Heidi Ruby Miller's Blog, page 21
October 5, 2015
HEIDI'S PICK SIX: Mord McGhee
HEIDI'S PICK SIX
MORD MCGHEE
1. Which of your characters is your favorite?
I'm partial to a character named Ariel. She is a lake monster.
2. Tell me about your travels.
This novel in particular is the direct result of a road trip from Pittsburgh to Lake Champlain in Vermont. I took every step that the book takes. It spanned the length of the historic Niagara Highway and then back through Corning and Cooperstown NY. I also spent the summer visiting with Loren Coleman at the International Cryptozoology Museum in Maine. Loren provided a foreword.
3. Coffee, tea, or milk?
Coffee. I'm a wereparent without it...
4. What else can you do besides write?
I play guitar and sing... which I've done professionally for years. I sustained an injury that forced my retirement. I don't play much as it takes too may painkillers to achieve anything worthwhile. I maintain an ASCAP membership, but under a pseudonym.
I also cook and have a professional background in high tech mumbo-jumbo.
5. Who are you reading right now?
Paul Nielsen's THE CAMBION, Frances Couvares' THE REMAKING OF PITTSBURGH, Andrew Carnegie's THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH, Stephen King's UNDER THE DOME, Cyril's Wecht's MORTAL EVIDENCE, and a few others...
6. Pop culture or academia?
History repeats itself. What is academia today is pop culture tomorrow.
7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
Technically... the hardest scene was the end of MURDER RED INK when Allena Gould comes face to face with far more than she ever imagined. Chapter 24 to be specific, because it's written the way stop-animation is filmed. There were hard scenes to write in the same book that were graphic and intense... but I'd always felt that Jack the Ripper wasn't getting his due as a monster and instead had become a Scooby-Doo villain. I give the evil prick all due respect. Emotionally... the hardest scenes to write were Oliver's scenes towards the end of OLD FLAMES AND HEROES. Most grueling... a short story called PLASMA BREACH (unpublished as of this interview though it is under hold at a publisher).
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
I wrote post-college and then gave it up. Last summer I married a wonderful woman that has editorial experience and as we moved in together (a year before the wedding or so) she found magazines and manuscripts in the bottom of my closet. She's to blame for the damage I've done to literature since turning professional in 2014. Though I find inspiration in the magical world around us.
9. Food you could eat everyday.
Ice Cream. In particular, Antney's Ice Cream of Greentree, Pennsylvania.
10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?
Yes. Is there an author's baseball or softball team? I'll bet your hubby throws a mean fastball!
11. What kind of music speaks to you?
All kinds of music. I know you've heard that before but I truly have the most eclectic taste and appreciation of music as certified by experts around the world. Not really, but when my music shuffles you NEVER know what's coming next. Slayer or a song from Rent... Vivaldi or DMX... Gene Autry or The Sex Pistols.
12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?
A little of both. I keep notes which then become a rough outline.
13. Celebrity crush.
Allison Janney. She's hysterical and I'd watch anything she's in. Though it's not really a 'crush' but more an a talent appreciation.
14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?
I wouldn't have fallen in love with reading if it wasn't for Robert E. Howard.
I wouldn't have wanted to be a writer if I hadn't read Steven Brust.
I wouldn't have found my love of villainous anti-heroes if it wasn't for Glen Cook.
I wouldn't have learned to enjoy writing humor had I not discovered Terry Pratchett.
I wouldn't have touched horror had I not rediscovered Stephen King.
That being said... add in H.P. Lovecraft, E.A. Poe, Ambrose Bierce, J.R.R. Tolkien, P.K. Dick, Steve Alten,
J.K. Rowling, and a dash of the classics.
The secret I've never shared... I've been a pen-pal with one of the above since I was 15 years old. The person
even read some of my first work and told me how awful it was.
15. Do you still watch cartoons?
My generation learned about the world in cartoons. Classical music, pop culture, movie stars then and now....
Oh... do I still? Yes, absolutely. Though I continue to choose the toons from the 70s-80s.
Mord McGhee
is known for writing razor sharp science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He is known as a cryptozoology, serial killer, and Muppet matter expert. He is a Global eBook Award winner and his writing can be found in competitive markets around the globe.
Mord loves books. He loves to write.
He's from Western Pennsylvania (Allegheny County) and has been doing it professionally since March of 2014. As a kid, he loved Chiller Theatre and classic monster horror movies. His later taste in Science Fiction movies leaned towards Total Recall, Predator, Alien, Star Wars, Jaws, and Jurassic Park.
He was a musician for more than 20 years and was fortunate enough to have been involved in almost a dozen records (in various forms). His voice, guitar, drums, bass, and piano are all ASCAP registered and some of the bands have been heard on hard rock and college radio stations around the country (and in Canada) over the years. An injury forced him to retire.
He considers himself one of the luckiest men alive for having the coolest fans in fiction.
He's regarded as a matter expert on the JFK Assassination, the Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian London, and cryptozoology (lake monsters in particular).
Contact him if you need commentary for your project. His latest book is Old Flames and Heroes .
MORD MCGHEE
1. Which of your characters is your favorite?
I'm partial to a character named Ariel. She is a lake monster.
2. Tell me about your travels.
This novel in particular is the direct result of a road trip from Pittsburgh to Lake Champlain in Vermont. I took every step that the book takes. It spanned the length of the historic Niagara Highway and then back through Corning and Cooperstown NY. I also spent the summer visiting with Loren Coleman at the International Cryptozoology Museum in Maine. Loren provided a foreword.
3. Coffee, tea, or milk?
Coffee. I'm a wereparent without it...
4. What else can you do besides write?
I play guitar and sing... which I've done professionally for years. I sustained an injury that forced my retirement. I don't play much as it takes too may painkillers to achieve anything worthwhile. I maintain an ASCAP membership, but under a pseudonym.
I also cook and have a professional background in high tech mumbo-jumbo.
5. Who are you reading right now?
Paul Nielsen's THE CAMBION, Frances Couvares' THE REMAKING OF PITTSBURGH, Andrew Carnegie's THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH, Stephen King's UNDER THE DOME, Cyril's Wecht's MORTAL EVIDENCE, and a few others...
