Ally Shields's Blog, page 40
June 13, 2017
Coffee Chat Author Interview: Nina Mansfield
Happy Wednesday, Booklovers!Join me in welcoming Nina Mansfield and her YA mystery, Swimming Alone, to this week's Coffee Chat!
How do you take your coffee, Nina?
NINA: I used to just drink it black, no sugar. Then I started adding a bit of milk. But I think I am going back to black!
Ally: Then black it is. My magic pot makes a smooth brew. :) While I do the honors, please introduce yourself to readers.
BIO:Nina Mansfield is a Connecticut based writer. Her debut novel, SWIMMING ALONE, a YA Mystery, was published in 2015 by Fire & Ice YA. Her short mystery fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mysterical-E, Kings River Life Magazine, and anthologized in Fast Women and Neon Lights: Eighties-Inspired Neon Noir. Her graphic novel FAKE ID: BEYOND RECOGNITION (illustrated by Leyla Akdogan) will be published in installments online by PlumeSnake.com. Nina began her writing career as a playwright; she has written numerous plays, which have been published and produced throughout the world.
Something unique that isn't in your regular bio: "My first language is Russian."
Contact Links:
My website: http://www.ninamansfield.com
My blog: http://notevenjoking.ninamansfield.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NinaMansfieldWriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NinaJMansfield
Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/ninamwriter/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4279557.Nina_Mansfield INTERVIEW: Ally: How did you select your main genre? What about it intrigues you and readers?
NINA: I’m not sure that I have a main genre! SWIMMING ALONE is a YA mystery. I’ve loved mysteries forever—started with Nancy Drew at a young age, and then discovered Agatha Christie, Lois Duncan, etc.—so I think it was natural for me to write mysteries. When I wrote the first draft of SWIMMING ALONE, I had just finished my first year teaching high school—so I think I had all of those young adult voices swirling around in my head. And because I still teach high school, I think those voices will continue to swirl for the foreseeable future. I’m currently working on another YA novel (which is sort of paranormal romance-thriller).
My short stories, however, aren’t YA, but some do feature characters in their late teens. I’m not sure why this age attracts me. Maybe it’s that young people often think they know everything, and they think they are invincible. This of course can lead to all sorts of problems, and problems lead to plots.
I also write plays that are neither YA nor mysteries. I tend to write a lot of 10-minute relationship comedies, but some of my plays are longer, and very serious in nature.
One of these days I would love to write a really dense and intricate historical mystery, because I really enjoy reading them!
Ally: Do you have a writer's cave?
NINA: My husband and I bought a 1900 Victorian last summer that really looks a bit like a haunted house. When I first stepped into the house I thought, “This is perfect for a mystery writer!” There were creaky stairs, doors that lead nowhere and stained glass windows. There’s a turret at the top of the house, and that is where I have my little writing office. And I need quiet! I have to be able to hear all the voices in my head!
Ally: How do you spend your non-writing/non-editing time?
NINA: I’m a high school drama teacher, which takes up a great deal of my time. I direct the school fall play—last year we did THE CRUCIBLE—and I advise a student directed spring play. I also produce a One Act Festival composed of student written work, which is quite fun!
I also have a three-year old daughter, who is very energetic and keeps me busy! Often I find myself in her world of make believe.
Other than that, I get to the theater whenever I can. I also enjoy gardening, yoga and cooking. One of these days, I will get back to my scrapbooking hobby too. I think it’s important for a writer to find non-writing ways of staying creative.
Ally: Does your real life show up in your writing? In what ways?
NINA: Oh yes, all the time! The town of Beach Point in SWIMMING ALONE is a fictionalized version of the oceanfront Rhode Island town where my grandparents would rent a cottage each summer. I often take real life locations, people and situations, and fictionalize them in my work. My upcoming short story “An Actor Prepares” refers back to the time I spent studying at the Moscow Art Theater in Russia, and drew upon some recent trips I took to the Bronx Zoo. The murders are always made up though!
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
NINA: My graphic novel FAKE ID: BEYOND RECOGNITION is soon to be released online in installments at PlumeSnake.com. Seventeen-year-old Minnie VanCutler suffers an identity crisis after using the wrong fake ID. Aside from waking up with the world’s worst hangover, and being chased down by Russian mobsters, Minnie must battle her over-active conscience and rescue her doppelganger from a human trafficking ring.
I also have two short mystery stories that are scheduled for publication. “Gods and Virgins in the Big Easy,” will appear in issue three of Crime Syndicate Magazine, which should be out soon. “An Actor Prepares” is scheduled to be published in When Crime Never Sleeps (Murder New York Style 4), the fourth crime fiction anthology by members of the New York Tristate Chapter of Sisters in Crime, which should be out September 2017.
Ally: And now for the short answer questions...a. an item on your bucket list: Visit the Great Wall of Chinab. manicure or pedicure: Pedicure.c. favorite tv program: Currently, The Americansd. high heels or sneakers: Sneakers!e. favorite book boyfriend: Mr. Rochester.
Ally: Thanks so much for visiting the blog. Before you go rushing off to the rest of your busy life, let's show readers your YA mystery, Swimming Alone.
BOOK BLURB:
SWIMMING ALONE
GENRE: YA Mystery, PG rated
The Sea Side Strangler is on the loose in Beach Point, where fifteen-year-old Cathy Banks is spending the summer with her aunt (who happens to be mystery writer Roberta McCabe). Although thrilled to be away from her psychotic, divorcing parents, with no cell phone or internet access, Cathy is positive that her summer is going to be wretched. Just when she begins to make friends, and even finds a crush to drool over, her new friend Lauren vanishes. When a body surfaces in Beach Point Bay, Cathy is forced to face the question: has the Sea Side Strangler struck again?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013Y4WE48
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/569442
Fire & Ice:
http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/ninamansfield/swimmingalone.html Thanks for having coffee with us. Come back soon!
June 7, 2017
Coffee Chat Author Interview: Sandra de Helen
Welcome, booklovers!
This week's guest is mystery writer Sandra de Helen.
Ally: Good Morning, Sandra! Thanks for visiting the Coffee Chat. What may I get you to drink?
SANDRA: I don’t drink coffee, I drink Irish Breakfast Tea with a bit of milk.
I got hooked on tea when I went to Ireland for a writer’s residency, and have been a tea drinker ever since.
Ally: My magic pot is excellent at tea also. So while I pour, please introduce yourself to readers.
About the Author:
Sandra de Helen, author of the LGBTQ thriller Till Darkness Comes also pens the Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson series. She is a poet and a playwright. Her plays have been produced in the Philippines, Ireland and Canada, in thirteen of the United States, as well as Chicago and New York City. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Dramatists Guild. Her poetry chapbook All This Remains to be Discovered is available online and at Another Read Through Bookstore in Portland, Oregon. Samples of her work are available on her website.
Something not in my regular bio: "I was born and raised in rural Mid-Missouri. My latest play, The Missouri Cycle, is about my own family from 1951 to 1977, including my coming out as a lesbian in 1977. It includes four generations of women, drama, and humor."
Author contact links:
Email: sandra@sandradehelen.com
Website: http://sandradehelen.com/wp/
Twitter: @dehelen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandradeHelenAuthor/
Interview:
Ally: How did you select your main genre? What about it intrigues you and readers?
SANDRA: Mystery is my main genre, and I've been reading mysteries since I first read the Complete Sherlock Holmes when I was about ten. Later I read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys when we moved into town where there was a library and I wasn't allowed to read adult books. Before then I read whatever was in the house. But mysteries are a puzzle for the mind, and I enjoy them. Conan Doyle was a master at having the detective solve the crime and then show the reader how it was done. As a writer, I enjoy putting the puzzle together and then taking it apart, scrambling it for the reader, and letting them watch as Shirley solves it, with Dr. Mary Watson as her sidekick and narrator.
Ally: Describe your writing process.
