Can a woman broken by tragedy and heartbreak journey through her own past to reclaim her future? WISHES is a poignant exploration of the power of love and hope, resilience and redemption against human suffering.
Callie Ward’s wishes and dreams have crumbled under the weight of life-long trauma and grief. It’s safer for her to hide from the world than face more loss and betrayal. Help comes from places and people unknown, unexpected, and mysterious, but she’s reluctant to accept it.
At twenty-eight, amidst life and wedding crises, a box of wishes arrives from her past to help nurture and heal her with loving guidance, requests, and tangible, material support. But they mean facing her past from which she recoils at having to dredge up traumatic events, fearful of unrecoverable heartbreak.
Her escape into solitude spirals into entanglements with others who have their own wounds and secrets. She’s encouraged by meeting caring, helpful women, but fearful of men who challenge her guarded heart—one who’s hidden his true feelings, another is a wounded hero recovering from trauma, and a third is an intelligent charmer who seems too good to be true. Battling flashbacks and anxiety, Callie must choose to confront, or run from, the wishes and her traumas and men who could either shatter or heal her. Will it be fate or her own decisions that determine who she is and the rest of her life?
Callie’s journey through broken lives from charming New England to the Florida coasts, to the majestic Grand Canyon will either save or devastate her. Join Callie as she navigates the treacherous terrain of the heart in a fight for her future.
Born into a world of technological tyranny, seventeen-year-old Nova and her best friend escape into the mountains of Eastern Washington in search of Free America, a mythical outpost of freedom. Hunted by nefarious forces, she faces betrayal, deadly obstacles, and supernatural transformation. At the outpost, secrets await which challenge her understanding of reality. Nova’s transformation has only just begun.
Defense attorney, Eve Brady, taken hostage by her drug-dealing client, escapes into deep winter woods. Relief turns to panic when she finds police have branded her a fugitive. She runs from them, vowing to stay free to prove her innocence.
But who will fight for her? She trusts only one investigator to push hard enough to get the truth, Detective Bob Milano. If only he wasn’t a man she wishes she’d never met. Their history is a chaotic mix of suspicion and confrontation with an undercurrent of attraction, suppressed, and never explored. Would he even speak to her after their last combative encounter? Or would he just slap a pair of cuffs on her?
What does she have to lose? With dragnet searches tightening, Eve rolls the dice: find Milano and convince him to help her before time runs out.
The rustic, historic old mill had been renovated into a popular gift shop and museum. It served for years as popular site for travelers and locals alike . . . until the body of a man was found one cold winter morning in the water wheel pond. Was it an accident . . . or murder? Drawn to the scene by chance or fate is Emma Shaw, renown photographer, native of these North Carolina Blue Ridge mountains, and gifted with psychic abilities she cannot ignore.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Meg Benjamin…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I grew up in the Midwest, but I’ve lived all over the country, from Seattle to Amherst, MA, to Lawton, OK. Hubs and I spent over twenty-five years in San Antonio, TX, before moving to Colorado. We live in the foothill suburbs outside Denver, but we go back to Texas often to visit kids (two sons) and grandkids (twins).
Tell us a little about how this book came about and how you came up with the title.
I wrote lots of romance novels before I tried my first cozy, The Pepper Peach Murder. I love the genre because it combines elements of romance (usually a love story is involved) and a mystery to be solved. The Carrot Marmalade Murder is number seven in the series, called Luscious Delights after my heroine’s jam making business, but like all the books in the series, it can be read on its own. My heroine, Roxy Constantine, has been working up to marrying her significant other, Nate Robicheaux, for a long time and this is the book where it all happens. Although not without a lot of bumps in the road. All the books in the series are named after a jam Roxy is working on. Carrot marmalade is actually a recipe developed in the Depression because carrots were cheaper to cook jam with than oranges. I actually made it (I make most of the jams that show up in my books), and it’s very good. Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of recipes out there, but I prefer the simple ones that feature just carrots, sugar, lemon juice, and maybe a little lemon zest.
Are there any tricks, habits or superstitions you have when creating a story?
I’ve gotten into the habit of doing business in the morning (emails, promo, etc.) and writing in the afternoon, usually while sitting in a comfortable chair with my iPad and my lap desk. There’s a great view from our family room; I can watch people and dogs walk by and grab a glass of tea from the kitchen when I want it. There are drawbacks: the iPad version of Word doesn’t always work and play well with the version on my computer. But I can usually wrestle it into shape, and I’m much happier writing in comfort.
What book have you read that you wish you had written?
Just about anything by Nora Roberts. I don’t know how she does it—around four full-length novels a year (counting the ones she does as JD Robb), and they’re all meticulously plotted and beautifully written. The woman’s a marvel, and I’m in awe.
Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it?
Now I’m retired, but I taught college English and Communication for a lot of years. I enjoyed it, mostly. I taught in a professional writing program at a large state university, which meant I learned editing and document design (I actually was a copy editor in my spare time). I still know more about punctuation than is healthy for any one person, but I no longer can quote the Chicago Manual of Style from memory, which is a very good thing.
What’s your favorite book of all time and why? What’s your favorite childhood book?
It’s so hard to choose just one book, but I’ll try to narrow it down. I love Sarah Smith’s The Vanished Child, because it’s a nearly perfect mystery romance that you can’t put down. All the way through the book, I kept asking myself what the solution to the mystery was, but I couldn’t quite figure it out and I was fascinated. I also love Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh—I reread it every year or so. It’s a well-nigh perfect enemies to lovers romance with a wonderful heroine and a hero who grows on you throughout Balogh’s Slightly series. My favorite childhood book is probably The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because I was always a fan of fantasy and fairy tales.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read The Carrot Marmalade Murder?
I really hope you’ll all love Roxy and Nate the way I do. I enjoyed created Roxy and her world, and I wanted her to have a love who was worthy of her. I hope Nate fills the bill. I put them through a lot in this one, but I think they make it to the wedding in good shape. And they’re still friends with my favorite secondary characters, Susa Sondergaard and Ethan Fowler, although in the case of Ethan it’s a near thing.
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
I love regency romances (see Slightly Dangerous, above), and I’ve read so many of them that I recognize most of the period details that regency authors use—although why do characters use “stuck his spoon into the wall” to say someone died? I don’t have the patience to actually write one myself, though. The characters are necessarily hemmed in by lots of social conventions that they have to find a way to work around. That’s usually fun to read, but I imagine it’s a real chore to write.
What is your favorite quote?
