• Blog

    Launch day for Catch a Falling Star by Geralyn Corcillo and a guest post about spin-offs in TV and books

    8/26/2016

    Spin Off into Fictional Worlds of Wonder! by Geralyn Corcillo
    Catch a Falling Star - Cover
    Hey, Monique! Thanks for featuring me today on your delightful blog! This is a big day for me, and I am so happy to be here.

    Spin Off into Fictional Worlds of Wonder!
    by Geralyn Corcillo

    When the boys you used to hate you date
    I guess you best investigate
    The facts of life
    The facts of life

     

     

     

     

     

     

    -From the theme song to The Facts of Life by Al Burton, Gloria Loring, and Alan Thicke
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDVpP7fWurA

    The TV show The Facts of Life was a anchor in my childhood – I watched with devotion from the first season when I was in 3rd grade and Molly Ringwald was on the show to the later seasons when I was in high school and George Clooney was on the show and I was crushin’ on him as hard as Mindy Cohn’s character Natalie was.

    And it was a spin-off.

    The character Edna Garrett, played by Charlotte Rae, was the housekeeper on the show Diff’rent Strokes. She got her own show after the first season and became the house mother at the all-girl boarding school in The Facts of Life. And thus, one of the most successful sitcoms of the 1980’s launched into my childhood and adolescence.

    Throughout my life, some of my most beloved television shows have been spin-offs. The hilarious Laverne & Shirley, a spin-off of Happy Days. Frasier, a spin-off of Cheers. Angel, a spin-off of another love of mine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My favorite British detective show (and yes, I like it even better than Sherlock) is Lewis, a spin-off of the incomparable Inspector Morse.

    As a fan and a viewer, I adore stretching into the individual worlds of characters I’ve come to cherish. And these new realities are fashioned by the talented people who created the original shows, so we all get to enjoy more genius entertainment coming from the same brains. Yay!

    Recently, as an author, I’ve come to realize the wonder of the spin-off from the creative side. My third romantic comedy novel released today is called Catch a Falling Star and it’s a spin-off of my second romantic comedy novel Queen of the Universe. Many reader reviews of Queen mention how they would love to read more about its lead characters, TV writer Lola and handyman-turned-leading man Arlen. But Lola and Arlen have their arc in Queen, so I’m just not inspired to write a sequel with them. Sure, as the one who created them, I think about Lola and Arlen all the time and about their life together after the end of Queen. But as much as I love fantasizing about it all, none of it whips up into a compelling story. But I do so love the world I created around Lola and Arlen.

    So … not a sequel, but a spin-off. Catch a Falling Star is the story of TV superstar Wendy Hunter and Lola’s brother, southern high school football coach Colin Scott. So, now I’ve got a new, compelling story that can be read entirely on its own, but in a wonderfully familiar world. And yes, we get to see a lot of Lola and Arlen in Catch, this time as supporting characters. We get to catch up with them, in fact. And not just them …

    I am having so much fun crossing the stars and the paths of my different characters. And I hope that readers and fans love the spinning off as much as I’ve enjoyed my favorite TV spin-offs throughout my life.

    What spin-offs do you adore? TV? Books? Cartoons, even? I’d love to hear what spin-offs, what fictional worlds, have brought you joy. When it comes to fiction, I am all about bringing on the joy!

    Thank you for featuring me today on your delightful blog, Monique! I look forward to comments from your fans so we can talk about some of our favorite spin-offs!

    Book Blurb:
    When TV star Wendy Hunter is about to have her most closely guarded secret viciously exposed by the paparazzi, she desperately tosses out a juicy bone to distract them: she announces her engagement to southern high school football coach Colin Scott. One problem. She’s not really engaged to him. In fact, she barely knows him. Um … barely. But will one unforgettable night last year be enough to get him to go along with her charade?

    Wendy goes to Louisiana to see him and discovers that Colin is not so thrilled to be suddenly “engaged” to her. He’s got some secrets of his own that his famous “fiancée” is putting in serious jeopardy. Still, he agrees to her fake engagement … as long as she agrees to play by his rules. And with the whole world watching, she’s got no choice. His demands? That Wendy stay in town for three weeks to play the part of Colin’s one true love, all without wrecking his life.

    Let the games begin. But when their time together is up, will either of them be able to—or want to—go back to the way things were?

    Queen of the Universe - Cover

    Miss Adventure - Cover

    Geralyn CorcilloAuthor Bio
    When she was a kid in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Geralyn Vivian Ruane Corcillo dreamed of one day becoming the superhero Dyna Girl. So, she did her best and grew up to rescue animals and constantly pick up litter. At home, she loves to kick back by watching black & white movies, British mysteries, and the New York Giants. Corcillo lives in a drafty old house in Hollywood with her husband TV writer Ron, a guy who’s even cooler than Kip Dynamite.

