Cindy Reynders: A Killer Slice

Cindy Reynders is here with A Killer Slice, just in time for Thanksgiving. Isn't that great?
Welcome back, Cindy, and congratulations on the new book. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Cindy, even though I have previously interviewed you, please give new blog visitors a brief bio.

I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming with my husband, Rich and my little dog, Ewok.  I work for Laramie County School District 1 as their Marketing Specialist, and I write feature articles for my office’s Public Schools Chronicle. I’ve written articles for True West and Wild West magazines, and my published books in the Saucy Lucy mystery trilogy are The Saucy Lucy Murders and Paws-itively Guilty.  The newest in the trilogy is A Killer Slice.

I've been to Cheyenne and hope to return next year.

What books came along at just the right time to influence your reading/writing? 

I fell in love with Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind when I read it at sixteen. I wrote romance for years, but I switched to murder mystery and there I found my niche.  I’ve got this crazy wicked sense of humor that plagues my writing, even though I also craft many scenes that are sad. Thankfully, my fans seem to love my style.

Yes, I'm with them!  Please give us a short synopsis of your new book, A Killer Slice.

Sisters Lexie and Lucy are the main characters, and they live in the small town of Moose Creek Junction, Wyoming. A Killer Slice starts during a baby shower for Lexie’s daughter.  A young man shows up on the door step of the Saucy Lucy Café, the eatery the sisters own, claiming he’s Lucy’s long-lost son who she gave up for adoption while she was a single college girl. Now Lucy’s a married, God-fearing, churchgoing woman, so to have this happen is a slap in the face, and she vehemently denies having a child out of wedlock. When the young man winds up dead, the local police naturally consider Lucy a suspect.  So the sisters polish their amateur sleuthing skills to save her from going to jail. Everyone who has read the book so far, including my editor, swears they had no inkling about who did it until the great reveal at the end. A little secret:  When I was writing it, I didn’t know either!

Sometimes our characters surprise us, don't they?

How has your writing progressed since your first book?

I feel more confident in my writing abilities.  I’m also more aware that people are actually reading my work.  As a result, I’m more of a perfectionist because I want to live up to reader expectations. I’m taking more risks, and I’m trying new things.

When do you accomplish your best writing?

           
I go to bed early each evening so I can get up in the wee hours of the morning and hide out in my office to write for a couple of hours before work.

Is there another book on the horizon?

Yes, actually there is. In early 2012, Angelic Knight Press will publish one of my new titles, “The Seven-Year Witch,” a humorous, lighthearted story about a witch who must travel through time to find the Philosopher’s Stone. It’s actually classified as an urban fantasy, so this is one of the new things I mentioned I’ve been trying. I’m hoping AKP and I can continue to work        together to publish more in this line about my witch protagonist and her sisters. They may potentially be made into graphic novels as well, but this still only at the discussion stage.

Suer!
After hours of intense writing, how do you unwind? 

I love reading magazines!  They’re quick fun reads that really help me relax.

Are your books available in print, ebook, and Kindle? 

Yes.  

Where can we purchase these books and get more information about you?

My books can be found online, of course.  If you prefer a hard copy and you can’t locate one in a brick and mortar store, it’s easy to order one online and it will be delivered to your doorstep. Or you can order a hard copy from a book store.  Either way, the process is quick and easy. At my website,  www.cindykeenreynders.com, readers can access my Facebook page and also my blog or they can contact me via e-mail with questions. I’m also on Twitter!

Thanks for visiting again, Cindy, and I plan to look you up when I get back to Wyoming.

Please do, Susan.

 

Lila Pinord's In Time

My guest today is Lila Pinord, author of IN TIME. Welcome, Lila. Tell us something about yourself that readers might be surprised to learn.

I was born and raised in a Native American fishing village along the coast of Washington state. I didn’t leave until I was eighteen.

Interesting!

How many books have you written?

IN TIME is my fourth book. The other three are SKYE DANCER, EVIL LIVES in BLUE ROCK, and MIN'S MONSTER.

What books or authors have influenced you?

Stephen King was my first favorite, but later changed to Dean Koontz. I’ve read all his books and like the tension he generates through words. I try to do the same.

Tell us about your latest release.

