Pauline Baird Jones: Steampunk

My special guest today is Pauline Baird Jones, sometimes known as Perilous Pauline:-) Welcome to the blog, Pauline.

We’d be fascinated to know more about you.

Hello, Susan. I started my adventures in writing in the last century, penning my first, full length novel during the first Gulf War. When I started looking for a publisher, New York was the only game in town, but something exciting was already starting to happen. By 1998, I was sick of trying to crack New York publishing and submitted PIG IN A PARK (now titled THE SPY WHO KISSED ME) to a small, digital-only publisher, one of only three dipping their toes into digital publishing. It was accepted and released in 1998. Following the release, I spent most of my promotion time trying to explain digital publishing, but the book did well with readers (yay and thanks, readers!).

It was the first digital-only release to be nominated for a ROMANTIC TIMES Reviewer’s Choice award. And my next novel, THE LAST ENEMY, was the first digital-only release to win a ROMANTIC TIMES Reviewer’s Choice award.

Congratulations on the success!

Thank you. Since then my novels have won two Epic Book Awards, two RT awards, a Dream Realm Award, a Bronze IPPY, and a Dorothy Parker Award—all without New York’s permission or attention. (grin)

Obviously, I’ve never liked being told there is one way to do anything, or that I can’t do something because “that’s just the way it is.” I took a lot of flack in my early publishing days from other authors and a few readers, but am happy to have been proved RIGHT that digital publishing is the best thing to happen to authors since, well, EVER. (grin)

Pauline, how many books have you written and in what genre(s)?

In May I released my 11^th novel (STEAMROLLED) and my eighth short story (STEAM TIME available in the DREAMSPELL STEAMPUNK anthology). They are both parts of my connected series that I call Project Enterprise.

I write, or have written in science fiction romance, SFR/.steampunk romance, romantic suspense, action adventure, humorous romantic suspense and a lone gothic. I have three non-fiction writing handbooks, too.

11? Wow! You're not only perilous but also prolific.

What prompted you to switch genres from romantic suspense to science fiction romance and then steampunk?

I started writing romantic suspense, because that’s what I read, but I also loved the action adventure novels of Alastair Maclean. I almost didn’t notice that my RS books were trending more and more into A/A and then I did notice and thought, whoa, that’s interesting.

After some pondering, I decided I liked this trend and wanted to pursue it. My first A/A book was called OUT OF TIME. The transition from this WWII time travel to outer space, well, no question it’s a bit odd and at the time, I didn’t think I was writing SFR. I thought I was just writing another A/A novel.

When reviewers and readers started calling it SFR, it kind of freaked me out. I didn’t think I did science (based on my grades in high school, though now that I consider it, I got those grades because I was making up my science back then….) Looking back at my life, I might not have read a lot of SF or SFR until recently, but my viewing tastes trended that way. I started with THE JETSONS, and worked my way through LOST IN SPACE, STAR TREK….I even liked the lame SF shows like LAND OF THE GIANTS. While I’m not a total geek girl, I do have some geek creds. J

The steampunk move is much more straightforward. I read a fun steampunk novel and thought, wow, that would be fun to write. If I hadn’t written a semi-historical novel (OUT OF TIME) I might have balked at the research, but I had and my plan at the time was to write a short story. It turned into a novella (TANGLED IN TIME) that built a fun bridge to STEAMROLLED, which is also an SFR/steampunk mashup. You can’t imagine my thrill when a review said my “soft SF was plausible.” Take that, high school science teachers!

LOL! Tell us about your latest release.

About STEAMROLLED: With all of time at risk, it’s a bad time to fall in love…unless it’s the only time…

Robert Clementyne is going on a transmogrification machine hunt. He fears finding the machine will be as difficult as pronouncing the name. How can the steam-powered device perform as advertised, and how useful can any information be, coming from a steampunk themed bowling alley/museum?

It’s pretty crazy, but he’s been there, done that, and thinks he can handle it.

And then he meets the proprietor/curator…Emily Babcock.

Emily grew up in crazy, still lives in it—hey, it’s her freaking zip code. So no worries when Robert and his team walk into her bowling alley. The first visitors ever to her museum.

But neither of them is prepared for what happens when they open the door to the past…and the future. With a side trip through Roswell…and a face-to-face meeting with an evil genius/wannabe—who is on his way to becoming evil overlord-of-everything…

And a mini blurb about my short story, STEAM TIME: The man formerly known as Tobias Smith hadn’t planned to ride along with Dr. Everly and his Medicine Show. Grifters gave him a pain their elixirs couldn’t heal. But he was headed to Marfa, too. And Everly’s “son” turned out to be a really fine looking damsel—one in distress when the ghost lights of Marfa bump them into an alternate reality complete with an automaton gang and airships.

Intriguing, indeed.

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

I’m happy to report that all my books are available in print and in a variety of digital formats. The fastest why to find them is on my home page: www.paulinebjones.com

Now Pauline, tell us how you develop characters.

Some years ago, I took a directing class (I’d written a stage play and was interested in learning how to be a better playwright by studying how a director and actors brought a play to life). For my final, I had to direct a one-act play. I picked a funny piece and convinced two of my friends to play the leads. I got a good grade on the assignment, but one piece of criticism really hit me where I lived. My professor pointed out that my two friends had played their parts exactly alike. The only way to tell them apart was their hair color! I took this criticism to heart and always try to create characters that have contrast and originality—particularly important in novels since the reader can’t always “see” the hair color. I don’t make them different just to BE different or weird, but strive for distinct. I was particularly pleased by a reader review on Amazon this week. The reader wrote:

“Even more than the lovely and coherent mix of weird stuff, I loved the well-written interior narratives. Each character has a distinctive voice - enough so that changes of viewpoint don't have to be telegraphed with big rows of asterisks - and several of them are very witty as well.” (Paul Meyer)

Color me uber-pleased. To do this, I still use a lot of playwriting techniques in my character creation. I wrote an article about this topic that I posted on my website here: http://www.paulinebjones.com/getting-the-wood-out.html

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

Oh, promotion! It is both pleasure (connecting with readers) and pain (feeling like that’s all you do!). I do most of my promoting online, though I do attend science fiction conventions that are within driving distance to promote my work and get support and encouragement from other writers. I also use the usual social networking sites, but I try to do soft promotion.

Instead of the constant “buy my book now,” I try to provide information and talk about elements in my books. I find this a more comfortable approach, because it reflects my own preferences as an avid reader. Buying a book is such a personal thing. How one connects with the way an author uses words, the genres they write, is personal. I have chemistry with some books and not others. I can personally like an author and not care for their books. So I don’t go into any situation believing that all the people will like what I write all the time.

I love that readers can now sample my books through kindle and other digital formats. I also try to post excerpts, so that readers can get a sense of my writing style and offer four, free stories through Omnilit/All Romance eBooks (links on my site).

Another thing I do, for fun and for my readers, is my “Behind the Book” interview with myself. I do it  right after I finish a book. This helps me capture details, trials and funny stories that I might forget for later interviews. It gives readers a peek into my creative process. I even have an interview of myself about what it is like to interview myself. Or something like that. These interviews can be found on my website by clicking on “For Readers.”