6. Pop culture or academia?
History repeats itself. What is academia today is pop culture tomorrow.
7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
Technically... the hardest scene was the end of MURDER RED INK when Allena Gould comes face to face with far more than she ever imagined. Chapter 24 to be specific, because it's written the way stop-animation is filmed. There were hard scenes to write in the same book that were graphic and intense... but I'd always felt that Jack the Ripper wasn't getting his due as a monster and instead had become a Scooby-Doo villain. I give the evil prick all due respect. Emotionally... the hardest scenes to write were Oliver's scenes towards the end of OLD FLAMES AND HEROES. Most grueling... a short story called PLASMA BREACH (unpublished as of this interview though it is under hold at a publisher).
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
I wrote post-college and then gave it up. Last summer I married a wonderful woman that has editorial experience and as we moved in together (a year before the wedding or so) she found magazines and manuscripts in the bottom of my closet. She's to blame for the damage I've done to literature since turning professional in 2014. Though I find inspiration in the magical world around us.
9. Food you could eat everyday.
Ice Cream. In particular, Antney's Ice Cream of Greentree, Pennsylvania.
10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?
Yes. Is there an author's baseball or softball team? I'll bet your hubby throws a mean fastball!
11. What kind of music speaks to you?
All kinds of music. I know you've heard that before but I truly have the most eclectic taste and appreciation of music as certified by experts around the world. Not really, but when my music shuffles you NEVER know what's coming next. Slayer or a song from Rent... Vivaldi or DMX... Gene Autry or The Sex Pistols.
12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?
A little of both. I keep notes which then become a rough outline.
13. Celebrity crush.
Allison Janney. She's hysterical and I'd watch anything she's in. Though it's not really a 'crush' but more an a talent appreciation.
14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?
I wouldn't have fallen in love with reading if it wasn't for Robert E. Howard.
I wouldn't have wanted to be a writer if I hadn't read Steven Brust.
I wouldn't have found my love of villainous anti-heroes if it wasn't for Glen Cook.
I wouldn't have learned to enjoy writing humor had I not discovered Terry Pratchett.
I wouldn't have touched horror had I not rediscovered Stephen King.
That being said... add in H.P. Lovecraft, E.A. Poe, Ambrose Bierce, J.R.R. Tolkien, P.K. Dick, Steve Alten,
J.K. Rowling, and a dash of the classics.
The secret I've never shared... I've been a pen-pal with one of the above since I was 15 years old. The person
even read some of my first work and told me how awful it was.
15. Do you still watch cartoons?
My generation learned about the world in cartoons. Classical music, pop culture, movie stars then and now....
Oh... do I still? Yes, absolutely. Though I continue to choose the toons from the 70s-80s.
Mord McGhee
is known for writing razor sharp science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He is known as a cryptozoology, serial killer, and Muppet matter expert. He is a Global eBook Award winner and his writing can be found in competitive markets around the globe.Mord loves books. He loves to write.
He's from Western Pennsylvania (Allegheny County) and has been doing it professionally since March of 2014. As a kid, he loved Chiller Theatre and classic monster horror movies. His later taste in Science Fiction movies leaned towards Total Recall, Predator, Alien, Star Wars, Jaws, and Jurassic Park.
He was a musician for more than 20 years and was fortunate enough to have been involved in almost a dozen records (in various forms). His voice, guitar, drums, bass, and piano are all ASCAP registered and some of the bands have been heard on hard rock and college radio stations around the country (and in Canada) over the years. An injury forced him to retire.
He considers himself one of the luckiest men alive for having the coolest fans in fiction.
He's regarded as a matter expert on the JFK Assassination, the Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian London, and cryptozoology (lake monsters in particular).
Contact him if you need commentary for your project. His latest book is Old Flames and Heroes .
September 30, 2015
BOOK: Dead of Summer by Sherry Knowlton
BOOKS
DEAD OF SUMMER
In a tale of suspense that travels from Southcentral Pennsylvania to Africa to the iconic Woodstock Festival of 1969, Dead of Summer embroils Alexa Williams in the dangerous world of sex trafficking.
With help from friends, family, and her yoga practice, Alexa Williams is finally starting to recover from last autumn’s trauma of finding a dead body and the violence that ensued. The young attorney can’t believe that her summer has begun with the discovery of another body. This time, the dead woman was famous for her worldwide campaign against sex trafficking. The murder hits close to home: the late activist was a friend and mentor to Alexa’s best friend, Melissa.
While the town mourns, Alexa stumbles into a burglary at Melissa’s home, barely escaping serious harm. A client asks for help in convincing the police that her foster child is not a runaway, and Alexa learns that other local girls have gone missing. Drawn into the fight to save lost and exploited children, Alexa discovers a community of child activists. A local philanthropist wants Alexa to join his foster care empire. A sexy social worker and a hip college professor want a more personal connection with Alexa, but she is also drawn to the police detective leading the murder investigation.
Searching for answers, Alexa becomes entangled in a web of deception and danger that puts both her heart and her life at risk. By the time she discovers that the key to the present lies in the halcyon days of peace and music, it may be too late.
Sherry Knowlton
(nee Rothenberger), author of the Alexa Williams novels, DEAD of AUTUMN and DEAD of SUMMER was born and raised in Chambersburg, PA, where she developed a lifelong passion for books. She was that kid who would sneak a flashlight to bed at night so she could read beneath the covers. All the local librarians knew her by name.
Sherry launched her writing career with a mimeographed elementary school newsletter and went on to write and edit for her high school and college newspapers. Since then, Sherry’s creative and technical writing has run the gamut from poetry, essays, and short stories to environmental newsletters, policy papers, regulations, and grant proposals.
Sherry spent much of her early career in state government, working primarily with social and human services programs, including services for abused children, rape crisis, domestic violence, and family planning. In the 1990s, she served as the Deputy Secretary for Medical Assistance in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter part of Sherry’s career has focused on the field of Medicaid managed care. Now retired from executive positions in the health insurance industry, Sherry runs her own health care consulting business.
