Mujlti-genre author, Sable Grey

Sable Grey has been writing sensual and erotic romance since 2004 and is multi-published in both print and electronic formats.  Also a publisher and a cover artist, Sable spends what little spare time she has in the small town of Clinton, Mississippi with a houseful of furry children.  When she’s not writing, she enjoys watching movies, reading, playing video games, and singing karaoke poorly.

Welcome, Sable.

How many books have you written and what is your best seller?

I’ve currently thirty four titles available in romance, erotic romance, erotica, and fantasy fiction.  I’ve currently three titles available in print and the rest are available in digital formats.  I’m published with Liquid Silver Books, Cobblestone Press, Breathless Press, Total EBound Books, and Ellora’s Cave.  I also have 7 titles that I’ve self published.  Almost all of my books can be found on Amazon.  I’ve books written under the names Sable Grey, Amon Bieste, and AJ Searle.

My best sellers to date are:

1. Passion of the Wolf, historical/paranormal erotic romance

http://www.amazon.com/Passion-of-the-Wolf-ebook/dp/B003IWYDIW

2. Latharian Review, sci-fi erotic romance

http://www.amazon.com/Latharian-Review-ebook/dp/B0031LJ4PM

3. The King’s Sword, fantasy fiction

http://www.amazon.com/The-Kings-Sword-ebook/dp/B0070O8OFM

Visit my Amazon page to view all of my Sable Grey titles at http://www.amazon.com/author/sablegrey or my website at http://www.sablegrey.net to see full lists of books available including free reads.

Give a short synop of your most recently published book.

My most recent erotica title is Zombie Lust and is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B90VRMA for 99 cents.  It’s a short erotica about a zombie, Lucas, who only eats bad people and tries to live a regular life the rest of the time. Yes, I have a twisted sense of humor and yes, I love zombie movies! 

My most recent romance novel is Temptation & Honor, the first in a historical family saga about the Redleigh family.  Thomas Redleigh is a soldier returned to his family's home after his father dies and he receives word that his mother is ill. Until his return, Meredith Claiborne had been caring for Thomas' mother and keeping the household running in his absence. But a twisted ankle forces her to release some of her responsibility and accept Thomas' assistance. The time they spend together leads to a scandalous affair that, if discovered, could ruin the names of both of their families. Their secret is kept until the rumors circulated by a jealous man lands Thomas as a suspect of murder.

Temptation & Honor is available in print and digital formats at Amazon.  http://www.amazon.com/Temptation-Honor-Redleigh-Books-Volume/dp/1481863770/ 

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

Oh I guess there is a bit of me in each of my characters.  It’s difficult not to put a little of myself into the characters.  The one who is most like me is Anne from the chapter by chapter book I’m writing on my website called Heart of the Storm.  Members of my site can read the first eleven chapters right now.  This summer I will begin writing a chapter a week to finish the book.

Do your characters take on a life of their own? If so, which is your favorite?

Yes, sometimes they do.  My favorite character of all of my books is Neville Crashaw, hands down.  He’s a secondary character in my Redleigh series but a very important one in several of the books.  While only one of the Redleigh books is available I’ve written four and I truly love Neville.  Readers get to meet him in the first of the Redleigh books and if they don’t fall in love with him after reading Temptation & Honor, they most definitely will when the second installment, The Vicar’s Wife, is published.

He’s a self made wealthy gentleman and lifelong bachelor with connections to very powerful people.  He has homes in Scotland, France, and in the small town where the Redleigh family lives.  He enjoys mayhem and is constantly stirring the pot so to speak when it comes to scandal.  At times he comes across as a snob but beneath that he has a very honorable and tender heart. 

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give new writers?