SANDRA: I'm one of those annoying writers who work every day, including weekends and holidays. I avoid writer's block by having too many writing projects. I work on one project, then another, then another -- often in the same day. I currently have a weekly column, have just finished a new play, have a novel in progress, and am writing an essay a week for 2017. My goal is to produce as much written material as I can. I have more stories than I can tell in a lifetime.
Ally: If you met your favorite author Val McDermid, what would you talk about?
SANDRA: First, I would tell her that I bought a scarf she knitted and donated for a silent auction at the Golden Crown Literary Society conference. I'm sure she'd be impressed. Then, I would tell her how much I appreciate that she was writing lesbian feminist crime fiction in the 70's and ever since. (She writes several series now, not all lesbian, but all great.) She'd probably want to know when I'm going to sell millions of books like she does, and I'd smile mysteriously and say, "any day now, Val."
Ally: Have you thought about one of your books being made into a movie? Who would play the parts, if you could choose?
SANDRA: Of course I have. I frequently think about seeing Shirley and Mary on the big screen. Or the little screen. I'd love it if the producer who options my books wants to make a movie from each book, rather than jumbling the stories, or worse, just making up their own story and using my characters. But when they come calling, I will keep an open mind. Shirley and Mary are in their 30's and early 40's, so I'd love to see some of the "older" women actors in the roles. Charlize Theron as Shirley and Teá Leoni as Mary would be interesting. But what if they wanted to use women of color in the roles? That would be fine by me. Viola Davis as Shirley and Gabby Sidebe as Mary would be amazing.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
SANDRA: I'm currently working on the third Shirley Combs mystery, entitled A Valley of Fear. Dr. Mary Watson is engaged and Shirley Combs is engaged in learning new skills when they are pulled into the world of crime organized by Dr. James Moriarty. Expected release now set for May, 2018.
Ally: I always love the short answer questions. Are you ready to start?
a. Book you're currently reading: Kate Kasten's Too Happy.b. What comes first - character or plot? Character first. Then the story, then the plot.something unique in your handbag: I carry my own chopsticks because I hate plastic flatware.c. Your hobbies: Baking, sewing, designing wallpaper.d. If you couldn't write anymore, what would you want to do? Travel if I could. And create something, anything I was able to.e. Favorite place to write: in my Eames Lounge chair in the corner between two windows, with my MacBook Air and a bottle of club soda.
Ally: It was a pleasure to share coffee with you. Before I let you go, please tell us about the book you brought for this week's feature, The Illustrious Client...
Book Blurb:
Book Two of the Shirley Combs and Dr. Mary Watson series, THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT, shows us the private investigator and her sidekick sharing an office, and introduces their receptionist, Lix. They are hired to influence a young international pop star, Oceane Charles, to pry her away from her older, richer, player of a girlfriend.
The cast is made up of people with various ethnicities and backgrounds, and of course the job soon includes solving a murder mystery. Along the way, Mary discovers her latent lesbianism. Set in Portland, Oregon on a superyacht, in a hospital VIP room, at Rose Festival, and other fun places.
Buy Links (Note: 18+, alternative lifestyle):
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ILLUSTRIOUS-CLIENT-Shirley-Watson-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00GZ4W4JK
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/audiobook/illustrious-client-unabridged/id898136443
Audible: http://adbl.co/1TVy2RN
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1Usz8Em
Bookmate: https://bookmate.com/books/JkXPYQbV
Powell's: http://www.powells.com/book/the-illustrious-client-9780991079209/61-0
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dehelen
Tanum (Norway): http://bit.ly/1XNueEt
This week's guest is mystery writer Sandra de Helen.
Ally: Good Morning, Sandra! Thanks for visiting the Coffee Chat. What may I get you to drink?SANDRA: I don’t drink coffee, I drink Irish Breakfast Tea with a bit of milk.
I got hooked on tea when I went to Ireland for a writer’s residency, and have been a tea drinker ever since.
Ally: My magic pot is excellent at tea also. So while I pour, please introduce yourself to readers.
About the Author:
Sandra de Helen, author of the LGBTQ thriller Till Darkness Comes also pens the Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson series. She is a poet and a playwright. Her plays have been produced in the Philippines, Ireland and Canada, in thirteen of the United States, as well as Chicago and New York City. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Dramatists Guild. Her poetry chapbook All This Remains to be Discovered is available online and at Another Read Through Bookstore in Portland, Oregon. Samples of her work are available on her website.Something not in my regular bio: "I was born and raised in rural Mid-Missouri. My latest play, The Missouri Cycle, is about my own family from 1951 to 1977, including my coming out as a lesbian in 1977. It includes four generations of women, drama, and humor."
Author contact links:
Email: sandra@sandradehelen.com
Website: http://sandradehelen.com/wp/
Twitter: @dehelen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandradeHelenAuthor/
Interview:
Ally: How did you select your main genre? What about it intrigues you and readers?
SANDRA: Mystery is my main genre, and I've been reading mysteries since I first read the Complete Sherlock Holmes when I was about ten. Later I read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys when we moved into town where there was a library and I wasn't allowed to read adult books. Before then I read whatever was in the house. But mysteries are a puzzle for the mind, and I enjoy them. Conan Doyle was a master at having the detective solve the crime and then show the reader how it was done. As a writer, I enjoy putting the puzzle together and then taking it apart, scrambling it for the reader, and letting them watch as Shirley solves it, with Dr. Mary Watson as her sidekick and narrator.
Ally: Describe your writing process.
SANDRA: I'm one of those annoying writers who work every day, including weekends and holidays. I avoid writer's block by having too many writing projects. I work on one project, then another, then another -- often in the same day. I currently have a weekly column, have just finished a new play, have a novel in progress, and am writing an essay a week for 2017. My goal is to produce as much written material as I can. I have more stories than I can tell in a lifetime.
Ally: If you met your favorite author Val McDermid, what would you talk about?
SANDRA: First, I would tell her that I bought a scarf she knitted and donated for a silent auction at the Golden Crown Literary Society conference. I'm sure she'd be impressed. Then, I would tell her how much I appreciate that she was writing lesbian feminist crime fiction in the 70's and ever since. (She writes several series now, not all lesbian, but all great.) She'd probably want to know when I'm going to sell millions of books like she does, and I'd smile mysteriously and say, "any day now, Val."
Ally: Have you thought about one of your books being made into a movie? Who would play the parts, if you could choose?
SANDRA: Of course I have. I frequently think about seeing Shirley and Mary on the big screen. Or the little screen. I'd love it if the producer who options my books wants to make a movie from each book, rather than jumbling the stories, or worse, just making up their own story and using my characters. But when they come calling, I will keep an open mind. Shirley and Mary are in their 30's and early 40's, so I'd love to see some of the "older" women actors in the roles. Charlize Theron as Shirley and Teá Leoni as Mary would be interesting. But what if they wanted to use women of color in the roles? That would be fine by me. Viola Davis as Shirley and Gabby Sidebe as Mary would be amazing.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
SANDRA: I'm currently working on the third Shirley Combs mystery, entitled A Valley of Fear. Dr. Mary Watson is engaged and Shirley Combs is engaged in learning new skills when they are pulled into the world of crime organized by Dr. James Moriarty. Expected release now set for May, 2018.
Ally: I always love the short answer questions. Are you ready to start?
a. Book you're currently reading: Kate Kasten's Too Happy.b. What comes first - character or plot? Character first. Then the story, then the plot.something unique in your handbag: I carry my own chopsticks because I hate plastic flatware.c. Your hobbies: Baking, sewing, designing wallpaper.d. If you couldn't write anymore, what would you want to do? Travel if I could. And create something, anything I was able to.e. Favorite place to write: in my Eames Lounge chair in the corner between two windows, with my MacBook Air and a bottle of club soda.
Ally: It was a pleasure to share coffee with you. Before I let you go, please tell us about the book you brought for this week's feature, The Illustrious Client...
