Carol Denbow Discusses A Book Inside

Do you have an expertise that may benefit others? Has your

imagination run wild with thrilling mysteries others may enjoy

reading? Or do you simply have a story to tell? If you feel there

is a book inside you, the first step to turning your idea into a

book is, of course, writing it.

First and foremost, write what you know. With experience

comes knowledge, and you will enjoy writing more when you

are acquainted with your subject. Later, when you are promoting

your book, you will need to be very familiar with the information

in the book to be comfortable discussing it with potential buyersand others.

Carol, it's wonderful to have you here. I know you're a busy lady. Please give us a brief bio.
I am the founder of Plain & Simple Books Publishing as well as the author of six non-fiction books since 2006. I have been interviewed online, in print, radio, and television. Some of my books include Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss?, Stress Relief for the Working Stiff, and A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story, a popular book with aspiring as well as seasoned authors.

I am the proud mom of two wonderful grown children. I live on a farm with my husband Craig just outside the small community of North Bend, Oregon. In addition to farming, writing, and publishing, Craig and I are the proprietors of The Clubhouse, a restaurant at Watson Ranch Golf Course.

Yum! I'll have to tell my husband about that. He heads west to pheasant hunt every year.
When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
It was never a dream of mine as it is for most writers. I had started up and operated a small business. After slamming into so many walls along the way, I saw a need for a simplified small business start-up book. Voila! Are You Ready to be Your Own Boss? was finished just two years following my retirement.

When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?
Back then, only to see a book in print. Nowadays, I truly enjoy helping writers achieve the same goal. Book writing is a business, but more importantly, a writer should embrace the experience and joyful accomplishment of seeing their book in print. If your heart and pen are ready to write—do it, and finish it!

Briefly tell us about your latest book. Series or stand-alone?
100 Ways to Market Your Book for Free (or really cheap) is a collection of helpful tips for published authors who are frustrated with rejection and stagnancy in the traditional book selling markets.
Let’s face it, the Barnes & Nobles of the world are not willing to put your first-time author book on the shelf next to the Rowling series, and The New York Times is even less likely to include your book on their bestsellers list. So where does one market their new release without the growing price tag associated with old-time marketing strategies?
My newest release is an e-book with built-in links to the places and avenues where new authors can create a buzz about their books without spending thousands of dollars to do so. It is also a “living” book where readers who locate additional resources they would like to share with other readers can submit their new finds to be included in this regularly updated book. Those who purchase the e-book can re-order it for free with these latest updates included. So the book is never outdated and we can share our ideas with each other, endlessly.

How do you determine voice in your writing?
I write non-fiction, although I do have an un-finished murder mystery hiding in my computer waiting to be born again. With my non-fiction books, I write from the heart; say it the way it is. I never attempt to use “big words.” Most of us are not college educated and have a need for plain and simple language which everyone is able to comprehend and easily follow.
The murder mystery I started (sad to say, 6 months ago), is only at 10,000 words. But those were written all at one sitting. I locked myself into a beach house up north and committed to seeing if I could even attempt writing fiction. Happy to say, I think it’s pretty good. I feel as if the non-fiction writing I have done in simple text has really prepared me for creating and speaking for my characters in the unfinished book. I strongly suggest new writers attempt non-fiction prior to fiction book writing to gain this insight and advance their writing skills.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?
Maybe this is not the appropriate answer to the question posed, but all that come to mind is that, as a writer, I am blessed to have the perfect writing environment at hand. Where I live it is quiet and peaceful. My desk is set against a window looking out to a stunning valley and river view. I doubt there could be a better place to focus and create.

Perhaps I need to come for a visit. LOL
What are your current projects?
After publishing my first two business-related books, my loving hubby convinced me to write a book about my publishing experience. A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story has been my biggest success (released last November). So the journey has begun and nowadays I write specifically about and for this industry. My latest release of course is the e-book, 100 Ways to Market Your book for Free (or really cheap).
But I am hoping to draw back some and attempt to continue where I left off with the murder mystery. I might need to go back to that beach house!

Come on over to eastern North Carolina!
Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
I have a personal Website for writers and authors which include pages about my books. Viewers can visit that site at http://www.AuthorsBox.com. I also have a very popular Blog for writers and authors at http://abookinside.blogspot.com/. This Blog is regularly updated and loaded with tips and information on book writing and publishing.

Carol, thank you so much for all you do for other writers. It has been a pleasure to interview you!