Probably “Don’t look back; something might be gaining on you” from Satchel Paige.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
My characters are all imaginary, although they have elements of people I know. I don’t think you can ever create a character out of thin air (although I guess you could create one based on clichés, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a good one). A friend of mine once gave a copy of my Venus In Blue Jeans to an acquaintance, who told her “Oh, this is based on people living in Fredericksburg. We all know the backstory.” I found that fascinating, since I didn’t and don’t know anyone in Fredericksburg, TX, or any Fredericksburg stories.
Roxy’s getting married, but murder may send the wedding off the rails.
Roxy and Nate are finally getting married, but murder wasn’t on the program. In the midst of her wedding prep, Roxy has to deal with Nate’s trouble-making ex who thinks she can rekindle their romance. But things get serious when the ex ends up dead in a Shavano back alley. Now Roxy needs to clear Nate’s name, sell her customers on her carrot marmalade, and find herself a wedding dress. All before it’s time to take a deep breath and confront her own wedding jitters.
Excerpt:
I headed back to the kitchen to get the next bunch of trays and platters ready to go.
Nate and Kevin picked up the hotel pans with meatballs and filo packets to place on the hot trays they already had in place. I followed with the artichoke dip and crostini. We were making good time, and the waitress for the night, Evie, had just arrived. Everything seemed to be falling into place. I felt like patting someone on the back.
“Nathan?”
I heard the woman’s voice as I stepped through the door behind Kevin. Ahead of us, Nate stopped dead in his tracks, which made it sort of difficult for Kevin and me to get around him and put our food on the table.
I turned toward the woman’s voice, noticing that Nate was staring rigidly toward the side of the room near the posters. As I watched, a tall blonde stepped forward with a brilliant smile.
Calling her a tall blonde doesn’t really do her justice, though. In her stocking feet, she was probably about my height, but she wasn’t in stocking feet at all. She wore bright green three-inch spike heels with open toes that showed purple toenails. The skirt of her vividly green minidress ended a good two inches above her knees, while the neckline dipped low across her considerable cleavage. Her tumble of curly hair was a kind of honey gold that I doubted very much was natural but looked terrific.
She was spectacular, and apparently, she knew Nate.
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Her contemporary romance Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, the Carly Crown Jewel of Books from the Mid-America Romance Authors, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
FBI Special Agent Malcolm Gee, who specializes in hunting serial killers, is on vacation when he discovers a decapitated head. He wants to get away from death and thinks he’s found the woman of his dreams, so he’s happy to leave the investigation to the police. But circumstances intervene. A friend, Skipper, reveals that the head belongs to his sister and begs Malcolm to search for her killer. Reluctantly, Malcolm undertakes an unofficial investigation that uncovers government malfeasance and more gruesome cartel-style executions. His girlfriend, Valerie, having second thoughts about their relationship, complicates the hunt for the murderer and the mastermind behind it all. While Malcolm juggles multiple priorities, the number of victims seeking a voice, an avenger, rises.
Last of the Völsung line of kings descended from Odin, Sigurd is one of the elite Sjórúlfar—the fearsome Sea Wolves of southern Norway. Endowed with the divine blood of the wolf, he seeks glory at the Sólhjarta Summer Solstice Tournament to avenge his father’s death.
Brynhildr, daughter of the Raven King, is the Sun Falcon shieldmaiden and gifted seeress who has glimpsed her fate as a Valkyrie in a seiðr vision. When her father decrees she must wed the tournament’s champion, she summons Freyja for guidance—only to learn her future is bound to Sigurd.
As the Norns tighten the intricate threads of fate, Brynhildr must guide Sigurd toward his destiny as a dragonslayer—by defying the web of wyrd and incurring the wrath of Odin.
When his best friend’s sister vanishes with a man known for his drug habit, Minneapolis private investigator Lyle Dahms heads to Seattle to bring her home. But the city he finds is nothing like the postcards—its rain-soaked streets hide a growing homelessness crisis, predatory dealers, and police who don’t want an outsider stirring up trouble.
Searching for the missing woman, Dahms leans on unlikely allies: an elderly Filipino food bank volunteer with sharp instincts and a handful of strangers whose loyalties shift like the weather. Each lead pulls him deeper into a world ruled by desperation, where trust is scarce, and danger waits around every corner.
Far from home and increasingly out of his depth, Dahms must decide how much he’s willing to risk to keep a promise. Because the truth behind the young woman’s disappearance is darker than he imagined—and finding her may cost him far more than he came to give.
Talented artist Brooke Arnelletta knows she’s going places. She just never dreamed her journey would include running away. Behind the upscale gallery where she serves as a summer intern, she’s the lone witness to a stabbing. When police can’t find evidence to support the crime, Brooke begins to wonder if her creative imagination was working overtime. Days later, clues finally emerge, turning the alleged murder into a reality. Brooke must face a decision—risk the killer returning to silence her…or disappear into thin air. Can she remain hidden until an arrest is made? Or will evil find her first?
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Kay Jeffery…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
Sometimes I look at my life and think I couldn’t have written a better story for myself. I grew up in the U.S. Deep South, a theater and arts kid who couldn’t get enough historical romance and stories about women with supernatural abilities. I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to move objects with my mind before realizing that, while that was never going to happen in real life, with words I could do anything.
British history became my jam, and a study abroad program in Cambridge persuaded me to make it my career. Through schooling and the teaching positions I took, I gradually worked my way northward to Appalachian Ohio. In my third year of teaching History at a liberal arts college, convinced I would never find my true love in such a small town, by some miracle I met a handsome, super-smart, dry-witted geologist who makes my heart thump. We married, blended our pet families, had kids, bought a house and a minivan, the whole shebang. Now I’ve got my fella, three teenagers, and three adorable and demanding cats.
Why did you choose this genre?
Thankfully someone invented the category Historical Romantasy to capture my fascination with history, romance, and fantasy in one genre. The idea for my Nuns and Barbarians series just came to me one day: magical island ruled by a mythical deity, cloistered women who are refugees from the medieval patriarchy, hot pseudo-Vikings, and sexy times. What could be better?
As a historian, I found writing accurate historical fiction to be a bit of a minefield. I wanted more freedom to invent, to blend, to be wildly inaccurate if the story or characters called for it. Romantasy allows for creative world-building, yet the historical outposts give me inspiration and structure. I love playing around with myths and legends, old rituals and vocabulary, and making something new from them. My stories are anchored in the past but have a modern sensibility. The more novels I write in this world I’ve constructed, the more depth it has, which has been incredibly rewarding. Sometimes the awful truth of contemporary reality is too much to bear, and then I tell my friends I’m headed off to my island where the women are in charge, their men support them unconditionally, and I control the weather.
Where did you get the idea for The Little Nun’s Silver Fox?
Confession: My favorite romance trope is shy librarian meets dangerous, compelling stranger. I knew the women of Adytum Abbey would have a library—it’s a convent! Old books contain so much magic in themselves, and this was a fantastic chance to delve more deeply into the island’s origin story deep in mythology.