My entire career in the industry has been and continues to be a great lesson but I have six bits of advice for new writers:

1.  Read your contracts!  It sounds silly, I know.  I’ve always read my contracts but didn’t realize until I also became a publisher that many authors don’t.  They are so excited to be published that they just sign their name and send the contract back so they can get on with opening that bottle of champagne.  But it’s important to read contracts so you know exactly what kind of partnership you are entering into, for how long, and the details of ending that partnership if you need to in the future.
2. Listen to your editors!  I’ve read in many writing group sites that editors are trying to change voice and style during editing.  In 9 years and 34 books, I’ve never had an editor do such a thing.  If you do your homework and submit your work to publishers with good reputations, you will not run into an issue of an editor doing anything but helping you become a better author.  On a side note, style guides are not the same for every publisher either.  Each publisher has their own style guide.  So while one editor might allow you to head hop a little, another may not.
3. Keep writing!  Don’t wait around to see how one book is going to sell or stress over what reviewers are saying about your book.  Move on to the next project.  That’s how you will build up a following for your name – by getting another title out there. 
4. Ignore asshats!  They are out here in hordes in the publishing industry.   They bash your books on their blogs.  They tear you apart in reviews on Amazon.  No one is safe.  Do not respond to them.  I repeat, do not respond.  It’s what they want because it only fuels the nastiness. 
5. Don’t be the asshat that people ignore.  Focus on your career as an author and don’t worry about what someone else is writing.  Once you start bashing other authors and books, that’s all anybody is reading.  You drive attention away from your own work.  And authors are readers too so you lose those sales as well.
6. Promote, promote, promote!  Once you are published, you will need a website.  But that’s not enough.  Get yourself into all the social media sites.  Build yourself an author page at Amazon’s author central, Shelfari, Google plus, etc.  The more places your name pops up the more readers you get and the more people begin to recognize that name.  This industry is HUGE and it’s easy to get lost if you don’t stay on top of your promotion and marketing.

    Great advice, Sable.                                                                                                                       

Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?

LOL  I have so many planned that it’s ridiculous.  I think up more stories than I’ll ever have time to write.  But I do have some in the works to be published soon.  The second installment to the Redleigh Books is The Vicar’s Wife.  It’s the story about Liam Redleigh, younger brother to Thomas of Temptation & Honor.  I also want to write a second book for Breathless Press to follow my best seller, Passion of the Wolf (http://www.amazon.com/Passion-of-the-Wolf-ebook/dp/B003IWYDIW). And I need to get the next installment of Charlotte’s Brides written for Cobblestone Press.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

My website is www.sablegrey.net.  I announce new releases there and for every new release I give away two copies to members of my site by random draw.  And I’m very active on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sable.grey. 

Are your books available in print and ebook formats? 

I have three titles currently available in print:

1.  Temptation & Honor http://www.amazon.com/Temptation-Honor-Redleigh-Books-Volume/dp/1481863770
2. The Vampire Oracle http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Oracle-Eliza-Gayle/dp/1600883540
3. Latharian Lust (written under the name Amon Bieste) http://www.amazon.com/Latharian-Lust-Elloras-Amon-Bieste/dp/1419967266

The rest of my books are available in digital formats that can be purchased through my Amazon page http://www.amazon.com/author/sablegrey or through the links on my website at http://www.sablegrey.net

Thanks for dropping by, Sable. Now, back to work on the WIP!

do you know Johnnie Lewis?

Johnnie W. Lewis was born on an Army base in Kentucky, to a Naval Chief Petty Officer and his telephone operator wife. That incongruous beginning was only a portent of the chaotic things to come to the little girl who was named for her father (instead of him giving his name to one of her four younger brothers!). Seventeen different school registrations before high school graduation gave her a rather "well-rounded" background from which to draw her continual string of stories.

Johnnie and her husband (always called "Better Half" in her writings) have been married more than 40 years and live in suburban Atlanta in Marietta, Georgia, near their daughter (always referred to as "Baby Girl"), son-in-law and PERFECT grandchildren (one of each), and their son (Little Fella) and his fiancee. "Critters" of every species live inside and outside their home and serve as a well-spring of inspiration for the fun, love and laughter in Johnnie's writings, whether those writings take an educational or tongue-in-cheek or romantic or whimsical direction.

Welcome to the blog, Johnnie. 

How many books have you written?