I also try to do regular giveaways, though I’m not sure how effective contests are. While I wouldn’t know what to do with “harvested” emails, people are still wary about that these days. I can’t even blame them when the spam piles up in my spam folder every morning.

I try different things, but in the end, I think the best promotion is to write the best you book you can. And then write another. And another. And another. Well, you get the picture. J

Can you tell us about current or future projects?

Right now I’m working on the next PROJECT ENTERPRISE book, which should release in Nov, 2011. After that, well, I’m mulling a new steampunk book and I also get requests for a sequel to OUT OF TIME. I would ask readers to vote, but I tend to commit random acts of writing, going where the Muse leads me, so not sure a vote would work with my Muse.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

You can find out more about me than you’d ever want to know at:

www.perilouspauline.com

Thank you so much for having me here today, Susan. You have an awesome blog!

Why thank you ma'am. It has been a pleasure to have you. Continued success with your prolific endeavors, Pauline. Come back any time!

Shawn Lamb's Heir Apparent

Shawn Lamb, author of Heir Apparent is my guest today. Welcome, Shawn. Tell us a little about yourself.


Thank you, Susan. I’m the author of the YA fantasy series ALLON. Before writing fiction, I did freelance writing for TV animation back in the 1980s. The series was called BraveStarr and put out by the same studio responsible for He-Man and She-Ra. In fact, my husband Rob, was a staff storyboard artist and writer for He-Man, She-Ra and Fat Albert.

Cool!

What is your most rewarding experience during the writing process?

Actually, it occurred during the beginning draft of the first Allon book. The whole thing started when my daughter asked me to write her a fantasy. She was in high school at the time. When I agreed, she told her friends, who became very intrigued at learning her mom was writing this ‘big, epic fantasy,” according to my daughter. Now, I had to live up to the billing.

Her friends came over to the house to discuss the story. Nashville has becoming a city of immigrants and refugees, so most of them were from immigrant families, like Iraqi Kurds, Somilia, Laos, Kenya, Egypt. They crossed the cultural, ethnic and religious spectrum. The conversations turned personal and they asked direct questions, wanting to know what Americans thought, why Christian believed different. And they wanted direct answers. But mostly, they expressed the desire and need for hope. Coming to America was somewhat disappointing and they struggled to find what they believed was hope and a better life. Those conversations and expressed needs motivated me and the one book turned into a series in an attempt to provide answers and hope.

Tell us more about Heir Apparent. Is it available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats?

Allon Book 3 – Heir Apparent is a continuation of the series. Most of the characters from the previous 2 remain, with new ones added as the family grows. This one is based more around family issues, although not losing any of the fantasy elements.

Each book is self-contained, and I try not to leave ‘cliff-hangers’ but clues can be found to what may come later. It is available in print on Amazon. We are working on converting the series to e-books, and they should be ready shortly.

Do you think your writing has improved since your first attempt? If so, in what way?


Yes, there should be a natural improvement and progress as any author writes. To go from script to prose, I studied for 3 years. Where the course taught me about the mechanics of writing, it wasn’t until after the publication of my first book that I really grew as a writer and author. Baptism under fire, if you will. Not just the review factor, but being suddenly placed under the microscope of the public.

Were any of your books more challenging to write than the others? If so, why?

Actually, this one – Heir Apparent. If I say too much, I may give the story away. So I’ll just say, putting familiar characters you’ve lived with for so long through certain things isn’t easy.

You're so right, Shawn. I can relate.


Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?

Great question. I addressed this issue in my blog recently in a two-part post about free flow writing vs. flash card or plotting. I’m the free-flow type, I rarely make notes, keeping everything is in my head. Sounds difficult with a series, but I cringed at those lessons of plotting or writing character traits and scenes on flash cards then arranging them to form the story. It was too confining and frustrating.

Describe your ideal reader.

Funny, if you asked me this question when my first book came out, I would have describe the ideal reader different then now. I wrote for older teens, high school to college - but middle school kids have really grabbed onto the series. Kids as young as eight have read my books, even up to 88 year-old adults.

I tend to keep my stories clean of language and sex, although there is romance, danger and consequences to actions. So I would say, anyone who wants a good fantasy in the tradition of Narnia and Lord of the Rings is the ideal reader, regardless of age.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

I have both a blog and a website. The website is http://www.allonbooks.com Visitors will find access to all kinds of activities, an interactive map, character pages, excerpts, links to videos, FaceBook, Twitter. I have an email subscription list for the first alert of upcoming events, releases, special discount, etc. I do make announcements on the website in the New & Events section for the public.

The blog http://allonbooks-thekingdomofallon.blogspot.com/ is where I post about writing and publishing industry. I also encourage and accept private email from aspiring writers of all ages, and a few from across the global are picking my brain.

Thanks for letting us know more about you Shawn, and continued success!

Frank Scully's Resurrection Garden

My guest today is Frank Scully, author of Resurrection Garden. Good morning, Frank. Please tell us a little about yourself.

Thanks, Susan. I’ve been around a bit longer than I want to admit. I was born at the end of World War II and remember when radio provided the entertainment in the evening. Jack Benny, Amos and Andy, and the Shadow. Black and white TV came along with very few channels and an antenna on the roof. Jack Benny made the transition and Ed Sullivan ruled Sunday nights. Elvis and the Beetles made their big TV debuts there. Sputnik was a part of the very real Cold War as was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then along came the Vietnam War with its bloody toll on TV news every night. I got through college and law school and spent my time in Southeast Asia before I got my MBA and started a career which I have been working at ever since. I am currently a Contracts Manager for a major aerospace company.

What are your writing goals?

I have no aspirations for literary greatness. I simply want to write a good story that will entertain the reader. I want to get the reader immersed into the story so they see it happening in their minds as they read.

Tell us about Resurrection Garden. Is it available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats?

Resurrection Garden is my first published book. It is available as an eBook from the publisher, MuseItUp Publishing, or from Amazon, Barnes &Noble, Smashwords and most online eBook retailers.

Resurrection Garden is a mystery set against the backdrop of the settling of the North Dakota prairie at the turn of the 20th century. Life on the North Dakota prairie in 1904 was still raw but modern times were coming with every new homesteader. Railroads and the telegraph were changing transportation and communication. The pace of life was speeding up. The land was filling up with settlers.
Jake Turner, a scarred veteran of the charge up San Juan Hill, has been a lone drifter through much of the settling of the west. Opportunity was growing out of the newly turned sod of the North Dakota prairie in 1904 when he stopped to take a part time job as a Deputy Sheriff, expecting to move on again when the dark parts of his past catch up to him.

An investigation into a murder of a man hated by everyone has threads that lead to his best friend, Isaac. Jake is ambushed and almost killed, but is nursed back to health by Isaac. While Jake follows the clues into a labyrinth of hatred, sordid crimes and missing money he becomes attached to an eight year old orphaned boy named Andy and falls in love with Isaac’s sister, Alice. After being alone for so long with no hope or care for what tomorrow might bring, Jake finds it difficult to accept these new emotional attachments.