The library setting provides access to all kinds of mysteries about the convent. Words have power, but the library assistant Grace doesn’t at first realize she can access that reservoir of strength for herself. A dreamer, she gets lost in stories and thinks of herself as small and insignificant. Her dangerous stranger, Ivar, though he’s a barbarian, had to have an interest in books himself to facilitate their meeting, and so I made him an older, wiser, cynical treasure-hunter. He knows the value of stories for showing him where to find glittery things, but the tale he and Grace uncover—and tell each other over the course of the novel—helps him see where the real treasure lies. This age-gap story is deliciously angsty with a high spice level.
What’s been unexpectedly fun about the Nuns and Barbarians series is the way the stories interconnect with each other. The Little Nun’s Silver Fox is the third in the series, though the books can be read in any order, and you can definitely start with this one if (like me) libraries are your thing. I created a real pickle for myself as an author by having all the events of the barbarian invasion occur within a three-day window. As a result, each novel is happening at the same time as the others, at least in the first five books. (The next two are in the pipeline, so stay tuned.) Readers should be able to pick up any of the first five books and start there. As they read the others, they’ll see crossover characters, different parts of the island backstory, and clues of a hidden conflict emerging. I hope readers find each book—no matter where they start—adds layers to their experience of this magical world.
What do you want readers to come away with after they readThe Little Nun’s Silver Fox?
Ultimately, all my books are about the power of romantic love. When women and men come together as equals, that’s when the magic happens. The women of Adytum Abbey have ended up on the island because of oppressive circumstances. In the convent they’ve found how self-sufficient they can be—as independent, unique individuals with their own talents and desires.
When the barbarians arrive, these men realize that on this island they aren’t the ones in control. Violence gets them nowhere. Both men and women will have to respect each other and give a little in order to find how powerful they can be when they join forces. Mostly, I want readers to have a satisfying emotional experience that helps them believe that true love exists and that it can move mountains—both of which I believe with my whole heart.
Are there any tricks, habits or superstitions you have when creating a story?
My main trick for writing is making my body open up the laptop and click on the file without consulting whether my spirit is “feeling it” today. First body, then spirit—that has been the key to keeping writing progress going for me.
Life can be so distracting that I’ve discovered the value in retreating to what I call my “sensory deprivation chamber”: a library study room. I walk to the library with my writing materials, tea bags, and lunch; I take myself to a study room, make the tea, and open the laptop. I start with a goal of 1000 words per day. As the story takes off, my word-count goal expands. Sometimes it’s hard to get those words, and sometimes they flow. Either way, I show up and get to work. As my husband reminds me when I’ve had a slow day, it’s all progress.
A third strategy is walking a lot. Walking is conducive to thinking and daydreaming—especially if you leave the earbuds at home. If I’m stumped, I take a turn around the block or walk through the library stacks. I’m always telling stories in my head, and if I’ve got a novel underway, my brain will work on it while my feet are moving so I’m ready to write as soon as that laptop opens up. First body, then spirit.
What’s your favorite book of all time and why?
“Reader, I married him.” It’s Jane Eyre. Of course, it’s Jane Eyre. The bookish governess and the dangerous anti-hero! The angst! The redemption! Did I mention the books? Though Jane seems meek, she is the driver of her story. Her fierce, independent spirit is never cowed, even as she chafes against social restrictions and the moral compromises her lover asks of her. She never forgets who she is—even when she forgets who she is!
When I was a teenager with a taste for bad boys, I loved Mr. Rochester. As a college student growing in feminist sensibility, I hated him. As a seasoned adult, I adore how Jane navigated her tortured romance with strength, passion, and a fundamental integrity. In the end, Rochester didn’t marry Jane, she married him. Ah. That’s the good stuff.
What book have you read that you wish you had written?
Any novel by Jennifer Crusie. She’s the first author I remember reading and thinking: I wish I had written this. Her stories have real emotional tension, along with relatable interpersonal conflicts. But the characters are vibrant, memorable, and so, so funny, just being themselves. The characters’ foibles drive the plot, which clips along at a brisk pace. Crusie’s sense of humor also comes through in her narrative voice, word choice, sentence structure—I’m not sure exactly how she does it, but it’s delightful. The humor accentuates the human drama. She teamed up with Bob Mayer on several books, and those two authors are a stellar combination, providing both male and female perspectives. Plus, there’s always a happily-ever-after, which is a must for me.
What is your favorite movie?
I have two favorites: The Princess Bride and Roxanne (the Steve Martin/Daryl Hannah version of Cyrano de Bergerac). I’ve always been drawn to fairytales, and these two fit the bill. Both of them are romances, in which the hero and heroine have to recognize each other through disguises necessitated by social pressures. The hero’s love in both is steadfast, as he falls for a woman who is strong, kind, and intelligent.
Both of them are comedic, not only in the sense of having a happy ending. They are genuinely funny. The humor comes from the characters’ distinct natures shining through as well as the unique storytelling tone—not to mention a good measure of slapstick. Yet these characters face real and terrible obstacles on the way to their fairytale conclusions. To me, they illustrate what J. R. R. Tolkien said about fairy stories: that they feel like tragedies until, in the end, eucatastrophe breaks through. True love never dies. Miracles can happen. Life and love can turn out …as you wish. (Couldn’t help myself.)
What do you love that most people don’t like and wouldn’t understand why you do?
My love for both History and Romance often seems incongruous to people. As a romance novelist, my appreciation for the gritty realities of history— not only its triumphs but its tragedies and disappointments—can seem contrary to my penchant for a happy ending. I’m not into whitewashed histories that make everyone feel good. It’s important that we tell the truth about the past. If I tell someone I’ve just met that I’m a historian, I often get a grimace while they confess how much they hated History classes in school.
As a professional historian, I hid my love of bodice-ripper romances for a long time. When people find out I’m an avid romance reader, too, they often scratch their heads at the supposed unseriousness of my choice of reading material. Here’s the truth: I’m a historian because I gorged myself on historical romances from the time I was old enough to steal them from my mother’s bookshelf.
What History and Romance have in common is centering human relationships. I find people fascinating. We’re wonderful, frustrating, malicious, virtuous, selfish, generous, and absurd. We understand ourselves through the stories we tell, not only about what really happened in the past, but also what we wish could be true, for us and our society.
At a personal level, I’ll also say this: I dislike not knowing. Life is too full of uncertainty. I need to know the ending of the story before I begin. History and romance novels give me that.
What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is about history, books, and magic. In Cosmos, Carl Sagan said, “What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”
Beautiful, poetic, and true. I think the library is calling me.
He’s hunting for treasure; she sparkles like sapphires.
