Here is my interview with Phillip Vega

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

Hi, Fiona. My name is Phillip Vega, and I’m as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth—age 52.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I usually tell people that I’m from Krypton; however, for your audience, I’ll be serious. I was born in New York, raised on Long Island in a town called Stony Brook, and currently live in Florida.

Fiona: A little about yourself (ie, your education, family life, etc.).

My wife and I have been together for 27 years, married for 25, have four sons and two and a half dogs. It’s really four dogs, but I usually tell people two and a half: three are Chihuahuas and one is a German Shepherd mix who thinks she’s a lap dog, so there you go. For the last 25 years, I’ve been selling security software. Being a published novelist is a recent undertaking, as you’ll shortly see.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I recently released my second novel, The Captain & the Queen. It’s a coming-of-age love story, set in the mid-’80s on Long Island. It’s a love story between a middle-class Hispanic high school senior and his classmate, a wealthy, beautiful, blue-eyed, olive-skinned daughter of a Greek tycoon. Their relationship is tested against all odds as they become more than just friends. The question is: how long can it possibly last?”

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

Writing novels for me was never on my personal bucket list or roadmap. It just happened on a rainy Saturday afternoon, August 2015. My wife and I came home from grocery shopping, she turned in for a nap, and I sat on the couch with my iPad to watch TV.

Naturally, nothing caught my fancy, and as I sat there, images began playing in my mind’s eye. It was almost like watching a YouTube video. It was the complete story arc for my first novel, Last Exit to Montauk.

As the “movie” played, something compelled me to open Word on my iPad and start writing what I witnessed. Before I knew it, I was three chapters deep. Six weeks later, I finished my first manuscript.

Since then, the creative dam burst, and as I mentioned, I recently released my second novel, am currently working on my third, and have over twenty-five manuscripts in various stages of completion.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I considered myself a writer after I sold my first book. As I previously mentioned, this wasn’t on the bucket list. Writing novels wasn’t on the personal roadmap. Even though I completed the manuscript for Last Exit to Montauk prior to my 50^th birthday, I still didn’t know what I’d do with it. I never considered publishing it.

The only reason I started the process was because a friend, Carol, over dinner one night, asked what was new. We did the “how’s work, how’re the kids” thing, and I briefly mentioned that I just finished writing a story.

Long story short, after peppering me with questions the way a close friend does, she put me in contact with a published author friend of hers, who put me in contact with an editor, Janet Fix, of thewordverve. From there, it’s been a whirlwind.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

I don’t know if I’d use the word inspired. It was more like compelled. The moment I began putting words to “paper,” I became compelled to finish Last Exit to Montauk, even though I didn’t know what, if anything, I’d do with the finished product. It was just something I needed to get out of me.

It was the same with The Captain & the Queen, even though I knew or now know the endgame. I now understand what’s happening, and what I’m going to do with the final product.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

For my first novel, Last Exit to Montauk, it was actually a road sign I drove past for about a year as I was driving to work on Montauk Highway toward Hampton Bays on Long Island, back in the 90s. Sadly, the sign is no longer there. As I sat and wrote this novel, the sign became part of my “vision” or “video” that played in my mind’s eye. I knew right away what I’d name my manuscript.

(Spoiler alert) It also plays a role in the book as well.

For my second novel, The Captain & the Queen, I toyed with a few titles, and one evening as I was writing, the title came to me in a “vision.” The moment I saw the words in my mind’s eye, I knew I had my title.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

Some tell me that I have a unique writing style. Both novels are coming-of-age love stories, set in the same universe and in the same time period, but focused on different characters.

In both novels, the male protagonists are Hispanic, from white-collar homes and told from the male point of view, which is different than most YA, New Adult, or Romance novels.

Also, since I’m writing from the male POV in both novels, my goal is to keep things relatable for the reader, regardless of who’s reading the book(s). Surprisingly, at least to me, both novels have female and male fans, based on the reviews.

The greatest challenge is keeping my personal politics and religious views out of my work. No one cares what my political beliefs are and how I define myself from a faith-perspective. Having said that, I also write “what I know,” which is why all my novels will contain strong female protagonists and white-collar Hispanic characters.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Certainly, both Last Exit to Montauk and The Captain & the Queen are homages to my adolescence. Like the characters in Last Exit to Montauk, I grew up in an upper-middle-class Hispanic home with two brothers and a physician mother. I went to a local prep school. And the locations mentioned in both novels are real. That’s as close to reality as the story goes.

The events in both novels are pure fiction, even though the locations exist. As a matter of fact, this past summer, I received an email from a fan who went on a “Last Exit to Montauk pilgrimage.” She went to the various locations mentioned in the book and took selfies with the book.

It totally blew me away. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine someone doing that. It inspired me to create a “selfies” contest on my websitewww.phillipvega.com and my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPhilVega. The top three winners received autographed copies of my novels, and I will create characters using their names in my next novel. I love my fans.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

I travel for a living, selling software across the country, so yes and no. It’s not an integral part of my process, but when I have free time, usually in the evenings after I finish working, I will write a few chapters. I prefer to write in my home office with a tall cup of coffee on my desk, either sunflower seeds or gummy bears in a dish, and a YouTube page I created for myself to “get me in the mood,” playing ’70s through early ’90s music on my speakers or my headphones, depending on time of day.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

For Last Exit to Montauk, my publisher, thewordverve, worked with one of her designers, Robin Kraus. For The Captain & the Queen, my publisher used in-house talent, Angie Lovell. I absolutely love both covers, and both have won awards, so I guess I’m not alone.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Yes, there are a few underlying messages I intend on incorporating into all my novels. The first is love is a journey, so enjoy it. Secondly, I’m looking to turn the Hispanic narrative on its head. I want my readers to walk away from my novels with a different perspective of the “Hispanic experience.”

We’re not all migrant workers. That’s not my background or reality. I grew up in a primarily all-white, upper-middle-class neighborhood home on Long Island. My parents didn’t cross the border illegally. They had good-paying, white-collar jobs and became a successful part of our society.

My motherimmigrated to the US from the Dominican Republic after WWII. She was valedictorian of her medical programand became a respected physician in New York and on Long Island.

My father, born and raised in New York, of Puerto Rican heritage, worked for the US Federal Government at the Office for Civil Rights in New York City.

They were my two brothers and my example growing up, as my wife and I are examples to our four sons today. While I sell software full-time and write novels part-time, my wife is a schoolteacher.

She and I have two sons serving in the US Air Force, another in college, and another working as a pastry chef. And yes, having a son as a pastry chef is as awesome as you’d imagine.

These are the types of experiences I share in my novels and hope by doing so, it will help change the narrative as it relates to Hispanics in this great country I love.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

I have broad interests. Like many, I love JK Rowling, Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, and Timothy Zahn. What I love most about their work is it transports the reader to another world. In JK Rowling’s example, she transported us to Hogwarts and the wonderful world of Harry Potter. Who doesn’t love Harry and crew? Timothy Zahn does a great job taking George Lucas’ Star Wars world and expanding on it. As you read his material, you can hear the tie-fighters flying in the background.

Nicholas Spark’s love stories have become a fabric of our society. Who hasn’t read and/or watched The Notebook and came away changed for the better? Stephen King scares the holy hell out of you, yet does it in a way that keeps you coming back for more. As a matter of fact, his world, Castle Rock, Maine, inspired mine, in that most, if not all, of my novels will travel through or take place in Stony Brook, New York.

Lastly, anything by Neil Simon. Hands down, the man was a genius!

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

That’s simple: Janet Fix. She’s become my editor, publisher, confidant, and good friend. The funny thing is, I didn’t know her prior to 2016. I could have passed her in the supermarket and wouldn’t have known who she was.

As I mentioned, becoming a published novelist wasn’t part of my roadmap or on my bucket list. It just happened. Throughout my journey, she’s always been the voice of encouragement. She was the first person, outside of family, to have a visceral reaction to Last Exit to Montauk.

She initially thought it was a memoir. Her visceral reaction surprised her and her daughter. When I told her it was fictional, she told me we must work together, and since the beginning of 2016, we have been.

A close second is my street team, I affectionately call, Team V! They’re the best!!

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Yes, I do. It’s now on my roadmap and on my bucket list. I know I’m at the beginning of this journey, but it’s my ultimate goal. Once my youngest son completes college, I’d love to give it an additional year at the day job, go out with a successful bang, and start writing full-time. As I mentioned, I have over twenty-five manuscripts in development. All I need is the time to complete them. Also, the “visions” haven’t stopped, as my wife can attest.

Just two weeks ago, she and I driving home from Miami, and a “vision” started playing in my mind’s eye. The minute we finished unpacking the car and received the thumbs-up from my wife, I went to my office and started typing. I love every minute of it.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No, I wouldn’t change a thing. My editor and I work very well together. I don’t know if it’s because of my professional/business background, managing contracts and creating marketing collateral daily, but I don’t take edits personally.

Janet told me early on that her goal was to help me craft my story. Make it the best it can be. If that means cutting things or making minor changes, that’s okay. If there’s something we disagree on, we discuss it and come to an agreement. I love working with her and love the entire editing process, which makes her laugh. I guess most writers don’t enjoy people editing their work, but I understand the business reasons for it and the end result we’re trying to meet.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

Most definitely. As I wroteThe Captain & the Queen, I learned how to get myself in the mood. To put myself in “the zone.” For me, it’s usually music. It not only calms the savage beast but helps me find my zone. I’ve also learned to get up and walk away, hit control/command-S, save the work, and do something else for a while. Get out of my head or out of the way, so the work can flow through to the page.

 Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot since I started writing. It’s also something I plan on pursuing. Transforming my novels into film, whether on a Netflix-type platform or the big screen, is on my bucket list. And something in my gut tells me it’ll happen.

For Last Exit to Montauk:

• Robin Wright as B’s mother
• Viggo Mortensen as B’s father
• Selenis Leyva or Luna Lauren Valez as Ma
• Adam Rodriguez as the older brother
• Virginia Gardner or Blake Lively as B
• Prince Royce or an unknown Puerto Rican/Dominican actor as the male protagonist/narrator
• Eva Longoria, Jessica Alba and/or Robin Wright producers
• Director: Robin Wright

For The Captain & the Queen:

• Lorena Rae as Callie
• Ryan Guzman or maybe an unknown as the male protagonist
• Cole Sprouse as Matt
• John Stamos as Callie’s father
• Same production team

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Get your backend into a chair and start writing. Write what you know. Find an editor you can work with and trust. Relax and find your own way to get in “the zone,” then sit back and allow the words to flow from your mind to the page.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you for reading my work. Thank you for your tremendous support and feedback. Thank you for entrusting me with your time and for investing your money in my novels. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I can’t wait to see where it takes us next. That and it’s okay to laugh at ourselves.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I just finished reading a book called Moonshine Lullaby by Rozita Berry. It’s a coming-of-age novel about a girl named Tanya, sent to live with her father in the country as her world-famous country music singer mother kicks off another world tour. It was a great novel.

I’m also reading The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz,Personal by Lee Child (a Jack Reacher novel), and Intoxic by award-winning novelist Angie Gallion. I was recently introduced to Angie Gallion’s work and absolutely love the way she writes. I can see why she’s an award-winning writer.

 Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

I do. It was A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, in tenth grade. Yes, I’ve read other books growing up, but those were primarily for school. Aside from comic books, of which my collection is extensive, Earthsea was the first novel I picked up and read cover to cover for the sake of reading a book for pleasure.

That book opened the world for me to other novels and works of fiction from Stephen King to Tom Clancy to JK Rowling to many others. I can spend hours in a bookstore, as my wife and children can attest. I just love the smell and feel of a new book, ya know?

 Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Mel Brooks makes me laugh, as do Billy Crystal and Howard Stern. Whacking my pinkie toe into the corner of a table makes me cry. Seriously though, my family makes me laugh. Situation comedies make me laugh. Life makes me laugh. Life also makes me cry. People suffering makes me cry. People in pain makes me cry. Personal failures, at times, make me cry. Sometimes my manuscripts and novels make me cry.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

This is a very long list. The top is Jesus. How many people in the history of mankind has made such an impact that His birth literally defines timelines? I’d love to meet Him, sit at His feet and just be still.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Laughing, eating pizza, and hanging out with my wife, not necessarily in that order. I enjoy yard work, which is ironic, since it’s the one thing I hated doing as a teenager, yet find it so very relaxing and cathartic as an adult. Just me, my music or podcast playing in my headphones, the sunshine and nature. That or sitting on the beach, watching the waves roll in as I absorb the sights, smells, sunshine, and sounds.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

I’m nostalgic for the ’80s, which is probably why my novels take place there, or at least pass through there. Shows like Stranger Things, NCIS, Modern Family, Blue Bloods, the DC shows like The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow on the CW, and of course, Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, and The Odd Couple.

Movies—I’m a comic book junky, so I’ve seen all the Marvel and DC movies, including the animated ones. I’ve seen all the Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien(s), Terminator(s), and the like. Also, a good love story as well, like The Notebook or The Princess Bride. The Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Fifth Element. When these three movies are on television, I sit down and watch, regardless of where in the movie it is.

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors, music?

Favorite food is pizza. Favorite colors are red, white and blue, plus green, gray and yellow. My favorite music is classic rock from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. It’s the music I grew up listening to and helped shape my life.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

Okay, now that would make me cry! Strike that, I’d weep…a lot! If money weren’t a challenge, I’d travel. It’s something my wife and I enjoy doing together. We’d go back to Italy, France, Austria and visit Spain. There are also places in the US we’d love to visit as well. I’d also do yard work and sit on the beach, while listening to my music and/or podcasts.

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

Simple. I’d spend it hanging out with my wife and sons. We’d start the dayenjoying homemade banana pancakes, crispy maple-flavoredbacon, coffee, and orange juice. We’d then head to the beach, absorbing the rays, splashing around the water, and listening to life.

From there, we’d grab a quick lunch, which would include ice cream, and then walk around town, taking in the local sights. We’d end the day having pizza and wine, laughing about the day and our lives, and then I’d kiss my children goodnight, letting them each know how very proud I am of them and the young men they’ve become. I’d then turn in with my wife, making love, holding her and telling her how much I love her and thanking her for a wonderful life together…till my last breath left my body.

Or, with my luck, I’d spend it stuck in traffic.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

Pay no attention to the laughter…

Or

The adventure continues…

 Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

• phillipvega.com
• https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPhilVega
• Amazon: amazon.com/author/phillipvega
• Barnes & Nobles: https://bit.ly/2xHn26B
• thewordverve: https://thewordverve.com/authors/phillip-vega

 

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Here is my interview with Maren Smith

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

Hi! My name is Maren Smith. I’m 45.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I was born in the little town of Redmond, Washington, which is just outside the Seattle/Bellevue area.

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

Fortunate enough to live with my Daddy Dom, I am a Little, coffee whore, pain slut, administrator at two of my local BDSM dungeons, resident of the wilds of freakin’ Kansas (still don’t know how I ended up here) and submissive to the love of my life. An International and USA Bestselling Author, I have penned more than 150 novels, novellas and short stories that run the gamut between paranormal and kinky romance, and am the author of the Masters of the Castle series.

I also write under the names of Denise Hall, Darla Phelps, and Penny Alley.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

Well, on the author front, my latest news consists of my newest release which is Fearless, the 10^th book in the Black Light series. On a personal front, I guess my biggest news is the puppy’s been spayed and the living room carpet has just been cleaned. So… it’s wet. Stay off it. (I’m really very boring in real life.) Oh, also: I’ve got 18 lbs of cookie dough I want out of my fridge. So, cookies. My house, tomorrow. BYOM (Bring Your Own Milk).

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing when I was about fifteen. My first romance novel was published 1995, and yes, it was a BDSM romance. No, I did not have any first-hand knowledge of what I was writing. It was all imagination. I understand those first books are considered cult classics now and one is/was recommended reading at a Texas university for the women’s psychology course.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think that moment first hit me two months ago when I sat down to do my very first signing at a convention and sold every book I’d brought with me ten minutes before the event officially started. I was really very surprised.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

When I was fifteen, the question was posed at school: What do you want to be when you grow up? I honestly had no clue. I knew I didn’t particularly want to work for a living, so I chose author. Everyone knows authors live in luxury. It’s all bubble baths and chocolate bonbons for those people, and they never have to work. I’ve been doing this for 23 years now and I’ve yet to meet that kind of author, but one can always hope, right?

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Sometimes I’m fortunate enough that my titles will come to me as I’m working on the book. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to come up with something that makes sense. Sometimes publishers like to pick your titles for you, although I’ve only had that happen to me one time.The Black Light series focuses on using words of empowerment for their titles, and since I was writing about a woman fleeing abuse, Fearless just came naturally. It felt right.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

You know, good question. I think every author has his or her own distinctive voice. I’ve been told I have great dialogue and that I write ‘feels’ extremely well. I am very comfortable in my genre, but I’d say my biggest challenge is the ol’ ‘show don’t tell’ problem. I really have to work hard to keep that down.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

 Parts of me go in every book I write. I write a lot of contemporary BDSM romances, and yes, I do practice everything I put my heroine’s through. I want to know what my characters feel, hear, see, taste first hand. If my reader is aware s/he is sitting on the couch in their living room, turning a page, then I’ve failed. They should be in the nightclub, or running for their life through the Victorian streets of London, orgrinding and moaning their way through some of the best sex of their life right along with my character or I am not doing my job to the best of my ability.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

I have travelled, but as I’m not likely to go into outer space any time soon, sometimes I do need to use my imagination. My process tends to involve a lot of mood movies or music instead.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

 My cover for my latest, Black Light: Fearless was done by Eris Adderly. But I often use Allycat Cover Designs for my covers and promo work.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Love really can conquer all when the right people are involved.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

Oh gosh, this is a hard one. They aren’t new authors, but they’re new to me: Renee Rose, Jennifer Bene, Pam Godwin, Alta Hensley, Addison Cain, Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole. Each of them brings something different to their genres, so what I love about each of them differs slightly. But I love the darkness, the humor, the romance, the horror, the suspense, and the sex. I like heroes who are unapologetically alpha and yet who are secure enough in their masculinity to let the women be strong in their own right too.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

 The one entity that has supported me unequivocally is the community of fellow authors that I have met over the years. I talk to these ladies and gents on a daily basis via Facebook, and I seriously doubt I ever could have made it as far as I have without them.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

 Yes, I do. And I treat it that way every single day when I sit down to work on my book. I have a desk, I have my spot on the couch, I take 15 minute breaks where I talk to the cats around the coffee pot, and I don’t stop working until the SO comes home at night.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

