Music – Amy Brock McNew ~Author~

Today I have another special guest on Guts on the Page, author S.D. Grimm. Plus, a giveaway!

S.D. just released her latest fantasy, Scarlet Moon, Book One in the Children of the Blood Moon series. I’ve just started reading and, trust me, you’re going to want to get your hands on this book!

I took this opportunity to ask a few questions and find out exactly what makes this promising author tick. Here are the results. 14658376_10210665510698298_1074934663_n

First, I got the scoop on the real S.D.! You know, all those important, burning questions.

~What’s something we wouldn’t know about you just by looking?

Well, I do like Brazilain jiu jitsu, kickboxing, fencing, and shooting. Archery is next.

A woman after my own heart. This chick is dynamite in a small package. Don’t set her off!

~If you were a superhero, what would be your super power?

Invisibility. But that’s not the superpower I’d want. I’d want to be telepathic.

Hm. Not sure I’d want to know what most people are thinking! If I had to choose, I think I’d go for telekinesis. Who wouldn’t want to be able to move things with your mind?

Now let’s get to what we all know is one of my favorite topics, in addition to fighting. Which we covered. 😉

~Do you listen to music while you write?

YES! But not while I edit. I need to hear the cadence of the sentences when I edit.

I can see that. Myself, even if I’m doing an out loud read, I gotta have the tunes. It’s like oxygen for me.

~Name one song/artist you’re embarrassed you like.

Haha! “Call Me Maybe”

Wow. Okay. So maybe I’m wishing I hadn’t asked that question! But, sometimes there are no explanations for why a song resonates with you. Or just gets stuck in your brain.

~Here’s the question that really tells us a lot about someone. What’s your favorite fandom?

I have way too many. I love Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, a bunch of anime, the first seasons of the Vampire Diaries and Supernatural, DC and Marvel, Harry Potter, some 80s cult classics, Buffy. I mean, I’m pretty well-rounded when it comes to this kind of thing.

I am right there with you on LOTR, Supernatural, and Buffy. Now I understand a little more of why we get along so well!

Now on to a little more serious type questions.

We all know I live and breathe speculative fiction. I read it, watch it, write it, and sometimes, live it. I’ve always been drawn to the strange, paranormal, and wonderfully weird. So I gotta know,

~Why do you write speculative fiction? What draws you to it?

Magic. I love the endless creative possibilities of fantasy and sci-fi. Something about this genre sparks to life the kid inside me that makes me want to share the wonder I experience in believing and hoping and knowing the impossible is somehow possible. I like to encourage others to embrace that inner child and believe it too.

It does have unlimited potential, doesn’t it? Nothing is too far outside of the box. The only limit is your imagination.

~When did you start writing?

In elementary school. I wasn’t serious about trying to get published until seven years ago, and that’s when I started writing Scarlet Moon.

~What’s a normal writing day like for you?

I’m not sure normal is the right word, but when I write I sit with my laptop somewhere or in my little cubby in the basement, and I turn on some music and I write. Prepping for that includes thinking about upcoming scenes, which I do while I do chores, or take a shower, or right before I fall asleep. I have been caught brandishing a wooden spoon in the kitchen while simultaneously cooking dinner and “head-writing” a fight scene. *blushes*

Yay! I’m not alone! Why is it that the best scenes, especially fight scenes for me, come to you at the weirdest times? And, then there’s the fact that I can’t seem to just think them, I have to act them out.

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~What was your inspiration for writing Scarlet Moon?

I love animals. The novel I wrote prior to this one (which sits in a proverbial dark, secret drawer) was about animals. All the characters were animals. And one day I decided to get serious about publishing. Then I decided I was going to write about people. I still wanted animals to be a big part of the story so I chose to write about a race of people who can commune with nature. These people basically get certain talents or abilities from animals—and they reciprocate, giving animals certain abilities too. Then I researched some really cool animals, including mythological ones, and the story world really grew from there.

~What is Scarlet Moon about? Told from multiple point of view characters, Scarlet Moon is a young adult fantasy about Jayden, a seventeen-year-old, dagger-wielding, storm-detecting orphan who can save the race of people known as the Feravolk from a sorceress queen bent on annihilating them. Maybe they should have thought of that before they killed Jayden’s family.

It’s sounds amazing. I can’t wait to dive in deeper.

~Where can we learn more about you and your book?

My website http://sdgrimm.com

You can order it here: https://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Moon-Children-Blood-Book/dp/1683700503/

And you can totally come to this facebook party and try to win a copy. 😀 https://www.facebook.com/events/183601465406699/

Thank you so much for letting me pick your brain today!

If you would like to win a signed copy of Scarlet Moon, all you have to do to be entered is like mine and S.D.’s Facebook pages! Her link is above, mine is below. Once you’ve liked, comment here to let us know so you can be entered.

Amy Brock McNew Author

If you would like to know more about S.D. and her stories, check out the links above and below. And definitely get your hands on a copy of Scarlet Moon!

14642713_10210665491337814_440895232_n S. D. Grimm’s first love in writing is young adult speculative fiction. She is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency and her debut novel, Scarlet Moon, is slated to be published in October 2016. When she’s not writing or editing, Sarah enjoys reading (of course!), making clay dragons for her Grimmlies store on Etsy, practicing kickboxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu, training dogs, and doing anything outdoorsy with the family. Her office is anywhere she can curl up with her laptop and at least one large-sized dog.