Sherry has a B.A. in English and psychology from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
Sherry and her husband, Mike, began their journey together in the days of peace and music when they traversed the country in a hippie van. Running out of money several months into the trip, Sherry waitressed the night shift at a cowboy hangout in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Mike washed dishes in a bakery. Undeterred, they embraced the travel experience and continue to explore far-flung places around the globe. Sherry and Mike have one son, Josh, a craft brewer in upstate New York.
Sherry lives in the mountains of South Central Pennsylvania, where her novels are set.
Sherry is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters In Crime and Pennwriters.
DEAD OF SUMMER
In a tale of suspense that travels from Southcentral Pennsylvania to Africa to the iconic Woodstock Festival of 1969, Dead of Summer embroils Alexa Williams in the dangerous world of sex trafficking.
With help from friends, family, and her yoga practice, Alexa Williams is finally starting to recover from last autumn’s trauma of finding a dead body and the violence that ensued. The young attorney can’t believe that her summer has begun with the discovery of another body. This time, the dead woman was famous for her worldwide campaign against sex trafficking. The murder hits close to home: the late activist was a friend and mentor to Alexa’s best friend, Melissa.
While the town mourns, Alexa stumbles into a burglary at Melissa’s home, barely escaping serious harm. A client asks for help in convincing the police that her foster child is not a runaway, and Alexa learns that other local girls have gone missing. Drawn into the fight to save lost and exploited children, Alexa discovers a community of child activists. A local philanthropist wants Alexa to join his foster care empire. A sexy social worker and a hip college professor want a more personal connection with Alexa, but she is also drawn to the police detective leading the murder investigation.
Searching for answers, Alexa becomes entangled in a web of deception and danger that puts both her heart and her life at risk. By the time she discovers that the key to the present lies in the halcyon days of peace and music, it may be too late.
Sherry Knowlton
(nee Rothenberger), author of the Alexa Williams novels, DEAD of AUTUMN and DEAD of SUMMER was born and raised in Chambersburg, PA, where she developed a lifelong passion for books. She was that kid who would sneak a flashlight to bed at night so she could read beneath the covers. All the local librarians knew her by name.Sherry launched her writing career with a mimeographed elementary school newsletter and went on to write and edit for her high school and college newspapers. Since then, Sherry’s creative and technical writing has run the gamut from poetry, essays, and short stories to environmental newsletters, policy papers, regulations, and grant proposals.
Sherry spent much of her early career in state government, working primarily with social and human services programs, including services for abused children, rape crisis, domestic violence, and family planning. In the 1990s, she served as the Deputy Secretary for Medical Assistance in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter part of Sherry’s career has focused on the field of Medicaid managed care. Now retired from executive positions in the health insurance industry, Sherry runs her own health care consulting business.
Sherry has a B.A. in English and psychology from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
Sherry and her husband, Mike, began their journey together in the days of peace and music when they traversed the country in a hippie van. Running out of money several months into the trip, Sherry waitressed the night shift at a cowboy hangout in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Mike washed dishes in a bakery. Undeterred, they embraced the travel experience and continue to explore far-flung places around the globe. Sherry and Mike have one son, Josh, a craft brewer in upstate New York.
Sherry lives in the mountains of South Central Pennsylvania, where her novels are set.
Sherry is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters In Crime and Pennwriters.
September 27, 2015
IN MEMORIAM: Ron Shannon, Author
IN MEMORIAM
RON SHANNON
Ron Shannon discovered a passion for storytelling at a very young age: while listening to his teacher read the Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol to the overly-excited members of his sixth grade class. Later, he went on to study at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey and graduated with the unlikely degree combination of accounting and English. Later he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He wrote two novels, The Hedgerows of June and Gabriel's Wing . Ron lived, daydreamed, and wrote at the New Jersey shore until he passed away in September 2015.
On a personal note, when I think of Ron Shannon, I will remember how he was the type of author who understood how important community was and knew how to pay it forward. He was always kind to me, and that can be rare in this business. I will miss you, Ron.
RON SHANNON
Ron Shannon discovered a passion for storytelling at a very young age: while listening to his teacher read the Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol to the overly-excited members of his sixth grade class. Later, he went on to study at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey and graduated with the unlikely degree combination of accounting and English. Later he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He wrote two novels, The Hedgerows of June and Gabriel's Wing . Ron lived, daydreamed, and wrote at the New Jersey shore until he passed away in September 2015.
On a personal note, when I think of Ron Shannon, I will remember how he was the type of author who understood how important community was and knew how to pay it forward. He was always kind to me, and that can be rare in this business. I will miss you, Ron.
September 21, 2015
HEIDI'S PICK SIX: Pippa Jay
HEIDI'S PICK SIX
PIPPA JAY
1. Which of your characters is your favorite?
Don’t tell the others, but my time hopping heroine Quin is my favourite. Mostly because she’s been with me the longest, and was the person my teenage self wanted to be. Also because she’s a redhead like me.
2. Tell me about your travels.
3. Coffee, tea, or milk?
4. What else can you do besides write?
5. Who are you reading right now?
6. Pop culture or academia?
7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
I had to write the death of a character’s mother, and my beta reader made me re-write it twice because she didn’t feel there was enough emotion and she knew I could do better. Since it was based on losing my own mum when I was nineteen, it brought a lot of those bad memories back up and left me in tears. But since it was important to the story and I’d committed myself to writing it, I couldn’t just cut it out and no do it. That scene was one that sparked my hero’s transformation, so couldn’t be skipped over.
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
9. Food you could eat everyday.
10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?
I’m not a sports junkie, hate to watch any kind of sport, but I love to dance and I used to do a lot of aerobics. Long walks are good too. Otherwise I tend to be a bit of a couch potato, though I try hard to get up and move about regularly because that’s just not healthy on a day to day basis.
11. What kind of music speaks to you?
I love alternative rock. I’m not too keen on the really shouty stuff, although if I’m feeling rage-y or writing something violent or dangerous, that’s a good fit as background. In general I prefer the loud but lyrical stuff, mixed with the odd ballad. Current muses are Linkin Park, Starset, and Red.
12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?