Book Blurb:Book Two of the Shirley Combs and Dr. Mary Watson series, THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT, shows us the private investigator and her sidekick sharing an office, and introduces their receptionist, Lix. They are hired to influence a young international pop star, Oceane Charles, to pry her away from her older, richer, player of a girlfriend.
The cast is made up of people with various ethnicities and backgrounds, and of course the job soon includes solving a murder mystery. Along the way, Mary discovers her latent lesbianism. Set in Portland, Oregon on a superyacht, in a hospital VIP room, at Rose Festival, and other fun places.
Buy Links (Note: 18+, alternative lifestyle):
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ILLUSTRIOUS-CLIENT-Shirley-Watson-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00GZ4W4JK
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/audiobook/illustrious-client-unabridged/id898136443
Audible: http://adbl.co/1TVy2RN
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1Usz8Em
Bookmate: https://bookmate.com/books/JkXPYQbV
Powell's: http://www.powells.com/book/the-illustrious-client-9780991079209/61-0
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dehelen
Tanum (Norway): http://bit.ly/1XNueEt
May 31, 2017
Coffee Chat Author Interview: Nupur Tustin
Happy Wednesday, Booklovers! Welcome to this week's Coffee Chat
with mystery author, Nupur Tustin.
Ally: So nice to meet you, Nupur! How do you take your coffee?
NT: Decaf—it's my second cup of the day— no sugar, with just a splash of Cinnabon-flavored creamer, please.
Ally: I love a woman who knows just what she wants. :) While I prepare our drinks, please introduce yourself to readers.
Author Bio:
A former journalist, Nupur Tustin relies upon a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to orchestrate fictional mayhem. Childhood piano lessons and a 1903 Weber Upright share equal blame for her musical works. She also enjoys writing mystery short stories set in contemporary California. Look out for "The Evidence Never Lies" and "Mrs. Sutton's Project," both available on Amazon.
Something unusual that isn't in your regular bio: "Before the kids came along, I used to like taking my sketch book, color pencils, and pastels along on trips. I've included a couple of landscapes: one from our trip to Yosemite, and one of a sunset at Venice Beach."
Haydn Series: ntustin.com
Music: ntustin.musicaneo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ntustinauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/NupurTustin
Interview:
Ally: Let's begin with the genre of the book you're featuring with us today.
NT: A Minor Deception is an enticing blend of historical, biographical mystery and cozy, PG-13.
Ally: What made you choose the mystery genre? What about it intrigues you and your readers?
NT: I enjoy history and biography and I simply love mysteries. How could I not combine the two? Historical mysteries, any kind of historical fiction, in fact, stimulates our imagination and curiosity. A good writer will get you so interested in the time period, that you'll want to find out more. Take the movie, The Immortal Beloved. It posits a theory about the identity of Beethoven's "immortal beloved" that's so psychologically compelling ,you want at once to find out if it's true. To make a long story short, it isn't. But would one have bothered to find out if the movie hadn't been so compelling? I think not.
Ally: How do you pick your characters and their names?
NT: Since most of my characters for the Haydn Mystery Series were real-life personages, I'm forced to use the names they were christened with. So, in addition to Joseph Haydn, there's an Archduke Joseph, Holy Roman Emperor at the time. Joseph's younger brother was Johann. His mother was Anna Maria and his wife, Maria Anna! It's the kind of confusion no author would willingly wish upon their reader.
For my fictitious characters, I take recourse to the biographies and original material I study. I also look up names on the Internet, taking care to use only traditional names. But I like looking at the meanings of names, and thinking about whether they fit the character I have in mind.
Gerhard, for instance, means courageous. It makes me think of a tall, broad-shouldered, handsome Germanic male. But it also makes me think of a man who's loyal, whose love would never waver. A man a woman could fall in love with. In the second Haydn novel, Aria to Death, Rosalie, the palace maid, finds herself attracted to Gerhard, the tavern-keeper of Kleinhöflein. Should it develop into a love interest? I don't know.
Ally: I've found even mystery authors would like to have supernatural powers. Which one would you want, and why?
NT: Well, since I write historical mysteries, it would be wonderful if my mind could roam easily back to eighteenth-century Austria. So much of history is conjecture and interpretation. I was reminded of this quite forcefully when a reader asked me about shaved heads and wigs. The historians I turned to couldn't agree on the subject. So, it would be fantastic to travel back in time and get ready answers to all my questions.
I'm told psychics can go into the immediate past to pick up images from crime scenes. I wonder if a psychic could go back a few hundred years, perhaps even be transported back to the past by the simple ruse of touching a garment that an individual had worn or an object they had owned. It's quite fascinating.
Ally: How do you spend your non-writing/non-editing time?
NT: I have three young children, so much of my time is spent with them. We go to the library together—the youngest, 22 months, in the stroller and the two older kids, 5 years and 3, respectively, pushing him. We read books. There are diapers to be changed. The kids have to be coaxed into eating their meals. There are frequent messes to clean up. Hunter, my youngest, loves bringing in buckets of sand and dumping it all over! I find piles of sand, with trains buried in them, in the most unexpected places.
Evenings are spent with my husband watching the Murdoch Mysteries while the kids watch Clifford or SuperWhy in their room. When I can, I play the piano, and we all like singing and listening to music.
Ally: What is your next anticipated project?
NT: I'm editing Aria to Death, the second Haydn novel and researching Prussian Counterpoint, the third novel in the series. I'm often asked whether Haydn uses his musical expertise to solve mysteries—the assumption being that as a musician he must be a musical-minded version of Neal Caffrey, who in the show White Collar uses his art expertise to solve art and other white collar crimes for the FBI.
Well, I'm happy to report that Haydn does a sort of Caffrey in Aria to Death. Apparently the entire set of Monteverdi's operatic works—mostly lost to us—have surfaced. The works are so valuable that quite a few people are willing to kill for it. Haydn needs to find the killer, and is called upon to authenticate the scores.
Ally: Let's wind up with a few short answers questions. Ready set go...
a. Favorite Book: This is a tough one. I have so many. It's hard to choose between Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series, Susan Wittig Albert's Beatrix Potter and China Bayles series, Anne Perry's inimitable Victorian mysteries, and Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries.
b. An author living or dead that you'd like to take to lunch: I'd like to take two: Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. We'd probably have fun dreaming up ways to murder people! It would all have to be done in a way that would eventually lead to the killer being apprehended, of course.c. Favorite TV program: It's a toss-up between the Murdoch Mysteries and Person of Interest.d. A guilty pleasure: Coffee. I was raised to believe that caffeine, especially the kind in coffee, is very bad for you. To have more than one cup makes me feel I've sinned—but it's such a delightful sin, who can resist? I mostly drink decaf, of course.e. Your hobbies: I enjoy painting and playing the piano. I don't suppose I can call writing a hobby any more. But it sort of still is.
Ally: Thank you for joining us today. Before you go, please tell readers more about A Minor Deception.
Blurb:
Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn would like nothing better than to show his principal violinist, Bartó Daboczi, the door. But with the Empress Maria Theresa's visit scheduled in three weeks, Haydn can ill-afford to lose his surly virtuoso.
But when Bartó disappears--along with all the music composed for the imperial visit--the Kapellmeister is forced to don the role of Kapell-detective, or risk losing his job.Before long Haydn's search uncovers pieces of a disturbing puzzle.
Bartó, it appears, is more than just a petty thief--and more dangerous. And what seemed like a minor musical mishap could modulate into a major political catastrophe unless Haydn can find his missing virtuoso.
Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Kobo
with mystery author, Nupur Tustin.
Ally: So nice to meet you, Nupur! How do you take your coffee?NT: Decaf—it's my second cup of the day— no sugar, with just a splash of Cinnabon-flavored creamer, please.
Ally: I love a woman who knows just what she wants. :) While I prepare our drinks, please introduce yourself to readers.
