Tag Archive for 'literary fiction'

25 Years Ago Today: Novelist and Short Story Writer Maria Savva

I’d like to welcome my guest Maria Savva, who has written some truly fascinating works of literary and contemporary fiction. Maria lives in London and is a qualified solicitor, as well as a writer.

Her published novels are Coincidences and A Time to Tell, and she has also published the short story collections Pieces of a Rainbow, and Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales.)

A Time to Tell is a family saga spanning 50 years and three generations of one family. Pieces of a Rainbow is a collection of 7 short stories, each one based on a different color of the rainbow. Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales) is a collection of 15 short stories about life, love, loss, deceit and loneliness among other things. Maria is currently at work on her third and fourth novels and a third collection of short stories.

You can see Maria’s writing talent in her below memory of the absurdity of youth: The Red Man. Maria, tell us about your memory from 25 years ago.

MARIA: In the mid ‘80s, me and my friends would often congregate on a bench for lunch, outside our school. For a brief period of time, perhaps a few weeks, a young man used to walk past us every day. One of my friends pointed him out, and then we always looked out for him.

There was nothing particularly different about this man, as far as I remember, except that he always appeared a bit awkward as he walked past us unruly teens each day. He had red hair, and a flushed face (probably because we were always whispering or giggling when we saw him), so we quickly nicknamed him ‘The Red Man’.

I still laugh when I remember how silly we were, and I feel a bit sorry for the poor ‘Red Man’. I don’t think we ever actually spoke with him; maybe we said ‘hello’ when he walked past, or asked him inane questions that went unanswered. What I do remember was that one day, my friend decided to bring a camera so that we could play a prank on him, to make him think we thought he was famous and wanted a photo of him. We hid behind a car when we saw him approaching, then my friend jumped up and took a picture. He appeared startled.

My friend said she would pin it up on her bedroom wall, (I think she secretly fancied him.) I wonder whether my friend still has that photo, and I wonder what ever happened to The Red Man…

Please visit Maria’s web site for more information on her writing.

Also be sure to check out her books in my Amazon store.

25 Years Ago Today: Guest Blog Guidelines for Published Authors

This guest blog feature is going on hiatus due to time constraints. If you’ve already written a column for the previously advertised open submission period, please query. If we have already touched base about being a guest before this hiatus went into effect, then that agreement will still be honored.

Over the coming months, I will be featuring guest authors of mystery, suspense, thriller, literary fiction, romance, non-fiction and other genres on this blog. Published authors who are interested in writing a 25 Years Ago Today column, please e-mail me through my web site.

Please note that this is a family-friendly blog and I need to keep the post content and book covers PG-13.  I ask that you follow this blog via Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs if you plan on submitting a post. I will not be scheduling anyone until I have their materials in hand. If we touch base about penciling in a tentative date for a blog tour stop, your post must be submitted at least 30 days before that date.

Here are the guidelines below:

1. Use this question as a springboard to write a short article, about 200-250 words: What were you doing 25 Years Ago? This is a tie-in for my book Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. You can respond either for yourself, spinning a memory into a short article, or in the voice of one of your fictional characters – subtract 25 years from his/her age and make up a fictional moment from his/her past.

If responding as your character, please make this clear to me with a line such as: My character Cassidy Novak from the book Sink or Swim is answering this question. Try to keep it under 250 words. Have fun and feel free to be creative!

2. Include a short third person bio in paragraph form (try to keep around 100 words)

3. Low resolution jpeg of the book cover you wish to highlight

4. Low resolution jpeg of your headshot if you wish

5. link to your web site and/or blog

6. a one or two line teaser or description of the book or series that you are most actively promoting.

7. What category does your book (or books) fit into?

8. Optional – Would you like to do an e-book giveaway? Giveaways are posted on sites that list book-related contests. My blog is also connected to Giveaway Scout.com, which automatically scans thousands of blogs to bring their readers the latest blog giveaways, coupons, sweepstakes and contests.

9. Optional – If you have a blog, would you like to exchange reciprocal blog roll links? This blog is: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/blog/ If you would like to exchange links, please note that in your submission and include your blog link. Thank you for your interest and I hope to see your column!

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