Jake believes in Justice, but before he had only his own life on the line. When Andy is kidnapped and almost killed, Jake knows the killers will do anything to stop him. In order to protect Alice and Andy, he must break their hearts and leave them and North Dakota behind.

Jake knows he’ll be back. So do the killers. Trap and counter trap are laid. Jake knows there will be graves. He just doesn’t know who will be in them.

Do you think your writing has improved since your first attempt? If so, in what way?


My writing has undergone a major change from my first attempt. In the beginning, my work was a bit derivative. A style mish mash of many of the authors I had read and enjoyed. It lacked originality in voice. That came with practice and much more writing as I developed my own distinctive writer’s voice. While I can say now I have been influenced by certain writers, I am not imitative.

Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?

Certain events seem to pop up that spark my imagination. It might direct me to write a story about the Savings & Loan mess that happened in the 1980’s and I will need to build a plot around that. From the general background I will develop a theme. The theme will guide me in developing the characters and the plot. I don’t outline a book as some do. I find that I can’t work that way. Once I have my characters fleshed out, the crime defined, the background and backstory in my mind, as well as the end I am working toward, the story falls into place as I write. Sometimes the characters take off in directions I didn’t plan but they have to stay true to themselves and the story. Once I get into a story it is like a movie is running in my head and my job is to get it down so I can show it to the reader.

After hours of intense writing, how do you unwind?

Generally, after a long intense session of writing, once I stop I will still have ideas and scenes floating around in my head, and I will need to take some notes so I can pick up the thread again when I start writing later. After that I will need to decompress by getting away. I may go for a walk, spend some time in the garden or yard if it is the summer, do some chores I have been putting off or anything else that allows me to get away from the story for a time. Some people read someone else’s novel, but for me that doesn’t work. I find myself being critical of the way the other author wrote something. A comedy, either a movie or TV show, is one of the best ways for me to relax after a long, intense writing session.

Any current projects?

I am currently working on the seventh book in my Decade Mystery Series. When I started writing I had so many ideas for stories floating around in my head I had to somehow sort them out and decide which I would work on first. It turned out to be a mystery set in 1957. The second was set in 1995. The third was in 2004. And then came Resurrection Garden set in 1904. I began to see a pattern here. Murder mysteries set in different decades and locations. This was the genesis of my Decade Mystery Series. At least one book set in each decade from the beginning of the 20th century to current time set in different locales with both continuing and new characters. There is something unique in each decade that marks it as separate from what went before or what follows. I like to research and explore aspects of what is unique as it is expressed in the locale chosen and how it affects the culture, characters and the tenor of the times and yet also see the common humanity that never changes. While the larger characteristics of the decade provide the background against which the story is told, I like to find certain lesser known events and circumstances that signal significant shifts around which to build the plot. The stories will not be written in any chronological order.

Digital Death, the book I am working on now, is set in the 2005 timeframe. Alec Carter, the son of a Vietnamese mother and an unknown American soldier and a survivor of the boat exodus, is on the case of a missing person. The missing person is an Indian computer software expert. The case will lead Alec to Bangalore and other places around the world as he discovers that the case is deeper and deadlier than a missing person. Terrorists, government agents, corporate titans and mobsters are after the same man who holds the key to something everyone wants.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

My website is at:
http://www.frankjscully.com/

It is still a work in progress but I welcome all to come by and visit. I also have a blog there and welcome comments. Also my publisher has a lot of information on my forthcoming books at:

http://www.museituppublishing.com/

Well, Frank, it has been a pleasure to have you over. Continued success on your writing career.

Thank you so much for allowing me to guest on your blog today, Susan.  

You betcha! Readers, please check out the reviews and an excerpt before you leave:

Reviews for Resurrection Garden:
I found myself enthralled with this tale. The mystery was well developed and had a very satisfying resolution. It was very heartwarming to watch as Jake learned to shed his past and move forward into his future. The book moved along at a good clip and I found myself clicking the button to turn the pages on the Nook so I could read what happened next. Mr. Scully's writing style was spare and perfectly suited the tale and time in which it was set. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed getting to know them. Broken Teepee Reviews

* * *
As most good mysteries do, this one begins with a dead body. The big difference is this tale is set in 1904 and starts in North Central North Dakota, making it an historical western mystery. Before I tell much more, I have to say I loved everything about this story. Deputy Jake Turner is a reluctant hero, a single man who knows something is missing in his life despite his faithful horse, dog and cat.


The historical details are perfect and enhance the action—of which there is plenty. Deputy Turner is wounded more than once while tracking down the clues to find the identity of the murderer and all the other complications and revelations that develop. The relationship between Jake and an orphan boy, Andrew, is realistic and heart-wrenching, as is Jake’s friendship with a dying man.
Before the book is over, a romance develops—one that doesn’t seem to have a happy ending in sight, but you’ll have to read it to find out what happens.
Author Scully has done a fantastic job in creating this very realistic mystery in a by-gone era. I loved this book and I highly recommend it to all mystery lovers and those who enjoy a good Western.
--Marilyn Meredith

Excerpt:
The sheriff joined me in my contemplation of the body. It wasn’t pretty. Thor had never been handsome and the ravages of being frozen under the snow for the winter and having birds and other animals picking away at the skin as the snow thawed and exposed the body made what was left of him downright disgusting.

One thing was evident though. He hadn’t died easy. Freezing to death is relatively painless. Wander out in the cold, get lost, fall asleep and don’t wake up. That wasn’t what happened to Thor.

“What do you think? Shotgun, maybe?” the sheriff opined.

“At least,” I answered. The hole in his chest was big enough to put a fist through. “But why? He musta been dead already when he was shot.”

“Yeah, first someone beat him to a bloody pulp, then gutted him and slashed his throat. And then shot him. Ain’t that what you said, Doc.”

“Looks that way to me,” Doc answered. “Can’t tell you much more until he thaws out all the way.”

“Somebody wanted him deader than dead,” the sheriff shook his head.

“Takes some hate to do all that,” Doc commented. “Got any suspects?”

Doc and the sheriff both turned to face me.

I let out a deep sigh. “I suppose you want me to find out what happened to him.”

“Seems as how you should. After all, you found him, and you’re my deputy up there,” theSheriff answered.

I stared at Thor and wondered when I would be able to sit down.

Doc came up behind us and commented, “Jake, you might ought to get some new britches or something. You’re hanging out your back end. Probably scare the ladies and kids if you went out in public like that.”

I reached around and felt bare skin crisscrossed with stitches. “Damn, just got these new this Christmas.”

“I’m sure one of the widow ladies you’ve been helping out will be happy to lend you some spare pants.” Doc grinned. “And I’m sure these new scars will get you lots of sympathy and special care.”

“Speaking of widows,” the Sheriff interjected. “You’ll need to tell Mrs. Thorsgaard we found her husband.”

