Lindsay Down's Target Identified

I’m very excited to introduce today’s guest, author Lindsay Downs. Lindsay is one of those incredible people one meets online and immediately feel a sense of connection to. 

Welcome to my little corner of cyberspace, Lindsay. It's a pleasure to have you drop by for a visit. Coffee's on. Cyber snacks are plentiful and fresh from the oven. Now that everyone is comfy, let's get down to business and talk writing!

Anne - Tell us a something about yourself that you would normally only share with close friends.

Lindsay - There are many things, secrets if you will, that I might under the right circumstance tell a close friend, even my spouse. However, the situation has never occurred, so they stay with me. One nice thing about being a writer is I can, and might, tell a secret in one of my books but no one will know. Therefore, the secret is still same with me.

Anne – I love that aura of secrecy! Fun stuff. When did you first realize you were destined to be an author?

Lindsay - I’ve always had an interest in writing going back to high school where even there I tended, much to the chagrin of my teachers I broke the rules, of writing. But, it’s only been in the past five or six years that I’ve gotten more serious about it.

Anne - What one or two lines best sums you up as an author?

Lindsay - There are two ways to do things. The right way and my way.

Anne - Ah! That's very telling! Tell us about your most recent release.

Lindsay - Target Identified is the first the ‘Target Series’. This one is set in the US mainly between Washington, DC and Myrtle Beach, SC.

Here’s the blurb:

The body count continues to rise. Unexplained stock transfers persist. Is there any connection between the two, or is it coincidence?

Ezra Swanson receives a mysterious note. Far more cryptic than the one he’d received the year before.

On the anniversary of her brothers funeral Alison Swanson observes a soldier place something by his headstone. Could this person hold a clue to what’s been going on, or is he the stranger she’d met twice before?

When she returns to Myrtle Beach, Sergeant Richard Bosch, the soldier from the funeral, is also staying there along with his collie.

Alison and Richard return to her parents’ home in DC only to find someone has kidnapped her father.

During their attempts to rescue her father, Alison and Richard confront a possible suspect, Shane Goodrich. Unfortunately, he has the perfect alibi.

Richard is captured when he sets out, with the help of several special ops friends, to rescue her father.

Now it falls on Alison, her feminine logic and planning to save not only her father but also Richard.

Identified and cornered will the perpetrator of the murders, kidnapping and stock thefts escape; or will they get what is coming to them?

Anne – Kudos, Lindsay! Target Identified is definitely going on my TBR list. How long does it take you to write a book?

Lindsay - This particular book took me about eighteen months to write. Part of the time doing the research necessary to bring events to life. For example - the requirements for successfully accomplishing an eight hundred meter plus sniper shot. Including windage, elevation, temperature and humidity. And don’t forget I had to figure in the rifle, caliber and specific round. That’s not something one would easily find in your normal reference book.

Anne - Describe your home office as appears right now. Is this a good or bad thing?!

Lindsay - Three words: for me comfortable. TV on a country music video channel. Papers of all sorts on the desk and none having to do with the book I’m now working on, the sequel. A cat that wants my chair when I get up and a collie who wants attention.

Anne – I love the way pets take hold of our lives, and put us in our place! Do you belong to any writer’s organizations, critique groups, and/or depend on beta readers?

Lindsay - I’ve been a member of Romance Writers of America since 2006, but only last year did I join Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Two organizations that are more geared to the genres I now write.

Anne – I belong to the same three organizations. Any last words?

Lindsay - Yes, anyone who leaves a comment and their email address will be entered in a drawing for an eBook copy of Target Identified.

Anne – Where can readers find you online?

Lindsay - They can visit my website: http://lindsaydowns.com or my blog http://murdersandmysteries.wordpress.com. My user name on Twitter is - @ldowns2966

To purchase a copy of Target Identified they can visit Amazon or Smashwords.

Anne – Thank you so much for dropping by today, Lindsay. I wish you much success with Target Identified and future releases.

* * *

Are you an author? Do you have a book to promote?

I'd love to interview you and talk about your book(s).

Email me: annekalbert AT gmail DOT com

Mention “Request AKA blog feature” in subject line.

* * *

Pat Browning's Absinthe of Malice

Welcome to week two of the Mystery We Write Blog Tour. Today I’m interviewing author Pat Browning.

Pat was born and raised in Oklahoma. A longtime resident of California's San Joaquin Valley before moving back to Oklahoma in 2005, her professional writing credits go back to the 1960s, when she was a stringer for The Fresno Bee while working full time in a Hanford law office.

She’s a veteran traveler. Her globetrotting in the 1970s led her into the travel business, first as a travel agent, then as a correspondent for TravelAge West, a trade journal published in San Francisco. In the 1990s, she signed on fulltime as a newspaper reporter and columnist, first at The Selma Enterprise and then at The Hanford Sentinel.