Totally taken for a ride! I cannot outline. I’ve tried, and it just kills my creativity and enthusiasm for a story, and usually means me abandoning it unfinished. My process is non-linear and chaotic, but it works for me so I don’t see any reason to change it.
13. Celebrity crush.
Don’t get me wrong, but right now my crush is Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. She’s seriously awesome! I don’t normally fall for women, but I just adore her in Avengers and wish she’d get her own film.
14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?
15. Do you still watch cartoons?
After spending twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay is now a stay-at-home mum who writes scifi and the supernatural. Somewhere along the way a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. In between torturing her plethora of characters, she spends the odd free moment playing guitar very badly, punishing herself with freestyle street dance, and studying the Dark Side of the Force. Although happily settled in the historical town of Colchester in the UK with her husband of 22 years and three little monsters, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head.
Pippa Jay is a dedicated member of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade , Broad Universe , and EPIC , blogging at Spacefreighters Lounge , Adventures in Scifi , and Romancing the Genres . Her works include YA and adult stories crossing a multitude of subgenres from scifi to the paranormal, often with romance, and she’s one of eight authors included in a science fiction romance anthology— Tales from the SFR Brigade . She’s also a double SFR Galaxy Award winner, been a finalist in the Heart of Denver RWA Aspen Gold Contest (3rd place), the EPIC eBook awards, and the GCC RWA Silken Sands Star Awards (2nd place).
You can stalk her at her website , or at her blog , but without doubt her favorite place to hang around and chat is on Twitter as @pippajaygreen .
PIPPA JAY
1. Which of your characters is your favorite?
Don’t tell the others, but my time hopping heroine Quin is my favourite. Mostly because she’s been with me the longest, and was the person my teenage self wanted to be. Also because she’s a redhead like me.
2. Tell me about your travels.
3. Coffee, tea, or milk?
4. What else can you do besides write?
5. Who are you reading right now?
6. Pop culture or academia?
7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
I had to write the death of a character’s mother, and my beta reader made me re-write it twice because she didn’t feel there was enough emotion and she knew I could do better. Since it was based on losing my own mum when I was nineteen, it brought a lot of those bad memories back up and left me in tears. But since it was important to the story and I’d committed myself to writing it, I couldn’t just cut it out and no do it. That scene was one that sparked my hero’s transformation, so couldn’t be skipped over.
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
9. Food you could eat everyday.
10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?
I’m not a sports junkie, hate to watch any kind of sport, but I love to dance and I used to do a lot of aerobics. Long walks are good too. Otherwise I tend to be a bit of a couch potato, though I try hard to get up and move about regularly because that’s just not healthy on a day to day basis.
11. What kind of music speaks to you?
I love alternative rock. I’m not too keen on the really shouty stuff, although if I’m feeling rage-y or writing something violent or dangerous, that’s a good fit as background. In general I prefer the loud but lyrical stuff, mixed with the odd ballad. Current muses are Linkin Park, Starset, and Red.
12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?
Totally taken for a ride! I cannot outline. I’ve tried, and it just kills my creativity and enthusiasm for a story, and usually means me abandoning it unfinished. My process is non-linear and chaotic, but it works for me so I don’t see any reason to change it.
13. Celebrity crush.
Don’t get me wrong, but right now my crush is Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. She’s seriously awesome! I don’t normally fall for women, but I just adore her in Avengers and wish she’d get her own film.
14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?
15. Do you still watch cartoons?
After spending twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay is now a stay-at-home mum who writes scifi and the supernatural. Somewhere along the way a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. In between torturing her plethora of characters, she spends the odd free moment playing guitar very badly, punishing herself with freestyle street dance, and studying the Dark Side of the Force. Although happily settled in the historical town of Colchester in the UK with her husband of 22 years and three little monsters, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head.
Pippa Jay is a dedicated member of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade , Broad Universe , and EPIC , blogging at Spacefreighters Lounge , Adventures in Scifi , and Romancing the Genres . Her works include YA and adult stories crossing a multitude of subgenres from scifi to the paranormal, often with romance, and she’s one of eight authors included in a science fiction romance anthology— Tales from the SFR Brigade . She’s also a double SFR Galaxy Award winner, been a finalist in the Heart of Denver RWA Aspen Gold Contest (3rd place), the EPIC eBook awards, and the GCC RWA Silken Sands Star Awards (2nd place).
You can stalk her at her website , or at her blog , but without doubt her favorite place to hang around and chat is on Twitter as @pippajaygreen .
September 18, 2015
EVENT: Pennwriters 2015: Building Bridges (Photos)
PHOTOS
As always Jason Jack Miller and I had a wonderful time at the Pennwriters Conference this year. Since it was held in Pittsburgh, the theme was quite appropriate: Building Bridges. It was great to connect with old friends and meet so many new writers and editors. Here are just a few photos of the event.
As always Jason Jack Miller and I had a wonderful time at the Pennwriters Conference this year. Since it was held in Pittsburgh, the theme was quite appropriate: Building Bridges. It was great to connect with old friends and meet so many new writers and editors. Here are just a few photos of the event.
September 4, 2015
BOOK: The Scarlet Jaguar by Win Scott Eckert
THE SCARLETT JAGUARWinner of the 2014 New Pulp Award for Best Novella!
When we last saw Patricia Wildman, daughter of Doc Wildman, the bronze champion of justice, six months had passed since the main events of The Evil in Pemberley House. She and her associate Parker, an ex-Scotland Yard Inspector, had set up Empire State Investigations at her Pemberley House estate—and she just received a mysterious phone call from her supposedly late father . . .
Several months later, Pat receives a visitor, a young girl named Emma Ponsonby, whose father, a British diplomat to a small Central American country, has been kidnapped by the Scarlet Jaguar. Pat, following in her father’s footsteps of righting wrongs and assisting those in need, agrees to help, but before they can set off on their quest the Scarlet Jaguar sends a gruesome warning.