5 or 20, take your pick!  I’ve only written 5 books, but because The Five Finger Paragraph is a graded series for all grades, with a classroom Kit, Teacher Edition, and Student Edition for each of 4 different grade groupings AND Homeschoolers, that parlays into..., let me see..., 3 + 2/5..., 6 + 9 / 13, carry the 2..., 20 books!  All of The Five Finger Paragraph books really are separate books, since each addresses the needs and capabilities of the age groups it encompasses.  Three books (Kit book, Teacher/Parent Edition, and Student Edition) for each “grade grouping”:  Grades K-4, Grades 2-6, Grades 4-8 and Grades 7-12.  That’s 15 books right there.  Two of the others (in The Writing Police series) are children’s picture books, one is a compilation of tongue-in-cheek reminiscences about life above and below the Gnat Line, and the last is my first novel, Hampshire House.

Give a short synop of your most recently published book. 

Kate Brockett was raised in an orphanage, but nothing she ever learned there could have prepared her for her first position outside the Home.  Lord Clayton Bingham had requested her specifically to come and be the governess to his nine-year-old twin boys, but why?  She didn’t know him, didn’t know Hampshire House, knew no one this part of Leicestershire, so why was she going to this spooky place?  Mrs. Hudson was the cold, heartless housekeeper.  All of the maids and crofters showed the appropriate deference, but from the moment she arrived at the gatehouse of the manor house, someone had been trying to harm her, possibly kill her!  Who could it be?  Clayton?  Mrs. Hudson?  Someone from outside the manor house?

Surely it wasn’t Clayton!  His amorous attentions after she twisted her ankle made her head spin, heart pound, and awakened feelings in her that she didn’t know existed, in spite of his hateful cousin, Felicia.  Kate’s duties as governess were expanded to housekeeper when Mrs. Hudson was discharged, and once she was gone, Kate thought she was safe.  Until the attempted rape by parties unknown, and the fire in her bedroom, and...

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

The teaching abilities, the fiery spirit in Kate, the hard childhood...,  There’s a little bit of me in almost every character, including the vain and hateful Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper!

What challenges did you face while writing this book?

I wrote Hampshire House 24 years ago.  Had a baby, no computer and an old Royal typewriter.  Rejection by Harlequin nearly killed me, but I just hung on to that manuscript, KNOWING that it was a winner but the company just didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t FULL of sex.  Pulled it out last year, edited and redirected some of it, put it all into the computer, and published it last fall as an ebook on Amazon.  Responses prove that Harlequin doesn’t have the market cornered on romantic mysteries.

Do you travel to do research or for inspiration? Can you share some special places with us?

I don’t deliberately travel to get inspiration, but I draw inspiration FROM my travels.  The last time I was in England was 39 years ago, yet Hampshire House, set in pastoral England of the late Victorian age and written 15 years later, came FROM the memories of that trip.

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give new writers?

The same “old” tried and true stuff you’ve heard from every “writing teacher” is the best advice.  (1)Write every day, SOMETHING, even if it’s an inventive grocery list.  (2)Write WHAT you know.  If you know car engines, don’t try to be funny writing about hair styling.  Write about car engines.  (3)Write when your MUSE is alive.  Writing in the morning because someone told you that James Michener always wrote in the mornings is BUNK if you’re a night owl.  Write when YOU have creative juices flowing, not when others do!  My MUSE wakes up at about 11:00 p.m., so I write from then until I don’t realize that my head’s on the keyboard.

Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?

On sticky-doos all over the house.  I get an idea, write it down on a post-it note, stick it to the wall.  It’ll fall off eventually.  If I pick it up and STILL like the idea on the note, I’ll tape it back up there and then put it on my “to-do” list.  If I don’t like the idea anymore, File 13 (trash).

Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?

I have two novels in the works:  Lae of Auwon (cave-man setting and time period) and The Forgetting Wash (futuristic thriller).  I also have 2 more books in The Writing Police series “on the drawing board,” literally.  I have to draw the pictures first, then write the book around them, more or less.  The last in my “line-up” is a novelized version of a true story (because I won’t be getting permission from the family members still living), of a woman in my hometown of Cordele, GA who murdered five members of her family with arsenic poisoning.  Was she crazy?  Or just damn mean?  You’ll have to read Murdered by Love to find out!

