Welcome guest author Nell Du Vall

I'd like to welcome author Nell Du Vall, who also writes under the name Alex Stone.

Writing career:

I’ve written most of my life. My first piece of fiction was written in the third grade. The teacher asked us to write a letter about why we liked the library. We had just moved to the area and I had never been to the library, so I interviewed my classmates and wrote my letter. I won a book, A Pony Called Lightning.

I wrote poetry from my teen years on and didn’t start on fiction again until mid-life. I started with short stories, some with a touch of horror, and then migrated to a short romance. I struggled through the first novel and finally managed to hit 40,000 words. Eventually, I wrote novels of over150,000 words, too long for most publishers. Eventually, I sold my first novel, a time travel romance.

Favorite Genre:

So many genres fascinate me, but I write romance, paranormal romance especially time travel, mysteries, and science fiction. I have three published novels, a short story anthology by me, and other short stories in anthologies with other authors. A mystery novel is scheduled for release in August.

Mysteries of all sorts fascinate me whether involving a crime to solve or the paranormal. I love ghosts, myths, and history in novels.

Current work:

I’m working with a co-author on a sequel to Beyond the Rim of Light by Alex Stone, a science fiction novel. I’m also waiting on the copyedits for my mystery, Selvage. Mélange Books bought both of these. I am polishing my trilogy of paranormal romances and hope sell these soon.

Character or plot:

For me these are intertwined. I always know the ending, but the path may change. Characters drive the plot. Often, they reveal aspects I hadn’t recognized before I started writing the novel. Characters must have flaws as well as virtues. Their flaws make them real for the reader and also a reason to change and grow.

A strong novel requires strong characters and a strong plot.

I love to write villains. I hope the readers will understand why villains do what they do and even on occasion feel sympathy for them. Often, the villain poses an alternative romantic interest for the heroine.

Latest release:

Beyond the Rim of Light by Alex Stone was released at the end of May by Mélange Books.. It’s an ‘Alice through the worm hole’ story with the heroine defying two galactic governments to save a sentient species. While her actions threaten her life, her lover and friends are punished in other ways. It also has a love story where the heroine saves the hero.

Soon to follow  in August from Mélange Books will be Selvage, a bank scam mystery. A woman is convinced someone killed her brother, but the police insist he died of drug overdose. Unable to convince them, she goes undercover as a hostess in a men’s club to solve the mystery.

Why I write:

Puzzle solving attracts me. I love working out why things happen and why people act in ways that appear to observers as irrational. I strive for consistency in my writing, but that means consistency within the bounds of the character’s nature, experience, and the setting  even if it seems irrational to a reader. Some may smile, but I live with my characters day and night until the novel is finished. For me, they are real people I like and respect, especially my villains. I hope the readers find them entertaining as well.

Thanks for asking me to share these aspects of my writing.

Nell DuVall

Links and blurb:

When Lilacs Bloom by Nell DuVall, http://www.amazon.com/When-Lilacs-Bloom-ebook/dp/B007RMYSCA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1341515666&sr=1-1&keywords=DuVall+%22When+Lilacs+Bloom%22#_

Changing history won't be easy--not even when Libby goes back in time to save the man she loves.

Beyond the Rim of Light By Alex Stone, http://www.melange-books.com/authors/alexstone/beyondtherim.html

From the unsuspected warp and weft of the universe to the pleasure world of Satina IV, Marissa Latham fights two galactic governments to save the planet Arden, its sentient Rheos, and the friends who were condemned along with her.