 IN TIME is an urban fantasy. A young lad begins to pass through “misty curtains of time” and time-travels here on earth. He meets some historical figures along the way,including Meriwether Lewis and Blackbeard. His mother Ellie also passes through the opening as she seeks her son, who now goes by the name of Cowboy. Along the way she meets other time “travelers”. Will she and her son find each other “in time”?

Is it available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats?

Yes, it is in both formats.

Were any of your booksmore challenging to write than the others?

No, I usually have them pretty much thought out before I even begin writing my stories.

How do you develop characters?

My characters seem to jump out at me as I’m writing.Their names just come to me as if it were meant to be. It’s weird howcharacters come to life for us writers!

How do you choose your setting?

From my growing-up years in and around the village;the surrounding lakes and rivers and mountains play a big part in the settingsof my novels. Also the weather always works its way into my stories. SkyeDancer includes a great storm and flooding rivers and lakes. Evil Lives in BlueRock is enfolded in thick fog. Min’s Monster takes place during a horrific snowstorm. I think my next one may take place during a heat wave!

What are your protagonists' strengths? Flaws?

They always seem to overcome anything, such as theweather conditions mentioned above. Fear would be a weakness, but we all havethat at one time or another in our lives.

We all know how important promoting our work hasbecome. How do you get the word out both off and online?

Social websites, local newspapers, press releases,word-of-mouth. My own website contains all the information. http://lilalpinord.bravehost.com

Can you tell us about current or future projects?

 Believe it or not, I am working on two books at the same time! Or maybe I’m just re-working one I’d written many years ago. There is always room for improvement.

 I'm usually working on two books at the same time as well.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

Mainly on my website. However I have yet to add INTIME there, but will get to it soon. The books are on Amazon, Barnes &Noble and wherever books are sold.

Thanks for dropping by, Lila, and continued success!

Readers, click the link to see Lila's book trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0bHz02syHY for Skye Dancer book trailer

http://www.youtube.com/lilapinord  for  Min's Monster book trailer

                                                      

Susan Fleet's Diva

My special guest today is Susan Fleet, author of  Diva Desire.

Welcome to the blog, Susan.

                   It's great to be here, Susan.

Tell us something about yourself that readers might be surprised to learn.

In my former life I worked as a professional trumpeter in the Boston area playing a wild assortment of gigs ranging from the Ringling Brothers Circus to operas, symphonies and solo recitals. While teaching music at Brown University and Berklee College of Music, I took a scriptwriting course that turned me on to writing fiction, and my dark side. In 1990, unbeknownst to my colleagues, I began killing people. Fictionally, of course.

How many books have you written?

Between 1990 and 2000 I wrote five thrillers. I threw three of them away because they weren't ready for prime time, but it wasn't a waste of time. That's how I learned to write a novel. In 2001 I moved to New Orleans. That's the setting for my first published novel, Absolution, which I'm happy to say the Premier Book Awards named Best Mystery-Suspense-Thriller of 2009. My latest novel, Diva, was published in June 2011.

What has been your most rewarding experience during the writing process?

My favorite experience is getting feedback from readers. I've only done one book club event (for Absolution) but it was fabulous and I'd love to do more. I also do library talks. I did one recently in Brunswick, Maine, and the people had some fantastic comments and questions. Many readers also email me through my website: www.susanfleet.com
Tell us about your latest release.

Diva is a fast-paced thriller set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Many reviewers have commented on the way I meld the elegant world of classical music with the dark world of drug dealers. Beautiful, talented and ambitious, flute soloist Belinda Scully wants to be a star. But fame can be dangerous. A psychotic man is stalking her. Chantelle, a homeless teenager, is desperate to escape a menacing drug lord. NOPD detective Frank Renzi tries to save them both. Diva is available in print, Kindle and Nook formats.
What are some of the problems you faced while plotting a series with ongoing characters?

My biggest problem is hinting at events in previous books without revealing the outcome. But I love writing a series. Now that I've done two books with my protagonist, NOPD detective Frank Renzi, he feels very real to me. He's driven by a desire to get criminals off the street, but he has a dark past. After being a detective for the Boston Police Department for many years, he moved to New Orleans, partly because of a devastating work-related incident, partly because of a messy divorce. But he's still close to his daughter, who is now in college, and several other characters also make repeat appearances in the series.

How do you choose your setting?

After I moved to New Orleans, I decided to set my novels there. It's an exotic city with great music, which I use in my novels, but also with some racial tensions, which figure in both my books. I set some of my Diva scenes in London at the Royal Festival Hall, which was fun because I've been there. I also show the devastating impact Katrina had on New Orleans, its residents and the police department.

