VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH LINDA ROSEN
Introducing Linda Rosen, author of The Disharmony of Silence. I met Linda through the Authors Guild and it was a pleasure getting to know her. As you’ll read, Linda is a woman of many talents and interests. The kernel idea for her new novel came from her sister-in-law’s decision to return an old painting to its artist. Intriguing!
Congratulations on the launch of your new book, Linda!
Let Linda tell you about herself:
My novels are always set in the “not-too-distant past” and examine how women reinvent themselves despite obstacles thrown their way. A central theme is that blood is not all that makes a family– and they always feature a piece of jewelry! My debut novel, The Disharmony of Silence, released March 5, 2020 from Black Rose Writing, right before Covid19 locked us down. In addition to writing novels, I was a contributor to Women in the Literary Landscape: A WNBA Centennial Publication for the Women’s National Book Association and have had stories published in online magazines and print anthologies. I am a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and the Women’s National Book Association where I hold the positions of National Recording Secretary and Selections Coordinator of the Great Group Reads committee which chooses books for National Reading Group Month. My second novel, Sisters of the Vine, will be out next March.
I live with my husband in New Jersey, just ten miles from New York City and a few blocks from my grandsons – in the warm months – and in sunny Florida when it’s too cold to stay up north.
My social media links:
Website: www.linda-rosen.com
Facebook: lindarosenauthor
Instagram: lindarosenauthor
Twitter: @lrosenauthor
LinkedIn: linda-rosen-5130b513
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Rosen
Goodreads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5265706.Linda_Rosen
BookBub Profile: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/linda-rosen
About The Disharmony of Silence: In her desperate quest for family, Carolyn Lee, fitness trainer and amateur photographer, is determined, against all advice, to reveal a shocking eighty-four-year-old secret that she has uncovered. It has the potential to tear lives apart, or to bring her the closeness and comfort she longs for. It all depends on how she handles it.
· Paperback: 295 pages
· Publisher: Black Rose Writing (March 5, 2020)
· Language: English
· ISBN-10: 1684334306
· ISBN-13: 978-1684334308
· ASIN: B08357L91R
· Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
· Customer Reviews: 4.3 out of 5 stars69 customer ratings
Back Cover Synopsis:
In 1915, jealous, bitter Rebecca Roth cuts all ties with her life-long friends, the Pearls. Eight years later, Rebecca’s son and young Lena Pearl begin keeping company in secret. Rebecca agrees to a truce when the couple marries. But the truce is fragile. Rebecca’s resentments run deep.
In 2010, Carolyn Lee, fitness instructor and amateur photographer, must come to grips with the fact that her mother’s imminent death will leave her alone in the world. While preparing her childhood home for sale, she realizes for the first time that her mother’s antique brooch is identical to the one pinned to the lady’s dress in the painting hanging above the fireplace. Coincidence or connection? Carolyn is determined to find out. What she discovers has the potential to tear lives apart or to bring her the closeness and comfort she longs for. It all depends on how she handles her newfound knowledge.
What was the inspiration for writing the novel:
The inspiration for The Disharmony of Silence came from a chat I had with my sister-in-law and a dear friend while sitting on the beach in Hilton Head Island. My sister-in-law was preparing to sell her mother’s home and she didn’t know what to do with the painting that had hung in the living room practically her entire life. There wasn’t an empty wall in her own home to hang it and no one else in the family wanted it. Tossing the portrait or selling it to some unknown person wasn’t an option, so she decided to return it to the artist… Ah ha! I thought. What a great storyline. And Disharmony was born!
Have you always been a writer?
Since 1982, I have been a fitness professional choreographing, designing and leading exercise programs for women, men and children. As I was approaching my sixth decade, my creative side started to gnaw at me. It wanted more. I’d always wanted to write; I had written articles for newspapers, magazines, and websites on various fitness topics, but writing fiction was my dream.
As an avid reader, I’d dreamt of penning my own novel, one that readers would devour curled up in a comfortable chair with a cup of tea – or a glass of wine, so I searched for and found a writer’s workshop in a local community school. My fingers started to fly across the keyboard, though my prose was as shaky as a toddler’s first steps. With lots of encouragement, the words soon began to flow as characters introduced themselves to me. They sat on my shoulder, whispered in my ear as I walked in the park, swam laps, or dug in my garden. They planted their feet and wouldn’t leave until I put them on paper, or to be more accurate, on screen.
Follow Linda on her website www.linda-rosen.com where you can listen to radio interviews and podcasts with her and find links to other blog interviews with her.
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH VICTOR A. POLLAK
I’d like to introduce you to Victor Pollak, author of Saving The Light at Chartres. We met online through The Authors Guild and I was very taken with the story of how the Chartres, France cathedral was saved during WWII by Colonel Welborn Griffith Jr.—an American senior operations officer of the Twentieth Corps in Patton’s Third Army, the historical significance of this event and the stunning beauty of the stained glass windows. But let’s have Victor tell about it in his own words.
Writer and lawyer Victor A. Pollak has traveled frequently in Europe, including France, where he became fascinated learning about preservation of cultural monuments, accomplished so successfully by the French. He has also visited the Middle East, Mexico and South America. Saving the Light at Chartres is his first book. He divides his time between Tucson and Salt Lake City, where he practices law with the firm Fabian VanCott.
Pollak was born in Evanston, Illinois to a father who had emigrated from Austria in 1938 and a mother who had grown up in Detroit as one of seven daughters of Hungarian immigrants. As a boy in the 1950s, Pollak lived for a year in Vienna with his parents, brother and sister, and attended public school. He grew up in Evanston and earned a B.A. in philosophy and communications at Antioch College. While in college, he worked in radio, a sound recording studio in Philadelphia, film production, teaching in an outdoor school in New Hampshire, as a junior executive in the toy department of Macy’s flagship store in New York City, and as a junior instructor for two summers in month-long wilderness expeditions of the Colorado Outward Bound School. After a year in publishing, he entered Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, from which he graduated with honors. He went on to serve as a law clerk to a Federal Court of Appeals judge and began his more than thirty years of law practice as a partner with law firms in Chicago and Salt Lake City. He is now Of Counsel with the law firm of Fabian VanCott in Salt Lake City. While in Chicago, he served for several years as co-chair of an international practice group that opened American law offices in countries in Eastern Europe, including in Warsaw in 1990 and Prague in 1991. After moving his family to Salt Lake City, he served as co-founder, CEO and general counsel to a biomedical R&D start-up company. As a lawyer, he has served clients in diverse businesses and earned recognition from professional peers and rating firms. In 2019, he earned his MFA from Pacific University.
