Here is my interview with Nicholas Nash

Name Nicholas Nash

Age 39

Where are you from New York

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc  

I stay in the concrete jungle of Manhattan with my wife and three children and enjoy every moment of it. I love to read fiction and non-fiction books which inspired me to write an intriguing thriller.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I am currently working on my second novel set during the last days of World War II. The book title is still under wraps because I don’t want to give the story setting away just yet. There was an interesting time period during the Second World War that I chose as the backdrop.

Hitler died, having committed suicide, on April 30th, 1945 but the war in Europe did not end with his death. Germany continued fighting the Allies and surrendered only a week later on May 7th, 1945. During these days between his death and eventual German surrender, an unimaginable series of events took place that remains unexplained and shrouded in mystery to this very day. My second novel revolves around one of those events during that period of uncertainty, with my imagination filling in the blanks that history has left unanswered forever.

I first read about it a few years ago and I always wondered to myself, “What exactly happened there? Why did they the retreating Germans that? Who was really responsible? What were they thinking?”

I searched and searched and searched and never found any satisfactory answers. That was when I said to myself, “Hmm, that’s interesting. The magnitude of what happened then was immense and here we are over 70 years later and we still don’t know much about it.” That’s when I decided to write my second book around these bizarre events.

 

 

Fiona: When did you begin writing?

I have been writing for around a year. I started writing my book last summer. I tried writing the book in various different places in the city where I live. I enjoyed all the research that went into the book. There are so many small facts and interesting tit bits that I found while doing my research and I strung them all together into the book, be it some obscure facts about cancer, the Chinese underworld in New York or some fancy computer programs that play a key role in the book.

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

The day the book launched, I considered myself a published author. Prior to that, I started the writing the book for fun. After working on it for months and seeing the whole process of the book coming together was amazing!

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

I have always enjoyed reading thrillers and whodunit mystery books a lot. There were a couple of recent books and authors that influenced me to write this book. Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train was an interesting read in this genre, though I would’ve enjoyed the book if it had more characters in there. At some point, I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was and I had guessed correctly. Another influence has been the movie The Usual Suspects. If you read the book, you will see what I mean.

I also immensely enjoyed Andy Weir’s The Martian. When I found out that Andy was a first time writer but wrote about what he knew best, I was really inspired to follow in his footsteps and write about topics that I knew quite a bit about – cutting edge research for cancer.

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

I started writing The Girl At The Bar as a pantser, figuring out the story as I went along. After the first few chapters, I started plotting out the characters and story line.

I was attending a music concert by an indie band from New Zealand a few years ago in New York City and I met someone at the bar at the Bowery Ballroom and struck up a conversation there. The beginning of the book is similar where Ragnar meets the beautiful and talented Rebecca Chase at a bar. The title of the book is meant to signify the first meeting that sets into motion all the events in the book.

 

 

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

I want to introduce readers to the amazing world of cancer research. There is some truly groundbreaking research and developments taking place in the quest to cure cancer that the average person is not aware of. The biotech industry in general is making huge strides in finding unique cures for cancer. I wanted to highlight the work that I have been reading about.

The biotech industry, particularly on the research side, is heavily dominated by men. However, there are several strong well-rounded women who are instrumental in the industry either as researchers, CEOs or biotech investors. Rebecca is in some respects a composite of these real-life women who play a key role in the progress we’ve made in the war on cancer.

 

 

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

The story in the book is pure fiction. However, all the details on cancer are true. Also, each of the characters in the book is a composite of people I know personally, people I’ve met, people I know of or people I’ve read about. Each character is a blend of interesting characteristics from different sources.

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

My publisher at Fireflies Publishing has been very supportive. She helped design the cover and suggested great edits in a few parts of the storyline.

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

I would love to be able to write the whole day but it is difficult to get your book out there with so many books being published everyday. Someday, maybe, I will be able to concentrate on just writing.

 

 

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

No, I love the way the book has turned out. It takes readers into a web and on a rollercoaster ride.

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

I started writing THE GIRL AT THE BAR as a pantser, figuring out the story as I went along. After the first few chapters, I started plotting out the characters and story line. It was much later that I realized that I really enjoyed weaving the book together.

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The biggest challenge with all the cancer research is being able to synthesize all of this into plain language that a regular reader could understand and appreciate. That was the toughest part of writing. I was constantly afraid that readers would lose me if I became too technical in my descriptions, so that kept me on guard whenever I wrote about cancer in the book.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

None, just mind travel!

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

My publisher at Fireflies Publishing created the concept for the cover and got it to life. She has been instrumental designing it.

 

 

Fiona: If any of your books was made into a film who would you like to play the lead

Michael Fassbender will be good for Ragnar.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

If writing is your passion, keep writing without getting discouraged. It’s awesome to see ones work published.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I hope you enjoy reading The Girl At The Bar. I would love to hear what you thought of the book. Do leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. I read all of them. Feel free to connect with me on Facebook @AuthorNocholasNash.

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I am reading What If by Randall Munroe.

 

 

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet?

Albert Einstein.

 

 

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

Lived well and happy.

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?

I play the guitar when I get a chance.

 

 

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

Recently, I enjoyed The Man in the High Castle, Walking Dead and Fargo. In movies, I had fun watching War Dogs and Nice Guys!

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

Food: Tapas, South Indian. I like to experiment, so this keeps changing.

Colors: Black, green

Music: There are too many to list here!!

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

I would have enjoyed being part of a rock band. 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

http://www.authornicholasnash.com/

Website: http://www.authornicholasnash.com/

Facebook: @AuthorNicholasNash

Instagram: NicholasNashAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33240086-the-girl-at-the-bar

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Girl-At-Bar-Nash-Nicholas/dp/0998435821/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

Here is my interview with Robert Crawford

Name Robert Crawford

Age 58

Where are you from? Astoria Queen, NYC

A little about yourself ie your education Family life etc  

I don’t know how to answer this open-ended question. I graduated from high school, my family life was violent, unhappy, unstable. Which is why I never contact my family.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

Endeavour Press in the UK asked me for the entire ms of my thriller TATTERDEMALION the day after I’d queried them.

 

 
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

As I’d said on my Amazon author page, I began writing with wooden blocks (Yes, as a toddler). When I was a small child, I wrote and drew my own comic books (sometimes on spec for lunch money. My very first royalties!), in my early adolescence I wrote short stories. Later in my adolescence, poetry. By the time I was 35, I was hit with the novel writing bug and I’ve been doing that for the last 23 years (the last 12 I’ve also been a political blogger.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I don’t think there was any single “Eureka!” moment. I guess I always innately felt that as long as I could tell stories and entertain at least myself if not others, then I was a writer. Despite the advent of self-publishing and the occasional runaway  success it’s produced, there’s still this stubborn insistence on believing that one cannot and should not consider themselves a writer until their work’s been ritualized in print. It’s also worth noting that there’s a polar opposite faction, this one permeating like a cancer throughout the entire spectrum of the publishing business, that if one is forced into self-publication, then they’re not a real writer (more on that later). One woman wrote on the Huffington Post last year, to many well-deserved jeers, that self-published work was “an insult to the written word.”

 

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

Again, I don’t know. Define “book.” Define “first.” Throughout the 90’s, I wrote helter skelter a collection of satirical definitions in much the same manner as Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary but I didn’t collect them into book form until a few years ago as THE MISANTHROIPE’S MANUAL. My first novel was written 23 years ago and I can’t even begin to tell you why I wrote that except to say writing a novel was, well, a novel experience. I thought the story was worth telling (it wasn’t) and I guess that was enough incentive to go through with it. Incredibly, it got me a literary agent in 1996 and that encouraged me to keep writing fiction.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I have to say No. At least it depends on what series I’m writing. Every one of my books has its own idiosyncratic stamp but with one exception, every one of my novels is narrated first person by the main character. Scott Carson, the hero of TATTERDEMALION, has his own unique voice (a guttural East Side affectation in late 19^th century New York), whereas Cornelius Van Zant, the MC in GODS OF OUR FATHERS, expresses himself much like an educated man would speak and write in mid-19^th century Boston. Mike Flannigan, the narrator in AMERICAN ZEN, has a snarky, 21^st century way of expressing himself that’s very much in keeping with his trenchant thoughts on politics. I guess I always believed it was more important for my various main protagonists to have their own voice than for all my novels to have one singular voice or stamp on them.

 

 
Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

What title? Which book are we talking about?

 

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

Again, what title are we speaking of? I have four novels out.

Regarding a “message”- I choose to leave messages to the serious literary novelists to contemplate and articulate. I’m at the stage of my life in which I’m a glorified entertainer just trying to tell a good story. While I suppose every novel ought have a message, I trust that that message will become apparent to any who’d read it. It’s like the statue that the Greek sculptor found buried in a block of granite. With AMERICAN ZEN, I looked back on what I’d written and realized it was about the strength yet the frailty of love and friendship. With GODS OF OUR FATHERS, I had a vague idea that should address the issue of whether we can survive the gods of our forefathers or if we should create newer, kinder ones. I’m not aware of any message in TATTERDEMALION except to say innocence never lasts and it is either a casualty of the world or, after being curdled, aids that world in its wickedness.

 

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

The only novel I’ve ever written to which there’s an affirmative would be AMERICAN ZEN. That was written between March and July of 2008 and was intended to be a contemporary bildungsroman. About a quarter or so of the chapters take place 30 years before in 1978 and act not so much as counterpoints but as a way of giving parallel, contemporary events some context, one generation giving an explanation for another, I guess. Every guy in the band was based to some degree on people I’d known or those I’d only met once. The narrator, Mike Flannigan, was based on myself. JoJo’s inspiration and template was Josiah Leming from Season Seven of American Idol, and so forth. Snatches of dialogue I’d even heard in ’78 and saved for God knows what reason, found their way in the book. TATTERDEMALION’s cast of characters was largely aided by my using many historical personages such as Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull, Annie Oakley and so forth.

 

 
Fiona: What books or mentor have most influenced your life most? A mentor?

I’ve only had one mentor to speak of because writers by and large never seem to have time or interest in those trying to get a leg up in the business. For poetry, I’d enjoyed a decades-long correspondence with the poet, text book writer and novelist X.J. Kennedy. Despite he and his wife raising five kids, Joe often found the time to critique whatever horrible poem would come out of my typewriter and he’d patiently explain its merits and shortcomings. Joe Kennedy was also the one who tried to push me to write prose, something I didn’t seriously pursue until 1994. Orwell’s 1984 influenced me socially (and even depressed me!) when I began reading it at the same time it begins (Spring 1984). Strunk & White’e ELEMENTS OF STYLE, which ought to be in every writer’s library, taught me each word should carry its weight. Caleb Carr’s THE ALIENIST and THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS showed me the potential of English in a work of contemporary, commercial fiction (It eventually inspired me to write my own historical psychological thriller, TATTERDEMALION).

 

 

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

It all depends on your definition of “new.” Since joining Facebook last January, I’ve discovered quite a few authors I never knew existed and I’ve bought more than a few of their titles. One guy I like is William Ryan, who for the last five years had published a trilogy of novels about a 1930’s Moscow detective named Korolev. As I love Russian-based crime fiction, Ryan was a perfect addition to my ever-growing library. My favorite author is still Caleb Carr, although I wasn’t very enthusiastic about his latest, SURRENDER, NEW YORK. I fear he may’ve lost his mojo after THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS but maybe he’ll find it again in the next two Alienist novels. But as for new authors? Well, most if not all of those I read and have befriended on Facebook are middle-aged to elderly.

 

 
Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Again, that was X. J. Kennedy who at some points in our correspondence had to squint really hard to justify maintaining it. But as far as being a novelist goes, I’ve essentially been working in a near-complete vacuum. No one in the business, and I mean NO ONE, has given me the slightest bit of encouragement, interest, opportunity, assistance or guidance.

 

 
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Absolutely. I’d be happy being a midlist novelist, as long as I can support myself and live like a human being. But the sad reality is that an alarmingly small percentage of writers can actually support themselves by writing. The poet Randall Jarrell once bemoaned the 20^th century took away a poet’s readers and replaced them with students. I’ve revised that to, The 20^th century is the one that took away a writer’s patrons and replaced them with literary agents.

 

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

No. I gave myself that chance when I was proofing it and I changed everything I felt I had to.

 

 
Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

No. Remember, I began writing with wooden blocks that came in a wagon my parents bought me when I was a toddler. Many kids are born hams. Some sing, some dance, some play instruments. I wrote.

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Here are the opening paragraphs of a Scott Carson short story I’d published just before last Christmas. It gives the uninitiated reader a good sample of Carson’s way of expressing himself. It’s a supernatural tale that happened not long before the events of TATTERDEMALION:

“(December 25^th, 1888)

Not that I expect anyone to give a rat’s ass since I’m just an average mug from the Upper West Side whose sole claim to fame is in killing Jack the Ripper. And I’ve yet to even put pen to paper about how that came about with Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull and me last month. But I’m an engineer, partially educated at an overpriced joint named Columbia University. I work with numbers and depend on the laws of physics to get one contraption or another in good working order and I don’t truck in stories about ghosts or hogwash like that.

Yet, in our incessantly pragmatic day and age, self-important men inflated with hot air better than you and I breathe, those ranging from my fellow engineers to robber barons to the politicos who infest every level of government would publicly scoff at such tripe. They’d airily dismiss ghosts as figments of a febrile imagination or the hokum of confidence men and who knows, maybe they’re onto something.

Privately, though, like a hidden vice or buried crime, they’ll admit to experiencing something they’re at a loss to explain- Maybe a shadow in the corner of their eye, a glimpse of a face at the top of the stairs, a bump in the night what’s reprised on request, an object moving by itself or a voice coming out of nowhere when they knew for a fact they were alone.

We tend to shrug off such anomalous moments and continue whistling by the graveyard whether or not it whistles back at us. Or maybe it’s just the wind scratching through the dead limbs of a tree. Again, who knows?

Easy explanations and denunciations are always easier to swallow, I suppose, than a fact what eludes reason like a greased pig out of the hands of a slaughterman. Twain once wrote that it’s easier to fool the people than it is to convince people they’ve been fooled. That applies to seeing those shadows, faces and hearing those bodiless voices and bumps in the night. We’ll willingly play the fool and keep believing that the dead always continue their journey to who knows where or what and that they’re done with us like jilted lovers.

But once, just once in my young life, I saw something, and briefly held the proof of it in my hands. In fact, my mentor Jake Riis and I both saw it and, as with the murders of five women in London’s East End at the hands of a maniac, there are some things in this world we cannot unsee.

And sometimes the dead grab us by the lapels and won’t let us go because, contrary to popular belief, sometimes they ain’t done with us and have to speak their minds.”

