symposium: Should Superman Marry Lois Lane?” (DC Special Series #5)

1977—
Writer, Editor
Comics Journal, Entangled Publishing, Foundation for the Future, Global Finance magazine, Institutional Investor magazine, Knight-Ridder Financial News, Macmillan Publishing,  Science Digest, Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine

1994—
            • Two years chapter president, Greater Seattle chapter Romance Writers of America
(1995–96)
• Moderator coordinator, publicity chair, doorprize coordinator, Emerald City Writers’ Conference (1994–2003)
• “From Wonder Woman to Alias: Those Kickbutt Heroines,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2004)
• “Submissions Bootcamp,” Greater Seattle RWA workshop (November 2004)
• “Heroines in Pop Culture,” Writer’s Weekend 2005 (June 2005)
• “Finding Your Hot Premise,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2005)
• “Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Manga,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2006)
• “Starting Your Writing Career at the E-Pubs,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2007)
• “Faeries Along the Silk Road and Beyond,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2008)
• “Dragons Along the Silk Road and Beyond,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2009)
• “Geeks and Gamers’ Guide to World-Building,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2010)
• “Marketing Your Book with Key Phrases,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2011)
• “Faeries & Dragons Along the Silk Road and Beyond: The Quiz Show,” Sakura-con (April 2012)
• “Getting Started at the E-Pubs,” Savvy Authors (May 2012)
• “Vampires Along the Silk Road,” Savvy Authors (June 2012)
• “How to Build a Super-Heroine,” Geek Girl Con (August 2012)
• “Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters Along the Silk Road,” Savvy Authors (October 2012)
• “Don’t Fear the Copy Editor,” Emerald City Writers’ Conference (October 2012)
• “Angels & Demons Along the Silk Road,” Savvy Authors (January 2013)

Publications, 2007 and beyond
The Sleeper Awakes, 2007 (Ellora’s Cave/Cerridwen Press)
• Festival of Stars, 2007 (Ellora’s Cave/Cerridwen Press)
• Introducing Sonika, 2007 (Ellora’s Cave/Cerridwen Press)
• Echoes of Passion, 2009 (Ellora’s Cave/Cerridwen Press)
• Riddle of Ryu, 2011 (Words & Ideas Press)
• Static Shock, 2012 (Crescent Moon Press)
MyRomanceStory.com (script, graphic novella), 2008, “Thirty-Day Guarantee”
Scarecrow Publishing
“Two Worlds, United by Anime,” essay, in The Japanification of Popular Culture, 2008, Mark I. West, ed. Scarecrow Publishing, date unknown
Romance Writers of America Writers’ Report, November 2008, “Snappy Comebacks”

Awards:

The Sleeper Awakes

• First Place, Paranormal Category
1998 Emerald City Opener Contest

 Introducing Sonica

• Finalist, Paranormal Category
2002 Kiss of Death/Daphne DuMaurier Contest
• Finalist, Paranormal Category
2002 Valley Forge Romance Writers Winning Beginnings Contest

 The Fall Of The Hesperus

• Third Place, Paranormal Category
1999 Emerald City Opener Contest