 I would have done a find and replace to make sure all the miles got changed to kilometres for those scenes done in the Australian’s point of view.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

I learned I should really have paid better attention in Geography and that the Pacific and Atlantic are not interchangeable.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

Jason Momoa. No movie starring Jason Momoa could ever suck.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Keep working at it. I know it’s hard to find the time to write when you’ve got a full-time job, kids and a family who needs you. Write anyway. Write on your lunch hour and breaks. Write in the doctor’s office and in line at the DMV. Keep a notebook in your purse or an app on your phone and write whenever you have five or ten minutes of just sitting there. Make it a habit, because that’s how books get written. One word after another, one fifteen-minute sprint session at a time. If you really, really want to do this, you will make the time. If you don’t, you’ll make the excuses.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

 Here’s something few people know about me: I’m color blind. While I can see some shades of blue, othershades are grey to me. Including the sky. I didn’t know this about myself until last year when my sisters were playing a Dystopian survival game that required them to turn on the oxygen so their characters could breathe. The only indication for when they should do this came when they could no longer see blue on the TV, and I couldn’t see any blue on the TV ever at all. We went through this Laurel and Hardy “Where’s the blue? Right there! Where? You can’t see this right here, right where my fingers is? There’s nothing there!” skit before we each figured out the other person wasn’t pulling a prank. And then we went through the house pointing out all the blue things. Come to find out, my bedroom is not a soothing shade of business-suit grey and the term ‘sky-blue eyes’ really is a color.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I am working my way back through Gene Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

See Spot Run? Um… I think Shel Silverstein’s Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends was right up there. In fact, I still have those books and I still love to read them. Mercer Myer’s Where the Trollusk Got His Hat was a good one. I loved the artwork. You could look at those pictures all day and never see all the hidden gems in them.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Apart from writing, I love to cross-stitch and make wreaths. Every year I make two or three wreaths and give them away to friends.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

I tend to watch a lot of documentaries, the cooking and do-it-yourself channels. Like I said, I’m a very boring person in real life.

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

I love chicken curry, the spicier the better; I gravitate to dark purples, the colors of blue I can see, and deep forest greens; and I love just about any and all kinds of music. I listen to just about everything except disco, hateful rap and garage grunge.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

“Welcome to Walmart. Can I help you find something?”

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

I would spend it writing down all the website passwords people would need to access my finances, pass my WIPs out to my sisters so they can finish them, and make sure my SO got some attention, because I’m pretty sure he’d be a mess trying to deal with it.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

“Is it hot in here to you?”

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

Visit Maren Smith’s blog here: http://badgirlscorner.blog

Friend me on Facebook here:http://facebook.com/Maren.Smith.10

Follow me on Twitter: @authmarensmith

Friend me on Instagram: maren_smith

Follow on Bookbub:https://www.bookbub.com/profile/maren-smith

Visit me on Tumblr:https://www.tumblr.com/blog/authormarensmith

Amazon Authors page USA  https://www.amazon.com/Maren-Smith/e/B005DZ32GQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

UK  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maren-Smith/e/B005DZ32GQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1540912304&sr=1-2-ent

Here is my interview with Ginger Elinburg

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

My name is Ginger Elinburg and I’m 43.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I’m from Southeast Arkansas, out in the sticks.

Fiona: A little about your self (i.e., your education, family life, etc.).

I’m a wife (nineteen years today), a mother of three and I am also the human of a spoiled rotten pooch.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I’m currently working on a few stories for a future book that I hope to publish before 2019.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing in middle school to escape from life. I remember writing my first horror story in seventh or eighth grade before switching over to poetry for a few years. Now I write mostly paranormal and suspense.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When one of my first poems won a school prize. It wasn’t a big deal to anyone except me.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

A Ouija board. That’s not even a joke. I was playing with a few friends and “the board” said my house was haunted by a little girl named May. Soon after, I started building this whole world in my head about what happened to this little girl and pretty soon, Wicked Welcome was born.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Not really sure. To be honest, I think I put it there as a place holder and it kind of grew on me.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I’m a “pantser” writer. I don’t plan anything out and I’m usually surprised at the turns my story takes. The thing I find particularly challenging about writing in the paranormal genre is trying to write something that hasn’t already been done to death.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

There’s a little bit of my life in every book I write, not a lot, but enough that people who know me have said, “I heard your voice when I read that.”

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

I don’t travel, unless driving to town counts. I have had some of my best ideas while driving to the grocery store.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

I’ve designed and created every one of my covers. I’ve even taken a few of the pictures myself.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

My books are mostly fantasy, so there’s not really a message in any of them.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

Shay Bell, S.E. Isaac, B.W. Ginsburg.

 My favorite author, Stephen King. His work is some of the most twisted I have ever read, and I enjoy every single second of it 😊

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

Rachel S. – When I met her, everything about my life as an author changed. When I wrote Wicked Welcome, I put it up after being turned down by ONE publisher (this was before I knew about self-publishing). I was at work one day and happened to mention it to my new-found friend and she encouraged me to look into publishing it myself. She didn’t just mention it once in passing, that’s not her style, she kept at me until I finally caved and dusted my manuscript off. I love her for that.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Yes.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No, at least, I don’t think so. I like the new direction it took today, and I can’t wait to see where these characters take me.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

I learned that I can’t force my characters into a situation just because I think that’s where they should be. It’s their story, I’m just their voice.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

If Wicked Welcome was made into a film, I’d want Emma Stone to play Morgan.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Write when it feels right. Don’t force it; you’ll not be happy with it and you’ll probably be mad later.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

Go in to my books with an open mind, watch out for the twists and turns, and I hope you enjoy my stories. If you do, leave a review. If you don’t, same thing. Tell me what works and what doesn’t. Help me grow to be a writer you’d recommend to others without hesitation.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Abandon by Blake Crouch

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

The first book I remember reading was Savage Surrender. I was fourteen and hiding in a closet with a flashlight.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

I laugh at stupid things and cry watching Dodo videos.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet?

Stephen King

Why?

He fascinates me.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

I guess my hobby would be taking pictures.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

Paranormal Witness, Law and Order: SVU, Sex and the City, Grey’s Anatomy, DIY…

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors, music?

Favorite foods – Pizza, burgers, cake

Colors – Black, red, green, and grey

Music – As long as it’s not country, I’ll listen to it.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

Photography.

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

With my husband and children doing whatever they want.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

“Just because I’m dead, doesn’t mean he’s single.”

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

https://igetlostinwords.wordpress.com/

 Amazon Author Page

Wicked Series

Hunted by Death

Hunted by Death II

Draçon

Whispered Deceit

Sharp Edges

Killian’s Pass

Always Girl

 

Here is my interview with R. Lee Smith

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

My name is R. Lee Smith and I’m old enough.

Fiona: Where are you from? / Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

I grew up rural in Washington State, not too far from Seattle. My parents took in foster children, many of them with disabilities or other special needs, so we didn’t have quite as much freedom to go places as other families. We kind of made our own fun around the house. Both my parents were avid readers. Books were in every room of the house and trips to the library were among our most regular recreational outings. There was never any censorship. If we were old enough to want to read the book, we read it, and the only thing our parents did was try to be there to answer questions.

My father had a few of Lovecraft’s collections, which I read at a very young age, and although the language often went over my head, I was fascinated by the stories. Our library had a small paranormal reference section and before I was twelve, I had read everything in it at least once. Soon after, I discovered this thing called ‘horror fiction’ and I became an instant and lifelong fan. Horror movies, comics, books and video games make up 90% of my entertainment.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I’ve been taking a break from ‘the serious stuff’ to write an extensive fanfic series…yes, I said fanfiction…which ironically is probably the darkest and most intense thing I’ve ever written. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, but it’s coming to an end, and once it’s over, I’ll be starting my next ‘serious’ book.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

As there were numerous and often medically fragile children in our household, going out was never an easy thing. Plans were made well in advance and could be cancelled at any moment. My mother often combined outings (to the library, for instance) with necessary errands (like the Herculean task of grocery shopping on a budget for 6-10 kids), but for the most part, we made our fun at home. We read, because books were everywhere, and I grew a deep love of language. I was not a great student. In fact, I received very poor grades in certain classes for turning what should have been simple fact-based answers into emotional narratives. On the other hand, I was always first-picked to read from the class book out loud, because I read fast and knew all the words. That’s…not really the reputation you want in middle school, but it was my one moment of peer acceptance, so I took it.