Her first mystery, FULL CIRCLE, was set in a fictional version of Hanford, and published through iUniverse in 2001. It was revised and reissued as ABSINTHE 0F MALICE by Krill Press in 2008. An extensive excerpt can be read at Google Books. The second book in the series, METAPHOR FOR MURDER, is a work in progress.

ABSINTHE 0F MALICE takes place on a Labor Day weekend. METAPHOR picks up the story the week before Christmas. Log line: Small town reporter Penny Mackenzie tracks an offbeat Christmas story and finds herself in the middle of a murder and the mysterious desecration of an old Chinese cemetery.

“White Petunias,” Pat’s nostalgic essay about growing up in Oklahoma, appeared last winter in the RED DIRT BOOK FESTIVAL ANTHOLOGY. She describes it as her remembrance of the summer before World War II scattered “the boys” to the four corners of the earth and the world changed forever. “White Petunias”can be read on Pat’s blog, Morning’s At Noon.

 Pat's articles on the writing life have appeared in The SouthWest Sage, the monthly journal of SouthWest Writers, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her web site is under construction. Meantime, she has a page at Author’s Den.

Now, on to the interview…

Anne - When did you first realize you were destined to be an author?

Pat - Probably the day I was born. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know it. The difference is that I assumed I would write The Great American Novel. Of course, I’m not dead yet so there’s still time, but my real talent seems to be essays and newspaper columns looking back on my life and times.

I’ve always been a news junkie. When I was four or five I used to lie on the floor and look at The Daily Oklahoman, page by page, front to back, even though I could only “read” the pictures. Two popular ads burned into my memory featured the man who amazed his friends when he sat down to play the piano, and the man who kept his dirty hands in his pockets until he started using Lava soap. Years later I used Lava soap to clean up after working in the yard. Who says advertising doesn’t pay?

Anne - How long does it take you to write a book?

Pat - For the first one: Six years, 40 pounds of weight gain, half a dozen online writing courses, nine absolutely final drafts, two inkjet printers, and God only knows how many reams of paper and printer cartridges. After a while, I started throwing away the sales slips. Couldn't stand the reminders.

I began work on the second one more than seven years ago. Life happened. My husband died. I had breast cancer surgery. I moved from California “back home” to Oklahoma. After years of readjusting to a new life, I’m working on the second novel again. I’m halfway through it.

Anne - Of all the characters you’ve created, does one hold a special place in your heart? Why?

Pat - Two characters I didn’t create: In general fiction, my all-time fave is Auntie Mame, and I'd ask her: “Is this seat taken?” In mystery fiction, my role model is M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin. She's getting old and fat and cranky, but she's still kicking the gong around. I'd ask her: “Have you tried the high protein-low carb diet?”

Of my own characters, I love them all. My protagonist is drifting into middle age, a baby boomer and member of the "indulged generation," as that age group is sometimes called. She's occasionally bored but mostly happy in her little rut as a small town reporter, unmarried after an early and ill-fated love affair, living at home with her mother.

It takes the murder of a friend, betrayal by a father figure, and a rekindled romance, among other things, to kick her out of her comfort zone and shape her up. The character still has a way to go, but since she’s a series character I get another chance to tinker with her.

My characters are wedded to the setting, a fictional town in the long-overlooked Central San Joaquin Valley of California. Not since John Steinbeck came through to write THE GRAPES OF WRATH have novelists paid much attention. Even William Saroyan, a hallowed name in the Fresno area, set his most popular stories elsewhere.

Families in this rural Central Valley have roots in the nation's center—descendants of gold seekers, southerners displaced by the Civil War, migrants escaping the dust and poverty of the Great Depression. My characters are from this group.

Anne - Any words of advice for struggling, unpublished writers?

Pat - Sign up for every good writing class you can afford. I’ve been doing that for more than 10 years and I keep learning. When I was beginning, two classes and their teachers taught me some basics I never forgot. The web sites no longer exist, and I’ve lost track of the teachers, but in brief:

March 1999: Diana Fox taught a Painted Rock class called Writing Fast. Everything I’d learned in the previous months fell into place in that class. Two of Diana’s best tips: When you write a scene, enter late and leave early; if a scene doesn’t move the plot or show character development, dump it. She told us: “You’ll come to loath padding and can sniff it out like a rotting corpse.”

Diana did what Hollywood calls a step-outline, a scene-by-scene outline of the story’s action (use verbs, forget adjectives). She e-mailed one of her step-outlines for a script that had been optioned. When I printed it out and saw the story skeleton at a glance, with every little bone in place, I said, Yeesssss! THAT’S what they mean by setups/payoffs, action/reaction, dialogue subtexts, the “power of 3" and so on and on.