Stelly's Human Trial

“What happens when all that remains of the world is fear, distrust and desperation?”
A scattershot group of men and women are left to fend off alien attackers who have waged a thermal war on the earth. The survivors must endure intense heat while warding off marauders, rabid animals and their own prejudices.
Daron Turner and a pregnant co-worker Regina Jackson, lead this eclectic mix of survivors: Dan, a former construction worker; gang member Melvin Hicks; Barbara, a tough-talking widow who more than holds her own with her male cohorts; and escaped prison inmates Rocks and Ray Earl. neither of whom is eager to follow orders.
The aliens desire to use the remaining children on earth for study and hybrid procreation. Daron and his cohorts must decide whether to give up or fight to protect the planet’s future: Regina’s unborn child.

Synopsis:
Human Trial is an apocalyptic tale that focuses on race, group dynamics, and the survival of the human species. A ragtag collection of Americans struggles to survive after intergalactic invaders use their advanced technology to manipulate the earth’s temperature. The thermal war leaves the earth scorched and devoid of nearly all human and animal life. The survivors, a scattershot group of humans (who dub themselves “Mulholland’s Mad Dogs”), gather in the fictional town of Stonecutter, where the stress takes a toll in the form of suicide and deadly in-fighting. As group members come and go, the consensus is that they must overcome personal prejudice to work together, to not only endure the altered climate, but ward off marauders, rabid animals and the unseen danger lurking in the nearby woods.
The night after several group members are drinking, one of them claims to have seen an UFO. He is perceived as “losing it” by the others, and after he is abducted by the aliens and returned nude, they are certain of it. Making matters worse, two group members are discovered to be manufacturing and using methamphetamine. The confrontation between them and the group results in a volatile group meeting, where racial animosity comes to a head.
The MMDs prepare for the battle, and several of them attempt to force a confrontation with the aliens, but their attack is a futile one. The aliens retaliate by putting each of the MMDs into a deep sleep—except for Daron and his newborn son, Adam. When the aliens escape with Adam, Daron goes after them and there is a final woodland showdown.

Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a poet, novelist, screenwriter and essayist from northern California. Human Trial is his first novel, and is the first part of an urban sci-fi trilogy. He has also written more than 350 essays for Useless-knowledge.com and e-zinearticles.com from social and political issues to film noir history. In 2006, he won first prize in the Pout-erotica poetry contest for his poem "C’mon Condi". He has contributed several poetic pieces to Oysters & Chocolate and is currently working on rewrites of his first two novel attempts, Tempest In The Stone and The Malice Of Cain, which were published by PublishAmerica. His upcoming book is a sequel, Human Trial II: Adam’s War. He is also putting the finishing touches on a crime drama, Blanket of Authority. He is a native of Northern, California, where he resides with his three youngest children -- Dante, Kimberly and Lawrence.

Welcome, Tim.
When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
I began writing around age nine, mostly humorous rhymes. My first serious effort began in high school with poetry and short plays. Now I prefer writing novels, short stories and screenplays. I became serious about this in 1999 after experiencing several personal setbacks. Writing was therapeutic. I had some notes from two novels I’d started writing in 1991 and from 1999-2003, I did my best to polish them. Since 2001, I have written more than 40 novels and 30 screenokays, most of it is what I call “hip-hop political satire,” a cross between Richard Wright and Richard Pryor.

When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?
I simply wanted to get published the old fashioned way—with the services of a vanity publisher, or self-publishing. Now I want to continue to publish in this fashion, but I may self-publish a series of books. I am also trying to break into Hollywood. As for a message, in my writing I try to deal with issues of injustice and that old standby, good vs. evil. I think I accomplished the latter with my sci-fi book, Human Trial.

Briefly tell us about your latest book. Series or stand-alone?
Human Trial is the first part of a sci-fi trilogy. The story has a simple premise in that, it argues man may not be capable of saving himself from aliens because we cannot save ourselves from the evil of other men. The characters have to overcome their fears and prejudices to not only save their group, but what remains of mankind. I’ve always believed that smaller groups—families and neighborhoods—are a microcosm of how our nation functions, and if you have dysfunctional families and neighborhoods, you will have a dysfunctional nation. Sadly, we live in a dysfunctional world, so to change it, we have to start with ourselves and those we influence. This is what the group in Human Trial seeks to do.

