Please help me welcome today’s guest, Tashia L. Fugate. Her book is fantastic and I have had the pleasure of a sneak peek of Book 2, which is awesome as well and is available for pre-order…
“When you finally have everything, what would you sacrifice to keep it?”
Blurb:
What do you do when the past you remember quickly morphs into a past you wished would stay forgotten? On the surface, Samantha Walker is your average human, working hard to build her future. But there’s more than one fanged skeleton in her closet and they’re about to be released.
When, in the sleepy town of Glenwood, mystery man, Deacon Vasileios, shows up at her feet bleeding from a gunshot wound, her life gets turned upside down. Something about him isn’t human, but the glow of his icy blue eyes holds all the keys to unlock her past.
People she trusted are lying to her as she struggles to understand her twisted memories. Hunters want use her while an alpha wants her to become his. As the fire sparks between Samantha and Deacon, she must make a choice. Is her life in fate’s hands or is she in control? Choices are dangerous things to make.
Excerpt:
Living is sometimes harder than dying. To choose to fight and push through the callings of death rather than succumb to them is a decision that no person can make for someone else. We must want to live. We must fight as hard as we can, not just for ourselves, but for those we love. It is the people that we cherish more than life itself that make it all worth it. Life is hard, and sometimes sacrifices must be made, but we push through and live. It is days like today that break us down. Today, dying feels easier.
Samantha closed her eyes as she tried to catch her breath and clear the blurriness from her vision. The warehouse was so close, but still so far away. Large raindrops fell in slow succession as she lay on her back on the hard floor of the abandoned school. Lightning streaked through the dark, cloudy sky after every heart-pounding crash of thunder rumbled through her chest. She wanted to scream, to cry out and let go of all her frustrations, but to release them would be the first step to letting go, and she could not do that yet. She was doing the right thing; she knew that now.
With another attempt at a deep breath, Samantha brought herself up into a crouched position. Standing was harder now, and her head spun as she tried to balance herself. She pushed back on the bile that threatened to come up from her stomach. It had been how many days since she ate anything? She couldn’t remember. Time over the past few days seemed strange and distant. She let her breath out slowly as she stood using the aged bricks of the old school’s walls for support.
Her favorite pair of black running shoes were soaked and caked in mud and grass. Two drops of black fell into the pooling rainwater. The drops started to spread out like dark red branches of a tree. She was dying, but she wasn’t dead yet. There was still some fight left in her, and she had to keep going.
Tashia L. Fugate lives in her Kentucky home with her husband. When she’s not reading, she enjoys walking, painting, gardening, music and letting her imagination of its leash with her writing.
From the time Tashia was in high school then to college and off into the work force she’s been a dreamer. She is always inventing characters and new places for their adventures to take place. She’s more than excited to bring those adventures to her readers. With hard work and determination, any dream can become a reality.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Margaret Izard…
Hello Margaret, thank you for joining me today. Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
My name is Margaret Izard. I live in Houston, Texas, with my family of adult triplets, my loving husband, two doggies, and a cat. I’m a previous professional dancer in ballet, modern jazz, tap, and other dance forms. I’ve been involved in the arts since I could walk, and I love to tell tall tales about fantastic events. I love any holiday and enjoy cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. On most hot Texas days, if I’m not at my laptop, I’m in the pool trying to say cool. I keep busy with not only writing but many hobbies. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Where did you get the idea for Stone of Lust?
Lust is one of the Stones of Iona, and magic Fae stones are featured in my series.
The idea for the stones came from research for my series, Stones of Iona. In early research, I read about the Stone of Destiny, or the coronation stone, traveling through Scotland and stopping at Dunstaffnage Castle. When I learned about the Stone of Destiny and its rumored birthplace, Iona Island, I asked myself, what if the stone was magic? What if many stones were magic, and what would that mean? As I delved into research on Scotland, I found that many of its beliefs link to its folklore. These rich stories of worlds beyond ours became essential in capturing this country, its people, and its culture and bringing them to life.
Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)?
I love historical paranormal romances. Writing about the two sub-genres of time travel and history came from my vast reading. I had stories inside me that craved to be told. So, I started writing.
Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share?
When I first outlined Stone of Lust, it weaved two stories into one, each dependent on the other, as both found a resolution. One element of the story has vexed me for some time, and when my stories do that, I delve into the World Wide Web, searching history. Usually, there’s something that I read that sparks inspiration, and a solution evolves from that.
The day I found the Brooch of Lorne, a highland brooch created by the Lord of Lorne, a MacDougall ancestor, designed to hold stones and one of three rare left today, I nearly jumped from the chair, cheering. This was the answer! (Which I can’t share here without spoiling the book.) I called it a gift from research. Incorporating it into the story resolved a major plot point and opened the door for other places where I could use the relic in other books. It was such a great gift. This isn’t the only book you’ll see, the Brooch of Lorne, so look for it in future books coming soon!
What is the most difficult thing about writing a book?
My books aren’t linear. I like to call it a story with “meat on the bone.” For the Stones of Iona Series, there’s not only a romance story for each book but an underlying story driving the series forward: the hunt for the magic Fae stones. The challenge, which I love, is weaving these stories together to where they merge into one and make sense. Each book is a love story; the series is one long saga of finding lost magic stones.
Fun fact: A second series called Dragons of Tantallon is connected to this one, featuring dragon shapeshifters introduced in Stone of Love, book 1, Stones of Iona.
What was the most difficult thing about this one in particular?
The hardest part of this story was weaving Ainslie’s love story within the kidnapping plotline of her sister-in-law, Brielle, the main character from Stone of Love, and the storyline of the search for a magic Stone of Iona. Three distinct plot threads are dependent yet not. The first challenge was choosing the best places where these stories intersect and overlap. The second challenge was ensuring each plot thread found a resolution by the end of the book. It’s one of my darkest and most challenging books. I hope readers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Are there any tricks, habits or superstitions you have when creating a story?
Research. When I start outlining a story, I begin with research. When I’m stuck on a story, I dive into research. So many ideas have come from reading about our past and present day. It only takes one spark, and a story develops from there.
Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it?
I’ve had multiple different careers: professional ballerina, dance teacher, marketing, and sales, but people pick up this one from my bio all the time: Triplet mom. Yes, I have adult triplets, and it’s a job. Everyone asks – two boys and a girl.
Once they hit grade school, I quit my day job and dedicated myself to their upbringing and education. (I tutored them through college). Did I like it? Yes and no. Some days were a blast and others a challenge, but I wouldn’t change it. They are my hellions on earth, and I love them. Every day is an adventure.
After they had completed college, I decided to take back my life and started writing.
Do you collect anything?
Earrings. I love different earrings.
I also collect art. I love Peter Max. Years ago an employer (He had commissioned the artist to do a family portrait) took me to Peter Max’s studios in New York, where I met the artist. I witnessed him work, and came away with a personalized signed poster. It hangs in my game room. I have three lithographs of his work.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read your book?
