WRITING WITH WOLVES

by Gina Sestak

How old were you when you began to write?  When you began to make up stories?

I remember crafting stories from the time I was old enough to print words on a page, but my niece Sam [Samantha] Sestak has gone me one better.  At the age of seventeen, she has self-published a 514-page book, the first in a series.

Here is a brief interview with the author:

How old are you?

Seventeen.

You're still in high school?


I'm a senior.  

Do you have any other noteworthy talents besides writing?

I play the snare drum in my high school band.  And I draw.

Yes.  I've seen some of your drawings on your website.  You seem to have a fascination with wolves.  Is that why you included werewolves in your book?

I do like wolves, but the story is more complicated than just another werewolf story.  

Right.  According to the summary on your website:  The Darkness Series, starting with Darkness, Obliged, follows the 17-year-old girl Xylina Ulrica (z-lean-a), through her newfound adventure in a brand new world.  After being chased out of her house by her homicidal cousin and knocked out in a forest, she wakes up in a brand new world, meets a prince, and figures out something about herself that even she didn't know. Thrown into a world at war, the fighting between werewolves, vampires, and dragons, she and her new friends have to help bring peace. But that's just the start of things.

How long did it take you to write Darkness, Obliged?

Two years.

Are you a fan of the Twilight series? 

Not really.  I prefer real wolves.  My pet husky looks like a wolf herself.

What are your plans for the future?  Will you be going to college to study writing?

Yes and no.  I'm planning to go to college, but I want to study zoology.

Thank you, Sam.  And best of luck for the future.

BTW, I've read Darkness, Obliged and enjoyed it.  You may, too.  

Drumroll, please....

by Jennie Bentley

The results are in for the first part of the Flash Fiction contest, better known as The Guessing Game. The other part, where you, gentle readers, post your own 200 word stories, starting with the sentence, “If you have to die, February is the best month for it,” in the comments section of a certain post you’ll find if you look to the right of this... that’s still ongoing. At the end of February, Wilfred Bereswill is graciously giving away a copy of his book, “A Reason for Dying,” to the guest story determined to be the best of the bunch.

This time around, the prize is one of my DIY books: “Fatal Fixer-Upper,” “Spackled and Spooked,” or “Plaster and Poison,” or an advanced reader copy of “A Cutthroat Business,” first in the Savannah Martin real estate mysteries.

You know, I had no idea when we started this that it would be so hard to match stiffs to stories. I figured everyone would get at least me and Will and John Lutz matched correctly, since our work is readily available even if you’re not familiar with it already. Imagine my surprise when no one – and I do mean no one – guessed that I wrote #2.

Yes, folks, the male POV 3rd person science fiction piece is mine. I figured if I wrote first person female like I always do, you’d know right off the bat that I wrote it. So I decided to be devious. Even so, to me, it still screams in my voice, loud and clear. The sentence structure, the rhythm, the flow... Yet even Will – whom all of you; every single person – thought had written it, told me that he if he didn’t know which entry was his, he’d have thought he wrote mine.

I’m going to take that as a huge compliment, y’all. Little old girly-girl me wrote male POV well enough to fool everybody!

Here’s the actual rundown of who wrote what:


1. Will
2. Jennie
3. Joyce
4. Gina
5. John Lutz
6. Pat R.


Nobody got’em all right. A few of you got a few. The person with the most matches, interestingly enough, was someone who doesn’t know any of us: Kris the Cajun Book Lady! Congratulations, Kris. Email me or DM me with your address and your choice of reading material, and I’ll get a book in the mail to you!

Thanks for playing, everyone! And don’t forget to post your 200 word Flash Fic pieces in the appropriate place for a chance to win “A Reason for Dying.”