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Virtually everything! Yet there are some facets of writing that are more challenging to me than others. Plotting, for instance. I’m a pantser rather than a plotter. And, because I use the Poe method, I sometimes run into trouble when my muse leads me astray.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

When you’re on a shoestring budget, you’d be amazed how fast you become friends with Amazon and Wikipedia.

 

 
Fiona: Who designed the covers?

My current cover designer is a young man from Alabama named James Moore. He did the covers for GODS OF OUR FATHERS, the upcoming sequel, BLUE BLOOD as well as the cover for the first installment of a new series, entitled THE SAIPAN SEVEN. His Instagram account with samples of his work can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/designzrus/ He mainly does rap CD covers but he’ll do the occasional book cover.

 

 
Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Except for AMERICAN ZEN, in which I knew all the dramatic spikes from start to finish literally from Day One, the plotting. Plotting’s never easy for me. But trying to write off an outline would paralyze me and the process. The thing is, I believe every writer knows all the real writing is done in that thin No Man’s Land between the fingertips and the keyboard. I could write the most brilliant outline but when I actually go to write, I’d immediately deviate from it and just go with what I’m told to write from inside. I know. I’ve tried outlines once or twice. Doesn’t work.

 

 
Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

With AMERICAN ZEN, I learned a lot about myself as a human being and things I’d been avoiding or not dealing with gradually stood tall and would not stand down until I’d dealt with them. With TATTERDEMALION, I showed myself I could write a good if not great historical psychological thriller virtually on a par with THE ALIENIST. And, through its five or six line edits, I learned how to be an effective editor. But with every book, the author wrestles with some part of their self and it’s entirely up to them to judge which side is victorious.

 

 

 

Fiona: If any of your books was made into a film. who would you like to play the lead?

I’ve thought about this a lot. I think of all my books, perhaps TATTERDEMALION has the most big screen potential. I’d love to see Justin Long play Scott Carson. In fact, Carson’s appearance is based on Long. I’d also love to cast either Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt as Buffalo  Bill, Ellen Page as Annie Oakley, with Graham Green as Sitting Bull.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

I don’t know why anyone would take advice from a middle aged guy who’s yet to make it. But whatever advice I’d impart would be not about writing but the business of writing and it’s this:

Do not let anyone con you into believing you actually need a literary agent. That’s a corrupt system set up to make most people fail, a system of kickbacks set up between publishers and literary agents a generation ago for their benefit. And if the interests of the author are ever met, it’s strictly incidental. I could go on about this for hours and pages and pages. But self-publishing exploded a decade ago largely because of the rude, dismissive way authors were treated by agents and editors. And it’s notable that, after pushing us into the self-publishing waters, when they saw how successful we’d become as a whole (23% of all book sales, last I heard), who are the ones who are loudest in their denunciations when they see their bottom lines threatened? Editors, literary agents, chain retailers and Big Five authors, all of them being entirely dependent on the fortunes of legacy-published books. It’s an insidious propaganda campaign designed to turn people off from “Brand X” authors.

It’s notable that my work began getting attention from editors and indie publishers only the moment I finally wrote literary agents out of the equation, got off their hamster wheel and began approaching these publishers directly. So that’s my advice for young writers: Do not be conned into believing a literary agent will solve all your problems. They fail to find homes for their properties nearly 100% of the time and have no better idea than Joe Blow who will catch lightning in a bottle or with what. Until a generation ago, authors were still able to approach acquisitions editors directly, negotiate their own contracts and manage their own careers. And in the succeeding generation, I don’t think our intelligence and pragmatism has atrophied one iota.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

You have no idea what it took me and took out of me to write this book for you. And it is you for whom I’d written this book. I do not write to please editors or literary agents or reviewers and critics. I am that most proletarian, socialist of authors- I write for the man on the street, the person most in need of a good story to divert them from their troubles, those who read for the love of it and don’t look at reading as an onerous chore. It is you who buys the books and makes or breaks literary careers. It is you who dictates trends and keeps afloat a $25 billion a year business. And what I did was in my spare time between trips to the doctor, the mechanic, the vet, paying bills, shopping or earning money. It was a selfless act of love and all I ask is for you to give me the benefit of the doubt and let me earn that trust by entertaining you.

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

The 12^th Department by William Ryan.

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

I don’t know if they were the first ones. But the first ones I bought, through Scholastic, was Ribsy, The Street of the Flower Boxes and Monarch X.

 

 

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Seeing children or animals hurt makes me cry. Seeing others crying either in real life or a movie after a crushing loss or hurt. I’m empathetic, maybe too much so. What makes me laugh: The guys of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax and the Three Stooges.

 

 

Fiona: Is there one person past or present you would meet and why?

Nellie Bly. She revolutionized journalism when she was with Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. She is such an inspiration to me that I put her in a Scott Carson short story (the one for which I’d provided a sample) and the first sequel to TATTERDEMALION.

 

 

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

I refuse to think about that. The idea of my own extinction is too terrifying to even contemplate and I do not and will not dwell on my own death.

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?

No. Except if watching movies and TV qualifies as a hobby.

 

 

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

The Flash, Green Arrow, The Americans, Ripper Street (while it was on), Boston Red Sox baseball. I love virtually all superhero movies and well-made action and sci fi movies.

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

Food: Mexican. Colors: Scarlet red and emerald green. Music: Hard rock and heavy metal.

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

As a child, I loved to draw more than write. In fact, had my parents actually encouraged instead of discouraged me, I would’ve become a comic book artist and eventually a graphic novelist (less of a stretch, I know). But who knew back in the 60s that comics would grow into a multi-billion dollar business? Still, when I think that I could’ve gotten in on the ground floor…

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it? http://welcomebacktopottersville.blogspot.com/ It’s been renamed Welcome Back to Gotham City and I mainly write about politics from a decidedly liberal perspective.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Tatterdemalion-Veracious-Account-Buffalo-Ripper-ebook/dp/B00WH7IFM4/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1493716321&sr=1-4

 

https://www.amazon.com/American-Zen-Robert-Crawford-ebook/dp/B00AHXZ7Q2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493716383&sr=1-2&keywords=AMERICAN+ZEN

 

https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Our-Fathers-Robert-Crawford-ebook/dp/B019SHMVZW/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493716414&sr=1-6&keywords=GODS+OF+OUR+FATHERS

 

Here is my interview with Mackenzie Raye

Name Mackenzie Raye

Legal name is Amanda Sheffer; however, I write under the pen name Mackenzie Raye.

Age

In July, I will turn 40.

Where are you from?

I was born and raised in a small farm town in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, United States. I live at the base of the Appalachian Mountains. Growing up in the country had its advantages and disadvantages. I loved being able to head to the mountains on a spring day. Going shopping was harder for I lived thirty-five to forty-minutes from the stores. So, in all I am not a shopper, but can do it with the best of them. After working in a factory for 13 years, I went out to retail. One mistake I’ve made; even though, I got my bachelor’s degree. Staying in the warehouse wasn’t an option either for my health was more important.

I am the oldest child of two; one younger brother. My loving parents pushed us to explore the creative sides of ourselves as well as education. We grew up near my parental grandparents where you could always find me. I lived to be at my grandparents. Some actual believe I lived there more than my parents. Possibly true. While I didn’t live on a farm, I visited the farms of my cousins. It wasn’t until my much younger cousin came along did I see the excitement in a child’s eye when she saw the baby cows. (She’s a country gal who was born in the city.)

Eighteen years ago, I gave birth to a pre-mature baby boy. That experience changed my life. Not in a good relationship with the sperm donor. Juggling the free life and the things that come with it. He changed my world, but for the good. He was my miracle in the mist of my darkness. Today, I am a single mom and home-schooling him. Talk about a chore.

When I am not writing, you can find me doing crafts or doodling with logical puzzles. That is if I am not off doing things with my son. His new love is drawing and nature, so when warmer weather comes, we are heading out to some of my old trails to capture the beauty Mother Nature has to offer. Hiking used to be my passion until I had to be an adult and lost time for it.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

Sweet Nectar- A Witch/Vampire Romance will be release in April 2017.

Blurb –

Divana, a powerful witch, has been hunted for years. She lives alone after losing her husband and baby many moons ago. After a night out, Divana stumbles onto Maddox.

 

Maddox, a happily engaged man, was lured into a club by his best friend. The new club turned out more dangerous than he imagined. During a private meeting, Maddox’s life changed forever.

 

Witch’s blood was an addictive drug to vampires. In order to save the newly bitten left for dead vampire, Divana had to push her fears aside. After the choice was made, she recruited her former father-in-law to help with the feedings.

 

On the way to get the bottled bloody drink, she was attacked again. Luckily for her, she had an ace up her sleeve. Upon her arrival home, things took a devious turn for the worst. A battle to save lives ensues. Who is behind all this? The answer will shock you.!

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

In eight grade, we had to write in a journal for Language Arts class. During this time, I unleashed my creative side. My first story was about a ghost attacking a young boy. To this day, I am not sure where that story came from, but it was serious. It was a rough rough rough rough draft of a story because it had spelling errors and more red marks than an editor on a rampage. The second story was about a young lady who’d been bullied and teased from others in her class. After I wrote the end, my teacher asked me to join her and the principle in a meeting. She passed the small red folder over for him to read. He read it, took his glasses off, laid them on the desk, and began asking me if this story was real. In that moment, I knew I had a gift. (By the way, the story wasn’t real, but it very much could have been true. I wasn’t popular, but I was smart making people on the side of jealous of me.) Once we were finished up, the teacher told me to follow this dream if it was a true dream of mine.

Why do I write? I write because I find the voices in my head need to have a real person tell their story. It is a dream and passion of mine to write stories for people to read, get lost away from the real world, and enjoy living life through someone else’s story. It may help someone one day, if the reader may have an issue similar to my characters. Even though, I write fiction there are underlining real issues embedded within.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I would say eighth grade, but with that said I never adventure out into the world until 2013. At any given time, you could find notebooks full of different stories. In high school, I used my journal and free time writing stories I have never shared with anyone other than my mother.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My love for writing. For years, my best friend and I talked about writing. I was offered a spot in an anthology. It had me all pumped up. I called my parents. The thrill of knowing I was going to get to do my passion excited me. Later I found out the company wasn’t as it promised. My first short was published with a group of authors who experienced the traumatic situation along with me. I wrote my first novel shortly after that. It took two years and another bad experience to self-publish. Newfangled Wings came about during a conversation with a male friend who I lost prior to publishing the book. He and I would talk on the phone for hours. We had a weird connection which allowed me to bounce ideas. Wow, I surely miss him and could use his help on my current work.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I just write what the characters tell me. It changes from character to character.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Titles are funny things. Sometimes I know before I know the whole story. Sometimes they come to me during my relaxation time when I am not thinking about anything. Now with my twist Fairy Tales – they are given. I guess you could say titles are given to me in clues unexpectedly.

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

Newfangled Wings- There is good and evil in everything. Evil can be right beside you and you might not even know it. Don’t be fooled by looks (or don’t judge a book by its cover).

A Heart in Love- short- Love yourself, follow your heart. Again, don’t judge a book by its cover.

Goldie Locks Her Bear- Now I think of it, love is important. Don’t hide from your past nor let someone’s past detour you from what you want.

King of Jacks- Even those who struggle with their self-confidence can be loved. Don’t let one bad apple ruin the cart.

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 books have some kind of experience within the writing. Might be a main character or a side character but it is there. I strive to have some reality within my covers.

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most? a mentor?

Around the same time I was writing in class, I remember a Tom Clancy book advertisement on television. I grabbed a notebook and thought I was going to write a spy book. The only thing I got to do was destroy my younger brother’s and cousin’s defense line of transformers and he-man figures with my she-ra doll. Yes, I played with the boys. Many thought I was a tom-boy with a prissy attitude. Unique person for sure. In high school, I remember the Scarlett Letter and the Great Gatsby.

It wasn’t until way later in life I found Carly Phillips and Jennifer Blake. My best friend guided me to JR Ward. Those are my romance influences and JR Ward has the paranormal genre.

When I lost my job in 2014, my mom was the one person to support my big dream of writing. She pushed me and thought me to be the woman I am. So, to say anyone else would be crazy. The days I fought the down days, she reminded me of who I was. “You’ve always been a driven person. This will be no different. Go forward. Put your goal out there and kill it.”

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

Jane Anthony- Secret and Promises was a book I hid in when my mom passed away last summer. I read the book six times in five months. I got the pleasure of winning her second book, Kade. She pulled me in with the rock star- then I found out she was writing the book to the side character I loved.

JL Leslie- I met her through an arc group. I got to read her 4^th book in a series which was also a stand-alone. She kept my attention, which can be difficult because shutting my mind off to read is like asking a wild child to play the silent game (where no one talks and we see how long that lasts. I was never good at being silent unless I had pen and paper than you never knew I was around.) Recently I read her new MC book and loved it.

I am waiting on Nicolette Scarletti’s Christian based book. We are friends- book sisters- and what she is telling me about it, I am very interested in getting my hands on that masterpiece.

Audrey Randell- I forget how me met up, but I was asked to read her second book. I loved it so much I bought her first. Being a gamer nerd when I was a teenager, and having a son who loves classic games- Audrey wrote books after my own heart. They were different. I loved them from the first word to the last.

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Nicole Donavan- fellow author and lover of my stories. She inspires me every day.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

I would love for it to be. While I am homeschooling my son, I am writing in hopes it takes off.

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

The only thing I would change in my last book is, allowing my mother to read it before she passed away. I had it ready and was trying to surprise her for Christmas. Sadly, she never got to read it.

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Writing started in eighth grade when I was forced, but you didn’t have to twist my arm too hard to write then. I loved expressing the feelings from within me. Now when the characters talk and show me the story in dreams, I love being a part of them. Being asked to write in an anthology got me writing full time and sharing my works to world.

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

From an untitled WIP — unedited snippet and subject to change. All rights reserved to ©Mackenzie Raye

 

My toes tingled. “I am glad to have you back in my life.”

“Ditto,” he said as he turned me loose. I stood there a moment to gather myself. His hands remained on my hips until I felt stable enough to walk away. “I’ll put the fruit in the frig for later. Make sure you clean all your crevasses.”

“Well do,” I hollered from the bathroom door. I shut the door and immediately dropped to the floor. My body temperature tapped out near boiling when my ass hit the cold tile of the floor. After a few deep breaths, I felt back in control of my body. I stood up and made my way to the shower and turned on the water.