My romances focus on how people form connections. They explore the notion of fated love and true love. I hope each person comes away from my stories with hope. Hope for themselves and the relationships they form in their own lives.
What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie?
The irony of this question is I have a pictorial memory. My leads already have an image I’ve modeled them after.
Stone of Love – Colin MacDougall is Henry Cavill, and Brielle DeVolt is Anne Hathaway Stone of Fear – John MacArthur is Richard Rankin, and Marie is Freya Mavor Stone of Lust – Rannick is Clive Standen and Ainslie is Kristie Mitchell
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
Contemporary Romance – I have a few ideas on what I’d like to write next after my two paranormal romance series.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
Yes. Years ago, I wrote short stories, but out of a lack of confidence in my writing, I threw them all out.
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
Early on, criticism was hard to handle, even after all my dance training, which had a lot of criticism. But as I worked on my craft, I looked to feedback as a gift. If I didn’t get the response from a reader I wanted, I went back and looked at what I needed to improve to get the message I wanted across. I still do this today.
Best Compliment. There have been many over the years, but my publishing editor’s reaction to my latest submission, Stone of Doubt, book 4 Stones of Iona series, is the most recent. After reading the synopsis, she sent an email complimenting my creativity. An hour later, she emailed again and admitted she had read the epilogue first to find out where the next book, Stone of Faith, Book 6, would go, and then she complimented my creativity again. Her first word was “WOW!” Best compliment – my editor read the end first!
Thanks, Margaret. I enjoyed your interview. Wow, triplets? That must have been interesting. 😊 Please tell us about your book…
Blurb:
She dreams of a Viking warrior with Fae-blue eyes and a God-like body that makes her heart pound like no other. Trying to save her kidnapped sister-in-law, Ainslie follows her back to the Vikings of Scotland, where she faces the very man who has haunted her dreams.
When Jarl, Rannick MacRaghnaill meets the alluring Warrior Woman who helped steal his warship, she dresses in clothing so strange that every curve teases his senses. But is she, as she claims, a woman from the future or an irresistible lying thief?
She’d risk her life to save her sister-in-law. He’d risk his honor to win her heart.
Can both hardened warriors save the realms from the evilest of Fae’s minds combined with the most dangerous of humans?
Excerpt:
Ainslie smoothed her hand over his firm fist, and he relaxed it a little. She understood his warrior’s heart. The desire to control the fierce energy within him that wanted to wage war but still needed to be gentle with his friends and family. The people he loved deeply. Maybe if she explained how she saw the bloodlust, he might understand the balance between the two.
She continued to caress his fist as she whispered, “Bloodlust is something every fighter has, Rannick. Even women.”
He stared at her hand, gently stroking his, and he relaxed a little more.
Her fingers trailed along his knuckles. “Fighting comes in many forms, not just the sword a warrior wields, but a mother’s fight to bring an infant into the world, a husband’s fight to hunt for food for his family, a warrior’s fight to defend his land.”
She opened his fingers and lightly brushed hers along his palm, from his fingertips to his wrist and back. “A child’s fight to survive in a hard world.” She slowly traced the lines in his hand. “Using the bloodlust for the right reasons and causes is the art of being a great warrior.”
Rannick glanced at his hand, then her face. His free hand came to her cheek and caressed it.
He used his thumb to tilt her head till their eyes connected. “Warrior for the children, woman of war. Is yer bloodlust only for the children?”
Ainslie gazed into Rannick’s bright blue eyes and became lost. She spoke before she thought. “Everyone, I fight for everyone. Who does yer bloodlust fight for, Rannick?”
He leaned toward her, and their breaths mingled. “I fight for many things.” He licked his lips and spoke softly. “But tonight, I use it to pursue the woman I love.”
Margaret Izard is a multi-award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. She spent her early years through college and adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her passion for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets and loves to hear from readers.
I do paranormal investigations with a group near where I live, and I attended my very first ghost hunt with them a few nights before Halloween. About ten of us visited Old Dunstable Cemetery where some victims of a 1702 Indian massacre are buried. It’s the oldest cemetery in Nashua, dating back from when the land was part of Massachusetts. The earliest burial dates from 1687. Researchers had found the victims’ names, so we were able to locate their gravestones. The only equipment I had at the time were my dowsing rods and a digital camera. While others in the group made their attempts to contact spirits, I stood before a gravestone that read: this Man, with Seven more, that lies in this Grave; was Slew, All in a day, by the Indiens.
Holding my rods, I asked a few questions: Did you die in the massacre? Were you born here? You can only ask simple yes or no questions and ask the rods to cross for yes and separate for no. I got answers to all my questions. I then stood before another stone reading:
Rev. Thomas Weld, Born June 1653, Settled as the first minister of the church in Dunstable Dec. 1685
probably massacred by the Indians while defending the settlement June 7, 1702, age 49. All the while, I felt a strong presence, and immediately began feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I found that this happens quite frequently when I ghost hunt. I’ve never seen a ghost, but have felt presences near me, and always get dizzy when I sense someone is nearby. I took several photos throughout the cemetery, and some came out with brightly colored arcs among the tombstones. I didn’t dare visit that graveyard on Halloween night!
How a Ghost Helped Solve a Murder in FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET
My heroine Vita Caputo lived on Mott Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In 1894, her fiancé Tom’s cousin Mike was found murdered in an alley next to her tenement building. Prejudice against Italian immigrants and the generally corrupt police force went to work accusing and convicting Vita’s father and brother of the crime. As they languished in The Tombs, the infamous prison, Vita, Tom, and gifted medium Jadwiga Wisen held a seance with a Ouija board that spelled out “frame” when Jadwiga asked who the true killer was. Frame? Yes, of course, Vita’s dad and brother were framed–they were innocent. But when Tom went home and looked at his window frame, it gave him an idea–there’s more than one kind of frame. He went to Vita’s apartment, inspected her window frame, and discovered clues that led to the arrest of the true killer of his cousin–I won’t give away any more!
Ingredients: 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese 2/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt 1 tbsp. flour (gluten free if need be) 2 tbsp. honey 1/4 tsp. salt 4 egg whites 2 tbsp. lemon juice 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, no sugar added
Directions:
Place everything in your blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a greased or parchment lined cake pan or a mini scone pan.
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Dyann Love Barr with her fun, fabulous mystery, Hootiecackle Chaos…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I live in the Ozarks, in Mansfield, Missouri, the last home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, where she wrote the Litte House books. I live with my husband Dennis and our two ginger cats.
Where did you get the idea for Hootiecackle Chaos?
Hootiecackle Chaos came about when I was traveling through Arkansas and saw a road sign that read, Hootiecackle Lane. It was hysterical and a friend and my husband suggested I write a book from the road’s name. I turned it into a small town cozy with romance and a whiff of the paranormal.
Are there any tricks, habits or superstitions you have when creating a story?
I usually write the first three chapters of a book when I get an idea and after that I file it away until needed. It’s a good way to get the feel of the characters and I also write a detailed outline once I start the book.