The story itself, centers on a scattershot group of humans who survive a thermal war launched by aliens that leaves fewer than 3,000 people left worldwide. The group os led by Daron Turner, and his pregnant co-worker (who later becomes his wife by less than traditional means), as they attempt to find out who is responsible and why. The alien’s home planet is on the brink of destruction, and the intergalactic visitors are seeking a new environment—one with a species that is genetically compatible with their own. Their ulterior motive is to breed with earth dwellers and discover an emotional-depth their own kind lack. Furthermore, they are planning for a later, and larger, battle with earth dwellers.

What’s the hook for the book?
What happens when all that remains of the world is fear, distrust and desperation?

How do you develop characters? Setting?
I try and put the reader/my characters in uncommon situations. For Human Trial this was easy: Place an eclectic mix of humanity in confined quarters where they must fend of wilding youth, rabid animals and a more powerful enemy they can’t yet see. The challenge was to hypothesize as to how these people might react, while at the same time convincing the reader to suspend their disbelief.

Who’s the most unusual/most likeable character?
The most unusual is Daron Turner. He is the leader, but he isn’t too trusting of strangers and reacts (sometimes overreacts) too quickly to dangers real and imagined. Throughout the book, however, we see him grow into a more thoughtful group leader. The most likeable character I think is Dan, a construction worker whom I tried to draw as an every man: a person who wants to fit in, follows orders and will fight ferociously for his own survival and that of the group.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?
Many of my stories center of social issues, in particular racial injustice. I grew up in a town divided racially and was bussed to a high school in the heart of an all-white enclave, where blacks madder up but 10% of the student body. Over a four-year period there were three racial conflagrations that temporarily shut down the school. However, when we black students returned, we were met by a mob of people whom had graduated years before. This opened my eyes to racism, and reinforced the pronouncement of Malcolm X that racism is prevalent in the south—south of the Canadian border.”

Share the best review (or a portion) that you’ve even had.
"Human Trial is at once a sci-fi story, a look at the psychology of survival, and a timely cautionary tale regarding current environmental woes; our individual and collective responsibility to one another and to the planet…It is an entertaining and intricate story that can be read and enjoyed along with the likes of Mitchener, King, or Peter Straub. Stelly intuitively knows what everyday people will do to survive and how their interactions with each other will sound".—Brian Barbeito, Columnist Useless-Knowledge.com and author of Fluoride And The Electric Light Queen

Great review!

What are your current projects?
I have Human Trial II: Adam’s War finished and ready to go to the publisher, hopefully in January. I have a crime-dramas finished—Under Color Of Authority, and a zombies-in-the-hood tale, The Zombie Factor. I also have a coming of age tale set in the 70’s—my magnus opus--titled Darker Than Blue.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
E-mail me at: stellbread@yahoo.com, or visit me at http://www.myspace.com/pittwit

Tim, thanks for the interview. Continued success!

 WHERE TO BUY HUMAN TRIAL
Amazon.com, mobipocket.com, allthingsthatmatterpress.com

Anne Patrick's Lethal Dreams

Book Blurb about Lethal Dreams:

Dr. Erin Jacobs is making a name for herself in the sports world. Drawing on her own life experiences, she encourages and inspires athletes to recover one hundred percent from career ending injuries. So why would someone want to hurt the good doctor? Detective Logan Sinclair is determined to find that answer. He’s been mesmerized by Erin since the night she found him and his partner shot in an alleyway. Since that night their lives have never been the same. He longs to find someone to share his life with and wants to help her secure her dream of someday opening a youth center. Erin doesn’t want to be a cop’s wife though. She’s been there and done that and paid the ultimate price. She doesn’t want to risk that kind of heartache again. Or does she?

My guest today is multi-published and bestselling author, Anne Patrick, who grew up in a rather boring neighborhood she says. So it was up to her and her friends to generate their own excitement. When other kids were off playing with their dolls and army men, they were out solving make-believe crimes in the neighborhood. Each day was a new and exciting adventure with danger lurking around every corner. Then in high school she discovered the wonderful world of romantic suspense and decided to put her over-active imagination to better use. She’s been spinning stories every since.

Anne, tell us more.
Well, I was born and raised in Oklahoma then ventured north several years ago and now live in the land of OZ where I share a home with three furry roommates. Zoe is my two-year-old German shepherd, and Sailor and Prince are her feline friends. When I’m not writing or working on edits, I enjoy spending time with family and friends and every couple of years I love to travel out of the country on short-term mission trips.

