Joyce T. Strand's Blog, page 29

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Mystery Author, D.A. Butler

D. A. Butler, Author
JOPLIN JUSTICEWelcome mystery author, D.A. Butler ("D.A. Butler did it"), who joins us to discuss her first published novel JOPLIN JUSTICE. As described by one reviewer, “fans of comedies and mysteries alike will delight in this amusing tale of small town corruption and suspense.”  Her protagonist, reporter Hailey Fox, joins the local sheriff, an ATF agent, a new lawyer in town, and even her mother to investigate the murder of a judge.

D.A. Butler created Hailey Fox with some authority. She served as a newspaper reporter and feature writer for newspapers in Missouri and Kansas. She currently works as a contracts administrator in Florida, and has a son who is a Navy pilot.  
Don't miss the excerpt following the interview.
Q: How important is the setting of your mystery in Joplin? Why did you choose Joplin?
D.A. Butler: Joplin is very close to my hometown, Pittsburg, Kansas, where I worked as a news reporter many years ago, and so the Joplin area is familiar territory.  It’s bigger than Pittsburg, and just the right size for a novel that brings the flavor of a small city, not too big, but not too small.  It has essential elements for the story:  A place where you know most of your neighbors, you run into your friends, people talk about each other so information is easily shared, but there are new faces from time to time because the city is growing and developing.  With due respect to all the difficulties Joplin has had due to the tornado, and the injuries, loss of life and destruction, we are all aware that it is a city of good people who are showing how strong and resilient they are.  (My novel was written before the storm.)
Q: What inspired you to write your novel?
D.A. Butler: Just for my own amusement and to exercise my brain, I started on a couple of novels and left them on my computer.  My son, who was home from college, found one and read it.  College-aged children rarely offer their parents compliments, but he did so without knowing he was doing it.   He asked me, “Mom, there’s this novel on the computer, but it’s just five chapters.  I want to read the rest. Where did you find this?  It’s great.”  He was very surprised to learn that I’d written it.  I think his reaction was:  “No way.  You wrote this?  Really?  Mom, you have to finish it.”  It was quite a moment when suddenly I wasn’t just a mom to him.  His unexpected compliments inspired me to keep going.  He’s so supportive of my writing efforts.   That helps, although my latest project may not interest him as much.  I’m working on a novel that is in the Nicholas Spark’s genre, a tragic romance.
Q: How much are you or people you know part of your book?
D.A. Butler: I didn’t use anyone I know as part of the book, every character is entirely fiction, drawn from the ether.   However, I was a newspaper reporter in a nearby small town quite a few years ago, and those experiences gave me the concept of what it would be like to be a young woman reporter in a similar, small community today.  I stay away from using real people in anything I write, but I might borrow a characteristic, a quirk, a passion, a look, or just a general personality type.  It’s like this:  You may pick up the essence of someone, for example their peccadilloes or the way they speak, and combine it with traits from someone else.  
By way of illustration, several friends in grade school had mothers who were always gabbing (the proverbial over the fence gossip routine), but they knew what was really happening in our small town, and it left an impression that led me to develop Hailey’s mother in my novel.  I honestly can’t point to anyone of them and say Hailey’s mother is like that woman (nor do I remember any of those women, specifically).  So, you could say, I remember their friendships, and the phones ringing, and people talking, which led to this character being like the telephone operator of gossip in my novel.  
My character, Charley just sort of came to me.  I could actually envision him, but he’s not like anyone I actually know.  I was able to picture this sarcastic, jovial, but endearing figure, probably, unconsciously stringing together a variety of traits from people I’ve met.  I’m quite sure other novelists do the same thing. 
Frankly, the only real “person” in the novel is my ghost, Teddy.  That’s based entirely on something that happened to me when I was about 24 – I lived in a haunted house, and it was quite something.  Here again there is a difference:  Teddy is a little nicer than the ghost I experienced, but some of the things (ringing phones, re-arranged canned goods) actually happened.
Q:  What is your favorite part of being a writer? 
D.A. Butler: I love creating something out of thin air.  As a former reporter, when I wrote for the newspaper, I had to stick to the facts and not dramatize, yet there’s loads of drama in the real world.  With fiction, I’m able to develop characters, put them through twists and turns and have fun with the make-believe drama.  Either way, I love words.
Q: What makes a hero/heroine? What makes a villain?
D.A. Butler: A hero or heroine must have the characteristics of an ordinary person who reaches deep and finds the strength to overcome something, to soldier on in the face of difficulties, to rise to the occasion.  They don’t disappoint us; they have admirable traits that we may seek to attain, whether it’s kindness in the face of cruelty, humor in times of worry, or the ability to help another person. 
Villains are somewhat easier and a lot of fun.  I attended a writer’s conference where the speaker said to let it all out with a villain, just put on your bad guy hat and let go. 
Q:  How do you convince your readers to care about your characters, esp young newspaper reporter Hailey Fox?
D.A. Butler: I hope I make my readers care by providing them with a character who is not perfect, who is relatable, who falls down from time to time.  Hailey forgets things, makes funny leaps in judgment (such as thinking that she has a gluten sensitivity without really looking into that), gets lost in a cave without her phone and forgets about ordinary maintenance on her vehicle.  She has a sense of humor that carries her through.   Here inability to chose between two men is another endearing trait because she doesn’t want to hurt Dale or Arrow.    The sheriff is lovable because he has a great sense of humor and he’s stepped in to be a father figure to Hailey.  We care about Dale because he is good to Hailey, and is a steady, reliable sort, and we don’t want to see him hurt if she picks Arrow instead.  These are emotions that we find in real life, so we can relate to the characters as we see their plight develop.
Q:  Do you write largely for entertainment, or do you also try to deliver a message?
D.A. Butler: I’m writing to entertain, with no agenda or message, and I want to give the reader a break from their day, to let them have some fun.  Novels written by James Lee Burke helped me immensely when I had some health problems – his work got me through hard times, with his ability to immerse the reader in a scene.  Remember the old commercial:  “Calgon, take me away”?  That’s what I mean.  For ordinary stressful days, a novel can be an oasis in a storm (sorry for the cliché).  That is my goal, to entertain and provide that respite.
Q: What do you like most about the mystery genre?
D.A. Butler: I like that it’s important to not just develop characters, but to thread through the story minor clues and to throw the reader off often, so the end result is a surprise unless they’ve picked up the clues.  It’s like building a game for the reader.  I also like taking a sudden turn just when the reader is getting comfortable and expecting the story to go another way.  An unexpected person knocks at the door, or there is some other unexpected event.  And, building in the ghost aspect was just for pure fun.  But, the mystery genre is much harder than I expected, just keeping track of leads to be sure everything is sewn up and addressed at the end.
Q: What tips would you give to others considering a career in writing?
D.A. Butler: If you love to write, go for it.  Enjoy the process, enjoy the creativity.  But, don’t do it only if your only reason is to make a million or be a run-away hit because there are so many aspiring writers now.  If you enjoy writing and seeing someone light up over your words, then you may have what it takes.  Be persistent. 
If you write a few chapters and then lose interest, plot out the next twist and change things up.  Often people stop after getting a good start because they don’t have an idea planned out past that point.  I love writing with the flow, when you’re in a groove and the words are just coming out of nowhere, but I also must have a general idea what I’m going to do and a few plot devices in mind.   Don’t overburden your reader with unnecessary details all lumped together to get the background material out of the way; seed these things through the novel.  And, learn to accept honest criticism because you stand to benefit from it and improve from it.   
One last suggestion, listen to people and how they speak so your dialogue will sound real.   If you can write dialogue, you are well on your way. 
Q: When you’re not writing, what do you do? Hobbies? Sailing? Knitting? Standup comedy? Feed the cats? Favorite music?  Favorite authors? Do you have a muse? Pet the cats?
D.A. Butler: My favorite authors (writing now) are Lee Child, James Lee Burke, and Janet Evanovich, so obviously I like a wide variety of fiction.  I read a lot, although less when I’m writing.  I’m taking up ballroom dancing at a center near me, but I’m sure I’ll be falling over my own feet.  I’m buying a house, so there will be plenty to occupy my time there and I love to garden.  I enjoy a wide variety of music:  Jazz (Coltrane), current hits, young country and even zydeco.  I always have music playing while I’m writing, always. 
About D. A. Butler
D. A. Butler is a former newspaper reporter and feature writer for newspapers in Missouri and Kansas.  She has a bachelor's of Science degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and a paralegal certificate from Rockhurst College.  She lived and worked in Kansas City area for over 30 years before layoffs sent on a new adventure and she’s now a contracts administrator for a large Orlando, FL company, enjoying the sunshine state.  In her mid-twenties, she actually lived in a house haunted by a pesky ghost, and the ghost is featured in one of her novels, JOPLIN JUSTICE.  She is the mother of one son, a Navy pilot.
Completed novels:   JOPLIN JUSTICE (available for Kindle) and “Two Lane Highway.”
Current projects:  Developing new novel “Under the Bougainvillea” (working title).

JOPLIN JUSTICEMystery, Humor, and Romance alá MissouriBy D.A. Butler (D. A. Butler Did It) When the quiet of a small Missouri city is disrupted by the murder of a federal judge, a young newspaper reporter, Hailey Fox, starts an investigation that leads to the discovery of shady transactions involving the judge and others in the community.  With the help of a mysterious ATF agent, a good-old-boy sheriff, the new lawyer in town, and even her own mother, Hailey sets out to solve the judge’s murder and unravel the criminal enterprise in which he was involved – despite the peril to her own safety.  When Hailey’s former lover becomes a suspect, Hailey continues her dogged pursuit of the facts.  And with all of this swirling around her, she manages to find romance along the way.  But what about the ghost haunting her apartment?
JOPLIN JUSTICE– Excerpt from Chapter 5.