What book have you read that you wish you had written?
That’s easy, I have three. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.
What’s your favorite book of all time and why?
Jane Eyre. What’s your favorite childhood book? Tarzan of the Apes
What do you want readers to come away with after they read Hootiecackle Chaos?
That’s a good question. I think I’d like them to fall in love with quirky characters who are thrown into difficult situations. The wacky mix of genres was a risk but one I’m glad I took.
What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie?
Henry Cavill as Lachlan and Jessica Chastain as Rory. Kathy Bates for the Callahan Twins.
Would you rather have a bad review or no review?
A bad review can be a learning experience. I published one book that got a lot of 4.5 and 5 star review and one really bad 1 star. First, I don’t get upset about a bad review. My skin is pretty thick. I’ve been blooded by some really fine critique partners.
What is your favorite quote?
All of my plans for the future involve me waking up tomorrow with a sudden sense of discipline and adherence to routine that I have never displayed even once in my life. John William Waterhouse
What do you want your tombstone to say?
She tried. She died.
If you could be a character in any of your books, who would you be?
The Callahan Twins.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Although most are fictional, I have included family stories in my books. Truth is stranger than fiction. Now it’s up to the reader to figure out which anecdotes are real.
Your favorite…
Movie: The President’s Lady with Charleton Heston and Susan Hayworth
Music: Serenata Immortale by Trailerhead
Place: Liberia: Africa
Place you’d like to visit: Ireland
TV show from childhood: The Man from Uncle (yes I’m that old)
TV show from adulthood: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (K-Drama)
Food: Powdered Sugar Donuts from Parlor Donuts in Springfield, MO.
Sports team: CHIEFS!
Which do you prefer: Board games/card games or television? Video games. I love all of the Assassin’s Creed games and God of War. I’m blood thirsty.
Dark secrets conspire to keep lovers apart in the small Ozarks town of Hootiecackle.
Blurb:
Chaos crashes into Hootiecackle when the town’s outrageous twins, Daisy and Maisy, scheme to marry their great-niece, Rory, off to the handsome police officer who moves in next door. Unfortunately, Rory has no plans to marry, and she really doesn’t like or trust cops—no matter how Sergeant Lachlan Donovan sets her heart to pounding.
Recovering from the loss of his wife, Lachlan just wants some peace and quiet. However, life in Hootiecackle has other plans. Rory’s ex-fiancé causes trouble, her devastating secret threatens to tear the town apart, and Lachlan rushes in to save the day. But Rory needs saving like she needs a pair of porcupine panties.
With the aid of a psychic, a beloved bootlegger and a couple of nosy ghosts, they fight against corruption and their own fears of betrayal. Despite their differences, will the lovers survive Hootiecackle chaos?
Excerpt:
Chapter One
“Oh, my.” Maisie McDermott adjusted the binoculars to get a better look. “That man’s backside is sweet enough to make my teeth ache.”
“That’s impossible. You have a full set of dentures.”
Daisy, her twin sister, snorted and reached for the
binoculars. “Here, let me see.”
Maisie shook her head and continued to stare at the object of her fascination. “Doesn’t matter. I’d still like to take a bite out of him. My Alfred always said he didn’t 16 mind if I lost all my teeth—told me that my gums were magic.”
“You are a pervert.” Daisy wrestled the binoculars away from the protesting Maisie. “I take it back. Alfred was the perv in the family.” She aimed the lenses in the direction of Hootiecackle’s newest police officer, Sergeant Lachlan Briccio Donovan. “Oh, my…”
“Stop bein’ such a hateful toad.” Maisie’s bosom heaved with an affronted huff as she slumped into the delicate bistro chair. It groaned in protest. “He’s the one for Rory, isn’t he?
Daisy continued her perusal of Sergeant Donovan’s rear as he bent under the hood of his Ford Escape. “How 29 could it not? Rory will fall head over heels once she gets a gander at him.”
“Maybe we’re pushin’ too fast? She just got out of one disastrous relationship. He’s been here a month and she’s not even curious about him. What if they don’t hit it off?” Maisie’s chair screeched against the tile floor of the breakfast nook as she scooted around to get a better look. “You know how she feels about the Hootiecackle police department. She’d just as soon spit in his eye.” She reached out for the binoculars.
“Trust me.” Daisy slapped her away without ever losing focus on their new neighbor. “I have the brains, you have the charm, and Rory has the looks. The poor man won’t know what hit him.”
“What if Rory finds out?”
“I wouldn’t have sold him my house if I thought we couldn’t pull this off. God as my witness, he’ll marry Rory, even if I have to sew their lips together.” She looked up from the binoculars with a reassuring smile for Maisie. “The man is a perfect fit for our great-niece— 17 tall, dark, handsome, and very Irish. And he can cook.”
Maisie chewed her lower lip. She had doubts about The Plan.
With the maiden name of Love, how could I not write romance? I was a voracious reader in my teens and early twenties thanks to my mother buying load of books at garage sales. The first time I read Tarzan of the Apes I was confused by the flutter in my thirteen-year-old heart. As I got older I understood. It was after I married my greatest supporter and cheerleader that I realized I wanted to write as well. I mean, how hard could it be. Lesson learned on that one.
Now I’ve retired and reside in the Ozarks with my husband and two large marmalade cats–Aka and Jinja. Although there is a bevy of birds and squadrons of squirrels in our yard, I don’t consider them family. Well, maybe a little.
Welcome to my feature where authors share about the hobbies, careers, or passions of their characters.
I’m pleased to introduce today’s guest, Kara O’Neal…
If My Book Was A Song It Would Be A Country One
I can sing.
Not like Whitney Houston or Patsy Cline, but I can sing. Music, for me, is my first creative love. I was singing before I was talking. When my mamma would rock me to sleep as an infant, I would hum with the beat of the rocking chair.
Here is me singing The Dress by Emily Scott Robinson. It’s a heartbreaking song, but it’s one of the more beautiful ones I’ve ever heard. https://youtu.be/IQBw5-NucHw
I listen to all kinds of music, but my favorite is country. Not the songs they play on mainstream radio. I’m a Texas Country fan, which is also known as Red Dirt music. The artists of this musical genre create masterpieces that lodge into your heart and speak in real and very raw ways.
These artists hack out a living just like the rest of us, because, let me tell you, streaming services don’t pay much. So they go from town to town, singing their hearts out, plucking the strings of their guitars till their fingers bleed, teaching the world that all it takes is “three chords and the truth” to move you to the depths of your soul.
My most recent release, FOREVER HOME, is my love letter to the artists who have created works of art through music. And I’m gonna share some of my favorites with you – love songs only.
Many of my favorite singers and bands are featured in FOREVER HOME. I wanted to shine all the lights I could on these artists, and I love how their music helps me tell Wyatt and Jessie’s story.
What’s your favorite love song? Please share and you could win an ebook of FOREVER HOME!