And that’s when the real pain started.

Diane Chamberlain's Lies

My guest today is another North Carolina gal, Diane Chamberlain. Welcome, Diane, and please tell us more about you.
I started writing nearly thirty years ago, when I was working as a social worker in a hospital. When I started, I thought of writing fiction as a hobby, but it soon became an obsession. It took me four years to write my first book, and four years more to see it published. Since then, I’ve written nineteen more novels.

Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?
I want my readers to be entertained, first and foremost, but I definitely hope they will take away a message of hope, resilience, and the importance of family in all its varieties.

Briefly tell us about your latest book.
The Lies We Told is the story of two physician sisters, Maya and Rebecca, who are part of a disaster relief team. When they were teens, they witnessed the murder of their parents, and each of them carries a haunting secret about that event. Now, one of them is in a helicopter crash and presumed dead. . . and I don’t want to give away what happens next!

Do you think your writing has improved since your first attempt? In what way?
Oh, yes! I view my first book as a training ground, even though it won the Rita Award from the Romance Writers of America. Over time, my books have developed more suspense and mystery and less romance, but the main focus is always on relationships between family members and friends.

How do you develop characters? Setting?
I usually pick a setting that intrigues me or resonates for me personally. Often it’s an area I want to explore more, such as the city in The Lies We Told, Wilmington, NC. I loved it so much as I researched it that my next book is set there as well. As for characters, I employ some of the same techniques I used when getting to know my clients back in my psychotherapy days. Basically, I talk to them and listen hard to their answers. When they start to feel like real people to me, I know I’m on the right track.

I set my fourth novel in Wilmington as well. Beautiful place! I lived there when I was first married.

How do you determine voice in your writing?
I gave both sisters a voice in The Lies We Told. Maya is in first person, because I wanted the reader to feel closer to her. Rebecca is in third person.

How do you promote yourself online and off?
I have a very active blog at www.dianechamberlain.com/blog and I’m active on Facebook. If you’re on Facebook, too, please friend me! My website www.dianechamberlain.com has tons of information, including trailers of The Lies We Told and other recent books as well as contests and a printable booklist. I try to interact with my readers as much as I can.

Where do you write? When? What do you have around you?
I usually write at a coffee shop in the mornings. I need to get out of the house! In the afternoon and evening, I write in my office or if it’s a nice day, on the porch. My significant other is a photographer, so we both work at home, where we hang out with our two shelties.

Diane, thanks for dropping by. I'll have to get The Lies We Told. Good luck with it.

Heidi Thomas and Cowgirl Dreams

Raised on a ranch in isolated eastern Montana, Heidi Thomas has loved reading and writing since she was a child. A tidbit of family history, that her grandmother rode steers in rodeos during the 1920s, spurred Heidi to write a novel based on that grandmother’s life. Cowgirl Dreams is the first in a series about strong, independent Montana Women. A sequel, Follow the Dream, will be published in 2010.

Heidi has a degree in journalism, has worked in the newspaper business, and has had numerous magazine articles published. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, is a member of several writers organizations, writes, edits, and teaches memoir and fiction writing classes.

Wlecome, Heidi. When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?

I began telling stories before I could write. Later, I tried to emulate Nancy Drew mysteries or Zane Grey or whatever wonderful book I happened to be reading at the time. I’ve always loved to write.

I loved Zane Grey as well.
Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?

That we all have dreams and need to pursue them, to find our path in life and follow it. We all have the potential for a gift or a passion, whether it’s for writing, hairdressing or auto mechanics. The path is never straight—we all take many side trips, get lost, forget the goal. But my advice is to never give up, even if we discover the direction we took at the beginning has changed.

Tell us more about Cowgirl Dreams.

Cowgirl Dreams is based on my grandmother’s life. (That seems to be my hook, what grabs potential readers’ interest.) In the book, Nettie Brady bucks 1920s convention and defies family and social norms with her dream of becoming a rodeo star. Broken bones, killer influenza, flash floods, and family hardship team up to keep Nettie from her dreams. Then she meets a young neighbor cowboy who rides broncs and raises rodeo stock. Will this be Nettie’s ticket to freedom and happiness? Will her rodeo dreams come true?

Do you think your writing has improved since your first attempt? In what way?

Absolutely. I have learned how important it is to develop rounded characters, to show their feelings and reactions, rather than just “telling” the reader about them. What I particularly love about writing is that I’m continually learning something new and improving my craft. It’s never a dull life!

Specifically, how does your environment/upbringing color your writing?

It has had a great influence on my writing. I grew up on a ranch in isolated eastern Montana, without electricity and indoor plumbing for many years, so I could identify quite a bit with the way my grandmother lived her childhood. I rode horses and gathered cattle, but never participated in rodeo. Also, growing up this way formed me as a strong, independent woman, a trait passed along to me by my grandmother and my mother and encouraged by my father.

How do you promote yourself online and off?

I have a website and a blog. I belong to several on-line writers and book-related sites. I did a virtual book tour as well as a “reality” book tour. In addition to bookstores, I sell my book at western-related stores and gift shops and at arts and crafts fairs.

What are your current projects?

My sequel, Follow the Dream, will be out sometime in 2010. I am also writing a third “Nettie book.”

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

My website is http://www.heidimthomas.com and I blog at http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com My book is available as an autographed copy through my website, and it is also available from my publisher http://www.trebleheartbooks.com/SDHeidiThomas.html and from the usual on-line sources.

It has become clear to me that I should have asked to interview you in person since I've been to the edge of Montana but an avalanche in Yellowstone kept us from going farther north. Next time, perhaps?

Anne Patrick returns

My guest today is Anne Patrick, back for a second visit. Welcome back, Anne and even though I have previously interviewed you, please give new blog visitors a brief bio.

Well, I’m a suspense junkie with a bad habit of mixing chocolate and diet colas when writing which can, and often does, lead to mayhem. The proof being almost a dozen romantic suspense novels that are either published or under contract at this time. I do have a lighter side in the form of an alter ego named Kinzie Monroe who writes inspirational romance. When I’m not killing off people or falling in love with dashing heroes, I enjoy spending time with family and friends and traveling to foreign countries to experience new cultures.

Wow! What a great life!
What books came along at just the right time to influence your reading/writing?

I’d have to say Dee Henderson has been the most influential. I love how she can tell a spine-tingling tale laced with Christian themes.

Why do you use a pen name?

If you knew my last name you wouldn’t ask that question :-). Actually my mother came up with my first pen name, Anne Patrick. The second, Kinzie Monroe, I concocted at the advice of my publisher. We didn’t want a reader to pick up my inspirational romance, expecting murder and mayhem, and then be disappointed.

You have two new books. Congratulations! Please give us a short synopsis of Ties That Bind and Out of the Darkness.

Thank you, Susan. Well if you like reading about serial killers and the FBI profilers that hunt them, you won’t be disappointed with these.