Author’s Website URL: http://victorpollak.net
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/victor-pollak-2aa14b
Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/victorpollak
Goodreads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53538878-saving-the-light-at-chartres?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=9gfhmK796P&rank=1
Law Firm webpage: http://fabianvancott.com/attorneys/victor-pollak/
About Saving the Light at Chartres: How the Great Cathedral and Its Stained-Glass Treasures Were Rescued during World War II, By Victor A. Pollak
Globe Pequot / Stackpole Books
Pages: 440
Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-0-8117-3901-6 • Hardback • March 16, 2020
978-0-8117-6897-9 • eBook • March 16, 2020
Genre: Nonfiction, historical narrative
Subjects: History / Military / World War II / Art and Architecture of Religious Buildings and Stained-Glass
About the Book:
In the mid-1930s, under threat of another German invasion, the people of Chartres, France, feared collateral destruction of their precious cathedral from attacks on a nearby airfield and railroad complex. The cathedral—built around 1200 A.D.—housed priceless Medieval stained-glass windows (the largest such collection in one location). That such windows would survive World War II’s widespread destruction of cultural monuments is one of the great stories of recent history.
Saving the Light at Chartres begins half a decade before World War II, when a young French architect developed a plan to save the cathedral’s precious stained glass. As war engulfed Europe in the fall of 1939, master glass artisans dismantled the hundreds of windows, and soldiers, tradesmen, and laborers with local volunteers crated thousands of glass panels, stowed them in the crypt, and months later—just before German invaders reached Chartres—hauled them across the country to an underground quarry.
This effort to save the stained glass is but a prologue. By August 1944, the U.S. Army had broken out of Normandy and was racing across France toward Paris and the Seine. Chartres became a key battleground. Allied bombing blew out the cathedral’s temporary window coverings, and when the Americans—assisted by French Resistance fighters—entered the city in the face of unexpectedly heavy defiance and snipers in the cathedral, many soldiers believed German artillery spotters were occupying the cathedral’s spires. When Colonel Welborn Griffith Jr.—a senior operations officer of Twentieth Corps in Patton’s Third Army—arrived, some were pressing to countermand the army’s standing order to avoid the cathedral and threatened to destroy it to neutralize the German spotters. Griffith was skeptical. He inspected the cathedral himself, climbed its towers, but found no Germans, so he rang the bell, waved an American flag, and ordered that the cathedral be spared, saving it from destruction. Griffith would be killed later that day.
Victor Pollak tells both stories—the rescue of the windows and Colonel Griffith’s fateful role—in a compelling narrative. Saving the Light at Chartres honors the government and local teams who saved the windows, the Resistance that performed a vital role in the liberation of Chartres, Welborn Griffith, and the enduring treasure that is Chartres Cathedral.
Buy the book: Saving the Light at Chartres
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811739015/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Interview with Victor A. Pollak
Why did you start writing —what triggered your writing?
I wanted to use a wider range of my creative talents and skills than I had been able to use in my practice of law. For years, I had written a lot in my legal work, using creative talents in cerebral, complex and technical ways, but not in artistic and emotional ways. I had also always had a passion for history and for preservation of cultural monuments, but had not explored that passion any concentrated way. In the course of my travels with my wife, I came across the amazing story of the rescue of the treasured Medieval stained-glass windows of Chartres cathedral at the outset of World War II and of the American army colonel, Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., who was killed during the battle to liberate Chartres in 1944 and who is credited with having saved the cathedral from destruction during the battle. It’s a story I felt compelled to research and write about, both to commemorate the heroic actions of those involved and to help preserve this small part of the incredibly rich history of the cathedral and the citizens of Chartres who felt compelled to save both the cathedral and its treasured windows. The characters in the story are many, and they include people who would go on to play important roles in the French resistance against the Nazis.
How long did it take you to write your book?
I worked on the project for over five years. But the history of Chartres cathedral extends over 900 years. This is but one of hundreds, if not thousands, of compelling stories associated with the cathedral. Colonel Griffith’s bravery and dedication must be remembered and celebrated. He is celebrated annually on August 16 in Chartres and in the village of Lèves in which he was killed, but he is relatively unknown in America. He deserves to be recognized, and I hope my book serves that purpose.
Radio Interviews and Upcoming Event
On June 10, 2020, I was interviewed by SAG/AFTRA and Authors Guild member Cynthia Brian, who has been presenting on Wednesdays, “Writers and Performers on Star-Style®” on the Voice of America network to give authors who have had their book launches and events cancelled due to Covid a platform on which to shine. I am grateful she did so for me too. A link to her interview of me on the program Starstyle—Be the Star You Are! is available as a podcast at: https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/123790/saving-the-light-at-chartres-reading-love-prepping-for-college-admissions. My portion of the program starts at 15:31 into the program. The interview is also available at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/starstyle-be-the-star-you-are/id669630180?mt=2 Again, my portion starts at 15:31 into the program.
On July 25, 2020, my interview with Vick Mickunas for his Book Nook radio program aired on WYSO.org 91.3 FM (NPR affiliate) in Yellow Springs, Ohio, streaming at http://www.wyso.org/. The Book Nook site is at https://www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. The 30-minute interview should soon be available on demand at that site or as a Book Nook podcast wherever podcasts are available, including Apple Podcasts.
For 2021, I’ve been invited to give a talk about my book at a meeting of the Art Glass Forum New York, which meets at St. Michael’s Church in Manhattan, a church designed and decorated by Louis C. Tiffany and Tiffany Studios between 1895 and 1925. Details to follow. https://www.artglassforumny.org/our-history.html .
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH VICTOR A. POLLAK
Writer and lawyer Victor A. Pollak has traveled frequently in Europe, including France, where he became fascinated learning about preservation of cultural monuments, accomplished so successfully by the French. He has also visited the Middle East, Mexico and South America. Saving the Light at Chartres is his first book. He divides his time between Tucson and Salt Lake City, where he practices law with the firm Fabian VanCott.
Welcome Debbie and congratulations on today’s npublication of Dead Man’s Bluff! I’m delighted to host you here. I have my Kindle copy and I’m looking forward to diving in.
Thank you, Kathleen, for hosting me!
I began to write stories in third grade and never got over it. Nancy Drew hooked me on the mystery genre, followed by Sherlock Holmes, and later Raymond Chandler.
My first rejection came in 1965 from the TV show, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Being a clueless kid, I hand-printed a story on three-ring binder paper and submitted it to the show. Instead of chucking it in the trash, some kind soul had the courtesy to send me a rejection letter, explaining they only accepted material submitted through literary agents. And so began my long career of collecting rejections for fiction.
The best rejection advice I ever heard came from novelist David Cates, who said, “Make it your goal to collect 100 rejections.” He was right—rejections didn’t sting as much with that mindset. By frequently submitting articles and short stories in that quest for 100 rejections, I also received many acceptances…which was David’s whole point!