Here’s my list of some of my favorite love songs. Have fun listening!
My Love Will Never Change by Drew Kennedy
The Morning by Roger Creager
Before You Called Me Baby by Caitlin Smith
Ain’t Nothin’ To It by Cody Johnson
Everyday Kind of Love by Kyle Park
Shivers Down Spines by Zach Bryan
Every Damn Time by Drew Fish Band
Lady May by Tyler Childers
I Need Your Love by Charley Crockett
How Lucky Am I by Kaitlin Butts
Russell County Line by 49 Winchester
All Again by Charles Wesley Godwin
A heartbreakin’ cowboy meets a serious-minded shop owner and suddenly he’s got all the wrong moves.
Jessie Townsend is done with love. She has her family shop, Main Street Antiques, to run, and her sweet father to look after. She has plenty to keep her busy and fill the void her ex-fiancé left when he broke her heart.
Wyatt Davis, part owner of the Swinging A ranch, is feeling his age. He’s thirty. Still young, but…too old for the life he used to live. He’s done with one-night stands, with drinking all night and staying out until morning. Which irritates him. But what’s a cowboy to do when he begins to change?
Go after Jessie Townsend, that’s what. But she’s not interested. Which is a helluva thing. Because Wyatt’s pretty sure he’s in love and wants a “forever home”…with her.
Excerpt:
Wyatt excused himself from the group he’d been standing with near the exit and strode to Jessie’s side. He needed to get to her before someone else monopolized her time. When he pulled out the chair next to her, she didn’t look up.
He watched her take a bite of apple pie, and the action caused his skin to warm. Damn, this girl really had a good hold on him. “Afternoon.”
“Hello,” she responded before piercing an apple with her fork.
“Nice wedding. I didn’t realize you knew the bride.”
Still without making eye contact with him, she replied, “I didn’t know you were friends with Tucker. I was with them last night.”
When she didn’t expand and continued to eat as if his presence didn’t interest her all that much, his gut clenched in nervousness. She was going to turn him down again. He could feel it.
But that wasn’t going to stop him from asking. He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out sometime. Maybe to a restaurant or…”
She stopped eating and looked at him.
His cheeks flamed with heat. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been embarrassed or nervous around a woman he liked.
She opened her mouth to answer but paused. A few beats of silence passed between them as she studied him.
He had to work hard not to fidget. His heart thudded hard as he anxiously waited for her rejection. It’s not like he’d never been turned down. The difference was, if she said no, it would actually hurt. He resisted the temptation to rub his stomach where agitation sat like a rock.
“I don’t think it would be a good idea,” she finally answered.
Award-winning author, Kara O’Neal is a teacher and lives in Texas with her husband and three children. She writes stories with strong family ties, lots of romance and guaranteed happy endings! Please visit her at http://www.karaoneal.com.
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I am originally from Springfield, Mo., in the Ozarks and about an hour from Branson. Currently, I live in Kansas City with my husband and our two young children.
Tell us a little about the book and your writing
This is my debut novel, though I have written and queried a novel and a novella before, plus written lots of short stories and unfinished ones.
One thing that stands out about writing “Skye, Revised” was the struggle to get it done. I got restless and resistant at times and even paused once to write an entirely different manuscript (a beachy romance novella).
However, I don’t know if I could have or would have done it differently. During one of my so-called non-productive periods, I decided to write some of the book from my antagonist’s point of view. That inspired me to get back to the story. So I guess it was actually a productive break. Not sure I would have come up with that if I would have plowed ahead. That said, I hope to get more efficient with each subsequent book.
What book have you read that you wish you had written?
“The Dovekeepers” by Alice Hoffman or “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte.
What was your first job?
My first job was at Heritage Cafeteria, an eatery many elderly people frequented. I was 17. I bussed tables and worked behind the buffet. It was fun because most of the other people who worked there were in high school, like me. It was also tiring work and my hair would always smell like the back kitchen after I left.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read your book?
I want readers to feel transported and as if they escaped from their normal lives, if only for a bit.
Would you rather have a bad review or no review?
I’m good with reviews that aren’t five stars, of course—but a truly bad one? I’d prefer no review.
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
I would love to write a thriller or suspense. I have some ideas and I think it would be really interesting to experience writing one and learn those particular beats.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have 3 (inanimate) objects, what would they be?
My phone and Kindle (hope we have Wi-Fi) and one of those water bottles that makes any water safe to drink.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
Yes, I have an unpublished manuscript about a woman who follows her NBA player boyfriend to Miami and all the drama that ensues. I also have a few unpublished novellas, including that beachy romance I mentioned earlier. I put it up on Radish for a while, but have since taken it down.
Who is the most famous person you have ever met?
I met and shook hands with Jimmy Carter on an international flight. He was lovely and walked through the plane meeting everyone.
How did you come up with the title?
The title for the book was originally “Life, Revised”— it fit the theme and I probably had the term “revision” floating around in my head. I tweaked it to “Skye, Revised” later because I liked it better and it was a bit more specific.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Appreciate what you have, even if it seems “less than” from the outside. You never know the truth behind someone else’s surface. I hope the book inspires people to look at their lives a bit differently.
What if you got the life of your dreams … and it turned into a nightmare?
Excerpt:
“Skye, Revised” Excerpt
By Pamela Spradlin Mahajan
Chapter One
Skye
“Really? You’re going to wear that?” I said.
Teddy gave his outfit a once-over. “Yes…” The corner of his mouth inched up into a smile. “Is there something wrong with it?”
I wrinkled my nose as if a reeking can of fly-ridden garbage sat rotting nearby. “Khakis, Teddy? Pleated khakis?” I hadn’t even mentioned the cheap tucked-in polo shirt. “It looks like the uniform you wear on the show.”
Teddy swiped his jacket from the coat rack by the door and slipped into it. When it was sixty-one degrees in Los Angeles, you wore a jacket. “And, again, I ask: what’s wrong with that? Come on, Skye. We’re gonna be late.”
I exhaled an exasperated gush of air.
“You look great, by the way. The black really makes your blonde hair stand out.” Teddy lifted my knee-length coat from the rack and slid it over my form-fitting dress. I glanced down at the sheer cutout stretching across my collarbone.
“Well, it’s a nice place. I want to make a good impression—to look like we belong there.”
Teddy’s outfit did not demonstrate that we belonged anywhere worth being—especially not somewhere like The Hibiscus. It attracted A-list, red carpet fixtures the way spandex boy-cut underwear attracted wedgies. I was quite certain pleated khakis would be nowhere in sight, unless they were being worn ironically.
I side-eyed his chain-store-salesman look once more. It never failed—no matter how many slim, trendy trousers or jeans I picked out for him from Banana Republic or Asos, he still reached for the very same familiar item in the bowels of his closet. The very one I was trying to direct him away from. Honestly, what was the point?
My body ached with the exhaustion of defeat as I slid into the passenger seat of Teddy’s hatchback.