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SDGrimm/

Twitter http://twitter.com/SDGrimmAuthor

Website, blog, and newsletter. http://sdgrimm.com

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/SDGrimmAuthor/

Scarlet Moon on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Moon-Children-Blood-Book/dp/1683700503/

Rock, Reverence, & Revival

This past weekend, my two passions collided in an explosion of epic proportions.

Music and writing are in my blood. They form a huge part of who I am. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to meld the two in a different way than ever before at Kingdom Come Festival.

For the first time, I set up a vendor booth, selling my new book and speaking to people. The conversations I had and sharing my personal story that’s wrapped up in the novel were some of the main things that will stick with me from this weekend. That one on one interaction, the personal connection, that’s what it’s all about. That’s why I write. To reach people, to move them, to touch them with stories they can identify with. Seeing the response to my testimony in person and being able to connect with these people and minister to them, wow. I think it may have touched me more than them!

And I must say, though I wasn’t expecting it, being asked onstage to speak about L2L2 publishing and have a little fun with the crowd was fantastic. The fans were so much fun and, you know I enjoyed making them do stupid human tricks and cartwheels to win books!

All that is just the beginning of the tale of an extraordinary weekend.

I hardly know where to begin. So I’ll start with a little background.

For those who don’t know, my family and I volunteer with Always One Ministries. This is a group that ministers to young people by putting together fabulous music events all through the year. Our primary event is KCF, held every summer. Many different kinds of music are represented, from worship, to funky bluegrass, to hip hop, to metal. It’s a massive, amazing weekend that changes lives. For the past 2 years, we’ve held this event at the Howard County Vietnam Veterans Reunion Campground. The vets have welcomed us with open arms and most join in the fun with us.

Now on to this year.

Beautiful. That’s the best word to describe it.

Why beautiful? For many reasons.

First of all, the theme this year was Rock, Reverence, and Revival. And KCF 2016 more than lived up to that theme.

It all started with the flag raising ceremony Friday morning. This was a sacred and humbling event. To say that I was honored to be a part of it is an understatement. It’s an experience that moved my soul. I will never forget it.

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Then, we were privileged to be present for a memorial service for a fallen soldier. As the twenty-one gun salute rang across the countryside, followed by the bugling of Taps, there wasn’t a dry eye on the grounds. Everyone stopped to honor this soldier’s memory and sacrifice.

This all set the tone for the weekend. We had no idea just how profound and epic it would be.

The love of ministry through music is what brought us all together. This weekend, we rocked out like never before. With familiar faces and new additions, the lineup was off the chain.

The performers blew us all away.

There were serious moments, some hilarious happenings, ear-shredding rifts, peaceful worship, and dance-inducing jams. There were bag pipes. Circle pits. Headbanging. Spoken word artists with flair. Rappers throwin’ rhymes. A session of singing “This Little Light of Mine” with everyone under the big tent. Dancing zombies. Inflatable guitars. A singing storm trooper. We even had an onstage marriage proposal during The Protest’s set!

Every single person that stepped on that stage brought everything they had and left nothing behind. They played and danced and sang and spoke their hearts out.

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The awesomeness didn’t stop with the music. Something else happened at this year’s event that changed everything.

A1M is a family. It’s always been this way. When my family and I joined, we were absorbed into the fold without hesitation. The love we were surrounded with was unexpected and astonishing.

The family spirit that is perpetually present at A1M events permeated the air this past weekend. And this time, it was supercharged. There was something different this year. Something unique.

There were many familiar faces and a whole lot of new faces. We even brought two with us. My friend Michele, who is also an L2L2 author, and her husband Ben.

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Every single one of these new-to-KCF folks I spoke with told me how they felt so welcome and felt so much love. It was the talk of the weekend.

Family. I’ve said that word a lot. But this weekend our family grew and when it did, it was like an explosion. An explosion of love.

Hugs. Smiles. Uplifting conversations. Bands and volunteers ministering to people. Small groups huddled in prayer. Large groups talking, praying, and dancing. Bands and speakers rocking and leading worship and praying from the stage. This is what was happening everywhere you turned.

If you looked close enough you could see the threads of love and communion and worship wrapped around us all, pulsating with an effervescent light from above.

That’s what made this weekend special. The love, the people, the bonds that were formed and those that were strengthened. Those who came feeling like outcasts, like they were unloved and unwanted, left with a new outlook. They left as family, loved and treasured. Many having made the choice to be part of the family of Christ.

It was so wonderful and spectacular it’s hard for even me, the writer, to describe.

The Spirit of love, the spirit of revival, ignited us all. This epic outpouring of love and the way that God moved this weekend is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. I know I can speak for all of us at A1M when I say our hope is the flame that was stoked so high this weekend only grows.

We want more. We want this revival to spread. We want more people to feel the Love that defined this weekend.

Kingdom Come Festival 2016 may be in the books, but this is just the beginning of something special.

Won’t you join us?

I’ll leave you with one of the many hilarious moments of the weekend.

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Video courtesy: Asche Relesser

Photography courtesy: Brian McNew

Jeanette Yoder Photography

To see more of Jeanette’s sleek, professional photography, visit her at:

Facebook.com/jyophoto or jyophoto.wordpress.com