Posts Tagged ‘author interview’

 

 

Cold Case Detective Katie Scott must balance her work and private life, while tracking down a sadistic serial killer in the aftermath of her fiancé who went missing without a trace.

 

Title: Her Dying Kiss

Author: Jennifer Chase

Publication Date: July 17, 2023

Pages: 370

Genre: Crime Thriller



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She wakes to the dawn light streaming through the window and rolls over to
whisper good morning to her fiancé. But panic floods her veins. His side
of the bed is empty and cold. Blood trails towards the open door. All
trace of him is gone…

It’s been one month since Detective Katie Scott’s fiancé, Chad, went missing
without a trace. Devastated Katie is still working tirelessly day and
night to track down the love of her life, barely sleeping and chasing
every new lead. But now the case has gone cold.

When the body of beautiful Gina Hartfield is discovered among the pine
needles in a clearing on Lookout Ridge, Katie swallows her own pain and
knows she must focus on finding Gina’s killer. The young woman was found
with a pink velvet blindfold shading the hollows where her eyes had
been removed. Katie is certain she is chasing a sadistic individual who
will soon take another life…

But the autopsy reveals Gina’s body was washed before being abandoned,
leaving no trace of evidence behind. And with no witnesses to Gina’s
disappearance, the women of Pine Valley are terrified to go out alone.

Desperately combing the crime scene, when Katie sees a newspaper article about her
previous cases pinned to a nearby tree, she is certain Gina’s murder is
personal. Then tire tracks found in the forest are matched to a truck
seen following Chad in the days leading up to his disappearance. Katie’s
blood runs cold.

Is there a link between Chad’s disappearance and Gina’s brutal murder, or
is the killer playing a twisted game with Katie? Can she find out the
truth before they take another life?

Here’s what critics are saying about Her Dying Kiss!

“I couldn’t put it down… action-packed with excellent plot twists… I had
no idea what was coming next… so gripped with many twists and turns.”
Goodreads reviewer

“Excellent, nail-biting thriller with a plot that’s had me enthralled from page
one… I’ve been gripped through each twist and turn… jaw-dropping and
totally unexpected… brilliant.”
NetGalley reviewer

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookouture

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Interview With Author Jennifer Chase

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I’m dying to find out all about your new book, Her Dying Kiss: Detective Katie Scott Book 10! Can you tell us about the main characters?

Detective Katie Scott is a force to be reckoned with heading up the cold case unit for the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department. She is tough, tenacious, and is an Army veteran who worked two tours in Afghanistan as part of a K9 Explosives team with her partner Cisco, a black German shepherd.

Katie’s partner, Detective Sean McGaven, is a techie with a cool head balancing the duo along with his doggedness and strength. Her uncle is Sheriff Wayne Scott, which makes cases more difficult at times but they’re working it out. Her handsome fire inspector fiancé and childhood love, Chad Ferguson, compliments her life.

Katie Scott sounds like a kick a** character! If you can think back to when you came up with her character, were there any real life influences that helped shape her character?

Katie Scott is definitely a no nonsense kick a** character! I wanted to have a detective with a military background with her military K9 that struggles with post-traumatic stress. I’ve had some personal struggles that helped me to create her. For as strong as she is—she has flaws and battles with bringing home difficulties from the Army. It has been a challenge and whole lot of fun putting this character in all types of situations while hunting down killers.

Since this book is book 10 in the Detective Katie Scott series, do you have an idea on how many books will be in the series or is it too early to tell?

I’m not sure how many books there will eventually be—as of today, there are 13 books scheduled. But one thing is for sure, there are so many stories that I can write about for Detective Katie Scott. It’s up to the readers and publisher for now.

I know you get this asked many times, but why crime fiction?

Why not crime fiction? It’s my favorite genre. Any story that revolves around action, suspense, mystery, and thrills is my kind of book and it’s incredibly fun to write.

Do you have a “real” job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life?

I have written full-time for the past ten years. Before, I was an accountant that worked in the corporate world. Now I have you thinking!

Does a big ego help or hurt an author?

A big ego doesn’t help much. It’s so important to stay grounded and humble in this field, working to improve your craft, growing as a writer, and enjoying yourself in the process.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

That’s easy. It would be my two German shepherds that are right by my side when I write.

What advice would you give a writer working on their first book?

There’s a lot of advice out there, but write what you love and not what someone tells you that you should write. And most of all… don’t give up if you get discouraged. Write. Write. And keep writing.

What would you like to say to your readers and fans?

I wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do without readers and fans. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I personally think that I have the best readers!

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Book Excerpt  

 

Chapter One

One Month Later

Tuesday 1130 hours

There was a dead body, which was the focus of the synchronized police search. A deceased woman had been found by the utility company during their routine check and maintenance of the meters along the roadway. The body was efficiently wrapped in a large piece of dark brown burlap that had been rolled several times leaving only her head exposed. If not looking closely you would misinterpret the body dump for some type of discarded rug.

The victim was a brunette woman with long, perfectly combed hair with the strands resting on the burlap. At first, it seemed she was relaxed and had merely gone to sleep when, in fact, there were pink velvet pieces of fabric covering her eyes, as if shading her view of something.

John Blackburn, Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department’s forensic supervisor, kneeled down and carefully lifted one of the pieces of velvet, revealing the dark empty socket the eyeball had once occupied. The eye had been cleanly detached. It gave the body a more macabre appearance than the usual fixed eye stares of the dead.

John’s face was deeply sad and his mouth was turned down as he prepared to take a few more photos to document the scene before the medical examiner’s office took possession.

He carefully circled the body, taking the appropriate photographs—overall, medium range, then close-up—before collecting any evidence he could find. The young woman looked to be resting as the late afternoon sunshine cast down on her face. Her complexion, pale and ashen, appeared to be scrubbed clean, giving her a waxy doll-like exterior. There were no evident signs of makeup, dirt or blood on her face.

The south district area of Pine Valley was known for several warehouses that had been empty now for more than six months after a manufacturing company had vacated to a newer and more modern facility in an adjacent town. The front area to the one where the body had been found was overgrown, the weeds a few feet tall and garbage strewn around from where it had fallen out of an overturned, rusted-out dumpster. The dreary grey building looked more like emergency bunkers from a long time ago than a plant that had recently manufactured automotive parts.

Parked along the cracked driveway leading to the loading docks were several police cruisers, county vehicles and the forensic van. The main area of interest was near one of the loading bays. There were numerous cones and flags around, marking various pieces of evidence for photography documentation. The emergency personnel monitored the area and were conducting grid searches and making sure that no one was in or around the area that wasn’t supposed to be there, in addition to searching for more potential evidence. Everyone moved with precision and unity for the common goal of maintaining the crime scene.

“What do you think, John?” asked Detective McGaven. His towering height made him noticeable from a distance. His badge and gun were attached to his belt. “Is it the same as the other at Lookout Ridge?”

John walked up to the detective and nodded slowly. “We won’t know for sure until the body is unrolled and examined under controlled conditions, and I can run some tests… but, the signature appears to be similar if not the same, with the removed eyes.”

McGaven scratched his head, still observing the latest victim. His thoughts returned to his partner, Detective Katie Scott, and how he wished she were there examining the crime scene. Her perspective, instincts, and experience over the past year and half had been more than exemplary—her methods sometimes bordering on unorthodox, but always getting results. He had left several messages for her in hopes that she would open communications and ultimately return to work. His expression was solemn. It was as if a part of him was missing without her. He wanted to go to her house, but respected her need for privacy at this difficult time.

“Wish Katie was here?” said John watching the detective closely.

McGaven looked at the forensic supervisor and nodded. “How’d you know?”

“I feel it too. It seems strange not having her here.” He gazed around the area as if he expected to see Katie appear.

“Anything new with this scene?”

John shook his head. “Not that I can see right now. But we’ll know more soon.”

McGaven was disappointed, but knew that John would do everything he could to find any evidence. The last thing the detective wanted was for these homicides to go cold. He turned away and saw Detective Hamilton speaking with the utility workers. It wasn’t his optimum partnership, but he respected the detective and would overlook personality differences to make it work. “Thanks, John,” he said as he walked away, moving carefully around the area, looking for possible entrances and exit locations of the killer.

A young blonde woman with short hair was bent over taking a tire impression with a type of dental stone, waiting for it to harden. She looked up when McGaven approached. “Hi, Detective,” she said and smiled.

“How’s it going, Eva?”

“Good. This is my third impression. Two were consistent to each other and this one is different and definitely older. It’s probably not the killer’s, but John said we needed to be thorough.”

McGaven nodded. “I agree. If this crime scene is connected to the other one at Lookout Ridge, then we need the evidence to tie them together.”

“Ten-four,” she said and continued her task.

McGaven saw that Hamilton was speaking with the officers first on the scene so he took the opportunity to check out around the building. Everything was extremely overgrown, looking more as though it had been abandoned for years, not months. The weeds were extremely tall and had folded over due to their height and weight. There was an area where pallets, recyclable materials, and miscellaneous pieces of metal equipment had been stacked in the deserted area.

Still walking carefully, he was trying not to step on something potentially hazardous or possibly evidence-oriented. The further he walked the quieter it became—the voices around the crime scene seemed to settle to a low hum as he studied the back area. The sun was high and beat down on him making perspiration trickle down his back. He kept walking, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. He thought about what Katie would do—he had been with her at many crime scenes and knew she would try to get a sense of the area, to look for places where the killer might have been.