Around the same time, my mother took me to my first science fiction convention, where I encountered fanfiction for the first time. The idea that stories didn’t HAVE to end just because the book/movie/TV show did was a totally mind-blowing experience for me. I immediately began writing new adventures for my favorite characters, who began to take more and more of a supporting role as time went by. The idea that I could write my OWN stories wouldn’t occur to me until I was sixteen.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’m not sure I do yet. I still feel like I’m writing for fun. The knowledge that people read my books is a great feeling, but it comes with an awkward undertone of amazement and even discomfort, like I’m the newly-clothed Emperor just waiting for that one kid to point out that I’m not wearing anything at all.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

The first fully original book I ever wrote was probably heavily inspired by The Terminator. I say ‘probably’ because I don’t remember ever consciously working on it with that in mind, but it was all about a secret government project to genetically engineer and ultimately clone super-soldiers, which sharp-eyed readers may recognize as having nothing to do with The Terminator, but the main character had the same relentless, emotionless, machine-like determination, so it probably was. I called it The Darwin Project and even drew some terrible cover art for the 3-ring binder I kept it in. I was proud enough of it to submit it to a publisher. They returned it with a very polite letter saying they only published romances and that I should try again with a publisher that dealt in sci-fi. Emotionally exhausted by the whole experience of submitting my first book to ONE publisher, I decided instead never to submit anything to anyone ever again and from then on, I would only write for fun.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

I’m terrible with titles. Not as terrible as I am with blurbs, but pretty bad. Most of my books just get a working title until I think of something better…and sometimes, I never do.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I’m a very visual writer. I tend to ‘see’ the book playing out in my head like a movie. Some of the scenes are much more vivid than others, so I write those first and don’t worry about how or where it fits into the story until later. As a result, my books start out as an extremely loose collection of disconnected scenes until they’re about a hundred pages long. Then there’s this magical moment when the timeline falls into place and I spend a day shuffling scenes around, and from then on, my job is just to fill in the blanks. I don’t usually use outlines and when I do, they’re pretty Spartan affairs—sometimes just a character’s name or a line of dialogue to remind me of the scene I’ve visualized.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Just about everything I see or experience is mentally filed away as potential ‘research’ for some future book. I went into surgery thinking, ‘Remember this smell. Remember this blanket. Remember that sound.’ I strive for realism, so if there’s something my characters do that I know nothing about, I will make an effort to research it, especially when it comes to how a character lives. If my characters are going to eat Wildlands Stew every day, I need to know what it tastes like (and learn that no matter how careful you are with those rocks, ash is going to get into the cooking pouch). So there are a lot of moments in all of my books that are drawn from personal experience to some degree.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

Research is the best part of writing a book. If I’m writing in a certain setting, I make every effort to go there, as much as possible, and experience it firsthand. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be flying to Greece to write The Bull of Minos, but I went to southern Utah to help me build the world of Gann.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

If there’s an overarching theme to all of my books, it is how important family is. That a family is not necessarily the people who share your blood, but the ones who carry you, protect you, love and strengthen you. It’s all right to make your own family.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

‘New’ is not the word! My favorite authors are Kipling, Lovecraft and Poe, who use words the way painters use paint or sculptors use marble. They were the first to show me that language isn’t just abstract sounds we use to convey information, but that it can be an art. There are amazing modern writers out there and I find new books every year that blow my mind, but these are the three I always come back to when I need to recharge my batteries.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

Do bills count? The only reason I ultimately begun making my books available to buy was because I was broke.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

No, I see writing as fun. And sometimes, I see it as something of a fixation. Some stories will dig into me and itch at the back of my head until I scratch it out onto the page. I don’t think about the fact that people will be reading my book at all while I’m writing it. That fear—er, thought only starts to surface while I’m editing. It’s PUBLISHING that I see as a career.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Nope! There are some things I’d change about the first ones, though, when I was less experienced and far less self-confident. But I’d rather write new ones that obsess over the mistakes I may have made in the old ones.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

At the moment, I’m writing the fanfiction, which is actually teaching me a lot about how to pace a series, as opposed to stand-alone novels. I wrote a series once before, way back when I was first starting on this path, and man, I wish I’d known then what I know now.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

I’m open to pretty much any casting on most of my characters, but on one in particular, I stand firm: Keith David is the voice of Azrael, from Land of the Beautiful Dead.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Hearing someone else use a word a certain way does not mean that is how the word is supposed to be used. If you are not 100% sure of a word’s meaning, look it up. I learned that one that hard way.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

The dot on the top of a lowercase letter i is called a ‘tittle’.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, again, since I re-read The Road by Cormac McCarthy last week. Gotta have that unicorn chaser.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

The first one was probably Goodnight Moon or something like that, but the first novel I read was The Hobbit, when I was four. My father started reading it to me and I learned to read from its pages. It is still one of my favorite books.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Over the past few years, I’ve been learning how to paint, with the ultimate goal of finally being able to paint some of the scenes or characters from my books. I’m not there yet, but I’m closer than I was.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

My favorite kind of movies are dumb sci-fi/horror movies, the kind that are unintentionally hilarious because they are so bad. No, not like Sharknado. Those are perfectly aware that people only watch them ironically. More like Ed Wood’s stuff, where everyone who’s involved is doing their part with complete enthusiasm, totally unaware that they are AWFUL. The 80s and 90s were a blessed time for this sort of thing. Charles Band for life!

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

Decompose, one assumes, since the only way I’d stop is if I’d died.

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

I’ve actually had to think about this in the past because of reasons, and I know exactly what I’d do. I’d sit my sisters down with a notebook and work out an outline for my unfinished books so that they could finish them. If I had any time left in the day, I would watch the Viking Women and the Sea Serpent episode of MST3K, snuggle my dog, and write my eulogy. There will be puns.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

“The book has ended. The story goes on.”

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

You can visit https://rleesmith.wordpress.com/ , where I sporadically blog, or join the R Lee Smith Book Club on Facebook, where I try to pop in every few days and occasionally hold giveaways.

Amazon Authors Page USA https://www.amazon.com/R.-Lee-Smith/e/B005DZ2HI0/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/R.-Lee-Smith/e/B005DZ2HI0/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1540857909&sr=1-2-ent

Here is my interview with Becca Jameson

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name.

Becca Jameson

 Fiona: Where are you from?

I’m originally from St. Louis, Missouri. But I have lived in Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta.

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

I went to Northeast Missouri State University where I got my degree in Spanish. I’ve been married 23 years, and I have two grown kids in college. My husband travels for work a lot, so most of the time I have the house to myself to write and write and write some more!

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I’m finishing up my Project DEEP series, a series that has been a blast to write. A little science fiction. A little military. A little government. A lot of sex. J

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I was lured into this world by my sister, Annmarie McKenna, who is also an author. After spending several years editing, I decided to switch sides. And the rest is history. My first book was published in 2011.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

2011

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My sister. Annmarie McKenna.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

I usually don’t know titles when I start writing. But they evolve as I go along.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I’m a pantser, so I let my characters lead the way. Some days I get stuck, but usually I can talk out the problem, back up a page, and redirect!

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

My books are all contemporary, but none of the experiences are based on anyone I know or my own life.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

Sometimes I travel, but not often.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

I have an amazing cover artist—Scott Carpenter.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Not usually. Mostly I just want readers to escape the real world for a while.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

Huge Kristen Ashley fan. She had a totally different style I could never begin to emulate.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

Oh, gosh. So many editors and publishers along the way. I owe a lot to my editor, Christa Desir. I also owe a lot to one of my publishers, Georgia Woods.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

It’s a career!

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Nope. No sense looking back!

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

I learn something every day. It’s half the fun!

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

No idea…

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Enjoy the process! It’s so rewarding.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I’d love to thank every reader who has taken a chance on me and sent so many kind words!

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Hot SEAL, Cold Beer by Cynthia D’Alba. It’s one of the books in the Paradise SEALs series I wrote in.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

Gosh no. But my favorite early childhood book was Green Eggs and Ham.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Being with friends makes me very happy. Seeing people mistreated brings me to tears.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

Oprah Winfrey. 😀

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

I used to scrapbook all the time! But now I never have time because writing is both a hobby and a career!

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

Big Bang Theory. Young Sheldon. Walking Dead.

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

Pizza, Mexican, beer, wine, chocolate. Purple!

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

Read. All day every day. Until I died!

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

Hugging my family

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

I can’t even begin to imagine…

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

http://www.beccajameson.com/

Links for Becca Jameson

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4995901.Becca_Jameson

Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/beccajameson

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/becca.jameson.18

Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/beccajameson4

website: http://beccajameson.com/

twitter: @beccajameson (is that right?) or: https://twitter.com/beccajameson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becca.jameson/

Amazon Author page: https://amzn.to/2H3uP26

Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Becca-Jameson/e/B007CBQSP6

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/beccajameson1/

BookBub: http://bookbub.com/authors/Becca-jameson

Here is my interview with Christine Zolendz

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

Hi! *Waves

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

I’m Christine Zolendz, and let’s just say I’m in my early forties.

Fiona: Where are you from?

Born and raised in New York City, USA.

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

I’m a mom of two daughters, Hailey 12 and Emily 8. I’ve been married for 15 years to a NYC Detective, who I’ve known since we were kids. My education hmmm, well, I started with a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the best art school in NYC, School of Visual Arts. Then I got my Masters Degree in Education and then when I was just about to get my Phd, I kind of just stopped. I was a public school teacher for 15 years and when I had Emily I decided teaching wasn’t my dream so while I was out on maternity leave I wrote my first and published book.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

Monday, October 29 I published my 13^th novel, the first book in a new paranormal series called Ravenswood.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing when I was on maternity leave for my youngest daughter, because it was my dream to always write and illustrate books that inspire people.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I was in third grade and I wrote a poem about my grandmother’s hands. My teacher went crazy for it and I just knew I was a writer right then and there.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

Everyone who had ever read my writing and told me I should do something with it.

 Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

With my first book I think I had the title before anything else. It was a book about fallen angels and Fall From Grace was perfect for it, and I named the main character Grace.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I write the way I want to read things. I use my senses when I write so people can create a mind movie of where they are and what they’re seeing. It’s sometimes challenging describing places I have never been, but I luckily have a very intense imagination that helps me.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

All my books have parts of my life inside them, even the paranormal ones. I write strong characters that are full of emotion like me. And I always add things and people I see in my daily life, I can’t help it.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

Not at all.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

Sarah at Okay Creations designed my Mad World Series, and I designed the rest of my covers. Designing covers is one of my favourite things to do actually.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

In all my books my messages are be strong, be fearless, and believe in yourself and in love.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

I hate this question, lol, there are too many. I love all writers, because it takes guts to put your soul on paper for the world to read. It’s intimate and personal and I love each person who shares themselves with others this way.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

My mother is my biggest supporter. She reads every one of my books before I publish them. Then comes my husband, who has been my rock through everything.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

It’s my fulltime job. After my maternity leave I decided to resign from teaching and try writing as my only career.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Nope.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

Yes, with Ravenswood I found out I could mix a little bit of horror in with romance.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

I honestly have no idea!

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Never quit on yourself or your dreams.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I love them and appreciate how much they all have supported my books through the years.

 Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I’m not reading anything right now, I’ve been getting ready for my latest release and haven’t had time. But when Ravenswood is out in the world and people are reading it I have a mile high to be read list I’m excited to tackle.

 Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

A poetry book by Edgar Allan Poe.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

I laugh and cry at just about everything. I’m a natural prankster so I’m always cracking jokes and being weird, but I’m also an emotional mess and cry at silly Hallmark commercials.

 Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

Sylvia Plath, because I would love to understand her better, her poetry and her novel The Bell Jar have stuck with me for years.

Edgar Allan Poe because as I child I was obsessed with his words, and still am.

 Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Reading and drawing.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

I love the Walking Dead, Younger, and This is Us.

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

My favourite food is pizza, though I don’t eat it very often. My favourite colors are gray, black, and antique purple. My music taste varies, I love heavy metal and rock bands, but you could also find me listening to Pink and Lady Gaga.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

I would be a graphic designer or go back to teaching elementary school.

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

With my family, making sure they knew I loved them.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

Onto her next chapter…

 Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

Website: www.ChristineZolendz.com

(There you could download some free stuff)

Website: www.ChristineZolendz.com

Instagram: @AuthorChristineZolendz

Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/2Q1wd8U

Latest Release: Ravenswood Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2EO8Dvl

 

Here is my interview with Jan Harvey

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

My name is Jan Harvey. I am fifty seven years old and fifty seven is actually my lucky number, so I’m expecting big things this year!

Fiona: Where are you from?

I was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire and have lived alternately in the north and south of England throughout my life, but I am now very settled in The Oxfordshire Cotswolds.

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

I was brought up by Plymouth Brethren. I found it very restricting and dreamed endlessly of being a creative. By comparison, I loved school and excelled in sports and art but most of all I loved english and I owe my all consuming love of literature to my teacher, Mrs.Wrin.

Ultimately, I chose a career in art and studied at Southport College of Art then Leeds University gaining a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration. I was lucky to be able to chart my own course in design, illustration and publishing by owning businesses that encompassed all three disciplines. At the end of my career I had notched up twenty six years of magazine editing and production but, as print media diminished, I had to make a big decision about my future. It was a choice between designing websites or going for the less lucrative option, of being an author. Writing won out but I had a lot to learn so I applied myself and studied hard. I had to learn everything from finding my own creativity and style to understanding the mysterious workings of the publishing world.

I live with my husband Paul and our flat-coated retriever, Byron in a lovely country village and have a busy lifestyle. I am a creative coach, an artist and I run a networking group so I rarely sit still, but that is how I love it. In what little spare time I have I love listening to live jazz music, having fun with my friends and, of course, dog walking.

 Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

 It’s big news! My second novel, The Slow Death of Maxwell Carrick is released on 4^th October. It follows the success of my first book, The Seven Letters and I have nerves that I’m sure all authors have about the follow up novel; Will it be good enough? Will everyone like it?

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

Since those first essays and stories I produced for Mrs. Wrin when I was twelve I wanted to write. She was very encouraging but I lost my confidence when I moved schools and I just did not gel with my new English teacher. I studied literature again at Art College where I had great encouragement, but writing was put to one side as I developed my career. It was a writing course with Arabella McIntyre-Brown in 2011 that really got me going. She took me to one side afterwards and said: ‘You’re not just a writer, you’re an author, write that book!’ It was a real confidence boost and I wrote a novella that Arabella kindly critiqued for me. I knew the novella wasn’t right as my first book so I decided to write a full length novel and there began the four years of research that brought about The Seven Letters.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

 It was the moment with Arabella that convinced me but I did many more courses and sought the opinions of other tutors too. I found I was immersed in a world I was loving, albeit extremely hard work.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

The inspiration for The Seven Letters was a picture of the women in France having their heads shaved as a punishment for collaborating with the occupying forces. I couldn’t get over how cruelly they were treated when so many others had also aided and abetted the Nazis. Then, there was one particular picture of a woman being chastised whilst carrying a baby. That was the moment I decided to research the subject further and it opened up a whole new world for me.

 Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

 The title of my first book came to me as I realised my protagonist Connie was finding letters as the mystery unfolded. I don’t plan my stories so it came as a surprise that there were seven letters. I’ll let you in on a little secret here, there were only six letters so I popped an extra one in because seven sounded so much better.

Fiona: Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

 I write time split novels so that the modern day is contrasted with a story from the past. I write in this way because I loved reading this genre. I am great fan of Daphne du Maurier and Barbara Erskine, so I think it just felt right for me.

It is challenging. I have to make the two time scales intertwine and make sure they relate to each other throughout the book, even if that is subliminal for the reader. I also base the books in The Cotswolds and Paris so there are two countries and cultures to juggle too. Luckily, I do love a challenge!

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

 In both my books there is a complete mixture of my personal life experiences and what I have learned through research and pure observation. In The Seven Letters one of the characters, Matt, was brought up by the Plymouth Brethren so he’s very much me but Connie loves horses and is fanatical about books so I’ve given her a number my qualities too. After all, they do say write about what you know.

In The Slow Death of Maxwell Carrick, one of the protagonists is a retired editor, like me, so I was able to draw on that knowledge. I have based this book in my village so I dare not reveal who I have included in there, but I have made an effort to remember some of the names and colourful characters of people who lived here in times past.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

 Oh yes! We had four trips to Paris and a lot of pounding of pavements was involved. My husband, who has been one hundred percent behind my career as an author, sponsored the trips and quite simply, without him, there would be no books. I had to carry out a great deal of research in The City of Lights, but I have to say I enjoyed every single minute. I love Paris and the French we have met have gone out of their way to help us even if some of my questions were, at times, strange.

 Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

 I write about strong women and what they are forced to do to survive war. Both of my novels revolve around this theme. I also hope readers will agree with me that war is a tragic waste and that we have lost so many people who could have made this world a better place, it’s a message that needs to be repeated over and over again because we still resort to conflict so easily.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favourite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

 I’ve just discovered Sarah Winman and her book Tin Man. It was a lovely book that left me with a surge of emotion when I read the last chapter. I’m certainly going to read more of her work. Tin Man also featured some of my interests (the art of Van Gogh) and locations I am very familiar with which was actually quite spooky.

My favourite writer is Emily Brontë. I loved Wuthering Heights, which I studied in depth for O-level. I think that helped because it is a book with so many layers and, of course, it’s a time spilt novel.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

 The Chipping Norton Literature Festival (ChipLitFest). I am still indebted to Clare Macintosh who set it up just as I needed a darn good festival to hone my writing skills.

She blazed a trail and now Jenny Dee is carrying on her good work. I have learnt so much about writing, publishing, authors and readers and I would have been lost without it.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

I do. It is. I love it.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

 I had to draw on the history of my own village so I the very real sense I had to learn quite a bit about the various legends and stories I’d heard from different sources. I also talked to a number of nonagenarians about their wartime experiences and that was an absolute privilege for me.  

 Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

 Oh, believe me, I’ve already worked out the cast list for both books. The latest though would be Aidan Turner playing Maxwell Carrick. I wrote it with him in mind….hope springs eternal.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Yes, don’t give up! Keep on honing your skill, you must never stop learning, but also it is essential to have your work critiqued as you go along. I used the Writers Magazine service and Fiction Feedback. Both were invaluable and if you receive criticism, take it on the chin and make it work for you, don’t be defeated.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I would ask them to buy books from local bookshops whenever they can. The internet is killing off the bricks and mortar shops, but there is nothing like a recommendation from the staff at your neighbourhood outlet. There is nowhere quite like a bookshop. We must use them or lose them, the same goes for libraries.

I would also add that the last person to get paid is the author and with a certain internet giant taking 65% commission buying direct from the author if you can is what keeps us afloat and ensures there will can write more of the books you love.

 Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I am about to read ‘A Gathering Light’ again. I love Jennifer Donnelley’s writing and I have, not for the first time, bought this book as a gift for a friend. I promised her I’d re-read it so we can discuss it together! I love talking about books.

 Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

 It was the Cat in the Hat, but I loathed it. My reading really began with the Narnia Chronicles and I realised I was lost forever to the world of the book. Lost and not ever wanting to be rescued.

 Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

 Laugh: My son Max. He inherited my scathing northern humour.

Cry: Animal cruelty. I cannot bear it.

 Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

 Cary Grant. I absolutely adore his films. There is something about him that is just perfect.

I’ll give you an insider tip: One of my characters is named after him.

 Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

 Riding was my hobby but I had to give it up after a serious fall. I miss it very much and that is why horses always get a mention in my books. Otherwise, I enjoy exploring new ways of making art so I have done felting, pottery, sculpture and fused glass and I do intend to learn how to write poetry.

 Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

 I love period dramas and Poldark, for example, is wonderful. Did I mention Aiden Turner? I also enjoy gripping dramas that are well written but I cannot abide the constantly rehashed detective show. I’m tired of the captive woman in the cellar now, I think we need to move on. Mostly though, I need to feed my habit for watching old black and white films from the fifties.

 Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

My husband and I like a variety from thai food to a traditional roast. We’re cutting down on meat now and so we enjoy discovering vegetarian meals.

I live for colour, I am a magpie. I have synesthesia which means I think in colour. It’s hard to expalin but if I remember a telephone number I remember each figure as a colour, and not just a plain colour but tints and different hues too!

Music wise I am also a magpie. From Mozart to experimental jazz via musicals sums me up nicely.

 Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

 I have a lot of plans. Mostly reading! I’d love to spend more time just reading.  I’m quite a political animal so I’d enjoy working to make life better for people – and animals. I’d also like to get back to singing, I used to be part of a choir. Most of all I’d like to do more exploring with my husband. We spent a wonderful week in Anglesey and I’d love to return. In truth, I was researching my next novel there, so it was a working trip!

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

Drinking fine champagne, in a French Chateau, with my husband telling him how much I love him and then giving him a list of who to give my paintings to!

 Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

 I have a daily mission to make at least one person chuckle every day. So I’d like ‘She made us laugh.” That would do nicely.

 Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

 My new book, The Slow Death of Maxwell Carrick, is published on 29^th October and will be available on all platforms, but do go through my website for signed copies and a special something extra with your order.

My website is www.janharveyauthor.com and people can follow on my facebook too.

www.facebook.com/AuthorTheSevenLetters

I really enjoy interacting with my readers.

Thank you for asking such great questions. I enjoyed this interview.

Here is my interview with Nicole Banks

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

Nicole Banks, 31

Fiona: Where are you from?

The greatest city in the world. NYC

Fiona: A little about yourself (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

New York born and raised. Love music and long walks on the beach lol. Cake makes me happy and I love books. I graduated John Jay College in 2005 with a B.A. in forensic Psychology. I don’t do anything I went to school for. I am a Yoga  instructor.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I have an anthology coming in Feb called Black Hearts. It’s an AZ anthology.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. It was just something I liked doing.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Elementary school.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book started out as a college assignment. When 50 shades came out and I saw that it was based on fanfic, I thought I’d give it a go.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Tesoro? I had it in mind from the time the plot popped in my head. Tesoro is Italian for treasure.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I write how I talk and anyone that knows me personally could probably pick out my writing from a crowded room. lol.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

All of my writing has a little bit of truth in it. Most of Tesoro is fiction.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

I write mainly about where I live, so no actual traveling happens.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

SK  Designs did Tesoro

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Understanding Loyalty.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

There’s a few I’ve come across this year, Dee Gracia, Hazel Grace and new to me Ashley Jade (she’s been out for a while but I just discovered her). They’re all different in their own way, but they’re all raw in their writing and I love it.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

Does my boyfriend and friends count? lol. I mean they’re family all the same.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Yes.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No. This last book was enjoyment from start to finish.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

How deep my imagination can go.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

These questions are always tough! I don’t watch much TV so I never know who I would pick. I think I would want all new actors.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Keep writing.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I am not sorry for my cliffhangers. lol I love them =)

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Consumed by Jr Ward.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

I remember reading cat and the hat books, but I think the Goosebumps and the Babysitters club were my first novel type books.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

I’m a goof. It doesn’t take me much to laugh.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

Aaliyah. Loved her style and her music. I would have loved to just sit down with her and pick her brain.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Reading and yoga.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

Not big on TV but I do watch 9-1-1 and will and grace

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

Foods: tacos, pizza, pasta, gummy bears. Colors: blue and black and sometimes red

Music: I can listen to everything. My library is extensive

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

Yoga instructor

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

Eating and partying with my people

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

Sunshine

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?  

I have a facebook reader group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/175649469763957

 Link to my Amazon author page: https://amzn.to/2OuiQ4w

 

Here is my interview with M L Holton

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

Hello, my name is Margaret Lindsay Holton, aka MLHolton.

Age is relative. Physically, I am 63.

Mentally, it’s hard to say. I can oscillate from 5 to 5000 in a nanosecond.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I was born in the province of southern Ontario, Canada, and have lived there for most of my life. I moved from a rural sheep farm to the metropolis of Toronto in my late teens. Then, after 20 plus years of living in the city, I moved back to the country. I have also lived, studied and worked overseas in Switzerland, Spain and Scotland.

Before and during my university years, I travelled extensively throughout the British Isles, Europe, Greece, North Africa and Russia. After university, I travelled throughout Central America and the United States of America on month-long solo road trips. For the past few decades, I have taken shorter jaunts to islands in the Caribbean and have popped over to Bermuda.

I also own 25 acres of bush northeast of Gravenhurst and go there when I really need to ‘get away from it all’. In sum, I consider myself a Canadian, born and bred. I remain rooted to this land of my birth.

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

All that readers really need to know about me, as an author, is that I have been writing, in one form or another, since I was nine years of age. I gave my first poem to my mum back then, entitled, ‘Flowers in May’. Since that time, I have written poetry, written theatrical plays, messed with screenplays, constructed literary essays, pursued local journalism, written two critically acclaimed novels, compiled and produced a social history during a papal visit to Canada, and crafted coffee-table photo books that highlight my two-dimensional artworks. I established my own private press in the early 1990s to produce my own titles when I feared that the Canadian publishing industry was going to be eaten up by global concerns.

I love playing with the written word: past, present and potential.

Overall, I am a seasoned Canadian artist, and author, of some local repute.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

Gladly! I’ve just released my third novel, TRILLIUM, in an Artist First Edition through my private press. An triple-blend family saga, it follows the lives of three men who arrive and strive within the Golden Horseshoe region of southern Ontario, Canada. Good, bad, cruel and wonderful things happen to an evolving crew of complex characters over a 250 years period, starting in the 1750s.

Hashtag: #landlustloot

The 100 copies of the signed Artist First Edition are now available via my website – https://canadadaphotography.blogspot.ca  First come, first served.

An alternate print edition and e-pub editions are coming soon and will be available through most major on-line retail book outlets.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing when I was very young. I wrote because it seemed a natural way to express my thoughts and feelings.

We are what we think. Expressing what we think through language is an immediate act of connection. Ideas and thoughts ebb and flow within the interchange of dialogue and conversation. Writing, fact or fiction, enhances the possibilities to connect.

I love the craft of writing as a manifestation of thinking. It demands a great deal. It also gives back more then it takes. As a lover of language, becoming a wordsmith was a natural evolution.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I was very young. I often composed ‘outside’ of school-work as a child for my own amusement.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My first published book was a novel, written when I was in my late 20s. ‘Economic Sex’ was published in 1985 by Toronto’s foremost literary press, Coach House Press. I composed that work in response to circumstances that surrounded a love affair. I felt, at that time, that certain things about the interaction between women and men needed to be stated. In retrospect, it was very much a book of its time. A young Canadian woman’s point of view was distilled and expressed in the 1980s.

My second novel, ‘The Gilded Beaver by Anonymous’, was written over a decade later. In that work I explored the dynamics of an intense male-female interaction again. I delved into the psyche of a fine furniture designer and her client, a cantankerous millionaire. The story documents their respective paths to a crisis. In so doing, the protagonist and antagonist discover more about themselves then either really wanted to know. That work won the Hamilton Arts Council Best Fiction Award in 1999.

Both these novels were ‘Canadian-centric’ and explored manners and mores of their day.

TRILLIUM, my third novel, is a bit different. Fundamentally, I am exploring the idea of ‘nature’ versus ‘nurture’: how do we become who we are?  I wanted to work with a larger canvas populated with a greater diversity of characters to explore certain aspects of the evolving Canadian psyche. The time sweep is greater, covering 250 years, from 1750 to 2001. Within the work, key historical events are interwoven with innuendo, gossip and rumour. Those external factors shape and impact the characters’ development and their subsequent social exchanges. Beneath the continuum is the idea of connectedness.

We become who we are, for better and for worse, connected by the soil we stand upon.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

This story started taking shape in my mind over a decade ago. I did a rough outline and put the untitled project in my writing box to let it germinate.

In May of 2015, I was working on an article called ‘ The Boob Tube: Three Generations Talk TV ‘.  https://raisethehammer.org/article/2593/the_boob_tube:_three_generations_talk_tv  In the course of researching that piece, I got thinking again about the mental tools we use to remember memories, especially through generations. Today remembering is increasingly shaped by technology.

In February of this year, I dug out my older outline and started to write TRILLIUM …

To say more would give away some of the pleasure of discovery to the reader..

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I have been told that I PAINT in a ‘naive-surreal-folk-abstract’ kind of way. Others have hinted that I paint like an ‘outsider’ artist. I suppose all styles pronouncements are true in a way, in that their analysis reflects what others project onto my work.

My own aim overall, in any discipline that I work within, is authenticity. I must be true to me, how ever that may manifest, within the confines of the 5 to 5000 nanosecond.  How others interpret, sanction or label what I do is really of little concern. I do what I must and produce interpretations of reality as I perceive it.