“Are you excited? You’ve been wanting to go here for years,” he said as he maneuvered out of the parking lot.
I’d be more excited if your outfit didn’t embarrass me.
I mumbled a nondescript response and we sat in silence for several minutes. As we pulled onto the 101, Teddy grasped the leather-wrapped steering wheel with one hand and rested the other on my bare knee. I glanced at his hand, watching the tendons move beneath his tan skin.
Then I gazed out the window as decrepit buildings morphed into sleek, glossy high-rise apartment complexes. Los Angeles was forever an unsettling contrast between seedy and superior, sad and spoiled. The only consistent thing was its palm trees. As I studied a tree outlined against the sky, my stomach knotted into a mixture of excitement and dread. We had never been to The Hibiscus before—we’d never been anywhere close. Teddy considered Red Lobster a classy establishment, for God’s sake. In my opinion, anywhere you have to wear a bib while eating is definite no no.
I took a measured inhale. The thought of Teddy’s stale outfit being scrutinized by L.A.’s hippest wasn’t the only reason for my frazzled nerves. I was replaying a conversation between us from several days earlier, searching it for hidden meaning. For clues.
Pamela Spradlin Mahajan is the author of “Skye, Revised,” a women’s fiction novel with a delicious dash of magical realism and romance. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and creative writing from Missouri State University and a Masters from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Her recent short stories have appeared in the online literary journal “They Call Us” and she has been honored in the WOW! Women on Writing Flash Fiction Contest. A native of Springfield, Mo., Pamela lives with her family in Kansas City, where in addition to writing women’s fiction, she also works as a copywriter, journalist, and reseller.
Please help me welcome Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy with 10 Moments that changed her life…
Giveaway!! Lee Ann is giving away a copy of her book to one lucky winner! She will draw a name from the commenters and the winner will have a choice between ebook, print and audio.
My grandfather died when I was nine. Although not my first death in the family, I was very close to him and it impacted me in a huge way. Because of his death, I became even closer with my grandmother.
I grew up in a blue-collar inner-city neighborhood. My extended family lived within a few blocks. My dad, after his Army service, had worked at a meat packing plant in my hometown but it closed and he became an over-the-road route salesman. At the end of fifth grade, he got a new job with the USDA and our family relocated more than 300 miles away to a small town.
On the night of April 24, 1975, a major tornado ripped through the town and mobile home park where I lived. My dad was injured but survived. We lost everything except the clothes on our backs and what we could sift through the rubble to find. I saw both the best and the worst of human nature because of this experience.
I joined Air Force Junior ROTC in high school. As part of the cadet corps, I found a niche in high school. I learned leadership, discipline, how to navigate an airplane, and how to lead. My highest rank was Major. I also met my future husband. I had the opportunity to travel to several different Air Force bases and enjoy experiences I would otherwise have never had.
After high school graduation, I enrolled in classes at our local junior/community college. I had been undecided about continuing my education until right before graduation. I made lifelong friends, was on the campus newspaper staff and literary magazine. I first saw real publication in those years and continued my education at a four-year university.
One of my English professors encouraged my writing when he told me I had the potential to become a writer. He stated it didn’t mean I would but that I could. My goal of becoming an author expanded with his words and led to a job in radio broadcasting. I wrote ad copy, voiced ads, and eventually worked an on-air shift. I hosted talk shows and interviewed several celebrities.
I married my high school crush after many years apart. I was thirty-two and almost settled for a solitary life. Through marriage, I realized a long-time dream. We bought land in a wooded area in the Ozarks which fulfilled my dream of living in the woods.
I had written and had publications for years but with my husband’s encouragement, I began to write seriously. I penned a novel, which eventually sold, and began my career as an author. My husband was my cheerleader, my beta reader, and was willing to take me anywhere in the country for research.
I had children, first twin girls and then my son. I was a stay-at-home mom with them until my son was in the second grade, when I became a substitute teacher. When I changed jobs to become first a reporter then editor of the local paper, my children rolled with the upgrade. My kids are now grown but remain a vital part of my life.
My husband, the rock I leaned on, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. His health declined and he had to stop working. The last two years of his life were filled with surgeries, hospital visits, long-term care facility stays, and additional health issues. By late 2018, it became evident he would not live long and was put on hospice care. He died in January 2019. I was not ready to become a widow. We would have celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary that year. I have, however, five years, later adapted to my status and kept on keeping on.
A story and a family as big as Texas.
Excerpt:
“I gotta tell you what I want,” he told them. “If I die.”
“You won’t,” Rachel said.
Boone shook his head a little and stopped. The slight movement made his head whirl.
“Just in case,” he said. Speaking took a lot of effort and strength he didn’t have. “You get six cowboys to carry me to bury. I want you both to walk behind, you’re all the family I got here. Then, the gals from the saloon can follow if they will. And I want a dead march. I reckon they should be in there somewhere with a drum to beat slow and a fife. Mac’ll know what I mean if you don’t. And get a preacher or someone to read that bit from Corinthians about seeing through a glass, and faith and charity.”
“Boone, you’re going to live,” Rachel said. She’d released his hand and was bathing his fevered forehead with cool water. “Don’t fret about all that now.”
He shut his eyes and tried not to worry. She sent his brother to fetch his friends, and when they returned, he listened.
“Get him to drink the laudanum,” Deacon said. “Mac, go down and see if you can’t get some hot water, maybe a cot or table. If one of us digs out that bullet where he lays, it’s gonna bleed all over the bed.”
Rachel lifted his head up so he could drink the opiate, and once he did, it wasn’t long until he could feel the numbing effects of it. Her capable fingers also undid the bandage and took away the garlic. Then, she washed the wound. The lye from the soap burned, and although she used a light hand, it hurt where she touched.
A cot was brought, and his friends lifted him onto it. Boone moaned, couldn’t help it because the movement sent pain radiating out from his chest through his body. The cot was lower than the bed, but as he began to slide into darkness, he was aware that Rachel held him on the right side, his brother on the left.
They were speaking to him, but it didn’t make much sense by that point. Boone liked the sound of their voices, especially Rachel’s, but his thoughts drifted toward Kentucky and home. His mind rolled back the years, and before he slipped into drug-induced oblivion, Boone relived scenes from his past, from his boyhood to the war to on the trail. He remembered when Ezekiel was born on a cold March day and the night his father died, sick with an ague. Boone saw his mother’s face when he rode away to war and remembered dancing with Ma at Jacob’s wedding.
Then, it all faded, and he knew nothing at all. His last thought was wondering if he’d wake again or if he would be dead.
From an early age, Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy scribbled stories, inspired by the books she read, the family tales she heard, and even the conversations she overheard at the beauty shop where her grandmother had a weekly standing appointment. She was the little girl who sat at the feet of the elders and listened.
As an author, she has published more than sixty novels and novellas written as both Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy and as Patrice Wayne for historical fiction. She is also the author of a new Faery Folk series from Evernight Publishing writing as Liathán O’Murchadha. Her books are found in many places, online and in brick-and-mortar stores including some in both Ireland and Australia. Her current publishers include The Wild Rose Press, World Castle Publishing, Evernight Publishing, and Champagne Books.