Can you tell us about current or future projects?

The rough draft of my next novel is done and should be out sometime in 2012. It involves two murders twenty years apart that take place in New Orleans. Frank has to solve the earlier murder in order to solve the current one. He also makes a brief visit to Boston because of a murder related to the New Orleans case. And the killer might be a woman!

Sounds intriguing. Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

Please visit my website: www.susanfleet.com  Individual pages for my books feature video trailers, and free sample chapters and book club questions to download.

Absolution: http://susanfleet.com/fleet-absolution.html

Diva: http://susanfleet.com/fleet-diva.html

And let me take a moment to offer my thanks to you, Susan, for inviting me to be a guest on your blog!

My pleasure, Susan!

Neil Ostroff's Insectland

INSECTLAND author, Neil Ostroff, dropped by for coffee and cheese danish. Welcome to the blog, Neil.

Thanks, Susan, for the interview and the refreshments.

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m an author of dark, noir thrillers, romance thrillers, and middle grade sci/fi and paranormal novels. I was raised in a rural town outside of Philadelphia and have been a published author for more than twenty years. My science fiction and fantasy stories have appeared in numerous presses, zines, and websites. I have several published novels available at all online booksellers. I am an avid boater, gardener, and poker player when not working on my novels.

How many books have you written?

At this time I have seven books available for purchase. I am writing quite a bit these days and anticipate another four books out by next year. Here are descriptions of the ones available now:

PULP-Struggling thriller writer Kevin Turner just received a panicked call from his ex-girlfriend Tina, a self-proclaimed clairvoyant prostitute. One of her clients, the mayor’s married son, died in her bed and she needs Kevin’s help to dispose of the body.

DEGENERATES- Each degenerate overcomes incredible obstacles working in a restaurant named City Café until a psychotic co-worker changes everything about their lives.

FROSTPROOF- Niles Goodman is on a weeklong trip into madness as his best friend kills indiscriminately and then explains the philosophy behind his actions.

TIM MADISON GALACTIC WARRIOR- Thirteen-year-old Tim Madison is the only person who knows about and can stop the ruthless creatures who are working deep inside our planet constructing a massive extermination army.

INSECTLAND-Imagine a world where humans are pests and insect-like aliens rule over them. Imagine that world is Earth.

DROP OUT- After overcoming incredible personal tragedy Nathan Cruz meets a terminal, young woman who helps him find the strength to piece his shattered life back together.

AFTER- High school student, Nick Murray’s sudden death is no accident. What he thought was his life has been an illusion created by powerful celestial beings. But for what purpose?

What has been your most rewarding experience during the writing process?

For me, the best part of writing is finishing a draft and then taking that draft and turning it into a good story. I love creating characters and then living vicariously through them. I also love having people read early drafts and then tell me what they think. It eliminates tons of wasted time trying to figure out alone if something is good or not.

Tell us about your latest release.

My latest book is called INSECTLAND. It’s available as an e-book on all devices.

INSECTLAND blurb:

Be frightened! Be very frightened! Tiny, dragon-like creatures hiding in our homes are going to harm us. They will shrink us to the size of ants, enslave us, and turn our world into their own. But there is hope. Legions of insect robots intent on stopping them have recruited high school sophomore Dan Larson for help. Thrust into danger, Dan risks everything in a desperate attempt to thwart an attack and prevent the end of society as we know it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P81J48

How do you develop characters?

Most of my characters ideas come from people I deal with in my everyday life. A man I see in line with me that has a peculiar facial tic, or the guy walking down the street mumbling to himself. I will use these different traits and add them to my characters. But the core personality of my characters almost always come from people I’m close to in my daily life.

Can you tell us about current or future projects?

Sure. I am currently working on the last book in a YA sci/fi fantasy series involving the same group of characters. It’s called DREAM TRAVELER and should be available in a few months. I am also doing a rewrite on an edgy YA novel called WASTED, about a group of drug-addicted teens who are trying to get straight and turn their lives around. It too, should be available by year’s end.

Where can folks learn more about your books?

I maintain a huge web presence and can be reached simply by typing my name into any search engine. I have several websites and can be found on most social network sites. The most up to date website for info regarding me and my books is:

http://www.authorsden.com/neilostroff

My blog:

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

I wish you the best with your writing, Neil.