When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
I write ‘Sweet’ Romantic Suspense and Inspirational Romance. I’ve always had a wild imagination. After some encouraging from my mother, when I was a teenager, I began to write the stories down. Later, I took a creative writing course and lucked out when I was placed with a teacher who was a multi-published mystery writer. She, like my mother, was very encouraging, so after completing the course I started submitting my work. A folder full of rejections later, I was finally published. Unfortunately, my mother had passed away by then, but she must have known it would happen because she’s the one who came up with my pen name.

When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?
To land on the NY Times bestseller list of course. Hey, when I dream, I dream big. Just to be published is a dream come true, and to have nine books contracted…well, let’s just say I feel very blessed. Honestly, the most important thing to me is for my readers to come away from one of my books feeling as though they not only went on an adventure, but that they were touched by it in some way. My books are suspenseful, but they also carry messages of hope.

Briefly tell us about your latest book.
Lethal Dreams is the story about a woman who has spent her life facing challenges. Trying to put the past behind her, Dr. Erin Jacobs now uses those life lessons to help others. Her peaceful existence is shattered the night she witnesses the shooting of two police officers in a dark alleyway.

What’s the hook for the book?
Will Logan, one of the police officers, Erin helps to save that night, be able to solve the puzzle of who wants Erin out of the way before it’s too late? And if so what impact will those answers have on their lives?

Who’s the most unusual/most likeable character?
Princess Tara, in Dark Alliance, was fun to work with. She is one of my more complex characters. In the eyes of the public she lives in a fairy tale world, is admired and adored by her people. But in the shadows lurks an evil far greater than she or even the king can imagine. When she meets up with former CIA agent Alex Girard, sparks fly and she finds herself torn between duty to her country and true love.

Do you have specific techniques to help you maintain the course of the plot?
I’m a panster so a brief outline is all I start with. Once I’ve developed the characters and placed them where I want them they pretty much take over from there. I tired the whole detailing every aspect of the story and carefully planning out what I wanted to happen but it never worked for me. I find the story always turns out better when I turn my characters loose.

Share the best review (or a portion) that you’ve ever had.
Teagan with Book Wenches gave me a wonderful review on Journey to Redemption. She said, “The entire book kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what might happen. The story was fresh and memorable. Ms. Patrick is truly a talented storyteller. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good crime mystery.” I floated on cloud nine for weeks after than one!

That's great!
What are your current projects?
I have six other releases coming out this year with different publishers, and I’m working to finish up two novels that I hope to have contracted for release in 2011.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
http://www.suspensebyanne.blogspot.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SWEET-EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT-ROMANTIC-SUSPENSE/182197348388

Thanks for dropping by for an interview, Anne, and I wish you the best of sales in 2010!

Susan Whitfield, author of The Logan Hunter Mystery Series

www.susanwhitfield.blogspot.com

Laura Elvebak's Lost Witness

Laura Elvebak is the author of the Niki Alexander series, LESS DEAD and LOST WITNESS. Born in North Dakota and raised in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Laura settled in Houston, Texas in 1981 with her three children, now grown. She is the past chapter president of Mystery Writers of American Southwest Chapter, and presently serves as Treasurer and has been editor of the chapter’s newsletter, the Sleuth Sayer, for five years. She is also finishing up her term as Vice President of The Final Twist Writers and she is a member of Sisters-In-Crime. Her short stories have been published in two anthologies by The Final Twist Writers and three of her screenplays were optioned by a production company.

Laura, thank you for joining us so soon after Christmas.
When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
I have already been a day dreamer. My mother died of cancer when I was five and my father in his grief left me with my grandparents for the next three years. I had one friend who lived across the street, a little girl who also lost her mother and lived with her grandmother. When I wasn’t at her house, I spent the time reading and making up stories to entertain myself and escape.
When my father remarried and I went to live with them, I started to write short stories, impulsively sent them off to magazines like The Ladies Home Journal, and always got a polite rejection. I was an avid reader and loved to go to movies. At night before going to sleep, I had to plot a story or continue the one from the night before, always putting the previews first. Just like the movies. Starting reading mysteries with Nancy Drew then graduated to romance and adventure –Harold Robbins and Frank Yerby were two of my favorite authors at the time.
I was on the rebound from a year-long marriage to a man ten years older when I met my second husband. He inspired me to write mystery and suspense. Not that he approved of my writing, especially when I wrote about him, but he was just a wonderful character. His life as a hard hat diver and world traveler spurred my imagination. He was thirty years older – I was twenty when we met; he was fifty. We spent six months in Baja California where he fished and I wrote. After a summer in New York, we spend two years in Florida and I wrote every chance I could.
I am no longer married, but I continue to write mysteries. Sometimes I feel like I have lived my life as I would have written a character in a book.