Ties That Bind pits physic profiler Jo McDaniels against a sadistic killer in her former home town, and helping her is the handsome sheriff, Austin Garrett, who doesn’t quite know how to handle Jo’s unusual gift which allows her to tell him things that even the coroner doesn’t know. Things really get tense when they figure out that Jo could be the killer’s next victim.

Out of the Darkness (May release) has ex-FBI Profiler, Alex Michaels, forced into hiding by the serial killer who murdered her twin sister and left her with a career ending injury. Meeting up with an ex-pro football player who is also facing an uncertain future, Alex makes Royce McIntire an offer he can’t refuse. Settling into her new life, Alex has no idea the killer is hot on her tracks along with the team of FBI agents who failed to protect her before. When they all catch up to her, not only is her peaceful life shattered, but once again her life is in jeopardy.
Review: 
Out of the Darkness is a perfect example of a story done right. You'll keep turning pages because you can't wait to find out who the villian really is and how the story will play out. Once you finish this book, you'll be searching for more from Anne Patrick, and you can find what you seek on her website. To purchase your copy of this amazing suspense thriller, visit Champagne Books.
Read the whole review at  http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-34490-eBooks-Examiner~y2010m4d28-Review--Out-of-the-Darkness--Romantic-Mystery

Great review, Anne.
How do you think your writing has progressed since your first book?

It has gotten tighter and less passive, thanks to some wonderful editors who took the time to point out my flaws and made suggestions of how to improve my style.

When do you accomplish your best writing?

I’m a night owl, so usually about the time most normal people are sound to sleep in their comfy beds I’m creeping along dark alleys either searching for a killer or looking for my next victim.

After hours of intense writing, how do you unwind?

Music. Not only do I write by it, I can’t get to sleep without it. Now if it’s during the day, a long walk at the lake or a game of Frisbee with my German Shepherd, Zoe, usually does it.

Both novels have profilers but the characters and settings are different. How did you keep confusion at bay while writing the books simultaneously?

Actually the books were written a few years apart with books in between them. Out of the Darkness is the prequel to my first published book, Every Skull Tells a Story. I was midway through it when the characters in ESTAS starting bugging me. They were so insistent I had to put aside Out of the Darkness and tell their story first. Now seven books later, I’m thrilled that Jo and Royce finally get to tell theirs.

Anne, it's been great to interview you again. Let me know when the next book's out.
Where can we purchase these books and get more information about you?

Ties That Bind can be purchased through Awestruck Publishing and Out of the Darkness through Champagne Books or you can buy them at most online bookstores. I have buy links to both on my website: www.annepatrick.weebly.com and my blog: http://www.suspensebyanne.blogspot.com/
Thanks for another great interview, Anne.

Thank you for having me back, Susan. I’ve enjoyed it! I'd like to offer a PDF copy of either Out of the Darkness or Ties That Bind to one of the commenters. Would you like to draw a name at the end of the day on Tuesday?

Sure! That's very generous of you, Anne. Okay, bloggers, here's your chance. Just leave a comment in the link below for your chance to win the PDF.

Annette Snyder's Eureka Springs

Annette Snyder, author of Eureka Springs, is my guest today.
Annette, welcome. When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?

I wrote in high school, but later life and kids seemed to take up all my time. One day my father-in-law gave me a computer. It wasn’t long before I had my first draft of my first story, 2003. It took me a few years to decide what to do with my work and then, in 2005 my first novel was published.

When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?

When I was growing up, people would tell me that with my stories, I should write a book. That was my goal. I didn’t ever imagine that I’d write more than thirty and that I’d have thirteen published, but in 2010, that’s how many I’ll have out—so far. I like to read about real people with real lives and real jobs so, that’s what I wanted to write and I think my readers can relate to my characters. I also wanted to write Midwestern stories about life surrounding small towns and the relationships that form within those.

Briefly tell us about your latest book. Series or stand-alone?

My next published novel is Drive-Thru, releasing this year. It’s the second in my Packard Family Series, the first being Intimate Flames, released in 2009. Drive Thru is a story of a single mom working a job that gets her by. She likes the stability in her life and wants to keep it that way. It all works for her until one fateful night when a handsome film star crashes into her car and causes emotional upheaval.

How do you develop characters? Setting?

I went to a class last year giving by a former US Poet Laureate. It was a memoir writing class but I still gained some valuable info--like picking the setting first. It was something I always did, but with admission of experience from the multi-published author who taught the class, I learned that I was on the right track. My characters develop on their own. I’m not sure I even pick the physical properties or the names. Once, I was in a museum reading accounts of an exhibit and someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, “My name’s Sally. Write about me.” I turned around and there was no one within thirty feet of me but I had this amazing idea for Sally Murphy, my first published book.

Do you have specific techniques to help you maintain the course of the plot?

My characters usually lead the way. When I first get an idea, I rush to type it out. I get the main idea and direction of the story, write down the basics of some characters and have a few ideas that I’d like to happen before the end. As I go back and actually work the novel, I add or subtract events depending on the lives of the characters. By the time I finish the second draft, I’ve got a good idea where the story will end up. In Viveka’s War, I didn’t have a clue that one of the main characters would die until the third draft. I had to go back and fix the scenes to accommodate that shift all because the character took a trip with his girlfriend.

Share the best review (or a portion) that you’ve even had.

My novels have received stellar reviews at places like FAR, RTBookReviews, Coffeetime, Howling Good Books, GoodReads, so many I couldn’t possibly list all the sites. On my website, http://annettesnyder.atspace.com I list one or two reviews for each book.
What are your current projects?


I’m working on a novel concerning a secondary character in Viveka’s War and Eureka Springs. I got the idea for the novel from a reviewer who said Eureka Springs gave a hint of another story with Virgie’s character and I ran with that. I decided I also wanted to know how Virginia Seidle got where she did. Hoping to get that story done by June 2010.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

I keep an updated website http://annettesnyder.atspace.com

Readers can also find me at www.growne.com and at my publishers www.whiskeycreekpress.com

Annette, thanks for the interview. Continued success!

A Chat with C.J. West

I'm delighted to have C.J. West here today for a brief interview. Welcome, C.J. Let's get started.
Your Randy Black Series is unconventional. Why did you choose to evolve Randy Black as a character?

When I wrote Sin &Vengeance, I wasn’t planning a series. It wasn’t until readers started telling me they wanted to kill Randy that I decided to write A Demon Awaits. I was really surprised by the strong reactions to Randy. I felt for him as a character and I wanted people to understand why he did the things he did. Most readers reacted strongly to the way he took revenge during Sin &Vengeance. I think that was primarily because Randy is a brilliant guy and when he took his revenge the way he did, I think it was eerily real to readers.

Did you feel writing A Demon Awaits from Randy’s perspective was a risk?

Absolutely. It was a risk and a challenge. I wanted to change people’s feelings about Randy and help them understand what I saw in him. It was also a risk because it requires readers to start with Sin & Vengeance and then move on to A Demon Awaits to really understand the story line. If they didn’t buy Randy as a sympathetic character, the series was shot for them. The great thing for me is that readers who really hated Randy after Sin &Vengeance came back to tell me how they warmed to him after A Demon Awaits.