Thank you, Susan, and the same to you!                                   

Anne Patrick's Kill Shot

My special guest today is Anne Patrick, who's returning to talk about her new book and catch us up on what's going on in her life. Anne Patrick is the author of more than a dozen novels of Romance, Mayhem &Faith, including the award-winning and best-selling Fire and Ash, Lethal Dreams and Sabotage. Her heroines are usually strong willed, witty, and often very opinionated…combinations that usually land them in situations where death seems imminent. When she's not working on her next novel she enjoys spending time with family and friends. Born an Okie and proud of it (Go Sooners!), she now makes her home in Kansas. 


Welcome back, Anne. Please have a chocolate chunk cookie and some hot tea.

Yummy! Thanks, Susan. I think I'll just do that.

Tell us your latest news.

Glad to, Susan!  My latest release, Kill Shot, book one in my Wounded Heroes series, comes out today.  Here's the blurb: Former combat medic Kory Wagner has been in four war zones, served three tours in Iraq, survived countless firefights, RPG’s, IED’s and even a helicopter crash. Now she’s home and out of the Army for good and someone is trying to kill her in her own backyard. Just as disturbing is the handsome sheriff who’s on the case. Sheriff Sean Harding doesn’t quite know what to think of the decorated veteran that managed to outsmart an entire search party. What bothers him more is the body of a PI, whom she hired, was found dead in a building she owns. And Kory isn’t being very cooperative with helping him find the answers as to why someone would kill her sister and want her dead. Will he be able to keep her alive along enough to discover the truth?

Folks, Anne is giving away a free pdf copy of the new book. See below to get your name in the cookie jar.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in this latest book? If so, why? 

I don't think so.  A couple of years from now I may think differently.  As I continue to grow as a writer, I can usually look back at a book and see things I could have done better. 

That's got to be a great feeling.

Can you share a short excerpt from the book? 

The steel door creaked as she pushed it open, the sound echoing throughout the metal building. "Mr. Urlik?" She waited for her eyes to adjust to the change in lighting before stepping all the way inside. A wide stream of light from the door spread out in front of her. "Mr. Urlik. Are you in here?"

Kory heard a sound a few yards in front of her. She quickly scanned the area. Three rows of huge metal shelves lined the interior. She inched forward, peering around the corner of the second row. Mr. Urlik lay on his side, facing her, clutching his chest. His eyes were opened and his mouth moved, but no sound came out. A heart attack? She ran to him, knelt down on the cement floor, and took his hand. It was wet, slimy. She looked down and saw his hand covered in blood. Her eyes shifted to his chest. A large crimson stain spread across the width of his white shirt from a small hole near the center. He was breathing erratically. Experience told her a bullet had pierced at least one lung and he didn't have much time. She immediately pressed the heel of her right hand against the wound.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Where's your cell phone?" Hers was in her backpack but she didn't want to waste valuable time digging it out.


"No time. Get out."


"Who did this, Mr. Urlik?"


He grabbed her right hand and squeezed it tightly. "You were right -- no accident."

His hand went limp.

Kory felt something in the palm of her hand, looked down and saw it was a key. She shoved it into her jeans pocket. A whizzing sound buzzed past her, followed by the unmistakable clink of a bullet ricocheting off metal. She instinctively threw herself over his body as another bullet struck metal. Kory felt for a pulse. There was none. She lowered her hand to his chest and felt under both arms and along his waist. I thought all PIs carried guns. Just my luck this one didn't.

She scrambled to her feet, as more shots ricocheted around her, and dove through an opening on the first row of shelves. A piercing pain sliced through her upper arm as she took cover behind some boxes. They wouldn't shield her from the gunfire but they would conceal her presence while she figured out how she was going to get out of there. She paused long enough to grab her cell phone from her backpack, wishing she hadn't when another bullet tore through a box beside her. She ducked lower to the floor.


Kory ignored the throbbing in her arm and slithered along the floor toward the back of the building. As a child, she and her sister, Callie, had often accompanied her grandfather to the warehouse where he worked on boats as a hobby. She remembered a back exit that led to the side parking lot and nearby woods. If she could reach the door, she had a chance of getting out of this alive. She looked down at the tear in her shirt, drenched with blood.

This isn't good!

Okay, so I'm hooked! A must-read for me for sure.

How about sharing a review or two from your other books with readers?