Undeterred, the investigation takes Pat, Parker, and their young charge from Pemberley House in the Derbyshire countryside . . . To New York, where they battle agents of the Scarlet Jaguar and meet Pat’s old friend, the icy, pale-skinned beauty Helen Benson, who agrees to join them on their quest . . . To the small nation of Xibum, where the Scarlet Jaguar’s reign of uncanny assassinations threatens to expand to the rest of Central America—and beyond!
Now, it’s a race against time deep in the wilds of the Central American jungle, as Pat Wildman and her crew search for Emma’s father, and confront the Scarlet Jaguar’s weird power to eliminate his enemies from afar, marked only by a wisp of crimson smoke—smoke resembling nothing so much as the head of a blood-red screaming jaguar. But who—or what—is the Scarlet Jaguar? A power-mad dictator determined to reclaim power? A revolutionary movement bent on taking over the country, and the rest of Central America?
Or a front for something even more sinister . . .?
~~~
Win Scott Eckert is an author and editor, best known for his work on the literary-crossover Wold Newton Universe, created by author Philip José Farmer, but much expanded-upon subsequently by Eckert and others. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a Juris Doctorate.
Eckert is editor of—and contributor to—the 2005 MonkeyBrain-published work Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton Universe (originally titled: Creative Mythography: An Expansion of Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe), collecting Farmer's little-seen stories and essays which expand upon the Wold Newtonian concept, alongside "contributions from Farmer’s successors—scholars, writers, and pop-culture historians—who bring even more fictional characters into the fold".
Myths for the Modern Age was a 2007 Locus Award finalist for best non-fiction work.
In 2006, he wrote the foreword to Bison Books' new edition of Philip José Farmer's original Wold Newtonian work Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke (Bison Books, 2006).
Eckert's two-volume Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World (Black Coat Press, 2010) uses literary/film/TV crossovers between members of the core Wold Newton family and other fictional individuals to create an expanded shared continuity called the Crossover Universe.
He is the coauthor with Philip José Farmer of the Wold Newton novel The Evil in Pemberley House, about Patricia Wildman, the daughter of a bronze-skinned pulp hero. Pat Wildman’s adventures continue in Eckert’s sequel, The Scarlet Jaguar. He has coedited three Green Hornet anthologies for Moonstone Books, and his tales of Zorro, The Green Hornet, The Avenger, The Phantom, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Captain Midnight, The Domino Lady, and Sherlock Holmes, can be found in the pages of various character-themed anthologies, Tales of the Wold Newton Universe, and in the annual series The Worlds of Philip José Farmer and Tales of the Shadowmen. A Girl and Her Cat (coauthored with Matthew Baugh), a new Honey West novel, was released in 2014. A hardcover limited edition of The Scarlet Jaguar is due out in November 2015.
PREORDER THE SIGNED LIMITED EDITION HARD COVER FROM METEOR HOUSE
Cover Art by Mark Sparacio
August 31, 2015
HEIDI'S PICK SIX: Sherry Knowlton
HEIDI'S PICK SIX
SHERRY KNOWLTON
1. Which of your characters is your favorite?
In many ways, my protagonist from Dead of Autumn and Dead of Summer, is my favorite character. Alexa Williams is a smart young lawyer who stepped off the fast track at a big New York City firm to return home to a quieter life. Now she lives with her English Mastiff in a cabin in the woods. She's curious, tenacious and manages to get herself out of some dangerous predicaments. However, she's got a lousy track record with romance.
I do have to admit that I really like writing her best friend Melissa who is free-spirited and artsy - although it might be that I would just like to wear her bohemian wardrobe. And, it's fun to create bad guys with nuanced character and motivation.
2. Tell me about your travels.
When I was a kid, I kept this line from Tennyson's Ulysses on my bulletin board: "for my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths of all the western stars, until I die." And I've spent most of my adult life trying to fulfill that purpose. Right after college, my husband and I spent four months traveling in our hippie van and explored most of the continental United States. Since then, we've been to every state except Hawaii. When my son was growing up, we spent a lot of vacations sailing in the Caribbean and Greece. In recent years, my husband and I have traveled all over the globe from New Zealand to Southeast Asia to South America to Europe. Once place we keep returning to is Africa. We've gone on four long safaris that have taken us to Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana -- plus gorilla trekking in Uganda. Part of my latest novel, Dead of Summer, takes place in Africa. I enjoyed writing about a place that's given me such joy.
3. Coffee, tea, or milk?
Tea, especially spicy tea like Constant Comment or Chai Tea (which also has milk). Of course, if I'm eating Oreos, I need a tall glass of milk.
4. What else can you do besides write?
5. Who are you reading right now?
When I was younger, I read every single book in John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series. Travis McGee lives on a houseboat in Florida and spends most of his time solving crimes and rescuing damsels in distress. Recently, I read a re-release of The Lonely Silver Rain and it inspired to go back and reread the entire series. I'm going to read The Turquoise Lament next.
6. Pop culture or academia?
7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
My first novel, Dead of Autumn, included a parallel plot tin which I fictionalized a Depression-era child murder. I told the story from one of the children's point of view. The most difficult scene I've written was the last chapter of that Babes in the Woods saga. I was surprised at the amount of emotion I felt as I wrote that final scene with Dewilla Noakes and her father. By the time I got there, I had become so connected to my vision of this young girl, that writing that last passage was a gut-wrenching experience.
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
9. Food you could eat everyday.
10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?
11. What kind of music speaks to you?
12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?
13. Celebrity crush.
14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?
Countless authors have influenced me. When I was a kid, I loved the way that Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys solved mysteries. My love of travel was fostered by reading Mary Stewart’s The Moonspinners, Dr. Zhivago, Robert Ruark’s books based in Africa, James Michener… I could go on and on.
I recently got the opportunity to be recognized as a Debut Author at the International Thriller Writers conference, Thrillerfest, in New York City. It was truly a thrill to speak briefly at a conference where some of my favorite contemporary thriller authors headlined the agenda: Greg Iles, Lee Childs, Scott Turow, Nelson DeMille, Sandra Brown, and many others. They all continue to influence my work as well.