The back of the building looked much like the front except more weather-beaten. The grey paint faded in areas and the windows on the second floor were dirty with some broken out. He observed the inconsistencies of the exterior of the building. Even though there wasn’t any graffiti to deface the area, the elements had caused rough and weathered places resembling an industrial mosaic appearance.

As he perused the area, he noticed a trail where weeds had been trampled, not by animals, but by something bigger. A person. Stopping in his tracks, he systematically scanned the area. There were no other signs indicating disruption to the weeds, so he cautiously moved forward. He spotted some paper or a piece of garbage rolled up tightly and wedged into the crevice of an exterior vent. It could have been easily missed or even dismissed, but something in McGaven’s gut made him take notice. He was going to alert John and Eva in order to have them search and document the area, but his instinct drove him to verify the origins of the paper first after quickly taking a photo of it with his cell phone.

Taking two more steps to meet up with the wall, he retrieved his gloves and slipped them on, and then carefully touched the paper. Leaning in, McGaven noticed that it appeared to be consistent to ordinary computer paper that had something printed on it. It wasn’t weathered and the printing was dark and readable. In fact, the paper appeared to be recent.

McGaven gently unrolled the paper. The condition and edges were as if it had been placed recently – there were no folds or fragile areas. As he continued to unroll it, he saw it was an article most likely printed from the internet. To his shock, the title read: Pine Valley Detectives Solve Three Murders in Coldwater Creek.

McGaven took a step back—his senses were now heightened as he glanced around, surmising that the killer had placed this article for them to find.

Why?

Was it the killer’s calling card? Was he taunting the police?

Was there another article hidden at the previous crime scene at Lookout Ridge they had missed?

The article concerned the last case that he and Katie had worked in a neighboring town. All the details flowed through his mind. It had been tough and dangerous. He carefully replaced the paper where he had found it and hurried to alert John.

 

 

 

About the Author
 

 

Jennifer
Chase is a multi award-winning and USA Today Best Selling crime fiction
author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a
bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology
& criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her
curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience
with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal
investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds
certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling.

Author Links  

Website | BookBub | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsored By:

 

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

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Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is a two volume series that examines the fight history throughout Godzilla’s film career.

 

 

Title: Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record Series

Author: Patrick Kelley

Publication Date: 

Pages: Volume 1 – 309, Volume 2 – 430

Genre: Nonfiction/Reference



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Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is
a two-volume series that provides a history of all the monster battles
throughout the Godzilla film series. After seven decades and almost
forty films, Godzilla has earned the title of King of the Monsters. The
Godzilla films have showcased the King’s legendary battles with
larger-than-life opponents like the three-headed King Ghidorah, the
winged guardian Mothra, his robotic doppelganger Mechagodzilla, and the
original giant monster star King Kong. The Monster Fight Record analyzes
these titanic battles to determine an informed and accurate win-loss
record for Godzilla and all of his monster co-stars. Fans of kaiju and
classic science fiction films will enjoy a trip down memory lane while
also getting a sports-style analysis of the monster battles, complete
with statistics and win percentages for each beast.

Buy Links:

Amazon Book 1 | Amazon Book 2 | Barnes & Noble

 

Book Excerpt  

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Why Godzilla?

What images come to mind when you think of your favorite childhood movies? Some of you might recall specific moments and characters from the films you grew up with, but is your love of those movies so deeply entrenched that even the opening vanity logo is enough to elicit a rush of pure, nostalgic joy? Many adults my age might picture the simple white castle against the blue background and hear the comforting tune for “When You Wish Upon a Star” swell up before the words “Walt Disney Pictures” are revealed. While I do seem like a contrarian from time to time, I must admit that it is hard not to get swept up in the magic of seeing that classic vanity card. Disney’s logo began many childhood journeys of wonder, comedy, and fantasy for me. However, there is another cinematic logo I place above it. This logo holds a special place in my heart that not even the Walt Disney Company could ever occupy. 

東宝: Imagine those characters surrounded by a bold white circle illuminated by a bright spectrum of colorful rays of light against a predominantly blue backdrop. It was the emblem of Toho Company, Ltd., and seeing that logo prepared me for what I was going to witness: bizarre, larger-than-life creatures; giant irradiated dinosaurs rising from the ocean depths; alien cyborgs coming to invade the Earth; multiheaded flying dragons raining down lightning bolts from the skies; and powerful gods and goddesses of ancient myth carrying out their age-old rivalries in a world unprepared to handle them. I was about to see monsters! Best of all, there was a great chance I was about to see another adventure starring the greatest of them all, Godzilla, the King of the Monsters.  

Before continuing, I should point out that Toho isn’t limited to producing monster movies. Over the years, the studio made comedies, romances, and historical dramas, including some from famed director Akira Kurosawa. However, I can’t help but think of Godzilla as the icon of the studio, like Mickey Mouse is for Disney. My love for the Godzilla character, series, and franchise transformed into a near-lifelong hobby. Some of the most cherished moments of my childhood revolved around discovering, watching, and rewatching the King’s classic movies. 

It was not always easy having Godzilla as a passion. Being an American fan before the age of the internet meant that finding all those movies was hard to accomplish. Whether scouring through TV Guides or going through the shelves of old local video stores, my self-imposed scavenger hunt was exhausting at times. However, the search yielded its rewards more often than not.

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Interview with Author Patrick Kelly:

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When did you come up with the idea to write your book?

As a lifelong Godzilla fan, the idea of a win/loss record for the King of the Monsters is something I thought about for decades. As mentioned in Volume I, I came across documented fight records from various sources, but I never fully agreed with the results. However, I never documented my own record until the COVID lockdowns of 2020. At the time, I was single, living alone, and unable to go anywhere. Fortunately, I was able to telework during this time, so at least I had my job. However, as the weeks continued on, I became more and more bored and frustrated with the situation. I have been an introvert for as long as I can remember, but even I was feeling cooped up and anxious about it after a while. I guess it is true what they say: You can have too much of a good thing.

One way I tried to pass all my newfound free time was by rewatching the old Godzilla films. As I watched the films again, the idea of documenting my own win-loss record came to mind. I thought about going beyond what was shown in past records and thought about developing a full methodology for recording wins and losses for Godzilla and the many monsters that inhabit his series of films. After a while, it got so big that I thought “Maybe I should publish this” and so I did.

Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I self-published. Good old Amazon made the process mostly simple.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Absolutely. It is important to catch the eyes of potential readers and a cover helps with that. I can’t tell you how many times I was in a bookstore or a store looking to buy a video game, and it was the cover that got me to at least give it a look.

How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

As a first time author, I was woefully unprepared for the entire process. Every time I felt like I made progress, there was some other aspect to getting to publication that demanded my attention. For example, it never dawned on me to have a foreword for the book. Because I was handling this whole project myself, every new development came as a surprise. Once I decided I needed a foreword, I thought “How do I even ask someone to write a foreword?” I made a list of candidates, narrowed it down, and sent out three requests to three different people hoping that at least one of them would reply. Well, imagine my surprise when all three of them replied and were enthusiastic about writing the foreword! I ended up using all three of them. I greatly appreciate Barry Goldberg, John Lemay, and James Rolfe all contributing to this project.

Because my books are closely tied to a lifelong hobby of mine, I found it difficult to maintain a balance between making the book enjoyable for fans without alienating the uninitiated. To keep that balance, I had to break some habits. For example, one of the monsters is named Moguera, and the 90s version of that monster is a robot whose name is an acronym, so its written out as MOGUERA. Because I’m a fan, I’ve used both Moguera and MOGUERA almost interchangeably without even really thinking about it. However, the question of how to write Moguera/MOGUERA’s name came up during the editing process because I used both. To fans, they would think nothing of it, but readers unfamiliar with the series were bound to be confused by it. This type of issue also came up due to a problem with my covers. Volume I is listed as covering 1954-1975 and Volume II covers 1984-2021. Most fans would look at that and not question anything because all Godzilla fans know there were no films between 1975 and 1984. However, I’ve been asked already on three separate occasions by non-fans why Volume II begins with 1984, and this is before they even cracked open the book. Ideally, I would have liked to go back and fix the covers to address this issue, but unfortunately, I was too far along to change it. I did not want to simplify things too much because I did want fans to enjoy my books and making it too comfortable for non-fans would have frustrated them. It was a balancing act that I strived to achieve.

My best advice to any aspiring writers is to be willing to accept criticism and always proofread! Editing is probably the single most important part of the process and I found that there is no such thing as proofreading too much. Also, do as much research as possible instead of jumping into it head first like I did.

What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

Right now, I am focusing on my family and my full-time job. I do have ideas for future books, including: continuations of the Monster Fight Record to include the rest of the King Kong films and Gamera films; a book comparing the original Japanese versions of the Godzilla films to their American edits; and a fan’s perspective on the history of WrestleMania!

I think any one of those books would be fun to tackle, but nothing is set into motion at the moment.

What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

The first draft of the manuscript was one volume and over a 1000 pages long! Thankfully, I was able to trim it down and split it into two books to make the information more digestible.

Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?

My biggest message is that Godzilla is fun. My books only cover one aspect of his everlasting appeal.

Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

SKREEONK!!! (look it up)

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About the Author
 

 

Patrick
Kelley was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is a
lifelong monster movie fan. He spent his childhood becoming familiar
with the classics like Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, King Kong,
the works of Ray Harryhausen, and of course his favorite, Godzilla. His
many other hobbies include sports (particularly Football), movies, and
television, but when he’s not indulging in those activities, he enjoys
spending time with his lovely wife and newborn daughter.

Visit Patrick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickgbook.