Once the water warmed up a tad, I crawled in. The coolness of the water shocked my body. Reality kicked in when my thoughts returned to the self-doubting I was accustomed to. Declan, the ex-jock turned lawyer, stood in my house looking better than ever needing a place to stay and he was only here best of your friendship in college, nothing more. No man, especially him wanted to be with me.

Tears dammed up until the overflowed down my face. Every man in my life to this point only wanted one thing; sex. I placed my face under the shower head to allow the water and tears to mix. The flow of the water massaged my skin as I turned around to get my head wet. Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer, I wash up quite quickly.

I jumped out of the shower and realized I had to exit the bathroom in the just a towel. Problem was the towel didn’t wrap around my oversized body. While drying off a tad bit, I thought of how to get to my bedroom without being spied on by the man I desired to be with when I was a good twenty pounds smaller.

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Typing it up. I love handwriting, but typing is my Achilles’ Heel.

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

I have not been traveling for my books. Most of my books have similar settings and small country towns they are.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

Newfangled Wings- Emcat Designs; Goldie Locks Her Bear- Emcat Designs. A Heart in Love- ebook Nicole Donovan, King of Jacks- I designed my own. Sweet Nectar- I designed myself.

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Each book has their own issues. NW – was because the main character had many of my traits. GLHB- Kuruk’s name and shifting parts. AHIL- keeping it a short, King- was the dedication page- SN- nothing I can think of.

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Writing is a job, it takes lots of time and effort. I love writing and like many other authors I have my bad days.

 

Fiona: If any of your books was made into a film who would you like to play the lead

I have not really thought of my book being movies. This is an interesting question. I would be flattered by anyone willing to be in a movie based on my books. Wouldn’t hurt if it was Lucas Black playing a leading male role or Joe Manganiello for my shifters.

Considering each book is different and don’t know if I could answer this question without a long thinking session.

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

You will never please everyone. Write you books as you want. Write for you and only you. Haters will be around and they will show up, but shake them off like the dirt they are.

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Enjoy the books. Remember the writers put in a huge amount of time, blood, sweat, and tears into their babies. Books are the author’s baby. We love it like a child. Reviews to an author are like hugs- some awkward, some loving, and some stinky- but we need those hugs. Most of the time they make our day.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I just finished up with Raiden’s Choice by JL Leslie and Spy Fall by Audrey Randall.

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

The Secret Garden is the first book I remember reading.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

What makes me laugh, my son’s sense of humor. He is on the autistic realm so to hear him laugh to comedy makes me enjoy and laugh. I love cooing babies. The show Friends.

Cry- Not being able to call my mom up when I need her. I am not a crier.

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?

I would go back and meet Thomas Jefferson. Ask about the rumors of his involvement with slaves because inquiring minds want to know. Not only that, but what inspired the words of the Constitution. What would he think of some of the things going on in the world. Just have a talk and compare. Growing up near his hometown here in Virginia, I’d love to explore his mind.

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

My son joked a year ago about he was putting “If you don’t have coffee don’t wake me up” as a joke. I can see that going on there because I can be a bear without that delicious hot creamy brown delicious liquid. All jokes aside, I want to be cremated.

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?

Photography or crafts.

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

I am a crime junky- NCIS’s (all three), both Criminal Minds, Bull, Blindspot, The Voice, and the Big Bang Theory.

I love all kinds of films depends on my mood. Anything from Fifty Shades to Disney cartoons.

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

Favorite foods: Mexican food (tacos, nachos,) Orange chicken, Turkey burgers. Coffee- it is a must.

Color- Coral or peach

Music- I am a everything but rape kind of gal. Country and 80s rock will always have my heart.

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

I graduated with a bachelor’s in Healthcare Management. I’d be a nurse.

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

www.mackenzieraye1.weebly.com

 

A Heart in Love

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XLCDFBA

Newfangled Wings

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016R3FV2K

Goldie Locks Her Bear

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019G8YLLA

Dark Company

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Company-Karrie-Hensley-ebook/dp/B00BCOITBA

King of Jacks

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXJG3KY

 

Links to my pages

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mackenzierayeauthor

Twitter handle is @AuthorMacRaye www.twitter.com/AuthorMacRaye

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mackenzie-Raye/e/B0159OEANO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1474309212&sr=8-1

Webpage: www.mackenzieraye1.weebly.com

Group –https://www.facebook.com/groups/492897850750380/

 

Here is my interview with Kathryn Lively

Name – Kathryn Lively

Age – mid 40s 😉

Where are you from – I am from southern Virginia

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc  

I have been writing and editing for more than half my life. I live with my family in Virginia, where we enjoy hiking and visiting regional wineries.

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I’ve had a busy July, with two releases in the same week! My romance with Totally Bound Publishing, FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, is contemporary-set. It’s about two former child actors, and ex-sweethearts, who reunite when she needs a new leading man for her TV show.

I also have a story, called WAKING UP, in the box set CURVED LINES. Mine is one of ten stories featuring BBW heroines and tattooed heroes. My story is a romantic comedy set in NYC, about a woman in a dead-end job who sticks to routines, and the man who turns her world upside down.

CURVED LINES is 99 cents through August 14^th and will be available through October.

 

 
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I can’t recall a time I wasn’t writing, but if you mean professionally, I sold my first story when I was nineteen. Since then I’ve looked for work in the field, writing everything from greeting cards to technical articles. As for why, well, I suppose it’s something hardwired in me. I don’t consider myself outgoing or a conversationalist, but give me a pen and paper and I can’t stop.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I would have to say in high school, when I wrote pieces for the high school paper. At the time I had designs on being a journalist and maybe a columnist like Erma Bombeck. In college, though, I took a creative writing course and decided my future lay in fiction.

 

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book is an inspirational family saga called LITTLE FLOWERS. I wrote the first draft during Lent, hand-writing five pages a day minimum. The idea was to “sacrifice” my writer’s ego for the forty days, since I had a bad writer’s block problem at the time. The exercise not only helped my writing, but I managed to finish a book for the first time.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I suppose I do. I like to keep dialogue between characters upbeat. I’m also not adverse to trying new things and new genres.

 

 
Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

For FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, I had in mind a trilogy of stories. Each title comes from a song. Book one’s song is from the Van Halen catalog. Book 2, to be called DRIVE MY CAR, is a Beatles song.

For WAKING UP, the idea comes from the heroine Blair’s transition from routine to spontaneity. She “wakes up,” in a sense.

 

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

FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED is about an actor suffering a low point in his career, who has the chance for a comeback and reunion with his old love. The message here is everybody deserves a chance at success.

For WAKING UP, I hoped to convey that sometimes it’s worth it to take a chance and live outside your comfort zone. You miss out on much when you play it safe.

 

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

I have no experience in the TV industry, but I drew from stories of a friend who tried to break into screenwriting, which helped for both stories.

 

 
Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most? a mentor?

I started out in mysteries, and I love books with sharp wit. Carl Hiaasen, Carrie Fisher, Dave Barry, and James Ellroy are just a few authors who have influenced me.

 

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

I don’t know that I have a single favorite author. I’d read Dick Francis for years, but he is gone now. While his son Felix co-wrote with him in the final years, I haven’t picked up on Felix’s books. Lately I’m reading a lot of historical fiction and small town contemporaries – Deanna Raybourn, Brenda Novak, Susan Mallery. Each has a knack for telling a good story.

 

 
Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

There’s an informal group of writers in my area who meet up once a month. It’s nice to get together and talk shop, and we take turns boosting each other.

 

 
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

I hope to one day. I also edit and work in the industry, so it all comes together.

 

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

For FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, I probably would have gone longer. It’s category length, but I’m aiming for a longer work next time.

 

 
Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Not really. Like I said, it’s sort of hard-wired in me, like breathing.

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

This is from FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED:

April, 2006, Las Vegas

Gabby Randall stood at the window of their fifteenth-floor suite at the Fitzgerald Hotel and Casino, looking out at the blinding lights of Fremont Street. Thousands of them, maybe a million, blinked in rapid succession, simulating waves and fireworks and starbursts in colors she hadn’t realized existed. Down and to her right, a two-story tall neon cowboy winked and waved to passersby from his perch at the Pioneer Club. Bright yellow piping outlined his checkered shirt and knowing leer, and if Gabby moved one inch to one side or the other she could swear his eyes took on a sinister glow.

He stared at her, accusing her, as though to say Shame on you, girlie. Eloping without telling nobody. She wanted to turn away, but his eyes proved too hypnotic to resist.

“Shut up. I’m an adult,” she muttered, and blinked to break the spell. The cowboy had a name. The clerk at registration had said as much, but it’d gone right out of her head, replaced by choruses of nearby jingling slot machines as Dash had given him two fake names and paid cash for the room.

She looked past the neon smirk and studied the vibrant patterns of one hotel’s marquee. A thought occurred to her about the lights—how would anyone know to check for burnouts and replace the bulbs if the signs ran twenty-four-seven? Did the hotels each hire a specific person to stand on bulb duty? Were they like Christmas light strands, in that if one was faulty then the whole thing didn’t light up?

Why she pondered this, of all things one wondered about Vegas, she didn’t know. She took a deep breath and decided that her mind chose to focus on inane observations to calm her nerves.

It had less to do with coming to a strange city than it did with this being her first night alone with Dash. Her first night alone with any man, for that matter.

She’d never visited Las Vegas before, though she’d entertained a number of invitations from event planners. Her parents and managers, as devout in their Catholicism as their business savvy, had refused on her behalf time and again. No conventions or junkets unsanctioned by the network, or them, for her. Definitely, they didn’t want her involved in a cheesy celebrity magic show or publicity stunt. Vegas might as well have been situated on the outer rim of Hell.

Now, their say mattered little. She’d turned twenty-one the previous week, on the same day her contract with Randall Talent had expired. Marie and Walter might remain family, but they no longer made decisions for her, business or otherwise. This included her most important one to date—her wedding to Dash Gregory.

Gregory. She was Gabby Gregory now. Or perhaps she should hyphenate to Randall-Gregory, and use her given name, Gabrielle. Maybe that would make her appear mature, and more professional when she met with prospective agents to help her transition from TV ingénue to a place behind the camera.

In her left hand she held the current issue of People Magazine, the cover of which featured her with the other five principals of Wondermancer High, the television show that had served as her work and home for the past six years. In her right, a marriage certificate affirming her union with Dash Gregory bent in her tightening grip. It had happened only an hour ago, and if she brought the paper closer she could smell the printer ink. Her thumb brushed the black-marker signature of the minister, a middle-aged Johnny Cash impersonator with authentic sideburns and a paunch. Dash had insisted using a fake Elvis seemed too cliché, and that his late father—a Cash fan—would have gotten a kick out of it.

Gabby had conceded easily. She’d have stood before a showgirl in all her ostrich plumage and glitter if it meant a legitimate marriage. The Cash impersonator hadn’t recognized either of them, which was good. He didn’t fit their show’s demographic, and apparently he didn’t have a teenager who forced him to sit in front of the set every Thursday evening at eight.

She set the license on the nightstand to prevent further creases, then focused on the magazine. Good Luck, Graduates! read the headline, in reference to the series finale due to air next month. Sadness barely touched her as she recalled the emotion and angst which had pervaded the set when they’d filmed their final scenes. Relief was more like it. She’d played the part of Tula Truebend for six seasons, and as far as the country knew, her real life mirrored that of the prim, straight-A student aspiring to the upper echelons of the magical world. Hardly. Her grades, passable enough to let her continue acting, wouldn’t get her into Harvard. She hadn’t planned on college, anyway.

With the series behind her now, she couldn’t wait to pursue a career as a screenwriter and producer—to create rather than regurgitate. First order of business—develop a project for Dash.

Of the six main actors on the paranormal-set show—created to capitalize on the success of the Harry Potter franchise—her new husband stood to suffer the most typecasting. While she’d played the brain, a pretty one to boot, he’d been the token geek. Glasses, perpetually bent wand, goofy laugh, and no fashion sense. The showrunners had neglected all requests to mature Freddie Grodin toward the end of the run, leaving ‘Grody’ to remain a beloved yet awkward and inept nerd in the eyes of Wondermancer High fans.

She promised herself Dash would have a long acting career, and not in variations of the same role. What the hell was taking so long with him, anyway? He’d gone for water…had he tried the Hoover Dam first?

The handle of their room’s door jerked and rattled, startling her. On instinct, she clutched the full-length robe she wore tighter around her chest. When they’d stood exposed on Fremont Street, walking from the chapel to the hotel, she’d fretted over possible discovery from fans and paparazzi. Instead people had brushed past them, oblivious. Only in a city like this could that happen, she realized.

“Finally,” Dash muttered and entered the room. “I hate these damn keycards. They only work half the time.” A plastic bag, heavy with bottles and snacks, hung from his forearm, and he wore his favorite Dodgers cap pulled low over his face. Gabby smiled upon seeing it, especially since Dash really didn’t need to wear it to conceal his identity. Without the taped-up glasses and slicked-back hair the world saw on Grody each week, Dash as himself resembled nothing of the character he played. She envied his ability to roam free.

No, Dash was gorgeous with his clear blue eyes and a hint of stubble shadowing his firm jaw. He removed the cap and ruffled his short hair, adding to his adorably scruffy look.

“I’m glad you’re back,” she told him, and approached him for a hug. “I don’t like being here by myself.”

“Hey.” He took the magazine from her and set it next to the license, then enveloped her in his arms. He felt safe, warm. “It’s okay. Didn’t I tell you we’d be all right? It’s official, we’re married, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it.”

“I keep thinking somebody saw us downstairs.” Visions bloomed in her mind of photographers stalking each floor of the hotel, disguising themselves as room service. Fans pulling out their cell phones or running for the nearest pay phone to tell their friends, or worse, announce it to the world via their MySpace pages and that new site, Twitter. Guess what…we saw Tula and Grody in Vegas! Why would they be here, checking into the same hotel room? Ooooh!

Friends tell other friends. Somebody knows a guy at the Enquirer. He calls his contact in Vegas. Somebody calls her parents…in three seconds the SWAT team will kick down their door…

“Gabby, you’re shaking.”

“I just want to be a married person for one night without the world knowing about it.”

Dash chuckled. It vibrated throughout her body, making her very aware of him. The robe slipped open and her breasts, hidden by a sheer layer of satin and lace, pressed against his body when he drew her against him. Her nipples hardened, anticipating his touch.

They hadn’t seen this much of each other during the year they’d secretly dated. They’d kissed, a lot, and enjoyed a quick grope over clothes in between scenes. She’d saved it all for tonight.

“We’re fine, Gabby,” he assured her. “We could walk the whole Strip tonight and nobody is going to notice us. There’s enough in Vegas to distract people. In fact,” he pulled away and she whimpered, “I thought we might stay an extra night.”