At core, this is my job as an artist.

The discipline of writing is always a challenge, regardless of the genre. It demands an attentive receptiveness to the nuances of the mind’s fluidity. Conversing with Self is an on-going journey of discovery. Dissecting long-held and unchallenged conceptions as well as expanding the possibilities of new thought is enjoyable. It’s fun to do. It is fun to explore.

As example, expanding new thoughts sometimes necessitates new language. I invented the word, ‘nwowness’, some years ago to amplify the IDEA of bliss and used it in a poem to make it better.

In this way, I have  learned that, for me, playing with words through the filter of poetry is a useful exercise to limber up for the intense rigor of writing a novel.

Writing a novel is akin to painting. Words in paragraphs create scenes that consequently create painterly synapses in the readers mind. Forms, colours, shading, occur.

Once underway, the narrator’s ‘voice’ can shape-shift the ‘mental landscape’. Shifting voices within a work, via dialogue or through a narrator’s point of view, can be useful or it can be a disaster.

As a writer, you have to determine what best helps your reader understand what you are trying to convey. Too much can confuse, too little can bore.

After the sheer fun of it, this is the writer’s job: to communicate ideas.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

TRILLIUM is a fictional work. The cast of characters has been designed and developed based on known living and dead personalities that I have had the pleasure and pique to meet. I thought it important to root this particular story in ‘the real’. Meaning, the incidences that transpire in the story, and the emotions they evoke, have occurred at some point in ‘real time’. But overall, I would not make too much of this. This novel is a crafted fiction. I have drawn on an accumulated arsenal to shape it.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

I do not have to travel to write. I have enjoyed travelling in the past, as an active spectator. Lately though, I am content to stay put and just observe what is happening around me. I do walk a lot and just look at what’s happening in my immediate vicinity.

I am equally as interested in what is being continuously projected at me by ‘screens’. Screen culture is redefining, in more ways then one, how we interact and SEE each other, good and bad.

I do have a desire to craft a screenplay that is set in Barbados. That one needs to be researched more thoroughly to be sure that I have the locations, costumes and characters correctly. To that end, I would likely rent a cottage or cabin on the island and spend a month to immerse my Self into the island culture, taking notes and photographs, talking to others and travelling around on foot. That work has been drafted in outline form, but to flush it out, I would need to understand local custom better.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

I did. This underlying visual of a man holding a grape cluster is from a painting I did several years ago. It works well as an image to amplify the story.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Yes and No. My primary aim is to offer a novel for enjoyment to the reader. To that end, I’ve tried to create a cast of characters that readers will like and dislike.

Equally, I have tackled certain controversial subjects that I hope add depth and breadth to the work. What readers actually take away at the end of reading the novel is unknown to me.

If I can generate within any reader just one ‘aha’ moment, this is good. I have reached them.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

Of late, I have done little fictional reading. The last novel was Annie Proulx’s ‘Barkskin’. It was an engaging and resonating read that helped stoke my desire to attempt a broader historical fiction.

As for authors in the past who have moved me, there are simply too many to mention. My undergraduate degree was English Literature with a Philosophy Minor. I have read a great deal since then with favourites that come and go.

Recently, someone somewhere brilliantly said, “I am reading the internet.” There is so much material available on-line now. An infinity of interests, from multiple points of view, addictively seduce us. Readers constantly read, as I do.

The challenge is, in fact, to write a novel that will seduce people away from their screens. Have I succeed? I don’t know. I doubt it. As Marshall McLuhan prophesized decades ago, we are metamorphosing away from the written word to the visual punch.

Perhaps a producer will hear of my story, read it and see the innate potential for a TV series. If so, TRILLIUM might find a home between ‘Coronation Street’ and Netflix’s ‘Bloodline’. Competing families, over generations, are at the centre of both of those television series. Family dynamics also drive my novel. And Canadian statistics support me. A mature audience is there, waiting for this kind of broader, wider-ranging, generational work.

 I did write this novel  with a mature reader in mind. Highs, lows, ups, downs, light, dark, good and bad, : it is all part and parcel of the whole shebang of living. It is my hope that readers will appreciate the everyday complexity, yet often startling simplicity, of the varied and colour-filled human condition, from my point of view.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

My god-mother. We were not related by blood yet she encouraged me every step of the way from day one.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

I see writing as an aspect of what I do as a Canadian artist.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

The temptation was to write a longer book. As it is, at 137,000 words, I feel I have tested the patience of contemporary readers for long enough.

I did write an alternate ending, filled with ambiguity, but I re-crafted that after a BETA reader, who I respect, suggested that the ending was a too open-ended ‘as is’. I changed it to be a bit more ‘up-lifting’. Hope remains, but it is infused with the complicated familial history that preceded it. Whether that is enough to gratify the needs of the reader, I do not know.

It is quite possible that this story could have a sequel.

At this point though, I have no intention of doing that.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

I learned plenty. I had to do a great deal of historical local research at the onset to place the work in a familiar physical reality of time past and time present. I had no idea, as example, that Italians were incarcerated across Canada during WW2. That was eye-opening and interesting to learn.

 Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

Ah yes, the film version ,,,

I would like the actors to convey the inherent inherited ‘nationalism’ of the characters for believability. So, Irish-Canadian, Italian-Canadian, Canadian WASP, French – and First Nation, at the beginning.

Specifically, the red-head O’Sullivan twins should be actual twins and the raven-haired Hartford sisters should be offset-beauties. One is a mama’s girl, the other is a tom-boy. They are devoted sisters who we watch age from their teens to middle age.

The special and unique character of Anna Di Angelo would be tough to cast in youth and maturity, because, again, she must be believable. Instincts see a bright-eyed wholesome kind of girl who matures into a grandmotherly character would need two convincing actresses.

Ultimately, I would leave casting up to the director.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Write because you must. There really is no other reason.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I hope you do enjoy this latest work. I look forward to your remarks, comments, insights and beefs.

— Maybe some would like to join the TRILLIUM reading group?

If so, feel free to link up through the Facebook fan page. (Link below.)

 Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I am reading ‘The Old Ways’ by Robert Macfarlane, very slowly.

 Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

‘The Wind in the Willows’ by Kenneth Grahame.

It was the first book that exploded the idea of LITERATURE in my growing mind.

 Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Perceptive social comics can make me laugh. Wit with wisdom is a lethal combo. Random events that upset my daily course can make me laugh at the capricious charm of Life.

Quiet acts of tenderness can often make me tear up.

 Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

I would like to mess around in a kitchen and make apple pies with Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II. She is a most remarkable woman who has taken her role and duties very seriously. Yet clearly, she has an impish side. She may be The Queen but she is also a living breathing human being. As she has matured, I think she understands her governing and leadership role far better then most give her credit. She is not only a repository of all the history that has gone before her, but she is, through her own strength of character, establishing the role of the British monarchy for successive generations, mitigated through the increasing omnipresence of media. Like it or not.

I am aware there are plenty who are down on the royal family believing it an archaic institution of power that has little relevance today. But I respectfully disagree. Her story alone, as history and a template for the future, is revolutionary.

 Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

Yes. I love music, most kinds. I listen to almost anything and play an assortment of instruments, badly.

 Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

I seldom go to the cinema anymore. Why bother when creature comforts are 1/10th the price at home?

Instead, I flip around my tell-a-vision in the evenings. I do not have cable or satellite. I do have Apple TV, and like to pick-up local productions via a small indoor antenna.

I particularly enjoy wide-ranging documentaries about our collective home, Planet Earth. TVO, in Ontario, has excellent programming, most of the time.

Horror or ‘violence for violence’s sake’ films bore me. I cannot watch cop or hospital soaps. Mainstream sit-coms amuse in small doses. The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family reveal aspects of the American zeitgeist.

My one constant is Coronation Street. I’ve been watching that program for over a decade. It swoons from the sublime to the ridiculous within episodes and I enjoy the multitude of characters etched out over years of stellar performances and strong story-telling. As Corrie fans know, dropping into that fictional reality is like ‘visiting family’.

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

Favourite food? Always love a hearty breakfast: fried eggs – sunny side up, bacon, hash browns, toast, jams, OJ, strong coffee.

Favourite colour? Oscillates. Cannot choose a favourite colour.

Favourite Music? Impossible to choose. Mahler to The Shadows to Don Ross to Shane Carruth to Maggie Rose to Bach. Round and round it goes.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

If I was incapable of forming sentences or thought structures I am guessing I would be gaga.

I have no idea what I would do if I was in that state of mind.

 Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

I would go to our family farm and revel in the magnificent mysteries of Nature in that old familiar place. I would say goodbye to trees planted by our family decades ago and wander down to the bubbling waters of the artesian well at the very back of the back fields.

 Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

Nothing. I am going to be cremated and hurled into the out-island waters of Georgian Bay.

 Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

MLHolton artist blog: https://canadadaphotography.blogspot.com

 TRILLIUM – ARTIST FIRST EDITION from artist’s private press, of only 100 signed copies:  https://canadadaphotography.blogspot.com/2018/10/trillium-new-novel-by-mlholton.html

 TRILLIUM to PRE-ORDER the epub edition in Canada:  link: httphttps://mlholton-author.weebly.com/

 TRILLIUM to PRE-ORDER global e-Pub Editions: https://books2read.com/TRILLIUM

 AUTHOR PAGE on AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0071LO2H8

 TRILLIUM Facebook Fan Page: https://facebook.com/trilliumnovel  

 TRILLIUM on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TRILLIUMnovel

 The more the merrier!