15. Do you still watch cartoons?
Sherry Knowlton is the author of the successful Alexa Williams suspense novels, DEAD of AUTUMN and DEAD of SUMMER . Sherry (nee Sherry Rothenberger) was born and raised in Chambersburg, PA where she developed a lifelong passion for books. She was that kid who would sneak a flashlight to bed at night so she could read beneath the covers. All the local librarians knew her by name.
Sherry spent much of her early career in state government, working primarily with social and human services programs, including services for abused children, rape crisis, domestic violence, and family planning. In the 1990s, she served as the Deputy Secretary for Medical Assistance in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter part of Sherry’s career has focused on the field of Medicaid managed care. Now retired from executive positions in the health insurance industry, Sherry runs her own health care consulting business.
Sherry has a B.A. in English and psychology from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
Sherry and her husband, Mike, began their journey together in the days of peace and music when they traversed the country in a hippie van. Running out of money several months into the trip, Sherry waitressed the night shift at a cowboy hangout in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Mike washed dishes in a bakery. Undeterred, they embraced the travel experience and continue to explore far-flung places around the globe. Sherry and Mike have one son, Josh, a craft brewer.
Sherry lives in the mountains of South Central Pennsylvania where her novels are set.
DEAD OF SUMMER
In a tale of suspense that travels from Southcentral Pennsylvania to Africa to the iconic Woodstock Festival of 1969, DEAD of SUMMER embroils Alexa Williams in the dangerous world of sex trafficking.
Alexa Williams is finally starting to recover from last autumn’s trauma of finding a dead body and the violence that ensued. The young attorney can’t believe that her summer has begun with the discovery of another body. This time, the dead woman was famous for her worldwide campaign against sex trafficking. Drawn into the fight to save lost and exploited children, Alexa becomes entangled in a web of deception and danger that puts both her heart and her life at risk. By the time she discovers that the key to the present lies in the halcyon days of peace and music, it may be too late.
DEAD OF AUTUMN
In a Pennsylvania forest, Alexa Williams takes her dog for a walk and discovers the body of an ethereal blonde. The girl’s death bears an eerie resemblance to a crime from an earlier era, the infamous Babes in the Woods case. From that fateful day, the young attorney’s carefully ordered life begins to unravel. One of her mentors, an abortion clinic doctor, falls victim to a sniper’s bullet. After revealing a disturbing secret, her boyfriend turns into a stranger. She finds herself drawn to a handsome new man with a murky past. When a charismatic preacher emerges from the shadows, secrets begin to unravel. As violence claims more victims, seemingly disparate paths in Alexa’s life begin to intersect.
Against a backdrop of anti-abortion protests and escalating violence, Alexa and handsome forest ranger Reese Michaels become entangled in a web of extremism and bloodshed. Too late, Alexa discovers that danger lies closer to home than she could ever have imagined.
SHERRY KNOWLTON
1. Which of your characters is your favorite?
In many ways, my protagonist from Dead of Autumn and Dead of Summer, is my favorite character. Alexa Williams is a smart young lawyer who stepped off the fast track at a big New York City firm to return home to a quieter life. Now she lives with her English Mastiff in a cabin in the woods. She's curious, tenacious and manages to get herself out of some dangerous predicaments. However, she's got a lousy track record with romance.
I do have to admit that I really like writing her best friend Melissa who is free-spirited and artsy - although it might be that I would just like to wear her bohemian wardrobe. And, it's fun to create bad guys with nuanced character and motivation.
2. Tell me about your travels.
When I was a kid, I kept this line from Tennyson's Ulysses on my bulletin board: "for my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths of all the western stars, until I die." And I've spent most of my adult life trying to fulfill that purpose. Right after college, my husband and I spent four months traveling in our hippie van and explored most of the continental United States. Since then, we've been to every state except Hawaii. When my son was growing up, we spent a lot of vacations sailing in the Caribbean and Greece. In recent years, my husband and I have traveled all over the globe from New Zealand to Southeast Asia to South America to Europe. Once place we keep returning to is Africa. We've gone on four long safaris that have taken us to Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana -- plus gorilla trekking in Uganda. Part of my latest novel, Dead of Summer, takes place in Africa. I enjoyed writing about a place that's given me such joy.
3. Coffee, tea, or milk?
Tea, especially spicy tea like Constant Comment or Chai Tea (which also has milk). Of course, if I'm eating Oreos, I need a tall glass of milk.
4. What else can you do besides write?
5. Who are you reading right now?
When I was younger, I read every single book in John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series. Travis McGee lives on a houseboat in Florida and spends most of his time solving crimes and rescuing damsels in distress. Recently, I read a re-release of The Lonely Silver Rain and it inspired to go back and reread the entire series. I'm going to read The Turquoise Lament next.
6. Pop culture or academia?
7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
My first novel, Dead of Autumn, included a parallel plot tin which I fictionalized a Depression-era child murder. I told the story from one of the children's point of view. The most difficult scene I've written was the last chapter of that Babes in the Woods saga. I was surprised at the amount of emotion I felt as I wrote that final scene with Dewilla Noakes and her father. By the time I got there, I had become so connected to my vision of this young girl, that writing that last passage was a gut-wrenching experience.
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
9. Food you could eat everyday.
10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?
11. What kind of music speaks to you?
12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?
13. Celebrity crush.
14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?
Countless authors have influenced me. When I was a kid, I loved the way that Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys solved mysteries. My love of travel was fostered by reading Mary Stewart’s The Moonspinners, Dr. Zhivago, Robert Ruark’s books based in Africa, James Michener… I could go on and on.
I recently got the opportunity to be recognized as a Debut Author at the International Thriller Writers conference, Thrillerfest, in New York City. It was truly a thrill to speak briefly at a conference where some of my favorite contemporary thriller authors headlined the agenda: Greg Iles, Lee Childs, Scott Turow, Nelson DeMille, Sandra Brown, and many others. They all continue to influence my work as well.
15. Do you still watch cartoons?
Sherry Knowlton is the author of the successful Alexa Williams suspense novels, DEAD of AUTUMN and DEAD of SUMMER . Sherry (nee Sherry Rothenberger) was born and raised in Chambersburg, PA where she developed a lifelong passion for books. She was that kid who would sneak a flashlight to bed at night so she could read beneath the covers. All the local librarians knew her by name.