She spent her early career in broadcast radio, interviewing everyone from politicians to major league baseball players and writing ad copy. In those radio years she began to write short stories and articles, some of which found publication. In 1994 she married Roy Murphy and they had three children, all now grown-up. Lee Ann spent years in the newspaper field as both a journalist and editor and was widowed in 2019.
She teaches 7th and 8th graders each Sunday at church.
In late 2020, she hung up her editor’s hat to return to writing fiction. A native of St. Joseph, Missouri, she lives and works in the rugged, mysterious, and beautiful Missouri Ozarks.
I am thrilled to welcome my dear friend, Tina Fausett, with a fun interview and her fantastic new release…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I was born in Oklahoma City and currently live there in a historic neighborhood with my best friend, Draco (minpin/chihuahua mix). My home is a 107 years old…I sometimes like to refer to it as my life in ruins. My main focus is on my children and granddaughter.
Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share?
This book is a work of fiction, however, most of the characters are based on people I know. I don’t care how old you are, I think everyone can agree that dating is hard, but I truly believe it gets harder the older you are. We change, we know what we want and don’t want, and I know for myself that I’m not willing to settle…we get set in our ways. Women in my age range (Baby Boomers) have typically spent a lifetime working and being caregivers…to our children, our husbands, our parents, our spouses’ parents, to grandkids…now a lot of us don’t want to do that with the years we have left, and I think that’s difficult for a lot of men… So, in discussing men and dating and sharing experiences, my friends and I decided that newly widowed and divorced men, bless their hearts, really needed help learning how to live again as well as how to date a contemporary older woman and the idea for a Widower Whisperers’ business was conceived. Though we didn’t actually form a business, I decided to write about it.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read Unrequited?
Deep down, I’m a hopeless romantic. I would like people to come away feeling good and understanding that it’s never too late…never to late to fall in love, never too late to pursue writing, art, a business…your dreams. And to know that on the inside, most of us seniors still feel young on the inside.
What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie?
Susan Sarandon, Steve Martin, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren
What is your favorite quote?
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” I mean who hasn’t said it…or at least wanted to say it?
If you could spend time with a character from your book, whom would it be? And what would you do during that day? (PG-13 please 🙂
It would have to be with Thomas Fitzsimmons. I’d be picking his brain, cooking and/or baking. He’s intelligent, well read, has a sense of humor and he likes to get in the kitchen and stir things up. I just find it such a joy when a man likes to cook…for a multitude of reasons.
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
I was told by an agent that I wasn’t commercial enough. What has been the best compliment? I was told by the same agent that she couldn’t put my manuscript down all weekend, and I wrote like the classics. That being said, I still wasn’t commercial enough. That was years ago!
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Ha! Almost all the main characters are based off people I know. The idea for the book came from my 50th reunion. People kept coming up to me saying they remembered me and my red hair. I have high school amnesia and didn’t remember most of them. My graduation class had almost 1,000 people. A couple of different men kept asking if I remembered them and showing me their badges with their graduation pictures on them. Young or old, past or present, their faces didn’t ring a bell. One man was a bit tipsy and actually got upset (I figured he must have been a big deal in high school and expected everyone to know who he was). Later I asked a friend (Betty in the book) if I had dated him or something, because according to her, I don’t recall going out with a couple of guys that were really cute. She didn’t think so, but out if it all I thought what if…what if there was really a story between them and a reason she doesn’t remember him. Except for his looks, Thomas is one hundred percent fantasy…much to my chagrin…he’s almost too good to be true! Darrell on the other hand…
What do your friends and family think of your writing?
That’s a mixed bag. I have such wonderful, supportive friends. Sometimes, I’m not sure if they’re excited if I base a character off them and/or something that’s happened to them or they’re terrified what I might write. But they are always so sweet. As for my family…they’re supportive of my endeavors, but my granddaughter has helped me a lot. She taught me about different writing apps and is great for getting a young opinion. I’ve been writing most of my life, and I feel that people who don’t write, don’t really don’t grasp what we do… It’s like they think if you’re not a best seller and a household name, you’ve just got this little hobby that you piddle around at.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
Absolutely Darrell! He is a culmination of some of my worst dating memories.
How did you come up with the title?
If the story was based on a relationship that Sally and Thomas had in high school, and he was disappointed that she didn’t remember him and didn’t return the crush he had on her…the one word that came to mind was Unrequited.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes, definitely. I think it was said by one of the bachelorettes in The Golden Bachelor. She said something about when you get older, people don’t see you anymore. There isn’t a lot of respect for elders these days…it almost feels like people are just waiting for us to pass on and quit taking up space. I would love for the younger generations to understand that we still have the same feelings and fears…that we’re capable of falling in love again…and we’re not dead till we’re dead. I started this book prior to the pandemic then health issues and 4 surgeries caused me to quit writing for a couple years…I can’t tell you how happy I was to see The Golden Bachelor and the chance those beautiful women had to be seen and to shine.
How much of the book is realistic?
Probably way too much. A lot of conversations and a few of the scenes actually happened…I’m positive a man will now think more than twice before asking me out.
Getting Old isn’t for sissies…and neither is falling in love
Blurb:
After a coffee date from hell, Sally Estes and her friends come up with an idea for a business-The Widower Whisperers, LLC. They train Newbies, recently widowed and divorced men, on how to start living again and to do the things their wives used to do for them. The hardest part is teaching them how to treat and court a contemporary woman. Little did Sally know this new venture would change all their lives forever, bringing back a man from her past she can’t remember and a history she wants to forget. What started out as a promising enterprise now threatens to destroy her friendships and everything she’s worked so hard for.
Excerpt:
His head was bent but Elaine could see the trace of a tear escape from the corner of his eye. She stretched forward and ruffled his hair. “Could we get back to Sally?”
“Yes, let’s,” he mumbled without looking up.
“I was just reading an article about her and some of her girlfriends starting a business called the ‘The Widower Whisperers’. Ghastly name I know and doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but catchy.
“They evidently help widowed and divorced men…newbies, they call them, get back into the swing of life and train them how to do the things their wives did for them, as well as getting them ready to start dating…I think they even have a course called ‘Women 101’. When I first saw their ad about four months ago, I kind of thought it was a ridiculous idea and had no clue Sally was involved. But it looks like they’re doing really well and have so many male clients that they’re going to branch out to females soon.”
“That’s charming and I wish them all the luck in the world, but it has absolutely nothing to do with us.”
“Well, if you think about it, it really is a good idea. It’s hard for most people to start over. You know what it was like after you and Gayle divorced. I remember what it was like dating after Jake died, before I met you. It was horrible. Men were absolute idiots, thinking they were suave and debonaire. You’d go to dinner, and they’d be putting down the ex, drinking too much, start trying to hold your hand and talking about back rubs…” She shivered and ran her hands over her arms. “It was creepy, and I don’t imagine it’s gotten any better as we’ve aged.”