 

 

 

 

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Welcome to my stop during the book blitz for Burning Secret by R J Lloyd. Burning Secret blurs the line between fact and fiction, a retelling of the extraordinary life of Harry Mason – deceit, violence, power and wealth.

This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours and the tour runs from 25 till 31 March. You can see the tour schedule here.

Limited time discount!
For a limited time Burning Secret is only 99 cents! You can grab your copy here.

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Burning Secret

By R J Lloyd

 

Genre: Historical Fiction
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 28 June 2022

 

Synopsis

Burning Secret is a dramatic and compelling tale of ambition, lies, and betrayal inspired by actual events.

Born in the slums of Bristol in 1844, Enoch Price seems destined for a life of poverty and hardship—but he’s determined not to accept his lot.

Enoch becomes a bare-knuckle fighter in London’s criminal underworld. But in a city where there’s no place for honest dealing, he is cheated by a cruel loan shark, leaving him penniless and facing imprisonment.

Undaunted, he escapes to a new life in America and embarks on a series of audacious exploits. But even as he helps shape history, Enoch is not content. Tormented by his past and the life he left behind, he soon becomes entangled in a web of lies and secrets.

Will he ever break free and find the happiness he craves?

• • • • •

Influenced by real people and events, Enoch’s remarkable story is one of adventure, daring, political power and, in the end, his search for redemption.

Links:
Goodreads
Bookbub
Amazon
Amazon UK
B&N
Kobo
Books2Read

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Interview with Author RJ Lloyd

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Tell us about your book:

Burning Secret – It’s a true story. Well, almost, at least in my imagination. Burning Secret blurs the lines between fact and fiction as it reconstructs the real-life of Harry Mason, and is a story that many of us can relate to in our own families. It begins with Enoch Price, my great-great-grandfather, being born into the poverty of the Bristol slums of 1844, but he was determined not to follow his father to a brutal and early death.

An ambitious youth, Enoch becomes a bare-knuckle fighter amongst London’s underworld. But when misfortune befalls him and, facing ruin and imprisonment, he abandons his wife and daughters and flees to Florida. It’s here that Enoch becomes Harry Mason.

An opportunist by nature, Harry embarks on a series of risky escapades, playing an important role in the development and history of Jacksonville, building an extraordinary new life of wealth and power.

Enjoying popular success, Harry is elected to the city council and, in 1903, to the Florida State House of Representatives with the prospect of becoming State Governor. However, success brings neither happiness nor contentment. Seeking redemption for his many misdeeds, Harry plans to return home – but life is rarely that simple, especially as Harry harbours a secret that burns deep inside him.

I think the story operates on several levels; as a fast-paced thriller with plenty of derring-do, a morality tale of good vs greed, and how life can easily corrupt the pursuit of happiness.

 

In a nutshell, tell us what your readers should know about you: 

After retiring as a senior police officer, I turned my detective skills to genealogy, tracing my family history to the 16th century. However, after 15 years of extensive research, I couldn’t track down my great-great-grandfather, Enoch Price, whose wife, Eliza, had, in living memory, helped raise my mother.

It was my cousin Gillian who, after several more dead-ends, called one day to say that she had found him through a fluke encounter. Susan Sperry from California, who had recently retired, decided to explore the box of documents given to her thirty years before by her mother, which she had never opened. In the box, she found some references to her great grandfather, Harry Mason, a wealthy hotel owner from Florida who had died in 1919. It soon transpired that Susan’s great grandfather, Harry Mason, was, in fact, Enoch Price. From this single thread, the extraordinary story of Harry Mason began to unravel, leading me to visit the States to meet my American cousins, and it was Susan Sperry and Kimberly Mason, direct descendants, who persuaded me to write the book.

I graduated from Warwick with a joint in Philosophy and Psychology and a Masters in Marketing from UWE. Since leaving a thirty-year career in policing, I’ve been a non-executive director with the NHS, social housing, and other charities. I live with my wife in Bristol, spending my time travelling, writing and producing delicious plum jam from the trees on my award-winning allotment.

 

What topic or subject have you found it most challenging to write about?

I found the main character’s most inner thoughts and tormented emotions in Burning Secret were the most challenging. Describing the objective world of sights and sounds pose challenges, but conveying the emotions and heartache concealed deep inside, where often there are no overt behaviours, is made doubly worse by the writer’s advice of ‘show don’t tell.’

In my book, the main character must maintain a double life while burdened by the guilt that tortures him. Finding the words to describe his feelings as he struggles to resolve his dilemma was not easy, but these feelings play an important role in shedding light on the motives for what he has done.

 

What would you like to achieve with the publication of your book?

At the very least, I’d like to inspire others to wonder about their family history. Tracing ancestors has never been more popular or accessible, and what if these lost relatives turn out to be far more intriguing or extraordinary than one might have ever guessed – fact stranger than fiction?

Throughout my professional life, I’ve written; evidence to put before the courts and then, more latterly, reports to various statutory bodies seeking additional funding. You soon find out if your product is any good by the outcomes. So now I want to know if my novel and storytelling have merit, and it’ll be the readers who will decide through their reviews, recommendations and book sales.

 

What do you most enjoy about writing?

My first passion is gardening. There is so much pleasure when the blooms are in full blush during the warmth of a summer’s afternoon, and the vegetables swell and flourish. But this pleasure doesn’t come without pain and disappointments, and not everything you plant will grow or be good enough to reach the judges’ show table.

And perhaps writing is similar. Writing is not always enjoyable. Sometimes it can be frustrating, tedious and difficult when the ideas won’t fly, or the words won’t join into sentences. But like gardening, it’s creative. You create your version of the world, sharing your views and opinions with others and, like any conversation or standing on the box at Speaker’s Corner, not everyone will like what you have to say – but at least you’ve said it.

No two gardens are the same, which is true of authors and books, but the pride and joy of creating is.

 

How have you found your journey to publication?

Burning Secret arose from a conversation in 2012 with my two American cousins, Susan and Kimberley, who encouraged me to tell the extraordinary story of our shared ancestor, Harry Mason. It’s a massive disappointment that neither are with us today to witness its publication. And, as you’ll see, I’ve dedicated the book to their memory.

After many attempts at navigating the labyrinth of the query system, I realised that literary agents and publishers didn’t see me as a commercial prospect. At 70 years of age, I couldn’t waste time going down the traditional route. It wasn’t a career as an author I wanted; it was to fulfil a promise I’d made to Susan and Kim.

So, after reading an inspirational article by the best selling self-published author, Paige Weaver (Promise me darkness) and discovering that in 2017, over one million books were published in the United States, and two-thirds of them were self-published, the way forward was clear – and Matador, an imprint of Troubadour, was the obvious choice.

I liked the open and responsive team at Matador, who put me at the centre of decision-making and worked hard to meet their authors’ expectations to produce a book indistinguishable from a traditional publisher.

 

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Well, I’m going to dodge this question. There’s never one piece of advice and too many what-ifs in life. I have one huge regret for not asking my parents about their lives and the history they lived through; two world wars, the Great Depression, rationing, the swinging sixties, and the roaring twenties. None of which they ever spoke about.

 

What do you think makes a good story?

This is the million-dollar question. There are plenty of creative writing courses that list the essentials of a good story. Some say there are three key elements, while others list ten; structure, character, plot, tension, and so on. I tend to go with the W. Somerset Maugham school of thought, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

But more seriously, a story that grabs and holds my interest must be authentic, relevant, and real to my experiences and imagination. Most of which depends on the storytelling and the flow of the language. I’m impatient, so a plot must race along to keep me turning the pages, and I want a main character that I can keep rooting for, even if they’re a bit iffy. And I like a book that keeps me thinking long after I’ve come to its end.

 

Do you have any tips for other budding authors?

Tell your story in your own voice, write from the heart and persevere, despite the naysayers – of which there will be many. Writing can sometimes be a slog, but you’ve got to keep going. If you’re going to publish, then invest in a good cover and quality production. Money spent on editing and proofreading is never wasted. There’s little point in going through the wringer to publish if no one is going to read it, so give it your best shot with marketing, and these days that means social media. Marketing is enormously important, but it’s tough, and most writers I meet wince at having to traipse around selling their cherished work. Still, the sad truth is, no one else is going to do it for you, not even in traditional publishing – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

 

Do you have a set writing routine and where do you like to write?

I’d like to tell you I write on my verandah overlooking the tropical Caribbean Sea, like Fleming at Goldeneye or Hemingway at his Lookout Farm in Cuba, but I can’t. I write from a small bedroom office.

One thing I like to do is to have a routine. My background, I suppose, has instilled the need to plan and schedule. Most of my productive writing occurs between 8 am and midday, but that’s not when I do my best thinking. That’s during the afternoons pottering in the garden or on the allotment. But clarity of thought, when all the ideas gel together, seems to arrive just as I’m about to nod off to sleep. And from bitter experience, I’ve learnt that I must wake myself and make notes because, by morning, every recollection will have deserted me.

 

Whats next in the writing pipeline for you?

I’m currently working on a couple of projects. The first is about another one of my close ancestors, Frederick Henry Seddon, who was hanged at HMP Pentonville for murder in 1912. His story has been told before, but never, as far as I know, from the family’s perspective. Another project involves a recently discovered family connection with two brothers, Peter and Veniamin Timkov, from the Russian village of Mukhouderovka, where Stalin’s secret police executed them both.

 

Is there anything else youd like to add?

When one starts writing, it’s difficult to identify yourself as an author. But you only have to look at Twitter or Facebook to see how social media has democratised writing and has given a voice to so many aspiring authors – so please, have a go.