The B&C smelled of cigarettes, booze, and disinfectant, as always.  From the jukebox, a new country song followed the end of another.  The tough-looking bartender, a handlebar mustache dripping over his lips, watched her move past the busy tables towards the far end of the bar.  She found Dale Jargis and Charley Hoyt deep in conversation in one of the booths there and took a seat next to Jargis, forcing him to move over.  She slapped her new book on the table.
Charley drew out a pair of reading glasses and perched them on his nose. He looked at the title:  “Ghosts in the House, a Compilation of Sightings and Encounters From Another Dimension.”  After riffling through a few pages, he wrinkled his nose and stared at Hailey over the top of the readers. “You spent good money on this?”
She sighed.  “I’m not the only person with a ghost is all.”
“Right.”  He closed the book and looked over at Jargis and then back at Hailey. “Did you kiddies have fun this afternoon with the Bronco?”
“If not for me, she’d be out on a hot date with Bob at Buster’s Tow,” Jargis said.
“Old Bob’s a treasure, ain’t he?”
A slim, sandy-haired waitress sashayed over to their booth.  Charley ordered Hailey a scotch on the rocks and nachos.  “You’re going to eat.”
“Charley, I can’t eat nachos, you know that.”
“All in your head.  Just like this stuff.”  He pointed a finger at the book on the table.  “You don’t have a ghost.  You have an overactive imagination.”  He turned to Jargis.  “She calls him Teddy.”
“Have you ever come home and found all your underwear in a heap in the middle of the kitchen floor?”
Charley laughed out loud.  “No, can’t say that I have.  But if I keep drinking anything is possible.”

LinksPURCHASE AT:   Amazon   Goodreads link

Twitter link: @DAButlerAuthor

FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP: Contemporary Romance Author, Shelley Lieber/Elyse Grant

Shelley Lieber, Author
Under pen name Elyse Grant
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAXWelcome contemporary romance author Shelley Lieber, er, or is it Elyse Grant. We are privileged today to get double—maybe even triple—the author.  Shelley Lieber describes herself as an author with a split personality. Her alter ego Elyse Grant seized control of her writing one day and produced THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, described by one reviewer as “sexy and exciting while also exploring the everyday problems most women are dealing with.” As a publishing consultant, Shelley Lieber has published 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable.  She also blogs about vegan food and what it’s like being a vegan.
Shelley lives in North Carolina with her husband and her other personalities. They all like to read romance, comedy, drama, and documentaries, and spend time with friends. Also, they have a Muse and they all love her.

Don't miss the excerpt following the interview.
Click the link at the end of this article to check out the First Love Blog Hop and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.
Q: Given that you are split personalities, I feel compelled to address questions to each of you.  Let’s start with Elyse. What inspired you to write THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX (I love that title)? 
Elyse Grant: (Thank you ;-) THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX began life as a nonfiction book by Shelley Lieber about re-entering the dating scene at age 40+ after divorce. I’m a fiction writer and I’d been waiting many years to emerge. My opportunity finally showed up one day when Shelley was struggling to organize and present all the stories she had conducted from her real-life interviews with divorced and separated women as research for the book. I saw her falter in frustration and I quickly jumped out and took over the keyboard, introducing her to the characters of Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into place, and the story of THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX unfolded.
Q: One of your reviewers said that THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX provided “a great balance of sexuality and everything else that goes into life. The author has created a wonderful and realistic context for showing how women can become their own person.” When you decided to write this book was your goal to offer an entertaining book or to deliver a message?
Elyse Grant: Both. The book has been described as “erotica with a message,” but in truth, it’s women’s contemporary fiction with erotic scenes. As a genre, contemporary women’s fiction confronts issues of modern-day women and their relationships with men, other women, careers, and children. My intention was to explore some of these issues. Of course, a book must be entertaining, or who will read it? So, my goal was to explore the issues in an entertaining and engaging way.
Q: How important is sexuality to telling your story?
Elyse Grant: Sexuality is an important component of a woman’s life and integral to stories about women. THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAXexplores many components of a woman’s life through two main and two minor female characters. Sexuality is important to the story, but no more so than motherhood or creative expression.
Q: Elyse: How do you convince readers to care what happens to your characters?
Elyse Grant: I don’t try to convince anyone of anything. I do try to create multifaceted characters who exhibit a range of emotions and ideas, who make mistakes and have failures, and who are vulnerable but strong enough to persevere and succeed. As a reader, I know I care about characters I like or admire, and I believe my readers feel the same way.
Q:  Who are your intended readers? What are they looking for?
Elyse Grant: Well, that’s really a question for Shelley. She’s all about target markets and things like that. But I’d say my ideal reader is a woman who appreciates that the pursuit of purpose, passion, and fulfillment is a bumpy, but enjoyable ride.
Q: Now let’s give Shelley a chance to respond. Why are you a writer? When did you first realize that you are a writer?
Shelley Lieber:  I am a writer because that’s what I am. There’s nothing else I do that feels as joyful or fulfilling. I don’t know that I ever “realized” I was a writer...however, there was a day when I realized that I would write for a living and publish my work. I was in my 20s and on vacation at a beach house. I suddenly “saw” myself on the porch of the cottage with a typewriter and knew that one day my vision would be real. It wasn’t that surprising to me, really. I majored in English, loved books, and was working in the publishing industry as a book editor at the time. I began my writing career some years later as a magazine editor and writer. I became a copywriter and worked in advertising, marketing, and public relations for a while. But, fiction was always my first love, and fortunately Elyse Grant popped out one day to assume that role.
Q: Who are the Wordy Woman and The Vegan Novelist? (You really do have a lot of personalities!)
Shelley Lieber: The Wordy Woman is a publishing professional with almost 40 years experience in the industry. She wrote 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable. She helps new and aspiring authors write and publish their work.
The Vegan Novelist demanded recognition in Summer 2012 and started a vegan food and lifestyle blog. She was inspired to write about her participation in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with a local organic farm.
The problem we face as a multiple personality is that we share the same 24 hours. So, if Vegan Novelist is blogging, Elyse isn’t writing, and Shelley isn’t serving clients. Balance has not yet been achieved. Hence, since THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX has occupied our attention in the past months, Vegan Novelist has not blogged since last summer (although she appears in the kitchen at mealtimes).
Q: Tell us something about yourselves. When you’re not writing, what do you all do? Hobbies? Sailing? Knitting? Standup comedy? Favorite music?  Favorite authors? Do you have a muse?
Shelley Lieber: For the most part, there’s not too much conflict with what to do with leisure time. We enjoy the same kinds of books and movies: romance, comedy, drama, and documentaries. We steer clear of horror, violence, and things that don’t feel good.  We lean to “green” in lifestyle and diet, and love to spend time with family and friends. We absolutely have a Muse and we love her!
About Shelley Lieber/Elyse Grant/Wordy Woman/The Vegan Novelist
Shelley Lieber is an author with a split personality. As The Wordy Woman,publishing consultant, she wrote 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable for new and aspiring authors. Her wilder side writes erotic fiction under the pen name Elyse Grant. THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX  is her debut novel. A third personality common to both Shelley and Elyse is Vegan Novelist, who blogs about vegan food and lifestyle.
Shelley is what native North Carolinians not so fondly call a “halfback.” Originally from New York, she moved to Florida, then to North Carolina. Shelley now lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband, who is remarkably patient and skillful at adjusting to her personality switches.
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, a novel by Elyse Grant (aka Shelley Lieber), is the steamy hot and often funny story of best friends Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein, each trying to break free of the “happily ever after” fairy tale myth. Leah beginsan introspective journey through her past for answers. When she discovers what really stands between her and happiness, she sets off on a mission to help spare other women the pain of looking for love in all the wrong places—even though she knows her crusade may just be a battle that destroys her real prince. In contrast to the reclusive Leah, Roxie teeters on the edge of self-destruction as she tries to satisfy her unquenchable thirst for excitement. Drugs and sex don't diminish her cravings, and the man she falls for, while charming, is no prince. Once they team up on a crazy trip from their South Florida home to Philadelphia and New York, they stumble onto how toExcerpt from Chapter 14 of THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX
“Leah Gold?” Leah spun around. A dark-haired man with a white V-neck sweater and jeans was coming toward her. “Yes?”“I want you to know that I think it’s pretty rude for you to leave, knowing I came here to meet you. I closed my shop early and you can’t even take a minute to poke your head in and say hi. Who the hell do you think you are?”Leah stared at him for a moment, trying to take it all in. “Tom?”“Yeah, I’m Tom.”“I’m so sorry. You’re right. It was rude. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.” Leah wished the ground would open and swallow her up. “Something happened, and I…I guess I didn’t think at all.”“Sounds to me more like you were just thinking about yourself.”Leah rarely found herself at a loss for words, but Tom took her breath away. Lydia had been less than truthful again. Tom was not merely good looking. He was gorgeous. His green eyes snapped under dark eyebrows as he stood there glaring at her. He was tanned, and she caught sight of straight, white teeth as he snapped at her.Leah bit her lower lip. “Look, Tom, I know I haven’t exactly made a great first impression, but if you’ll give me another chance…”Tom looked into her eyes, but didn’t say anything.She held out her hand to him. “Hi, Tom. I’m Leah. Thank you for coming to meet me.”His entire posture relaxed. Tom had been keyed up, ready for a fight, but Leah seemed to knock the wind out of him. His mouth softened from a straight, angry line to a grin. “Nice to meet you, Leah. I probably shouldn’t have told you off like that. It’s just that…I haven’t been having such great luck lately with women, and I guess I took it out on you.”“Actually, it was my own misfortunes with men that had me leaving so soon.” The two stood in silence for a moment, just looking at one another.“Would you like to go back inside?” Tom asked.“No!” Leah answered. “But tell me, how well do you know Lydia and Philip?”“Not very well. I met Lydia at the gym and I’ve done some printing jobs for them—programs, flyers, and things. I’ve met Philip once or twice when I dropped off their orders.”“You’re a printer?”“Yes, I have a shop in Pompano. How about you, Leah? Where do you work?”They stood in the parking lot talking, not paying attention to the darkening sky or the time passing. Leah was so engrossed in their conversation that she was suddenly startled to hear Ali calling her name from a distance.“Mom, what are you doing out there?” Ali stood in the theater doorway. She made her way to Leah’s car. “I was looking all over for you when I came out of class. Why are you in the parking lot?”“Ali, this is Tom Ryan. Tom, my daughter Alison.”“Hi, Ali,” Tom extended his hand.“Hi, nice to meet you,” Ali said as she shook his hand. She turned to Leah. “Can we go now? I’m starving.” “All right, Ali. Get in the car. I’ll be right there.”Leah winced as Ali slammed the car door, but smiled at Tom. “Thanks again for coming tonight. I’m glad you followed me out here, even if it was to tell me off!”