And all are welcome to the formal TRILLIUM Book Launch at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, [ https://www.artgalleryofhamilton.com/ ] on Thursday, March 21st, 1-3pm. $5 at the door. See you then!

 

Thank you.

mlh

Here is my interview with Mickie B. Ashling

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

            Hi, Fiona. Thank you for having me as a guest on your blog. My pseudonym is Mickie B. Ashling, and I haven’t revealed my true age since I flashed my first fake ID. Let’s just say I’m young at heart and leave it there.

 Fiona: Where are you from?

            Everywhere and nowhere. I was raised in the Philippines and moved to San Francisco in the 80s. I lived in and around the Bay Area for two decades before moving to a suburb outside of Chicago. Istill don’t consider myself a native even if I’ve lived and worked here forever.

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

            As I mentioned in your previous question, I grew up in the Philippines. My maternal grandparents were Spaniards who migrated to a province in northern Luzon back in the late 1920s.  My mother was born there and eventually met my American/Hungarian father at the end of World War II. I went to an all-girl Catholic school in Manila. I have one sister, four sons, one daughter-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren—with one on the way.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I’m about twenty days away from releasing my first self-published novel. Most of my body of work has been published by Dreamspinner Press. In the last twelve months, three of my novels and one short story were released through NineStar Press. My upcoming novel, Yield, is the fifth book in a series. It’s edgier than the previous four novels in the series and explores the darker side of relationships. There’s not a lot of romance in this one, and when Dreamspinner gave it a pass, I decided to take the plunge and self-pub.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I’ve always been a voracious reader and did well in my English/Lit classes. My classmates usually asked me to help write their essays. Becoming a bona fide writer was a dream that only materialized after my children were much older. I started writing fan fiction in the Queer as Folk fandom, and my readers and fellow writers gave me the confidence to submit my first original story to Dreamspinner. They published Horizons in 2009.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

The first time I hit submit on my computer and my story went live on the internet. It was a terrifying moment but also extremely satisfying.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

            As a mother of four boys, and living in California, we were a year-long sports family. I was constantly ferrying the kids to practice and staying through their games. Horizonsis the story of a closeted college kid who plays football and struggles with his grades due to ADHD. He falls for his emergency room doctor after an injury, and their forbidden love affair raises all kinds of questions.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

My football player had to write an essay on the novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Since Clark (my protag) was embarking on a perilous new journey by giving in to his attraction, it seemed fitting to call the novel Horizons.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

I’m a combination plotter and pantser. My outlines aren’t very detailed, and I usually let my characters dictate the outcome of a story. I’ve tried bending them to my will in the past and it hardly ever works.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

A lot of my stories are based on actual events or people I’ve known, but there are also those that are completely imagined from the start.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

I’m a gypsy at heart and will use any excuse to travel. So yes, visiting locations for my planned novel is part of my process, but not always possible.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

            Through the years, I’ve had the good fortune of having amazing cover artists. Anne Caine, Reese Dante, Catt Ford, Paul Richmond, Natasha Snow, and Kanaka to name a few. For my upcoming novel, I went with a premade I found at Book Cover Zone. I was browsing one day and fell in love with this image, which suited my story perfectly.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I wanted to write about imperfect characters who are products of their shitty pasts and have no idea how to control their impulses. My MCs are beyond broken and resort to extreme forms of BDSM for relief. Writing my characters realistically rather than romantically was my goal. We can’t all be lucky enough to live a romance novel, and I got tired of reading stories that were easily resolved with a stellar blowjob. Some of us have to struggle to find even a glimmer of happiness.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

This question always comes up during interviews, and I think it’s unfair to name a few when there are literally hundreds of writers who have caught my attention and influenced my writing. I will tell you that I don’t like ‘sweet’ stories. Political thrillers, murders mysteries, historical and/or erotic romances are my preferred genres.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

I’d have to say Elizabeth North, CEO and owner of Dreamspinner Press. She was instrumental in getting my career off the ground.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

After 35 published novels, I think the answer is a resounding yes.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

            Since it’s my first self-pub, I learned a lot about the process. It really takes a good team to get the finished product on the shelf and I had the best with the people behind Superior Author Services. I have to credit author Lane Hayes as well for her generous advice and ongoing support.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

I can see an older Wentworth Miller in the role of Sami and a younger, blonder Tatum Channing playing Jay.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Read a lot. Respect and endorse fellow writers. Try not to read reviews. Spend the extra money on promotion. Most importantly, write!Your great novel will never get published if you don’t start with the first line. Set a daily goal and try to stick with it. Give it the respect and discipline you’d give to any day job, and soon it will be your only job.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

            Thank you for reading my books. With hundreds of choices presented daily, I’m always honored and humbled to hear back from satisfied readers.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

            I just finished Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling’s pseudonym for her murder mystery series). I’m currently reading Amy Lane’s A Few Good Fish.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

            It was most likely a Nancy Drew mystery. I must have read the entire collection.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

            I enjoy dry, sarcastic humor. Intelligent stand-up comedians with great dialog always trump slap-stick. Crying isn’t really my thing. They say tears are good for the soul, but I’m more a reach-for-the-candy to soothe my broken heart type of gal. I must be a cold-hearted bitch, or I’ve learned to save the tears for thecatastrophic events in my life.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

            Anyonewho can provide some factual information on my paternal ancestry. The man who fathered us was always a dramatic blending of fact and fiction, and long after his death, I still have no clue. None of the genealogy sites provided answers.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

            Traveling, sightseeing, walking, and reading. I usually watch movies on TV instead of in a theatre.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

            Outlander, Blue Bloods, Rake, Shameless, The Rookie, Madam Secretary, Swat, Stephen Colbert, The Crown, Young Sheldon, The Voice, The Great British Baking Show, Chicago Fire, Med, and PD. None of the rebooted shows appeal to me.

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors, music?

            I enjoy a large variety of food, but I mostly stay away from red meat. Sugar in any form is hard to resist. Ice cream is a guilty pleasure I can have year round. Red, brown, and navy blue are favored colors. My musical taste is eclectic.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

            I can’t imagine not writing, but one never knows. If money were no object I’d travel year round.

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

            Ignorance is preferable to knowing how it’ll end. I’d probably take a pill and sleep through the main event.

 Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

            I don’t plan on having a headstone. Cremation is the way to go, and I’d like my   ashes scattered over some body of water.

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

            Author Bio

Mickie B. Ashling is the pseudonym of a multifaceted woman who is a product of her upbringing in multiple cultures, having lived in Japan, the Philippines, Spain, and the Middle East. Fluent in three languages, she’s a citizen of the world and an interesting mixture of East and West. A little bit of this and a lot of that have brought a unique touch to her literary voice she could never learn from textbooks.

By the time Mickie discovered her talent for writing, real life got in the way, and the business of raising four sons took priority. With the advent of e-publishing–and the inevitable emptying nest–dreams of becoming a published writer were resurrected and she’s never looked back.

She stumbled into the world of men who love men in 2002 and continues to draw inspiration from their ongoing struggle to find equality and happiness in this oftentimes skewed and intolerant world. Her award-winning novels have been called “gut wrenching, daring, and thought provoking.” She admits to being an angst queen and making her men work damn hard for their happy endings.

Mickie currently resides in a suburb outside Chicago.

Contact Info

E-MAIL: http://mickie.ashling@gmail.com

BLOG: http://mickiebashling.blogspot.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mickie.ashling

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/MickieAshling

INSTAGRAM: @mickieashling

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004QSCN3E

Books by Mickie B. Ashling

A Tangled Legacy

Once Upon A Rainbow (NineStar Press Anthology)

Through My Own Lens

Third Son

Enforcing Emory

Gnarly

Mayon

One Pulse (Dreamspinner Anthology)

Yesterday

BASQUE TRILOGY

Loving Edits

Tono

Momentos: Mick’s Journey

BAY AREA PROFESSIONALS

Impacted!

Bonds of Love

Fractured

Forged in Trust

CUTTING CORDS

Cutting Cords

Vessel

Cleave

Cutting Out

HORIZONS SERIES

Horizons

Taste

Daddio

Chyna Doll

Being With Him

THE OPEN SERIES

Open Seating

Open House

Open Case

POLO SERIES

Fire Horse

Ride-Off

The Sixth Chukker

Yield

A Sequel to Forged in Trust

Bay Area Professionals

A promising encounter takes a dark turn.

Captain Sami Soros and Father Jay Blackstone cross paths at a major European hub. When systems shut down due to a cyber-attack, flights are delayed and the resulting chaos is unprecedented.

After having served three tours in Afghanistan, recently discharged Sami struggles with his new civilian status. Emotionally depleted, and dangerously edgy, he views most of his fellowmen with utter contempt.

Jay is returning to his parish in San Francisco after a month-long retreat meant to shore up a crumbling vocation. All vestiges of spirituality melt away when he sets eyes on Sami.

They begin a clandestine affair fueled by a shared addiction to extreme forms of BDSM. Their relationship goes off the rails, and Jay reaches out to Rino Duran, a former seminarian. With the help of Dr. Ethan Marshall, Rino’s full-time Dom, the established couple attempt to separate truth from lies to give Jay and Sami a shot at happiness.

Yield is available exclusively on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JGVC7N5