Briefly tell us about your latest book. Series or stand-alone? If you have written both, which one do you prefer?
My two published books are part of a series. Niki Alexander is an ex-cop who quit the Houston Police Department after she killed a seventeen-year-old boy in a shootout. Traumatized by this event, she became a counselor for a teen shelter, determined to help troubled teens so they wouldn’t end up like the boy she killed. In the first, LESS DEAD, Niki searches for a missing street teenager who had been abandoned by her father months earlier.
LOST WITNESS is the second and latest book and deals with a younger child than Niki usually comes into contact with. A traumatized child is found next to the body of a murdered drug mule by a street teen who reluctantly takes him to the nearby street church for the homeless. Niki is there dealing with her friend whose granddaughter is being adopted by her foster parents because the mother is an addict who lives on the street.

What’s the hook for LOST WITNESS?
The hook is the Hispanic child so traumatized he cannot speak about what or who he saw when his mother was killed. After Niki turns him over to CPS he is placed in foster care and soon afterwards disappears. Niki feels responsible and goes to great lengths to find him.

How do you develop characters? Setting?
Most of my characters have come from real life. Tara in LOST WITNESS is an older friend of my youngest daughter. She has helped me paint and tile my home, has babysat my grandkids. She has survived on the street, overcome drugs and has many of the problems as her character in my book. Ric is also someone I know from my kids and, like his character, is in a wheelchair and no one is quite certain from where he gets his money.
The books are set in Montrose, a part of Houston near downtown. Open Palms is loosely based on Covenant House, a teen shelter I have visited several times and where my son once stayed in his teen years. I have been at the street church and talked with the homeless teens at length. They were eager to tell me their stories.

How do you determine voice in your writing?
I write from Niki’s point of view. It’s easy to get into her head, feel what she feels. I hear her voice in my head as I write. Likewise, I hear Rube or Nelson or Tara or Ric. Okay, yes, I hear voices. But only when I write.

Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?
I write a synopsis and characters sketches first. I don’t always stick with the synopsis but it gives me a start. While I write I keep a timeline, and do a chapter by chapter outline. That keeps me on track.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?
That’s a loaded question. I find quirky characters everywhere. I listen to the way they speak and what they say because most times their dialogue and their actions reveal how they think. I’m always fascinated by why people act as they do. What motivates them? What do they care about most? What or who would they die for? I had a very open-minded upbringing in California and I find other peoples prejudices sometimes disturbing. When I come across an idea, or someone’s actions, that really annoys or angers me, I am compelled to build a story around it. Passion about an idea always will spark my imagination and turn into a story. Take whatever it is and dissect it and examine it, and do something about it in the guise of fiction.

Have you started any online networks or blogs to promote yourself and others?
I seem to be everywhere. I have a website: http://lauraelvebak.com and a blog: http://lauraelvebak.blogspot.com. I am also on Facebook, MySpace, Crimespace, Redroom, Goodreads, Amazon Authors, Shelfari, L&L Dreamspell, and The Final Twist Writers. And I twitter. Who has time for it all? I try to attend workshops and conferences, such as Bouchercon, to network. I also belong to two critique groups which I attend every week and am active in writing groups. I try to make a promotional dent, but then it’s back to writing. Oh yes, I also hold down a full time job as executive secretary for a small oil and gas exploration company.

What are your current projects?
I recently finished a short story for an upcoming Final Twist anthology and helped edit the other submissions. Now it’s back to work on the third Niki Alexander mystery.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
My website, my blog, L&L Dreamspell and Facebook
Thank you very much, Susan, for this opportunity.

My pleasure, Laura. Happy New Year!

Maggie Bishop Talks Appalachian

Maggie, thanks for dropping by for an interview. Please give us a brief bio.
I hike, ski, golf, swim, explore and write in the mountains of North Carolina where I settled in 1993 with my husband and cat. Every time we travel, we seek out other mountains but none are as exciting as the ancient Appalachians. When asked, "What do you do?" my answer is, "Entertain with word pictures." Through my books, readers escape to the mountains.