LinksShelley Lieber Blog Elyse Grant Blog Vegan Novelist 
Amazon ‬‬‬‬FacebookTwitter: http://twitter.com/wordywomanGoodreads
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BOOK LOVERS BLOG HOP: Contemporary Romance Author, Shelley Lieber/Elyse Grant

Shelley Lieber, Author
Under pen name Elyse Grant
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAXWelcome contemporary romance author Shelley Lieber, er, or is it Elyse Grant. We are privileged today to get double—maybe even triple—the author.  Shelley Lieber describes herself as an author with a split personality. Her alter ego Elyse Grant seized control of her writing one day and produced THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, described by one reviewer as “sexy and exciting while also exploring the everyday problems most women are dealing with.” As a publishing consultant, Shelley Lieber has published 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable.  She also blogs about vegan food and what it’s like being a vegan.
Shelley lives in North Carolina with her husband and her other personalities. They all like to read romance, comedy, drama, and documentaries, and spend time with friends. Also, they have a Muse and they all love her.

Don't miss the excerpt following the interview.
Click the link at the end of this article to check out the First Love Blog Hop and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.
Q: Given that you are split personalities, I feel compelled to address questions to each of you.  Let’s start with Elyse. What inspired you to write THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX (I love that title)? 
Elyse Grant: (Thank you ;-) THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX began life as a nonfiction book by Shelley Lieber about re-entering the dating scene at age 40+ after divorce. I’m a fiction writer and I’d been waiting many years to emerge. My opportunity finally showed up one day when Shelley was struggling to organize and present all the stories she had conducted from her real-life interviews with divorced and separated women as research for the book. I saw her falter in frustration and I quickly jumped out and took over the keyboard, introducing her to the characters of Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into place, and the story of THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX unfolded.
Q: One of your reviewers said that THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX provided “a great balance of sexuality and everything else that goes into life. The author has created a wonderful and realistic context for showing how women can become their own person.” When you decided to write this book was your goal to offer an entertaining book or to deliver a message?
Elyse Grant: Both. The book has been described as “erotica with a message,” but in truth, it’s women’s contemporary fiction with erotic scenes. As a genre, contemporary women’s fiction confronts issues of modern-day women and their relationships with men, other women, careers, and children. My intention was to explore some of these issues. Of course, a book must be entertaining, or who will read it? So, my goal was to explore the issues in an entertaining and engaging way.
Q: How important is sexuality to telling your story?
Elyse Grant: Sexuality is an important component of a woman’s life and integral to stories about women. THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAXexplores many components of a woman’s life through two main and two minor female characters. Sexuality is important to the story, but no more so than motherhood or creative expression.
Q: Elyse: How do you convince readers to care what happens to your characters?
Elyse Grant: I don’t try to convince anyone of anything. I do try to create multifaceted characters who exhibit a range of emotions and ideas, who make mistakes and have failures, and who are vulnerable but strong enough to persevere and succeed. As a reader, I know I care about characters I like or admire, and I believe my readers feel the same way.
Q:  Who are your intended readers? What are they looking for?
Elyse Grant: Well, that’s really a question for Shelley. She’s all about target markets and things like that. But I’d say my ideal reader is a woman who appreciates that the pursuit of purpose, passion, and fulfillment is a bumpy, but enjoyable ride.
Q: Now let’s give Shelley a chance to respond. Why are you a writer? When did you first realize that you are a writer?
Shelley Lieber:  I am a writer because that’s what I am. There’s nothing else I do that feels as joyful or fulfilling. I don’t know that I ever “realized” I was a writer...however, there was a day when I realized that I would write for a living and publish my work. I was in my 20s and on vacation at a beach house. I suddenly “saw” myself on the porch of the cottage with a typewriter and knew that one day my vision would be real. It wasn’t that surprising to me, really. I majored in English, loved books, and was working in the publishing industry as a book editor at the time. I began my writing career some years later as a magazine editor and writer. I became a copywriter and worked in advertising, marketing, and public relations for a while. But, fiction was always my first love, and fortunately Elyse Grant popped out one day to assume that role.
Q: Who are the Wordy Woman and The Vegan Novelist? (You really do have a lot of personalities!)
Shelley Lieber: The Wordy Woman is a publishing professional with almost 40 years experience in the industry. She wrote 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable. She helps new and aspiring authors write and publish their work.
The Vegan Novelist demanded recognition in Summer 2012 and started a vegan food and lifestyle blog. She was inspired to write about her participation in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with a local organic farm.
The problem we face as a multiple personality is that we share the same 24 hours. So, if Vegan Novelist is blogging, Elyse isn’t writing, and Shelley isn’t serving clients. Balance has not yet been achieved. Hence, since THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX has occupied our attention in the past months, Vegan Novelist has not blogged since last summer (although she appears in the kitchen at mealtimes).
Q: Tell us something about yourselves. When you’re not writing, what do you all do? Hobbies? Sailing? Knitting? Standup comedy? Favorite music?  Favorite authors? Do you have a muse?
Shelley Lieber: For the most part, there’s not too much conflict with what to do with leisure time. We enjoy the same kinds of books and movies: romance, comedy, drama, and documentaries. We steer clear of horror, violence, and things that don’t feel good.  We lean to “green” in lifestyle and diet, and love to spend time with family and friends. We absolutely have a Muse and we love her!
About Shelley Lieber/Elyse Grant/Wordy Woman/The Vegan Novelist
Shelley Lieber is an author with a split personality. As The Wordy Woman,publishing consultant, she wrote 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable for new and aspiring authors. Her wilder side writes erotic fiction under the pen name Elyse Grant. THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX  is her debut novel. A third personality common to both Shelley and Elyse is Vegan Novelist, who blogs about vegan food and lifestyle.
Shelley is what native North Carolinians not so fondly call a “halfback.” Originally from New York, she moved to Florida, then to North Carolina. Shelley now lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband, who is remarkably patient and skillful at adjusting to her personality switches.
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, a novel by Elyse Grant (aka Shelley Lieber), is the steamy hot and often funny story of best friends Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein, each trying to break free of the “happily ever after” fairy tale myth. Leah beginsan introspective journey through her past for answers. When she discovers what really stands between her and happiness, she sets off on a mission to help spare other women the pain of looking for love in all the wrong places—even though she knows her crusade may just be a battle that destroys her real prince. In contrast to the reclusive Leah, Roxie teeters on the edge of self-destruction as she tries to satisfy her unquenchable thirst for excitement. Drugs and sex don't diminish her cravings, and the man she falls for, while charming, is no prince. Once they team up on a crazy trip from their South Florida home to Philadelphia and New York, they stumble onto how toExcerpt from Chapter 14 of THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX
“Leah Gold?” Leah spun around. A dark-haired man with a white V-neck sweater and jeans was coming toward her. “Yes?”“I want you to know that I think it’s pretty rude for you to leave, knowing I came here to meet you. I closed my shop early and you can’t even take a minute to poke your head in and say hi. Who the hell do you think you are?”Leah stared at him for a moment, trying to take it all in. “Tom?”“Yeah, I’m Tom.”“I’m so sorry. You’re right. It was rude. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.” Leah wished the ground would open and swallow her up. “Something happened, and I…I guess I didn’t think at all.”“Sounds to me more like you were just thinking about yourself.”Leah rarely found herself at a loss for words, but Tom took her breath away. Lydia had been less than truthful again. Tom was not merely good looking. He was gorgeous. His green eyes snapped under dark eyebrows as he stood there glaring at her. He was tanned, and she caught sight of straight, white teeth as he snapped at her.Leah bit her lower lip. “Look, Tom, I know I haven’t exactly made a great first impression, but if you’ll give me another chance…”Tom looked into her eyes, but didn’t say anything.She held out her hand to him. “Hi, Tom. I’m Leah. Thank you for coming to meet me.”His entire posture relaxed. Tom had been keyed up, ready for a fight, but Leah seemed to knock the wind out of him. His mouth softened from a straight, angry line to a grin. “Nice to meet you, Leah. I probably shouldn’t have told you off like that. It’s just that…I haven’t been having such great luck lately with women, and I guess I took it out on you.”“Actually, it was my own misfortunes with men that had me leaving so soon.” The two stood in silence for a moment, just looking at one another.“Would you like to go back inside?” Tom asked.“No!” Leah answered. “But tell me, how well do you know Lydia and Philip?”“Not very well. I met Lydia at the gym and I’ve done some printing jobs for them—programs, flyers, and things. I’ve met Philip once or twice when I dropped off their orders.”“You’re a printer?”“Yes, I have a shop in Pompano. How about you, Leah? Where do you work?”They stood in the parking lot talking, not paying attention to the darkening sky or the time passing. Leah was so engrossed in their conversation that she was suddenly startled to hear Ali calling her name from a distance.“Mom, what are you doing out there?” Ali stood in the theater doorway. She made her way to Leah’s car. “I was looking all over for you when I came out of class. Why are you in the parking lot?”“Ali, this is Tom Ryan. Tom, my daughter Alison.”“Hi, Ali,” Tom extended his hand.“Hi, nice to meet you,” Ali said as she shook his hand. She turned to Leah. “Can we go now? I’m starving.” “All right, Ali. Get in the car. I’ll be right there.”Leah winced as Ali slammed the car door, but smiled at Tom. “Thanks again for coming tonight. I’m glad you followed me out here, even if it was to tell me off!”