Blurb:
Come away to an enchanted island where the nuns of Adytum Abbey have made their idyllic home . . . until a band of barbarians invades in search of forbidden treasure.
The promise of one last treasure hunt lures experienced raider Ivar to Adytum Abbey, whose library holds clues to undiscovered riches as well as deeply buried mysteries about the island itself. Can shy librarian Sister Grace persuade Ivar that love is the greatest treasure of all—before it’s too late?
Excerpt:
Grace froze in her hiding spot, one delicate page of the book held between two fingers.
The pirates were here!
Somehow they had gained entry to the library, despite Alice locking it with the heavy key she kept tucked into her habit’s long pocket.
Over the thundering of her heart, Grace heard the two men having some kind of conversation with each other. One’s voice was quite low and rumbly; the other one was in the middle range and smooth as that second man exchanged words with the first. Hmm, nice.
His mellow voice sent a little shiver down her spine—and not from fear.
She heard the armoire door open and close with its distinctive creak, confirming that she’d been wise not to hide there. She couldn’t help but wonder with trepidation where they would search next. Her heart fluttered in her chest.
Grace knew it would be foolish to peek from her hiding spot in the low bookshelf. So foolish!
But the temptation was too much and, really, if she just pulled up this one little part of the sheet at the side and scrunched down so her head was resting on the bottom of the shelf, she’d be able to see them. If only for an instant.
Slowly, slowly, she closed the book and, holding it in her right hand, she extended the pointer finger of her left hand to raise the sheet …just …the tiniest …bit.
There! One of the men came into her view.
It had been so long since she’d seen a man that she’d practically forgotten what they were like. This one was enormous—were men always so large?—and dark haired. He had dressed entirely in black. He said more to the other man in his very deep voice, and Grace realized the smooth, shivery voice belonged to the other one, the one she couldn’t see. As Deep Voice moved farther into the room, the second man came into view, and Grace’s breath caught in her throat.
Though he was equally large, his hair was a striking silver, pulled back in a long braid woven through with a strand of leather. He spoke again in that really quite nice voice, turning his head just a bit, and a beam of sunlight lit up a crescent-shaped blue jewel embedded in his earlobe.
Grace’s eyes trailed over his body, the broad shoulders and barrel chest covered in the cream-colored linen of his shirt, open at the throat. As her gaze slipped down to his thick waist, she saw that his shirt was tucked into tight leather trousers. So very tight they are. Her eyes followed the length of strong thighs and calves that led down to booted feet. She noticed the weapon hanging from his belt, some kind of hatchet, and her blood chilled.
The weapon was a reminder that, despite his beauty, he was dangerous.
Award-winning author Kay Jeffery is a professional historian who loves stories. One day during her midlife crisis, Kay remembered that she’d always wanted to write romance novels. Her husband said, “I think you should do it.” Her kids were glad to have her (more or less) out of their business. Thrilled to have a stable lap for long periods of time, the cats discovered quickly that typing does not preclude scritches. And so Kay carved out pockets of time in between family life and her job to research such arcana as medieval love songs, Nordic swearwords, ancient Celtic rituals, obscure mythological divinities—and to weave them all together. The debut book in her Nuns and Barbarians series, Love Song for the Barbarian, won first place in the 2026 National Excellence in Story Telling (NEST) contest, in the category of erotic fiction. Her writing builds a fantasy world where strong, intelligent, loyal, and courageous heroines and heroes find their way to each other, where dreams are realized, and where love always, always wins.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, M.G. de Grey…
Today, I want to welcome Harry white, who played a leading role in bringing down a particularly unpleasant gang of child-traffickers. Readers can find out how this unfolded in Disappeared by M G de Grey. Harry could you please introduce yourself.
I’m Harry White, I’m English, and technically, I’m still a policeman with the Met in London.
English? So how did you get involved with an FBI operation in South America?
I was on leave, staying in Colombia with a friend. He asked me to investigate what was going on in his uncle’s farm, where someone took a shot at him.
Did you feel able to do this? I understand you’re a detective chief inspector. That sounds office-based, more admin than being out in the field.
Mmm … it is, but I certainly haven’t forgotten my detecting skills. Anyway, he’s my friend and I was keen to help.
I’ve already interviewed Antonia Brooks, the journalist involved. How did you meet her?
In a police station in Bogotá, on totally unrelated business. We exchanged a couple of sentences, and I never imagined I’d see her again – and then she resurfaced in the middle of the investigation in Cartagena, clearly pursuing the same group of thugs that I was.
What about the FBI angle? I don’t think that’s an organisation that usually welcomes outsiders when they’re on a case.
Too true. But I was involved in a transatlantic police operation last year with Special Agent David Zhang – which meant he, at least, was prepared to listen to me. And by the time we spoke, Antonia and I had uncovered a lot of facts that fitted into their investigation.
How do you feel about the job you do? It can be difficult.
I’m committed to the pursuit of justice, although sometimes it feels very difficult to achieve that. I’m not well-read like Antonia, but I once heard her quote Shakespeare, something about unmasking falsehood and bringing the truth to light. That about sums it up for me.
Now, I’ve got to ask this question – I see you’re unmarried, so tell me, is there anything romantic between you and Antonia?
She’s a hugely talented and determined journalist, and I have great respect for her. I don’t think there’s anything else I can tell you.
Can’t tell me or won’t tell me?
Ours is a professional relationship. I’m sure she’ll say the same if you interview her.
And a last question. Will you be staying in Colombia now this is over?
That’s undecided. I’m thirty-six now. If I want to make major changes in my career, this is probably the right time, but I haven’t decided yet.
Thank you, Harry. I’m looking forward to reading how you managed to get the better of these disgusting predators.
Mary Georgina de Grey, writer of contemporary romance and thrillers
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Ruben D. Gonzales…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in East LA. After college I was with the Peace Corps teaching school in an African village by day and reading and writing by candlelight at night. Before I retired from full-time work, I was Director of Development for Winston-Salem, NC. Now I write full-time and teach part-time at the local community college. My first novel, The Cottage on the Bay, was published by Moonshine Cove Publishing in 2018, and my second book, Murder on Black Mountain, the first in a mystery series, was published by Fire Star Press in 2020. The second, third, and fourth books in my Black Mountain Mystery series were published by Indigo Sea Press in 2022, 2023, and 2025. I have two recent books, a mystery book, Cabana Bay, the first in a mystery series, and an action/adventure book, Under the Tree of Life, published by The Wild Rose Press in 2025.
Family?
My wife and I have nine grandchildren!
Pets?
Our last wonderful dog passed peacefully this month, and we plan a long trip to Australia before we adopt another one. Dogs are important characters in all my mystery stories.