How does Gretchen Greene fit? Will Randy continue to grow?


Gretchen Greene is the first of a series of adventures Randy will undertake on the run. The plan for the next several books is for Randy to continue his quest for redemption by finding souls in trouble and helping them. Gretchen Greene is a former ecoterrorist that has stolen a breakthrough solar technology and is running for her life. She desperately needs Randy’s help, but the two of them can’t agree on anything. It makes for some fun interchanges on their way across country. The next several books will occur in a short span of time. Randy will continue to grow, but much more slowly. My goal is for readers to be able to enjoy any of the remaining books whether they’ve read others in the series or not.

Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?


Randy is on a journey to redeem himself, so that is a constant theme. I think all good fiction addresses a serious issue. For me the issues change from book to book. I also think that the tone of my books varies with the subject matter and the characters. Many readers have told me that my books are very different from one another and I really take pride in that. My latest book centers on environmental activism and asks where we should draw the line between protecting the environment and restricting people’s freedom.

What are your current projects?


I have just released Gretchen Greene, my latest Randy Black novel and my entire backlist on Kindle. I have a new standalone thriller, The End of Marking Time coming this summer. I also have a film adaptation of Sin &Vengeance currently in the fundraising stage with an independent film production company. The website for the film is www.sinandvengeance.com

Wow! Congratulations on all the success!
Where can folks learn more about your books and events C.J?

I’m on tour right now and this year I’m hosting a series of events that promise to teach readers everything Randy Black does in my novels. I’m hosting a high performance driving demonstration, a firearms class, a winery tour, a newsroom tour and many Texas Hold ‘em lessons. I’ll be appearing throughout New England. Readers can find my books and my tour schedule at http://www.22wb.com/.

C.J., I know how busy you are. Thanks for dropping by. We'll be expecting more great books and events from you.

Mari Sloan's Beaufort Falls

Mari Sloan dropped by to answer a few questions about Beaufort Falls. Welcome, Mari. Please give us a brief bio.

I am a Southern writer whose family is from Atlanta, Ga., now transplanted to Southern California where I live in a small apartment with my husband and a huge black cat. Writing is my part-time vocation, and I work fulltime as an AdMin for a furniture store, although my past has included counseling, teaching, disaster relief work for the American Red Cross and night and weekend director for a domestic violence center. Mental health, crisis intervention and the welfare of women and children have always been high priorities in my life.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?

The Author’s page on my webpage begins with a statement that I think sums up most of my writing. I tell everyone, only partly tongue-in-cheek, “my Mother was Scarlett O’Hara and my Father was John Wayne.” My Great-Grandmother was the first prison matron for the state of Georgia, a saintly woman who wore an apron instead of a uniform and who stopped a prison break once (two women on foot who had decided to leave the work farm) with nothing but a stern look and a switch. From an early age I was told that my life should matter to more than just myself, and I was expected to be of service to others in some way. When you add the influences of some decidedly off beat religious experiences and a Grandmother who had learned through contact with prisoners at an early age how to predict the future and who was never wrong, I had all of the elements for a first class novel before I was ten.

LOL. I love it! Tell us about Beaufort Falls.

In Beaufort Falls a determined ghost comes back from the grave to protect her living children, still in the custody of her abuser, and to avenge her murder. This is accomplished with the unconscious help of her very strange ex-lover, who manages to evade arrest himself by a series of creative impersonations, beginning with posing as the first man he is supposed to have killed, and ending as the biggest, most awkward woman you could ever imagine, a part I picture as being acted if it ever becomes a movie by Bruce Willis. A mix of characters rotate around this main plot, a dangerous religious fanatic, two cute little kids, women whose biological clocks are ticking loudly, lost boys adrift in a mental health system gone astray, two of the most inept “hit-men” you could ever image, with an action packed finish that leaves room for a sequel. “Nothing is what it seems, in Beaufort Falls!”

Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?

Yes, a definite message of hope for victims of domestic abuse, the mental health system, and people who are dealing with injustice anywhere. Not even death prevents Eliza from taking care of her children and making sure that they are taken care of. A secondary message, or its “subtext,” is that you never really know what you or anyone else is capable of just by watching life move around you. What may seem ordinary on the surface can be very bizarre indeed. Who knows what his or her neighbor is really thinking, or what goes on behind their little white picket fence or closed doors?

How do you develop characters? Setting? That all-important first sentence? Your “voice?” Influences?

My setting is, of course, the land of my childhood, the sleepy, sultry, Deep South, where superstition, religion gone insane, agenda determined aberration all move beneath the surface of normality in grooves worn by centuries of the misuse of power and sanctioned abuse of the weak. My characters are all shaped by this, but show extraordinary creativity, strength and ingenuity in overcoming the obstacles placed in their way. The ones regarded as the weakest are actually the toughest, and you cheer for them every step of the way.

I lived in Southern Alabama, Beaufort Falls’ setting, for several years and found it much like my Atlanta home and my childhood in hot, humid South Georgia. My first sentence? "Beaufort Falls was not exactly what you would call a ‘happening’ town.” Not on the surface, anyway. My voice is satirical, in the best tradition of Southern writers, and my greatest influence has always been Pat Conroy, probably the best portrayer of human nobility and fallacies in the history of the written word. Want to see me do the dance of joy? Compare me to Pat.

Where do you write and what particular distractions do you have to overcome? What helps you concentrate, aids your creative process?

Life throws distractions at me with the accuracy of a curve ball pitcher on a pro baseball team. I live in a studio apartment with a mate whose schedule is my opposite and there is always confusion and noise around me. The plus side of this is that he is my soul-mate, and nothing I say to him disturbs him. We both have to be creating something to be happy, so it’s not at all unusual for conversation on a Friday or Saturday morning to go like this:

“Mari, come here and look at this! Look what Microsoft is doing now!”

“Leave me alone. I’m writing!”

“But look! Should I send this out? Come proof this for me.”

“In a minute. Charlie knew that he …”

“But Mari, I’m going to send it …”

“Shut up!!” Eventually I take a look and then this same restless man sits still and lets me read my chapter to him, even when he’s heard it dozens of times before. Beaufort Falls took three years to finish its first draft and then it went through more than ten major and minor rewrites before I was happy with it, and this poor man heard it read out loud to him every word of the way. Then we suffered through the publishing process as partners, creating It’s ME! Ink Press and learning together how to launch “the baby.” Now I’ve gone through three years of creating its sequel and reading IT out loud, as well.

What are your current projects and where can folks learn more about your books and events?

Road Trip, the sequel to Beaufort Falls, should be out by August of this year. I’m working at rewriting and editing it now, and in it Molly, who was only eight in Beaufort Falls is a troubled teen-ager who teams up with her biological Dad to transport a pink trailer to Hollywood where she believes that she can sell it and make her fortune. There is a cosmic subplot to this thriller and an entirely new array of characters as they cross the country. Native Americans, Chinese gang members, a god-like superhero “more like Spiderman than Superman,” a vicious, super-powered black cat, and more make this novel even more multi-faceted than the first.