LinksShelley Lieber Blog Elyse Grant Blog Vegan Novelist 
Amazon ‬‬‬‬FacebookTwitter: http://twitter.com/wordywomanGoodreads
Click Here to go to First Love Blog Hop and Giveaway

29 Authors - 47 Books - everything from Romance to Horror
Visit their blogs, Facebook pages, make comments and/or buy books to earn entries into the Grand Prize Giveaway!
Lots of prizes to be won - on the main blog as well as the participant's!
Come by every day and see the Daily Spotlight for your chance at an easy entry!

FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP: Paranormal Mystery Author, Jeff LaFerney

Jeff LaFerney, Author
LOVING THE RAIN, SKELETON KEY, and
BULLETPROOFJeff LaFerney writes about a father/son whodunit team who have a bit of an advantage over the bad guys. Although they live in "the real world," they both have mind-controlling abilities. LaFerney has published three Clay and Tanner Thomas novels described by one reviewer as "a stunner mental gifts series.” 
A coach and language arts teacher for more than 20 years, LaFerney today lives in Michigan. He likes to laugh, and believes he spends way too much time on Facebook. His favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird and his favorite movie is the "inconceivable" Princess Bride -- both favorites of mine. 

Click the link at the end of this article to check out the First Love Blog Hop and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.

Q: What inspired you to write about a father/son team with mind-controlling abilities as a whodunit series?             Jeff LaFerney: I had an idea—which I didn’t use—about a basketball-playing son who transferred schools, and then his JV coaching father got fired as a result. When the head coach was murdered, the boy’s father, who was framed, was arrested. In order to get out of jail to solve the mystery, I came up with the mind-control abilities. After studying the brain, I came up with a theory about parapsychology that I used in the books, but I also came up with a different plot.
Q: How did you create, as one reviewer said, “characters you'll love to love and others you'll love to hate”? Your reviewers really appreciate your characters. Are they based on people you know?
Jeff LaFerney: It seems like my “bad guys” and my minor characters are reader favorites, and they’re nothing like anyone I know. They’re fun to write about, though, because I make them up completely. I think readers like my heroes because they’re strong morally, they’re loyal to each other and they have a good sense of humor.
Q: How do you help readers believe and accept the world and characters you create?             Jeff LaFerney: My characters are really just regular guys. The parapsychology is looked at as both a gift and a curse. They don’t believe that others should be manipulated, but they also believe in justice, so they use their gifts to obtain clues that others are unable to procure. My “world” is actually very realistic and my characters believable.
Q: Is humor important to telling your story?
Jeff LaFerney:  I love to use physical humor and witty dialogue.  To me, it balances the drama, the sadness, and the suspense and makes for a read that runs a gamut of emotions.
Q: Could your story occur in any setting? Or is the setting a critical part of the story?
Jeff LaFerney: Well, I wrote all three books with settings close to where I live. I did it because in the first book, the sports and setting were comfort zones. When readers liked the story, I used other local settings, which has helped me to sell a lot of books. People living in my county will recognize the settings, but those settings could have been anywhere. They aren’t critical.
Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or do you have something to say to your readers?
Jeff LaFerney: I write mostly for entertainment, but as an English teacher who teaches literature in school, I feel that my stories should have recognizable themes and, I’m proud to say, moral values.
Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
Jeff LaFerney: I’ve always enjoyed the stories I’ve written, but I decided to write a novel because of the classroom library I was building. There were a lot of books I read that were award-winners that I didn’t think were very good, and I kept telling myself I could do better. Because of some life circumstances, I decided it was time to do something new with my life, so I chose to write a book. I have three—none of which has won an award. How ironic is that?
Q:  Tell us something about yourself, e.g., do you like to exercise? Eat? Go to plays? What’s your favorite holiday, book, author, character, play, movie, celebrity?  What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a muse?             Jeff LaFerney: I’m from a very athletic family. My wife and I both played three varsity sports and so did my son and daughter. My dad and I were both successful coaches, and I’ve played sports my whole life, so I still exercise. I love salty foods better than sweet ones, except I loveMountain Dew. I love action movies, especially with super heroes, but my favorite is The Princess Bride. My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and my favorite authors are Robert B. Parker, Harlan Coban, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and John Irving. I read more than I write, I  My blog is all about fun. I’d love for people to check that out too.
My books are suspense and mystery. Clay and Tanner Thomas are a father/son team. Each of the books can be read alone, so I’d love for people to check them out and choose one to get started on. I’m grateful, Joyce, for you to spotlight me and introduce me to your followers. Thank you.
About Jeff LaFerney
Jeff LaFerney has been a language arts teacher and coach for more than twenty years. He earned his English and teaching degrees from the University of Michigan-Flint and his master's degree in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University. He and Jennifer, his wife of twenty-five years, live in Davison, Michigan. Torey and Teryn are their two children. LOVING THE RAIN is his first novel in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series.  The second, SKELETON KEY , and the third, BULLETPROOF , are paranormal mysteries, set in the Flint area.  When Jeff sets a goal, he achieves it; when he has a friendship, he cherishes it; and when he imagines, he writes about it.  He loves competing at sports, connecting to good books, and creating words that make people laugh.
LOVING THE RAIN
Mind powers are to be kept unused and secret. At least that's what Clay Thomas believes until a determined rival from his past enters his life, seeking revenge. When Clay discovers that his athletic son has his own mind powers, they set out together to undo consequences from Clay's past and to put an end to Jack Harding's plans. As his enemy closes in and Clay and Tanner's powers grow, Clay is forced to choose between protecting his secrets and protecting those he loves most. LOVING THE RAIN, the first stand-alone novel in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series, is a suspenseful story about an exceptional man forced to face the choices of his past and the extraordinary love and forgiveness that finally offer him peace from a lifetime of secrecy.



SKELETON KEY
After a tragic train wreck, Depot co-owner, Adrian Payne disappears. Seven years later, Clay Thomas meets Payne's beautiful wife and determines to help her by using his mind powers to solve the mystery of Payne's disappearance. With the help of Clay's son, Tanner, the local chief of police, and Adrian Payne's ghost, Clay discovers the body, catapulting the investigators into a mystery--a mystery with more questions than answers. If there was foul play, why do the coroner and Adrian's ghost disagree? If there wasn't foul play, why do all the suspects appear to be guilty? A twisted plot, full of surprises and interesting characters is the result. Lessons of faith, friendship, personal growth, and peace give meaning to a one-of-a-kind mystery. SKELETON KEY, a stand-alone novel, is the second in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series.


BULLETPROOF
After a devastating injury to his father, Clay Thomas is abandoned by two of the people closest to him while being pursued by the local police chief for crimes he didn't commit. He is determined to find the culprit of a series of local robberies while fulfilling a promise to a ghost to solve his eleven-year-old murder. Clay and his son, Tanner, incorporate their unique mind-control abilities to solve the crimes, restoring broken relationships in the process. BULLETPROOF, a stand-alone novel, is the third exciting installment in the Clay and Tanner Thomas mystery/suspense series.
LINKS Purchase sitesAmazon   
World Castle Publishing

Blog  webpage Facebook   
Goodreads page link  

Click here to go to First Love Blog Hop and Giveaway

29 Authors - 47 Books - everything from Romance to Horror
Visit their blogs, Facebook pages, make comments and/or buy books to earn entries into the Grand Prize Giveaway!
Lots of prizes to be won - on the main blog as well as the participant's!
Come by every day and see the Daily Spotlight for your chance at an easy entry!

BOOK LOVERS BLOG HOP: Paranormal Mystery Author, Jeff LaFerney

Jeff LaFerney, Author
LOVING THE RAIN, SKELETON KEY, and
BULLETPROOFJeff LaFerney writes about a father/son whodunit team who have a bit of an advantage over the bad guys. Although they live in "the real world," they both have mind-controlling abilities. LaFerney has published three Clay and Tanner Thomas novels described by one reviewer as "a stunner mental gifts series.” 
A coach and language arts teacher for more than 20 years, LaFerney today lives in Michigan. He likes to laugh, and believes he spends way too much time on Facebook. His favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird and his favorite movie is the "inconceivable" Princess Bride -- both favorites of mine. 

Click the link at the end of this article to check out the First Love Blog Hop and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.

