April 29, 2014 | Posted in AUTHORS | By sockii
Rhonda Eudaly, who supplied all photographs on this page.
I am truly fortunate to know many wonderfully talented and creative people: writers, artist, musicians and crafters. One writer whom I’ve known for years is Rhonda Eudaly – in fact, she was one of the very first people I met and became good friends with when I became involved in media and science fiction fandom almost 20 years ago. Rhonda has been passionate about writing since childhood and has worked on short stories, novels, scripts for stage and film and also stays busy blogging and contract non-fiction work.
I was eager to get the chance to talk in more depth to Rhonda about her writing, upcoming and current projects, and her influences and recommendations for other aspiring writers out there. What follows is my spotlight on Rhonda, including links to current in-print publications, where to find Rhonda on-line and at conventions, as well as a Q&A on different aspects of the writer’s life.
“I’ve been writing something since I was a kid,” says Rhonda, when asked about her writing experience and background. Some of that earliest work was an occasional radio spot for the small town station where one of her parents worked, letters-to-the-editor and similar writings. Rhonda has a Radio-TV-Film degree and an English minor. “I took every writing course I could in the English department, screenwriting, and even a playscript class as an elective. I wanted to have the skills I needed when I needed them.”
Rhonda has been professionally publishing fiction since 2002, when her first short story was included in an anthology by Yard Dog Press. Along the way she has also done newspaper work, magazine articles and non-fiction publication to round out her writing career. Although writing remains a “part-time” job for her currently, she does wish it could some day be a full-time profession. Still, “with fiction that’s a hard row to hoe. But…I’m going to keep at it until it pays off.”
Rhonda currently lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband, Jimmy Simpson. They have been happily married since July 2007.
Rhonda Eudaly at ConJour.
Most of Rhonda’s books are available directly from their publisher – and it’s worth noting that small press publishers and authors earn more when you buy that way (although Amazon links and descriptions of some are posted below.)
Some of Rhonda’s anthologies are available for download at Baen Ebooks, SmashWorlds, as well as on her own website. For a full list of her print and ebook works available, visit Books for Sale/Download on her website.
CHECK PRICEThe Four Redheads of the Apocalypse
“Death, War, Famine and Plague have died. Now their wives are taking over. Too bad they don’t have a clue how to do their new jobs. Look out, world, here come the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse!” A fun collection of interlinking stories by Rhonda Eudaly, Dusty Rainbolt Lind, Julia S. Mandala and Linda L. Donahue. 64 pages, published 2006. CHECK PRICEThe Four Redheads: Apocalypse Now!
It’s book two in the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series. “From the Deask of Satan: Those freakin’ Redheads are at it again! They’re gonna be the death of me–oh, how I wish! As if Earth wasn’t already on its way here, those girly-girls have decided to hurry along the Apocalypse. Well, excuuuse me if things aren’t happening fast enough to please those high-maintenance broads! At times like these, I really miss their husbands.” 208 published in 2010. CHECK PRICERedheads In Love
In book three of the Redheads series, it looks like love is in the air as they uncover another clause in their marriage contracts: “If they can each find husbands that meet with the approval of BOTH God AND Satan, then the new husbands will take over the duties of the Horsemen and our Redheads will be free to go back to business as usual.” 300 pages, published in 2012. CHECK PRICEI Should Have Stayed in Oz
This anthology of stories will put Dorothy and the Wonderful World of Oz in an entirely different light for readers! Life back in Kansas just might not be “all that” in these stories by authors including Rhonda Eudaly, Claudia Christian, Selina Rosen, Tim Frayser, Sherri Dean and many more. 152 pages, published 2011. CHECK PRICERayguns Over Texas
Celebrate the best of science fiction straight outta Texas! This anthology features 17 new and 2 classic stories by authors from the Lone Star State, including Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Moorcock, and of course Rhonda Eudaly. 332 pages, published 2013.
(Interview conducted in 2012)
What current or upcoming projects are you especially excited about right now?