Rejections kept coming for my novels but they grew more encouraging and complimentary. I won contests, landed two agents, and had serious flirtations with several publishers but my first ten books never found a home.
Number 11, Instrument of the Devil, was published in 2017 and became a bestseller in women’s adventure. Overnight success only took 30 years!
Six months later, that publisher shut down and I was orphaned. Thankfully, the book remains available online.
Over the decades, I’ve learned setbacks are the norm in the writing business. You cry for five minutes then move on.
The Kill Zone is a crime-writing website I’ve followed for years. That cadre of accomplished authors generously share their skills and experiences. They taught me techniques to lift my fiction from good to publishable. I wrote several guest posts for them and was honored when they invited me to become a regular contributor. I feel like the little kid who’s been invited up to the big kids’ treehouse.
The main character in my series, Tawny Lindholm, is a fiftyish small-town widow who lacks confidence because of dyslexia and lack of education. She almost flunked out of school, prompting her alcoholic father to tell her, “It’s a good thing you’re pretty, honey, because you sure are dumb.” Although she’s smart and intuitive, she struggles constantly with low self-esteem. Courage and determination give her the strength to overcome daunting obstacles.
In the first book, still reeling from her husband’s death, Tawny unwittingly becomes involved with a dashing terrorist who sets her up as a scapegoat in his plot to destroy the electrical grid. Three-quarters of the way through the book, a lawyer character appears to defend her against the feds who are threatening her because of her connection with the terrorist. Tillman Rosenbaum is six-foot-seven-inches of arrogant, brilliant, crusading attorney who owns any courtroom he enters. He strutted into the story and insisted on returning in the second book, Stalking Midas, the third book, Eyes in the Sky, and the fourth book, Dead Man’s Bluff.
Spoiler alert: Tawny goes to work for Tillman and they become romantically involved but that relationship is anything but smooth. They are yin and yang. Her trusting nature conflicts with his cynicism. But he has tremendous respect for her ability to persuade clients to confide secrets to her that they’re too afraid to tell him.
Although the first three books are set in Montana, the idea for Dead Man’s Bluff was born after family and friends survived Hurricane Irma in Florida. The 2017 storm left six million people without power for weeks and hundreds missing. That situation made a perfect backdrop for a mysterious disappearance. I “borrowed” heavily from my loved ones’ experiences to bring authenticity to the story.
Thanks, Kathleen, for this opportunity to chat with your readers.
Thank you, Debbie. You’re an inspiration for all writers who feel the sting of rejection. Experience the pain, learn and keep going!
Link to Debbie Burke’s website.
Link to The Kill ZoneToggle panel: Ultimate Social Media – Sharing text & pictures
Ultimate Social Media – Sharing text & pictures
Open publish panel
This part of my site is focused on authors who came together, me included, to help each other get the word out about their books published during the coronavirus when book launches and events were cancelled. So, take some time to visit with each author, learn about how they work, why they write, and their very interesting backgrounds.
Dana Skornia: Author of A Winter’s Secrets
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH DANA SKORNIA
Dana Skornia lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and two children, and this is her first venture into writing fiction. She wrote the book with her father, JL Broxson, who lives in Milton, FL, where Dana and most of her relatives are from. She and her father have always been interested in the family history and genealogy of the Broxson family, and he’s always told her stories of the many people who have graced their heritage and of the friends who made their lives interesting fodder for the book.
Blog URL: https://awinterssecrets.blogspot.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51479541-a-winter-s-secrets
About A WINTER’S SECRETS
Publication date: January 2020
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
Genre: Historical Fiction
This is a post-Civil War family saga, based loosely on the author’s ancestral heritage and other historical accounts of rural life in Florida after the slaves had been freed. The story follows the emotional journeys of each person involved in a love triangle and develops gracefully and powerfully as they adapt to each other, and come to terms with new family dynamics – for better or for worse. The plot has several interesting twists, a few tense moments where things could go either way, some emotional turmoil, and many kind deeds and encouraging moments.
A Winter’s Secrets has been submitted to Florida Writer’s Association Royal Palm Literary Awards Competition
Buy the book: A Winter’s Secrets
Reedsy: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/a-winter-s-secrets-d-s-j-l-broxson
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-winters-secrets-jl-broxson/1136126633?ean=9781078779517
Interview with Dana Skornia
Why did you start writing —what triggered your writing?
Dad called me one day and asked if I had a novel in me, and I said I thought I did. He and I have always been interested in the histories of the people in our heritage and he’s told me many stories over the years about how he grew up, people he knew, and what their lives were like. We agreed that I’d record him telling about those stories, and I used them to create a fictional tale, using many of the circumstances but envisioning what might have been, and crafting a plot and story line around them.
What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?
In the beginning I had an audience of one, because the only person I was writing for was Dad. I wanted him to have a story that he would enjoy reading, one that would have meaning and relevance for the time and people that he grew up knowing, and would resonate with what he knew to be true about the era and the people who lived in the early 1900s. As I continued I hoped it would be one that anyone might enjoy, and I wanted to share the story with others.
How long did it take you to write your book? How many rewrites did it go through?
I sent chapters to Dad as I finished them, and it took a few re-writes of the first three or four chapters to really feel as though I had something worth continuing. Once I got started, though, I found that the characters didn’t always behave the way I thought they should, but they also became more real to me as I started fleshing them out and determining who they really were.
Is this your first book? Your first fiction book?
This is the first book I’ve ever tried to write, although many people have told me I need to write a book and I had a blog going for a few years when my children were younger. I enjoyed writing it and wish I could afford to do nothing but write, as I thoroughly enjoyed the process and feel like I’ve got a few more “novels” in me.
Tell us an interesting fact or hidden secret about one of the characters that we wouldn’t know by reading the book.
When my father was young he had an aunt that would tease him and call him little Lester Leroy, and Dad always found that a little funny and a little offensive at the same time, and I knew at the end I wanted to make him laugh, so I put the conversation between Bud and Annie in the book about naming the baby that. Also, when I describe the nativity play that the children put on at Christmas time, I made a reference to a play in years past where the angel was stuck in the tomb and couldn’t get out.
That actually happened to my husband Dallas when he was a teenager in a church play, where the wings he was wearing were too big to get through the opening of the “tomb” they had constructed on stage and from where he was supposed to emerge and sing a song. Unfortunately for him he had to stay hidden in the tomb and just sing the song from where he was stuck, and it’s something he’s laughed about ever since.