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

People can learn about me by visiting my website at http:www.acloudproductions.com or visiting Amazon.com, BN.com, Kobo.com or Smashwords.com and inputting my name, Johnnie W. Lewis, or pseudonym Cisi Wright. 

Are your books available in print and ebook formats?   

All of my books are available in ebook format for almost all electronic readers (almost all are available at this time) or in paperback on Amazon by June 30th.  Hampshire House is available now on Amazon in paperback; others to come soon.

Thank you for interviewing me, Susan.

Nice to get to know more about you, Johnnie.  

No Substitute for Money!

Carolyn J. Rose is the author of several novels, including Hemlock Lake, Through a Yellow Wood, An Uncertain Refuge, Sea of Regret, A Place of Forgetting, No Substitute for Murder and No Substitute for Money. She penned a young-adult fantasy, Drum Warrior, with her husband, Mike Nettleton.

She grew up in New York's Catskill Mountains, graduated from the University of Arizona, logged two years in Arkansas with Volunteers in Service to America, and spent 25 years as a television news researcher, writer, producer, and assignment editor in Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. She founded the Vancouver Writers' Mixers and is an active supporter of her local bookstore, Cover to Cover. Her interests are reading, gardening, and not cooking.

Where do you live, and how has your environment affected your writing?

 I’ve lived in Vancouver, Washington for the past 13 years. The area reminds me a lot of the Catskill Mountains where I grew up. At least the low mountains do—the Catskills don’t have towering volcanic peaks or the rounded domes of dozing volcanoes like Mount St. Helens which I can see from my bedroom window when the leaves are off the trees. Growing up in the mountains in the 1950s imprinted the “small-town experience” on me and I’ve drawn on that in writing Hemlock Lake, Through a Yellow Wood, and A Place of Forgetting. Living and working in the growing city of Vancouver and subbing in high school here definitely influenced my cozies, No Substitute for Murder and No Substitute for Money.

How many books have you written?

15. Many are now out of print. Some will soon be revised and re-released.

Give a short synop of your most recently published book.

Substitute teacher Barbara Reed knows better than to say the word “perfect.” Using the P-word is a sure way to jinx romance, finance, and circumstance.

Despite a chronic shortage of funds, things are looking up for Barb after the events of NO SUBSTITUTE FOR MURDER. She’s completing grad school and hoping for a job at Captain Meriwether High School in Reckless River, Washington. Her drug-cop boyfriend, Dave Martin, wants to move in and his daughter is all in favor. Even Barb’s tiny dog Cheese Puff has no objections—undaunted by size, he’s infatuated with Dave’s partner Lola, a drug-sniffing Golden Retriever.

Then Dave uses the P-word. And Barb’s luck leaves town.

Her car breaks down, her domineering sister comes for a visit, the condo manager plots to ban dogs, her jailed ex-husband begs her to be a character witness at his trial, a computer hacker creates chaos at the high school, and a hulking thug threatens violence.

Just when it appears things can’t get worse, Lola sniffs out a package in her car and a drug dealer decides Barb and Cheese Puff are his tickets out of trouble.

 

Do your characters take on a life of their own? If so, which is your favorite?

They do. Often I wake up at night having dreamed about them and what they “intend to do” in the next few chapters. Characters in Through a Yellow Wood told me they were getting sick and tired of a couple of difficult characters. They assured me they knew I put those folks there to create conflict, but they felt it was time I found other ways to stir things up in the community of Hemlock Lake. I took their advice and killed one character off and arranged for the other to leave town.

Do you travel to do research or for inspiration? Can you share some special places with us?

Most of my travel now is through recollection of places I’ve been in the past—the Catskill Mountains and the Oregon Coast. I’m always inspired when I return to the place I grew and walk those overgrown paths into the woods. And I’m always moved by the crash and thrash of the Pacific Ocean which is just a two-hour drive from where I live now.

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give new writers?