My most recent print venture is Redheads in Love, which is the 3rd installment in the Redheads of the Apocalypse franchise. It’s the second braided novel in the series and a whole lot of fun.
In the near future, I’ll have a short story in horror ebook anthology edited by Kasey Lansdale called Fresh Blood & Old Bones which features “newer” voices to Science Fiction/Horror/Weird — like me — while mingling some giants of the industry, like Joe R. Lansdale and Neal Barrett Jr. Biting Dog Books is putting this out for us, and we’re very excited by it.
Why science fiction/fantasy? What is it about those genres that has the most appeal to you as an author?
I grew up on STAR TREK. I loved the idea of a better, brighter future and aliens and someone out there getting it right. With other genres you’re stuck HERE on this planet with these conditions. With SciFi/Fantasy you can go anywhere, any time, and do anything. There is so much more to play with.
What are your “Tools of the Trade”? Any particular writing implements – or programs – that you especially recommend to other writers?
I’m a pen and paper girl. I write long-hand for a lot of fiction the first time around. I do keyboard compose a lot of my non-fiction. Don’t know why it’s different, but it is. But that’s prose. As for actual TOOLS…I’m becoming a SCRIVENER girl when it comes to a lot of things. This is a very inexpensive processor that preformats every type of writing you can think of–Books, comic books, film, stage plays, radio plays, etc. It’s also a decent ebook converter program. I haven’t done a lot with that YET, but I need to.
If you’re a linear story teller, you can go straight down the page, but I’m actually enjoying having chapters in individual folders. You can look at corkboards, move stuff around, change things, have research files. It really is amazing. It’s helping me on a book that doesn’t want to come out quite linearly – or where I know I’ve rambled so I can put a “clean break” in and move on, then go back to a spot and fix it later without having to wade through a big Word Doc. When the project is ready to be read linearly, there’s a simple “compile” function and it turns it into a Word or RTF product. I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but I do.
If you’re looking to do screenwriting or playwriting, you have to get a program like Scrivener, or CELTX if you’re broke (it’s free open source). The formats are so intricate, you can’t do it with margins in a word processor. Trust me. Back in the day, I gave myself that headache. Don’t do it.
These days it’s becoming easier and easier for people to self-publish print and ebooks on line. Do you think this is a good trend? Or do you feel it’s still better for aspiring writers to work with small (or large) prints, and why?
Honestly, I know this is going to sound old-fashioned, but I think new writers need to go through the traditional publishing route before self/e-publishing. Large or small, doesn’t matter, but traditional publishing still has–for the most part–quality controls in place-editing, infrastructure, etc. This is a way new writers can actually LEARN THE BUSINESS and discover it’s not all roses and puppy dogs. And there’s still a sense of legitimacy when you traditionally publish that isn’t always there when you go it alone.
What would be your “dream” project as an author: a best-selling novel? A screenplay on a particular topic/featuring a particular cast?
It’s all of those things. My big dream is to write the best-selling novel after which I could write the award-winning screenplay for the mega-hit movie with the awesome cast. That’s the dream I had as a kid starting out writing, and that’s what’s always been in the back of my head.
If you could collaborate with one person on a writing project, it would be…
Oh, I’m open for adoption by ANYONE. And I love my current collaborators, don’t get me wrong, but if Amber Benson said, “Hey, we should do something together.” After being picked up off the floor, I would drop everything. She’s not a HUGE name in novel writing now, but she has a style and voice that I identify with. On the screenplay angle, J. Michael Straczynski — hands down. He’s one of my TV professional icons still with us.
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sockii is just your typical Jane-of-All-Trades who never has enough time in her day for all of her projects. She has written for many websites online including Squidoo, Zujava, Yahoo! Contributors Network, HubPages and Wizzley. She has been attending and vending at science fiction and media conventions for over 15 years, and for several years ran an art gallery and jewelry store in Philadelphia. Today she is happy to be living in South Jersey with her partner David and their 6 cats. Sockii is a member of several affiliate sales programs including Amazon Associates and Viglink. Products from these services may be advertised on her posts and pages to generate sales commissions.
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