Author Bio:A former journalist, Nupur Tustin relies upon a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to orchestrate fictional mayhem. Childhood piano lessons and a 1903 Weber Upright share equal blame for her musical works. She also enjoys writing mystery short stories set in contemporary California. Look out for "The Evidence Never Lies" and "Mrs. Sutton's Project," both available on Amazon.
Something unusual that isn't in your regular bio: "Before the kids came along, I used to like taking my sketch book, color pencils, and pastels along on trips. I've included a couple of landscapes: one from our trip to Yosemite, and one of a sunset at Venice Beach."
Haydn Series: ntustin.com
Music: ntustin.musicaneo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ntustinauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/NupurTustin
Interview:
Ally: Let's begin with the genre of the book you're featuring with us today.
NT: A Minor Deception is an enticing blend of historical, biographical mystery and cozy, PG-13.
Ally: What made you choose the mystery genre? What about it intrigues you and your readers?
NT: I enjoy history and biography and I simply love mysteries. How could I not combine the two? Historical mysteries, any kind of historical fiction, in fact, stimulates our imagination and curiosity. A good writer will get you so interested in the time period, that you'll want to find out more. Take the movie, The Immortal Beloved. It posits a theory about the identity of Beethoven's "immortal beloved" that's so psychologically compelling ,you want at once to find out if it's true. To make a long story short, it isn't. But would one have bothered to find out if the movie hadn't been so compelling? I think not.
Ally: How do you pick your characters and their names?
NT: Since most of my characters for the Haydn Mystery Series were real-life personages, I'm forced to use the names they were christened with. So, in addition to Joseph Haydn, there's an Archduke Joseph, Holy Roman Emperor at the time. Joseph's younger brother was Johann. His mother was Anna Maria and his wife, Maria Anna! It's the kind of confusion no author would willingly wish upon their reader.
For my fictitious characters, I take recourse to the biographies and original material I study. I also look up names on the Internet, taking care to use only traditional names. But I like looking at the meanings of names, and thinking about whether they fit the character I have in mind.
Gerhard, for instance, means courageous. It makes me think of a tall, broad-shouldered, handsome Germanic male. But it also makes me think of a man who's loyal, whose love would never waver. A man a woman could fall in love with. In the second Haydn novel, Aria to Death, Rosalie, the palace maid, finds herself attracted to Gerhard, the tavern-keeper of Kleinhöflein. Should it develop into a love interest? I don't know.
Ally: I've found even mystery authors would like to have supernatural powers. Which one would you want, and why?
NT: Well, since I write historical mysteries, it would be wonderful if my mind could roam easily back to eighteenth-century Austria. So much of history is conjecture and interpretation. I was reminded of this quite forcefully when a reader asked me about shaved heads and wigs. The historians I turned to couldn't agree on the subject. So, it would be fantastic to travel back in time and get ready answers to all my questions.
I'm told psychics can go into the immediate past to pick up images from crime scenes. I wonder if a psychic could go back a few hundred years, perhaps even be transported back to the past by the simple ruse of touching a garment that an individual had worn or an object they had owned. It's quite fascinating.
Ally: How do you spend your non-writing/non-editing time?
NT: I have three young children, so much of my time is spent with them. We go to the library together—the youngest, 22 months, in the stroller and the two older kids, 5 years and 3, respectively, pushing him. We read books. There are diapers to be changed. The kids have to be coaxed into eating their meals. There are frequent messes to clean up. Hunter, my youngest, loves bringing in buckets of sand and dumping it all over! I find piles of sand, with trains buried in them, in the most unexpected places.
Evenings are spent with my husband watching the Murdoch Mysteries while the kids watch Clifford or SuperWhy in their room. When I can, I play the piano, and we all like singing and listening to music.
Ally: What is your next anticipated project?
NT: I'm editing Aria to Death, the second Haydn novel and researching Prussian Counterpoint, the third novel in the series. I'm often asked whether Haydn uses his musical expertise to solve mysteries—the assumption being that as a musician he must be a musical-minded version of Neal Caffrey, who in the show White Collar uses his art expertise to solve art and other white collar crimes for the FBI.
Well, I'm happy to report that Haydn does a sort of Caffrey in Aria to Death. Apparently the entire set of Monteverdi's operatic works—mostly lost to us—have surfaced. The works are so valuable that quite a few people are willing to kill for it. Haydn needs to find the killer, and is called upon to authenticate the scores.
Ally: Let's wind up with a few short answers questions. Ready set go...
a. Favorite Book: This is a tough one. I have so many. It's hard to choose between Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series, Susan Wittig Albert's Beatrix Potter and China Bayles series, Anne Perry's inimitable Victorian mysteries, and Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries.
b. An author living or dead that you'd like to take to lunch: I'd like to take two: Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. We'd probably have fun dreaming up ways to murder people! It would all have to be done in a way that would eventually lead to the killer being apprehended, of course.c. Favorite TV program: It's a toss-up between the Murdoch Mysteries and Person of Interest.d. A guilty pleasure: Coffee. I was raised to believe that caffeine, especially the kind in coffee, is very bad for you. To have more than one cup makes me feel I've sinned—but it's such a delightful sin, who can resist? I mostly drink decaf, of course.e. Your hobbies: I enjoy painting and playing the piano. I don't suppose I can call writing a hobby any more. But it sort of still is.
Ally: Thank you for joining us today. Before you go, please tell readers more about A Minor Deception.
Blurb:Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn would like nothing better than to show his principal violinist, Bartó Daboczi, the door. But with the Empress Maria Theresa's visit scheduled in three weeks, Haydn can ill-afford to lose his surly virtuoso.
But when Bartó disappears--along with all the music composed for the imperial visit--the Kapellmeister is forced to don the role of Kapell-detective, or risk losing his job.Before long Haydn's search uncovers pieces of a disturbing puzzle.
Bartó, it appears, is more than just a petty thief--and more dangerous. And what seemed like a minor musical mishap could modulate into a major political catastrophe unless Haydn can find his missing virtuoso.
Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Kobo
May 28, 2017
May 24, 2017
Coffee Chat Author Interview: Marilyn Levinson
Happy Wednesday, Booklovers!
Welcome to this week's coffee chat with mystery/romantic suspense author,
Marilyn Levinson.
Ally: Good Morning, Marilyn. I'm making coffee. How do you take yours?
ML: I grind French roast coffee beans for my morning coffee, which I drink in a mug with a teaspoon or so of Carnation milk. Never any sugar. I sometimes have coffee after lunch and/or in the evening after dinner. If I have coffee in the evening, I mix coffee beans – half French roast, half decaffeinated French roast.
Ally: I believe my magic pot is up to fixing your usual morning brew. While I'm busy with that, please introduce yourself to readers.
BIO:
A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, romantic suspense and novels for kids. Ghosts, witches and cats appear in many of her books. Marilyn’s Young Adult novel, THE DEVIL’S PAWN, includes horror and supernatural elements against an ordinary background.
DEATH OVERDUE, the first in her Library Ghost mystery series and written under the pseudonym Allison Brook, will be out in October, 2017.
Marilyn likes traveling, foreign films, reading, knitting, Sudoku, dining out, and talking to her grandkids on Face Time. She lives on Long Island.
Something about you that isn't in your regular bio: "While I love to spin my tales, I find it difficult to sit down to work on my WIP. Therefore, I write best in the late afternoon, when the words pour out and my pages get written."
website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com
my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Levinson/e/B001KHVLUU
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marilev/
Interview:
Ally: While you frequently write mystery and romantic suspense, I understand you've brought something a little different today.
ML: Yes, THE DEVIL’S PAWN is a YA with some horror and supernatural elements and no romantic scenes.
Ally: As long as we're talking supernatural, what kind of supernatural power would you like to have and why?
ML: I would love to have the ability to travel instantaneously from one place to another. My second favorite supernatural power would be to be invisible. These are two powers that Rufus Breckenridge, my protagonist in RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK is working to develop in the second book in the series, RUFUS AND THE WITCH’S SLAVE.