Barbara Hightower gave Fire and Ash 5 stars: What a wonderful read this has turned out to be...The book has a lot of angles and twist to keep the reader guessing and want to know more. I am now a fan of Anne's and will be looking into her other books.

Sherry Kuhn said this about Journey to Redemption: WOW! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It grabs you from the first page and does not let you go until the last. I truly did not know who all the bad guys were until the end. I really like that in a story.

Where can we purchase Kill Shot?

You can get the eBook at Desert Breeze Publishing, Christianbook.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most online bookstores.

Do you have plans for another book?

There are four other books under contract in the Wounded Heroes series.  Trespasses release May 2012, Vengeance in February 2013; Betrayal in November 2013, and Secrets in August 2014.  Each book is a stand-alone inspirational romantic suspense.

Where can we find you online?                                              

My website (where I have monthly giveaways): http://annepatrick.weebly.com/index.html Blog: www.suspensebyanne.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Anne-Patrick/1843150272

Thank you for allowing me to come and talk about my new book, Susan.  I'd love to give away a PDF copy of Kill Shot to one of your readers. 

How generous of you!

So, readers, if you want Kill Shot, you have to leave a comment. Anne will get in touch with the winner.

Lesley Diehl

   

Lesley Diehl, author of  Dumpster Dying and  A Deadly Draught, is here today. Welcome, Lesley. Please give us a short bio.

Thanks, Susan.

I retired from my life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed my country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York.  In the winter I migrate to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office.  Back north, I devote my afternoons to writing and, when the sun sets, relaxing on the bank of my trout stream, sipping tea or a local microbrew.

Wow! You're a lucky gal to have so much inspiration.

I really am.

Tell us something about yourself that readers might be surprised to learn.

I can’t read music, but, when I was a kid, I thought I could write operas.  I didn’t realize when I heard them on the radio that they were written in another language, so I just made one up, and sang the meaningless words to a made-up tune also.  It’s no surprise that a kid as naive as me or one with as much chutzpa would decide to become a mystery writer after retirement.  It takes me a while to get the word!

How many books have you written?

Oh, well, many, many books, but not all have been published.  I recently took another look at my earliest manuscript, and it’s probably just as well some have never seen the light of day.  So far my books include A Deadly Draught from Mainly Murder Press and Dumpster Dying from Oak Tree Press.  Angel Sleuth will be released by UntreedReads later his year and MMP will release Poisoned Pairings, the second in my microbrewer series in May, 2012.

What books or authors have influenced you? 

I write cozies, so I must give credit to Agatha Christie, the second mystery author I read after Carolyn Keene.  Janet Evanovich helped me find my funny bone and my intricate plots come from reading Elizabeth George and P. D. James.

Tell us about your latest release, Dumpster Dying.

Dumpster Dying is my latest.  It is set in rural Florida around the area of the Big Lake (Lake Okeechobee) a county in which there are more cattle than people.  Think Texas with palm trees.  I always write about family and like to explore the secrets families often keep.  In this work my protagonist Emily Rhodes makes the mistake many women in love make.  She trusts her life partner to take care of her, but he dies suddenly, the only will found leaving everything to his ex-wife.  Emily, as his partner of over fifteen years, must fight his ex in court for her rightful share of his estate, but her attention is diverted by finding the body of a wealthy rancher in the dumpster of the country club where she is employed as a bartender.  The authorities initially try to pin the murder on her, but they finally settle on her boss and good friend.  In the process of tracking down the killer Emily’s past catches up with her as do the family secrets her good friend has kept hidden for many years.

It is available as a trade paperback, on Kindle and Nook.

Were any of your books more challenging to write than the others?

Dumpster Dying is, as you would guess, a humorous cozy.  The other book A Deadly Draught is not.  While humor is fun for me to write, it’s tricky because not everyone has the same sense of humor.  What’s funny to me may offend someone else.  So while I seem to gravitate toward humor (Angel Sleuth is also funny, and a manuscript in the hands of my agent now is, too), a writer must do all the character development and intricate plotting of a traditional mystery but also throw in humor, which may bomb.  A humorous mystery is a real high for me to write, but more challenging than if I’m not inserting funny situations, lines, or personalities.

How do you choose your setting?