    Find Geralyn online
    Website: geralyncorcillo.com
    Universal Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/GeralynCorcillo
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geralyncorcillothewriter/
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/geralyncorcillo

    Book links:
    Miss Adventure Universal link: http://getBook.at/MissAdventure
    Queen of the Universe universal link: http://myBook.to/QueenUniverse
    Catch a Falling Star universal link: http://getBook.at/CatchStarQueen

     

    Comments

    Geralyn Corcillo
    8/26/2016 04:20:26 am

    Monique! Gorgeous post! Thanks! I had such fun being in the box set Have Chick Lit, Will Travel with you a few years ago, and I really appreciate your hosting me on Release Day for my third RomCom novel! And what a bizarre connection we have! I surprised you with a post about spin-offs and Facts of Life, and you were a unique little part of Facts of Life when it aired! Even back in the eighties, we were connected across the globe!!!!! I’d love to hear what spin-offs your fans have enjoyed … come on, everyone, let’s dish!!!!!!!!!
    Reply
    Monique
    8/26/2016 04:24:39 pm

    Congrats on your new book Geralyn. So exciting! Yes the connection is deep with us. I did help the Australian author who wrote the character with background on the Pippa character who appeared in Facts of Life late in it’s run. There was a little bit of me in Pippa. I think Private Practice which spun off from Grey’s Anatomy was a great spin off. And I was a huge Buffy fan and loved Angel when it spun off…

    Geralyn Corcillo
    8/26/2016 09:46:34 pm

    I googled Pippa and it turns out she’s had a pretty successful country music career over here in the States. Yes…Buffy and /angel. I loved the episode where the Buffy folks come to Angel’s place – I forget why. But Willow has a conversation with Wesley (they’re married in real life) and they are talking about people they have killed and terrible things they have done. almost as if they are trying to one up one another. And the chemistry between them is just so hot! I remember Wesley says how he chained a woman in his closet and tortured her for information, but Willow one ups him by saying how she killed a guy by ripping all his skin off. Good stuff!

  • Blog

    Guest blog post – Kim Cleary author of Path Unchosen

    6/4/2015

    Kim ClearyThank you so much Monique for having me on your blog. I’m delighted to write for you and your followers about my inspiration, my favourite characters and how I write.

    My Inspiration

    Four years ago I started writing a short story when I was diagnosed with MS. It caused severe pain, and eventually permanent damage in my hands, which stopped me from typing. I had to teach myself how to use voice software and a good friend gave me an opening line to get me started on a short story.

    I’ve always loved fantasy and science fiction and found myself gravitating to it. I shared pieces of the story with my sister and a small number of friends, received positive feedback and encouragement, and I just kept going with it. By the time I was let go from work, I had 35,000 words written and several ideas on how to take it to novel length!

    The short story morphed and became my debut novel Path Unchosen.

    That opening line is no longer in the story … but the chapter it inspired is.

    Setting is very important to me. In fact I wrote a blog post on this subject a while back – “The importance of being Welsh”. The setting was always Wales in my head. No-one wants to read paragraphs of description anymore, so the trick is to give a snippet of setting in a context that sets the scene for readers. I hope I’ve achieved that!

    I love all my characters! But if I had to choose my absolute favourites I’d have to name my dragon Aymon, and my imp Lyken … erm I mean Meagan’s dragon and imp!

    On Writing

    The best writing advice I was ever given … is to write, rewrite, and ship the finished product. I can’t work very quickly, but I write every day, and I employ the best professionals I can afford to make sure the book design is good, and my writing is as polished as it can be.

    Morning seems to be my most productive writing time, but I’m also woken up by brilliant ideas at 4am. My muse doesn’t keep to a regular schedule!

    I’ve never liked plotting, but my editor has convinced me to use an outline to keep myself focused on the main theme, and a cause and effect plot progression from beginning to end. I use Scrivener and love the way it lets me create an outline, use cards to summarise scenes, and work on the text at the same time.

    I’m currently working with my editor on the final revisions to Truth Unveiled, book two in the Daughter of Ravenswood series. I’m also writing the first draft of book three, and preparing an outline for a brand new book …

    Resigned to dutiful spinsterhood after the death of her fiancé, Harriet obediently accompanies her father to Australia in 1857. Still grieving, she turns to Spiritualism to find her fiancé and say one last goodbye. But when she uncovers a mysterious disappearance and a cold-blooded murder, she has to shrug off Victorian conventions and risk everything that matters to her.