Q: What inspired you to write about a father/son team with mind-controlling abilities as a whodunit series?             Jeff LaFerney: I had an idea—which I didn’t use—about a basketball-playing son who transferred schools, and then his JV coaching father got fired as a result. When the head coach was murdered, the boy’s father, who was framed, was arrested. In order to get out of jail to solve the mystery, I came up with the mind-control abilities. After studying the brain, I came up with a theory about parapsychology that I used in the books, but I also came up with a different plot.
Q: How did you create, as one reviewer said, “characters you'll love to love and others you'll love to hate”? Your reviewers really appreciate your characters. Are they based on people you know?
Jeff LaFerney: It seems like my “bad guys” and my minor characters are reader favorites, and they’re nothing like anyone I know. They’re fun to write about, though, because I make them up completely. I think readers like my heroes because they’re strong morally, they’re loyal to each other and they have a good sense of humor.
Q: How do you help readers believe and accept the world and characters you create?             Jeff LaFerney: My characters are really just regular guys. The parapsychology is looked at as both a gift and a curse. They don’t believe that others should be manipulated, but they also believe in justice, so they use their gifts to obtain clues that others are unable to procure. My “world” is actually very realistic and my characters believable.
Q: Is humor important to telling your story?
Jeff LaFerney:  I love to use physical humor and witty dialogue.  To me, it balances the drama, the sadness, and the suspense and makes for a read that runs a gamut of emotions.
Q: Could your story occur in any setting? Or is the setting a critical part of the story?
Jeff LaFerney: Well, I wrote all three books with settings close to where I live. I did it because in the first book, the sports and setting were comfort zones. When readers liked the story, I used other local settings, which has helped me to sell a lot of books. People living in my county will recognize the settings, but those settings could have been anywhere. They aren’t critical.
Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or do you have something to say to your readers?
Jeff LaFerney: I write mostly for entertainment, but as an English teacher who teaches literature in school, I feel that my stories should have recognizable themes and, I’m proud to say, moral values.
Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
Jeff LaFerney: I’ve always enjoyed the stories I’ve written, but I decided to write a novel because of the classroom library I was building. There were a lot of books I read that were award-winners that I didn’t think were very good, and I kept telling myself I could do better. Because of some life circumstances, I decided it was time to do something new with my life, so I chose to write a book. I have three—none of which has won an award. How ironic is that?
Q:  Tell us something about yourself, e.g., do you like to exercise? Eat? Go to plays? What’s your favorite holiday, book, author, character, play, movie, celebrity?  What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a muse?             Jeff LaFerney: I’m from a very athletic family. My wife and I both played three varsity sports and so did my son and daughter. My dad and I were both successful coaches, and I’ve played sports my whole life, so I still exercise. I love salty foods better than sweet ones, except I loveMountain Dew. I love action movies, especially with super heroes, but my favorite is The Princess Bride. My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and my favorite authors are Robert B. Parker, Harlan Coban, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and John Irving. I read more than I write, I  My blog is all about fun. I’d love for people to check that out too.
My books are suspense and mystery. Clay and Tanner Thomas are a father/son team. Each of the books can be read alone, so I’d love for people to check them out and choose one to get started on. I’m grateful, Joyce, for you to spotlight me and introduce me to your followers. Thank you.
About Jeff LaFerney
Jeff LaFerney has been a language arts teacher and coach for more than twenty years. He earned his English and teaching degrees from the University of Michigan-Flint and his master's degree in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University. He and Jennifer, his wife of twenty-five years, live in Davison, Michigan. Torey and Teryn are their two children. LOVING THE RAIN is his first novel in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series.  The second, SKELETON KEY , and the third, BULLETPROOF , are paranormal mysteries, set in the Flint area.  When Jeff sets a goal, he achieves it; when he has a friendship, he cherishes it; and when he imagines, he writes about it.  He loves competing at sports, connecting to good books, and creating words that make people laugh.
LOVING THE RAIN
Mind powers are to be kept unused and secret. At least that's what Clay Thomas believes until a determined rival from his past enters his life, seeking revenge. When Clay discovers that his athletic son has his own mind powers, they set out together to undo consequences from Clay's past and to put an end to Jack Harding's plans. As his enemy closes in and Clay and Tanner's powers grow, Clay is forced to choose between protecting his secrets and protecting those he loves most. LOVING THE RAIN, the first stand-alone novel in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series, is a suspenseful story about an exceptional man forced to face the choices of his past and the extraordinary love and forgiveness that finally offer him peace from a lifetime of secrecy.



SKELETON KEY
After a tragic train wreck, Depot co-owner, Adrian Payne disappears. Seven years later, Clay Thomas meets Payne's beautiful wife and determines to help her by using his mind powers to solve the mystery of Payne's disappearance. With the help of Clay's son, Tanner, the local chief of police, and Adrian Payne's ghost, Clay discovers the body, catapulting the investigators into a mystery--a mystery with more questions than answers. If there was foul play, why do the coroner and Adrian's ghost disagree? If there wasn't foul play, why do all the suspects appear to be guilty? A twisted plot, full of surprises and interesting characters is the result. Lessons of faith, friendship, personal growth, and peace give meaning to a one-of-a-kind mystery. SKELETON KEY, a stand-alone novel, is the second in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series.


BULLETPROOF
After a devastating injury to his father, Clay Thomas is abandoned by two of the people closest to him while being pursued by the local police chief for crimes he didn't commit. He is determined to find the culprit of a series of local robberies while fulfilling a promise to a ghost to solve his eleven-year-old murder. Clay and his son, Tanner, incorporate their unique mind-control abilities to solve the crimes, restoring broken relationships in the process. BULLETPROOF, a stand-alone novel, is the third exciting installment in the Clay and Tanner Thomas mystery/suspense series.
LINKS Purchase sitesAmazon   
World Castle Publishing

Blog  webpage Facebook   
Goodreads page link  

Click here to go to First Love Blog Hop and Giveaway

29 Authors - 47 Books - everything from Romance to Horror
Visit their blogs, Facebook pages, make comments and/or buy books to earn entries into the Grand Prize Giveaway!
Lots of prizes to be won - on the main blog as well as the participant's!
Come by every day and see the Daily Spotlight for your chance at an easy entry!

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Contemporary Horror Author J.L. Petty

Welcome contemporary horror author J. L. Petty who took a break from working on her masters degree to fill us in on her first published work.  Inspired by a real event, DEATH AND THE JOURNALIST (Solstice Publishing) tells the story of a journalist who disappears one night following a plane crash upon meeting some kind of supernatural force.  The story is “a thoughtfully entertaining read that puts a fresh spin on one person's encounter with Death,” according to a reviewer. In addition to writing contemporary horror short stories, J.L. Petty has written suspense, science fiction, and fantasy fiction, and has published works in a variety of magazines and anthologies. 
She has a dog named Chewbacca, and her favorite author is Michael Crichton. 


Q: What do you consider “horror”?
J.L. Petty: I consider a shuddering feeling of fear the definition of horror.
Q: How do you make your stories “scary”?
J.L. Petty:  I make my stories scary by having really horrifying villains. I think having a great villain makes the story great.
Q:  What inspires you to write horror stories? 
J.L. Petty:  I am inspired to write horror stories by watching horror movies. I particularly like the indie movies because they always have fresh concepts that haven’t been seen with mainstream audiences yet.
Q: How do you make us care about your characters?
J.L. Petty:  I make readers care about my characters by using vivid imagery when describing them. Most writers struggle with showing versus telling. I always try my best to paint a really vivid character description.  
Q: Are you in control of your characters? Or do they push you around?
J.L. Petty:  I am definitely in control of my characters. lol. I may have an idea of how I want the characters to be that is stuck in my head. But then, when I start writing, I completely change my mind.
Q: What makes a hero/heroine? What makes a villain?
J.L. Petty: Unwavering bravery makes a hero and pure deceptive intention make a villain.
Q: How important is back story? Do you do any research for credibility?
J.L. Petty: I think back stories are extremely important; so that the story flow makes sense. I do a lot of research for credibility. It is extremely important because readers will email me with criticism and that can be embarrassing lol.
Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
J.L. Petty:  I am a writer because I grew up reading. My mother is a school teacher and she would always promote literacy in our house. So from an early age, I always had an aesthetic appreciation for literary arts and writing. I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was 9 years old. I would write short stories to my mother in class. She was always encouraging me.  
Q: Tell us something about yourself, e.g., do you like to read? Eat? What’s your favorite charity, holiday, book, author, character, play, movie, celebrity?  What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a muse? Do you like dogs or cats?
J.L. Petty:  When I’m not writing, I am in school working on a master’s degree in education. I have a dog named Chewbacca; so I am a dog lover.  My favorite author is Michael Crichton…and my favorite book is Congo. My favorite movie is Casino. I don’t have a muse yet; though, I’d love to have one someday. My favorite holiday is Christmas. Also, my favorite play is Lion King; it has beautiful scenery. My favorite celebrity is Robert Dinero and my favorite charity is water.org. Around the world, there are thousands that don’t have fresh drinking water. I donate to their cause once a year.
Author BioJ.L. Petty is an author of several short stories. She published her first book DEATH AND THE JOURNALIST with Solstice Publishing, February 14, 2011. Her stories range in contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy fiction.  Over the years, she’s written for various magazines and has been featured as an author in several anthologies. Petty discovered her love of writing at an early age and started working as a contributor for The Virginian Pilot Newspaper. After working with the local newspaper in her hometown, J.L. Petty embarked upon a career in entertainment journalism and also worked for United States Congress. She is currently working towards a Masters degree and resides in Virginia.
DEATH AND THE JOURNALIST Set in the fall of 2001 and purportedly based on actual events. Michael Devoe, journalist for the New York Times, is the victim of the most compelling evidences of disappearances ever documented in United States History. After a plane crash, Michael disappears one night during an encounter with an unexplained supernatural force. Authorities report that his body was never found.
ExcerptThe flight attendant faced the passengers. Over the roar of the engine, she spoke in a firm voice with a hint of quiver, “We are going to be okay, please put your oxygen masks on,” then she sat down and buckled her seat belt. The fat man and I were still standing. Grimacing at my cramping hands, I kept my grip on the black metal bar.
In the midst of the now-panicked passengers sat one woman, calmly flipping the pages of her Cosmopolitan magazine and taking occasional sips of her Pepsi. She seemed so calm and serene; I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She had long black hair and her face was like that of a fashion model or actress. She was wearing a black dress and needed no jewelry to define her long ivory-colored neck. This woman had the whitest skin. Her limbs were long. She seemed to ignore everything around her and was patiently waiting for the plane to crash.
As though she felt me staring at her, she turned to look at me. Gooseflesh popped up all over my skin when I looked into her cold gray eyes, then shifted my eyes to the ground. I could smell the heavy smoke rising from the engines I stared at the rain drops that splattered against the exit window. Smoke drifted into the cabin of the plane.