My settings have chosen me.  I write about the places I live.  A Deadly Draught and its sequel Poisoned Pairings are set in the Butternut Valley in upstate New York.  It’s a real place and where I live for half the year alongside a usually well-behaved trout stream (Lee recently turned it into a raging river that overflowed its banks).  During the winter I live in rural Florida, the setting for Dumpster Dying.  I am at home in the country and don’t think I would feel comfortable writing about another setting.  Besides, as you can see, natural disasters present themselves, and I use them in my work.  The people I meet feel familiar to me, like those I grew up around on the farm, and I create characters with that same connection to the land.

What are your protagonist’s strengths? Flaws?

My microbrewer, Hera Knightsbridge, has only an inkling she is hiding from life and from her past by embracing her chosen career, crafting beer.  It takes murder and the reappearance of a former lover to convince her she’s not as invincible as she would like to think.  She is strong mentally and physically and she likes a challenge.  She will face up to anything.

In contrast, Emily Rhodes, from Dumpster Dying is tiny and a bit timid.  She’s a retired preschool teacher, and everyone expects her to be nonassertive.  But Emily knows dealing with fighting preschoolers has developed some backbone which she will have to use to get herself out of her financial mess and help find a murderer so that she can clear her friend’s name.  Although two men find her enticing, she’s no longer so trusting of men and will stand up to both of them when they come acourtin’.  Don’t underestimate the untapped courage of this little woman.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?

I was raised on a dairy farm in the Midwest.  I was an only child and spent my childhood entertaining myself by reading and hanging out with cows.  Then I moved away, went to college and graduate school to become a psychologist.  I was a professor and college administrator before I retired and came to understand my true vocation was writing mysteries, so, you see, my degree in psychology helped not at all in finding myself!  I think my background in psychology finds its way into my writing in helping me craft my characters and the villain’s motives for killing.  The cows keep me humble.

We all know how important promoting our work has become. How do you get the word out both off and online?

I think I’m becoming, as does every writer, the queen of social networking, but just when I think I’ve got a handle on it, another plum opportunity like this one comes my way, and I  embrace it.  I also do a lot of library programs, and those are great fun whether two or twenty-two people show up.  The in-person experience of interacting with readers and other writers is almost as good as chocolate.

Can you tell us about current or future projects?

I’m working on the second Emily Rhodes book, tentatively titled Grilled, Chilled, and Killed.  This time Emily stumbles upon a dead body sauced like a brisket of beef and hidden in a beer cooler truck.

My agent has another Florida based manuscript about a Connecticut fashionista come to the wilds of Florida to set up a consignment shop.  You guessed it.  A patron is killed while trying on a cocktail dress.

I’ve put another manuscript on the back burner.  It represents a departure for me from cozies and is a traditional mystery set in upstate New York.  The protagonist is a woman who runs an auction house and is the mayor of a small village.  Folks in the village believe coyotes are killing their livestock.  She engages an expert on coyotes, someone she knew when she was in college, to look at the situation.  The most vociferous proponent of an open season on killing coyotes is himself killed, and the authorities suspect the protagonist’s friend.  Helping him to clear his name forces the protagonist to reveal a family secret, one that will drive her daughter away from her.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

Go to my website  www.lesleydiehl.com or visit my blog http://anotherdraught.com

Continued success, Lesley!                                       

Thanks so much, Susan.

Joyce Luciani, Cancer Survivor and author

Joyce Luciani, author of Killing The Cure is my guest today. Thanks for coming by, Joyce.

I appreciate the invitation, Susan.

Before we talk about the book, please tell us a little about you.

I went to college after my family grew up and I was 50 years old, graduating with honors in philosophy and loving every minute of it.  I’ve always been a person who throws herself entirely into whatever subject interests me most.  In doing the research for Killing the Cure I accumulated hundreds of books, papers, notes and other information on the condition of our health care industry.  The more I learned, the angrier I became.  Since I had always been known as a ‘peacemaker’ type, (I learned that from growing up as one of eight and from having nine children of my own), my angry attitude came as a surprise to my friends and family.  The result was this novel, a fictional story based on the facts as they appear to me.

How many books have you written?

Although Killing the Cure is my first novel, I co-authored a biography, Semka, the Sammy Skobel Story, which was published several years ago.  (Perhaps I should say I’ve written three books as I have another novel (The Benediction) finished and am actively searching for an agent and/or publisher). I have also had a number of articles and a few poems published.

Have any writers inspired you?