Sherry spent much of her early career in state government, working primarily with social and human services programs, including services for abused children, rape crisis, domestic violence, and family planning. In the 1990s, she served as the Deputy Secretary for Medical Assistance in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter part of Sherry’s career has focused on the field of Medicaid managed care. Now retired from executive positions in the health insurance industry, Sherry runs her own health care consulting business.
Sherry has a B.A. in English and psychology from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
Sherry and her husband, Mike, began their journey together in the days of peace and music when they traversed the country in a hippie van. Running out of money several months into the trip, Sherry waitressed the night shift at a cowboy hangout in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Mike washed dishes in a bakery. Undeterred, they embraced the travel experience and continue to explore far-flung places around the globe. Sherry and Mike have one son, Josh, a craft brewer.
Sherry lives in the mountains of South Central Pennsylvania where her novels are set.
DEAD OF SUMMER
In a tale of suspense that travels from Southcentral Pennsylvania to Africa to the iconic Woodstock Festival of 1969, DEAD of SUMMER embroils Alexa Williams in the dangerous world of sex trafficking.
Alexa Williams is finally starting to recover from last autumn’s trauma of finding a dead body and the violence that ensued. The young attorney can’t believe that her summer has begun with the discovery of another body. This time, the dead woman was famous for her worldwide campaign against sex trafficking. Drawn into the fight to save lost and exploited children, Alexa becomes entangled in a web of deception and danger that puts both her heart and her life at risk. By the time she discovers that the key to the present lies in the halcyon days of peace and music, it may be too late.
DEAD OF AUTUMN
In a Pennsylvania forest, Alexa Williams takes her dog for a walk and discovers the body of an ethereal blonde. The girl’s death bears an eerie resemblance to a crime from an earlier era, the infamous Babes in the Woods case. From that fateful day, the young attorney’s carefully ordered life begins to unravel. One of her mentors, an abortion clinic doctor, falls victim to a sniper’s bullet. After revealing a disturbing secret, her boyfriend turns into a stranger. She finds herself drawn to a handsome new man with a murky past. When a charismatic preacher emerges from the shadows, secrets begin to unravel. As violence claims more victims, seemingly disparate paths in Alexa’s life begin to intersect.
Against a backdrop of anti-abortion protests and escalating violence, Alexa and handsome forest ranger Reese Michaels become entangled in a web of extremism and bloodshed. Too late, Alexa discovers that danger lies closer to home than she could ever have imagined.
August 20, 2015
BOOK: Hearts Akilter by Catherine E. McLean
BOOKS
HEARTS AKILTER
Love, vengeance, attempted murder, and a bomb...No reason to panic.
When a medical robot insists he's having a heart attack, Marlee Evans, a pragmatic maintenance technician, has every reason to panic. There's a bomb inside him. Since Marlee can't risk the bomber discovering she's found the device, her only option is to kidnap Deacon Black, an unflappable bomb expert, and secretly convince him to disarm it.
Things go slightly awry when Deacon sets a trap for someone who is trying to kill him, and inadvertently, captures Marlee instead. Instantly intrigued by her refreshingly forthright and gutsy attitude, he's smitten. Unfortunately for Deacon, Marlee recently hardened her heart and swore off men, especially handsome ones with boy-next-door grins. But as Marlee and Deacon attempt to identify and prevent the bomber from detonating the device, they discover that love may be the most explosive force of all.
Besides
Catherine E. McLean
being a wife and mother, she has ridden and exhibited Morgan Sport Horses. She's an avid clothing and costume designer, an award-winning amateur photographer, a 4-H leader, and a Red Hatter who loves bling.
She lives on a farm nestled in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. In the quiet of the countryside, she writes fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal stories where a reader can escape to other worlds for adventure and romance.
Her short stories have appeared in hard-copy and online anthologies and magazines. Her third novel, HEARTS AKILTER , a lighthearted fantasy/sci-fi romance, was released August 5, 2015.
Hub Website: http://www.CatherineEmclean.com
Connect with Catherine at: http://www.catherineemclean.com/connect-with-catherine-form.html
Catherine also gives writing workshops, both online and in-person. A schedule is posted at http://www.writerscheatsheets.com/wor...
Catherine's website for writers is http://www.WritersCheatSheets.com and she blogs at http://writerscheatsheets.blogspot.com/
HEARTS AKILTER
Love, vengeance, attempted murder, and a bomb...No reason to panic.
When a medical robot insists he's having a heart attack, Marlee Evans, a pragmatic maintenance technician, has every reason to panic. There's a bomb inside him. Since Marlee can't risk the bomber discovering she's found the device, her only option is to kidnap Deacon Black, an unflappable bomb expert, and secretly convince him to disarm it.
Things go slightly awry when Deacon sets a trap for someone who is trying to kill him, and inadvertently, captures Marlee instead. Instantly intrigued by her refreshingly forthright and gutsy attitude, he's smitten. Unfortunately for Deacon, Marlee recently hardened her heart and swore off men, especially handsome ones with boy-next-door grins. But as Marlee and Deacon attempt to identify and prevent the bomber from detonating the device, they discover that love may be the most explosive force of all.
Besides
Catherine E. McLean
being a wife and mother, she has ridden and exhibited Morgan Sport Horses. She's an avid clothing and costume designer, an award-winning amateur photographer, a 4-H leader, and a Red Hatter who loves bling.She lives on a farm nestled in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. In the quiet of the countryside, she writes fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal stories where a reader can escape to other worlds for adventure and romance.
Her short stories have appeared in hard-copy and online anthologies and magazines. Her third novel, HEARTS AKILTER , a lighthearted fantasy/sci-fi romance, was released August 5, 2015.
Hub Website: http://www.CatherineEmclean.com
Connect with Catherine at: http://www.catherineemclean.com/connect-with-catherine-form.html
Catherine also gives writing workshops, both online and in-person. A schedule is posted at http://www.writerscheatsheets.com/wor...