Website Blog Goodreads author pagePublisher: Solstice PublishingBook trailerAmazon 

FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP – Fantasy Australian Author Gillian Joy

Gillian Joy, Author
GUARDIAN and FOREVER
A love of supernatural literature led Australian author Gillian Joy to write about Hannah, “the keeper and the protector of all supernatural.” Her first novel GUARDIAN “contains all the supernatural you could possibly want and more. There are vampires, witches, werewolves and more!!” according to a reviewer. But even more important are “the depth of the characters and Gillian Joy's ability to draw you into her story.”When she's not writing, Gillian designs houses. She is possibly the only person I know who would list the movie “Calamity Jane” as one of her favorites. For those of you who don’t remember, it’s a Doris Day movie that features the song “Secret Love” and I, too, am a fan. However, above all, she appreciates Hugh Jackman *sighs*.Click the link at the end of this article to check out the FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.Q: Why did you choose to write about the supernatural?Gillian Joy: I love the supernatural. I read The Vampire Lestat when I was a teenager and I fell in love with Lestat and have been crazy about vampires ever since. It was just a natural progression towards werewolves, fairies and angels as well, just to name a few that pop up in the book.Q: How do you help readers believe and accept the world and characters you create?Gillian Joy: Well it's fantasy, so technically I don't really expect them to believe in the world I created, but I do want them to believe in the personalities of the characters I've created. If the reader can relate to the characters, then hopefully they can place themselves in their positions and that in turn will let them get totally lost in the world they live in, and that's my main aim when I'm writing. To create a world that reader will lose themselves in.Q:  One of the reviewers of GUARDIAN said, “The character development of Hannah and Bernard is especially endearing.” How do you make us care about your characters? Why do we like your heroes? Why do we hate your villains?Gillian Joy: I like to think I write characters that are realistic and approachable. Everyday people with everyday problems, they all have their strengths and their flaws.  Except perhaps for Gabriel, I have been told he is perfection personified although personally I think he sometimes tries to be a bit too controlling. Hannah can be too damn stubborn for her own good far too often but she's just an independent woman who has learnt to cope on her own, but she definitely learns and grows throughout the series. I love her relationship with Bernard, and I think that's why my readers do too, but without giving away spoilers, I find it amusing when readers comment that they guessed their history in the beginning because I didn't even know their history in the beginning. I was over half way through the book before Hannah shared that little snippet of information with me. I don't really know if the readers hate my villains though. They are still people when it comes down to it, with feelings and emotions and they're not always all bad, sometimes even I feel sorry for them. Q: Is GUARDIAN really a romance set in a supernatural setting? How important is the setting to the story?Gillian Joy: The setting isn't vital to the story. It's more of a character driven romance. If you took the characters out of the supernatural setting and placed them in everyday life the story would still work. It wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting but it could still work.Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or do you incorporate messages to your readers? Gillian Joy: Purely for entertainment, there are no intentional messages at all so if readers see them in my current writing then they are only projecting their own beliefs and opinions. Not that I have issues with that, I want the reader to get what they want out of my stories.Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?Gillian Joy: I used to think about being a writer when I was a kid, but seriously, back then, being a writer was like being an artist or an actor. It was fine to dream about but not something you seriously considered as a career for the average person. Things have changed a lot since then, but it was only a few years ago that my husband convinced me to write something. Books are one of my biggest vices, and I was reading a lot of fan fiction and telling my husband how good some of it was when he suggested I should write some. Problem was I already had Hannah flitting around in my head making cameos in all the paranormal books I was reading, so I decided to tell her story instead of one that had already been written. I wrote the first four chapters and gave them to a friend to read and she begged me for more. Six months later the first draft of GUARDIAN was finished and the hard work really began.Q:  Tell us something about yourself, e.g., do you like to exercise? Eat? Go to plays? What’s your favorite holiday, book, author, character, play, movie, celebrity?  What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a muse?Gillian Joy: Something about me? Ok! I'm Australian. I want to be fitter than I am so, yes, I exercise but nowhere near as much as I want to. I love food, too much and all sorts; I have a savory tooth and a sweet tooth. I can't tell you my favorite book because there are far too many. I really enjoyed the Hunger Games though, and I love a huge range of genres. YA, paranormal, crime, horror. I am a bit of a Steven King fan and I love Anne Rice, but even they have books I've hated. I don't think I will ever finish Stephen King's Liseys story and Anne Rice's Violin was one of the worst books I ever read. One of my secret pleasures is the old time musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Fiddler on the Roof, Calamity Jane just to name a few and I can't wait to go and see Les Miserable. I listen to the score all the time and know it by heart. I don't really have a favorite celebrity but I do have a couple of celebrity crushes. I love Supernatural and am a big Dean fan and I'm also a huge Hugh Jackman fan, ah that hot Aussie body *sighs*. If I'm not writing I'm usually working. I actually design houses for a living. Or preferably I'm just enjoying time with my family, my husband and two kids, camping or 4wding. I wouldn't really say I have a muse but Hannah is definitely a very vocal presence in my head so I'm not sure what's going to happen when I finish the GUARDIAN series. It'll be interesting to see if she continues to feed me ideas or if someone else steps in and takes over. Does that sound crazy? Oh well.Author Profile
I'm a 41-year-old mother of two who designs houses for a living and lives to write.I grew up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney Australia the eldest of five children. I had two younger brothers and two much younger sisters. I say had because one of my brothers died when I was only nineteen. 
I once had a boss who told me I had had a hard life but I never actually saw it that way. Life is what it is, and I had food, clothes, a roof over my head and a family who loved me. What's so hard about that?
These days I live on the Mornington Peninsula, south east of Melbourne Australia where I spend as much spare time as I can either with my nose in a book or writing away on my phone. I love it here, there aren't too many places in the world that with less that a ten minute drive you can watch the sun rise over the water, or you can watch the sun set over the water, and there's just something extra special about watching the sunset over the beach, something dreamy and romantic. I live with my husband, two beautiful but willful kids a few fish and a very spoilt English Staffie named Cleo.
I'm sure you don't want my whole life story so that's about it in a nutshell. I suppose though I should add that I really am a proud Australian. I love bbq's, thongs and vegimite sandwiches and I even call my friends "mate". Oh and in winter I can't live without my "ugg" boots.

GUARDIAN Headstrong and determined, Hannah always knew that she would become the Guardian. She was the keeper and the protector of all supernatural. What she didn't expect was that it would mean she would have to endure the agonizing death of her mother first hand as their supernatural connection brings her to her knees, or that it would mean that she could never be with the man she loved.Blond haired, blue eyed Gabriel was her handsome childhood friend, but would circumstances prevent her from ever being able to explore her true feelings for him?Jesse, the dark alluring but incorrigible vampire would give anything to be with her, but as the guardian Hannah is forbidden to fall in love with the supernatural.With her life in turmoil over her conflicting emotions about Gabriel and Jesse and her frustration at being unable to exact revenge for her mother’s horrific death, Hannah flees her life in an attempt to start over. But can we ever really escape from ourselves?There is no escaping destiny no matter how hard she might try and Hannah must learn to reconcile her commitment to her family with her responsibility as the Guardian and her duty to her heart.FOREVER Hannah’s life has never been easy, despite her strong willed determination and her extra “gifts”, it's still always been hard work keeping an entire world full of the supernatural under control, but having achieved a small semblance of control over most of the custas, Hannah was hoping to be able to slip back into her life of normalcy. Wishful thinking when you're the guardian of all supernatural.With all the issues she’d had to endure in her past, she'd never had to worry about the mermaids before, so why would they choose now to suddenly start haunting her dreams and her life. Then there are the fairies to contend with as well, just when she manages to get one aspect of the crudelitas under control, the others decide it’s time to start causing problems.
 All Hannah wants is some quiet family time and a chance to reflect on her feelings for Gabriel but instead she's thrown back into the thick of the supernatural world, and this time it threatens to invade the quiet family life she has worked so hard to establish. There's no running away this time, she has to front the challenges head on, but forever can be a long time if you can't be with the one you love.COMING SOON… REVENGE Hannah finally has everything she wants out of life, devoted friends, a loving family, and the man of her dreams. Or does she? Life is never easy when you are the “Guardian” of all the supernatural beings, but surely this much heartache is more than one person was ever meant to have to contend with?The Nephilim are on the hunt again but this time it’s not only the vampires they are hunting; and knowing that Hannah is still on the lookout for a new Custas, why would the witches be willing to work in conjunction with them? Then there’s Gabriel; after waiting for centuries to be with Hannah, what could possibly ever entice him to want to kill her. With all the supernatural issues she has to contend with how is it even possible a human could be any sort of a threat to the family life Hannah has built.For over three centuries, one thing has been Hannah’s main driving force, but is it even possible for her to ever track Phelip down and get the final Revenge, and the final peace she has been hunting for.LinksAmazon – Author site Amazon Kindle GUARDIAN Amazon Kindle FOREVER (GUARDIAN)Web Page BlogSmashwords Luluhttps://twitter.com/Gillianjoy2801Facebook
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FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP Author Scott Prussing: An Interesting Take on Vampires

Scott Prussing, Author
The Blue Fire Saga Series
Author Scott Prussing writes about vampires in new and different ways. As one reviewer says, he has “an interesting take on vampires.” Prussing has published five novels in The Blue Fire Saga series about a college freshman—whose mother was bitten by a one-fanged vampire—and her vampire hunter boyfriend. He has also produced an adults only companion piece to The Blue Fire Saga and a collection of short story “prequels” about the origins of some popular Blue Fire Saga characters.
But there is more to Purssing than his vampires. He has also written mystery/suspense novels, a fantasy/adventure novel, and a teen romance based on the hit songs of Taylor Swift. And—I know you’ll find this even more unbelievable than vampires –he doesn’t own a cell phone.
Don’t miss the excerpt following his interview.
Click the link at the end of this article to check out the FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.