I was chosen as one of “100 Incredible East Carolina University Women” for literature and leadership. I’m an Air Force brat who put myself through ECU and received a MBA degree, a former manufacturing executive, founder and past president of High Country Writers, past Secretary of Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers, and am a member of Romance Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

My workshops include: Write Now! The 5 Cs of Mystery; Write Now! Get Started, Get Organized and Get Going on Novel/Memoir; Write Now! Plot Your Novel in an Hour; On Stage! Booksignings and Promotion! for Authors

As an East Carolina Pirate myself, I'm so proud of you!
Briefly tell us about your series.
I am the author of a mystery series, Appalachian Adventure Mysteries, and two romance novels set in the Mountains of North Carolina in the Boone area. I started with romance and have turned to murder. In Perfect for Framing, greed and a lust for power led to murder in a clash of personal versus public needs. Murder at Blue Falls has Jemma who leads trail rides on her parents’ guest ranch as a suspect in the murder of neighborhood dogs and well as a man. Emeralds in the Snow involves skiing at Sugar Mountain, an emerald mine, and a cold case murder. Award winning Appalachian Paradise takes place on a five-day backpacking trip in the spring amongst the bears, boars and girl scouts.

On a different note, Meow Means Me! Now! is a rhyming feline allegory with poetry and photos. This gift book is a departure from my novels but sprang from her love of cats. Think Dr. Suess meets Marley & Me.

When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
Just before my husband and I left for vacation to a dude ranch in the 1990s, I asked a lady in the office for a book to read. She gave me a short, contemporary romance. That year, I read 400 books. I read at stop lights while driving, during dinner, before sleep and just after waking in the morning. My husband had to touch me to get my attention. When I declared “I can do this!” he was relieved. I joined Romance Writers of America and attended their craft workshops at the annual conference. I’ve been hooked on writing ever since.

How do you develop characters?
Detective Tucker came to me one morning while on vacation at the beach. On the balcony overlooking the dunes and the ocean at six in the morning, I watched a deer cross in the high grass and soon after followed a bobcat. Tucker popped into my mind fully formed. Jemma Chase is based on a woman I met years ago who was six feet tall, had a braid down her back to her waist, and was a carpenter.

Why do you include sports in your mysteries and romances?
Life as writers is solitary and sedentary. If I didn’t involve myself in an outside activity, my blood would become sluggish, my brain would coagulate, and my imagination would stall. Hiking in these mountains renews my connection to the earth, trees, other animals, clean air, sparkeling streams–everything that enhances a person as a whole. If a person is too busy to break away and do something away from concrete, a short break through my novels will help. I did a five-day backpacking trip like in Appalachian Paradise. I love to ski and was a ski patroller at Sugar Mountain like in Emeralds in the Snow. Some of my fondest memories with my husband were on dude ranches so I set Murder at Blue Falls at an imaginary ranch in my valley near Triplett, NC. I also enjoy swimming and golf.

Why do you include real people in your novels?
Jane Wilson, author of the cookbook, Mountain Born & Fed, inspired me to use real people like she did in writing up stories about her recipes. It started in the second novel when I wanted to include fellow ski patrollers who are also my parents, Pearle and Lyle Bishop, mountain manager Gunther Jochl, and mountain groomer Joe White. Joe White’s real job is shoeing horses which fits into the dude ranch story. He gave me permission for him to be a suspect. I list the real people in the acknowledgments, everyone else is pure fiction.

What is your current project?
One Shot Too Many will be out in June 2010. Yesterday's regret; today's deadly fix. Impulsive acts during emotional upheavels from the past return to haunt, ending in the death of a photo-journalist near the cozy mountain town of Boone, NC. Detective Tucker must deal with his past while investigating the secrets of suspects determined to keep from facing their own histories. Jemma Chase, trail-ride leader and CSI wanabe, follows clues, even though her interference may cost Tucker his job.

How much research and plotting do you do before you're ready to write a book?
When I turned to murder, I interviewed Dee Dee Rominger, the Chief of Detectives at our local sheriff’s department and then she read an early draft of my novel to suggest changes. For example, the detectives get on a first name basis for anyone they talk with as soon as possible rather than use the formal address of Mister or Missus. Since it is a contemporary series that features the same two main characters, recurring characters and is set in the area I live, my research in those areas was largely done with the first mystery.

Once I have the opening scene, I make a list of the suspects and play with their characteristics and backgrounds. I brainstorm some possible plot points. The plot grows organically from there. Needless to say, I do a lot of rewriting. The one time I plotted ahead, the pages went dead on me and I abandoned the project. I could no longer discover the action like a reader would.