I’ve learnt such a lot from being involved in the process of publication. Next time I’ll be much better prepared, thinking about the title and book cover long before writing the opening paragraph.

I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone at Matador for their hard work and tremendous talent, and patience in bringing Burning Secret to the market.

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About Author RJ Lloyd:

 

R J Lloyd author picture

Roger is the great-great-grandson of the main character, Enoch Price. A former senior police officer and detective, he has used his investigative skills to fashion this dramatised account of his ancestor’s extraordinary life. Fifteen years of genealogical research and interviews support the various factual strands of this pacy novel.

Roger graduated from both Warwick and UWE and has been a non-executive director with the NHS, social housing, and other charities.

He is retired and lives in Bristol with his wife. He travels, writes and produces delicious plum jam from the trees on his award-winning allotment.

Author links:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

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Book Details:

Book Title:  PAPERBOY (A Dylan Tomassi Novel) by Dan Romanello
CategoryAdult Fiction (18+), 332 pages
GenreComing of Age Contemporary Thriller
Publisher: Sanitas Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: August, 2022.
Content Rating: R: A series of explicit sex scenes, minimal bad language and drug use are utilized for character and plot development.

Book Description:

Abandoned by his father as an infant and raised by a single mother among the wealthy and privileged in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Dylan Tomassi grew up poor. As a boy he is befriended by a mysteriously reclusive widow he meets on his paper route. She mentors him with sage advice on matters facing a young man growing up without a father. She never pays for her newspapers, and he never asks for the money because of all the good advice she dispenses. When she finally does square up, it changes his life forever.

Dylan relocates to Florida and becomes a successful private investor, wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. His newfound socioeconomic status introduces him into the upper echelon of Florida society where he finds many things going on in the world simply don’t make sense. With the help of his old friend and mentor, he navigates life in a turbulent modern-day society and vows to use his wealth to make a difference when he’s not sidetracked running into nefarious characters or busy keeping his best friend, wealthy playboy Alex Malloy, out of hot water. With corruption, debauchery, deception, and murder swirling around him, Dylan proves nice guys can finish first.

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Interview with Author Dan Romanello:
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Were any of the characters in PAPERBOY based upon real life people you have known?

The short answer is no. All the characters were derived from my wildly vivid imagination, although some of the book’s villains share characteristics with people you may be reminded of and that was done intentionally as part of the extrapolation feature of the writing.

Are you sure Dylan Tomassi is not based on you?

That’s probably the most frequent question I get from readers, and the answer is a resounding no. Dylan is tall, handsome, smart, and extremely well-grounded. He came from a hardscrabble background and became incredibly wealthy and successful. Along his journey, he is guided by an unrelenting work ethic and strong moral compass and his somewhat naïve outlook allows him to view the ways of the world through an apolitical perspective of common sense and reasonableness. He’s almost too good to be true, and I am far from that.

Is there anything that you and Dylan have in common?

We both grew up in Connecticut, had paper routes, and relocated to Florida after graduating from college. We also both enjoy sports and fitness. The similarities pretty much end there.

The central characters in the book, Dylan, Alex Malloy and Esther Lott are all very different but equally likeable and relatable. How did you go about creating such awesome characters?

My primary objective in writing the book is to entertain readers and provide them with an escape. When I read fiction, particularly a series, I am always drawn to books where I develop an affinity for the recurring characters, and so I tried to do the same. Additionally, the three you mentioned all play very different roles in the story and their personalities and character lend credibility to the situations they find themselves in.

At times the book goes into terrific detail on the background of various subjects, including the college sports recruiting process, the state of the newspaper industry, and the criminal justice system. Where do you get that information and is it all fact based?

Regarding the subjects you mentioned, it’s no coincidence that I have, at various times in my life, coached college athletics, worked in the newspaper industry, and served as an assistant state attorney. So much of the detail regarding the inner workings is drawn from real life experience. The story lines themselves are fictional, but I do try to be factually accurate when describing the fundamentals of the various institutions.  

What can we expect to see from Dylan in the future?

You won’t have to wait much longer. He will be back soon in the second book in the series, BLINDSIDED JUSTICE. As of now, no release date is set, but it will be sometime in the spring. For a preview, you can go to my website at authordanromanello.com.

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Meet the Authors:

DAN ROMANELLO began his career working for a large Florida newspaper before attending law school at the University of Florida. After serving as an assistant state attorney, he entered private practice where he spent more than 20 years as a civil trial lawyer litigating cases in courtrooms throughout Florida. He retired from the active practice of law in 2017 and, before writing PAPERBOY, spent four years coaching college athletics. He lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

connect with the authors: website ~facebook ~ twitter ~ bookbub ~ goodreads

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Lethal Assumptions

The C.o.P. on the Scene Mysteries Book 1

by Kassandra Lamb

Genre: Crime Mystery

Judith Anderson’s no-nonsense attitude and confidence served her well in her climb to homicide lieutenant in the Baltimore County PD, but that confidence is shaken when she finds herself one step behind a serial killer—just eight days into her new job as Chief of Police in a small Florida city.

The first victim, a female college student, may be a case of wrong place, wrong time. But the bodies keep coming, with a mishmash of MOs, and the murders may be linked to various cases in nearby Jacksonville.

While Judith assumed the CoP job would be challenging, she’s finding it harder than she imagined to establish her authority without alienating and be more hands-on without micro-managing. Plus, evidence is stacking up that there’s a leak in her department.

Who can she trust? If she makes the wrong assumption, the wrong decision, it may be her last. In a race to save lives, she’ll draw on every talent and instinct that made her a star in Baltimore. But will it be enough this time?

Fans of JA Jance’s Sheriff Joanna Brady and JD Robb’s Eve Dallas will love this new female cop on the scene!

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Check out the related series here where Judith from Lethal Assumptions makes her first appearance in Police Protection!

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An Interview with Kassandra Lamb, Author of the New Series, A C.o.P. on the Scene Mysteries

 

Welcome, Kassandra! First I’ve got to ask, what does the name of the series mean?

 

I debated long and hard about that, and asked for input from the other authors at misterio press.

 

I very much wanted to convey that this was a police procedural series. At first, I’d considered calling them police thrillers, but that implies a really, really rapid pace. The stories are definitely fast-paced, but they are also character-driven, so maybe not quite thriller pace.

 

The protagonist is a homicide lieutenant from Baltimore who takes a job as Chief of Police in a small Florida city. One of her reasons for making the move is that she’s tired of riding a desk. She figures that, in a small department, she can be more hands-on, i.e., go to the scenes of major crimes.

 

So C.o.P. means Chief of Police, but actually spells out the word cop. That, plus “on the Scene” seemed to best convey the theme of the series.

 

What inspired you to write this particular series?

 

Bottom line, I bore easily. I like a lot of variety in my life and in my writing.

 

Well, except for men… let me take a moment to reassure my husband of 45 years about that exception.

 

But in most things, I like variety. I’m an avid mystery reader, as well as a writer in that genre. So I love to explore the various subgenres of mysteries.

 

My first series, the Kate Huntington Mysteries, were traditional whodunnits with an amateur sleuth. But I had one book in that series that was more like a cozy and one that was definitely a thriller, complete with a ticking clock.

 

My second series, the Marcia Banks and Buddy Mysteries, are cozies (not quite finished that series).

 

So I felt the urge to try something different—police procedurals!

 

Tell us more about your main character in this series. Is she at all like you?

 

Heavens no! The main character that is most like me is Kate Huntington, in the first series. But even she is more patient and more consistently caring than I am. I like to think of her as my better self.

 

The protagonist in this new series, Judith Anderson, was a secondary character in the Kate books. She was the police detective who sometimes helped amateur sleuth Kate and sometimes was at odds with her.

 

Also, Kate is a psychotherapist, so at times Judith called on her as a consultant.

 

And in the new series, Judith occasionally calls Kate up from Florida, to pick her brain about cases.

 

Why is your first series set in Maryland, and the other two in Florida?

 

When I started writing the Kate Huntington Mysteries, I still lived in Maryland, where I grew up. But it wasn’t until my husband and I retired to Florida that I really had time to complete and polish the first few books in that series. So I set the rest of the series in Towson, Maryland as well, the county seat of Baltimore County, the county where I lived as a child and young adult.

 

Towson holds a special place in my heart because that is where I first taught psychology, at Towson University. That was my all-time favorite job. I loved the folks in the psych department, and I loved teaching there.

 

But I love living in Florida now. I started the second series after we moved there, so it seemed natural to set it in Florida. Also, it’s a lot easier to explore places where I want to have certain events happen when I live close by.

 

As for this new series, in Police Protection, the last book in the Kate series, Judith Anderson plays a key role, and she is getting a little fed up with the bureaucracy and politics of a big police department.

 

So I decided to move her to Florida, to a small force where she’s in charge. And after living in north central Florida for 17 years, I now know that area as well as I once knew Towson.

 

What are your plans for this new series?

 

With my first two series, with amateur sleuths, it was challenging to come up with plausible reasons why they would keep getting involved in murder investigations.

 

Well, the really cool thing about a police procedural series is that you don’t have to explain why the protagonist keeps tripping over dead bodies. So Judith will have a major homicide case every few months—as fast as I can write the stories!

 

Thanks, Kassandra, for meeting with me today. Best of luck with your new series.

 

Thank you for having me!

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The Kate Huntington Mystery Series

Start reading the series for FREE!