Q: Why vampires? 
Scott Prussing: I hate to admit it, but here’s the truth. A friend of mine’s husband, who is an avid reader, read my unpublished mystery/suspense novel Unturned Stones and loved it. He knows how hard it is to get anything published and said offhandedly: “Write something with vampires in it. Anything with vampires sells.” I thought: I could do that. So I wrote BREATHLESS .

I decided to make it a “Twilight type” book that was not really like Twilight, if that makes any sense. So I just started thinking about what I could do differently, but still appeal to that huge audience. Instead of making vampires the lead characters, I made them the catalyst for much of the action. I also made them a bit more traditional. I invented supernatural vampire hunters I call volkaanes and created one-fanged vampires, who are crippled versions of the real thing. I gave my heroine some definite strengths and weaknesses, and made sure I had an engrossing storyline with several subplots. I think I succeeded pretty well, because there are now four sequels to BREATHLESS, with plans for a fifth.
Q: How do you help readers believe the world and characters you create?
Scott Prussing: I set my Blue Fire Saga series in a real town in Connecticut that I’m familiar with, but fitting supernatural characters into a real world, modern day setting is not easy. I work hard at trying to make sure everything is logical. The last thing I want is a reader thinking “that doesn’t make sense.”
As for characters, I give each of them definite strengths and weaknesses, to make them seem more real. I also try to give each of them at least one special “thing” that makes them unique and readers can identify with. One example would be my main character Leesa’s limp.
Q: I am really looking forward to reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Vampires and Zombies. How important is humor to all of your fiction?
Scott Prussing: Humor is very important. I love finding little “witticisms” or jokes in books I read, so I try to use as much of that as I can in my stories. I like to say that in addition to romance and mystery, my books have lots of warm humor in them.
Q: How do you make us care about your characters? Why do we like your heroes? Why do we hate your villains?
Scott Prussing: Part of the answer to this can be found in one of the above questions – people care about my characters because I try to make them as real as possible. In addition to definite strengths and weaknesses, I try to make each of them different. I also put them in situations that lead the reader to like or hate the character. I remember one reader writing in a review about “a vengeful female vampire I just wanted to drive a stake into!” I think we can safely say that the reader hated that character.
 Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
Scott Prussing: I like telling stories and bringing some fun into people’s lives. I also like being my own boss—and being in control of my time and schedule. I don’t know that there was one moment when I knew I wanted to be a writer. I started and stopped doing this several times over the years.
Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or do you incorporate messages to your readers?
Scott Prussing: Ninety-nine percent entertainment. Every now and then, a life lesson creeps in.  
Q:  Tell us something about yourself.
Scott Prussing: The following list should provide many insights into me as a person.1. I have never owned a cell phone (or a lap top computer, for that matter).2. I eat the same breakfast every day (bran flakes with raisins, non-fat milk).3. I have never taken anything to the dry cleaners.4. I’ve driven across the country eight different times, taking four different routes.5. I LOVE Cheez-its (and cheesecake, too, though the two bear no relation).6. I walk or ride my bike by the ocean or bay almost every morning.7. I have never driven through the Drive-Thru lane at a fast food restaurant.8. I have had only two cups of coffee in my life – both to stay awake when driving. I had to add 4 sugars and 4 creamers to stomach the stuff.9. I have never taken a writing class. In college, I took only one semester of required freshman English, and I actually avoided any classes where I would have had to write papers, like history, sociology or political science.10. My all-time favorite books are Lord of the Rings and The Fountainhead, but I don’t really like anything else that Tolkien or Ayn Rand wrote.

Readers can stalk Scott Prussing at: Website   Amazon Author Page Facebook: AuthorBreathless Fampires
Twitter: @BreathlessBook
Author Bio
Scott Prussing was born in New Jersey, but was smart enough to move to beautiful San Diego as soon as he received his Master's degree in psychology from Yale University. In addition to the five Blue Fire Saga books, Scott is the author of BLUE FIRE HEAT , an adults only companion piece to the Blue Fire Saga, and BLUE FIRE BEGINNINGS , a collection of short story “prequels” about the origins of some popular Blue Fire characters. He also wrote the mystery/suspense novels Unturned Stonesand Tangled Webs, the fantasy/adventure novel Dreams of the Last Born, and the teen romance Mine: A Love Story, whose plot is based on the hit songs of Taylor Swift.
Besides writing, Scott enjoys riding his bicycle near the beach, going to the movies, reading books of all sorts, hiking, and golf. He remains one of the few people in the United States without a cell phone.


Books in THE BLUE FIRE SAGA Series

BREATHLESS is the first book in The Blue Fire Saga, a modern fantasy romance series in the mold of Twilight and Vampire Diaries, but filled with enough new ideas to excite even the most devoted fans. College freshman Leesa Nyland has been fascinated by vampires since she was three years old. That’s when her mom started acting weird, refusing to go outside during the day and insisting the sunlight hurt her skin because she had been bitten by a one-fanged vampire.

DEATHLESS continues the story begun in BREATHLESS . After surviving the harrowing events chronicled in BREATHLESS , Leesa Nyland hopes she’s done dealing with all things supernatural. All she wants to do now is enjoy college life—and to figure out how to kiss her vampire hunter boyfriend without his magical fire burning her to a crisp. She doesn’t think that’s too much to ask.







Book 3 of The Blue Fire Sage, HELPLESS is filled with the same passion, humor, suspense and supernatural danger as BREATHLESS and DEATHLESS








Book 4 of The Blue Fire Saga, FEARLESS continues the story of college freshman Leesa Nyland and her supernatural vampire hunter boyfriend Rave. Now if she can just stay alive long enough to learn how to control some special powers she never knew she possessed, and if the dead will just stay dead…






Book 5 of The Blue Fire Saga, HEARTLESS continues the story of Leesa and Rave, along with Dominic and Cali and other favorite Blue Fire Saga characters.  HEARTLESS  also introduces a new kind of supernatural enemy — xenorians.

Excerpt:
          Leesa hadn’t planned to unload on Cali—it just seemed to happen. She held back only about Rave’s being a volkaane, for it was not her place to reveal his secret. She felt better having let it all out, but now that she had finished, she worried how Cali would react. Cali probably thought she was crazy. Leesa shifted her gaze away from Cali’s face and stared instead into the flickering red glass candle jar on the table.          “Wow,” Cali said, putting down a half-eaten slice of pizza and leaning back against the cushioned booth. “And here I thought I was the strange one in this relationship. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner.”          Leesa took a bite of her pizza. It was barely warm, but still tasted great—confession worked up an appetite. “I was afraid you’d think I was crazy. ‘My mom was bitten by a one-fanged vampire’ or ‘by the way, I think I met a vampire at the frat party tonight’ isn’t the best way to start off a friendship.”          Cali laughed. “Are you kidding? I would have been so into that. It’s the coolest story I ever heard.” Her expression turned serious. “Except for the part about your brother. What are you going to do?”          Leesa was so relieved Cali was taking her story seriously. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Stefan, but I don’t know how to find him.”          “Kinda like Rave, huh? Vampires probably don’t use cell phones, either.” Cali sipped her soda, then looked back at Leesa. “So this Stefan guy is really a vampire, huh?”          Leesa nodded. “He all but admitted it. And there’s other stuff that points to it, too.” She couldn’t tell Cali about seeing his fangs without telling her about the fight with Rave she had stopped, which she was most definitely not about to do.          “And he hasn’t tried to, you know, bite your neck or anything?”          “Ha! No, he’s always been nice. A bit strange, for sure, but nice.”          Cali grinned. “Of course he’s a bit strange—he’s a freaking vampire!”

BREATHLESS trailer
 Purchase Links
BREATHLESS 
DEATHLESS      Amazon      Barnes and Noble
HELPLESS      Amazon     Barnes and Noble
FEARLESS       Amazon      Barnes and Noble   
HEARTLESS     Amazon     Barnes and Noble
BLUE FIRE HEAT     Amazon       Barnes and Noble
BLUE FIRE BEGINNINGS     Amazon     Barnes and Noble

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 29 Authors - 47 Books - everything from Romance to Horror
Visit their blogs, Facebook pages, make comments and/or buy books to earn entries into the Grand Prize Giveaway!
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WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Fantasy Author Clarissa Cartharn

Clarissa Cartharn, Author
DYNASTY O'SHEA: THE THRONE OF GAMMALONWelcome fantasy adventure fiction author Clarissa Cartharn, creator of Spassenia a place:  “full of different worlds and awesome characters,” as described by one reviewer. Cartharn herself calls it “the ideal fantasy world.” She features Spassenia in her recently released DYNASTY O’SHEA: THE THRONE OF GAMMALON—“a fantasy of two worlds” with a family as “unlikely heroes.”
When Cartharn isn’t creating her fantasy world, she is “basically” doing everything else – like music, reading, gardening, learning new languages, going to movies and theater, and, well, whatever “calls” her. Don’t miss the exciting excerpt from DYNASTY O’SHEA at the end of this interview.