“But we’re going to New York tomorrow.” An outsider might have viewed their wedding as spontaneous, but they’d put a fair amount of planning into this week. Marry in Vegas, then off to Manhattan to shop for an apartment. Stage and TV auditions for Dash while she met with agents to discuss her ideas for projects.

“I know, but you deserve a proper honeymoon, however short. It’s not like we’re broke and have to go back to work immediately.”

“I know.” Assuming Wondermancer High enjoyed a long life in syndication, they wouldn’t have to work again with their combined income if they budgeted well. She wanted to work, though, and intended to distance herself from Tula Truebend.

He sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his shoes. The white Polo he’d worn for the ceremony came next, discarded onto the carpet. Dash stretched his arms to the ceiling and Gabby marveled at the definition in his muscles. She couldn’t wait to trace every ridge and curve.

“I was thinking we’d go see Celine or Elton, or Cirque du Soleil,” he continued, shucking his pants and socks. Clad in his boxers, he scooted back to lie on the bed. “I’ll get tickets for whatever you want. I got the room for two nights either way, and New York isn’t going anywhere.”

He patted the vacant side of the mattress and eyed her standing form. The robe’s belt had come loose, exposing her legs and the red baby-doll barely covering her thighs.

“I’m not going anywhere, either,” he added.

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Time! Between the day job, the family, and other distractions, it’s a challenge to get a thousand words a day, but I do my best to get it done.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

Not as much as I’d like, but I’m working on a story set in Central Virginia, where I visit often.

 

 
Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

For WAKING UP, I had to stay at a specific word count, so I had to write the story to suit the maximum. When I contracted FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, my editor asked me to lengthen the story to meet print length. It took a few weeks, but I did it.

 

 
Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

With both books, I learned quite a bit about the television industry as I researched it.

 

 

Fiona: If any of your books was made into a film who would you like to play the lead?

This is always a difficult question for me, because I don’t picture anybody in particular when I develop characters. I suppose whoever has a good sense of humor gets the part.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Just keep swimming.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Just…thank you.

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I just started Opportunity Knocks by Alison Sweeney. Liking it so far.

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

It was probably Dr. Seuss. My parents encouraged me to read from an early age.

 

 

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

I binge a lot of classic TV. Andy Griffith, All in the Family, M*A*S*H…they all have their moments.

 

 

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?

If I ever get to a sci fi con when Carrie Fisher’s there, I would be so blessed.

 

 

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

“She tried.”

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?

I do some knitting. I’ve made two Doctor Who scarves so far. Saving up for more yarn.

 

 

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

In addition to what I mentioned above, I love Bob’s Burgers. Can’t get enough of it.

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

Classic rock: Rush, Zeppelin, Beatles, etc. I’m part Sicilian, and I do love pasta.

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

I really don’t know. I tried to write a comic strip with an artist friend. If I had the time I’d learn to draw.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

You can find me at www.KathrynLively.com

Finish What You Started

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Finish-What-Started-ExStream-Love-ebook/dp/B01GRWHKLG

BN – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finish-what-you-started-kathryn-lively/1123895167?ean=9781786510501

KOBO – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/finish-what-you-started-5

ARe – https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-finishwhatyoustarted-2077389-177.html

iBooks – http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=6218&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fbook%2Ffinish-what-you-started%2Fid1123167983%3Fmt%3D11

Curved Lines

Amazon US: http://bit.ly/CurvedLines

Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/UKCurves

Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/AusCurves

Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/CACurves

BN/Nook: http://bit.ly/BNCurves

KOBO: http://bit.ly/KoboCurves

Are: http://bit.ly/AreCurves

iBooks: http://apple.co/1XrYrdu

 

Here is my interview with DeWayne Twitchell

Name: DeWayne Twitchell

 

Age: 50

 

Where are you from:

Rosiclare, IL. A small town on the banks of the Ohio River in the southeastern part of Illinois.

 

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc:

I am single, have no more than a high school education, but, like the great Ray Bradbury, have read enough and absorbed enough in my life to feel educated as much if not more than a college graduate.

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I have recently published my second book this year (ASIAN HAZE being the first back in February). It is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories called NIGHT’S PLUTONIAN SHORE AND OTHER STORIES. Both books are published by Lang Book Publishing, Ltd., a small independent publishing house located in New Zealand. You know, where the Hobbits live (LOL).

 

 
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

My first book I started back in 1988. It was a fantasy novel and, because of many factors, took a long time to write to completion. I tinkered with it for years like someone would do with a classic car. The novel itself, though I have a special place for it in my heart always, I feel is an immature, but laudable effort, and will probably remain unpublished as a novel. But I did manage to get the prologue of the book, the climax, and the epilogue reworked as short stories that are in the new collection, NIGHT’S PLUTONIAN SHORE AND OTHER STORIES. I think I was able to work these stories out in a manner that enables the reader to get the whole story of the novel, without actually having to read the novel itself. And I think the writing is better in these stories, all of which were written in more recent years, than what I had written beginning in 1988. But while I was writing the fantasy novel, I started reading other genres of fiction, including crime fiction. Which eventually led me to conceive the character of Randall Arthur, the hero of ASIAN HAZE, and hopefully future books.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think two things happened to convince me that I really had talent, and was not deluding myself. The first was when I had two stories that I had submitted to L. RON HUBBARD’S WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST receive Honorable Mention status, one in 2007 and the other in 2008. Both of those stories, “Night’s Plutonian Shore” and a story called “Lone Voyager” that ended up being the last section of a new story called “The Triangle of the Pillars,” are part of the new collection. But that contest, which is for new writers of science fiction and fantasy, are judged by professional writers, and I figured if they thought my stories at least worthy of an Honorable Mention, I actually did have talent that could take me places I wanted to go. The other thing that happened was when Roger Lang of Lang Book Publishing, Ltd. decided to publish ASIAN HAZE. It had originally been self-published, and I saw an ad on Facebook from Lang Publishing asking for manuscripts to look at. Since the last part of the novel takes place in Australia, and the publishing company was in New Zealand, I thought I’d give it a shot and send it to them. Worked out pretty well, to my delighted surprise.

 

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

The fantasy novel I wrote because I loved fantasy fiction and I didn’t have to do research. I could just let my imagination go nuts. ASIAN HAZE and the Randall Arthur character was inspired from TV shows like “The Rockford Files” in the Seventies, and “Miami Vice” in the Eighties. It was around that time in 1985 when I first read a book called GLITZ by Elmore Leonard. It was the first crime novel I had ever read, and after reading that, I was hooked on both crime fiction and Elmore Leonard for life. Then I got into other crime writers like Robert B. Parker, Tony Hillerman, Jonathan Kellerman, etc.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I try to keep it as simple and spare as I can, while at the same time not dumbing it down for the reader. I will occasionally throw in something I think is stylish, but I try to just tell a good story in as concise, but riveting, manner as I can. But in the fantasy novel I wrote, I think one of the problems was that I was trying to be too stylish, and also I was imitating some other writers styles too much, which I think was too apparent in the prose for it to really work as my own thing.

 

 
Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

I think I was on my front porch one summer afternoon, and was thinking about the plot of the story and about part of it taking place in Asia, and it was a hazy afternoon, and it clicked in my head. It was like, “Yeah, Asian Haze would be a great name for an illegal drug!” LOL

 

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

I don’t think there is a conscious attempt at a message. I mean, some of the messages are pretty obvious: drugs are bad, secrets are bad, governments can do bad things. But I was out just to tell what I thought was an entertaining story.

 

 
Fiona: How much of the book is realistic ?

Some of the places are based on real places, but I just transposed them to other locations. There is no such drug as “Asian Haze,” but I did base it on stuff I had read about soldiers in Vietnam taking heroin orally, so it would give them just enough of a high as not to be lethal. I just imagined what it might be like if a heroin pill taken orally was chemically engineered to give more of a kick.

 

 
Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

No, not really. My life, compared to the characters’ experiences in the book, is pretty boring.

 

 
Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most? a mentor?

The first work of fiction, and the first writer, that had a great impact on me, was FAHREHNEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury. Then I got into more science fiction and fantasy. Then I started reading Stephen King and other writers in the horror genre. Then I got into international thrillers. Then I got into crime fiction, and later on historical novels and historical non-fiction.

 

 
Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Oddly enough, there are three independent writers whose work I was introduced to this past year through my connection with them via Facebook. The odd part of it is that they write in a genre I had honestly never read before, and that is the erotic fiction genre. I had read portions of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, but laughed in the places that the author probably did not mean to be humorous, which is not a good response to have. But the three ladies whose work I did read this year, K.J. Silver, Debbie Dickerson, and J.D. Welsch, are very good, and wrote stories that were not only erotic (and not laughably so), but had interesting characters and stories, which all good stories should have. Plus, all three ladies have been incredibly supportive of my fledgling career, even though I don’t write in their particular genre, and I am forever grateful to them for that. So, for those of you who are fans of that genre, I suggest, if you haven’t already, going on Amazon and checking out their work. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

 

 
Fiona: What are your current projects?

Right now, I’m in the early stages of the next Randall Arthur novel, titled FAMILY DYNAMICS. I hope to have it done by the summer of 2016, though that is not set in stone. But I’m going to try to get it out as soon as I can, while still trying to get it as good as I can.

 

 
Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

I’ll cheat a little and name two. One is my publisher, Roger Lang, who took a chance not only on ASIAN HAZE, but on the short story collection as well. The others are the writer friends I have made on Facebook, some I’ve already mentioned, who continuously show support and encouragement to me.

 

 
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Definitely. That is my ultimate goal: to make this my life and livelihood. To wake up in in the morning, go into my office and write most of the day, and make my living just doing that.

 

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

There might be a few little things I might slightly obsess over, but on the whole, no. People who have read it so far and have expressed their opinion to me have liked it, so I have to assume I did at least OK.

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

I guess as a kid I had an overly active imagination and eventually thought that writing out what I imagined might be fun. And I found out that it was, along with being hard work. But fun hard work.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I can tell you it involves a newspaper family that has a stunning secret from its past that is going to come back and wreak havoc in the present. And the plot will be complicated, but hopefully comprehensible. Beyond that, you will have to wait to read the book.

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Probably just getting the details as right as I can, and getting the story as plausible as I can, while at the same time making it a little crazy. ASIAN HAZE has that quality, and the next novel will definitely have it as well.

 

 
Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Wow, there are so many writers that I love that I couldn’t say one was my favorite over another. But, I will say that I usually will not reread a book until probably many years after I had originally read it. But there is one writer that I have reread at least twice, and probably will reread again, and that is Robert Ludlum. And in particular the books he wrote between maybe 1974 and 1990, from THE RHINEMANN EXCHANGE to THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. Those book in particular were Ludlum at his best, books full of complex and intriguing plots, and seemingly non-stop action. They were big books, but they went by quickly. I love novels that are full of intrigue and secrets and action, novels that keep you involved from first page to last. That is what I try to do in my work, and reading Robert Ludlum is a great way to learn how to do just that.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

No. Though I write about western New York State, Myanmar (Burma), and Australia in ASIAN HAZE, I’ve actually been to none of those places. I used both Internet research and my imagination. And, I figured if a publisher from nearby New Zealand liked the book enough to publish it, I must have gotten the aura of Australia at least relatively close.

 

 
Fiona: Who designed the covers?

Both the covers of ASIAN HAZE and NIGHT’S PLUTONIAN SHORE AND OTHER STORIES were designed by a very talented man named Blair McLean. It took me a little bit to warm to the design of the ASIAN HAZE cover, just because I first saw it and saw the picture of a man standing at the edge of a dock, looking into a thick haze. And there is not a scene like that in the book! (LOL) But then I realized it was meant to express atmosphere, and then I began to like it more. Now, the cover for NIGHT’S PLUTONIAN I loved at first sight. It looked like one of those old science fiction covers from the early pulp days of the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties. And he’s told me that his design was inspired by an old WAR OF THE WORLDS book cover he saw.

 

 
Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

I think just making the details as plausible as I could, and making the plot have a logic to it that made it believable and entertaining enough to have the reader anxiously turning the pages to see what the outcome would be.

 

 
Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I think the main thing I learned “on the job” is that the most important part of writing is rewriting. Rewrite and rewrite until you get it as right as you can get it. Then rewrite it a little more.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Read as much as you can. Not only the good books, but the bad ones as well. Read those bad ones to know how not to do it. Work on developing your own style, while still being influenced by other writers. Write in whatever genre you love, and if you want, don’t feel you have to limit yourself to just one genre. Ken Follett is one of my writing heroes, not only because of his wonderful novels, but because he was able to go from successfully writing in the thriller genre to writing even more successfully in the historical fiction genre. And I eventually want to get into the historical fiction genre. I have always loved history and I have several ideas for historical novels I really want to write before I kick the bucket.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Well, to the few actual ones I have at the moment and to those who haven’t read my work yet, I will just say I hope you enjoy my work and will continue to take a leap of faith in my future work and buy and support it, so to keep me writing these books for many years to come. I promise I will try my best to entertain you.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

The first book I remember that I wanted was a coffee table book called WE CAME IN PEACE, published back in 1969 right after the Moon landing by the Gulf Oil Corporation in tribute to that. There was a Gulf gas station near my home and I saw it there when I was probably three or four years old and actually cried for it until my parents finally bought it for me! True story. (LOL)

 

 

 

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Great TV comedies like “The Simpsons” (early years between 1989 and the early 2000s, not so much now) and “Seinfeld” make me laugh. Stupid stuff usually makes me cry, like Spock’s death scene in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” Not that the scene itself is stupid. It’s maybe the best death scene I’ve ever seen on film. It was just so well-acted by both Shatner and Nimoy that you felt the pain there. Some songs make me cry, too. One in particular that comes to mind now is a song by my all time favorite rock band, Rush, called “The Garden,” that is the last song on their most recent album “Clockwork Angels.” Such a beautiful song from a band known for more active, rocking tunes. “You’ve Got a Friend” usually gets to me, too. Either the James Taylor or Carole King versions. “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton is another one.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?

There are a lot of people from the past I’d probably love to meet, but if you made me choose just one, it would be Ray Bradbury, just to thank him for inspiring me and entertaining me with his wonderful and imaginative stories. I wish I could have met him before he passed away in 2012.

 

 

 

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

I always joke that I want “I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque” on my tombstone. People will see it and laugh and not be so sad that I’m dead.

 

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?

Reading.

 

 

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

I love a lot of shows from the past, but right now I’m into shows like “The Walking Dead,” “American Horror Story,” “Game of Thrones,” and “Homeland.” Most of my favorite films are science fiction films: “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Blade Runner,” the “Star Wars” series. Also love westerns (mainly Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone films), and war movies (especially World War II and Vietnam).