Where did you get the idea for Under the Tree of Life?
While living in a remote African village in West Africa, I found the simple, friendly villages in sharp contrast with the very volatile political environment of emerging nations.
Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)?
I’ve written several books in the mystery genre, but this is my first attempt at romantic suspense, and I hope to write more in this genre.
Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share?
My college major was anthropology, and I studied under a professor who completed his doctoral research in the area where I was stationed with the Peace Corps. Unfortunately, the use of boy and girl soldiers in the area was well known.
What is the most difficult thing about writing a book?
For me I struggle with the grammar.
What was the most difficult thing about this one in particular?
The romantic elements of the genre were new to me, so they proved difficult, although I enjoyed the opportunity to use romance to show different facets of characters.
What do you love that most people don’t like and wouldn’t understand why you do?
I run about every day. It has to be really cold for me not to run. When I was young, I ran in the Boston Marathon.
What’s your favorite book of all time and why?
Moby Dick. So many elements of writing in one book and a historically inspiring trope.
Would you rather have a bad review or no review?
I’ll take a bad review. Usually, people have legitimate complaints, and taking a complaint to heart is an opportunity to do better.
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
Fantasy
Your most prized material possession?
My guitar. I purchased it in Spain from a little-known guitar maker over fifty years ago on a backpacking trip through Europe. It turns out it is very valuable now.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
Yes, I have two completed manuscripts that have yet to find a home, but recently signed a contract with Histria Books, for a book of historical fiction with elements of action/adventure and romance. Histria Books are distributed by Simon and Schuster.
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
That my grammar sucks!
What has been the best compliment?
One publisher told me that my historical fiction book about a civil war plantation matriarch’s life was one of the best books they have ever published.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
The physical characteristics are from real people, but their emotional stuff is all made up. MOSTLY.
Favorite all time movie?
Casablanca, but a close second is Moonstruck.
GIVEAWAY!! – I’m giving away a copy of my book, Under the Tree of Life. Please go to my website, www.rubendgonzales.com, and use the contact page form to send me your request to be entered into a drawing for the book. Include your name so we can contact you if you are chosen and include the word “drawing” as well.
She thought she was only a visitor, but when she finds out her roots under the Baobab tree run deeper than she imagined, she must decide to run to safety or to stay and fight with the village she began to love.
Blurb:
After a brutal military coup shuts down a Central African country, Dr. Thema Book is hired to lead a medical mission to aid desperate villagers, sending a team of former special ops veterans along for protection.
Beneath a stand of Baobab trees, which the locals call the Tree of Life, Dr. Book and her crew are drawn into a civil war between villagers and the military. Treating the locals as well as wounded child soldiers puts the mission in jeopardy—while pitting crew members against each other.
Faced with the decision to run or stay, Dr. Book discovers her roots in the village stretch deeper than she thought possible. Thema decides to stay, and with the help of the ops team, they fight for the people she’s come to love
I was born and raised in East LA. After college, I was with the Peace Corps teaching school in an African village by day and reading and writing by candlelight at night. Before I retired from full-time work, I was Director of Development for the city of Winston-Salem, NC. Now I write full-time and teach part-time at the local community college. My first novel of historical fiction was The Cottage on the Bay, published by Moonshine Cove Publishing in 2018, and my second book, Murder on Black Mountain, the first in a mystery series, came out in 2020 from Fire Star Press. The second book in my Black Mountain Mystery series came out in 2022 by Indigo Sea Press; the third book in the series came out in June 2023, and the fourth book in the series was released in August 2025. My two most recent books, Under the Tree of Life and a mystery book, Cabana Bay, the first in a mystery series, were published by The Wild Rose Press in 2025. My website is; www.rubendgonzales.com. My email is: rgonzo1122gm@gmail.com.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Tammy D. Walker…
Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it?
I always marvel at people who have a linear career path, from their studies to their job. That’s not me! I studied, among other things, psychology, music, and English, and after grad school focusing on the last, I decided that I’d rather follow my interest in computers and work in tech. So I spent over a decade as a software developer, which I really enjoyed. I’m drawn to solving puzzles, which is why I like both writing code and penning mysteries.
Though I’ve gone back to teaching English, I still follow tech trends, and I use my tech background quite a lot as I write. Leslie, the main character in The Wing of a Bee, is in IT, and she’s working through the messy merger of her company with another while she’s also working on solving the jewelry thefts. So, I brought a lot of my own experience with potential technical problems to her backstory.
What I love about writing mysteries is that I can bring all my educational and employment experience to the books, both to the characters’ lives and the kinds of clues I weave into the stories.
Do you collect anything?
Radios! I have a small collection, since I enjoy listening to both broadcast radio as well as transmissions outside those bands. Living in Dallas, I can hear quite a lot on the air bands from the airports nearby. And weather radio is very important, as Dallas is in tornado alley. Mostly, though, my favorite is shortwave radio, which can potentially reach the world. I’ve curated and hosted shows for shortwave radio that featured poets reading their work, and I loved getting to combine those two interests to showcase contemporary writers to a broad audience. Radio plays a role in some of my mysteries as well.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read The Wing of a Bee?
For me, The Wing of a Bee was a way to explore questions about how to build community in a small town, in this case, the fictional Rosin in northeast Texas. Rosin, like the characters, undergoes significant change. Families move in from nearby Dallas with ideas about small town life not necessarily shared by those already there, while locals want to make the place better for the long-time residents without compromising their interests.
Leslie moved away after college, so she’s in both camps. She wants to both honor her grandmother’s legacy and her mother’s beliefs about what is “right” while building a community that is open, accepting, and, ultimately, supportive of the people who live there.
So, I’d like readers to come away from the mystery considering these questions, too. How do we make community better for everyone? Cozy mysteries should “return the world to order” after the crimes are solved. What, then, should that order look like?
I don’t claim to have the right answers to those questions, but I do want to contribute to some part of that conversation.
Beyond that, I do want to entertain my readers, so I hope they’ve had as much fun solving the mystery alongside Leslie and Veronica as I had writing it.
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
I love historical mysteries, and I’d like to write them. My cozies are contemporary and set in or tied to Texas. That said, I’ve been reading a lot about phone hacking in the mid-20th century, and the way phone phreaking—as it was called—was used as both a way to explore technology and build community fascinates me. Phones operate on a very different system now, so the methods they used would no longer work in a contemporary novel, of course. But I think phone hacking, especially dialing around the circuits and listening in on party lines, would be an intriguing way to enter a mystery.
I’d also like to expand beyond Texas at some point. While I’m a believer in “write what you know,” and I do know Texas as I’ve lived here all my life, I travel quite a bit through the Midwest and plains. So, I’d like to set a mystery in Western Nebraska at some point. The landscape is so different from the Northeast and Central Texas settings I’ve used so far, and the bluffs and plains could be characters in themselves.