Q: What inspired you to write fantasy about the world of Spassenia?
Clarissa Cartharn: I suppose it was the child within me. And of course my children. I wanted to give them a world in which they could have an adventure. It was my way of telling them a story about a world I had created. Spassenia is the ideal fantasy world in which I would love to escape to and simply have fun.
Q: What makes your readers care about your characters?
Clarissa Cartharn: The main characters belong to a close-knit family although they would rarely confess it. So much like our own real families. You have the serious, protective elder brother, the clownish younger one or even the quirky, eccentric sibling; every family has at least one of these and many would relate to them.
It is also the way in which these characters love each other, protect them, I believe that’s what makes readers care about them.
Q: In a fantasy world, what pulls in your readers? Characters? Back story? Suspense? How important is believability?
Clarissa Cartharn: In DYNASTY O’SHEA, I think it is a little of each that draws in the readers. Each is important to make a story as believable as possible. I don’t think one is any more important than the other.
Believability is very important. It is the crux of the story. It’s what gets the reader excited, sad, amused and all those emotions that you want the reader to connect with.
Q: Do your characters push you around and make you write what they want? Or are you in control?
Clarissa Cartharn: Sometimes they do push me around. I have to make sure the acts or thoughts of the character is what the character would be prone to do. That is, it must reasonably be attributed to their characteristics and traits. Even though I want to drive them to do/say something, I have to make edits and calls to ask myself if that is natural to him/her.
Q: What makes a hero/heroine? And on the flip side, what makes a villain?
Clarissa Cartharn: What makes a protagonist and what makes a villain- In my opinion these are elements of our spiritual nature personified in a piece of writing. The battle between good and evil. So what makes a hero/heroine are all those factors that we would identify as good. Love, honesty, humanity, strong either physically or in willpower.
But what makes a villain is what interests me even more greatly. Anything evil could amount to a good villainous character. Lying, cheating, dubious, manipulative etc. Although it is the sinister ones that really make a good villain. Those who appear to be a hero/heroine but has the inner workings of a villainous mind.
Q: How important is delivering a message to your stories?  Or are they purely for entertainment?
Clarissa Cartharn: For me the story is more important than the message. My aim as a storyteller is first and foremost to entertain. If there is a message in it, all the better. But I am mindful of not letting it overpower the narration.
Q: Tell us something about yourself.
Clalrissa Cartharn: When I’m not writing, I’m basically doing everything else. Whatever calls to me basically. I love reading and this again is almost anything. Sometimes its fiction, other times its educational articles or simply researching the basis of most conspiracies floating on the web.
I also love music. I do everything with music playing in the background including writing. I also love learning about cultures and languages. I love flowers, garden, nature. I love movies and theatre.
In fact there I feel there is still so much to love and learn about, the list is endless.
About Clarissa Cartharn
Clarissa Cartharn is the author of fantasy adventure fiction DYNASTY O’SHEA: THE THRONE OF GAMMALON.  Clarissa holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature and Language. She was a high school English teacher until she gave that up to become a solicitor. Currently, Clarissa is undertaking Mandarin Chinese lessons.
DYNASTY O’SHEA: THE THRONE OF GAMMALON
In the perilous world of Spassenia where magic and power prevail over all who live in it, a battle rages for the throne of Gammalon. But what happens if those who can save the torn kingdom live in a world across dimensions?

When Jack O'Shea reveals an eighteen year old secret, his four children never imagined that they would be thrust through a magical gateway and into Spassenia. Their simple world is shattered as they realise that evil Lord Dravidor of Dark Vale is on a vindictive mission to kill their father, the man who stands in his way from claiming the throne of Gammalon.

But Jack will not return home without saving Gammalon and his children will not go back without their father. So when their names are also added to Dravidor's death warrants, the young O'Sheas must now take matters into their hands.
Jack straightened up with a sudden jolt. He found what he was looking for. A breeze blew across his face adding to his nervousness. He held onto David’s arm and ran towards his family like a mad man, pulling David along with him.
Rachel was enjoying the cool wind nestling on the sides of her neck when another strong breeze blew onto her. She straightened up alert. She wasn’t sure of what she had just heard and tried to sift through the sounds of the wind again. But they were lost. She looked at her two eldest children who had been quiet all through their trek. They were still sitting, perched on small rocks, each in deep thought, probably analyzing the events of that morning, she thought. She then turned in the direction of her husband and David. Jack was running frantically towards them with a bewildered David right behind him. He pointed furiously towards the woods. It suddenly occurred to Rachel that she had heard the sounds correctly. She held Bronwyn’s arm and rushed towards Ally and Alex.
“Come on!” she called out and ran into the army of sensitive grass. “This way!”
Alex and Ally ran after their mother, not comprehending what had just gone wrong, only that something had.
“Mimosa Pudica, Mum!” cried Ally feeling the thorns pricking into her ankles.
“I know!” shouted back her mother in annoyance.
“It hurts!” Ally cried out again.
“You think!” her mother answered, annoyed that her sanity had just been questioned.
“Can’t we go around it?!” shouted out Alex
“No time!” said Jack breathlessly as he caught up to them. “Soldiers!”
“Dravidor!” cried out David as he shot past Alex and Ally and almost into his mother.
“Good god!”  Alex and Ally let out and sped up to reach for the cover of the woods.
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FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and Literary Fiction Author Michaelene McElroy

Michaelene McElroy, Author
THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANYPlease welcome FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and literary fiction author Michaelene McElroy. Her debut book, THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY--which McElory types as "elastic reality"-- is an Amazon Best Seller for literary fiction. One reviewer describes this unique book as: "...beautifully crafted, a throwback to a style half-forgotten yet sorely missed.” Other reviewers praise her characters, “As I giggled, smiled, cried and hissed through this book I found so many new friends that I am holding close.”
In her real-world life, McElroy maintains four acres of land in the woods in the state of Washington where she lives and where, if you visit, you might find a pot of soup simmering on the stove.

 Click the link at the end of this article to check out the FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and learn about 29 authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.

Q:  Your book title THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY and your lead character’s name B. Thankful Childe-Lucknow are unique. How relevant are your names and title to set the tone for a different kind of book?
Michaelene McElroy:  I write in a sub genre of literary fiction that I refer to as elastic reality.  When you’re asking a potential reader to stretch their mindset beyond the norm, I think it’s important to show them through the title of the book that there’s something unique held within the pages.  As for the names of characters, well, they introduce themselves to me as I go along, their names intact upon arrival. 
Q: One of your reviewers refers to your book: “Its words and its heart will fill you like a warm strawberry rhubarb crumble on a late summer day.” First, what a great statement. Of course, I really like strawberry rhubarb pie. However, to the point – how do you do that?!  How do you make us care about your characters so much?
Michaelene McElroy:  After reading that particular review, I had a craving for strawberry rhubarb crumble for days.  But to answer your question: In the case of B. Thankful I think the reason people care so much about her is because she’s so tender and enthusiastic about life.  Even after being cast aside by an entire town, and losing everything she has ever known, she never gives up that sense of wonderment.
Q:  And what about your villain? Boo hiss! What makes a good villain?
Michaelene McElroy:  Well, in the genre I write in, which runs a humorous vein, the villain or villainess is obvious from the get-go by their physical appearance, mannerisms and bad attitude.  I think the best villain(ess) works overtime at trying to keep a protagonist from succeeding, which, in turn, makes the main character more loveable, and the villain someone you want to give a good smack.  Now, in other genres, I think the best villain is the one that tricks you into thinking they’re something else; the one you didn’t see coming until it was too late. 
Q: How important is setting to telling your story?
Michaelene McElroy:  In some instances, the setting is a character in itself.  In the case of B. Thankful, the woods where she lives is all she’s ever known, so the setting is part and parcel to that of a friend.
Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or are you trying to tell your readers something?
Michaelene McElroy:  I write to entertain, and since finishing THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY  I’m always taken aback when people tell me what message I was trying to impart through the story.  And, of course, each person has their own version of what that message is.  That’s the beauty of storytelling.
Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
Michaelene McElroy:  I’m a writer because wonderful characters keep showing up with stories they want to tell and they need me to do the typing. 
I started writing in my sophomore year of high school – heavily burdened poetry and prose motivated by the turbulence of the ‘60s – you know, snowflakes covered in blood, injustice, lost innocence – all written, I might add, from the comfort of my middle class bedroom.  In some innocent recess within me, I believed it was the only way to express my feelings and to avoid being consumed by the madness of the times.  Like I said…heavily burdened.
Q:  Tell us something about yourself, e.g., do you do stand up comedy? What are some of your favorites – books, movies, plays etc.?  What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a muse? What's your favorite charity?
Michaelene McElroy:  I don’t do standup comedy.  As I recently told a friend (who was trying to get me to do standup), “I’m too old to do standup.  Get me a chaise lounge and I’ll think about it.” Badump bumbp.   In my youth I was involved in community theatre, and collaborated on the writing for a revue called The Menstrual Show.  Favorite book: Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird; Movie: Jean Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie. Play: Margaret Edson’s Wit. (Disclaimer: On any given day, these answers will have changed.)
I live in the woods on an island in the Puget Sound, where I maintain four park-like acres of land, so when I’m not writing in the spring and summer months, you’ll find me out tending to the property, mowing, trimming fields, painting railings, power washing decks, building birdhouses, or tucked in a hammock doing absolutely nothing.  If  you dropped in unannounced during the winter months, you might find me reading a great book, and no doubt, there would be a pot of soup simmering on the stove.
About Michaelene McElroy
Michaelene McElroy makes her debut as an author with THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY.  She lives on four acres in the woods on an island in the Puget Sound of Washington State where magic is ever present
THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY
THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY is the heartwarming story of B. Thankful Childe-Lucknow. Turned out with red corkscrew hair, one eye brown, the other green, and gifted with the power to hear the voices of the departed, B. Thankful is cast aside by the town, and lives an isolated upbringing in the woods with Big G, Little G, and Tyler Lucknow.
Tragedy, followed by the discovery of a long-forgotten paint-by-number picture of the Last Supper, thrusts B. Thankful from the safety of everything she has ever known.
Beyond the boundary of her sheltered life, B. Thankful discovers the world's hard edges as well as its beauty.  More importantly, with the help of a cast of quirky and tenderhearted souls (both earthly and heavenly), she discovers why God made her special.
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Genre: Literary Fiction/Elastic RealityFacebook – Michaelene McElroy-AuthorTwitter https://twitter.com/MichaeleneM   Website     Amazon – Kindle  Amazon – Paperback Barnes and Noble  - Paperback Barnes and Noble – Nook   Kobo   Goodreads   iTunes


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