First and foremost my favorite author would be Ernest Hemingway.  I read him very early in my life and loved his style.  Another is Leon Uris, especially his Irish novel, Exodus.A more recent one would be Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring and Remarkable Creatures.

Had any great experiences while writing?

Seeing one’s work in print is always a great thrill, but I think one of the greatest experiences in writing fiction is when my characters take over the story and do or say things I didn’t expect.   It’s then I know I’ve created characters who have become real.  It’s a fantastic high!

Tell us about Killing the Cure, Joyce.

Killing the Cure grew out of a period when both my husband and I had cancer.  He was receiving his third series of radiation treatments for prostate cancer which had spread to his bones when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  We were overwhelmed, not only emotionally, but financially.  The cost of treatments and prescriptions were eating up our savings.  I was angry that after all the years of research, no cause or cure had been found.  Throwing myself into researching the subject, I found that the vast majority of research funds had been spent on treatment drugs rather than on finding a cause or a cure.
      Killing the Cure is the story of two brothers, one a doctor, the other a newspaper columnist, whose mother died of cancer when they were boys.  They vow to search for a cure for cancer, but find that the pharmaceutical companies are raking in billions of dollars from their treatment drugs and are willing to go to such extremes as arson and even murder to keep a cure from being discovered.   When Greg realizes that his girlfriend’s father is the head of this corrupt group, his lack of trust sends his love life into a spin.  Jared exposes the group in his column and in television interviews, opening himself to their revenge.  It is their own greed that brings the pharmaceutical companies down in an unexpected scandal.

 Where can we find Killing the Cure?

Killing the Cure is available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, in both print and eBook, and at www.barringerpublishing.com.   It is also available on the website www.killingthecurethebook.com .

Did you have many challenges while writing this book?

Killing the Cure required a tremendous amount of research.  I spent the better part of two years searching for the answers, pouring over newspaper articles and books, as well as visiting Washington, D.C. before I could start writing.  The biography, on the other hand, required hours and hours of meetings and discussion as well as editing each section as it was written.  The writing itself went rather smoothly.

Joyce, how do you develop characters?

I write up character sketches with background material and descriptions, creating a history of their lives, their parents, their education, their desires, their friends, their likes, their dislikes, etc.  Minor character are treated the same way but not in as much detail.  My characters are often a composite of people I have known or observed.

How about setting?

There was only one setting possible for Killing the Cure.  That was Washington, D.C.  I had lived in Washington for four years in the past and was familiar with the city and the way things worked, but I had to go back to see how things had changed since I lived there.

Speak to us about any flaws in your characters.

Greg’s main strength is his dedication and perseverance in spite of setbacks.  His flaws are his lack of trust and his self-doubt.  His brother’s strength is in his positive attitude regarding his handicap.  Although he is in a wheelchair he feels there is nothing he cannot do.   His flaw is that he tends to blunder through when a simpler path would be the better way.

Why did you write this particular novel?

My firm belief that a cure for cancer is out there waiting to be discovered kept me researching and writing through the four years of writing this novel.  My background in journalism and my years living in the Washington D.C. area definitely influenced my writing.   Also my personal experience as a cancer patient and as a primary caregiver gave me a special viewpoint on the subject influencing my writing of this novel.

Where can readers learn more?                     

I have a website dedicated to Killing the Cure and promote it on facebook.  I speak about the book at various clubs and organizations in the area, as well as at book clubs and booksignings...  I also write a weekly blog on current health tips that I pick up during ongoing research (www.joycemcdonald.wordpress.com). 

Are you working on a project at this time?

I have recently finished an Irish historical novel which is set in the early nineteenth century and is searching for a home with a publisher.  This novel, too, involves brothers, and one girl who attracts the attention of all four.   It is a story of betrayal, of loss of faith, and of a family torn apart.  Their search for each other and all they have lost takes the reader from Ireland where their home and the village itself are destroyed, to Boston where their welcome is not what they expect.

How can folks find out about signings and such?

Check out my website at www.killingthecurethebook.com for upcoming dates and new blogs, as well as an excerpt from the book.

Joyce, I wish you the best with Killing the Cure. You strength and endurance are an inspiration! I want to also remind readers that all proceeds from my cookbook, Killer Recipes, are donated to cancer research so that we can more happy endings like Joyce had, available on my web site at www.susanwhitfieldonline.com or ask you favorite store to order copies if they're out.