Ally: Talk about the main genres you write and why you chose them.
ML: Perhaps it’s because I’m a Gemini that I write in two main genres, mysteries and novels for kids, and love writing them both. I didn’t choose them—they chose me. I started writing novels for kids when my two sons were small. I still enjoy writing from the point of view of a young person who is first experiencing his or her sense of self and abilities.
I love writing mysteries because of the danger and solve-the-puzzle elements. Writing mysteries allows an author to explore the dark side of human nature. I love to write about my characters’ relationships with one another and to delve into their past secrets which impact their present decisions and actions. Writing mysteries gives me free rein to do this and more.
Ally: Where do you write? Do you have a writer's cave? Do you listen to music?
ML: I write in my upstairs office. I have a large computer screen because my vision isn’t the greatest. I hate to admit that my desk is covered with papers of all sorts. I always mean to clear it up; I even start to put things in order, but I don’t get very far. I’m surrounded by books—in book cases, piled on another desk, stacked on a low filing cabinet, and I’ve small pictures of cats I’ve cut out and pasted on the side of one of my bookcases. I’ve a printer, of course, pictures and small tapestries on the wall from places I’ve visited. My red cat Sammy always sleeps on the floor a few feet from my chair.
I don’t listen to music when I write. I prefer silence. I occasionally look outside my window.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
ML: My cozy mystery, DEATH OVERDUE, the first in my Haunted Library Mystery series, will be out in October. Carrie Singleton forgoes her purple hair and Goth attire to become head of programs and events of the Clover Ridge Library. She finds herself embroiled in solving a cold case and a new murder with the occasional help of the library’s sixty-something ghost amid family squabbles, romance and discovering her place in life. Those who have already read DEATH OVERDUE find it fun read.
Ally: It sounds like an enjoyable read. I'll put it on my Watch For list. Okay, now, I love quick answer questions. Shall we try a few?a. favorite book: I’ve two favorite books that are as different as night and day (remember, I’m a Gemini) One is Edith Wharton’s HOUSE OF MIRTH; the other is Vikram Seth’s A SUITABLE BOYb. book you're currently reading: I’m reading Tracy Weber’s A FATAL TWIST (a mystery) and Margaret George’s THE CONFESSIONS OF YOUNG NEROc. favorite tv program: “Blue Bloods” is one of my favorite shows d. favorite accessory: I love earrings. And shoes. I wear 8 narrow, and it’s difficult to find many shoe styles in narrow sizes. I don’t wear very high heels any longer. Love sandals.e. What are your hobbies? Reading, doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, knitting
Ally: I've enjoyed our visit today. Thank you for coming. Before you go, let's show readers your YA book. Please tell them a little about your main character and the plot of The Devil's Pawn.
Simon Porte is a fifteen-year-old boy who is suddenly orphaned and brought to live in an upstate New York town by a relative he’s never met before. Simon doesn't trust Uncle Raymond, and for good reason. Raymond is dying and using his powers to take over Simon's body. Simon and his allies—his dotty great-aunt Lucinda, his sister whom he finds living with another relative, and a pair of odd twins—wage war against the evil Raymond and his cronies.
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HF6PBQO
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-devils-pawn-marilyn-levinson/1122618948?ean=2940153383200
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-devil-s-pawn-4
Don't forget to check out her mysteries too!
https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Levinson/e/B001KHVLUU
Welcome to this week's coffee chat with mystery/romantic suspense author,
Marilyn Levinson.
Ally: Good Morning, Marilyn. I'm making coffee. How do you take yours?ML: I grind French roast coffee beans for my morning coffee, which I drink in a mug with a teaspoon or so of Carnation milk. Never any sugar. I sometimes have coffee after lunch and/or in the evening after dinner. If I have coffee in the evening, I mix coffee beans – half French roast, half decaffeinated French roast.
Ally: I believe my magic pot is up to fixing your usual morning brew. While I'm busy with that, please introduce yourself to readers.
BIO:A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, romantic suspense and novels for kids. Ghosts, witches and cats appear in many of her books. Marilyn’s Young Adult novel, THE DEVIL’S PAWN, includes horror and supernatural elements against an ordinary background.
DEATH OVERDUE, the first in her Library Ghost mystery series and written under the pseudonym Allison Brook, will be out in October, 2017.
Marilyn likes traveling, foreign films, reading, knitting, Sudoku, dining out, and talking to her grandkids on Face Time. She lives on Long Island.
Something about you that isn't in your regular bio: "While I love to spin my tales, I find it difficult to sit down to work on my WIP. Therefore, I write best in the late afternoon, when the words pour out and my pages get written."
website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com
my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Levinson/e/B001KHVLUU
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marilev/
Interview:
Ally: While you frequently write mystery and romantic suspense, I understand you've brought something a little different today.
ML: Yes, THE DEVIL’S PAWN is a YA with some horror and supernatural elements and no romantic scenes.
Ally: As long as we're talking supernatural, what kind of supernatural power would you like to have and why?
ML: I would love to have the ability to travel instantaneously from one place to another. My second favorite supernatural power would be to be invisible. These are two powers that Rufus Breckenridge, my protagonist in RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK is working to develop in the second book in the series, RUFUS AND THE WITCH’S SLAVE.
Ally: Talk about the main genres you write and why you chose them.
ML: Perhaps it’s because I’m a Gemini that I write in two main genres, mysteries and novels for kids, and love writing them both. I didn’t choose them—they chose me. I started writing novels for kids when my two sons were small. I still enjoy writing from the point of view of a young person who is first experiencing his or her sense of self and abilities.
I love writing mysteries because of the danger and solve-the-puzzle elements. Writing mysteries allows an author to explore the dark side of human nature. I love to write about my characters’ relationships with one another and to delve into their past secrets which impact their present decisions and actions. Writing mysteries gives me free rein to do this and more.
Ally: Where do you write? Do you have a writer's cave? Do you listen to music?
ML: I write in my upstairs office. I have a large computer screen because my vision isn’t the greatest. I hate to admit that my desk is covered with papers of all sorts. I always mean to clear it up; I even start to put things in order, but I don’t get very far. I’m surrounded by books—in book cases, piled on another desk, stacked on a low filing cabinet, and I’ve small pictures of cats I’ve cut out and pasted on the side of one of my bookcases. I’ve a printer, of course, pictures and small tapestries on the wall from places I’ve visited. My red cat Sammy always sleeps on the floor a few feet from my chair.
I don’t listen to music when I write. I prefer silence. I occasionally look outside my window.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
ML: My cozy mystery, DEATH OVERDUE, the first in my Haunted Library Mystery series, will be out in October. Carrie Singleton forgoes her purple hair and Goth attire to become head of programs and events of the Clover Ridge Library. She finds herself embroiled in solving a cold case and a new murder with the occasional help of the library’s sixty-something ghost amid family squabbles, romance and discovering her place in life. Those who have already read DEATH OVERDUE find it fun read.
Ally: It sounds like an enjoyable read. I'll put it on my Watch For list. Okay, now, I love quick answer questions. Shall we try a few?a. favorite book: I’ve two favorite books that are as different as night and day (remember, I’m a Gemini) One is Edith Wharton’s HOUSE OF MIRTH; the other is Vikram Seth’s A SUITABLE BOYb. book you're currently reading: I’m reading Tracy Weber’s A FATAL TWIST (a mystery) and Margaret George’s THE CONFESSIONS OF YOUNG NEROc. favorite tv program: “Blue Bloods” is one of my favorite shows d. favorite accessory: I love earrings. And shoes. I wear 8 narrow, and it’s difficult to find many shoe styles in narrow sizes. I don’t wear very high heels any longer. Love sandals.e. What are your hobbies? Reading, doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, knitting
Ally: I've enjoyed our visit today. Thank you for coming. Before you go, let's show readers your YA book. Please tell them a little about your main character and the plot of The Devil's Pawn.