What is your typical writing day like?
I wish I had a typical writing day. I write in spurts of two months. Way in advance, I begin thinking about my characters and plot. The setting is the mountains of North Carolina which is perfect with the hollars and high peaks, the visitor attractions and sports, and the unpredictability of the weather. I liken it to the pressure built up behind a mountain dam - my head keeps filling up with a sense of what the characters will be going through. No details, just the anticipation of emotions and action. Once I have the emotional space and projects in the real world can be put off, I open the flood gates and write. I awake and begin writing long hand the next scene between fixing breakfast and my husband’s lunch, feeding the birds and tending to the cats. Once my husband is off to work, I continue writing either long hand or at the computer. After a few hours, I do a half hour on the elliptical machine, have lunch and return to writing. While exercising, my mind is on the story. I love it. This is the grand, expanding part of the whole experience of creating these people and events. The first two hours in the morning (5-7) are spent on the Internet at various sites authors need to keep up with in order to market books. The creative work on my manuscript is from 9 to noon. Sometimes I’ll work in the afternoon for a couple of hours. My brain shuts down at 5 so it is crucial that I write in the morning. I manage to arrange writing days 3 to 4 times a week.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
My website is http://maggiebishop1.tripod.com and I’m one of the Dames of Dialogue who blog at http://damesofdialogue.wordpress.com/

Maggie, continued success, my friend and fellow Pirate. ARRRR!

Rebecca Vickery's Looking Through The Mist

In addition to being a wife, mother, grandmother, and daughter, Rebecca J. Vickery loves writing romances when she can find the time. These stories include a twist of the paranormal (special gifts), mystery, adventure, or suspense along the way to a happy-ever-after ending. She is currently experimenting with self-publishing and also has books submitted to traditional publishers.
Rebecca, it's a pleasure to have you here.

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

I loved writing assignments in school. When one of my poems was included in the Children’s Highlights Magazine at an early age, I was hooked on being published. With romance being my favorite genre to read, I could think of nothing better than to write exciting contemporary romances.

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

When I began writing novels, I wanted to provide escape and relaxation for those who enjoy reading and hopefully make enough to cover my writing expenses. That goal has evolved into a determination to write quality fiction, be an accepted member of the industry, and to help other writers whenever I can as well as paying my writing expenses. My message to readers would be for them to realize that shared love and never giving up will see us through a lot of ordeals. I put my heroes and heroines through some grueling circumstances, but love always triumphs in the end.

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

 My latest book, which will be available soon (maybe even before this is posted) is Following Destiny. It is a stand alone, but there is room for a sequel if I ever have time to write it. This paranormal romance is about Andrea Duncan. She inherits a house and a very special ring along with a friendly local sheriff and a large ugly mutt.

What’s the hook for the book?

Andrea hears voices. They eventually lead her into a serial killer’s path. Must she die to follow her destiny?

My characters tend to develop themselves. I feel like a lowly scribe at times taking dictation as the characters tell me the story. I often hear a snippet of news, or see something on television that starts the “what if’s” in my head. I usually know the area for the story and the main details for the primary characters right away.

Who’s the most unusual/most likeable character?

I think Cord McConnell, the tough but tender hero from Surviving With Love is probably my favorite and most likeable character. He isn’t typically handsome, but he has such a good heart especially with kids, you just have to love him. You have to read the book to understand what I mean. My most unusual character would probably be Heidi, the large ugly dog, in Following Destiny. She hears the voices right along with her mistress and has a very definite personality.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?

I have always enjoyed the outdoors; camping, fishing, hiking, and horseback riding. And I was raised with the old-fashioned values of love, commitment, and working hard. I think all of those factors are very evident in my writing.

What are your current projects?

I’m currently working on 3 different contemporary romances. Finding Treasure is set in Seattle and features a woman with a special gift for locating hidden treasure and lost items. Seeking Shelter takes place in South Dakota where a modern-day rancher purchases a rogue stallion someone wants to kill. Then there’s Healing Rain about a young woman in Texas with the gift of touch healing who works with problem horses.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

The best way to keep track of me is to check regularly at my home website, Romance With a Twist: http://www.romancewithatwist.com or on my blog at http://www.rebeccajvickery.blogspot.com My books, Looking Through The Mist and Surviving With Love, are available on Smashwords.com. and at WordClay.com
Thank you for having me on your blog today, Susan. I have really enjoyed this interview.