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

My favorite food is spaghetti. My favorite color is blue. My favorite music is classic rock, mainly from the Seventies and Eighties.

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

I think I would have loved to been an architect, except I hate math, and architects need to know that, especially algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. But architects are creative people, too, and I would have gone into it for that aspect of it.

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

First I will mention my Facebook author page, DeWayne Twitchell Author

https://www.facebook.com/DeWayne-Twitchell-Author-813350492076949/.

There you will find the links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. to the two books. I do have a website, http://ddt19652.wix.com/asian-haze, where I have done several blogs over the past few months, though unfortunately nothing lately. But they have been about how my writing has evolved, and my loves of history and science fiction, how one love is about mostly a past where I did not exist, and the other is mostly about a future in which I will not exist. But I hope to spend the remaining time that I actually have to exist in this world writing stories that entertain a lot of people, and have a good and happy life because of that.

Here is my interview with Alan Black

Name: Alan Black

Age: rapidly approaching retirement age…wait, do author’s get to retire?

Where are you from: I live in the Great Sonoran Desert in Arizona

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc:

 I’m a middle child from a middle class family in a suburb of a middle sized city.

It did take me twenty-eight years to get my two year Liberal Arts (AA) degree from a community college.

I am a veteran of the US Air Force, but I have done jobs from casual farm labor and cutting up dead animals to being the Purchasing Manager for multi-national corporations.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news:

I will be releasing for publication in August, the sequel to my #1 best selling scifi book Metal Boxes. It is called Metal Boxes – Trapped Outside.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I think I started writing stories in the second grade, at least that is about the age I got caught in my first big lie…er, story. My stories simply became more complicated and fleshed out until I had to start writing them down to remember them.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I published my first novel Eye on The Prize in 2001. It started me on the road to writing AND publishing. That book is out of print, but it did get me started.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

The desire to start, write and finish a complete novel. I was reading a history book about politics and religion around the Black Sea in 750 CE, and it started me thinking about intertwining lives in that climate.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

Nope. I work to vary my style dependent upon the genre or sub-genre I am working in. That is why some readers will like one book and not another.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Ah, that is a whole subject in my book How to Start, Write, and Finish Your First Novel. Picking a title isn’t easy and it can be wrong, like my first book Eye on The Prize. The title is both good and bad, so pick up my book on writing and find out why.

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

 I’m not much of a message guy, I write mainly for entertainment. I’ve been told by readers how they ‘got’ this message or ‘agreed’ with that theme. Sorry, I didn’t mean to put one in there. My message is reading is fun, enjoy it.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?

There are truckloads of realism in An Ozark Mountain Series. Books 1 thru 4 have been released and 5 & 6 will be published this year. It is about a young girl growing up in extreme poverty in 1920 – 1925 in the Ozarks. It is historically accurate and much of it is based upon the life of my co-author Bernice Knight.

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Everything in my life is fair game. Anything I hear about or that someone mentions may end up in one of my books. I don’t carry grudges anymore, I just insert people into my stories and then kill them off.

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most? a mentor?

Obviously, The Bible has had an impact, but if you are asking about literary impact, I would have to say Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein. It turned me on to science fiction. However, I can’t say there was any one individual who helped me learn the craft of writing.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I am reading Friends in Deed by Randall Dale. He is a cowboy and has written a wonderful series on a modern young cowboy’s struggles.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Yes, as I mentioned about, Randall Dale, but there are many talented writers struggling for attention right now. Anna Questerly and Michelle Venne are two with excellent skills who know how to tell a great story.

Fiona: What are your current projects?

In addition to my writing, I am working on starting the Indie800. It is a marketing plan for self-published and hybrid authors.

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

There are so many people who have encouraged me, bought my books, given me good reviews and talked about my books.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

It is my career and my full time job. This is what I do.

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

Nope. I love it like it is.

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

 My second grade teacher called my parents and told them she liked and assignment I had written. It lit the fire.

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Metal Boxes-Trapped Outside is a science fiction tale about a young man who grew up on space stations and space going freighters. He doesn’t like to be outside, but he has joined the Navy and sent to an assignment on a deadly planet where he gets…ready? Stuck outside.

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Editing. Yep. That’s always been my biggest issue.

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I enjoy a wide variety of authors. Robert Heinlein and Louis L’Amour are two of my favorites because they can tell a good story without letting their writing get in the way.

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

Nope.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

I split my covers between a graphic artist in Kansas City named Amy Black and a company in the UK named The Cover Collection. I generally get to pick the picture, but I try to leave much of the layout and design for them.

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Knowing when to stop.

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Trust your advisory group.

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Just write.

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

 Just keep reading.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

No. I have been reading for as long as I can remember. Dozens of books.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Don’t kill the dog. That makes me cry every time.

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?

Thomas Jefferson. The man was a genius and I would like to see if everything people say about him is true.

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

Oh, gaak. No headstones, please. Burial at sea. My books are my monuments.

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?

Reading. Writers should always read more than they write.

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

I am a story guy. I like action/adventure/humor.

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music:

Steak / blue / rock n’ roll

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

Teach at a college level.

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

 www.alanblackauthor.com

Authors Amazon page http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Black/e/B00D9RUGRI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1380657170&sr=8-1

 

 

Here is my interview with Katherine Bone

 

Name:  Katherine Bone

Age: Old enough to drink rum and carouse with Captain Jack himself in Tortuga! 😉

Where are you from:

As an Army brat, I lived all over the world, including Germany, Japan and back to Germany again as a teenager. As an Army wife, I lived in Italy and Germany, including all over the US. There is something FANtastical about walking along castle ramparts, treading the very ground where the Renaissance took place. I felt the connection even as a young 12 year old standing in Heidelberg Castle.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I’d love to tell you about my latest release, the 2^nd novella in my Nelson’s Tea Series, My Lady Rogue (March 2015)

Everything Simon and Gillian have done has led to this moment… Will it be too late?

Baroness Gillian Chauncey thought she’d seen everything during her years of devotion to England. But as war escalates and political bonds are severed, a devastating betrayal forces Gillian to make a life or death decision to save the man she loves.

Lord Simon Danbury’s loyalty to the crown has never been questioned — until now. As death’s darkening veil cascades over London, a hostile mole inside Nelson’s Tea tries to assassinate him. Surrounded by the greatest spies in England, only one thing stands to defeat him — losing the one woman who has made life worth living.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I think I always had the bug to write because I can remember writing poetry at 12 years old. I was lucky enough to have one of my Haikus published in my Junior High Yearbook. Woot! I’ll never forget that feeling! I continued to write poetry until the idea I could write my own romance hit in 1992 when we got our 1^st computer. Suddenly research material was more easily accessible. With four children, I no longer had to go to the Library to hunt up information, though I often did. The wide spectrum online allowed me to visit battlefields and more. (Historical romance has always been my passion.) I cut my teeth on authors like Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsey, Rosemary Rogers and Elizabeth Lowell, as well as Louis L’Amour. And the most wonderful thing of all? My husband supported me and took me on trips to the places I was writing about: the Black Hills, Fort Laramie, WY, Winchester, VA, and the Great Plains.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

This is a great question, Lady Fiona! One that’s hard to answer because so many writers are brainwashed into thinking that until one of their books get published, they are not really writers. The reverse is true. If you are writing, you’re a writer. It makes no difference whether you are published or not. Authors ARR. (Pirate!)

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

Wow! This is a loaded question. I’ll give it my best shot. LOL! (Pun intended.) You see, my first book was a Native American Post Civil-War Western. As a Texan, I’d always been enamored with the Great Plains. I spent various times of my youth in Oklahoma and Texas so that part of the US and the history played out there was very close to my heart. Fort Sill, Ok, saw the golden age of Quanah Parker, son of a captive white woman who rose to be a great chief. Geronimo was imprisoned there for many years. I was living in a rich historical place brought to life by my FABulous HS History teacher. When Dances With Wolves hit theaters, my focus turned to the Black Hills and the glorious ill-fated Sioux. I devoured Native American history for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, ruminating on the lives of Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and Red Cloud, proud, honorable men fighting to keep their way of life. Out of 10 years of research, my book Flame Rising was born. But during this time, I was also raising four children with a military husband gone for various lengths of time, which kept me from writing consistently. In the interim, my children grew up and I turned my attention to my first love, pirates and the men of Nelson’s Tea, shifting gears from the Great Plains to the English Channel, of all places.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

By style, if you mean ‘process’, I do. I edit as I go, which makes writing the book slower but in the end, I have a more finished product. I’m a tactile, visual person so I make a storyboard for each of my books, complete with character inspiration photos, a graph with chapter blocks, Goal, Motivation, Conflict, the name of my book and characters. I also create a ‘book bible’ that I carry around with me everywhere I go. This book is where I keep my research, extra photos, plot ideas and more and it always comes first in the writing process. I can’t explain why I do all this but it works for me. My books never come to life in my head until I’ve got my book bible and that storyboard is made. Once I’ve added post-it notes in each chapter block indicating vague plot ideas, I’m ready to write. I know my beginning and end of the book but very little about the middle. I don’t really learn more until my characters talk to me while I’m writing. At that point, I can flesh things out as I go. I’m not a plotter or a panster. I’m a hybrid plantster. LOL!!!

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Duke by Day, Rogue by Night, the 1^st book in my Nelson’s Tea Series was initially titled Pirate by Night and it sat at HQN Mills & Boon for 2 years. Given my hero’s penchant for disguising himself, and the fact that he was a duke’s son, soon to be a duke himself, I changed the title because I thought it reflected more of Percy’s character. During the last year the book sat at HQN, I’d also extended the book from 75,000 words per HQN’s guidelines to 90,000 words in hopes of selling it to another publishing house. That tactic worked! Woot! 😉

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

Theme is important, isn’t it? Many writers don’t realize they add it in and do it on a subliminal level. If there’s one thing I want my readers to take away from my books, it’s this: No matter what happens in your life, no matter what fate throws in your path, there is always hope. HEAs (Happily Ever Afters) are hARRd work. Everyone has to put in the time to find their way out of darkness.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?

As a historical romance author, I do my best to include as much factual research as possible. Of course, as anyone can point out, errors slip through. On one hand, I can include every single historically correct phrase or description or on the other, I can use simpler modern terminology to make the story read smoother, faster, garnering more impact on the relationships between the two characters, instead of being bogged down on facts. (Make no mistake. I’m not talking about using words that hadn’t been used in that time period. That’s bad form.) For instance, Author Rachel Van Dyken did a marvelous job exemplifying this in her historical romances. Historical authors straddle a fine line.

In my Nelson’s Tea Series, I’ve concocted a fictional group serving under a factual figure. I’ve done extensive research on Admiral Nelson. While he was a diverse and tactical genius in the field, his personal life was askew. He married a widow then carried on a public affair with Lady Emma Hamilton, a married woman. His contemporaries warned him she was kryptonite. He loved her and couldn’t be swayed. I’ve used Nelson’s tenuous relationship with his wife, Fanny, in My Lord Rogue, A Nelson’s Tea Novella #1, to rollicking success as Gillian pretends she is Fanny at Drury Lane in order to save Nelson’s life. In My Lady Rogue, #2 in the novella series, I address Nelson’s death at Trafalgar and how this unexpected shock affects my clandestine organization, Nelson’s Tea.

I hope readers love what I’ve done. The greatest compliment I’ve been given was in a review for My Lady Rogue. The reviewer said that I’d incorporated fact into fiction so effectively she thought she was reading a diary of the times. Huzzah!!! Doesn’t get any better than that! 😉

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most? A mentor?

Here’s another great question! The Flame and The Flower was my 1^st historical romance. After that book, I was hooked on Kathleen Woodiwiss’ storytelling genius. Many readers today feel that book glorifies rape. I don’t believe that’s what Woodiwiss intended. Historically, women have always been ill-used. Rape is an act of violence and shouldn’t be glorified in any way but Woodiwiss was staying true to the period in her stories. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series can be used as an example of books written in the 1980’s. Look how popular Outlander is today and with Claire’s near rape and Jamie’s rape by Captain Jack Randall. Taken in context, I believe readers understand the obstacles a heroine or hero face. The hard part for me, as an author writing for modern readers is knowing when to put in the gritty, raw aspects of piracy in my books. Cue my mentors. Two women once gave me the greatest advice. The late Beverly Barton once advised me to “Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.” Linda Winstead Jones suggested “a romance glosses over gruesome aspects of history, focusing on the romance”. Never a day goes by that I’m not reminded of both of these authors’ generous advice. In fact, a picture of Ms. Barton hangs in my office to remind me to stay committed to writing stories readers will love.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I just finished a fabulous book by Virginia Taylor called Starling (South Landers Book #1) Set in Australia, in the Victorian period, I promise this is a book you won’t put down. Highly recommend!!!

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Love giving authors a shout out! Added to Virginia Taylor, I’m reading books by M.V. Freeman (Urban Fantasy), Shana Galen, Collette Cameron, Christi Caldwell, and Jillian Chantal (prolific authors who also happen to write Regency).

Fiona: What are your current projects?

Thanks for asking! I’m working on the 3^rd installment in my Nelson’s Tea Series, The Rogue’s Surrender. Lord Garrick Seaton finally meets his match in a Spanish señorita named Mercedes. I also have several other projects I’m working on that I’m keeping under wraps for now. 😉

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

My #1 support has come from RWA (Romance Writers of America). Until I joined a professional writing organization, I was flailing in the wind like a loose sail. The support I found around people who got the voices in my head was profound.

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

Actually, I did get the chance to relaunch three of my books, Duke by Day, Rogue by Night, The Rogue’s Prize, and Romancing the Jewel (my first contemporary and formerly titled Lost Treasure, Captive Princess) via EsKape Press Publishing after I got my rights back from another publisher. Sometimes a fit isn’t good enough for certain books and authors and publishing houses part ways. I’ve never regretted stepping out of my comfort zone and taking a risk on restarting my career. EsKape Press at: http://eskapepress.com/ has helped turn my vision for this series into one EPIC heart pumping ride!

What did I change when I had the chance? First, I listened to my editors who totally revamped the books and made them shine brighter than ever before. Second, I took feedback from reviewers and used productive suggestions to my advantage. It was the most difficult and challenging thing I’d ever done. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, my series is better for all the hard work I put in last year. I owe it all to the great team at EsKape Press!

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

As with any author, there are days when the muse isn’t talking, the story isn’t clicking, the story sucks, the story is genius, bad reviews plummet my spirits, good reviews roll in, sales slump off, sales explode, and the cycle continues. LOL!!! The challenge is to maintain a level head, sit butt in chair, and no matter the state of a writer’s affairs, forge ahead on the next book. Remove the rear view mirror. Put the blinders on and write!

