Review…Her Lucky Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan

Cover.J.Ryan..ScanA Review  reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing5 out of 5 quills

Delicious!!  A flawed, compassionate heroine and a hunky, injured  bull rider!  Jennifer Ryan really delivered with this one!  I was fully engaged on page one! These two lovers meet in the middle of a rodeo arena with a maddened bull as a chaperon.

Champion rodeo rider Dane Bowden is eight seconds from winning under the Vegas lights, one last hurrah before reluctantly returning to his family’s Montana ranch. But his bull has other plans. When Dane wakes up, he’s sure he’s died and gone to heaven . . . because the doctor who comes to his aid is the same girl who saved his life years ago and then disappeared. Bell would do anything for Dane. He’s the fantasy that always kept her going. A child genius hidden away by her family, Bell was the secret no one talked about, the girl no one wanted.

Ryan weaves story after story.  This is an exceptional tale.  I loved it and you will too!!

Release date: August 25th.  Did you miss my Interview with Jennifer Ryan. Click here.Ryan.photo..32.58 (Small)
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!     Jennifer Ryan,(Aug.), Grant Blackwood (Tom Clancy) Sept. and Julia London.
Don’t Miss it!  A bonus Interview with
Iconic comic book writer, Chuck Dixon, in September.
Coming Soon! Review of Entry Island by Peter May and Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas.
To receive a free audio book and my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

Interview with Prolific Playwright

Headshot.TS.259x300TS: Adam Szymkowicz, a published playwright and employed by The Juilliard School, asked to interview me, while wearing my playwright hat.  I was happy to oblige and hope that you will visit his blog to read the entire article.  Most of all, I hope it entertains you.

INTERVIEW * Trisha Sugarek, Playwright, director, actor * by Adam Szymkowicz

AS: What are you working on now?

Transgendered teensA ten minute play, for the classroom, about transgender teens. I have written 26 of these scripts addressing real life issues in a teen’s life such as, Bullying, running away, drugs, teen dating violence, cutting and suicide.

 AS: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

As a writer: I grew up, before television, at my mother’s knee. She told wonderful stories of her growing up, in the wild forests of Washington state, with her 13 siblings. I have written 3 stage plays and 2 novels based on these true stories. Continue reading “Interview with Prolific Playwright”

Interview with Jennifer Ryan, Author (part 2)

Part 2  An Interview with NY Times best selling author, Jennifer RyanJ.Ryan.photo

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ?

A. Let’s just say I’ve got a very active imagination….an idea sparks from a song, a show, a book, a conversation with family and friends, seeing a couple on the street, overhearing a conversation in a restaurant…I can find a story in just about anything. Once that spark hits, my mind takes off.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. In 2005 when my 2 kids were in school and I had some free time. I learned I was pregnant with my daughter and not going back to work anytime soon, so I turned to writing as something to fill my time, give me a sense of accomplishment, and doing something that was just for me that I loved.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. It took five years and a lot of rejections from publishers and agents. Believe me, I have a stack of them, but I kept at it, always learning and honing my craft. I kept submitting even after those rejections with the hope that I’d find that person who loved what I wrote. I found several and used their support and encouragement to find my publisher. Continue reading “Interview with Jennifer Ryan, Author (part 2)”

Interview with Author, Jennifer Ryan

TS:  To say that Jennifer Ryan writes ‘romance’ novels would be doing her a disservice.  Her good, solid stories are about good, solid people with a little romance and some modern day ranch life and cowboys is more accurate.  I love her stories and so when she agreed to this interview I was thrilled!

J.Ryan.photoQ. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?  Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

A. I have two writing spaces. My “office” is in my kitchen. I love the little table in my breakfast nook with the windows all around looking out at the backyard, pool, and garden. The second place I write is off the kitchen in the small living room. Sometimes I just want to sit on the sofa with my feet up, a movie on the TV I’ve seen a dozen times ten times turned down low in the background, and type away, lost in the story.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

A. I’m a creature of habit. I write every day. For the most part, I’m focused on the work, the story, my characters. But I do love to have a cup of tea, cookies or chocolate. I’m pretty sure I keep the Hershey’s company in business.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

A. I started writing when I was pregnant with my daughter Jenna. I named the heroine of my first book, Ryan.photo..32.58 (Small)Saved by the Rancher, after her.

Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

A. With 3 kids, I need to stick to a schedule (that whole creature of habit thing). During the school year, I sit down to write after I drop the kids at their respective schools. I work until 11 AM, hit the treadmill, shower, have a snack, then back to work until it’s time to pick the kids up from school. I eat lunch in the car while I wait at each school. Once home, it’s snack time for the kids and homework. I work until dinner. Cook. Then if I’m on a roll for the day, I’ll work into the evening. Other nights, I’m on the couch with my husband watching one of our favorite shows. On the weekends, I work from the time I get up through the evening with short breaks for meals and doing stuff with the kids. There’s a lot of stops and starts, but I’m used to that. Life happens, but I love seeing the story in my head come together on the screen.

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

A. Oh, how I love to procrastinate. That’s why I’ve set up a routine. Some days I write for hours. Others I may only get an hour done. The thing is, I make time for it each and every day. Even if I only get a few lines or paragraphs down, I’ve made progress. Over time it adds up.

Cover.J.Ryan..ScanQ. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?

A. Yes. I love those days. The story seems to fly across the page – though it takes hours. The satisfaction I feel from a day of great writing can’t be described. It’s such a relief to have the story out of my head and on the page. If my husband is off with the kids hiking or dirt biking, I can write all day without interruption.

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ?

A. Let’s just say I’ve got a very active imagination…..
Don’t miss Part 2 on Tuesday

and….Coming Soon! my REVIEW of ‘Her Lucky Cowboy’ released later this month!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!     Jennifer Ryan,(Aug.), Grant Blackwood (Tom Clancy) Sept. and Julia London.
Don’t Miss it!  A bonus Interview with Iconic comic book writer, Chuck Dixon, in September.
Coming Soon! Don’t miss my Reviews of
Sue Grafton’s ” X “ , the newest Kinsey Millhone mystery  and Jennifer Ryan’s newest release.
To receive a free audio book and my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up!  On the home page, enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

Tom Clancy * Under Fire by Grant Blackwood * A Review

reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing Rating: 5 out of 5 quills A Review  UNDER FIRE by Grant Blackwood
for Tom Clancy

When I interview Grant Blackwood later this year, my burning question will be:  ‘how do you write so well that we believe the iconic Tom Clancy is really the one putting pen to paper?  These authors who write after the death of a beloved writer, like Ludlum, Parker, Fleming or Clancy, are really talented.  To be able to put their unique ‘voice’ on the shelf and write so successfully for another author?  It boggles this writer’s mind!

I’m the first to admit that espionage, shoot ’em ups are not my favorite pleasure read.  But UNDER FIRE engaged me from the start with its beautiful balance of modern politics, terrorist groups, and organizations like the CIA and even more covert groups. The story moves at a good clip and I didn’t want to skip ahead.  Continue reading “Tom Clancy * Under Fire by Grant Blackwood * A Review”

INDYFEST Magazine Interviews This Author

INdyFest MagazineWriter At Play: A Talk with Trisha Sugarek
By Raphael Moran

Here at Indyfest, we try to put the spotlight on some of the most unique voices in the indy publishing universe. Trisha Sugarek is one of those voices. With four decades worth of writing credits to her name, she has a huge diverse line of works on her resume, ranging from plays to mysteries to children’s books. She’s done it all by herself and has been blazing through the publishing world. She also runs a successful website dedicated to the art of writing. Plus, she’s interviewed some of the biggest names in the publishing industry. I had a chance to pick her brain a little to find out about her success in self-publishing, and all matter of other things.

IM: What are some of your major hardships in self publishing?