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH NANCY CHRISTIE
Nancy Christie is the award-winning author of two short story collections: Traveling Left of Center and Other Storiesand Peripheral Visions and Other Stories (Unsolicited Press), two books for writers: Rut-Busting Book for Writers and Rut-Busting Book for Authors (Mill City Press) and the inspirational book, The Gifts of Change (Atria/Beyond Words). Her short stories have appeared in numerous literary publications, with several earning contest placements.
A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Florida Writers Association, Christie teaches writing workshops at conferences, libraries and schools. She is also the founder of the annual “Celebrate Short Fiction” Day.
Website: www.nancychristie.com
Blogs
- Focus on Fiction: www.nancychristie.com/focusonfiction/
- The Writer’s Place: www.nancychristie.com/writersplace/
- One on One: www.nancychristie.com/oneonone/
- Make A Change: http://www.nancychristie.com/makeachange/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyChristieAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NChristie_OH
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancychristiewr/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nancychristie_author/
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/NancyChristieOnYouTube
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancychristie/
About PERIPHERAL VISIONS AND OTHER STORIES
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Unsolicited Press
Genre: Literary Fiction
What do you do when the hand that life deals you isn’t the one you wanted? In Peripheral Visions and Other Stories, the characters choose to play the best game they can with the cards they’ve received. For some, it’s making the most of the circumstances in which they find themselves, even if it’s not the life they planned. For others, it’s following an unconventional path—not the easiest course or the one that others would take, but the one that’s right for them. But they never lose hope that life will get better if they can just hold on.
Peripheral Visions and Other Stories won second place in the Florida Writers Association 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards (RPLA) competition, with three of the stories having also earned contest placements.
Buy the book: Peripheral Visions and Other Stories
Bookshop: https://tinyurl.com/yd6cro92
Smashwords: https://tinyurl.com/rks47z6
Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/yamplxon
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LSqK4a
Unsolicited Press: https://tinyurl.com/ya5o2dhm
Interview with Nancy Christie
What is your most recent book?
Peripheral Visions and Other Stories is my most recent book. It’s my fifth book and my second short story collection. In a way, the stories in this book are a counterpoint to those in Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories. While the stories in that book are about people who either can’t or won’t take control of their lives, the characters in Peripheral Visions and Other Stories are choosing to play the best game they can with the cards Fate has dealt them, hoping that life will get better if they can just hold on and stay strong.
Do you have a theme you return to time and again?
Loss and loneliness, the difficulty that people have in navigating through life, the fear of change coupled with the awareness that change will come, whether they want it to or not.
Do you ever get “stuck” when writing—have trouble beginning a project or getting through it? If so, how do you handle those “work-in-progress” ruts?
The closest I have come to writer’s block was during a difficult time in my life when I was going through a lot of personal challenges and had stopped writing any fiction. The longer I went without writing, the more convinced I was that I would never write fiction again. And since that is my passion, you can imagine what a really ugly experience that was! Eventually, I had an idea, started writing and found my writing voice again! That taught me to always make time—even if just 30 minutes—for fiction.
What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? The least?
When I am writing just for writing’s sake, and the words flow out and they are expressing exactly what is in my mind and heart, or the minds and hearts of my characters. That’s a joy that has nothing to do with money or publication but all to do with fulfillment.
Like most authors I’ve talked to, the marketing is the least enjoyable. While I love interacting with my readers, I am often frustrated by the time-sucking, nuts-and-bolts tasks associated with promoting my books, and never knowing which one will work!
What do you want your writer’s epitaph to be?
Here lies Nancy Christie, still writing…
Excerpt from “Peripheral Visions” from Peripheral Visions and Other Stories
“Shoot.” Lena caught sight of the sign pointing the way to the rest stop off I-77 almost a fraction of a moment too late. She turned the wheel too sharply, causing the right tires of her old Ford Escort to kick up bits of gravel from the shoulder, before she could navigate it safely onto the turnoff.
Shaking slightly, she slowed the car to a more sedate twenty-five-miles per hour before brushing the perspiration from her forehead.
“That was close,” she said to no one in particular. Talking to herself was a habit she had acquired since her mother’s passing. The young think older people talk to themselves because they are going senile. But when there is no one left to talk to, you have to talk out loud. Otherwise, the silence can be deafening. And after decades as a practical nurse where she routinely carried on conversations with patients simply to ease the sterile loneliness of the oncology ward, Lena knew the value of the spoken word even when there wasn’t anyone around to answer.
She glanced up at her rearview mirror, hoping the blue highway patrol car that seemed to be shadowing her since she crossed into West Virginia hadn’t caught her latest misjudgment. That’s all she would need: flashing lights, a request that she show her driver’s license, and then a trip to the police station, where they would no doubt confiscate her car and contact her niece Claire.
Claire. By now, Claire might have figured out what Lena was up to, but she still wouldn’t be sure exactly where her aunt had headed. For who would expect a seventy-two-year-old woman who had never driven beyond the Kingsville city limits to drive the nine-hundred-plus miles from Ohio to Florida?
Not Claire, that’s for sure. Claire would have expected Lena to be looking forward to her move to Golden Glow, to behave as the sane, sensible, and highly responsible maiden aunt she had always been.
“Not this time, though,” Lena said aloud, as she checked the parking area for other cars, including any with the telltale light bar mounted on the roof and distinctive twin gold stripes on the side, before pulling into a parking spot. “For once in my life, I’m going to do what I want to do, instead of walking a straight line right up to the end.”
That’s the biggest problem with the world today, she thought as she gingerly slid out of the car, carefully stretching her back to work out the kinks. The pain that had plagued her shoulder was even worse than usual this morning, undoubtedly aggravated by too many hours behind the wheel.
She moved her body slowly, continuing her conversation aloud. “People walk around with blinders on just like horses, their eyes glued on the goal, the ‘Big Picture.’ There’s no sidestepping, no walking off the beaten path, no road less traveled. You get ahead that way, it’s true. But what if where you end up isn’t where you should have gone?”
The West Virginia sunshine was welcoming and a darn sight better than the freezing northeast weather she had left behind almost four hours earlier. A wet, sleety snow had made the driving more than a little challenging, especially once she got on the interstate and had to contend with all the tractor-trailers that were crowding the roadway.
It wasn’t until she had approached the Marietta–Williamstown Interstate Bridge that would take her over the Ohio River and into West Virginia that the weather improved and the horizon looked brighter. Lena didn’t usually believe in omens but this time she took heart in the fact that across the border the sun was shining, the snow was non-existent, and that it would be a warmer, better place than the one she had left.
And now, safe in another state, even her back felt better—well, at least, compared to how it had felt all winter long. Of course, she knew that nothing would make it feel completely fine. Even the pills only dulled the edge of the pain, never relieving it entirely.