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
I’ll start off the toughest criticism discussion whit a little background. I’m a poet, and most of my academic creative writing training focused on that genre. I used to write science fiction—heavy, thinky stuff whit a lot of symbolism and, unfortunately, without a lot of action—and I brought a lot of my poet’s mentality to that. So, I’d often get rejections from editors noting that while the writing was beautiful, the story just wasn’t there. So, that’s the toughest criticism I’ve had as a writer.
I’d read and watched mysteries, so I decided to teach myself plotting by writing a mystery. And, I loved it. I switched genres, and I’ve been writing mysteries ever since.
Two compliments have meant the most to me. First, I love hearing from readers and editors that my mysteries are well plotted and that the storylines work well. And second, that my cozies make people laugh. I love bringing whimsy and joy to my readers, and knowing that I’ve done so makes me very happy.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
My characters are definitely imaginary. I never base characters off real people. That said, I hope my characters feel real and that they encourage readers to ask questions about real-life situations.
I have had people I know ask my if they’re in my books before, though. Those questions were prompted by characters struggling with certain kinds of problems, and I can understand why they asked. That said, there are problems that are if not universal than widely experienced that it’s easy to see ourselves in the characters. Leslie struggles with work / life balance, like a lot of us do. Martin left a dream behind in his mid-20s to be able to better support Leslie and their kids. The families in the novel work through issues with aging parents, estrangement, and midlife upheavals. So, the characters are fictional, but their problems are very real.
Is there one subject you would never write about? What is it?
In my cozy mysteries, the crime is never murder. I’ve written about art fraud, property damage, fake identities, theft, injury, and vandalism, but no one is killed. I prefer to read mysteries that are less grim, and I know others out there do, too.
That’s not to say that the stakes aren’t high. I just raise them elsewhere. So, instead of “we have to catch the killer because the culprit killed someone,” the tension comes from the crimes’ effects on the entire community as well as the threat to the main characters and their family and friends.
The outline I have for the traditional, historical mystery I might write does involve death. If I do write that, then I’ll publish under a different name, as I do for poetry.
I want my readers to be assured that if they read a cozy mystery by Tammy D. Walker, the crime won’t be murder, but all the other elements that make cozies so lovely—the sense of community, the high stakes, and the amateur sleuth who can’t let the puzzle go until she’s solved it—will all be in the book.
She’s inherited a honey of a boutique from her queen bee grandmother, but can she solve the string of jewelry thefts before the culprit stings again?
Blurb:
Leslie had expected her grandmother’s funeral to buzz. Everyone who was anyone would be at the service for Evelyn, late owner of Butterfield’s Boutique and queen bee of Loblolly County.
What Leslie hadn’t expected was reuniting with her free-spirited cousin, Veronica. Or that they would inherit the coveted boutique.
When an influencer wearing jewelry from Butterfield’s is robbed, Leslie concludes the theft is a publicity stunt. But when the boutique’s window is smashed in violently, the cousins begin to investigate before worse happens to the shop—or to its clients.
With the help of reunited family, new neighbors, and old friends, Leslie and Veronica brave the swarm of suspects who all want the boutique, the jewelry, and their revenge.
Excerpt:
As she breathed in the scent of honeysuckle and the old-fashioned climbing roses, Leslie wondered whether the reception was what her grandmother would have wanted after her funeral. Cynthia, Leslie’s mother and Evelyn’s older daughter, had transformed the backyard of her grand house into a reflection of Evelyn’s life, of course. Cynthia had always been good at arranging events both fitting and tasteful. Guests flitted between tables laden with photos of Evelyn’s full life and tables bearing the weight of too much food, even for the large crowd here to pay their respects.
Well, pay their respects and hobnob with the eminent out-of-town guests and the elite of Rosin, Texas, if they were lucky. The film crew who’d shot the episode of the television show that had turned Butterfield’s Boutique into a magnet for collectors of jewelry and art objects from all over the world was there. As were a dozen jewelry designers, fine artists, and gallery owners, all of whom had flown in from out of town, out of state, or out of country. Anyone connected to the governments of Rosin and Loblolly County in which it sat reminisced about Evelyn Butterfield with the boutique’s moneyed clientele. Half the faculty and administration of nearby Northeast Texas University, which had brought Evelyn and her family to Rosin from their English cottage in Leicester a near lifetime ago, had come to pay their respects to Cynthia. Not that anyone at the university now had been there during Arthur Butterfield’s brief academic career in the US in the 1950s.
Leslie picked her way past a cluster of well-coiffed women in sleek black dresses, all wearing bracelets and necklaces purchased at the boutique. She resisted the urge to fan herself. Mid-afternoon July heat prickled her skin. But she knew her mother would be watching, and she resisted even the appearance that something might be amiss.
But amiss things were, at least for a number of people here.
Tammy D. Walker writes contemporary cozy mysteries that have roots in Texas. Her most recent novel is The Wing of a Bee. The author of four poetry collections and the Daw County Sisters Mysteries series, she loves weaving clues into her books that draw on her experiences as a software developer and English teacher. When she’s not working or spending time with family and friends, she’s most likely to be found in her garden, somewhere near a radio, or at her desk writing letters. Find out more at https://www.tammydwalker.com/
Kenna Ainsley has no use for love. It only brings betrayal and disappointment. She finds solace in her work as a Harvey Girl, and the independence that brings.
But one day a stranger sits down at her table. He’s a Deputy Sheriff, and before she can blink, he’s dragging her back to Galveston on an erroneous charge that she’s a runaway wife.
Kenna plots her escape. But even as she tries to free herself, her heart is working against her. She’s falling for the handsome Deputy Sheriff, which sends her fleeing to the one place she swore she would never go.
Deputy Sheriff Levi Brandt has plans, and Kenna is at the center of them. After one look at her, he knows there’s no way in hell she’s gonna end up hitched to anyone else but him. But he’s gonna have to do some heavy lifting to get her to trust him. Lucky for her, he welcomes the weight. No matter how far she runs, he’ll find her. Always.
After a winter spent tailing unfaithful spouses, Emma Love vows to stop breaking hearts for a living. She retreats to her fair-weather occupation leading kayak tours. But when threats target her and her family, turning away is no longer an option. She enlists help from her old (and new again) boyfriend, Deputy Sam Mattingley, and a host of friends, including those beyond the living veil. As the layers of secrecy are peeled away, Emma contends with the realization that the mystery shrouding the Pratt/Johnson murders and her cousin s marriage is more dangerous than imagined. Can she navigate the clues in time to clear her cousin or will the truth pull them all under?