Simon Porte is a fifteen-year-old boy who is suddenly orphaned and brought to live in an upstate New York town by a relative he’s never met before. Simon doesn't trust Uncle Raymond, and for good reason. Raymond is dying and using his powers to take over Simon's body. Simon and his allies—his dotty great-aunt Lucinda, his sister whom he finds living with another relative, and a pair of odd twins—wage war against the evil Raymond and his cronies. Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HF6PBQO
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-devils-pawn-marilyn-levinson/1122618948?ean=2940153383200
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-devil-s-pawn-4
Don't forget to check out her mysteries too!
https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Levinson/e/B001KHVLUU
May 20, 2017
Armed Forces Day 2017
Thank you for your service.
May 16, 2017
Coffee Chat Author Interview: S. L. Smith
Welcome to the Coffee Chat!This week's guest is S.L. Smith, author of the Pete Culnane Mystery Series.
Ally: It's nice to meet you, Sharon. What may I get you to drink?
SL: I never got into coffee. Each morning, I depend on Diet Coke, preferably lime flavored, to wake me up.
Ally: Since I keep a fully stock fridge, I'll grab a diet coke while I'm pouring my coffee. Okay, now, shall we get right to it?
Tell us what kind of mysteries you write.
SL: They are as close as you can get to a cozy with cops doing the investigating. Romantically, they're G-rated. Don’t even merit a PG.
Ally: What influenced you choose to write mysteries? What about this genre intrigues you and readers?
SL: Mysteries have been my favorite genre for as long as I can remember. I love trying to solve the crime before the cops, PI, amateur sleuth, whomever. I also feel compelled to understand what drove the criminal. A bonus is that this genre permits me to utilize my career in public safety and my degree in psychology.
While reading mysteries, I often wondered if I could write one that succeeded in entertaining readers. I also took on this genre because writing a novel requires immersing myself in the story for hundreds of hours. Since I appreciate a touch of humor and a bit of romance, both find their way into my novels.
While speaking with my readers, I regularly hear that they didn’t figure out who dunnit until the very end. I often hear they anxiously await the next book, because they want to know what happens to my two protagonists and their families.
Ally: Do you have a writer's cave? Describe it or tell us where you do most of your writing. Does it have to be quiet or do you write with music or white noise (TV, etc)?
SL: I’ll attack this question going back to the environs for my first 3-1/2 books. My computer is in my kitchen. It sits on a stand to the right of my kitchen table. There is no better location. My space is rather confined. Actually, this works quite well. When I’m immersed in the first draft, editing, etc., I tend to work 12 to 16 hours per day. In this location, I’m seconds away from the refrigerator and the microwave. Okay, I admit it. I don’t get carried away with food preparation. The fewer steps required, the more I like it. With this arrangement, I can prepare a meal and eat it while I work without breaking my train of thought. As you’ve no doubt deciphered, no one else is dependent on me for their sustenance.
I require white noise while I write. For that reason, the news version of my local NPR station is always on while I write. Occasionally, I catch a headline, but I’m typically oblivious to much of what is being said. I cannot listen to music while I write. It’s impossible to keep from singing along. Haven’t tried it, but it seems unlikely I could sing and write anything that made sense or was worth reading. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so closed minded. Maybe I should give it a try, huh?
Ally: Do you prefer to read standalones or series? Which do you prefer to write?
SL: I prefer a series. When an author draws me in, when I grow attached to a character, they become a friend. I want to get to know them better than one book can reasonably reveal. I want to continue to experience life with and through them. Granted I can write my own ending, but I’m interested in more than the answers to the questions raised in the concluding pages or paragraphs and left to the reader’s imagination.
When I wrote Blinded by the Sight, the first Pete Culnane mystery, I didn’t envision it as the first book in a series. I became attached to Pete and his partner, Martin Tierney. The rest is history. I do not use an outline. When my fingers contact the keyboard, the story begins to take shape.
For that reason, I don’t know Pete and Martin’s futures beyond what each book reveals. For example, I know Pete, a widower, and his fiancée want children. I assume they will have some. I don’t know when, how many or if they will be boys, girls, or some combination. How long will Pete and Martin remain partners? Will Pete stay with the St. Paul Police Department? Will his fiancée be able to cope with the stress that now goes along with being married to a cop? Will there be a price to pay? What will Pete do after he retires from the PD?
Will Martin survive his son’s teen years? Will those years change their relationship? What impact will the undiagnosed illness plaguing Martin’s wife have on the family? And on and on and on.
Some day, I hope to know all these things. The answers must wait until Pete and Martin have a chance to tell me.
Ally: How much research do you do?
I do a plethora of research for all of my novels. I’m talking more than a hundred hours per book. This research takes a variety of forms.
Telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings:
* I verify police procedures with a retired police chief, discuss what a cop would be thinking in a variety of predicaments, those sorts of things.
* While working on Blinded by the Sight, the First Pete Culnane mystery, I called the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, seeking information on everything from what would be worn to a crime scene to procedures to documentation. I gave him a courtesy copy of that book. We became friends, and he is now a resource for all my books.
* I wanted to know how an emergency room would deal with a victim from arrival at the ER to declaring time of death and beyond. An emergency medicine physician has been a resource for books two through four.
* For book two, Running Scared, I did computer research and contacted an expert on cars to find a pre-air bags vehicle.
* I called the local high schools to find out about dress codes, times school started and ended, earliest time buses picked kids up, detention.
* My third book, Murder on a Stick is centered around the Minnesota State Fair. I spent hours on the Internet followed by days at the fair going from booth to booth, researching everything sold on a stick. I also spoke with firefighters and police officers working at the fair, regarding how they would hear about the incident and what they would do. I interviewed a former IBM employee to learn why an IBM plant was created in Rochester, Minnesota. I obtained State Fair trivia from an information booth volunteer.
* For book four, Mistletoe and Murder, I went to and ate at the Greek restaurant where the crime occurs. The manager provided the New Year’s Eve menu. I checked out the restrooms and the skyways connecting the Union Depot with other downtown St. Paul buildings. I went to the condominium and apartment entrances at Galtier Plaza to learn the layout.
* An acquaintance with first-hand knowledge of recognizing a heroin user provided information on tell-tale signs.
And so on. BTW, I’m amazed at how willing these people are to share their time, knowledge, and expertise.
Online research:
* I use Google Maps, and I drive and walk through areas where books are set, gathering important details about relevant neighborhoods.
* For book four, I did an Internet search for expensive shoes, the history of St. Paul’s Union Depot, the pandemic influenza outbreak of 1918 to 1919, soldiers returning from WWII by train, the polar vortex . . .
Did I hear someone scream, “Enough already!” Okay. I’ll stop.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
SL: In 2014, I became my mother’s caregiver. Since then, I rarely have the solitude I require to write. Writing is now a luxury. It took three years, but I succeeded in completing Mistletoe and Murder: The Fourth Pete Culnane Mystery. Prior to last fall, I doubted this would ever happen. That project turned the last six months into a series of marathons. Until recently, I’d given no thought to book five.
Now I’m permitting myself to believe there will be a fifth book. I’m currently evaluating potential sites, determining where the crime will occur. St. Paul has so many possibilities. They include: the St. Paul Saints baseball stadium, the State Capitol building, the St. Paul Cathedral, the location for the annual Red Bull Crashed Ice competition, the Ice Castle connected with the 2018 St. Paul Winter Carnival, and the Vikings stadium during the 2018 Super Bowl.
Each of my novels touches upon a social issue. I’m planning on it being human trafficking in the next Pete Culnane mystery. I’m a pantser. I don’t outline. I just sit down and type away as the story comes to me. For that reason, the social issue could change, but that seems unlikely, and I’m currently researching the topic.