That’s really what decided her on this trip. She was afraid that if she waited any longer, either her nerve or her body would betray her and she would spend what was left of her time—three months, maybe less, she judged—in the fluorescent confines of the nursing home or hospital.
The whole time her niece Claire was talking—laying out stage after stage for her aunt as though Lena couldn’t put two and two together and end up with four—Lena’s mind flashed to tantalizing pictures of a bit of sand and sparkling water. It looked mighty appealing to her, especially since she was tired of shoveling snow from the driveway before she could leave the house. It was a good car, even if it was as old as dirt, and she thought it deserved better than to have its fenders frozen off for weeks on end.
For that matter, so did she.
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH A. PIPER BURGI
A. Piper Burgi is the author of several non-fiction books and recently added five historical fiction novels to her ever-expanding collection of published writings. Her debut novel, IN THE SHADOW OF HER MAJESTY, was a Golden Book Award Semi-Finalist, and Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews named her women’s fiction novel THE COUNTRY GIRL EMPRESS “…a must-read for historical fiction fans who can appreciate the imperial intrigues…”
She is also a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Independent Author Network, an Air Force Veteran, and a military spouse; plus a busy doggie mommy, a cook, a chauffeur – you get the picture. When she is not busy chasing after her three furry children or holding on tightly to a good cup of coffee, she can be found typing away on her computer.
Website URL: https://www.authorapiperburgi.com
Blog URL: https://www.authorapiperburgi.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorapiperburgi/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4eG0tDPohHPM1RcBcDY-pQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/a-piper-burgi-0ba30b14
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7121827.A_Piper_Burgi
About IMPERIAL DIARY – A COUNTRY GIRL EMPRESS NOVEL (Book 4 of the series)
Publication date: 16 Mar 2020
Publisher: Independently Published
Genre: Historical Fiction/Historical Person
The sudden, violent death of Sisi’s only son, Crown Prince Rudolph at his hunting lodge Mayerling, shakes the Empire to its core. The fact that the dead body of his teenaged mistress is found next to his makes the scandal complete. Does this tragedy mark the end of the Danube monarchy, since Rudolph only had a daughter?
Buy the book: IMPERIAL DIARY – A COUNTRY GIRL EMPRESS
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/A-Piper-Burgi/e/B00D358KYM
Note: All four books of the Country Girl Empress series (Kindle version only) are currently on sale at: https://www.amazon.com/A-Piper-Burgi/e/B00D358KYM
Interview with A. Piper Burgi
What is your most recent book?
My most recent book is called EXCERPTS FROM THE IMPERIAL DIARY – A Country Girl Empress Novel. It is book four of the Country Girl Empress series. I plan on adding at least two more to this historical fiction series.
What inspired it?
I’ve always been fascinated by the glamour and intrigues of the Viennese court, the complicated political climate in 19th century Europe, and the life story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was definitely an unusual woman, who felt out of place, and perhaps a little out of time. She was stronger than she thought, and yet, deep down, she was a lonely, unsettled soul. I thought that all the different facets of her life, her personality, and her front row seat to world history, would make for entertaining reading. And here I am…on book four of a series.
How long did it take you to write your book? How many rewrites did it go through?
It took me a month to write EXCERPTS FROM THE IMPERIAL DIARY, and although I didn’t have to completely re-write the manuscript, it went through eight rounds of intense editing.
Tell us an interesting fact or hidden secret about one of the characters that we wouldn’t know by reading the book.
Although I’ve touched on many of my main character’s quirks and flaws, she was definitely obsessed with maintaining her 19-inch waist. The lengths to which she would go to do so were quite extraordinary, and also a bit crazy. The Empress was also a great animal lover – a quality we both share.
How do you blend your writing life with your “real life”—do you find it challenging to make time for both sides? If so, what are some of the difficulties, and how do you resolve them?
It all just intermingles. There’s no separate “real life” and “writer’s life”. The two parts somehow co-exist. There are, of course, times when one has to spend more time on one than on the other, but that’s just how life is…something unexpected pops up, and you find a way to deal with it and move on.
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH CHRISTOPHER G. BREMICKER
Christopher G. Bremicker was a Green Beret medic stationed at Ft. Bragg NC from 1968 to 1970. He has a BA in English and a Master’s in Business Administration, both from the University of Minnesota. He is a newspaperman, downhill skier, and grouse hunter. He plays handball and reviews theater. He is a sales associate at Walgreen’s in St. Paul, MN, his forty-sixth job since high school. His hometown is Cable, WI. He has won awards from Veterans Voices Writing Project Inc. from the VFW, and the American Legion.
Website URL: http://www.unsolicitedpress.com/store/p274/Bremickermemoir.html
Blog URL: www.livingwellwhilementallyill.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbremicker
YouTube: https://youtu.be/hnmfAK9L0qQ
About Song for My Baby and Other Stories
Publication date: June 16, 2020
Publisher: Unsolicited Press
Genre: Hybrid, fiction, nonfiction, memoir
Song for My Baby and Other Stories is best described as a work with great variety. What begins with the sudden demise of a father on a hunting trip, transforms into a collection that deals with mental illness, hitting bottom, and an appreciation for those who stick around in the worst of times. Bremicker takes readers for a ride with no degree of certainty. From a high stakes golf game to pay off a son’s cocaine debt, a dating service that results in twelve dates in twelve months, a kidney transplant, a heart attack, a relapse on alcohol, to years in and out of psych wards and veterans’ homes, the book shifts gears from story to story.
Buy the book: Song for My Baby and Other Stories
Unsolicited Press: www.unsolicitedpress.com
Interview with Christopher G. Bremicker
Why did you start writing —what triggered your writing?
Death of my first psychiatrist. He rarely let me talk about writing, since I was desperate to make a living and most of his help involved vocational questions. When he died, I felt free to begin my writing career. In my family, I was recognized as the bookish one and destined to write. It was agreed I would start when I became an adult. I became an adult three years before my doctor’s death. but the vocational talks continued.
What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?
I don’t want to write. I can’t help it. At a dinner party, James Thurber’s wife looked at him and told him to stop writing. I’m like that. I do it subconsciously.
What creates a major writer’s block for you?
In general, I don’t get writer’s block. When I had it, it passed. I complained about it to my psychologist, but we decided the writing would come back. Hemingway said the way to handle it was to write one true sentence then the next true sentence. I usually ignore it or keep writing, even if it stinks. It’s better to force the issue than quit. Sometimes, I just take a few days off.
How long did it take you to write your book?
The first story, a novella, I wrote thirty years ago. My father died six months earlier and the story reeks with grief. It is a tribute to him and my brother’s and my love for him.
How many rewrites did it go through?