It was my pleasure. Contnued success, Rebecca.



Susan Whitfield, author of The Logan Hunter Mystery Series

www.susanwhitfield.blogspot.com

Hell Swamp excerpts

HELL SWAMP excerpts:


I could hear myself screaming. I snatched out of the fingers’ grip and fell. Fell a long way. Then the dirt hit my face. I was being buried alive! I scrambled sideways when I realized there was nothing to stop me. When I hit the table, I woke up, piled on the floor with the aloe plant from the bedside table and all its dirt on top of me. The nightmare I’d once had was back and more frightening than ever. I sat up on the floor and spit out dirt, flipping the plant unto the floor. I trembled, realizing I had peed in my pants.

I saw tree limbs hanging out over the river but I was past them before I could react. I soon saw more branches and grabbed at them as they broke off in my fingers. I’m not sure how far I went downstream before I saw the tree, bent far enough into the river I might have a chance to grab something on it. I hit hard when the river suddenly hocked me into a thick limb. I managed to hang on to substantial tree growth by shear determination. The current was stalwart. If I didn’t get to the bank fast, I’d be going on another water ride. I reached deep inside for enough strength to throw my leg over in spite of the river pulling on me. Once on the tree, I shimmied to the bank and stretched out until I caught my breath and calmed profuse shivering.

My eyes peered over the edge of the loft floor and I almost fell backwards. I’m certain my eyes flew out of their sockets and then withdrew as far as unbelief would allow them. Bones. Hair. Teeth. What I’d thought was fertilizer was apparently lime, to keep down odor and rodents. I climbed down once my feet let me, and ran to the Hummer to call Sheriff Gunn. As I dialed the number, pain invaded my eye and the world went dark.

Some folks were already setting up yard decorations for Christmas. Even Mr. Grady went all out. Colored lights that ran back and forth on some kind of netting covered his roof. I looked in my rearview and since nothing was behind me, I stopped in the middle of the road and giggled until I broke out in a full-blown howl. In front of the house a partially inflated and extremely jolly Santa waved at me, and he appeared to be humping Rudolph, well inflated and right in front of him. Next to this inflatable, Frosty and his family came to life in a snow globe. At this point in the inflation process, Frosty’s carrot nose seemed firmly wedged in Mrs. Frosty’s large white buttress. He grinned to the brims of his top hat.

I jumped to my feet as everyone started to look up and pray, each prayer very loud and different from the next. The prayers reached a fever pitch when the preacher handed Rose a vial, which she held up and poured down her throat. The service crescendoed as Rose Paul Hill let out a yell louder than anyone in the church. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. All of a sudden her loose false teeth bounced out of her mouth and across the floor, breaking into several pieces. The room became frighteningly quiet.
Rose fell to the floor; nobody tried to catch her. I worked my way to the end of the pew and ran to the front. The preacher at first seemed delighted that the Spirit moved me—until I stopped and knelt beside Rose.
“What did you drink, Rose?”
“Strychnine.”
“That’s poison!”
“I’m anointed, child. It won’t kill me.” Rose Paul’s unconvincing voice grew weak. I glanced over at her broken dentures, wondering if the dental bill would finish her off. I saw movement under the front pew and blinked several times, my eyes clear and focused, and, more than likely, outside their sockets.
“Holy Shit!” I yelled out, snatching a raggedy old toupee off a man’s head as he let out a yelp. I threw it at the snake, hoping he’d think it was an animal he could overpower.
It didn’t work. The humongous snake, thicker than my upper arm, came straight toward me. I could see his beady eyes under the hairpiece as he moved swiftly across the wood floor. Grabbing the Glock from under my jacket, I aimed and shot the rattlesnake twice.
“She’s got a gun!”
People screamed and stampeded for the doors. The preacher and some of the men jumped me, wrestled the gun away, and pinned me to the wood floor. Somebody lifted Rose away from the ruckus.
“What are you doing? A snake under that pew. I killed it for you.”
Preacher Hawfield shrieked into my face, “You imbecile! That snake and all the others are for this worship service!”
All the others?
Two hefty men escorted me out of the church and deposited me in the dirt near my Hummer. One man threw my gun down beside me.
I was still on the ground when Preacher Hawfield appeared again. I thought he’d peck my face with his beak of a nose. “You’re not welcome here. Don’t you ever come back!”