What’s in your St. Valentine’s Day Box?

writers, interviews, valentine day, authors,                  My St. Valentine’s Day box is full of authors willing to take time out and be interviewed!    This month, we digress a little with a charming interview with a book narrator.   Audio-books are all the rage now, what with our busy lives,  and professional actor/voice over artist, Tavia Gilbert will let us into her world.  March’s guest author will be Susie Drougas whose modern day mysteries takes us into the wilds of Washington, atop a horse.

Three years ago I began interviewing best selling authors and to my ever-lasting gratitude, they accepted!   Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Mark Childress have all graced the pages of my blog!

It doesn’t really surprise me that the authors are relating similar experiences that I have had in my writing life. Characters taking the story in a whole different and unexpected direction.

Dean Koontz: “…if I give characters free will, if I don’t plot out the story and instead present them with a problem and watch them deal with it, they begin to take on a life of their own, frequently surprising me with the choices they make. This is mysterious and exciting.” Continue reading “What’s in your St. Valentine’s Day Box?”

Jodi Thomas’ Can’t Stop Believing * A Review

Jodi.Thomas203,200_reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingFive out of 5 Quills  Can’t Stop Believing  **
A Review

Jodi Thomas creates interesting and believable characters that have full back stories (before the time-line of the book).  Jodi never fails to deliver with an intriguing story-line and a happy ending.

Can’t Stop Believing  —  We go back to Harmony, Texas and meet up with many characters in the small town that we’ve seen before in previous books.  It’s like coming back home after an extended time away.

As you know I don’t write spoilers in my reviews.  But I will say Cord is an appealing hero who could park his shackles under my kitchen table any time.  And while I thought Neveda was slightly neurotic, she remained interesting. Harmony is full of quirky folks that entertain and delight.  I highly recommend this great read!!

Did you read my interview with Jodi Thomas a while back?  No?  Click here  And upcoming: My Review of Jodi’s newest offering, Rustler’s Moon
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London, Matt Jorgenson, MJ Moores, , and actor/narrator Tavia Gilbert.

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Looking for a Good Mystery?

Do you read mysteries? Then you’ll love this mystery series set in the tough streets of New York City. 1.worldofmurderBW..NEW.USE._820 - Copy (2)Detective Jack O’Roarke, a big rough Irish cop, and his gentle, lady-like partner, Stella Garcia (make no mistake; she can take down a perp twice her size) enter the mysterious world of stripper clubs, art museums, Broadway theatre, the priesthood, and cooking shows to catch their killer.

The series begins with The Art of Murder and currently ends with the most recent, The Taste of Murder, which takes you behind the scenes of reality cooking shows. Please enjoy the following excerpt.

Patrick Shelley, dressed in his signature pink dress shirt and matching paisley tie, walked up to O’Roarke and dropped a case file box on his desk, barely missing the detective’s nose. Another detective, right behind Pat, set two more boxes on a chair and, snorting in disgust, walked away. Pat scowled down at O’Roarke as he flipped open the lid.
“What’s this?” Homicide Detective O’Roarke asked.
“A cold case of mine.” The cop barked. “Boss said to give it to you.” Continue reading “Looking for a Good Mystery?”

More with best selling author, Julia London (part 3)

Julia in Ireland
Julia in Ireland

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?

(con’t. from Part 2)  JL.  From there, the manuscript is improved over and over again with subsequent rounds of editing by me, by an editor’s notes, by copy editors who catch inconsistencies that, unbelievably, neither me or a developmental editor caught. So the finished book has been massaged and manipulated many times over. At least in my experience.

Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing/stories?

JL. Just living life informs the writing. I meant what I said about having to be in the world to understand it. It would be very easy to never leave my house, to sit in front of a computer all day. But I won’t allow myself to do that. I have an active lifestyle, I travel, I have an extended family I love and that has been dysfunctional from time to time. Continue reading “More with best selling author, Julia London (part 3)”

Interview with Julia London, best selling author of Regency Romances

Julia.London.203,200_I confess!  I read them along with several million other women.  I love the regency period when men were gentlemen and women were ladies, in the drawing room.   Subtle, and full of innuendo, I like something left to my own imagination. And Julia London delivers!  Now I landed an interview with one of my favorites.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please provide a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….) Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

JL. This is my current office, however I’ve just invested in a treadmill desk and am about to change the London.3way I spend my day, as in upright and not hunched over. But where is that sucker going to go? I haven’t figured that out yet.

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.)

JL. I can’t sit down and write until I’ve exercised in some way. I have a variety of activities to start the day: either taking my dog out for a jog (rather, he trots happily along, while I wheeze through a jog), yoga, biking or Pilates. It clears my head and gets the creative juices flowing. I’ve worked out a lot of plots while sweating profusely.

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

JL. I majored in political science with an emphasis on Middle Eastern Studies. Mainly because I paid my own way through college with a patchwork of jobs and scholarships. The best was a National Defense Education Act scholarship for which all I had to do was study a critical language for three years. The deal was that if the country needed your language skills within some specified time frame after graduation, they could call on you. So I studied Arabic (I know, right?) and took some classes in Middle Eastern religion, economics, and culture. I should point out that I have forgotten most of it. As it turned out, there wasn’t a big call for that expertise. Continue reading “Interview with Julia London, best selling author of Regency Romances”

When A Story Takes You by the Throat!

Women Outside the WallsHow do writers find their stories??  This one came to me as I sat, one Sunday morning, in the waiting area of a state prison. I was there to interview a convicted murderer for a play I was writing(Cook County Justice) about his case. I found myself sitting with many other women;  wives, sisters, daughters, grandmothers.  We all had one thing in common; we were there to visit a man behind bars and all of our shoe laces were untied. (They search you.)

Was I nervous?  Scared?  YES!  I’d never been in a prison before and I was about to enter a visiting room filled with convicted murderers, rapists, thieves and drug dealers.  The one thing these men had in common was they were someone’s son, husband, and father.

I have often advised new writers to write about what they know.  I did not follow my own advice.  These women had such an impact on me…..figuratively taking me by the throat and insisting that I tell their story.  So I did….with research, research, and more research.

This story is told by three diverse women married to men who made a bad decision. Continue reading “When A Story Takes You by the Throat!”

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 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.

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”