Amazon Series Page

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In her youth, Kassandra Lamb had two great passions—psychology and writing. Advised that writers need day jobs—and being partial to eating—she studied psychology. Her career as a psychotherapist and college professor taught her much about the dark side of human nature, but also much about resilience, perseverance, and the healing power of laughter. Now retired, she spends most of her time in an alternate universe populated by her fictional characters. The portal to this universe (aka her computer) is located in North Central Florida where her husband and dog catch occasional glimpses of her.

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Title: MISCHIEF & MAYHEM
by L.E. Rico
Pub. Date: July 9, 2018
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Bliss)
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 315
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksKobo

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Synopsis

Welcome to Mayhem, Minnesota, home of the Knitty Kitty, The Little Slice of Heaven Pie Shop, and O’Halloran’s Pub—owned by the four young women known as The Whiskey Sisters.

In the wake of her divorce, Jameson O’Halloran has gone man-vegan. And this is one diet she’s determined to stick with. Even when her long-lost ex-brother-in-law shows up looking like two scoops of double dutch dipped in chocolate… She’s not giving in. Been there and still wearing the messy T-shirt.

It’s been a decade since Scott Clarke left his family and his hometown, never to return. But when tragedy strikes, he finds himself dragged back to the land of gossip, judgment, and the one woman he absolutely, positively, without a doubt can never have. His brother’s ex is off-limits. He just needs to keep repeating that to himself until it sinks in.

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Check out the excerpt:

The shelf is a little too high for my short self, and I’m only able to brush the dishes with my fingertips.
“Oh, here, let me help you with that…”
Before I can object, he’s standing behind me, reaching over me to get the dishes. For a brief second, his front is pressed against my back. His broad, muscled, perfectly sculpted front. I feel a wave of unwelcome warmth beginning under my collar and creeping up my neck.
“Thanks…” I murmur awkwardly, keeping my back to him for a moment longer in an attempt to quash my blush.
“Okay. I’m just going to grab a shower before my brother gets here, if you don’t mind.”
“Nope. Not at all,” I say quickly. “You go right ahead.”
Once he disappears around the corner, I silently smack my palm to my forehead.
What was that, Jameson? Why the blush? He’s just your ex-husband’s brother, that’s all. This is insane. I’ve got to stop this childish behavior. No. More. Men. Remember? No thinking about men. No looking at men. No fantasizing about men.
Especially not that man!
I’m still shaking my head and silently berating myself when I hear him behind me.
“Hey, Jameson, do you happen to know if my dad keeps an extra toothbrush around? I dropped mine in the toilet and…”
I don’t hear the end of his sentence because, when I turn to face him, I suddenly can’t hear anything. I’m too entranced by the sight of him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.
Oh, crap, oh crap, oh crap… I am in so much trouble here. No men. No men. No men… I repeat the mantra over and over again in my head, but clearly the rest of my body isn’t getting the memo.

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Enjoy the Q&A With L.E. Rico

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How did you pick Minnesota to be the location of the Story?
L.E. (Lauren): My primary career is as a classical music radio DJ and when I was in my late twenties, I had the chance to work for a nationally syndicated service called Classical24—which happened to be based in St. Paul, MN. Even though I’d lived all over the east coast, I knew the Midwest was a whole other world, so I was pretty scared when I got there. But the Minnesotans welcomed me with open arms and helped me weather (pun totally intended) my first winters, buying and maintaining my first house and my ongoing struggle with depression. I had friends almost immediately and was totally enamored of the quirky, cool community around me. The polka mass at the local Catholic church, the obsession with hotdish, and the state fair—where everything is on a stick and Princess Kay of the Milky Way reigns supreme, were some of my favorites. Honestly, had I not met my husband and moved back to New York, I’d probably still be there now!

Was it always your intention with this book to do it about a sister and then two brothers?
L.E. (Lauren): Yes. We first see Jameson in book one, Blame it on the Bet and it’s clear that her marriage to Win is in trouble. Knowing that her book would be next, I was already concocting scenarios for her to find love after divorce and by having someone who’s been away for so long, I was able to use him to reintroduce the readers —who may or may not have read Blame it on the Bet—to the whacky town of Mayhem and its quirky residents. Plus, I knew it would make Win craaaazy! And that’s always a bonus :^)

Was it always your idea to have different issues like stroke, adoption, working in foreign countries a part of the story or it just came as the story flowed?
L.E. (Lauren): It all came as the story unraveled under my fingers. My characters often tell me what their stories are, believe it or not! I start off with a very basic idea of who they are and then the events just kind of unfold.

Adoption played into this story. Was that something you researched or did you know someone who went through that?
L.E. (Lauren): I have two uncles who were adopted—the youngest of whom is two years younger than me. He and I grew up more like brother and sister and we’re still very, very close today. And, while I didn’t purposely set out to write a story about adoption, it was easy to paint that kind of attitude that we were raised with—family is family is family, blood or not. In the case of my elder uncle, my grandparents had to fight for him when, mid-adoption, a “white” family was interested in taking him (my grandparents are Latino). Those were totally different times—even though it was just in 1961—and it was a battle but they never backed down. So this idea that Big Win and Marjorie would do whatever they had to do to adopt that child and keep him—and his identity—safe wasn’t foreign to me.

Was the county fair always part of your original story?
L.E. (Lauren): Ohhhhhh yeah… I’ve never seen anything like the Minnesota State fair. The food is all deep-fried and on a stick, the rides are amazing, there are people walking around in bee costumes for the honey judging. And, of course, there’s Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her royal court— the inspiration for my Princess Mary of Midwestern Dairy. They really do make a butter bust of her! How could I NOT include that?! Although, I have to admit that the float catastrophe was all mine.

Do you have a process that you come up with when you are choosing names and personalities of your characters?
L.E. (Lauren): I’ve run through most of the guy names I like so I sometimes use a name generator for help with that. I’ve got a ton of girl names, though. Sometimes I consult a baby names book. The personalities just kind of unfold as I write. I had a good idea of who Jameson, Win and Big Win were based on Blame it on the Bet. Scott was a mystery to me—I had to figure out what it was about him that kept him from coming home and confronting his past for a full decade. Oh, and then there’s little Jackson…God help us all. He was the most fun of all! I’m at a loss for what I’ll do with him as he gets older in the upcoming books!

Do you use daily events sometimes as your inspirations?
L.E. (Lauren): Oh, sure, all the time! The character of Bryan, Hennessy’s boyfriend, is basically me when I first moved to Minnesota. I was the fish out of water—especially when it came to things like winter preparedness and regional foods like lutefisk (yuck!) and cheese curds (yum!). But more than events it’s people I know who inspire my characters. Janet Lahti, the pie-making mystic is actually an aunt of mine. She’s a bit of a psychic and has had some really spooky occurrences over the years. Julie Freddino, aka The Knitty Kitty, is a girlfriend of mine who took up knitting and gave me a pussyhat last year. It gave me the idea for her business and she picked out her own purple hair.

Did you always have big Win getting sick at the beginning in your draft?
L.E. (Lauren): Oh, yeah. In the absence of the late “Pops” O’Halloran, Big Win is the paternal figure here. So when his life is in serious jeopardy, it’s a crisis that sucks them all in—the sisters, Win Jr, Scott—even Jackson is effected by the fall of his “goppa.” So it’s a good thread to bring them all together in shared fear and stress and grief. And with his life on the line, it was an opportunity for me to explore the kind of man he’d been when he was younger—when Scott and Win came along. It was also a chance to really see his incredible strength and the love that comes with that.

Was that scene considered the hook to the story?
L.E. (Lauren): I’m big on starting things right smack in the middle so that the reader is immediately thrown into the deep end. And that image of Big Win on the floor with Jameson giving him CPR and little Jackson wailing in the background—well, it doesn’t get a whole lot more high-stakes than that.

When you began to write this book did you know it was going to be a romance and a mystery?
L.E. (Lauren): Bringing Scott home was easy—his father’s health crisis put him in an impossible position. He had to come back. But that begs the question—if he’s such a great guy, why did he leave in the first place? So, yeah, it was kind of a mystery for me as well while I sorted out what kind of demons might make someone run away from their family—from their life—for a decade.

When do you know that the time in the story calls for humor, like the float scene at the fair?
L.E. (Lauren): Honestly, I didn’t even know I was funny until the reviews came in for book number one—Blame it on the Bet. So it was pretty scary approaching Mischief and Mayhem thinking I HAD to be funny. But I found my way. There were a couple of early drafts that were just way too dark and my editor helped me find my way back to a more lighthearted, funnier place—like Princess Mary showing up at the pub and the iguana on the plane. Of course, there’s always going to be something around the Knitty Kitty. But, yeah, that float scene—it was totally organic and it STILL cracks me up!

If your book was made into a movie who would you have play…
L.E. (Lauren): Yikes! This is always tough for me…

Jameson: Rose Leslie

Scott: Theo James

Win Jr.:  Alex Pettyfer

Win Sr.:  Treat Williams

What song or songs best describes your couple or book as a whole?
L.E. (Lauren): It’s the theme song from the prologue through to the epilogue—with a generation in between:

“Make You Feel My Love” – Garth Brooks

“Make You Feel My Love” – Adele

What is your next project and when is due out?
L.E. (Lauren): I’ve just released a new, non-Whiskey novel, Counterpoint about two concert pianists who bond over a tragic past, a dismal future, and their love for one another.
2019 will also see books for the remaining two sisters, Walker and Bailey.

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lauren

About L.E:
Award-Winning author Lauren Rico also happens to be  one of the top classical music broadcasters in the country. Her voice is heard nationally on SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall channel, as well as on radio stations in New York City, Charlotte, and Tampa. She’s even been known to accompany travelers as they fly the skies over Thailand, Oman, and China as part of the in-flight entertainment on several airlines. Her love and passion for classical music have allowed her to breathe new life into the stories of the great composers.