Many, as my writing coach at the VA and I edited each story. She would prefer to remain anonymous. I could not write after the heart attack and she helped rebuild my ability to write. I spent one hour per week in her office and countless hours in coffee shops working on the first fifteen stories. After a year and a half of this, I could write on my own and the last half of the book is all mine. The heart attack shattered my ability to think. I write with my sexuality and that’s where a heart attack gets a person. It’ll ruin you as a writer too. By the way, it’ll ruin you as a fisherman, too.
VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT WITH SKYE TAYLOR
Skye Taylor, mother, grandmother and returned Peace Corps Volunteer, loves adventure and lives in St Augustine Florida where she enjoys the history of America’s oldest city, walking on the beach, and volunteering with the USO. Her published work includes Bullseye, The Candidate, The Camerons of Tide’s Way series and Iain’s Plaid. Visit her website: www.Skye-writer.com to read her short stories and essays about her time spent in the South Pacific with the Peace Corps. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Florida Writer’s Association, RWA and Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association. Skye has twice won silver in the Royal Palm Literary Awards with Healing a Hero and Worry Stone, andThe Candidate placed second for Strong Romantic Elements in the ACRA Reader’s Choice Awards.
She loves hearing from her readers at Skye@Skye-writer.com
Website URL: https://www.Skye-writer.com
Blog URL: https://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skyewriter22 (Skyewriter22)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skyewriter22 (Skyewriter22)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skyewriter2/ (Skyewriter2)
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/skyewriter/ (Skyewriter)
About Bullseye: A Jesse Quinn Mystery (Jesse Quinn Mysteries Book 1)
Publication date: Feb 26, 2020
Publisher: SandCastle Books
Genre: Mystery
Dan Hoffman’s wife is dead. His fingerprints are on the glass prism she was bludgeoned with, and powerful people want him in cuffs. But Detective Jesse Quinn has a history with Dan and she believes he’s innocent. A man on the run claims the murder is tied to a long-ago cover-up over an incident in Afghanistan. Four people are dead, and two attempts have been made. A rival in the Sheriff’s office wants to take over the investigation and time is running out. Will Jesse be able to put all the pieces together before she is sidelined and Dan arrested for his wife’s murder?
Buy the book: Bullseye: A Jesse Quinn Mystery (Jesse Quinn Mysteries Book 1)
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2vvBwZl
Interview with Skye Taylor
How long have you been writing fiction? When did you start?
Most of my life, but seriously disrupted by the raising of a family and caring for a sick husband. Been writing novel length fiction for almost thirty years now and after many disheartening rejections, I sold my first book, a mainstream, The Candidate, to Wings Press in 2012. My Tide’s Way series was contracted by Belle Bridge Books in 2013.
Why did you start —what triggered your writing?
I had an English teacher in Junior and Senior years of high school who really challenged me and created the spark. On that first day in his class, I thought I was doomed when he advised us that he would deduct 5 points for every misspelled word. I might not have been the world’s worst speller, but I wasn’t far from the top of that list. But then he handed out dictionaries and told us they could remain on our desks during quizzes and tests and he expected us to look the word up if we weren’t sure. That began my exploration into a far more varied vocabulary and a love for words. His assignments made me dig deep as well, and I discovered I had a gift for writing that might never had come to light had I not had Mr. Keyes for two very formative years in my education.
What is your most recent book? What inspired it?
Bullseye is book 1 in my new series, the Jesse Quinn Mysteries. I can’t say that any one thing inspired it. As I mentioned earlier, I have grown weary of the same old, same old that seems to dominate the romance genre so I was looking for a new challenge and opted for mystery. While other authors have created best-selling series with amateur sleuths, as my son points out, how many people do you know that have that many people around them die mysterious deaths? So, cozies were not my style either. Could have opted for a PI, but ended up deciding to have my main character be in law enforcement.
I love to get right into my research for any book, contemporary or historical, so I signed up for the Citizens Law Enforcement Academy and enjoyed every night of the 12 week course: the chance to drive a police cruiser, on their training course, meeting the K-9’s who serve, visting the incident house where real life situations play out on a screen in front of you, waiting for your response, a visit to all the special teams that included SWAT, diving, helicopter, hostage negotiation etc. Then I went on two ride-alongs and got to see what a deputy’s life and work are like up close and personal. It was an eye-opening experience that gave me a whole new appreciation for the dedication, professionalism and patience that our men and women in law enforcement exhibit every day.
What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? The least?
I love all the writing parts, even the editing, revising, rewriting and the research. What I HATE is the marketing.
Do you keep a journal? If so, how often do you write in it? Is it for personal reflection, for tracking writing ideas or both? How do you use it?
I have kept a journal off and on over the years. Mostly when life was difficult because I found that writing things down in my journal helped me to keep things in perspective and not take my frustrations and disappointments out on others. I’ve kept journals when I travel so I can revisit the trip and all the things I experienced. I also have a gratitude journal where I write down all the things I am grateful for today as well as the things I want to be grateful for tomorrow, next week or next year. Again, that helps me with perspective.
I have lived a rich eventful life. Not all of it has been easy – burying my husband after 6 years of cancer, coping with my mom’s Alzheimer’s, being a single parent on a small income, bearing the loss of two precious grandsons, one to SIDS and another to a freak accident at a park. But in other ways I have been bountifully blessed. I have four wonderful adult kids and a stepson who I could not be prouder of or love more. They have given me fifteen terrific grandkids. I live in a cozy little bungalow on beach in St Augustine Florida. I have dear friends, enjoy volunteering at the USO, and traveling both to visit family and to see the world. I’ve visited more than half the states in the US, 5 continents, spent two years in the South Pacific with the Peace Corps, jumped out of perfectly good airplanes, skied down snowy mountains, snorkeled over colorful reefs and so much more. I am a fortunate woman and I thank God for it.
Interview with Jesse Quinn
Interviewer: Good afternoon, Deputy Detective Jessalyn Quinn, or do you prefer to be called Jesse?
Jesse: Only my mother and my ex call me Jessalyn but everyone who knows the real me calls me Jesse. I like it because my dad used to call me Jesse Girl when I was little. He was killed in the line of duty when I was twelve he’s the reason I wanted to be a cop. I aspire to be a law enforcement officer he would have been proud of.
Interviewer: So, I guess you’ve wanted to be in law enforcement all your life.
Jesse: Pretty much. I tried living the life my mother thought proper for a southern lady. You know, dutiful wife and mother, active in the community and all that stuff. But it didn’t work out. And it definitely wasn’t fulfilling once my kids got to school age and started having a life of their own. Elliott, my ex, was another mistake, but the less said about him the better. When that life began to unravel I enrolled at the Police Academy and got a job with the St John’s County Sheriff’s department right after graduating. And I love my work.