You can find Beaufort Falls for sale on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions, Barnes and Noble.com, anywhere books are sold online or you can order it from your favorite bookstore by author name (Mari Sloan) or title (Beaufort Falls). It should be delivered to your door within ten days, either way.

You can reach my website using either
http://www.beaufortfalls.com/ or http://www.marisloan.com,or/ visit my blog at http://mari-thewritersblock.blogspot.com/ . I’m also active at Book Town and you can always send me messages here, whenever you’re around.  (Mari's interview will also be posted at booktown.com)

It’s a pleasure to hang out with Susan and I thank her for her time and her wonderful questions. If there is anything else you want to contribute or ask me, leave a response here, under the interview, and I’ll reply right away!

Thanks so much, Mari. Continued success!

Young Adult author, L. Diane Wolfe discusses her work

Diane, it’s wonderful to have you as a guest. Please give us a brief bio.

Known as “Spunk On A Stick,” I am a member of the National Speakers Association. “Overcoming Obstacles With SPUNK! The Keys to Leadership & Goal-Setting”, ties all of my goal-setting and leadership seminars information together into one complete, enthusiastic package. My YA series, The Circle of Friends, features morally grounded, positive stories that appeal to both teens and concerned parents. Ten years associating with a motivation training system and experience as a foster parent gave me the in-depth knowledge of relationships, personality traits and success principles. I travel extensively for media interviews and speaking engagements, maintain a dozen websites & blogs, manage an online writer’s group, and contribute to several other sites and newsletters.

When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
It bit me when I was thirteen! I wrote like a maniac after that. I loved reading fantasy and science fiction, so those were my predominant genres.

Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?
Yes! Catch the spirit of hope and believe in yourself. Any challenge can be overcome, regardless of the circumstances.

Briefly tell us about your latest book.
My latest book is The Circle of Friends, Book V…Heather

“When confidence turns to frustration…

A new beginning awaits Heather Jennings at Clemson. Sadly, her father lies dying of cancer, her sister appears incapable of achievement, and a cocky player challenges her patience. Life changes when she encounters a man capable of handling her feisty attitude. However, the last thing Heather needs is a serious relationship with a man equally fixated on work and opposed to marriage…”

Described as “encouragement personified”, this five-book, Southern-based YA series portrays love and friendship overcoming all obstacles.

How do you develop characters?
Characters always come first for me. I use a character sheet and outline the basics - background, personality, strengths, weaknesses, activities, appearance, and goals. I’ve studied human behavior and it’s amazing how much events of the past affect a person’s personality and behavior. Once I’ve factored in all of these attributes, I can drop a character into any situation and know how he or she will respond.

How do you promote yourself online and off?
You mean, what DON’T I do? LOL

Online I maintain two websites, a blog, and a writer’s club. I’m involved in several social networks and have a group fan page on Facebook. I post articles online, contribute to several newsletters, participate in online conferences, do online radio, and go on virtual tours.

In the real world, I do many speaking engagements, teach seminars, book signings, media interviews, attend book festivals, and promote myself with cards, brochures, postcards, and bookmarks. My website is even on the back of my vehicle! (So if you see a red Tribute, look for The Circle of Friends on the back.)

What are your current projects?
I’m still promoting the last in my YA series, but this summer I will conduct research for a teen version of Overcoming Obstacles with SPUNK! (Young people are in desperate need of hope in this country.) I also have plans for an urban fantasy novel.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
www.thecircleoffriends.net - YA series website

www.spunkonastick.net - speaker site

www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com - blog

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn7tSWQqdYc - book trailer


Circle of Friends Book V: Heather
$19.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 282 pages, Fiction/YA

ISBN 978-0-9816210-5-0 / 0-9816210-5-8
Winner of the TOP CHOICE Award - a perfect 10

“I couldn't sleep not knowing what was going to happen next… definitely one of the best books I have read in a long time. It was brilliant. Props to L. Diane Wolfe!”- FlamingNet Reviews

“Heather deals with real life and real situations - 5 Stars”- Teens Read Too
“Wolfe has created amazing characters with believable attributes and flaws; making Book V…a true gem.”

                                                                  - Donna M. McDine, Write What Inspires You Book Reviews


“Even after reading the novel, I am haunted by these characters… This is the power of Wolfe’s writing.”

                                                                                                                            - The Book Peddler
“She puts so much emotion into her stories…”- There’s Always Something to Read Reviews

“Five Flames - Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading!”

                                                                                                                   - My Overstuffed Bookshelf
“… quite a refreshing read.”- Peace, Love & Pat Reviews
“I did not want to put down… You will truly be drawn into the story and will find yourself eager to see what happens next.”- Dad of Divas Reviews
“Thought-provoking, heart-warming, humorous and spirited.”- Red Headed Book Child Reviews

“A nice completion to the series - 4 Stars.”- Debbie’s World of Books

Diane, thanks for the interview from one North Carolina gal to another.

Interview with Author Steven Clark Bradley

My guest today is Steven Clark Bradley. Steve, it’s nice to have you here. Fill us in on who you are and what you’ve been writing.
My work and life in 34 countries include some of the most dangerous places in the world: the Middle East as a journalist in Pakistan, Iraq, Israel, Palestine and West Africa where I interviewed former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah Palestine, Muammar Qaddafi of Libya, and former Turkish President Turgut Ozel. Additionally, my involvement in American politics, gives me a profound, first-hand knowledge of the political winds of change that constantly sway the American republic to the left and the right. Since I have been able to travel so widely, I write about things I have seen firsthand, which gives me a very vivid ability to tell a story that is both riveting and realistic. As a published author with four fast-action novels already on the market and as an educator, I have developed an active marketing ability as well as an extensive fan-based presence on the Internet.

Yes, you have a huge Internet presence and your background is incredible.
Steven, when did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
I have always been a storyteller. I was writing my dreams and my ideas when I was as young as ten. I have a need to express the things I believe and want to tell in a manner that uses real-life issues to tell a story that can wake people up. I have always had a fear of one day dying and no one would know I had been here. I realized that the best way to be remembered is to do something memorable. A book, a story, fiction or otherwise leaves eternal footprints in the sands of time and that drove me to write. I think about the homeless and those incarcerated. Many of them will live, die and be used for science and I wanted it to be said I left behind me something to make men and women ponder.

When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?
I have always said that my works are like treatises on the life and potential destruction of America. I look at my work perhaps the way Josephus, the great Hebrew historian’s work. Though my work is fiction, the basis of my books is set in stone and is being lived at this very time. I believe we are losing our freedom; freedoms that were never granted by any government, but by God. There are forces at work today that place all of us in the crosshairs of totalitarian treatment. One of the biggest mistakes we are making today in our seeming delight in playing the part of the Ostrich. We have our heads in the sand and think our enemies cannot see our hinder parts. My stories go a long way in showing that going softly and politically with nations like Iran and North Korea, letting the fundamental transformation of America go unwarned will only embolden them and give our enemies the idea that we will not react to their behavior that endangers the peace of the world. Unfortunately, they may be right. I try to show what will happen if left unchecked.