TS: No major hardships. I have complete artistic control with content and the cover artwork. Exposure is difficult when my true crime mysteries (for example) are competing with a half-million other mysteries. Social media can be the best marketing tool in an author’s toolbox. Self-publishing used to be a dirty word… Continue reading “INDYFEST Magazine Interviews This Author”

Two Authors, One Book…(part 2) My Interview with Thorne and Cross

Thorne.pic.2 TS: This is one of the most entertaining and humorous interviews that’s been my pleasure to do.  Enjoy!

Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

A. We work 8-to-10 hours per day six days a week. We start in the morning even though we both hate mornings, and work until we’re called for dinner. Writing is a full-time job. If we only worked when the mood struck, we’d never get anything done. Discipline is everything for a serious writer. No excuses.

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

A. Give it up or just buckle down and do it. You wouldn’t procrastinate going to a job where you worked for someone else – when you are your own boss, you must be even more disciplined.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?

A. It’s a bad day if we don’t get lost in our work. Getting lost means it’s going great. It can last for a couple hours to all day. We never know.

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ? Continue reading “Two Authors, One Book…(part 2) My Interview with Thorne and Cross”

Interview with a Writing Duo…Authors:Tamara Thorne & Allistair Cross

31l6DU3VVVL 61ZHnam-LQL._SX150_TS: What a compliment!  This dynamic duo’s publicist requested an interview!  ‘How fascinating, to interview co-authors’, I said to myself,  ‘how does it all work? Two people writing the same story.

Q. Where/when did you two meet?

A. Alistair had just been published when he started doing author interviews on his personal blog. As a fan of Tamara Thorne’s since the 1990s, he was eager to have her on. He contacted her through Facebook, she agreed to the interview and they instantly hit it off.

Q. How did you start to write together?

A.Accidentally. Normally we both hate telephones, but this was the exception and our daily conversations and texts would end up turning into brainstorming sessions. In the following months, we naturally transitioned into an official collaboration, Continue reading “Interview with a Writing Duo…Authors:Tamara Thorne & Allistair Cross”

An Interview with Sue Monk-Kidd

While Sue was too busy to give me an interview, they did send along this fascinating narrative of how she came to write The Invention of Wings  (click here to read my review of the book)The Invention of Wings

Q. How did you approach writing an enslaved character? How did Hetty Handful Grimké come about?

SMK. From the moment I decided to write about the historical figure of Sarah Grimké, I was compelled to also create the story of an enslaved character that could be entwined with Sarah’s. In fact, I felt that I couldn’t write the novel otherwise, that both worlds would have to be represented. Then I discovered that at the age of eleven, Sarah was given a ten-year-old slave named Hetty to be her handmaid. According to Sarah, they became close, and she defied the laws of South Carolina by teaching Hetty to read, for which they were both punished. Nothing further is known of Hetty except that she died of an unspecified disease a short while later. I knew immediately that this was the other half of the story. I wanted to try to bring Hetty to life again and imagine what might have been.

There’s an aphorism in writing that says you should write about what you know, Continue reading “An Interview with Sue Monk-Kidd”

Slavery Isn’t Such an Ugly Word….

Rape, pedophile, shit, faggot, nig–r,….now those are ugly words.  You can taste the filth in your mouth if you say them.  You are repulsed when you hear them.  Slavery‘ doesn’t sound ugly enough.  The word is bland, safe, and doesn’t make us sick in the way that other words do. Dear Reader, please understand that I’m not writing about what the word represents….I’m talking about the actual word. What happened in this country, during the 1800’s,  when a whole people were enslaved is emotionally unimaginable…..unless and until you read,  The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk-Kidd.  Available now.

A Review    reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing5 out of 5 quillsThe Invention of Wings

The story is of the Grimke sisters; Sarah and Nina, high born, white, plantation girls.  Based upon a true story, the author tells how the slave owner’s lives intertwine every day with their slaves.  The very slaves who are a part of the family if you talk to the owners.  A prison full of punishment if you were to speak with the slaves.  Continue reading “Slavery Isn’t Such an Ugly Word….”