Following the Civil War, Captain Ethan Reed is recruited to find the truth behind the Lincoln Conspiracy. The facts are not as they appear. John Wilkes Booth pulled the trigger, but did someone else point the gun? Ethan’s job is to answer this question and see justice served, no matter the personal cost.
Tormented with no answers about the death of her fiancé, Doctor Sabrina Clay seeks the truth—was it suicide or murder? If there is an answer, she must find it. On a hot day in Fort Hex, Kansas, Sabrina’s and Ethan’s lives intersect. They’re soon entangled in a web of deceit as attraction sparks. Will they discover the truth, even at the risk of their love?
Elsie Hayward moves into her uncle’s seaside estate on what should have been her wedding day. All she wants is peace and quiet, and to escape the guilt that’s haunted her since her betrothed was lost at sea.
Any hope of tranquility is dashed, however, when Charles Rockingham arrives in town. A lifetime ago they’d been best friends and almost more. If there’s one person she can’t hide her feelings from, it’s him.
Charles hasn’t received a letter from Elsie in over a year. He returns home hoping to recapture the deep bond they once shared, but shadows of the past stand between them.
One last secret must be revealed before they can find their way back to each other.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Lisa Wilkes…
10 Moments That Changed My Life:
1 – Becoming a flight attendant in 2010. My best inspiration for novels comes from my adventures in new cities, plus I met my spouse and my closest friends through this whimsical traveling gig.
2 – Completing my master’s degree in 2022. This was the proof I needed that it’s never too late to chase your dreams and prove to yourself just how much you are capable of.
3 – Becoming a foster parent in February of 2026. While extremely difficult, this experience has also taught me a lot about myself, my spouse, and the transformative power of compassion and patience.
4 – Rescuing my first cat (as an adult), KitKat Sushi Wilkes, in 2017. I grew up with pets, and I’ve always loved animals deeply! But choosing to adopt a kitty as an adult, even with my unique work schedule and lifestyle, opened the door to becoming a foster parent and advocate for animals in need. I currently assist with two local nonprofits and I serve on the leadership board for my airline’s animal rescue team.
5 – Moving back to Florida in 2022. After graduating from the University of Florida with my bachelor’s degree in 2007, I lived in Arizona, Georgia, California, Colorado, and Texas. Returning to Florida was never really on my radar, yet life tends to take some unexpected turns and I ended up moving to Tampa Bay with my family—a decision that worked out for the best.
6 – The publication of my first novel, “Flight Path,” in 2020 was a transformative experience. The road to becoming a published author was not an easy one, but the sense of achievement and pride I experienced when I held my first book in my hands was worth all the stress and rejection along the way.
7 – Surviving the back-to-back deadly hurricanes of 2024. Nothing can prepare a person for watching their entire community crumble overnight, and then having to evacuate (with seven rescue pets, no functioning vehicle, and nowhere to go) less than eight days later. But there were bursts of joy amid all that despair. I watched friends and neighbors come together to assist those with the greatest need. This served as a crucial reminder that, even while navigating unthinkable loss, recovery and repair are possible.
8 – Connecting with students through my role as the Director of Mentorship for UF’s LGBTQ+ Alumni Association. These young adults embody a fierce, unyielding sense of self-awareness and pride that I certainly didn’t have at that age. They are strong and powerful, even when faced with hostility or unwarranted aggression.
9 – Completing AmeriCorps in 2004 and again in 2008. I’ve always had a heart for philanthropy, but doing full-time community service for two years (in separate cities and fields) really solidified that desire to give back and help to folks battling really difficult situations.
10 – Publishing my first children’s book, a charitable tale about a disabled rescue kitten, in 2023. I’d always vehemently asserted I would never write a children’s book, so this event proved that it’s kind of silly to entirely swear off any specific action/pursuit in life. It was an absolute blast to write this series, plus the books support a worthy cause. Now, I’m open to composing additional children’s books in the future.
She exposed a crime at thirty thousand feet. Now they want her grounded—for good.
Excerpt:
Something slid across Ella’s neck, either a strand of hair or a bug or a piece of debris floating in the wind. She pawed at the side of her face but came up empty. Maybe it had been nothing at all, just her fried and dysfunctional neurons playing a trick on her.
Ella gasped for air. She was losing her mind for sure: memories were tangible forces, vicious little creatures with sharp teeth. Reality, on the other hand, felt like a faded old photograph. Blurred lines, fraying edges.
Aunt Taylor asked a question. She sounded so far away.
A quick pinprick drew Ella’s attention. She glanced at her right hand as a bumblebee deposited its stinger in the fleshy area near her thumb. She swiped a finger over the bump, which oozed a single drop of blood.
The world rushed back to Ella with a powerful whoosh. Whiplash, disorientation.
“Did you report it? Has your scalp healed? Let me help,” Aunt Taylor said. This time her voice was clear, with a pleading edge to it. “I told a supervisor in the crew room, but she claimed I was making it up for attention.”
Ella batted her eyelids, dissolving the liquid that pooled in the corners. Hadn’t she cried enough over this? “I sent an email to a different supervisor that night. No response.”
Her phone buzzed again, another text illuminating the splintered screen. Picking out your burial plot? You’ll be in a casket soon.
“Jesus. Don’t let those texts upset you,” Aunt Taylor muttered, nodding at Ella’s phone. “I’ve heard worse. Took me a long time to realize those comments reflect the speaker, not the recipient. Remember that.”
Ella wanted to take Aunt Taylor’s reassurances to heart, she really did. But the texts felt personal. They were spot-on, in so many ways. Despite her best efforts, Ella had achieved nothing. She was a monumental screw-up, like the Team of Terrorists constantly reminded her.
“Yep. Thanks, Aunt Taylor.” Ella deleted the message and glanced around the empty cemetery. Who the heck was watching her? Did the man on the train follow her?
A few months back, Ella disabled the geolocation services on her phone. But it made no difference. She had also changed the password to her FliCrew airline portal, at Parker’s urging. Her employee info, including her work schedule, was hidden from coworkers. Yet Pat’s mafia continued to stalk her. New passwords didn’t faze them.
Taylor sighed and stared blankly ahead, her vacant gaze slicing through Ella’s heart. For years, Aunt Taylor had endured hostility from people who didn’t know a thing about her, not one single thing. She’d patiently waded through their unwarranted aggression. No outbursts, no complaints.
But things had escalated this year. Protective walls could only sustain so much before crumbling. Strong as she was, Taylor Gearson had her limits. And Ella would not allow Pat’s Team of Terrorists to push her aunt past her breaking point.
Lisa Wilkes is a licensed social worker (LMSW) and flight attendant who draws on firsthand experience to craft high-stakes, emotionally resonant fiction. She began writing as a teenager, first publishing editorials on compelling local issues before transitioning into copywriting for nonprofits and, ultimately, complex and inspiring books.