Interviewer: But does your work sometimes interfere with your family life? It must be hard being a good mom and a good cop.
Jesse: Mike only has two years left in high school and Jacqui’s a freshman. They’re good kids and for the most part, I trust them to make good decision. Sometimes I do get caught up on a case and I worry what might be going on at home when I can’t be there, but so far I’ve been able to balance the two pretty well. Jacqui’s just turned thirteen and wants to be 21 so I have to be especially vigilant with her, but her father, while he wasn’t much of a husband, is a good dad to his daughter and he’s been there when I can’t be. My mom has taken Jacqui under her wing too so there’s that. And Mike has Seth.
Interviewer: Who’s Seth?
Jesse: He started out as Mike’s tutor. Mike wasn’t okay with his father taking off for a younger woman and his grades were slipping badly. So, Seth came into his life, got him back on track in school, then stayed around to be all the things Mike’s dad never had the time for.
Interviewer: So, is there a new man in your life, or have you turned your back on that kind of relationship? Once burned, twice shy and all.
Jesse: (blushing a little) Well, Seth has hung around for more than just Mike. I tried to pretend there was nothing there and once Mike was doing okay, Seth would be gone. But he’s more persistent than that. And incredibly patient, waiting for me to loosen up, and maybe take a chance on him. He’s good company, a good listener and a great cook. I don’t know if it will ever be more than just friendship, but . . . who knows. Maybe.
Interviewer: So, tell me a little about your work. How did you end up on the Major Crimes Squad?
Jesse: Being a detective is a lot more rewarding than riding in a patrol car ever was. Some of the things a deputy sees, no one should ever have to see. People can be incredibly stupid or just as incredibly evil. Some folk just get into trouble without half trying. Being on patrol is day after day of dealing with the worst of people every day and the best of people on their worst days. Major Crimes has its share, more than its share, of just plain evil, way too much human suffering and pain, but it’s also rewarding when you solve the puzzle. Figure out who did it and nail them. Sometimes you have to tell someone a loved one has perished and that’s never easy, but when you manage to track down the perpetrator and throw in them in jail, you get to go back and give the family some sense of justice. That’s the rewarding part. And sometimes you get to intervene in someone’s plan to hurt another, save a kid from a life of sexual slavery, or drugs, or convince a battered wife to finally leave her spouse and start healing again. At the end of the day, I know I’ve made a difference, and that’s what makes this job worth the hardships and the ugliness, time away from family or just the nightmares you live with for the rest of you life.
Interviewer: Well, Detective Quinn, it’s been interesting chatting with you, but I can hear your phone beeping so I guess I better let you get back to your work. Thanks for coming in today.
Jesse: (Reaching for her phone) It was my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Excerpt from Bullseye
The tang of salty air filled my senses as I gazed up at the familiar, sprawling mansion where I’d spent so much of my youth. Hanging out with my ex’s sister and being courted by Elliott the Rat while the house still belonged to the Edwards family.
Then there was that intense fling I wasn’t so proud of. The one with Dan Hoffman, current owner of the property.
Dan had called 911 when he arrived home from work and found his wife Laney unconscious. According to Lt. Ward, Dan had desperately demanded an ambulance, but when the EMT rig rolled in the wife was already dead.
I ducked under the yellow crime scene tape stretched across the cobblestone drive, and strode toward the house. At the top of the wide, stone staircase a handsome black rookie stepped into my path.
“Ma’am? This is a crime scene. No one is—”
I shoved the front of my suit jacket aside. As he gawked at the badge hanging on a lanyard around my neck, I held out my ID folder.
He accepted the black folder. “Jessalyn Quinn.” He frowned, then his head jerked up and his eyes met mine. “You’re Jesse Quinn? The Jesse Quinn?”
“That would be me.” I tried to add a jaunty grin.
“But you’re . . . I mean—”
I made the tsking sound Mother never missed an opportunity to scold me for. “Too short? Too female? Looks can be deceiving. Didn’t they teach you that at the academy?”
Nothing about my diminutive, tailored appearance matches the reputation of an impetuous rookie barely off probation who had taken out three armed thieves at a convenience store my first week alone on the job. I’d been far too hasty back then and way overconfident. However, having prevailed in spite of taking a round in my thigh, the incident had gained me creds. Big time. No one had ever questioned my ability to handle myself since if you didn’t count the testosterone-laden ribbing dished out on a regular basis.
“Sorry, Detective Quinn. No disrespect meant.” The young deputy started poking at the electronic tablet he held, logging my information and the time I’d arrived.
“None taken.” I slipped my ID back into my pocket. “Were you first on the scene?”
He nodded. “I was just a couple blocks away. Got here before the EMTs.”
“Deputy—” I glanced at his name tag. “MacKenzie. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Just ask for Mac,” he replied, nodding.
“Mac,” I repeated as I stepped past him and into the cool interior of the beautiful old house.
When I’d stepped out of my cruiser, the tidal wave of déjà vu had been strong, but inside, the clash of history, of memories good and bad, swelled in my chest. I did my best to ignore the tightness and inspect my surroundings impartially.
My sturdy, leather-soled shoes clicked loudly on the bare, hardwood floor that had once been covered with a luxurious Oriental carpet. A carpet that had tickled my bare backside on more than one occasion. Another wave of shame burned through me as I hurried through to the next room.
The old family room hit me even harder. I clenched my teeth and forced the memories back into the box where they belonged.
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Welcome Debbie and congratulations on today’s npublication of Dead Man’s Bluff! I’m delighted to host you here. I have my Kindle copy and I’m looking forward to diving in.
Thank you, Kathleen, for hosting me!
I began to write stories in third grade and never got over it. Nancy Drew hooked me on the mystery genre, followed by Sherlock Holmes, and later Raymond Chandler.
My first rejection came in 1965 from the TV show, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Being a clueless kid, I hand-printed a story on three-ring binder paper and submitted it to the show. Instead of chucking it in the trash, some kind soul had the courtesy to send me a rejection letter, explaining they only accepted material submitted through literary agents. And so began my long career of collecting rejections for fiction.
The best rejection advice I ever heard came from novelist David Cates, who said, “Make it your goal to collect 100 rejections.” He was right—rejections didn’t sting as much with that mindset. By frequently submitting articles and short stories in that quest for 100 rejections, I also received many acceptances…which was David’s whole point!
Rejections kept coming for my novels but they grew more encouraging and complimentary. I won contests, landed two agents, and had serious flirtations with several publishers but my first ten books never found a home.
Number 11, Instrument of the Devil, was published in 2017 and became a bestseller in women’s adventure. Overnight success only took 30 years!
Six months later, that publisher shut down and I was orphaned. Thankfully, the book remains available online.