    It’s a work in progress titled Harriet’s Hiatus. What a terrible name! I’m currently addicted to historical mystery and absolutely loving:

    The Victorian San Francisco Mysteries by Louisa M Locke,
    The Captain Lacey series by Ashley Gardner, and
    The Lady Darby Mysteries by Anna Lee Huber

    I advice all fledging writers to keep writing. To be brave and share your work with other writers in writing groups and online forums. To be resilient and listen to feedback that will help you, shrug off criticism that won’t. And most importantly to stop tinkering and finish the book!

    Thanks again Monique

    About Kim Cleary
    Kim writes urban fantasy for anyone who longs to discover they are extraordinary. She writes about hopefulness and determination, and about heroes who push through extraordinary situations and obstacles, one step at a time. Magical friends and gorgeous guys help, or hinder, in one adventure after another.

    When not writing, revising, or thinking about writing, Kim gardens, plays with her dog, chats on social media, catches up with friends or cooks an Indian feast. She is a member of Writers Victoria, Romance Writers of Australia, The Alliance of Independent Authors, and a certified chocoholic.

    Kim grew up in Birmingham, UK, studied medieval history and psychology at Adelaide University in South Australia and has worked all over Australia and in London. She now lives with her husband, an adorable Cocker Spaniel, and a crazy Moodle, in Melbourne, Australia.

    Path Unchosen - CoverPath Unchosen – Daughter of Ravenswood, Book 1
    Kim Cleary
    When eighteen-year-old Judy Hudson discovers she’s a necromancer and sees first-hand the pain her powers can cause the dead, she just wants to deny who she is. The zombie plague is long over. She wants to find a more normal life, but that’s a challenge when a beautiful otherworldly man, who claims to be her guardian, saves her life.

    Judy tries to set right the harm she inflicted on a spirit she raised, but new zombies attack—zombies raised from among the long-time dead. Someone else just like her is out there, and he’s not trying to set anything right. To save her own life, and protect the innocent inhabitants of the nearby town who’ve become her friends, Judy has to figure out who’s raising the dead and why. She must also learn to control the darkness inside her—a seductive darkness that promises her power beyond her wildest dreams.

     

    Path Unchosen Daughter of Ravenswood, Book 1 – Excerpt
    ©
    Kim Cleary
    I shouldn’t still be here.
    The sisters find jobs for everyone before their eighteenth birthdays, but mine came and went, unnoticed, two weeks ago. I blew hot breath on my hands and crunched across the frost-covered ground. Chickens clucked and pecked at my heels until I filled all the feeding troughs. There was no point in pestering the sisters about why they’d forgotten me. They would just try to find even worse punishments for me. I would have to leave and find work on my own. I couldn’t bear spending the rest of my life doing mundane chores around St. Stephen’s Orphanage. I picked the eggs out of the laying baskets, wiped them clean, and placed them in the bucket. Twenty-three eggs today. At least Cook would be pleased. In the last basket, instead of an egg, a lump of brown fur nestled amongst the hay. I groaned so loud the noise would have scared a healthy rabbit away. I lowered the egg bucket and leaned forward. My breath formed a cloud of white air that hung over the limp body. I carefully lifted the rabbit from the prickly straw bed, but it sagged, glassy-eyed and dead in my hand. I stroked its silky fur and whispered to the cold body. Butterflies squirmed in my stomach, and an army of tiny feet danced across my skin. I rubbed my finger gently where I thought the rabbit’s heart might be. It felt right, as if I had to do it. A heavy weight pushed against my chest. What was happening to me? I forced myself to focus, but the effort drained me. I sank to my knees and sagged against the bowed shelf. The rabbit twitched and seemed to whisper back to me. Its eyes flicked open and looked right into mine, and its back feet kicked into my wrist as it squirmed to get free. I jerked up straight, then eased back onto my heels and sucked deep breaths into tight lungs.
    “Judy!” Sister Margaret hurried across the shed. “What are you doing? Are you hurt?” I couldn’t let her catch me again. This happened once before, a month ago when a dead otter wriggled off my lap right in front of Sister Beatrice. I’d ended up locked in the library for the rest of the day and overnight. I let the rabbit go. It darted under a pile of hay and, I hoped, out through the hole at the bottom of the shed. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the bucket. “No, Sister, I’m fine.” “Then why are you dilly-dallying? You’ll be late for the guest speaker. Give me that.” She snatched the bucket from my hand. “No time for breakfast. Go directly to the hall.”

    You can find Kim at:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimClearyWriter

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimclearywriter

    Blog: Kimcleary.com

    Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/kimcleary

    And you can buy Path Unchosen here