First off, I want to say that I never pictured myself this old writing about people this old. But we’re not dead yet and I realized there’s definitely a market and a need to tell our stories. (I think the fascination with the Golden Bachelor proved that). My favorite place is New Orleans where I once lived. A native of Oklahoma City, I grew up with a southern mom and she used to tell me I had swamp water in my veins. I’ve owned an antique store and art gallery, been a pickle pusher (I had a company called Red Hot Mamma’s Pickles), I’ve sold real estate in the Big Easy and OKC, yet I am always drawn back to writing. I’ve written mainstream, a children’s book that’s not published, some mystery and suspense with romantic and paranormal elements and even erotica. I can say, quite proudly that I have two Raunchy Read Awards. A rather haughty an unimaginative woman once asked if I regretted not focusing more on my intelligent side. woman. In response, I quoted Einstein. “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
Blurb: Falsely accused of wrongdoing at a Princeton Prep school, Sophie Kearns accepts a temporary teaching position at an environmental school in the Florida Keys to wait out her suspension. The time away is meant to be an anxiety-free escape, but her clashes with the hot but arrogant marine biology teacher, Max Heaton, are anything but tranquil.
Max is determined to start an environmental research institute at the school, but he suspects the gorgeous new Lit teacher, who lacks even the most basic outdoor skills, is there to hinder that dream. Yet, something about her tames the demons from his past, and he can no longer ignore the fire she’s lit inside him.
Excerpt:
How’d Sophie end up working with women who could have been in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue?
She glanced down at her own one-piece halter and smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle. Not ready to venture back to the bikinis of her college days, she’d chosen a lime-green hue that looked great against her tan. And even though her midriff wasn’t bare, the high-cut detail on her legs showed plenty of skin. At least she wasn’t embarrassed standing next to Maddie. Or the other two.
She’d come a long way from the buttoned-up professor at Valen, thanks to her new friends here. After their shopping spree in Key West, they’d made sure to compliment Sophie on her new look—obviously afraid that if they didn’t, she’d go back to her old ways. And it had worked. Along with the exercise she was getting from boating and swimming, she looked and felt like a new woman.
Stealing a glance at Max, she assumed he’d be staring at Maddie. A slow burn crept across her face when his gaze fell on her.
His mocha eyes blazed a scorching trail as they traveled up her legs, her torso, then stopped at her face. She turned and looked out over the ocean, swallowing hard, to banish this erotic discomfort. But try as she might to ignore his scrutiny, she felt it deep down in the pit of her stomach as fingers of heat spread over her skin, doing much more damage than the sun.
Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels. When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states. Maria lives in central New Jersey with her husband–not far from her two daughters. For more information about her books, please visit her website at http://mariaimbalzano.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
I’m pleased to share this Regency anthology from nine authors…sounds like some great reads!
Under the Harvest Moon
As the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war.
But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge.
With two prominent families feuding for generations and the central event of the Harvest Moon festival looming, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface.
Nine award winning and bestselling authors have combined their talents to create this engaging and enchanting collection of interrelated tales. Under the Harvest Moon promises an unforgettable read for fans of Regency romance.
Moonlight Wishes and Midnight Kisses by Collette Cameron
A scarred veteran with no future, Courtland Marlow-Westbrook wants to be left alone. Scottish heiress Avery Levingtone never stopped loving him and is determined to win his love again. Will these former sweethearts find happiness together, or will the wounds of the past keep them apart?
A few favorite lines from your story:
A swiftly smothered gasp from across the store made him glance toward the other clerk and the woman, now completely visible.
No.
Don’t let it be her. Please.
Not Avery Levingtone.
The auburn-haired spitfire, with the slightest Scots accent, Cortland had hoped to make his bride—his countess, before everything had gone head over arse in his life, leaving him scarred and without the means to support a family.
But Fate wasn’t smiling kindly upon him today—hadn’t in a very long while.
It was Avery.
Even more impossibly beautiful than he remembered.
A fact about you or your story:
My hero and heroine were introduced in the last book in another series, before I knew they would get their own story in my Chronicles of the Westbrook Brides Series.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors?
Coordinating all the little details and dates to ensure the stories didn’t conflict in any way was a bit tricky.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors?
The incredible attention to detail, sharing of information, and coordinating settings and characters was the best I’ve ever experienced.
Adam Wagner is meant to save lives, not take them. He is haunted by Waterloo. The horror of it keeps him from those he loves. Meg Barlow doesn’t understand how Adam could turn his back on her so thoroughly, but she isn’t about to let him get away with it.
A few favorite lines from your story:
His eyes widened when he noticed Meg, fixated as if drinking in the sight of her, in her new moss green and buttercup gown. She suspected he was seeking the strength to look away, but before he could a bundle of energy dressed in blue muslin threw herself at him.
“Papa, oh Papa, I missed you. You said you would come to visit but you didn’t, and I don’t want a visit, I want to come home, even though Lord Barlow said I could stay forever, and Miss Meg is all that is, kind and…”
A fact about you or your story:
My father suffered from PTSD from 1950 to the day he died. I understand my hero’s plight.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors?
Sometimes I just need to go off on my own and let my story simmer, even if I know I’ll end up needing to alter details.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors?
Comradery, fun and a shared sense of accomplishment. And the final product is brilliant.
All the battles are over, or are they? When Captain Thom Owen is forced into a false engagement, he must escort his pseudo-fiancée home to meet his father. Can an English vicar’s son and a French Comte’s daughter find love despite their differences?
A few favorite lines from your story:
She stabbed the Thom’s father with a glare. “That is a child crying. You have a child in this house? Where?”
“I do have a charity case living here. The boy is not quite two and sleeps in the old nursery on the third floor.”
“And you left him alone?” She scolded. “Tell me his name.”
“Sam. His surname is yet to be determined.”
“Hmpf.” Charité stood, threw down her napkin, and swept out the door as fast as her skirts permitted.
“My word? Is she like that all the time?”
A fact about you or the story.
Language development in children varies widely from child to child. Sam, the child in our story, was only just beginning to speak, yet he had to struggle with two languages. Deciding what he did and didn’t know how to say was a challenge.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors.
Being patient, we aren’t always ready at the same time.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors.
The creativity and brainstorming. Each author, each story inspires and informs the other.
Home from Waterloo, Captain David Buckley contemplates settling down near his home town of Reabridge—only it is full of painful memories. The mysterious Lady Lorna falls literally into his arms, and he begin to understand the true meaning of love and home.
A few favorite lines from your story:
“Following her gaze, David saw a young woman at the top of the stairs. Her hair glowed like sunshine, and her face…was pale, her eyes unfocused. He knew the instant before she began to fall and bolted to the steps, leaping up them just in time to catch her tumbling person against his chest.”