Catherine's website for writers is http://www.WritersCheatSheets.com and she blogs at http://writerscheatsheets.blogspot.com/
July 28, 2015
TEASER TUESDAY: Starrie (From the World of Ambasadora)
TEASER TUESDAY
STARRIE: From the World of Ambasadora
The hologram projected on the windscreen blinked out and the controls went stiff in Naela's hands.
Their world fell silent.
The darkening sky was suddenly illuminated by shimmering waves of pink and green. In the more evolved human part of Naela's brain she reveled as they hung suspended in the beauty of the deadly aurora. But her primal, animalistic urges soon screamed for attention when the craft's nose dipped and they entered freefall. A few loose items rolled forward and bumped into Naela's foot.
“Char,” Ben shouted into his co-com. “Matt. Dreadfire Team. Anyone copy?”
Naela attempted to control the pitch of the craft by pulling up on the manual yoke, but snow splatters bloomed against the windscreen as they yawed into the approaching storm.
“Is there a secondary yoke?” Ben said.
“Behind the black panel in front of you.” Her conversational tone punctuated the quiet cocooning them. There should have been bleating alarms as systems squawked for power, but there was nothing. Not even the rush of wind singing them to their deaths.
The swirling storm clouds and spitting icy mix parted long enough to show a nearby vertical snow bank on the mountain straight ahead. One wing of the egg clipped the outer edge of the bank. The grazing impact spun the ship away from the mountainside, but directly toward Stavros's prow.
COMING FROM DOG STAR BOOKS IN 2016
STARRIE: From the World of Ambasadora
The hologram projected on the windscreen blinked out and the controls went stiff in Naela's hands.
Their world fell silent.
The darkening sky was suddenly illuminated by shimmering waves of pink and green. In the more evolved human part of Naela's brain she reveled as they hung suspended in the beauty of the deadly aurora. But her primal, animalistic urges soon screamed for attention when the craft's nose dipped and they entered freefall. A few loose items rolled forward and bumped into Naela's foot.
“Char,” Ben shouted into his co-com. “Matt. Dreadfire Team. Anyone copy?”
Naela attempted to control the pitch of the craft by pulling up on the manual yoke, but snow splatters bloomed against the windscreen as they yawed into the approaching storm.
“Is there a secondary yoke?” Ben said.
“Behind the black panel in front of you.” Her conversational tone punctuated the quiet cocooning them. There should have been bleating alarms as systems squawked for power, but there was nothing. Not even the rush of wind singing them to their deaths.
The swirling storm clouds and spitting icy mix parted long enough to show a nearby vertical snow bank on the mountain straight ahead. One wing of the egg clipped the outer edge of the bank. The grazing impact spun the ship away from the mountainside, but directly toward Stavros's prow.
COMING FROM DOG STAR BOOKS IN 2016
July 24, 2015
BOOK: Operation Pucker Up by Rachele Alpine
BOOKS
OPERATION PUCKER UP
First kisses are always nerve-racking—but especially when they’re onstage! Can Grace find a real-life Prince Charming before she has to lock lips in front of a crowd?
When Grace Shaw finds out she’s been cast as the lead in her school play, she has about two seconds to celebrate before she realizes she’ll have to kiss Prince Charming, aka James Lowe, aka the heartthrob of Sloane Middle School…on the lips! She’s never kissed a boy, and the idea of experiencing her very first kiss in front of a live audience with the most popular boy in school sounds like her worst nightmare instead of a dream come true.
So Grace’s two best friends propose Operation Pucker Up—a plan for Grace to score a kiss before opening night so she doesn’t make a fool of herself in front of an audience. And as if Grace isn’t having a hard enough time, her estranged father suddenly reappears after leaving six months earlier. Her mom and sister welcome Dad back with open arms, but Grace can’t simply forgive and forget. With opening night fast approaching, Operation Pucker Up reaching ridiculous levels, and family drama teeming behind the scenes, Grace is beginning to think all this love stuff is way too complicated. Will she find a way to have her happily ever after—and seal it with a kiss—both onstage and off?
Rachele Alpine
is a lover of sushi, fake mustaches, and Michael Jackson. One of her first jobs was at a library, but it didn't last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and read. Now she's a little more careful about when and where she indulges her reading habit. By day she's a high school English teacher, and by night she writes with the companionship of the world's cutest dog, Radley, a big cup of coffee, and a full bag of gummy peaches. Rachele lives with her husband in Cleveland, Ohio, but dreams of moving back to Boston, the city she fell in love with while attending graduate school there. Rachele is represented by Natalie Lakosil at Bradford Literary Agency.
OPERATION PUCKER UP
First kisses are always nerve-racking—but especially when they’re onstage! Can Grace find a real-life Prince Charming before she has to lock lips in front of a crowd?
When Grace Shaw finds out she’s been cast as the lead in her school play, she has about two seconds to celebrate before she realizes she’ll have to kiss Prince Charming, aka James Lowe, aka the heartthrob of Sloane Middle School…on the lips! She’s never kissed a boy, and the idea of experiencing her very first kiss in front of a live audience with the most popular boy in school sounds like her worst nightmare instead of a dream come true.
So Grace’s two best friends propose Operation Pucker Up—a plan for Grace to score a kiss before opening night so she doesn’t make a fool of herself in front of an audience. And as if Grace isn’t having a hard enough time, her estranged father suddenly reappears after leaving six months earlier. Her mom and sister welcome Dad back with open arms, but Grace can’t simply forgive and forget. With opening night fast approaching, Operation Pucker Up reaching ridiculous levels, and family drama teeming behind the scenes, Grace is beginning to think all this love stuff is way too complicated. Will she find a way to have her happily ever after—and seal it with a kiss—both onstage and off?
Rachele Alpine
is a lover of sushi, fake mustaches, and Michael Jackson. One of her first jobs was at a library, but it didn't last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and read. Now she's a little more careful about when and where she indulges her reading habit. By day she's a high school English teacher, and by night she writes with the companionship of the world's cutest dog, Radley, a big cup of coffee, and a full bag of gummy peaches. Rachele lives with her husband in Cleveland, Ohio, but dreams of moving back to Boston, the city she fell in love with while attending graduate school there. Rachele is represented by Natalie Lakosil at Bradford Literary Agency.
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