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Hands down my favorite author is Shana Galen! Her books combine action/adventure with espionage, suspense and romance, loaded with ARRwesome! If you haven’t read her yet, me hearties, buy her books today!

Not only is Ms. Galen a talented prolific author, she’s a generous human being. I’ll never forget the kindnesses she’s shown me in my career.

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Whew! Taking a breath. <grin> Seriously, the hardest part of writing a book when characters are continuously monopolizing headspace can be summed up in one word — time. I often ponder how some authors write faster than me or why some authors are putting out so many books when I’m still struggling with one. Key thing to remember is everyone has 24 hours in a day. How individuals utilize time defines whether or not anyone achieves a goal. I’ve come to realize that I can achieve anything I believe I can do IF I step up to the plate, every day, no matter what is going on in my life. Am I always successful? No. But I get up the next day and try again. Words, like steps, taken one at a time span the length of a story or space. Eventually a goal can be met. Perseverance wins the race! I may be the tortoise but I’ll beat the hare! 😉

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Over the course of my travels growing up and as an adult, I’ve learned that people are the same no matter which era they exist, no matter where they live in the world. The Napoleonic Wars continued nearly two decades. We face a lengthy war today. I’m constantly struck by the sacrifices and heroism made by our military servicemen and servicewomen. Just as Admiral Nelson strove valiantly to save England from invasion, my books are a reflection of today’s struggles in a myriad of ways.

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

I always love to answer questions like this, Lady Fiona! Huzzah!!! I’m all about paying it forward. The publishing industry is so full of pot holes. It’s easy for writers to get stuck or sink. If I could tell any writer one thing, it’s this: “Believe to receive”, not the other way around. You MUST believe in yourself. For it is by ‘believing’ that you can ‘achieve’. It’s by ‘achieving’ that you will ‘receive’ whatever you aspire to do. Winston Churchill, a man who defied more than WWII enemies and ill-health has the best quotes EVER. Learn them.

The most important one is this: “Never, never, never, never, never give up.”

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I love writing swashbuckling, adventurous books about alpha heroes and the ladies who love ‘em. I hope readers enjoy my action/adventure Regency romance, stories that ARR pure escapism at heart and rollicking good fun to ease worries of the day. Stories that prove no matter what happens in life, there is always hope for an HEA (Happily Ever After) IF you never give up. So away the anchor and unfurl the sails! Let’s go find adventure and treasure together, eh?

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

Besides Dr. Seuss? LOL! The 1^st book I remember reading that made me love reading would have to be a book called Valley Forge. This epic true story, meant for young kids, took me to the time of Washington and his heroic attempts to keep his men alive during the worst winter on record, without supplies. My bones shivered. My stomach knotted with hunger. That book made me one with Washington’s men and helped me realize my ‘never give up hope’ strategy. I was 10 years old.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Funny movies! I laugh so hard, I cry. 😉

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?

Oh, Lady Fiona, this one is easy. Hands down! I’d love to meet Admiral Horatio Nelson! Of all the heroes in the world, this man tops the list. He went to sea at 12 years old after his mother died. Many people don’t know he suffered sea-sickness all of his life. He proved himself loyal to England, rising from lowly mid-shipman to noble rank. He lost sight in his right eye at Calvi and his right arm near Corsica but was back on deck leading his men 30 minutes after having his arm amputated. He suffered several bouts of malaria but never gave up. He wasn’t perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. But the courage, tenacity, honor, and conviction Nelson portrayed paved the way for England to become the most celebrated naval force in the world at a time when Napoleon had striped many of hope. He was never without his tea, even on board ship. And so, during my research, it became clear that ‘tea’ would be the code name Nelson used for mercenaries under his employ, 1^st sons beyond suspicion from every walk of life. Oh, I would very much like to meet Admiral Nelson indeed!

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

Woe! This is a very interesting question, one I have to think about because I’ve told my family I’m against spending money on a coffin and crypt. After seeing what the funeral home put us through when my grandparents died, I find it disgusting how much money funeral parlors milk out of grieving people. So, I’ve made the decision to be cremated and I’ve asked my family to scatter my ashes in some brilliant locale. If, however, I did have a gravestone, I’d want my headstone to say, “Here she lies, quietly asleep, an author who made readers weep.” (Buahahaha!!! Just made that up. Pirate!) Seriously, I am fascinated by cemeteries and the stories eulogies parlay on tombstones. There is something oh so sacred about walking in a cemetery. If I was cremated, no one would ever find me, would they? But does it matter? When I’m cremated, I will return to the earth, becoming one with the Great Spirit. (Didn’t think I could bring back the research I’d done so long ago here, did ya? LOL!!!)

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?

I love addressing my artistic side. I garden during the summer. (Love my flowers!) I make beaded bookmarks for my readers and jewelry too. During football season and winter months, I love to knit on Saturdays while I watch my favorite teams. I used to make baskets and can tomato sauce, homemade spaghetti sauce, applesauce, peppers, and various jams but I don’t have time to do those things anymore. I love to sew and quilt too when my hands aren’t sore from typing computer keys. 😉

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

TV and Film ARR great ways to gain inspiration. TV can’t get any better than Black Sails and Outlander on Starz. Penny Dreadful on Showtime. Game of Thrones on HBO. Daredevil and Hemlock Grove on Netflix. Sleepyhollow, Supernatural, Turn, The 100, and GRIMM. I’m uber excited about Poldark finally coming to the US in June! As for movies, I have a mixture of interests from almost any Marvel Comic movie to Phantom of the Opera, Pride & Prejudice (and almost any Jane Austen movie), Pathfinder, Dances With Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, Horatio Hornblower Series, Scarlet Pimpernel, Master and Commander, and last but definitely not least, the love of my life, Captain Jack Sparrow in the entire Pirates of the Caribbean Series! (Eagerly awaitin’ the next installment!)

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music:

I absolutely love Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy and anything dark or milk chocolate! As a pirate, of course I must share my love of rum, in particular Strawberry Daiquiris. My favorite color is green, red takes a close second! My musical tastes are very eclectic. I listen to just about anything, depending on my mood. When I write, I listen to movie soundtracks from Master and Commander, Pride and Prejudice to Black Sails or I listen to Baroque music. My IPod is full of anything from Black-eyed Peas to rap/Hiphop to pop. I’m especially into Imagine Dragons and Taylor Swift’s new 1986 CD right now.

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

As a young college student I went to art school intent on getting an Art Degree. But Prince Charming came along and swept me off my feet, distracting me with romance. Who knew? LOL!!! We were married the end of my junior year in college and moved to CA for Italian Language School before transferring to Italy. At Language school, I acquired enough credits for a minor in Italian with every intention of finishing art school in, you guessed it, the land of the masters! I’d always wanted a family and our first child came along almost two years after we married. What I’d forgotten about being pregnant was the danger of being around toxic solvents in an art studio. So my dreams of finishing art school in Italy were shelved as I had two children during our tour there. I’ve never regretted it. So, if I wasn’t a writer, I think I would be delving more into art, perhaps getting that Graphic Design degree I wanted so long ago. Or who knows? Maybe I would go back to school and get a history degree or take up fencing! (Pirate!)

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

You can find my website at:

www.katherinebone.com My blog is linked to my website too. Woot!!!

You can find me at my other social media sites here:

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/katlbone/

Facebook- Official Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katherine-Bones-Official-Fan-Page/134578253291785

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/katherinelbone

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/katherine-bone/50/759/483

Instagram: http://instagram.com/katlbone

Tumblr: http://katherinelbone.tumblr.com/

Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/katherinebone

Amazon Page http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Bone/e/B009MO30MU/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

 

My Lady Rogue Media Kit

 

Buy Links:

 

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1121459439?ean=2940151517638

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/my-lady-rogue

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U52L6CY?tag=freshfiction-20&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=B00U52L6CY&creative=373489&camp=211189

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lady-Rogue-Nelsons-Novella-Book-ebook/dp/B00U52L6CY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433439571&sr=8-1&keywords=my+lady+rogue+by+katherine+bone

ARE: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-myladyrogue-1758272-162.html

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/525076

 

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/my-lady-rogue

 

ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/my-lady-rogue/id974995481?mt=11

 

MY LADY ROGUE Blurb and Tagline

Everything Simon and Gillian have done has led to this moment… Will it be too late?

Baroness Gillian Chauncey thought she’d seen everything during her years of devotion to England. But as war escalates and political bonds are severed, a devastating betrayal forces Gillian to make a life or death decision to save the man she loves.

Lord Simon Danbury’s loyalty to the crown has never been questioned — until now. As death’s darkening veil cascades over London, a hostile mole inside Nelson’s Tea tries to assassinate him. Surrounded by the greatest spies in England, only one thing stands to defeat him — losing the one woman who has made life worth living.

 

 

Katherine Bone’s Social Media Links:

 

Website: www.katherinebone.com

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/katlbone/

Facebook- Official Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katherine-Bones-Official-Fan-Page/134578253291785

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/katherinelbone

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/katherine-bone/50/759/483

Instagram: http://instagram.com/katlbone

Tumblr: http://katherinelbone.tumblr.com/

Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/katherinebone

 

 

 

Katherine Bone’s Bio:

 

Short Bio: Katherine Bone lives in the south where she dreams of Rogues, Rebels and Rakes, and the happily ever afters every Alpha male deserves.

 

 

Long Bio: Katherine Bone has been passionate about all things historical since she was an Army brat traveling all over the world. Initially, she dreamed of being an artist, but when she met and fell in love with Prince Charming, her own dashing Lieutenant vowing duty, honor, and country, she found herself saying, “I do.” Whisked away to Army bases, castles, battlegrounds, and cathedrals, where tales of swashbuckling adventure filled the lonely gaps when the Army called Charming away, Katherine’s imagination took flight. No longer nomadic, she calls the south home and spends most of her time daydreaming about Charming and heroes of yesteryear.

 

Excerpt:

 

“DO YOU REALLY think this will be the last time we are all gathered together?” Gillian moved into Simon’s welcoming embrace, swallowing back a heart wrenching sob.
Ten minutes had passed since Garrick had left the townhouse. Ten long minutes of watching Simon’s brows furrow ever tighter, deepening until the aristocratic lines of his handsome face were grossly disfigured. Gillian couldn’t bear the ugly transformation, for his expression only hinted at the war building inside him. His steadfast code of morality and honor had consistently succeeded in suppressing his own needs and desires. What of sorrow? Would the news of Nelson’s death prove a more impenetrable shield? Could she shore up this wounded man’s agony? And more importantly, how could she if she tried?
In the past, their separations had been purely physical, an exhausting distance no preoccupation could eliminate. Today, her new enemy held greater influence on Simon’s emotions than marriage vows and honor. And she knew well enough the folly of ignoring this new foe. She’d seen what despair had done to Garrick.
She ran her fingers over Simon’s shoulders, luxuriating in the feel of the exquisite lines of his tailored morning coat. They were as close as they could possibly be, and yet the distance had never been further. Too much stood between them, Lady Danbury’s and Nelson’s deaths, the fate of Nelson’s Tea, their unspoken feelings. Did he feel it too? She’d long dreamed of sharing a deeper intimacy with this man who haunted her days and nights, absorbing his scent of sandalwood and spice, taking all of him, holding nothing back. Now she suppressed a shiver in the resounding quiet. Her long wait for Simon had come to an end at last, hadn’t it? But at what cost?
Her heart cried out with longing. He was no longer married. He could be hers, if not for the sorrowful voices haunting their lives or the ones they heard pulsating throughout the city.
Nelson is dead! Nelson is dead!
Simon inhaled deeply, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “We cannot fail. Our business is not only risky, it relies solely on His Majesty’s grace. With Nelson’s assistance, leadership, and guidance, we were assured good measure. No longer.”
She hesitated to ask why. “And now?”
Surely King George respected Simon enough to allow him to continue Nelson’s Tea after he and Lucien had saved the king’s life at Drury Lane?
His winded sigh heightened her doubts. “I’m not as certain as I once was. Without Nelson at the helm, Nelson’s Tea’s motivation is gone. Once morale is gone—”
“Not all gone,” she said, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. And it did. Simon was everything to her. He was her night and day, her moral compass. He was the most intelligent man she’d ever met. His skill at disguise, his mastery of language, culture, and stratagem far outweighed any nobles servicing England in the House of Lords or the Admiralty Board.
He stepped back, only slightly, and lifted her chin, tilting her face up to his. Her gaze traveled from the lapels of his coat to his starched cravat, upper neck, and chin, finally settling on his generous sensual mouth. She held her breath as hundreds of butterflies fluttered to break free from her chest and waited for him to speak as if her very life depended on his next words.
“You and I are not of this world, are we?”
She closed her eyes absorbing his warmth like she’d been deprived of the noonday sun. “I am part of any world you reside in, Simon. I would follow you anywhere.”
When he said nothing, she opened her eyes, suppressing the chill that swept over her. Why wouldn’t he let go and just be? She leaned toward him, absorbing the power emanating from his body.
Dark hair draped over his forehead as he glanced down at her. Heaven help her, she was a selfish woman. She trembled with desire, wanting his mouth on hers, longing to know how he tasted. She wanted assurances, his promise that their dreams of being together hadn’t been crushed. It was wrong to desire these things, so very wrong. It was too soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for interviewing me today, Lady Fiona!!! It was a joy to be one of your featured guests!

 

To any readers out there checking out this interview, I wish you fair skies and happy sailing! Find a good book today and escape into adventure, eh?

 

*Treasure Alert* I’m offerin’ one lucky winner an ecopy of one of my books. Your choice! All you have to do is comment for a chance to win.

 

Which historical figure would you most like to meet?

 

Blessings,

Katherine

 

 

Here is my interview with Pauline Rendall

Name My real name is Pauline Rendall, but I write crime as Paula K. Randall

Age That’d be telling!

Where are you from:  Sheffield originally, but I’ve lived all over the UK, from the Orkney Islands to Cornwall. I now live in Essex.

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc  I’ve worked in education most of my professional life. I started out teaching infants and ended up teaching University students. I have one son, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I guess my latest news is that I’ve just finished my second novel.

 

 
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I’ve written for as long as I can remember. I began writing animal stories, then wrote adventure stories in the style of Biggles. In my twenties I had a couple of stories published for pony mad teenagers.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’m not sure I do! I don’t know at what stage one starts to say that. It sounds terribly grand.

 

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My first full-length novel was a police procedural. I was inspired to write it by hearing someone talk about a horrific incident in his teens, and it just sort of grew from there.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I think my style keeps developing.