Not every book is for every reader. Make up your mind before your book is published that you’ll get some one-star and two-star reviews no matter how engaging your characters are or how tight and original the plotting may be. Get mad about that, kick some furniture, punch out a pillow, then face up to reality and get back to writing. Write to tell stories and give your characters life. Write because that’s what you want to do more than anything else. Later, go back to those reviews and read them carefully to see if they contain anything that can help you hone your craft. You might be surprised.

Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?

Without my pack of index cards and the calendars I use to keep track of plot progression, I’d still be working on my first novel.

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

I’m terrible at this. I blog and participate in some groups. I should do a bunch more but I keep breaking the promises I make to myself to do that. The messages I received as a child were, “Don’t talk about yourself, don’t be pushy, let others go first.” With that baggage, it’s hard to promote myself.

Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?

Those Hemlock Lake characters want me to write a third book and I intend to start on that project this summer. But I may have to write a third substitute book first. We’ll see what happens when I clean up my office and get settled at the computer.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

My website:  www.deadlyduomysteries.com

Amazon Author Page. http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003515CZ4

Are your books available in print and ebook formats? (please provide the buy link for easy reader accessibility)

Most of them are available in both formats.

Darden North's Wiggle Room

Dr. Darden North has written another novel. It’s my please to have him join us this morning.

A practicing, board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology, Darden North writes mysteries and thrillers. His three published novels have received national awards, most notably Points of Origin in Southern Fiction by the 2007 IPPY Book Awards. The screenplay adaptation of third novel Fresh Frozen is in film development by Frank Vitolo and Scott Alvaraz. North lives with his wife Sally in Jackson, Mississippi. They have two children and two dogs.

Darden, it's great to have you back on the blog. Congratulations on the screen play adaptation and on the new release, Wiggle Room, published by Sartoris Literary Group in print and ebook in early June 2013.

Thank you, Susan.

Before we get into your new book, please tell us how you balance a successful medical career with a successful writing career.

I am fortunate to practice in a large single-specialty ob/gyn group, so I have flexibility in scheduling vacations and other trips out-of-town (including book signings.) I have not slowed my medical and surgical practice, and the time not spent working or being with family and friends is spent writing, working in the yard, and walking for exercise. I guess if I had been gifted in golf, tennis, or mountain climbing, things might be different … maybe I would have written only two novels.

I’ve read your novels and I know writing is in your blood.

Please provide a brief synopsis of Wiggle Room.

Dr. Brad Cummins saves a man’s life. Now that man wants him dead.
Serving as an Air Force surgeon at the height of the Iraq War, Major Brad Cummins fails to save an injured soldier yet must mend the Iraqi national maimed in the same IED blast. Still blaming himself for losing the soldier after successful surgery, Brad is haunted by the words of the Iraqi: Maybe you should rethink what you really are.

After returning from deployment to home in Mississippi, Brad soon discovers his twin brother shot to death in a suspected robbery. He cannot forget the anonymous text I will give you a little wiggle room and suspects that he was the intended target.

Not only does Brad’s new surgical partner Diana Bratton rescue him during repeated attacks on his life, the heroine pushes for answers. Diana wonders if more than one killer is still tracking Brad, someone who may have also murdered the young soldier in Iraq.

Sounds intriguing, Darden.

Give us a little background into why you chose to tell a story about an Air Force surgeon in Iraq.

About the time that I was looking for an idea for book #4, a reader at a book signing in Louisiana seemed intrigued that I was both a physician and author of fiction. His physician son had recently returned from overseas military service, emotionally troubled over requirements to treat unfriendly nationals at our military bases hospitals alongside injured US servicepersons. Simultaneously, my son was in medical school and studying under a trauma surgeon who had recently served in Balad, Iraq.
Everything seemed to fall in place as my imagination reached beyond my comfort zone since I have never served in the military. Many of the sub-plots in the novel required a lot of research as well including the murder scenes (i.e., bullet trajectories, blood splatter patterns, masking intentional hospital deaths, etc. – concepts that would not come naturally to a kind-hearted, conscientious physician.)

I really like Diana Bratton. Quite a feisty lady :-) Is she based on a real life person or did you create her in full?