A fun fact about you or the story:
It was Jude Knight who came up with the backstory for our feuding families which inspired my hero, David Buckley.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors?
Having to keep track of each other’s characters!
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors?
Keeping track of each other’s characters :). Seriously, it was well worth the difficulty, because it was great fun learning about the depths and quirks of (to me) minor characters, especially Sherry Ewing’s heroine, who was at the other side of our feud,
Fleur Hardouin’s heart longs for Captain Gareth Ardleigh, but she needs an advantageous marriage. Gareth has promised to find Fleur—on behalf of another man. Now he must choose between honoring a promise and trying to win the hand of the woman he loves.
A few favorite lines from your story:
Gareth dipped his head her way and sniffed. “Mmm. Lilac?”
Her eyes turned a steely gray, and the slight wash of color creeping up her pale neck cheered him beyond reason. Fleur was a flower, but not a fragile one, and not one to blush easily at an importuning man’s flattery.
A fact about you or the story
This story sprang (or is it sprung?) from something I learned in an online class about Regency drinking habits. It all started with a bit of knowledge about the Veuve Clicquot, a French widow who invented the process of riddling and transformed the champagne industry during the Napoleonic era when France was at war.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors
Probably getting the time chronology right. My characters went to pay a call on Rue Allyn’s characters. Getting the date of that visit and the participants sorted was probably the trickiest thing.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors
It’s wonderful to take on a project with folks who share a passion for historical details and who are also very supportive. The skilled beta reading of other authors is invaluable.
Widowed at Waterloo, where she also nursed the wounded, Veronica Petersham promised a dying man to bring his effects to a family in Reabridge. She falls ill just short of her goal, in the milking shed of kind and stoic Martin Bromelton.
Perhaps there is hope for the future after all and the opportunity to find love once more.
A few favorite lines from your story
He was spreading himself thin and knew it. He did what needed to be done—and there was so much that needed to be done—for the farm and those who relied on him.
The hard-won success of his freehold had not come without cost. To his regret, it was a sight his father had never lived to see. Even now, Martin recalled the days when the farm couldn’t even manage to feed the family, let alone bring in an income.
There had been more than one night in his youth that he’d gone to bed hungry. He didn’t intend to do it again as an adult.
A fun fact about you or the story
The town of Reabridge in Under the Harvest Moon is located in Cheshire, and it so happens that my favourite cheese is Cheshire Cheese. By that, I mean the real stuff from Cheshire you used to buy at northern markets and take home wrapped in paper. A lovely tangy taste and crumbly texture.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors
Writing a tale that’s closely interwoven with a set of stories from other authors poses a particular set of challenges. I know from involvement in relatively ‘disconnected’ anthologies, it’s somewhat easier when what you’re doing is, having agreed on a time and perhaps also a location, you’re then writing completely separately with no reference to others’ characters.
In the case of Under the Harvest Moon and other Bluestocking Belles anthologies, there’s a lot of referring back and forth between the group, negotiation on getting characters in particular places at specific times, and moving your own story towards a mutual climactic scene. It adds a significant extra degree of difficulty, but I believe it also creates a deeper ‘world’ for the reader to become immersed in.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors
The camaraderie and willing ‘give and take’ of all the authors involved is simply the best!
Eight years ago, Hannah Pownall had her heart broken by a young lord.
Captain Brandon Worthington returns to the town of Reabridge to recover from the war and finds the girl he once loved still unwed. Can love at first sight be reborn after heartbreak, proving a second chance is all you need?
A few favorite lines from your story
Today he was dressed as the young lord he was and always would be.
Those hypnotic amber eyes melted Hannah’s heart like they had the very first moment she had seen him.
“Don’t you dare say your goodbyes, Hannah Pownall. I will return to Reabridge and to you.”
A fun fact about you or the story
It may seem crazy but I love Disneyland and embracing my inner child whenever I can go down to the park.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors?
The most difficult thing about writing an interconnecting story is ensuring that the dialogue matches. I had to rewrite several scenes because of this issue.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors?
I always enjoy that the Bluestocking Belles’ boxsets are interconnected. I love seeing the characters from each story making their way through the whole set. I think its what sets our boxsets apart from others.
The new Earl Barlow returns home from Waterloo, intending to live by his own rules. The woman he loved and lost years ago visits for the Harvest festival—and he plans to offer Vicky Wright what they both want. Can a lady who has lived by the rules throw them all away to seize her last chance for happiness?
A few favorite lines from your story:
She grabbed her courage to blurt out the truth. “He had affairs. He told me the night before our wedding.” After I had given you up. After I had lashed myself to my duty to marry him as Papa’s agreements demanded. “He informed me that he would not change his life for me. In fact, if I wished to jilt him, I could.”
“But you didn’t.” He put a hand with his rough calloused fingertips to turn her face toward him, and smiled in sorrow at her. “Why not?”
A fun fact about you or the story:
About Cerise: I did my master’s degree in Chinese and Japanese History and have taught college courses in both!
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors:
The challenge in writing these coordinated sets is to include other authors’ characters in the most natural time in one’s story and in the most natural scenes. To accomplish this, we read each others’ works to ensure continuity.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors:
The most fun here in these sets comes from the knowledge that what you have written is not only a superbly crafted story which fits into others’ stories well, but that each of your colleagues has taken the time and care to help you produce the best fiction you can!
The Battle of Waterloo lost Jack Wrath the use of one arm and ended his career in the cavalry. He has no place to go and nothing to offer. Gwen Hughes has a business to run and no time for romance. Under the harvest moon, two people who believe romance has passed them finally reach their season for love.
A few favorite lines from your story:
Jack listened, absorbed as the preacher spoke of building things up, and all things in their season, and something in his heart shifted. He had had his fill of war, of killing, of tearing down and mourning.
For everything there is a season. He could do this. His harvest for all those years in the army was peace and all that came with peace. He could be Gwen’s husband and the father of her children. It is my season for love.
A fun fact about you or the story:
My Jack’s given name and those of his mentors was based on a tradition common among English puritans. They saw common names as too worldly, so named their children after virtues or religious slogans. Praise-God Barebone gave his name to the Barebones Parliament, but he is also remembered for naming his son If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned. Other historical names include Joy-in-Sorrow, Sorry-for-Sin, Humiliation, Make-Peace, and Kill-sin.
Apparently, Damned Barebone grew up to take the name Nicolas Barbon. Just as, in my story, Refrain-from-Anger-and-Forsake-Wrath Thursday renamed himself Jack Wrath when he enlisted in the army.
What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors:
Two virtues are needed. Patience, and patience. We all write a different paces, and use different processes. Yet, to truly intermesh our stories, we needed to share what we were doing and fid out what the others were doing. Sometimes, when I needed to know something that happened in another story, I just had to wait. It was worth it, though.
What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors:
The tremendous support and camaraderie is important, but I think the best thing is a final product. It is a superb. I know I say this every year, but I think it might be the best we’ve done.
Author Alicia Dean 