 

 
Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Well, the title for my first novel is ‘Hangman’s Wood’. It just sort of came about because that’s the location where the incidents happened. For the current one I chose ‘Vera’s Choice’ because the whole action occurs as a result of a choice that the main character made years ago.

 

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

I’m not sure there’s a message in that particular novel, but in the one I’ve just finished the message is definitely that all actions have consequences.

 

 
Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?

Well, my books do seem to grow out of real-life incidents that I’ve heard or maybe read about, but after that they are definitely fiction.

 

 
Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

As above. Though in ‘Vera’s Choice’ there is an irritating little boy who is definitely based on someone I used to know!

 

 
Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?

I don’t know where to start! I’ve had to shake off a lot of 19^th century influences, to be truthful, because that’s not what people want to read these days and they don’t really suit the modern crime genre.

 

 
Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

That’s difficult. There’s no particular writer that I would say was my main influence. I read voraciously and eclectically, and I draw inspiration from many sources. Writers that I admire today are those that are able to really structure a novel, and I’d list Val McDermid, Michael Connolly and James Lee Burke among those.

 

 
Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I’ve just finished James Ellory’s ‘Black Dahlia’ and am going to start Cormack McCarthy’s ‘No country for old men.’

 

 
Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Not actually new, but new to me, was Yrsa Sigurdadottir’s horror story ‘I Remember You’. The most terrifying book I’ve ever read. And she’s such a mild, pleasant person as well!

 

 
Fiona: What are your current projects?

I’m editing ‘Vera’s Choice’ ready to send to my agent.

 

 
Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

My writer’s group. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of finding a group that can act as critical friends.

 

 
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

It would certainly be nice.

 

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

Probably, but I’m not quite sure yet.

 

 
Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Probably from reading.

 

 
Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Well, Vera’s Choice is a thriller, I suppose, but it’s not the guns and helicopter type, more of a slow burn. Fifteen years ago Vera discovered her late husband had been blackmailing a group of well-connected paedophiles. At the time she did nothing with the information, and now it’s come back to threaten her life.

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

A tendency to tell rather than show. I have to really work at that.

 

 
Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I really haven’t got a favourite. But I love books that make me feel the author really likes their characters, books with a strong human touch.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

No, I try to use locations tht I know well. But for a novel that I didn’t finish (though I intend to, soon) I did make a few journeys to identify the best place to dump a body so that it would wash up on a particular beach.

 

 
Fiona: Who designed the covers?

I’ve used a professional agency for the cover of Hangman’s Wood. For Vera’s Choice it will be up to the publisher.

 

 
Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Just getting on with it! I’m a terrible procrastinator.

 

 
Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I learnt a lot about the craft of writing. It’s hard to be specific.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Just keep at it. Don’t worry too much about the quality of writing until you’ve got something finished, then you can go back and refine it. Don’t over-write, in other words keep your writing simple and straightforward. And don’t be afraid to discard writing that doesn’t work.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I don’t think I’ve got any great message.

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

Yes, I do. It was Black beauty and I was seven years old exactly. On my birthday my mother took me to join the library and I’ve never looked back.

 

 

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

What makes me laugh is silliness. What makes me cry most of all is cruelty to animals or children.

 

 

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why?

I’d like to thank Harold Wilson for setting up the Open University.

 

 

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

This is something I’ve never given any thought to. But all that’s on Benjamin Britten’s headstone is his name and his dates. If it’s good enough for him……

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?

I’m a keen photographer, and I enjoy opera and ballet. I also love to travel, and I’m learning Spanish.

 

 

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

I enjoy crime dramas and also political thrillers. I don’t go to the cinema much, but I did recently see the live transmissions of Coriolanus and A Streetcar named Desire. I often go to live transmission of opera and ballet; I think this system is fantastic.

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

I don’t have an actual favourite food, but I do love to eat out or cook for friends. My musical tastes are pretty diverse. I’m keen on opera but I also like the Stones, the Kinks and the Eagles. What I don’t like is all the vacuous stuff that seems to be in the charts nowadays. And I think my first musical love is traditional folk music.

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

Well I used to want to be a vet.

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it? I’m a member of a joint blog. It’s www.wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk

Buying link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hangmans-Wood-Paula-K-Randall-ebook/dp/B00BLP0K8A/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418082525&sr=1-2

Here is my interview with Mark Weir

Name : Mark Weir

 

I live on the South Coast with my wife, two children and Eric the dog. I grew up in the area and was educated here. I have always had a fascination with history and the darker side of life. As a kid, Stephen King was my main influence, but as I grew older, Charles Dickens and some of the classic writers grabbed my interest.

 

My Latest news…

I have just released my second novel, Special Medicine. It is a gripping tale of one man’s descent into madness. It took me two years to write and weighed in at over one hundred and sixteen thousand words. It is released through GWL Publishing and hopefully will be the first in a series.

Why I started writing…

I was always a reader, even at a very young age, and I have a theory that readers are frustrated writers. When I started secondary school, I was picked out by the head of English as a potential talent and was given extra lessons to nurture whatever it was that they saw in me. I suppose you could say that’s when I realised that I might be able to write.

When did I first consider myself to be a writer…

It’s odd really, but I don’t consider myself to be a writer as such. I consider myself to be someone who writes. Is there a difference? In my mind there is. I see writers as people that make their living at it. In my head, they are the real authors, and as that is an ambition that I strive to, then and only then will I call myself a writer. I’m happy for my friends and family to call me a writer though, after all, it makes me sound interesting and intelligent.

Inspired my first book…

I had a real fascination with Gothic horror and the Victorian age. That’s the historian in me. Jack the Ripper was another fascination. I always wanted to write a ripping yarn in the vein of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, so I combined all my loves in a book that I describe as Dracula meets Sherlock Holmes meets Jack the Ripper. I wanted to inject as much atmosphere and life into the surroundings as I could and in that sense, I think I achieved that. I suppose that’s the Dickens element coming to the fore. He was always brilliant at invoking an atmosphere or a feel for a place.

Writing style…

Some tell me that I have a direct writing style. Sort of no nonsense approach and others tell me that I have a knack for the descriptive. I think that there is an economy of words. Why use five when two will do. That said, I believe that when it needs some atmosphere injected into the scene then feel free to go to town. Anne Rice is an expert at this. She conjures feeling and emotions that leave the reader in no doubt what each scene is about. I suppose that it’s fair to say that after reading ‘Interview with the Vampire’ I adopted a more free flowing approach and tried to focus on the feelings of each scene.

The title…

That was easy. I was on a web site that offered reviews of work. One particular reviewer was very enthusiastic about the story and suggested that I change the name. He said that it gave too much away. When I asked him if I could use his suggestion, he readily agreed and Randall Crane and the Whitechapel Horror was born.

The message…

I don’t know if there is a message. I wanted to highlight the plight of the destitute in the book. I wanted to give them some sort of voice so that they could be seen as real people rather than just flotsam and jetsam.  I think that they are the real stars of the book, adding pop and zing whenever they appear. I don’t think there can be a real message in a vampire novel other than ‘enjoy’ and don’t be afraid to turn out the lights.

How much is realistic…

A lot of the book is very accurate, to the dates, people and situations. There is a lot of research that goes into the book. Certain scenes borrow from fact very heavily.

Experiences and events that are based on my life or someone that I know…

Nothing in the book is based on personal experiences or those of my friends and family.

Biggest influences…

First and foremost, ‘Salems Lot’ was the first real stand out book in my life. To me, this is the great modern vampire novel. It brings that old fashioned genre and plants both its feet in the twentieth Century. I have been influenced by Kipling, Dickens, James Herbert, Anne Rice and many others. Mostly, I have been interested in horror or historical books, as well as the classics.

A mentor…

That would almost certainly be Stephen King. In my eyes, the man is a genius. He has so many stories to tell and he tells them in such a way that you can tell it’s a King novel after the first paragraph. He is a bona fide legend and rightfully sits at the pinnacle of his profession.

What book are you reading now…

Interview with a vampire.

New authors…

Alec Grecian is a new author that has grabbed my interest. It’s not surprising really, when you consider that he writes about the murder squad of the Metropolitan Police in the years just after the Ripper case. He has now released a few in the series and I am just starting the second one.

Current projects…

Now that I’ve just finished ‘Special Medicine’ I am busy promoting that to a new audience. I am also working on a follow up to ‘Randall Crane and Whitechapel Horror’. That one is set in Paris and is going to be called ‘Randall Crane and the Catacombs of Paris.’ I also have two other books on the go, one a young adult novel and the other a comedy of sorts. I also want to start the follow up to ‘Special Medicine’, so I am going to be a busy boy in the coming few years.

Support outside of family…

I started going to a writing class three years ago. They are very supportive and always critique where necessary. It’s good to try stuff out on them, because they are guaranteed to bring me crashing back to earth if my ideas get to lofty for my boots. This class has really taught me the economy of words. I also feel lucky to have an editor that supports me and reigns me in when she feels that I need it.

Writing as a career…

Most definitely I see writing as a career. I don’t believe in playing at it and feel that if it’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. My dream would be to spend my days writing and then going out to meet readers. I don’t see why I can’t have those things. I certainly feel that the effort warrants the outcome, however, I need the readers to tell me if I’m any good first. Without that, my writing career could be very short indeed. Some people write for fun and that’s okay, but I write seriously for fun and that’s how I get my kicks.

Would you change anything in your latest book…

I would change the beginning, the middle and the end. Show me a writer, in fact anyone involved in the creative process, who is happy with their efforts and I’ll bet you serious money that you won’t find one. As creative people, we are our worst critics. And that’s fine and I don’t ever want that to change. If I can police my own quality control to the point that it would drive anyone else mad then at the very least, I am striving for the best product that I can produce.

Interest in writing originated…

When I went to big school I was singled out as a potential writing talent by the head of English. That was the moment when I thought about writing for the first time. Shame really, because as a kid I was a little shit and I would give anything to tell that teacher about the influence that they had on me in later life.

Some of my current work…

The sky was brooding, filling with gray, inky clouds that littered the

horizon like scrunched up bits of paper spilling from heaven’s waste

paper bin.

It was 7.45 am and the day should have been getting lighter, but

these clouds were angry. The weather had been dry and humid for a

couple of weeks with the weather men calling it a freak heat wave.

Temperatures had touched 110 degrees on one of the days and there

hadn’t been a hint of rain. Even his manicured lawn was a piss yellow

and so dry that it crunched under foot.

The clouds continued to gather, whispering and plotting.

A giant drop of rain flew into the window, kamikaze style, hell bent

on glory, exploding itself on the dirty glass of the featureless diner.

More followed on their own heroic paths to destruction until the

window was covered by thousands of tiny rivers, all heading south in

the direction of the tarmac.

Fuckin’ biblical, he thought. Now I know how Noah must have felt. He

chuckled to himself.

 

Challenging about writing…

The beginning, the middle and the end. I’m not trying to be glib but really, all of it is a challenge, otherwise we’d all be doing it. The first challenge is the idea, then you have to stretch that idea over a book length format. If it works you then have to plan out the chapters and the order of things. Usually that’s before a word has been written. The middle can’t sag. It can’t be padded or the reader will know. The end must be plausible and not leave them with a sense of ‘is that it?’

Favourite author…

Stephen King is the favourite. I like the diversity and his ability to grip me from the start. I also happen to think that there isn’t a writer out there that can capture the golden lustre of youth, friendship and days gone by like King. He genuinely infuses his stories with warmth that make you root for the characters.

 

Do you travel much for the books…

I’m trying to convince my wife that my next book is set in Florida…she’s having none of it. Most of my stories are set in the U.K. Mt latest is set in Boston, mainly, but I didn’t have to travel there to get a sense of the place. I have been there so that helped, but the internet is a great tool. My first book was set in Victorian London and I did go on a Ripper tour, which was huge fun, and it gave me a sense of the times and place.

 

Design of the covers…

The publisher does them. They send them to me and I get a choice of two or three. I choose the one I like and if they agree then that’s it. The cover is chosen.

 

Did you learn anything from writing the book…

I learnt that I have a sick and twisted mind. My wife doesn’t trust me anymore and thinks that I am depraved. I had to reassure her that it was all a figment of my imagination…really. Writing books is a hugely entertaining way of educating yourself. Writers are a mind of useless information. We are like sponges that absorb everything in the name of research. If we don’t get it right then readers will pick up on it and let us know.

 

Advice for other writers…

Write, read, write, read, write, read…do you see a pattern here? If you don’t write you won’t get better. I write for two hours every night. That’s right, two hours every night. I have been doing that for five years and have improved as a writer immeasurably. That said, I still need the reassurance from the public that I’m any good. I read at least two books at a time, usually in the genre that I’m interested in or writing about at that time. Again, the best form of flattery is that writers bounce off of each other and as with music, one work influences another. It’s not plagiarism to be influenced by someone and their style, it’s a complement. The more that you read the more that you absorb and the more that you write. Guitar players practice, sportsmen practice and therefore it follows that writers practice.

I would also urge you to write even if you think what you’ve written is crap. A blank page is a crime. Words written on a page can be honed and worked on until they become something special. You’ll never produce that special thing if you’re too scared to put any words down.

 

Specific to say to readers…

Enjoy the ride and buy more of my books. P.s I made it all up so don’t get to upset about it.

 

First book I read…

Probably the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton.

 

Makes me laugh or cry…

I am a sucker for classic comedies and old black and white stuff. I like Will Hay, early Peter Sellers and anything with Tony Hancock in. Sad stuff I try to avoid. I wouldn’t want my male veneer to slip now would I, although I sometimes get something in my eye at the end of Forest Gump…you know, at the sad bit.

 

 

Person past or present I’d like to meet…

Jimi Hendrix would be my choice. I’d like to ask him if he knew that he’d be dead in less than three years after finding fame, would he have given it all up and taken a life of obscurity. I’d also ask him to play something for me.

 

Written on head stone…

I may be in the ground but when the zombie plague comes I’m going to eat your brains.

 

Other hobbies…

I don’t have time for them, unless you call being ridiculously busy a hobby. And if it is, I want a new one.

 

Tv shows…

Best TV show at the moment is The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. I’m also enjoying The Strain. Best films have to be the classics. White Christmas and The Man who would be King are particular favourites too.

 

Favourite food etc…

Food- Curry.

Colours- Sage Green

Music- too varied to mention. Classic rock, The Beatles to Muse

 

If not a writer…

I’d would like to be a comedian or actor.