I like that phrase “create her in full.” Diana Bratton is my first true female protagonist although all my novels have women characters. (An editor once said that I do women well.) Diana is an amalgam, a portrayal of someone abused by a spouse when a young mother and resident in surgical training who then looks beyond her professional career for fulfillment. In other words, through her attempt to reinvent herself as a desirable woman while being a top-notch surgeon, she becomes sexually involved with Brad Cummins. It is not really love that spurs her to protect Cummins and find his attacker, but frustration over a man who becomes complacent to danger. She makes herself beautiful, more feminine, yet becomes more resilient and confident. This makes her even more dynamic.

I think both my female and male readers will be drawn to Diana Bratton. I plan to make her a major player in novel 6 as well.

Daren, how do you develop your characters?

Characterization may be the main reason I write. At least that aspect of this journey is the most fun for me. Developing a character involves weaving in a combination of traits, mannerisms, and mentality that I might both cherish and abhor. A thriller is all about watching a character squirm in a situation while another one delights in the same circumstances. It was tough for me to kill off a couple of characters in Wiggle Room because that ended the prospect of a sequel or series including those guys …or did it?

The names given to the major characters in Wiggle Room were derived from names chosen by patrons at charity events or fund-raisers for non-profit organizations both in Mississippi and elsewhere. The character assigned to each was the author’s choice. While the characters in the novel in no way resemble the real people who happen to bear the same names, I cannot imagine having used any other name for the individual characters.

I think of all the characters in my novels as a mixture of people I know well or have met casually or would like to meet or avoid. That is what is fascinating about writing. You can transform a nice person into someone even nicer (almost to the point of absurdity) while gaining great satisfaction in tormenting a character who deserves it. One of my editors summed this up well when commenting that he really “liked” one of the darkest characters in Wiggle Room, almost to the point of regretting the guy’s circumstances as the plot unfolds.

What challenges did you encounter while writing your latest book?

A challenge for any writer is balancing the time demands of life and work (the “day job”) while reaching beyond his familiarity with a subject -- again, leaving the comfort zone.

How many books have you written?

I have written three other novels, all available in print and ebook: House Call, Points of Origin, and Fresh Frozen.

And I can tell folks that they're all great books.

Can you tell us about future projects? Events?

As mentioned in my bio, Amy Taylor’s screenplay adaptation of my third novel Fresh Frozen is in film development by producer Frank Vitolo and director Scott Alvaraz. Plans are to film Mississippi. Upcoming book signings include the annual Mississippi Picnic in Central Park in New York on June 8, 2013, and Lemuria Book store in Jackson with the Sartoris Literary Group in July.

Where can readers get more information about you and your books?

Check out my website www.dardennorth.com for blog updates and a growing list of upcoming book signings as well as online links to purchase. Readers can contact me at darden@dardennorth.com and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, AuthorsDen, and You-Tube.

Thanks for dropping by, Darden, and continued success with both your practice and your writing.

I appreciate your having me over, Susan. I wish you success with your novels as well.

Tip of the Iceberg

DC Lozeau hails from northern New England where he resided until 2004. He relocated to Richmond, VA, where he now lives with his wife and their three cats. He only started his writing career three years ago and has already written his first novel, Tip of the Iceberg. It was published and released in Jan. 2013. His book is a fiction crime mystery and is set in the windy city of Chicago. DC Lozeau is currently working on his second novel, a sequel to his debut novel, titled Destiny's Fate. He is hoping to have it published later this year.

DC's also a member of James River Writers in Richmond, Va. JRW is a collection of writers, readers, playwrights and other persons whose love of the written word helps the literary community of central Virginia by connecting and aspiring writers and readers of the region.

When he is not crafting his current creation, DC can be found on his blog, "Paying It Back" at dclozeau.blogspot.com.

Welcome, DC.

Tell us more.

Thanks, Susan. I have written and published just my debut novel, Tip of the Iceberg. I am currently working on the sequel to it titled Destiny's Fate. If all goes well, I am planning on having it out by late 2013 or Spring of 2014. I am also writing a fantasy story called The Fantastic Time Book which is being published, with weekly chapters (Fridays), on thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com.