Her previous novels, Flight Path (2020) and Mid-Flight (2023), were published by small presses, with Mid-Flight praised by readers for its powerful queer heroine. Lisa is also the author of two children’s books featuring celebrity rescue cat Wisp, I Love You Even if You’re Stinky (2023) and Stay Stinky (2024), with all proceeds supporting animal welfare organizations. You’re Safe Here, Ella (2026) is her first suspense novel, and 50% of profits are donated to the student scholarship fund at the University of Florida.
As a queer woman, dedicated animal rescuer, and fierce advocate for human rights, Lisa writes the kind of stories she once searched for—propulsive tales where dynamic characters thrive, grow, and take up space unapologetically.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Susan B. Nolen…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I’m originally from Portland, Oregon. I’ve lived several places since then, but now I live in a rural area of NW Washington state with my extended family, some dogs and chickens.
Where did you get the idea for AN UNCERTAIN AGE?
Several years ago I wrote a scene for a writing workshop that featured an old woman kneading bread, mourning a recent loss, in some village a long time ago. That image stuck with me. When I decided to write a novel about an older woman, I started from that scene. She became Margaret, my protagonist, and the novel started as a way to figure out how she got there and what she would do next. That led me to research on medieval widows and on down the rabbit hole.
Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)?
I’ve always loved historical fiction, especially if there is suspense or crime involved. So I thought of this novel in those terms. Then my editor sold it to the publisher as women’s fiction, which initially surprised me. But I did want to write a novel with a woman protagonist who pushed beyond patriarchal expections, who was someone to be reckoned with. So I guess women’s fiction works.
What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie?
Brenda Blethyn as Margaret, please! She’s amazing. Besides, I know she can handle the accent.
What do you want your tombstone to say?
“It’s more complicated than that.” That was sort of my theme song as an academic, trying to complicate, among other things, identity development and motivation for my fellow psychologists. There’s a tendency to try to reduce human motives to a few variables, and motives are complex things that develop through interaction in cultural contexts. I think developing characters in novels is equally complex.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
There are bits and pieces of real people in all my characters, and I draw on people I’ve known and characters I’ve met in fiction when I create a character, but then they go and do things that surprise me. None of my characters is modeled on a single specific person.
How did you come up with the title?
The main character, Margaret Surteys, is a woman of a certain age – nearing fifty (in the 14th century), past childbearing when that was seen as a woman’s main job in life. But then her step-granddaughter Agnes showed up: rising 11, not a child, not a woman – an uncertain age for sure. And then the years right after the first wave of plague – the Black Death took nearly half the population of Europe – was an age of uncertainty. I wanted to play with those ideas in my novel.
How much of the book is realistic?
I hope all of it! There is a lot that is not known for sure about village folk in the 14th century. They mostly did not write, so there are no letters or diaries to read. The only records that remain are court records, but those tell you lots about the kinds of things people did for a living, how they quarreled, who they married, and the complaints they made about the people who ran the village. I’ve done my best to stay true to what is known, based on historians and near-contemporary writers.
How did your interest in writing originate?
I played around with writing poetry and songs as a teenager and was good at school writing, but never thought about being a writer. As an academic I wrote a lot and helped students improve their writing, but didn’t get into dabbling in fiction until my 50s. Even then it was hard to write for a living and write for a hobby – too much time in front of a computer. After I retired, I finally had the time to learn how to write creatively.
In a medieval village, a widow battles powerful men to retain control of her brewery and protect her found family.
Blurb:
The years following the Black Death were an age of uncertainty and opportunity. Newly widowed Margaret Surteys startles the village by taking over her husband’s brewery and seizing her only chance for independence, despite her advanced age and the opposition of the powerful Reeve. She also takes on her abandoned step-granddaughter, Agnes, who has plans of her own. As the business grows, Margaret, aided and exasperated by Agnes, must battle official pressures and a mysterious string of serious mishaps at the brewery. Suspecting organized sabotage and a link to more than one death, they hatch a scheme to catch the culprit, which ends in disaster. Margaret must risk her livelihood and newfound autonomy to save the child she has come to love.
Excerpt:
2 August, 1349; Thornham, Palatinate of Durham
Sometimes, Margaret Surteys had to admit, her age was an advantage. This afternoon, for example, while hawking ale to dirt-encrusted workmen down by the river. Foreigners, mostly, from north and south, come to build the bridge—which was, after a year and a half, starting to resemble one. All day, they’d shifted the great stones, piling block upon block to raise the piers in the thick August heat. Working up a powerful thirst. They’d no eyes for an old woman, cared only for the ale cask she trundled on her handcart and the dipper that filled their cups.
“Give us another, then, mistress,” shouted one burly fellow with enormous hands and dark, oily hair. The smell of stale sweat and stone dust made her eyes water.
“Sorry, lads,” she said, pulling the heavy cloth up over the keg. “That’s the lot.”
The workers grumbled and cursed, but gave her no real trouble. Had she been young and fair they might have pressed her for more than ale. But they’d not try that on, not for a crone with grizzled hair that might, long ago, have been the color of oak leaves in autumn. That left Margaret free to stuff their coin into her waiting purse instead of swatting away a groping, grimy hand. And she and Tobias needed every penny she could earn.
She flexed her stiff fingers, picked up the handles of her barrow, and started the push up from the riverside. Not what she’d imagined for herself after nearly fifty summers. Until last year, she’d been a Brewster, one of several village women crafting ale for family and neighbors. Back then she’d not appreciated the full measure of her husband’s grand plan.
Ah, Tobias’s plan. Well, and it had worked, after a fashion. He’d built them a brewhouse and made himself the Brewer. After a lean year, they were beginning to show a profit, becoming a serious rival to the Reeve, the most powerful man in the village, though they still walked the knife’s edge, tottering between security and ruin. And Margaret still missed being in charge, shepherding each small batch from roasted malt to final product. Now she was but Brewer’s wife, finding grain when supplies ran low or selling their surplus ale. And, of course, tending their sheep and other stock, and gardening, and spinning, and mending, and all.
But she’d no time to stand mulling her regrets. The manor had finally put in a large order that would earn enough to see them through to harvest-time, if only she could find enough wheat. If they could not supply the ale and lost their best customer to the Reeve, they might not be able to pay the installment on their debt. She must make sure that did not happen.
Susan B. Nolen writes historical and contemporary suspense in a multigenerational, multispecies household in the wilds of western Washington. After years of studying and writing about identity and motivation in social context, she now writes novels and short stories about women making space for themselves in the world. It’s way more fun. An Uncertain Age is her debut novel.
Author Alicia Dean 