 

Website and stuff…

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Weir-author/1374403126170454?ref=bookmarks

Website- http://markweirauthor.moonfruit.com

Twitter- https://twitter.com/Markweirauthor

Publisher- http://www.gwlpublishing.co.uk/mark-weir/

Amazon- http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mark+weir

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my interview with Karli Rush

 

Name Karli Rush

Age (Old enough to know better but young enough to do it anyway) and if you really want a hint I’m the exact same age as Jenny McCarthy.

Where are you from: A small town in Oklahoma

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc

I will give you 10 things about me you don’t know till now

1.                    I’m an autism advocate

2.                    I have worked in Hospice for many years

3.                    I met Jay Leno once

4.                    My favorite color is black but I tell everyone purple.

5.                    Some of my much loved places that I have lived are Las Vegas and Denver.

6.                    I’ve drag raced

7.                    I rode horses bareback as a kid.

8.                    I have more books in my head than I have published.

9.                    I studied psychology in college but took a major turn toward the medical field.     Experienced, EMT basics, Dental Hygiene assistant, to working in the psychiatric         ward in Virginia.

10.                I am very diverse with music, books, and people.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

Karli:  I have several things on my plate for 2014! My last installment of the Bound series which will be titled Ice Bound and it is a stand alone novel all about Marc, it will be entirely his POV.  I am several chapters into writing my first ever contemporary romance, keep an eye out for “Let Your Heart Drive” as well.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

Karli:  In 2011 after a good friend of mine suggested I take up a creative hobby.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Karli:  February 23, 2012. That is when I hit the publish button on my first novel, Crescent Bound, and I realized there was no turning back for me.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

Karli:  I didn’t really recognize that I had all of this coming to me until I put my fingers on the keyboard. The story or rather the dream just poured out. I don’t remember anything specific as an inspiration point.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

Karli:  Yes, I write generally first person, present tense just like Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I can’t seem to write any other way.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Karli:  Not sure on that either, they seem to show up when I need them to at the right time, and right moment. It’s kind of like a word or an expression highlights itself for me and I jot it down. If you have ever watched the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ then you have the idea of what I’m trying to explain.

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

Karli:  Absolutely, in the Crescent Bound Series I wanted to show, although it is paranormal, a true representation of Witches or Wicca. I also try to put in a theme of tolerance and acceptance. If I could sum it in just two words it would be, Know thyself.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?

Karli:  All the magic spells and rituals are based in facts. The drag racing is pretty close. I also wanted characters that are flawed, critical, mistake driven and fun.

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Karli: I have drag raced before, so, yes. There is no way that my experiences can’t be in there, even if the influence is subtle, it’s still there.  In several books I have worked some people into one of my characters that I personally know. The funny part is that they are exclusively the antagonist.

Fiona: What books have influenced your life most?

Karli: The books that influenced me were usually non-fiction and on specific topics like Autism and Reiki.  It is usually something that interests me at the time.

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Karli:  I have several on that list, but if I had to pick one that I would hope to really learn from it would be…CD Reiss.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Karli:  Strings (Hard Rock Harlots) by Kendall Grey – This one is as sexually gritty as it gets.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Karli:  CD. Reiss, Ava Lore, Kendall Grey, Colleen Hoover, Andrea Randall, Penelope Douglas, Lauren Hammond, Andrea Brynn, Tarryn Fisher, Brooklyn Hudson, Emma Chase, K.A. Tucker, Brooklyn James, Jennifer Armentrout, Aleatha Romig, and J.A. Redmerski. Whew! I’ll stop there, lol.

Fiona: What are your current projects?

Karli:  “The House” is a paranormal haunting story that I am publishing one part at a time on my blog for free http://rushboundblog.wordpress.com/ I am up to part 6 as of this interview.  “Let Your Heart Drive” is my firs contemporary romance that is about 20% done. Here’s the blurb – It is a tale of a young girl, Sinead Noelle, she’s struggling with life and all that it has to throw at her. She hungers to stand on her own two feet and face her own secret demons. What she finds during this life’s journey is, Shawn. A young man who works in road-side for a car rental company. He doesn’t know it yet but all this time he’s been living a life filled with ease as he helps support his sister and niece. He thinks life is good, but then his own life spins out of control with a single phone call.  When destiny brings these two together will barriers be broken, walls be destroyed, and secrets revealed? Coming 2014!

“Ice Bound” is book five in the Bound series it’s about 40% done and here’s the blurb –

Marcus Colten is living the perfect life, high school football star and dating the head cheerleader. He is popular, skilled in athletics and from a wealthy family. The football team he quarterbacks for just won their first district championship.  Marc doesn’t show it, but he is being haunted. Orphaned at the early age of two, he has ghostly memories of a past that makes his flawless model life feel out of place and then there are the illusive dreams. Visions of someone that relentlessly possess his nights. What does it all mean? Where will it all lead? This time, he’s not the one that is at the top of the game.

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Karli:  That’s a hard one. Let me see. I would say that Lisa Allen Monaghan has truly coached me through this. Regardless of my fears, she believed in me from the very beginning.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Karli:  I sure do. I am lucky and very happy being an author.

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

Karli:  Well, for my latest book, Pine Needles. No, not in the least.

I always want the best quality I can for my readers, in all aspects of my novels. I do review and revise as I strive to become the best I can be.

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Karli:  I kept having these dreams about Alyssa and Marc (Crescent Bound) and they wouldn’t go away, so I started writing their story down and I never stopped. Factoid: In my dreams Alyssa’s car she drove was really a canary yellow 1986 Mustang. But I had to change it to the times, so, we have the 2011 Shelby Mustang, black.

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Karli:  My latest story is free on my blog http://rushboundblog.wordpress.com/

Part 1

The only thing stronger than love is insanity.

 –    MichaelXavier

The House

            One more step and the skin-crawling, creaking sound echoes throughout the hall. “Richard! Don’t, I—I really don’t feel good about this anymore,” I practically bark at him as we edge closer to the last door. We’ve investigated the lower floor, all the old, decrepit rooms, and the chancy stairs were my worst fear but we managed to sneak past the precarious areas. Now, we are standing at the last room down the unlit hall. The door is wide open like it’s welcoming us inside. The hot humid air has dropped significantly in temperature. It’s been well over a hundred degrees all summer long and now, I can see my breath. I can see his.

            “Rich, please. Let’s just head back, it’s getting late. We can start fresh tomorrow,” I plead but he shakes his head in refusal.

            “Naw, we got this, Keria.” He tugs on his lucky baseball cap, easing it over his eyes a bit and quirks a smirky grin at me.  My eyebrows bolt up and I wave the flashlight purposely in-between us.

            “Do you not see this?” My breath expels out a cold mist and the hair on the back on my neck rises.

            He taps on the device in his hand and explains, “Yeah, it means we’re not alone.” The meter looking ghost detector is completely lit up green. It doesn’t flash nor flicker, just a steady, solid color. Which makes me grimace even more, I’m not a paranormal investigator like Rich is. This is my very first time exploring a haunted house. I suck in a nervous breath as he motions for us to move forward. The house goes perfectly still as if it’s waiting for something, hanging onto an eerie anticipation. Five more steps and we’re at the threshold of the pitch-black room. 

            “Rich, you’re sure about this? I mean we don’t know how long this place has been abandoned or how secure this structure is,” I probe as I flash the light around us and then shine it inside the room. My hand goes sweaty and I grip the flashlight tighter, there’s nothing in the room. It’s not like the others, it’s entirely bare, empty, as if someone sterilized it from the ceiling to the floor. You know how they always say rooms like this smell moldy or musty? Well, this one smells like it’s tainted with blossoms, it’s so over-powering even Rich glances back at me. We both distinctly smell it and he reaches out, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

            “You know, for being a Rookie, I’m impressed. Come on, it’s the last room.” I attempt to send him a quick confident smile but something breathes down the right side of my neck. I grasp at my throat and stare at Rich. How do I tell him I can’t do this? How can I step one foot in front of the other when all I want to do is run the other way? My answer comes when he steps through the time-worn doorway.

            “Come on Keria, give me some light. It’s dark as shit in here!” I raise my shaking hand holding the flashlight and watch him walk to the middle of the room. An icy cold touch lands on my shoulder and I drop the light to the floor.

            “Keria! Get it together girl!” he shouts but I’ve already snagged the flashlight from the ground and twirl around to see if I’m still the only one standing in the darkened cold hall. Whirling back to Rich I shake off the feeling of being observed.

            “Got it, sorry.” I start to take a step into the room when I hear the house breathe, literally every board and nail within the room screeches together. And in the center, where Richard stands, the floor bows and bends upward and then breaks away. He plummets with the pollution of rotten wood and rusted, eroded fumes. My light illuminates a nothingness as he disappears from my sight.

            “Richard!” The cracking and splintering shards of wood resound with a deafening residual. My ears ring and my heart pounds as I scream out again, “Richard!”

            Nothing…

            But

            My

            Cold

            Breath…it’s the only sound within the room.

            I readjust my hand on the Maglite and run toward the stairs. I’m shaking, everything in me wants to lock up but I’m so terrified I bolt without another reasonable thought. The worn wooden steps hold my weight as I race downstairs. It’s hauntingly dark and vacant. Nothing appears in my sight as I shine my light through the bleak hallway. Pace after wary pace I enter the room where Richard fell through. I clamp my hand fiercely over the only thing which guides me. Not a breath escapes from my lips when I approach the doorway, the lambent luster grazes slowly across the flooring. But I see only the hardwood surface. Untouched, no clouds of dust or debris, no broken shards of rustic wood. No Richard. As if nothing at all had happened. I take a step closer, suck in a hearty breath and whisper, “Richard!” 

            I cling to my shirt as I ease in, I can feel my heart pounding, trembling through the fabric. The fractional light threads outward offering me nothing but the barren baseboards and lifeless walls. A smell drifts by just as the cool air bristles the hair down my neck. The scent is intertwined with sunflowers and blood. And that same panicky feeling surges a rush in me, a dire urgency to get the hell out of here. But I grit my teeth together and raise my voice a bit louder than before and yell, “Richard, please! Where are you?!”

            The house is abnormally quiet as I drag my light downward, searching the floor where I thought Rich would be. Chairs, aged books, and raged, dusty curtains are all over creation in here. It’s exactly how we first saw it before, not a thing out-of-place. And I raise my flashlight upward, to the ceiling, half expecting the hole that he fell through. But I know from seeing the room there will be no evidence to what I just witnessed on the floor above. The ceiling is still committedly intact. Am I losing my mind? I know I’m not, I know what I saw and he has to be in here. I take another step further inside the room, and just as my hand slips off the door frame, a cold unpleasant shiver weaves through my spine. A deep, detached voice growls right next to my ear, “Get out!”

            I nearly drop my light as I spin around and run for the front door. Ambling faster down the broken cement steps I charge for my car. Never looking back, never losing my balance because I feel the vileness, the immorality breathing inside that house. I’ve, we’ve trespassed into something I can’t even begin to explain and Rich is somewhere still inside. I fumble with my keys to get them into the ignition. Once my headlights glare at the house not forty feet away, I lock the doors and debate. He’s in there and I can’t just drive the hell off. I rub my hands over my face and in-between my shaking fingertips I look up. In the window I see a shape, a silhouette of a tall man and it’s not Rich. My foot slams heavily on the gas pedal and I drive like a manic on the rough, isolated dirt road.    

            The entire time my eyes flicker nervously back and forth from the road to my rearview mirror. The sensation of being followed keeps prickling my frayed nerves. I even feel like the woods have eyes and are watching me speed past the trees. Something malicious lives inside that abandoned house, it’s real, just as real as the tears that swell inside my eyes. And I never want to go back there, but I have to find out what happened to Richard. Worry, fear, and guilt consume me, what happened to him? Is he still alive… alive inside that cursed house?    

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Karli:  Yes. One, balance – family time, writing time, promoting time, personal time, which are all important but making sure one of these doesn’t rob from the other is quite a challenge. Even so, I think I’m managing okay. Two, there are at times too many voices coming to me at once. Can’t write quick enough. Lol.

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Karli:  Ouch! I have to pick one? Andrea Randall who wrote “In the Stillness.” What strikes me is the level of intense emotion that blended beautifully through this novel. You feel everything, every bump, every crevice, every single word and I loved it.

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

Karli:  Several times I have ventured out to book related jaunts. From drag racing strips to book signing events to even haunted places. But I much rather retreat into my writer’s cave with a great cup of coffee.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

Karli:  I do.

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

 

Karli:  The publicizing that comes with getting the word out, but I love this part of it, the interviews are one of my favorites.

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Karli:  The amount of knowledge I have taken in since beginning this career is breathtaking. I now approach life as an author does. I am evaluating everyone I meet to see if I will use them in a future book. Their traits, their demeanor, and habits anything that intrigues me may become part of my antagonists or protagonists. *wink*

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Karli: Write your first book. Tuck it away and write your second book. Six months later pull it out and re-write book one. It will help improve the quality of your book so much. If you haven’t read “On Writing” by Stephen King then you should, it is so worth it.

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Karli:  Thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU! I have had quite a few messages sent to me that will forever touch my heart. These messages mean more than anything to me and I promise to keep writing, keep giving you what you love. My goal is to become a better writer with each word I type. I can only hope that my readers enjoy the growth I am going through as they come along for the ride with me.

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

Karli: The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. I use to read it over and over to my great-grandmother as a young child. I struggled and botched some of the words but my great-grandmother never scolded or berated me. She knew I had an adoration for horses and for books, she always encouraged me and listened to me with such love and understanding which made it an experience I will never forget. So, yes, I definitely remember my first book.

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?

Karli: Zumba, hiking, biking, camping, ghost hunting, oh, and shopping!

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

Karli:  I don’t really watch TV, but if I do it’s American Horror Story, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, and Dracula. My favorite films are Fast & Furious 6, A Haunted House, We’re the Millers and Unconditional.

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

Karli:  Homemade chili in (gf/cf) bread bowls / Purple / My music changes just as randomly as the weather does here in Oklahoma. Lol. Right now it’s Ana Brun.

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

Karli:  Joined the Peace Corps. It was at one point a discussion my oldest son and I had but he chose college and I became a writer.

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

Karli:  I sure do, and here they are:

Karli Rush links

 

Karli Rush – Genre:  Paranormal Romance (soon to come contemporary romance)

 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Karli-Rush/456180034468576 

 

Blog:  http://rushboundblog.wordpress.com/

 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/KarliRush 

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarliRush 

 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Karli-Rush/e/B007DJNOMW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 

 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KarliRush 

 

Other: http://rushbound.blogspot.com/ 

 

Pintrest: http://www.pinterest.com/rushbound/boards/

 

Website: http://crescentbound.wix.com/karli-rush

 

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/KarliRush

 

Print copies of my books are available at Amazon and CreateSpace