I truthfully can't say that I grew up wanting to be a writer. I can remember always loving to get writing assignments in school, as it gave me a chance to exercise my imagination and put it on paper. It wasn't until late in life, when my wife, a very avid reader, prodded me into trying to  write a book. Her knack for discovering the 'villain' in a mystery before the end of the story gave me the challenge I needed to write a novel that would leave her on the edge until the very last minute. My debut novel did just that!

Give a short synop of your book.

Tip of the Iceberg is a crime mystery that takes place in the windy city of Chicago. It involves a young man, Anthony 'Tony' Thomas, who at the age of seventeen, sees his mother killed by a drunk driver, and decides to follow in the footsteps of his father and become a Police Detective. Once he makes the ranks, he gets promoted to the Homicide Department and from day one, is thrown into some horrific mutilation murders. The story follows Tony's journey to uncover the truths about the murders, as Tony also has to deal with his innate suspensions about his new partner, Denis Logan. Tony soon finds out that as he gets closer to the truth, he is also putting the ones closest to him in jeopardy.  And as the title suggests, things don't always appear to be what they really are!

What challenges did you face while writing this book?

That's easy. In the beginning of my bio, I mentioned what an avid reader my wife is. She loves crime and forensic novels. When I finally decided to write Tip of the Iceberg, I had one goal in mind. That was to stump my wife's uncanny ability to figure out who the 'bad guy' was in the story. Keeping in mind that she reads a lot, and knows all the tricks that name-brand authors use to misguide, if you will, their readers from coming up with the villain, I really had to put my thinking cap on and come up with ways to derail her and lead her off into different directions. And I succeeded!

What do you think is the greatest lesson you've learned about writing so far? What advice can you give to new writers?

I can answer both those questions with one word, Susan. Patience! When I first started writing, I would often get frustrated trying to make the story flow in such a way as to make it exciting, but realistic. Sometimes the words just weren't there. I knew what I wanted to say or have my characters do, but just didn't know how. It wasn't until I just stopped writing, sat back and thought things through in my mind, that things came together. Sometimes you just have to 'stop and smell the roses!'

Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?

Believe it or not, I still have a 'day job'. I've been a machinist for thirty years. In doing my normal work, I sometimes have machine times of fifteen, twenty, or even thirty minutes. That means I am just standing there, or sitting, and watching the machine do its thing. That's when I do all my thinking. I carry a small note pad in my back pocket and when an idea hits...it goes on paper. At the end of the day, I may have two dozen 3 by 5 pieces of paper in my pocket just waiting to be sorted out and put into my story.

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

For one thing, I have a traditional publisher. Tate Publishing. They have done, and continue to do, a lot of footwork as far as sending out media blurbs and making press announcements about any  upcoming events. I do my share as well, using social media and the like, and doing what we are doing right now. When you first start out as a writer, you are a virtual unknown. You have to 'make friends and influence people' to get not only the name of your novel out there, but your name as an author as well. One of the best ways to do this is to join a writer's group, as I did. Joining James River Writers in Richmond, Virginia, was the best thing I've done since getting my novel published.

Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?

In the near future, my goal of course, is to finish my sequel. And as I mentioned earlier, I am currently writing a weekly fantasy book, The Fantastic Time Book. I am hoping to start writing as a freelance writer in the real near future. If all this becomes a reality, then maybe I can think about retirement and getting out of the work force and become a full time writer/author.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

I post almost daily on Facebook at Dave Lozeau or on my book page at DC Lozeau. I have a dedicated website for Tip of the Iceberg at www.dclozeau.tateauthor.com. I do use Twitter, but not as much. (@DCLozeau)

Are your books available in print and ebook formats?

Yes to both. They are available through BARNES & NOBLE  and amazon.com/  as well as through my website.

Thanks for the interview, Susan.

