EARTHLY ANGELS- SPECIAL EDITION- J.C. MARTIN ... THE STORIES OF SENDAI.

Welcome to my Special Edition Earthly Angels Saturday post.


If you are looking for  Shelly Watters' First  page Blogfest click here.


As many of you know, during the last blizzard in Chicago, I introduced my first EA post. Today's feature introduces J.C. Martin, Fighter Writer. For those of you who know J.C., you shouldn't be surprised by her generosity and care that she has given to co-editing THE STORIES FOR SENDAI, a charity anthology to help the victims in Japan. J. C. and co-editor Michelle Davidson Argyle brought together this anthology of uplifting and inspirational short stories of the human spirit written by twenty truly amazing authors.

Welcome J.C.

Thank you Michael.

J. C. I love the fact that you are a living contradiction. In your About me section on your blog, I discovered something very interesting about you that most of our blogging friends might not know. You say you embody the word “oxymoron.” Could you tell us what you mean by that?

*LOL* I'm glad someone reads the "About Me" section! Apart from the fact that the things I do can seem pretty moronic at times, I think of myself as an oxymoron because some aspects of my personality are totally conflicting. Here's a prime example: being a martial arts instructor, I'm bit of a tomboy. I wear flat shoes every chance I get, I hardly ever wear a skirt, I can't do my own makeup to save my life, my beauty regime is almost non-existent, and I can't tell a Jimmy Choo from a Christian Louboutin. I ended up decapitating my Barbie doll as a kid with my clumsy hair brushing! However, I can also be a bit of a girly-girl: my favourite colour (apart from the purple of bruises!) is cotton-candy pink, and if I see a cute fluffy bunny/puppy/kitty/, my squeals go ultrasonic!

Since you are my featured ANGEL today, how soon after the tragedy did you take part in organizing the Stories for Sendai anthology?

The earthquake struck on March 11th. Within the first week of news photos streaming in, I felt compelled to do something. Now my idea isn't entirely original; it was inspired by the Tales for Canterbury, 100 Stories for Queensland and similar charity anthologis to benefit victims of natural disasters in Pakistan and Haiti. I figured I could make a bigger contibution with the help of fellow authors rather than by just a simple individual donation. By March 17th, Stories for Sendai was born!

Did you approach Michelle Davidson Argyle or did she approach you to co-editor.

I approached Michelle on the recommendation of a fellow blogger. Having self-published her first novella, and being co-editor of the Literary Lab, she has a wealth of experience in editing and publishing, both of which I lacked! I am so glad she said "yes!" Without her expertise, I'd probably still be bumbling along now...

I find the human spirit in all its fragility to be an amazing force to reckon with. In your life, what was your toughest climb to overcome?

I've lived a pretty comfortable life compared to most, so my toughest climb will pale in comparison to everyone else's. I think I'm still trying to overcome it now: my decision to pursue my writing seriously. My ultimate ambition is to be able to write fulltime, but that time is still far, far away. I'd like to think I've taken a few baby steps to get there, including investing in writer's conferences and seminars, networking with publishing professionals, and a change in career. I quit my job as a high school teacher to become a fulltime martial arts instructor to free up more time for my writing. It has severely dented my paycheck, but I have definitely gained lots of writing time! I'm hoping it'll all be worth it someday!

I’m curious to know, how many authors submitted their works for this noble cause? How difficult was it for you and Michelle to choose out of so many submissions.

That was probably the most difficult stage of the project: picking the final list of accepted entries! We received a total of 46 entries, and it was sooo difficult to whittle it down to 20. We had to be so choosy because of the stupendous quality of work we received. Even many of the unaccepted ones were wonderful, and I'm really grateful that so many writers were willing to contribute their stories for free for a worthy cause!

The launch date of June 30th is only a few days away, so where can we purchase our copy of this inspirational work of art?

The easiest place to purchase would be through Amazon. It will be available in both print and Kindle formats. If you purchased it through our direct site on the CreateSpace website, we will receive a larger chunk of your donation. Look out for direct links coming up soon!

Well, J.C. it's been great learning more about you and this amazing publication. 

It was my pleasure. Thanks again Michael.

The blog tour continues until July 7th. So don't forget to Drop by J.C's blog for the other hosts here.