Ally: Let's wind up with a few short answer questions:a. favorite TV program: This is a tough one. I love both Blue Bloods and Designated Survivor. If I have to select just one, Blue Bloods.b. favorite movie: The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.c. high heels or sneakers: Definitely sneakers! I’m long on comfortable.d. hiking or sunbathing: Definitely hiking, unless I can sunbathe while doing something other than sitting on a chaise lounge or lying on a towel.e. favorite song: There are lots of contenders. Since I can only name one, I’ll select Be Not Afraid. I was in church one weekend and feeling very low. Felt like I’d been abandoned. We sang that hymn, and the words struck a chord. An overwhelming weight became bearable. Ally: Thanks so much for visiting. Before you go, can you give us a sneak peek at the latest Pete Culnane, Mistletoe and Murder, releasing August 1, 2017? (That gives us plenty of time to catch up on the first three books!)
Auld Lang Syne with a TwistAs Collette Hammond orchestrates an elaborate New Year’s Eve wedding reception for her brother in St. Paul’s historic Union Depot, she never anticipates the evening might end in her own mysterious death.
St. Paul police detectives Pete Culnane and Martin Tierney are called away from their holiday celebrations to investigate, launching a trip through a labyrinth of intrigue and deception.
Buy Links books 1-3. Mistletoe and Murder isn’t available until August 1.:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/S.L.-Smith/e/B005GVK1DO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_6?qid=1493475810&sr=1-6
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/S.L.+Smith/_/N-8q8?_requestid=1153683
About the Author:
Bio:S.L. Smith grew up in small town Minnesota, learned to love St. Paul while attending college there, and became rooted in the people-oriented atmosphere of the Twin Cities. Her long career alongside law enforcement and fire officials while with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety inspire and inform her novels.
Something not in your regular bio: "I was such a tomboy that in a moment of exasperation, my mom once said, 'Well, we always wanted two boys anyway.'”
Links:
Website: www.slsmithbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001627700301&ref=ts&fref=ts
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/SLSmithauthor2012/?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4575682.S_L_Smith
May 10, 2017
Character Interview: Chrys from "The Pendragon Crystal" by Kath Boyd Marsh
Welcome, Booklovers!
We're doing something a little different today. Instead of the author, Kath Boyd Marsh, we're visiting with Chrys, a character from Marsh's short story, "The Pendragon Crystal," on pre-order now in the anthology, Dragons and Witches: Fairy Tale Villains Reimagined.
Ally: Nice to have you with us, Chrys.
Chrys: Hello Ally. Morgan and Myrlin are busy...doing stuff, so I volunteered to be your interviewee about Scribe Kath’s story in the new book: Dragons and Witches: Fairy Tale Villains Reimagined. Our story is The Pendragon Crystal. I'm Morgan's friend, and yes, we finally went on a date, but I don't want to discuss that.
You need to know I am not a Fairy Tale. And I am not a villain, and neither is Morgan. And of course Myrlin is a wizard, so he's not evil, just weird. You don't need to mention that to him either.
Ally: It’s nice Kath chose to write your true story. Many people think dragons are evil killers, and they're afraid of them.
Chrys: Uh, well… Humans can be kind of, no offense, but uninformed. I want to straighten that out. I’ve read your books--The Guardian Witch series is my favorite—and you know about Otherworld creatures. So you know what’s a fairy tale and what’s for real. You aren’t scared of me, are you? I mean since I’m real and all?
Ally: Are you kidding? I have fictional friends, such as witches, vampires, werecreatures, elves, and ghosts. There's even a dragon who makes a brief appearance in the book I'm working on right now.
Chrys: Excellent. I guess Kath did okay setting up this interview. So what do you want to know?
Ally: Let’s start with what the new book is about.
Chrys: It’s not a whole book about Morgan and me. It’s a YA anthology with ten stories by ten writers in all. The Pendragon Crystal is right in the middle. The best is in the middle, right? Did you see the Kirkus review of the book…and of our story? http://bit.ly/2ntTbXV. They liked our story!
Ally: Yes. Very nice. But what are the stories about?
Chrys: Like I said, ten stories, the fifth, ours being the best, all about … ‘Fairy Tale Villains’ only reimagined. Again, I am not a villain.
Ally: Okay, I believe you, Chrys. I'm still not clear on what you mean by 'reimagined.'
Chrys: That’s easy. All the book's scribes have written about the witches and dragons that people haven’t heard about. Like in Morgan and my story. Ours is kind of a twist on human Arthurian legends. Instead of Arthur Pendragon and his son Morgan being human, silly thought, our scribe Kath wrote the truth about the Pendragons being real dragons. Explains the magic better, right?
The story starts with a ‘normal’ day for Morgan. This was about six months after his father, King Arthur Pendragon, was kidnapped by his uncle Uthur. Morgan and the rest of his family have been hidden by Myrlin on the human plane. And, yes, everybody who is dragon looks human on the human plane. So Morgan goes to his Grove Township High School classes like usual, but that day everything changes. That’s where I step in. There’s a cool battle, and … you’ll have to read the book to find out who wins. And to find out why I’m in on this whole battle thing.
Ally: Since you're here talking to me, you and Morgan must have won.
Chrys: Are you sure? Maybe we were defeated, but I escaped. Maybe I’m here to recruit an army. Maybe I need your Guardian Witch and her crew to help us out.
Oh, did you hear that? No? Myrlin is calling me. Wizards can be so pushy.
Ally: Then I guess you'd better go. I hope you'll come back, and let us know how it turned out. Or I guess we can just wait and read the book on June 1! We'll be watching for it!
Dragons and Witches
by Madeline Smoot (Editor)
Dragons and witches have traditionally been the creatures of nightmares, the villains of fairy tales that are intended to haunt readers long after the stories have finished. Ten authors reimagine these villains in different guises and styles and in new and meaningful ways. In the end readers will be left wondering, are bad guys always bad?
Kirkus Review: http://bit.ly/2ntTbXV
Purchase (Pre-Order):
Amazon - http://amzn.to/2nOX8tv
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2nmMhUh
About the Author:At seven years old Kath Boyd Marsh self-published her first fantasy on lined notebook paper, stapled together by her grandfather, and starring a creature based on her little sister. Before Kath moved to Richmond, KY to write about dragons, wizards, and other fantastic creatures, she lived in seven states, Panama, and one very haunted house. The Lazy Dr'gon and the Bumblespells Wizard was her debut novel.
Author links:
kathboydmarshauthor.com
kath-lettersfromearth.blogspot.com
Twitter: @kmarshfen
Watch for more from this author coming in 2017, 2018 and beyond!
Character Interview: Chrys from "The Pendragon Crystal" by Kath Boyd Marsh
Welcome, Booklovers!
We're doing something a little different today. Instead of the author, Kath Boyd Marsh, we're visiting with Chrys, a character from Marsh's short story, "The Pendragon Crystal," on pre-order now in the anthology, Dragons and Witches: Fairy Tale Villains Reimagined.
Ally: Nice to have you with us, Chrys.
Chrys: Hello Ally. Morgan and Myrlin are busy...doing stuff, so I volunteered to be your interviewee about Scribe Kath’s story in the new book: Dragons and Witches: Fairy Tale Villains Reimagined. Our story is The Pendragon Crystal. I'm Morgan's friend, and yes, we finally went on a date, but I don't want to discuss that.
You need to know I am not a Fairy Tale. And I am not a villain, and neither is Morgan. And of course Myrlin is a wizard, so he's not evil, just weird. You don't need to mention that to him either.
Ally: It’s nice Kath chose to write your true story. Many people think dragons are evil killers, and they're afraid of them.
Chrys: Uh, well… Humans can be kind of, no offense, but uninformed. I want to straighten that out. I’ve read your books--The Guardian Witch series is my favorite—and you know about Otherworld creatures. So you know what’s a fairy tale and what’s for real. You aren’t scared of me, are you? I mean since I’m real and all?