And now Lauren is telling some stories of her own…

Beginning with her erotic thriller, Reverie (Harmony House Productions, 2016), she set out to “put the sexy back in Bach,” creating a riveting tale of passion, deception and redemption set against the backdrop of an international music competition. She rounded out the trilogy with Rhapsody (Harmony House Productions, 2016) and Requiem (Harmony House Productions, 2017).

From there, Lauren partnered with Entangled Publishing, LLC, to create the first in her Symphony Hall series of romance novels, Solo (Entangled Publishing 2017). Her most recent release, Mistletoe in Mayhem, is the third in the five-book Whiskey Sisters series (Entangled 2018). Upcoming projects include two more Whiskey Sisters romances, a follow-up to Solo and a super-secret, as-of-yet-unnamed thriller.

Lauren hopes to bring classical music to a new audience by showcasing it in twisty, steamy stories that grab the reader and keep them turning pages — and YouTubing the music — into the wee hours.

When she’s not on talking on the radio or typing on her laptop, Lauren enjoys time with her husband and spectacularly spoiled mini-schnauzer.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Book Bub

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The release of the paperback edition of Firstborn, the second book in the thrilling House of Bathory duology is March 20. New readers will want to begin their journey with The Progeny. Check it out!

The Progeny

by Tosca Lee

The Progeny by Tosca Lee

Series: Descendants of the House of Bathory (Book #1)
Category:  YA Fiction,   352 pages
Genre:  Thriller, (YA-leaning), Slight paranormal
Publisher:  Howard Books
Release date:  May 2016
Tour dates: March 26 to April 13, 2018
Content Rating: PG

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Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee comes a story of love, ancient secrets, and survival. Book 1 in the House of Bathory duology.

When you wake up, you remember nothing. Not your name, or where you were born, or the faces of the people you knew. Just a single warning written to yourself before you forgot it all:

“Emily, it’s me. You.

Don’t ask about the last two years… Don’t try to remember and don’t go digging. Your life depends on it. Other lives depend on it.

By the way, Emily isn’t your real name. You died in an accident. You paid extra for that.”

You start over in a remote place with a new name, a fresh life. Until the day a stranger tells you you’re being hunted for the sins of a royal ancestor who died centuries before you were born.

You don’t believe him, until they come for you. Now you’re on the run.

Every answer you need lies in a past you chose to erase. The only thing you know for sure is that others are about to die and you need those memories back.

But first, you have to stay alive.

Purchase Links: Amazon / Author’s Website

Add To Goodreads

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Check out the interview.

On The Writing Trail With Tosca

Tosca Lee image for guest post

  1. The Progeny is so fast-paced, filled with vibrant young characters, masquerade raves and so many costumes—it seems like it must have been fun to write!

It was super fun. I love bringing readers to new places, tugging them to the edge of their seats, and filling their minds with vivid, electric scenes.

 

It was also fun because my then-fiancé (now husband) and I had so many great   conversations about the story’s impossible situations as I wrote it and its sequel, Firstborn. These books represent such a great time in my life—getting engaged, married, and becoming an instant mom to four—that when I look back at them, I not only see the stories, but the events in my own life that unfolded during their writing.

 

  1. The story travels from the U.S. to several locations in Europe. Did you actually travel to all these places?

I did. I went to Hungary, Croatia, Vienna, Slovakia and Italy. Best of all, I got to take my mom with me. My mom and I have a history of globetrotting together, so it was a fun adventure to go tromping around through castle ruins and churches and city streets with her once again. And YOU can visit each of those places in the story with us as you read at: https://www.pinterest.com/toscalee/real-life-progeny/. (Boards for all my books can be found on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/toscalee.)

 

  1. Is there anything funny/strange/interesting happen to you while doing research for the book?

Yes! The novel’s backstory is based on the real historical figure of Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time… whom I learned I was distantly related to. (Ack!)

 

  1. Your books are enjoyed worldwide. How did you get started?

I was writing for a long time before I ever thought of it as a thing. As a young teen, I was an aspiring ballerina and spent my summers dancing out of state. When it became clear that it wasn’t going to pan out for me, I went off to college thinking I’d go into business school as my father did. But talking to Dad during a trip home my freshman year, I blurted out: “I’d really like to write a book.” My dad made me a deal: he’d pay me what I would have made that summer as a bank teller (which I was horrible at) if I’d devote myself to writing my first novel and treat it like a job. So I did. I never sold that book—it’s in the basement with the skeletons—but I sure learned a lot!

 

  1. What’s the coolest place you’ve been as part of your writing career?
  2. Tosca Lee image 2 for guest post

Israel. That was a big part of my research for my novel, Iscariot, but also highly significant to me personally.

But because I’m a nerd, I also have to say Comic-Con. 😀

 

  1. What are you working on now?

Another thrill ride coming this winter. Get ready to hold on to your hats!

 

Do you love to write? Join From the Asylum, Tosca’s newsletter just for writers, here: http://bit.ly/subscribetoTosca

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Praise

“Be warned: once you start this book, it’s impossible to put down!” 
– Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of Poison Study

“Intriguing and romantic, I literally couldn’t put it down.”
– Jennifer L. Armentrout # 1 New York Times bestselling author

“Irresistible…”
– Publishers Weekly

“[A] complex thriller with various turns and twists…A great choice for readers who enjoy their psychological thrillers with a historical twist.”
– Library Journal

“Exciting…action packed…intriguing.” 
– Romantic Times Book Reviews

“Filled with intrigue, romance, and reversals fans are sure to love.”
– Family Fiction

“The Progeny has risen to the top of my favorites list…I devoured every word of it.”
– Book Reporter

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Excerpt

The Center

No one speaks when you enter the Center for the last time. There’s no need. You’ve gone through the counseling, tests, and a checklist of preparations to get the plastic bracelet you wear the day of treatment. The one that saves a life. They don’t need to know why you’re doing it any more. Or that you lied about it all. Just the scratch of the stylus as you sign your name on the screen one last time.

A nurse takes me into a room and I lie down on the table. I give her the sealed packet—the only thing I brought with me. There’s cash, meds, and an address inside, the one for “after.” It’s a thousand miles away. She’ll pass it to the companion assigned to me. No point meeting her now.

I’m 21 years old and my name doesn’t matter because it’s about to be erased forever. I’m choosing to forget the ones I love, and myself, in the process.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die. But they don’t tell you that every detail comes screaming back to life. That you taste each bite of every meal you savored, feel the shower of every rain you walked in… smell the hair against your cheek before that last, parting kiss. That you will fight to hold on to every memory like a drowning person gasping for poisoned air.

Then everything you knew is gone. And you are still alive.

For now.

Continue reading the first four chapters FREE.

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Author Tosca Lee

Tosca Lee

 “Superior storytelling.”  – Publishers Weekly

“One of the most gifted novelists writing today.” -Steven James, bestselling author

Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the House of Bathory Duology (The Progeny and Firstborn, currently in development for television), Iscariot, The Legend of Sheba, Demon: A Memoir, Havah: The Story of Eve, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker (Forbidden, Mortal, Sovereign). A notorious night-owl, she loves watching TV, eating bacon, playing video games and football with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband.

You can find Tosca at ToscaLee.com, on social media, or hanging around the snack table. (And be sure to check out Ismeni, the free e-short prequel to The Legend of Sheba!)

Get your copy of The Progeny here: http://toscalee.com/product/the-progeny/ (Kindle readers: now you can enjoy special insights in the author’s highlighted comments!)

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

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Follow The Tour HERE.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE



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The Rising Series Box Set
Holly Kelly
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: December 12th 2017
Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Young Adult

A magical underwater realm awaits! Own books 1-3 of the Best-Selling Rising series by acclaimed author Holly Kelly.

This value-priced boxed set includes the first three novels in the best-selling Rising series: Rising (with an exclusive bonus scene), Descending, and Avenging. Beautifully packaged with brilliant new cover art, this set is perfect for any fan of Greek Mythology and Mermaid Romance stories. Order the Rising series today and submerge yourself in an underwater world full of passion, romance, intrigue and adventure.

Rising: Contains a newly released scene! In a war between the humans and the inhabitants of the sea—humans will lose. Xanthus Dimitriou—the most lethal Dagonian to rise from the ocean—is on a mission to save mankind from annihilation. There’s just one thing standing in his way: the life of a beautiful young woman…

Descending: When Xanthus cashes in a long-standing favor, Kyros is faced with doing two things he thought he’d never do—protect a mermaid and live on land.
Avenging: Two thousand years ago, King Triton witnessed the slaughter and total annihilation of his merchildren. Devastated by the loss, he vowed to never again father a child. Powerful, handsome, and eternally youthful, Triton was no stranger to seduction—yet his resolve was unwavering…until he met Nicole.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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Enjoy the interview with Author Holly Kelly

1)   Why Mermaids/Mermen?

I’ve always had a love for the ocean and had a fascination of the creatures that live within its depths. However, this book didn’t start with a lot of forethought. I was surfing online and came across—quite by accident—a picture of a mermaid with a flesh-colored tail. The thought hit me: what if a mermaid was born on land and she didn’t know she was a mermaid? She simply thought she was born horribly deformed. I started writing that same day.

2)   What kind of research did you have to do?