Briefly tell us about your latest book. Series or stand-alone?
My newest work is a series that originated from my first book in the trilogy, Patriot Acts. In this series, I have created a world that is sinister and ruthless where it is nearly impossible to tell your friends from your enemies. Sound familiar to the day in which we live? My newst book, which is just about ready to come out in the e-book edition is a contuinuation to show what lurks below the political world that we all see on the news. It is about a deadly, biologically manufactured virus that threatens the whole world.
In The Second Republic, the President of the United States is confronted with a radical underground secret cabal that has targeted America with a domestic bio-terror attack that dwarfs the assault unleashed on September 11, 2001. Set in 2011, this character-driven 67,000 word suspense/thriller weaves a tale that is as plausible as it is exciting. This second book in a trilogy takes the reader inside the White House where treachery and terrorism boils below its underbelly, and a former Special Ops, now the President of the United States, races to stop a deadly virus, which has killed thousands of innocent Americans, without invoking emergency powers that could destroy American constitutional freedoms.

What’s the hook for that expressed e book?
The hook is how these stories immediately take the reader out of the realm of fiction and directly into the world in which we actually live. I am currently writing Patriot Acts part 3 titled, Executive Order. It takes off right where Part Two finishes. It takes the reader even more deeply into the financial master’s plots to control the money supply and to use their unlimited wealth to control the nation. When the president threatens to reveal their plots, the nation is taken to new depths of woe. All three books are so real and riveting that the hook is a natural captivating effect that captures the reader and instills a real fear of how much it is like the day in which we live. The emergency powers referenced in this novel are real and could be invoked in the event of a massive terrorist attack upon the American homeland. Research sources from the Center for Disease Control, Homeland Security, and the Defense Department validate that the threats described in The Second Republic are ripped from today’s headlines and too frighteningly conceivable for comfort.

How do you develop characters? Setting?
There is nothing greater than writing & creating something from nothing. It's the closest thing to the divine! I have lived in many cultures and it has given me a love for the differences amongst us. I am a student of American culture and write about the changes in our society. God created us with free will. He wants us to obey from our hearts. A Writer is a book's world's creator, and you are your characters' creator as well. Give your characters free will as well. Let them guide you and don't force them to do anything. It's an amazing phenomenon when, as I am fond of saying, the book begins to write itself.

Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?
I think actually, I try to stay on track too much. I started Part Three of Patriot Acts and had three chapters written and it felt flat, more like part two. Then I got my literary epiphany and I redid the whole thing and what has happened, because I let the story guide me, is a story that is the most powerful tale I have ever woven, and it serves as an excellent finale to the series and wraps up the loose ends so well. I do not outline my stuff and I start with a quite general theme and main idea. I leave a lot of open ground to plant my seeds of excitement, stress, love, mercy, revenge and plausible scenarios. I find it quite easy to stay on track simply because I am in the world of the story so richly and deeply that my biggest problem is coming out of it after I finish for the day. My wife often tells me, “come home Steven.” And, I know what she means precisely.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?
It is true that I have and played a great part in had a very diverse career, politics, journalism and world travel, but I do feel that my upbringing in rural Indiana did have a powerful effect on the views I hold as dear, such as family and faith. All of those activities in my life have given me a real understanding of what is out there and the dangers we face. I write stories that are only scary because they are so very plausible. I can say that the scenario of Patriot Acts and Patriot Acts Two, which is now in publishing, are both very real and related to the things and issues and dangers we now face in a world gone mad and gone weak. That is why I have striven so hard to make what I write so real and something that serves as a warning of the future that we face without realizing that freedom is not free.

What are your current projects?
My newest works are very different from each other. As I mentioned earlier, Part Tree of the Patriot Acts series, Executive Order is going really well, and I am very excited about that book. During the civil war, President Abraham Lincoln wrote, "The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarch, more insolent than autocracy and more selfish than a bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes. I have two great enemies, the southern army in front of me and the financial institutions, in the rear. Of the two, the one in the rear is the greatest enemy..... I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.” It is obvious he was right.
In September of 2008, The Secretary of the treasury and the Federal Reserve Chairman came to President George W. Bush and told him, if he did not release $800 billion dollars to them, that in two hours, five trillion dollars would be siphoned from the American economy and cause the collapse of the US economy and our standard of life forever. They further stated that in twenty-four hours the whole world monetary system would fall, which has been widely called a suicide threat. George Bush capitulated and said yes. Executive Order asks the question, what if the President had said no?

I and my daughter are also writing an older children’s story called, Four Lessons for Willow Morgan. There is nothing more important than imparting strong values into the lives of our children. It is getting tougher and tougher today, with parents giving up more and more of their authority and responsibility to the schools and the government, to be faithful to the call of bringing up our children with examples of mercy, confession, fairness and conviction. Yet, nothing can do more for a child's future than teaching them about honesty, good choices and hard work when they are still young. That is why I have started this little book called Four lessons For Willow Morgan.
This is a story a story about decisions, wise judgment and strong convictions, about that which is right and that which is wrong.
I am writing this a bit differently than I have in the past. This time, I am writing it together with my 9-year-old daughter, Selin Alicia Bradley. She is a bright, sweet and very smart young lady and loves to read. So, this is a two-fold project that gives my little girl lessons in creativity and this story can stimulate lots of children to seek more than their own self-interests, if they venture to read it.
Willow is a little girl who is growing up and who feels urges of rebellion, disobedience and disrespect starting to take hold in her life. Her mother and father recognize it and want to instill some true life lessons in her young heart.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
If anyone wants to learn more about my books or about my writing in general:
Stories That Read You:
http://stevenbradley.blogspot.com/2008/12/and-so-it-all-begins-by-steven-clark.html
Underground Controversy:
http://undergroundcontroversy.blogspot.com/
Steven Clark Bradley’s Patriot Acts:
http://stevenclarkbradleyspatriotacts.blogspot.com/
Steven Clark Bradley’s Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Clark-Bradley/e/B002BLJKI4/ref=sr_tc_img_2
Steven Clark Bradley Facebook Profile Page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/StevenClarkBradley?ref=profile
Steven Clark Bradley Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steven-Clark-Bradley/58795732010?ref=ts

Steven Clark Bradley @ Twitter
http://twitter.com/StevenBradley
Steven Clark Bradley’s Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Clark-Bradley/e/B002BLJKI4/ref=sr_tc_img_2
Steven Clark Bradley @ Barnes and Noble:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?ATH=Steven+Clark+Bradley
Steven Clark Bradley @ Fictionwise:
http://www.fictionwise.com/servlet/mwsearch
Steven Clark Bradley @ Mobipocket:
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/searchebooks.asp?Language=EN&searchType=All&lang=EN&searchStr=Steven+Clark+Bradley
I hope readers will take a look at my writing and see the depth and research that I have put into each story. I am sure they will find some stories that read them!

Thanks for the interview, Steven. Continued success!