Over the decades, I’ve learned setbacks are the norm in the writing business. You cry for five minutes then move on.
The Kill Zone is a crime-writing website I’ve followed for years. That cadre of accomplished authors generously share their skills and experiences. They taught me techniques to lift my fiction from good to publishable. I wrote several guest posts for them and was honored when they invited me to become a regular contributor. I feel like the little kid who’s been invited up to the big kids’ treehouse.
The main character in my series, Tawny Lindholm, is a fiftyish small-town widow who lacks confidence because of dyslexia and lack of education. She almost flunked out of school, prompting her alcoholic father to tell her, “It’s a good thing you’re pretty, honey, because you sure are dumb.” Although she’s smart and intuitive, she struggles constantly with low self-esteem. Courage and determination give her the strength to overcome daunting obstacles.
In the first book, still reeling from her husband’s death, Tawny unwittingly becomes involved with a dashing terrorist who sets her up as a scapegoat in his plot to destroy the electrical grid. Three-quarters of the way through the book, a lawyer character appears to defend her against the feds who are threatening her because of her connection with the terrorist. Tillman Rosenbaum is six-foot-seven-inches of arrogant, brilliant, crusading attorney who owns any courtroom he enters. He strutted into the story and insisted on returning in the second book, Stalking Midas, the third book, Eyes in the Sky, and the fourth book, Dead Man’s Bluff.
Spoiler alert: Tawny goes to work for Tillman and they become romantically involved but that relationship is anything but smooth. They are yin and yang. Her trusting nature conflicts with his cynicism. But he has tremendous respect for her ability to persuade clients to confide secrets to her that they’re too afraid to tell him.
Although the first three books are set in Montana, the idea for Dead Man’s Bluff was born after family and friends survived Hurricane Irma in Florida. The 2017 storm left six million people without power for weeks and hundreds missing. That situation made a perfect backdrop for a mysterious disappearance. I “borrowed” heavily from my loved ones’ experiences to bring authenticity to the story.
Thanks, Kathleen, for this opportunity to chat with your readers.
Thank you, Debbie. You’re an inspiration for all writers who feel the sting of rejection. Experience the pain, learn and keep going!
Link to Debbie Burke’s website.
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Posted on May 23, 2020 by admin
Due to their “exceptional” review of Damned If She Does, Kirkus Reviews has selected Damned If She Does for inclusion in its September magazine and website listing of “GREAT INDIE BOOKS WORTH DISCOVERING”!!
Both a crime mystery and narrative insight into the trauma and consequences of keeping sexual abuse secret, Damned If She Does reveals what Kirby Dick, co-director of the documentary “On The Record,” refers to as the “deep-seated misogyny and distrust of survivors.” As he notes, “MeToo did not change everything.” In Damned If She Does, did silence lead to murder? Does speaking out do more harm than good? Are women damned if they do and damned if they don’t?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged coronavirus reading, crime mystery award, new fiction, summer reading | Leave a comment | Edit
The Host on This Site, Kathleen Kelley Reardon and New Crime Mystery, Damned If She Does.
Posted on May 9, 2020 by admin
When writing Shadow Campus and Damned If She Does, a major challenge involved not giving away the ending. Second to that was keeping each main character’s story engaging and on track. My technique for the former is to keep myself in the dark — essentially not determining who done it until nearly the end. That way, there’s little chance of spilling the beans. The second challenge is a bit more complicated. My general approach is to keep each main character’s story in my head much like we do with our friends. If you think about it, you know what most of your friends would and wouldn’t do in a variety of circumstances. Sure, there’s room for error, but the same can be said of fictional characters. Every now and then someone tells me with conviction what one of my characters will likely do in the next book. That’s always a pleasure to learn. It’s as if the characters live beyond the pages and no longer belong only to me.
I was writing Damned If She Does long before the MeToo era began. Meg, one of two lead characters, keeps a dark secret until she stumbles upon the dead body of the man who caused it all and quickly becomes the prime suspect. Four characters from Shadow Campus return in this second crime mystery, which I anticipate becoming part of a trilogy. The first book took place in L.A, the second in New York City, and the third, now partially written, will be situated in West Cork Ireland.
Excerpt from Damned If She Does: NYC in March
When they left MOMA, it was dark and lightly snowing. Meg’s cheeks reddened from the cold; her eyes brightened. Rashid breathed in Manhattan’s icy magic. Leafless tree branches adorned with miniature white lights, obscure an hour earlier, now reached their glowing branches skyward like secondary characters boldly stealing the show. Cars and taxis moved rhythmically, cooperatively. Buildings glistened. Rainbow hued pigeons, heads bobbing, dexterously scurried and fluttered in a precarious dance with preoccupied pedestrians.
“No place quite like it,” Shamus said.
Rashid slowly nodded as he looked up transfixed by snowflakes bright against the darkening sky, some joining like starlings in harmonic formations, upward and downward, inward and outward, as if having practiced together for years …
Interview with primary character, Shamus Doherty
Kathleen: Shamus, I’m delighted that you’re here. I know you’re a private person. Let’s start there. You finally said yes to this interview on the fourth try.
Shamus: You’ve put me in two novels. I guess you could say my life is no longer my own. Besides, my sister can’t seem to shake the notion that her brother is an introvert whose love life won’t blossom until he opens up. .
Kathleen: Any other reason?
Shamus: (smiling) Maybe I’m just a little worried about what you’ll write about me in the third book.
Kathleen: At this point, I may have little wiggle room. Our readers know you as well as I do. Some tell me what you’ll do next.
Shamus: You reap what you sow.
Kathleen: Let me ask you this: You’ve stolen the hearts of many female readers. They describe you as a “diamond in the rough.” What’s your response to that?
Shamus: Detective Jeffries says any charm I might have is wasted – that I’m oblivious to women noticing me.
Kathleen: Do you think he has a point?
Shamus: I think he’s just grumpy.
Kathleen: He is that. So, tell me, in book three you’ll be in Ireland. Are you looking forward to that?
Shamus: I’m not much for travel, but my Irish roots go way back. I think we can tell Meg that I’m branching out.
Kathleen: She’s going along, isn’t she?
Shamus: Yep. She’s been there many times and loves it, especially West Cork.
Kathleen: You’re becoming quite the amateur detective. Is that something you plan to turn into a career?
Shamus: It’s born of necessity. My dream is building beautiful homes. Maybe someday a degree in architecture.
Kathleen: I guess we’ll see.
Shamus: (Smiling) Unless you want to tell us now.
Kathleen: Thank you for being here, Shamus.
Shamus: Ah, you’re keeping it a secret. I knew it.
Kathleen: One last thing, Shamus. Is Denise in your future?
Shamus: She’s in my present. That’s really all I can say.