Ally: Are you kidding? I have fictional friends, such as witches, vampires, werecreatures, elves, and ghosts. There's even a dragon who makes a brief appearance in the book I'm working on right now.
Chrys: Excellent. I guess Kath did okay setting up this interview. So what do you want to know?
Ally: Let’s start with what the new book is about.
Chrys: It’s not a whole book about Morgan and me. It’s a YA anthology with ten stories by ten writers in all. The Pendragon Crystal is right in the middle. The best is in the middle, right? Did you see the Kirkus review of the book…and of our story? http://bit.ly/2ntTbXV. They liked our story!
Ally: Yes. Very nice. But what are the stories about?
Chrys: Like I said, ten stories, the fifth, ours being the best, all about … ‘Fairy Tale Villains’ only reimagined. Again, I am not a villain.
Ally: Okay, I believe you, Chrys. I'm still not clear on what you mean by 'reimagined.'
Chrys: That’s easy. All the book's scribes have written about the witches and dragons that people haven’t heard about. Like in Morgan and my story. Ours is kind of a twist on human Arthurian legends. Instead of Arthur Pendragon and his son Morgan being human, silly thought, our scribe Kath wrote the truth about the Pendragons being real dragons. Explains the magic better, right?
The story starts with a ‘normal’ day for Morgan. This was about six months after his father, King Arthur Pendragon was kidnapped by his uncle Uthur Morgan, and the rest of his family have been hidden by Myrlin on the human plane. And, yes, everybody who is dragon, looks human on the human plane. So Morgan goes to his Gove Township High School classes like usual, but that day everything changes. That’s where I step in. There’s a cool battle, and … you’ll have to read the book to find out who wins. And to find out why I’m in on this whole battle thing.
Ally: Since you're here talking to me, you and Morgan must have won.
Chrys: Are you sure? Maybe we were defeated, but I escaped. Maybe I’m here to recruit an army. Maybe I need your Guardian Witch and her crew to help us out.
Oh, did you hear that? No? Myrlin is calling me. Wizards can be so pushy.
Ally: Then I guess you'd better go. I hope you'll come back, and let us know how it turned out. Or I guess we can just wait and read the book on June 1! We'll be watching for it!
Dragons and Witches
by Madeline Smoot (Editor)
Dragons and witches have traditionally been the creatures of nightmares, the villains of fairy tales that are intended to haunt readers long after the stories have finished. Ten authors reimagine these villains in different guises and styles and in new and meaningful ways. In the end readers will be left wondering, are bad guys always bad?
Kirkus Review: http://bit.ly/2ntTbXV
Purchase (Pre-Order):
Amazon - http://amzn.to/2nOX8tv
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2nmMhUh
About the Author:At seven years old Kath Boyd Marsh self-published her first fantasy on lined notebook paper, stapled together by her grandfather, and starring a creature based on her little sister. Before Kath moved to Richmond, KY to write about dragons, wizards, and other fantastic creatures, she lived in seven states, Panama, and one very haunted house. The Lazy Dr'gon and the Bumblespells Wizard was her debut novel.
Author links:
kathboydmarshauthor.com
kath-lettersfromearth.blogspot.com
Twitter: @kmarshfen
Watch for more from this author coming in 2017, 2018 and beyond!
May 3, 2017
Coffee Chat Author Interview: Rolynn Anderson
Happy Wednesday, Booklovers!It's time to meet another author and indulge in a little book talk. This week's guest is Rolynn Anderson, a writer of romantic suspense and mystery.
Welcome, Rolynn! How do you take your coffee?
ROLYNN: Starbucks is my second home since 1971 (I lived in Seattle, then). Grande Flat White, 2% milk extra hot. On Sundays, I get whipped cream and a half pump of mocha.
Ally: Shall we pretend it's Sunday? :) My magic pot loves Starbucks too. While I pour, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:Scandinavian, Army Brat, Wife, English Teacher, High School Principal, Golfer, Boater, World Traveler, Author. Now add a competitive nature and a love for ‘makeovers.’ As a principal, Rolynn Anderson and the staff she hired, opened a cutting-edge high school; as co-captain with her husband on INTREPID, she cruised from Washington State to Alaska and back. As a writer, she delights in creating imperfect characters faced with extraordinary, transforming challenges. Her hope: You'll devour her ‘makeover’ suspense novels in the wee hours of the morning, because her stories, settings and characters, capture your imagination and your heart.
Something unusual that isn't in your regular bio: "I am an Army brat, having lived in Germany, Japan and Korea, along with many states in the U.S. The desire to travel still runs in my blood."
Contact the Author:
http://www.rolynnanderson.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rolynn-Anderson/188767867821613
https://twitter.com/rolynnanderson
http://www.amazon.com/author/rolynnanderson
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4990049.Rolynn_Anderson
INTERVIEW:
Ally: What kind of story will readers find when they open a Rolynn Anderson novel?
ROLYNN: I write romantic suspense/mystery. In a heat rating of 1-5…I’d say I am a 3.
Ally: If you could have a supernatural power, what would it be and why?
ROLYNN: Simple. I would possess one or two tactics guaranteed to get my books in the hands of LOTS of readers. Then I suppose I’d make millions by writing a book about those two tactics. :)
Ally: How did you select your genre?
ROLYNN: I am more skilled at creating twists and turns in mystery/suspense plots than I am with the intricacies of relationships, so instead of writing straight up contemporary romance, I write romantic suspense. I get to deal equally with confounding events (caused by villains) as well as chaotic relationships. A two-fer!
Ally: What's your best marketing tip?
ROLYNN: Never sit down at a book sale. Engage readers with an intriguing giveaway. Choose locations for your book sale that match the subject matter for your book. Example: I had my sale for BAD LIES at a local golf pro shop!
Ally: What is your next writing project?ROLYNN: Cézanne’s Ghost by Rolynn Anderson. To Be Released: August, 2017
Three American women vanish in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Leon Beaudet, former U.S. Olympic wrestler, is proud of his five-star guide business in France, where he indulges in a passion: secretly drawing the portraits of intriguing female clients.
Then, over three successive tours, three women he sketched disappear.
Aline Kerig signs up for the next ten-day outing, more beautiful and carefree than the missing women and Leon’s most fascinating subject, yet. She waves away potential danger, and refuses to leave the tour.
The French police, American Embassy, and FBI roar in, worried the French tourist industry will collapse if the women aren’t found. They dredge up violence in Leon’s past, confounding Leon’s struggle to protect Aline, find the missing women, and clear his reputation.
Ally: Are you ready for a few short answer questions? Okay, go...
a. A book your currently reading: Just started Commonwealth by Ann Patchett b. An item on my bucket list: Play Pebble Beach Golf Course c. Manicure or Pedicure: Pedicure d. A favorite movie: Last of the Mohicans e. A favorite accessory- matching jewelery
Ally: It has been a pleasure having coffee with you. Before you leave us, please tell us a little about your latest romantic suspense, Bad Lies...
Bad Lies by Rolynn AndersonGenre: romantic suspense
Italy’s haunted caves spell danger for an American golfer and a NATO geologist
Sophie Maxwell is a late-blooming, unorthodox golfer, and mother of a precocious thirteen year-old. Determined to put divorce, bankruptcy, and a penchant for gambling in her past, Sophie goes to Italy for a qualifying golf tournament.
Jack Walker turned his back on a pro golfing career to become a geologist. As a favor to his ailing father he’ll caddy for Sophie; off hours, he’ll find caves on the Mediterranean coast, suitable for NATO listening posts for terrorist activity.
Someone is determined to stop Jack’s underground hunt and ruin Sophie’s chances to win her tournament.
On a Rome golf course and in the Amalfi coast’s haunted caves, all the odds are stacked against Sophie and Jack. In their gamble of a lifetime, who wins?
Buy Link: http://a.co/bG6n4Uw
Thanks for Stopping! Come back soon.