Sandra Chang's Escaped Alone

Sharon Clark Chang was raised in Richmond, Virginia, in a family whose forbears included some of Virginia’s earliest settlers as well as 19th-century immigrants who arrived on famine ships. She is a graduate of The George Washington University, with a degree in International Affairs/East Asian Studies. After an 18-year career with the Central Intelligence Agency’s Clandestine Services, she worked in advocacy for Americans of Asian descent. Still later, she formed a one-of-a-kind consultancy serving minority-owned small businesses. Together with a brace of terrierists, a relentless sense of humor, and a reputation for being incorrigible, she currently lives in a Northern Virginia city located not far from the sites of the Escaped Alone action.

Welcome, Sharon! You're my northern neighbor.

How has growing up in Virginia affected your writing?

I live in Northern Virginia—and grew up further south in Virginia.  Growing up in a Southern environment and having a healthy dose of Irishness in my genetic makeup has given me two strong storytelling influences.  Add to that the fact that coming from two conquered peoples makes for a pronounced awareness of what, for better or for worse, has been lost as time passes and one era transitions into another.

How many books have you written?

This is my first book-length work.

Give a short synop of Escaped Alone.     

The Greatest Generation made our world safe for democracy—and then sired a generation that began transforming our nation into one that was safe for diversity. Escaped Alone transports the reader to mid-20th-century Virginia—to a time when the American South was experiencing its Last Hurrah. As a society struggles to return to its prewar stability, the slower-paced mode of living for the very young remains sheltered and in many ways idyllic, allowing ample time to savor the joys of childhood. Yet accompanying this pleasant existence is a darker undercurrent of institutionalized injustice that gradually awakens one child to the ugliness of racial, religious and lifestyle discrimination within her community. Departure for college provides the opportunity to begin her search for a more tolerant mode of living. The tale of her development into one who will seize this opportunity is punctuated by abundant humor, occasional horror, the emergence from the closet of some wildly animated family skeletons, and a generous outlay of unmistakably Southern storytelling. Its entertainment value aside, Escaped Alone may well be the first in-depth chronicling of exactly how a new kind of American conscience was formed.

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

Since the book is nonfiction/memoir and I am the narrator, there is none of myself that’s hidden in it. My characters don’t take on lives of their own.  Their lives are depicted as they are (or, in some cases), were.  Truth may be stranger than fiction in the case of many of the characters I present.

What challenges did you face while writing this book?

It’s perfectly fair to say that my biggest challenge was bringing myself to stop editing it and to get on with the process of finding a publisher.

Do you travel to do research or for inspiration? Can you share some special places with us?

I have mostly traveled for work or for pleasure.  The doing of research and the finding of inspiration are incidental aspects of travel for me.  In terms of travel during my developmental years, some several special places (one of which is depicted in the opening scene) are shared within Escaped Alone—which, among other things, is a book that evokes a very strong sense of place and of drawing the reader into certain scenes in a very vivid and intimate way.

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give new writers?

The greatest lesson I’ve learned about writing so far is to make the writing as beautiful as the story is compelling.  Very often when I write, I apply two criteria to any given sentence.  The first is “Does it read well on the page?”  The second is “Would it sound equally good, or even better, if read aloud?”  If the answer to both questions is an unqualified “Yes,” I know that I’ve achieved the effect I’m seeking. 

To new writers, I’d say that letting your creativity have full rein requires that you first know and observe the basics: spelling, grammar, usage, sentence structure, etc.  Unless you’re willing to attract only readers who are themselves too lackadaisical to be distracted by errors in a published work, the devil definitely is in the details.

Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?

Sometimes in my head, sometimes in a notebook.  Never on a spreadsheet.

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

Friends, family, neighbors, word-of-mouth from those who’ve already read the book, publisher, signings and other appearances, Facebook Author Page, web site.  At the moment I’m working on sewing the title of my book in mother-of-pearl buttons on the back of my jean jacket for a bit of a springtime/rock star effect.  Will be interested to see how that works.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

http://escapedalone.tateauthor.com/book/escaped-alone/

Are your books available in print and ebook formats?

Yes.  The buy link can be found to the right on my web site:

http://escapedalone.tateauthor.com/book/escaped-alone/