I didn’t start out with any research under my belt. I would simply write until I came to a part where needed to know more about the mythological world. I then would do a search on the internet and find out what I needed to know. After the rough draft was written, I did read an in-depth book about Greek Mythology and made necessary changes. One thing I found in my research—Greek Mythology is filled with contradicting information. This actually worked to my advantage. I used the mythology that fit best with the story and then I also filled in empty places with my own version of the mytholog

3) How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

The names are very important in my books. I choose based on meaning AND on liking how the name sounds. But then the names of minor characters I usually just pull out of my head. I hit a gold mine with Gretchen’s name. When I first started writing Rising, she was going to be a minor character and I just wanted a name that was a bit different for her, so I called her Gretchen. When I decided to write her as the main character in Descending, I looked up her name and found it meant pearl. That fit her character perfectly! And as she said herself about her name, “Life gave me a piece of dirt, but I’m making it beautiful, one layer at a time.”

4) How long did it take to write Rising?

I spent a year and a half writing Rising. But I didn’t write full time. I wrote when I got an idea or when I felt like writing. It wasn’t until it was published and I had a deadline for another book that I learned to write on a schedule.

5) How do you plot? Do you write it down, have a mood board etc?

I’m what you’d call a pantser. I’ve tried outlining, but I always end up throwing them away and letting the story take me where IT wants to go. Basically, it’s all about learning who my characters are, and putting them into challenging/impossible situations.

6) If you were a character in your book for a day what would you do?

I’d do some serious exploring!! I’ve always wanted to know what lurks in the deepest parts of the ocean.

7) How would you describe your book to get a reader interested in it?

A friend of mine once described my books as Twilight meets Percy Jackson. I think that describes them pretty well. And I’m never offended by people saying my books are like Twilight. I happen to love the series (the books not the movies) and am flattered when people compare them.

8) How many books will there be in the series?

At least four, but probably more. The way I have the stories set up—with different main characters in each book—it’s easier to keep the stories fresh and new. So I guess I’ll keep writing in the Rising world until I get tired of it.

9) What is your favorite genre to read?

          I read a much wider variety of genres than I write in and it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite. I read fantasy and paranormal, mostly NA, YA, and middle grade—I’m not much of an epic fantasy gal. But I also read anything with an element of romance—historical, contemporary, comedy, crime, cloak and dagger stuff, who-done-it mysteries… You probably get the point. Basically, I love reading amazing books, no matter the genre.

10) What are you working on now?

I’m actually working on a spin-off series for Rising called The Lost Gods series. This one takes place several months after Raging. The lost children of the gods are still out there, living lives not knowing who/what they are. This will be a series following those characters as they discover their powers, have adventures, and fall in love.

Quick Fire Round

Favorite drink

Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Favorite color

Aqua blue—for obvious reasons.

Favorite movie/s

All the Harry Potter films, all the Marvel movies (esp. Thor), and I adore Up.

Favorite book/s

I love anything written by Amy Harmon, Julie Garwood, and Janet Evanovich. And I also love Harry Potter, Fablehaven, Percy Jackson, Iron King, and Twilight series.

Favorite place

Disneyland

Favorite TV show

That one is hard to pin down. I do like the superhero shows like Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, etc.

Favorite food

New York style cheesecake

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Check out the excerpt:

He knew what he had to do, what he’d done countless times before. As a trained soldier, he had a sacred duty to protect his people, guard their secret, and uphold the law. This female’s presence here was not only a criminal act, but it also presented an imminent threat. And because of that, his course was clear.

He had to kill her.

His plan lay clearly before him. Blanketed in the shadows, he’d enter her apartment window. Moving silently, he’d strike fast. Before she could cry out for help, he’d have her throat slit wide open. With her blood flowing swiftly, she’d be dead in mere seconds. The fact that she bathed at this time added to the ease of the execution. Clean up would be simple. Before the night ended, it would be as if she’d never existed. The Dagonian threat of exposure would be wiped clean from the human world.

Xanthus stood, his feet rooted in place under her window. Her sweet scent surrounded him as he listened to her pitiful sobs. Then, in that moment, he did the most shameful thing he’d ever done in his life.

He hesitated.

No, he didn’t merely hesitate. He halted. Fingering his blade in his holster, he willed his feet to move, but they seemed unwilling to obey. Then his mind latched onto a thought. It was no crime to wait for a more opportune time or a more secluded place to strike. He didn’t need to act rashly. True, finding her here in the human world shocked him, but he needed to be clear-headed and sure when he killed her.

He made his way back to his vehicle and climbed behind the wheel. He leaned his head back against the seat, closed his eyes, and attempted to clear his head.

He’d be back and she would die. She deserved to die. She may have the voice of an angel, but that was a lie. She was a traitor, a threat to their people. No other explanation made sense.

Xanthus looked toward the little female’s apartment building across the street. Could she have found a more dangerous place to live? This Dagonian female probably felt at home with these bottom-feeders.

Probably? Aw Hades. He cursed himself and the doubt in his mind. He doubly cursed that he couldn’t seem to stop himself from caring about her welfare. He’d be killing her himself, after all. The traitor had to die, regardless of his feelings and no matter how appealing she was. Of course, if she died by a human’s hands then he wouldn’t…

No.

He shook his head at his own idiotic thoughts. If a human killed her, then her body would be taken to the morgue, for the humans to see. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to be the one to kill her and carefully dispose of her body. And he would, soon.

Just not tonight.

 

Author Holly Kelly

Holly Kelly is a mom who writes books in her spare time: translation–she hides in the bathroom with her laptop and locks the door while the kids destroy the house and smear peanut butter on the walls. She was born in Utah but moved around a bit, living in Kansas, Texas, and Hawaii where she studied marine biology. She’s now back in Utah–“happy valley”. She’s married to a wonderful husband, James, and they are currently raising 6 rambunctious children. Her interests are reading, writing (or course), martial arts, visual arts, creating Halloween props, and spending time with family.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

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Hearing Voices
Axel Cruise
(An Isaac Blaze Thriller)
Publication date: April 2nd 2017
Genres: Adult, Thriller

“You’re a dead man,” he yelled.
“That’s great. Now answer the question.”
–Isaac Blaze

Isaac Blaze.

A quick wit, zero allegiances, and every major government agency after him. He’s also got two voices in his head. Neither of which is particularly helpful. Or care to be.

But at least he’s never been caught.

Hell, he’s barely even come close.

So when finally a SWAT team does actually manage to take him in – and with such ease at that – they probably should’ve been asking themselves: why?

Too bad they didn’t.

A lot of people got killed.

Goodreads / Amazon

Q&A with author Axel Cruise

RG: How did you get into writing? Is it that classic story of long-time reader who decides to pick up a pen?
AC: To be honest, I’m a TV man. Always have been. Right from when I was a kid. I’d come home from school and just sit and watch.

RG: Your parents must have loved that.
AC: Ha! Yeah, it wasn’t exactly a great hobby in their eyes—or my homework-hungry teachers for that matter. I frequently got the (wags finger) “Watching TV won’t get you anywhere” speech.

RG: I think we’ve all been on the receiving end of that one. So did you have to sneak in your TV time?
AC: Well, luckily I was a quick kid. So whenever I got the speech, I’d just calmly wait for the list of supporting reasons to come to an end—square eyes, kills brain cells, doctors and lawyers don’t watch TV—and then I’d say, “But what if I want to make TV shows?”

RG: Oooh, good answer. That must’ve driven them crazy!
AC: Yeah, you bet. But then again, I never got more than a derisory headshake. So I was pretty confident I was on to something.

RG: (Nodding whilst holding a copy of Hearing Voices) Seems you were.
AC: (Smirks) Well, all right, it was a little more than that. I mean, you have to understand, I wouldn’t just be sitting there. It wasn’t a passive activity for me. It was a whole experience. I’d really see myself in the show. As one of the characters.

RG: Any TV shows in particular?

AC: Not really. I watched pretty much everything. Anime, sit-coms, superheroes—I loved them all. Even stuff I was a little too young to understand. Like for example Seinfeld or Married with Children, when I was only five or six.

RG: OK, so it was through copious watching that you subconsciously picked up the fundamentals of story production?
AC: Yeah. Without knowing it, I was absorbing the dialogue, learning about story arcs, understanding how to pace your plot—all of it.

RG: I think Ben Stiller had a similar theory for himself. He wasn’t just watching TV, he was studying it. Were movies a big thing for you?
AC: Not really. But only because we (the family) never went.

RG: OK, let’s turn back to the written word. You’re an avid reader, so when did your love of books take flame?
AC: When I was about 16.

RG: 16? That’s late.
AC: Like I said, I’m a TV man. But then I really got into reading. Biographies and how-to books, mostly. My mum was always into bios and she encouraged me to read all the time. Eventually I gave it a try, and—surprise, surprise—I found I quite liked it.

RG: Which biographies?
AC: I read a lot of entrepreneurs—Alan Sugar, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs. I remember reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s in university. That was a definitely a game changer for me. If you need a kick up the ass to get going, read that. It’s called Total Recall.

RG: What about fiction? When did that start?
AC: When I picked up my first Lee Child.

RG: Which one?
AC: Number one. Killing floor. I was in a bookstore, leafing through the selection, and I found this orange book (the UK version) and I read, I was arrested in Eno’s diner. At twelve o’clock. I was eating eggs and drinking coffee. A late breakfast, not lunch… I didn’t put the book down. (Note: Axel can quote the first chapter by heart. He’s read it that many times.)

RG: Who are your favorite authors?
AC: (Blows air out of cheeks) Where to start? I mean, obviously, you’ve got the big guns: Child, Chandler, King, Cole…(coughs) Cruise…Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Karin Slaughter; and then you’ve got the lesser known, but equally incredible: Alan Glynn, Chuck Palahniuk, and whoever wrote that creepypasta about the Russian sleep experiment—damn thing gave me nightmares for weeks!

RG: Are there any self-published authors you particularly look up to?
AC: All of them. Seriously. Because we’re all cut from the same cloth. We’ve been rejected, beat down, told “no”. Doors slammed shut, dreams taken away. But. We didn’t stay down. We got up. Grabbed on to what we want and we’re not going to let go. I’m extremely proud to be part of the self-published community.

 

Author Axel Cruise

Axel Cruise is the author of the highly acclaimed psychological thriller Hearing Voices—the first in the Isaac Blaze series.

Check out what Readers’ Favourite is saying here: https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/hearing-voices

Axel is known for his ability to craft fast paced interweaving storylines, but primarily it’s his ‘cool’ and ’compelling characters’ and ‘dialogues that read so naturally’ that draws in audiences, with readers and reviewers likening Isaac Blaze to icons such as Deadpool and Jason Bourne.

British born, Axel grew up ‘pretty much in front of the TV’, and, in much the same way as Quentin Tarantino with films, Axel credits his incredible consumption of TV shows for his extensive knowledge of story craft. Some personal favourites include: Spiderman TAS (‘the best thing Marvel ever made’), Seinfeld (‘the best show ever made’), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dragonball Z.

Of course, Axel is a voracious reader, too. His prefences for reading and writing are expressed well in a recent interview and the question of plot vs character:

“Look. Plot’s important, yeah. But really, I just want to see cool characters doing cool shit.”

You can check out the full Author Interview with Axel, here: http://www.axelcruise.com/interviews

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I’ve had my blog for about a year and a half now and met some really awesome people. Some who have become friends.

What better way to introduce you to some of them then by putting them in the spotlight.

For today, I’ve dragged Ella away from important work to tell us a few things about herself. She has her blog here . Make sure to go by and say hi. I hear she has some yummy cake! I hope she brought some with her:)

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Ella Medler

Ella Medler – Author
Goodreads Facebook Twitter Blog

She’s also an author, co-author, and a woman of many writerly talents:)

Ella is so busy, I’m convinced she’s a robot. That, or a vampire!

Please make Ella welcome!

~~~~~

Hi, Laura.
Hi yourself, Ella.
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I know you’re very busy and I won’t keep you long. especially as I’m waiting on your next new book! So, let the fun begin.
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question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  Please tell us a little about yourself. Inquiring minds want to know 🙂
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I am currently working on my fifth book, a thriller. I don’t count the books I’ve started but don’t intend to finish. My head if full of books that will make it. Of the four published books so far, the first one was traditionally published by a small publisher, and the other three are all self-published. Of these, two are co-authored with Kristie Haigwood. When I’m not writing, I’m usually editing. I prefer content editing, but I’m one of those people who enjoys nitpicking at grammar, so I end up doing a combined job. And when I’m not editing, I’m reading and reviewing, hosting author features or writing articles related to the publishing industry. Beware, I do hold opinions.
question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  Why did you start blogging and what were your plans for your blog?
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At first, I simply wanted a website. I bought myself the software and a domain name, and then spent two weeks learning how to build a website from scratch. I did manage it, but my original hope that I would be able to keep freshening up the content on an almost daily basis fizzled out pretty soon. I found having a blog on my website incredibly cumbersome. So then I researched other ways to build a blog. WordPress came top of the list, so that’s where you can find me.
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In terms of articles for my blog, I wanted a place where I could be myself. Yes, I know I get to do that through my writing, but writing a whole book takes a bit longer than writing a blog post. My posts are about writing and authors, though I will admit to have vented once or twice on publishing in general and the prejudice against indie authors in particular. Can’t help it. I’m a fair minded person who strives to see a situation from all points of view. I strongly believe in fair chances.
question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  Being an author yourself, do you receive a lot of review requests and how do you choose which ones to review?
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Yes, I do. To start with, I didn’t have much of a system. If I liked the sound of a book, I went for it. Funnily enough, until I became an author myself, I didn’t see the purpose of leaving a review. Now I do. It’s so obvious why we should! At the moment I work in batches of about twelve titles I commit myself to reviewing, and the authors know what position they are in my list. They know if they’re first on the list, the review will be posted this week, and if they’re last, it won’t be out till some time in July. I used to think I only enjoyed one or two genres, but then I tried others, and the more I tried the more I discovered books I enjoyed. Sticking to a narrow field was certainly a mistake. I review all the books I read cover to cover, though I haven’t published all my reviews on my blog.
question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  How do you feel about scheduling your posts? I do this, but I miss pushing that publish button and watching the post go live. Guess that’s why I don’t always schedule them.
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push the button photo: Push The Magic BUTTON thmagisbutton1.gif
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Ah. Yes, you knew what question to ask, didn’t you? I have extremely itchy fingers. Once I’ve written something, I want it out there. It’s one of the reasons why I decided to self-publish. I’m impatient. I like to see the fruit of my labours right away. I’d probably make a rubbish gardener. Right now, I only have four draft posts, but there are posts scheduled for almost every day this month. I’ve printed out my calendar and I keep scribbling on it, rearranging things.
question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  I’ve seen your latest posts and you are insanely busy. Care to tell us what you’re up to these days?
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I’ve just released book two in the Eternal Series, Eternal Immortality, co-authored with Kristie Haigwood, on May 10, solar eclipse day. It’s doing so well! we are very proud of how its been received. It’s a paranormal action/romance, a completely original take on witches and vampires with a humorous twist.
Right now I’m writing book two in my Hunter thriller trilogy – Blood is Power – and very much enjoying the process. As I write, new ideas occur to me, and the story twists in ways I certainly didn’t see at the beginning. I’ve re-written the first half three times so far.
I have just finished editing a YA book, and soon I’ll be receiving my next edit, a contemporary fantasy by an author I admire. At the same time, I have packed as many book reviews and author spotlights into my blog as possible.
I’m uncertain about what to write next, so I’ve put a poll on my blog. I’ve asked my visitors to vote, and so far a sci-fi project is winning. You can still cast your vote, it’s anonymous, so why not have your say? Here’s the link to the poll: http://ellamedler.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/2013-week-17-and-a-poll/
Once Blood is Power is out there, I’ll take a couple of weeks off from actual writing to plan and produce a series of visual aids – authors’ resources, for want of a better description – which will be available free on my Custom Writers’ Services page on my blog.
As and when I find a minute, I research trends in the publishing industry – top genres and figures, and sometimes news to do with established publishers. These percolate through into my blog posts because I just can’t shut up if I feel strongly enough about a subject. I have to speak my mind, or I will explode.
Did I tell you I’m learning to play the piano? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do as a child, but not managed to fit it in until last year. I couldn’t even read music when I started. My fingers seem to be in the driving seat, though. They line up nicely when I have to play Schubert, but won’t let me do a recognisable Jingle Bells.
Have I missed anything? Oh, yeah. I have a family. There were a couple of teenagers and a husband around the house, last time I looked, and nine pets of assorted sizes and descriptions.
question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  Do you have a favorite genre you read?
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I used to stick to mystery, crime, thriller – that sort of thing. But then one day I read a book about zombies and I liked it. Then a sci-fi (which I used to be hooked on in my youth) and I loved it! From there, I decided to just read any book I like the looks of, and now I don’t have boundaries. If it’s a book, chances are I’ll love it.
question mark photo: question mark question-mark.jpg  One last question and then we’ll get to some fun short ones!  Is your blog how you wanted it to be when you began?
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No, it’s better. I didn’t have a clear idea, on day one, about its definite direction. Now, the onus is on producing material that is useful to authors, whether self- or traditionally published, in whatever way I can. This trend is going to continue, but it will focus even more on actual, practical advice, tips and mentoring so that more writers can produce high-quality material and, once they have that, find an easier way to publish and promote their books effectively.
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Now for Five Fun Shorts!
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1)  Who is your favorite book character?
Rover from the Giggler Treatment, by Roddy Doyle. He’s a dog who knows more about humans than the humans know about themselves.
2)  Do you have a phobia?
Probably not, though I do hate dusting with a vengeance.
3)  What’s a famous one liner from a movie that stayed with you?
“You just did!” – from Pretty Woman, when Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) has just been told by heartthrob Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) that he’d never called her a prostitute.
4)  If you could be any creature in the ocean, what would you like to be?
jellyfish photo: jellyfish JELLYFISH.jpg
A jellyfish. Useful, in fact indispensable to the ocean’s health, flexible and pretty to look at (see what I’m doing here?), still able to teach scientists something new experiment after experiment and, best of all, can sting when circumstances warrant it.
5)  If you could pull anything out of your hat, besides a rabbit, what would it be?
alarm clock photo: clock Alarm_clock.jpg
Time. I am constantly on the lookout for those spare minutes, or seconds even, to finish a project.
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And a Dare!
Say the first thing that pops into your head! I dare ya!
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Zohan! (oops!)
Any last words for our readers?
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Follow your dream, because “I have spent a good many years since–too many, I think–being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that’s all.” ― Stephen King, On Writing.
Thank you, Laura. This has been way more fun than an interview has the right to be!
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I loved having you here Ella. Now get back to work! lol
Just kidding, kind of:) Waiting for some more good reading!

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Books by Ella Medler


Fantasy novel available in ebook and paperback
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Blood Is Heavier – Book Trailer YouTube
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Co-authored with K.S. Haigwood

Eternal Island, Book One in the Eternal Series

Goodreads

Eternal Immortality (Book 2 in the Eternal Series)

Eternal Immortality, Book Two in the Eternal Series

Goodreads

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