April 1999: Went to NovelAdvice for Eileen Alcorn’s advanced plotting class. Light at the end of the tunnel. We were a small group, working independently, bouncing ideas around on the message board and in the chat room. I think of Eileen as both teacher and midwife. Responding to one of my plot summaries, she tossed out a comment on a problem that had bugged me for months. In my thank-you, I told her I could have saved myself a lot of pain by starting with the plot first. Her response summed it up so well, and I got her permission to quote.

“I believe that when you write mystery you always need to start at the end first and work your way back to the beginning. If you haven't yet determined in your own mind how all this happened and why, trying to plot a trail which leads us to some conclusion becomes very difficult. Why? Because you don't know where you're going.

Leading others while you're working blind is almost impossible to do. The mystery writers I know who say they work this way (without knowing the ending first) either lie, or write a zillion drafts in order to pull it together. It's very much like what you've been doing all along analyzing and discarding your options but with real writing attached. Painful. I don't recommend it.” ~ Eileen Alcorn

Anne – Pat, you’re kindly offering readers a chance to win a copy of your book. How can they enter the draw?

Pat – Answer these questions: What is the best thing about living in a small town? What is the worst thing about living in a small town?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a print copy of ABSINTHE OF MALICE, “a study in small town secrets.” The log line: It’s just another Labor Day weekend in a small California town until discovery of a skeleton in a cotton field leads to murder—and romance.

Anne – Thanks SO much for dropping by today, Pat! I'm really enjoying the Mystery We Write Blog Tour, both as a host and a participant. I’d like to encourage readers to drop by my Muriel Reeves Mysteries blog on Wednesday, June 1. I've got more interview questions for Pat, plus readers can enjoy an excerpt of Absinthe of Malice.

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Mystery We Write Blog Tour

Today marks the last day of the first week of the 2011 Mystery We Write Blog Tour. It sounds confusing, but it's not.

For the twelve consecutive weeks I'll be interviewed and/or featured on the blogs of twelve incredibly talented mystery and suspense authors.

I'm also giving away an ebook copy of FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL, the first book of my Muriel Reeves Mysteries series.

To enter, just drop by my Muriel Reeves Mysteries blog and leave a comment explaining when and where you saw  me. (Leave your email addy, too.)

So, when and where will I be?

May 23-29 - Vivian Zabel
May 30-June 5 - Jennifer Di Camillo
June 6-12 - Regan Taylor
June 13-19 - Carol Shenold
June 20-26 - Marilyn Meredith
June 27-July 3 - Jean Henry Mead
July 4-10 - Marja McGraw
July 11-17 - Mary Martinez
July 18-24 - Jackie King
July 25-31 - Sharon Ervin
Aug 1-7 - Pat Browning

Aug 8-14 - Beth Anderson

Talk about a line up! You won't want to miss a single moment of the fun, mystery and mayhem.

Why not visit my first destination (Vivian Zabel's blog) now? Oh, and HAPPY READING!

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Joanne Troppello

My guest today is Joanne Troppello, author of Mr. Shipley’s Governess.

Joanne is a mystery and inspirational romance author and freelance copywriter/editor located in Pennsylvania.

Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere, Joanne. Let’s get down to business and talk writing!

Anne - Tell us about your most recent release.

Joanne – That would be Mr. Shipley’s Governess.

BLURB: Sophie Baird is looking for a way to escape the painful reality of her parents' deaths. Unable to live in their home any longer, she takes a job as a live-in tutor to Anastasia Shipley to remove herself from her painful memories and the feeling that God has abandoned her.

Anastasia has an illness that has prevented her from ever attending school and makes her father, Sebastian, over protective.

When Sophie first meets Sebastian, she cannot deny the intense attraction she feels toward him. When an unexpected romance begins between them, she starts to rebuild her relationship with God, with the help of a certain little girl.

Anne - Do you have a fear, phobia, or habit you’d rather no one knew about?

Joanne - I am the biggest chicken when it comes to heights. I’m very afraid of being high, and it’s kind of ironic and I think God has a sense of humor. I say that because the house He planned for us to buy (where we currently live) is a three story townhouse with an above-ground basement. So, our deck on the second floor is higher than I liked at first and we have an open foyer all the way up to the third floor. I still don’t like walking by the third floor balcony and hate looking down, but at least I like the deck and the second floor balcony. Just give me a few more years and maybe I’ll be bungee jumping down from the third floor. Or maybe not!

Anne - I often write while sitting in my car. Parked. In my driveway! I call it my “cone of silence”. My very own writer’s cocoon, if you will. Do you have a unique place to write? Tell us about it.

Joanne - I usually write when I’m sitting with my husband and he has the TV on. I’m a freelance writer and marketing consultant during the day and a novelist by night. So since I’d like to save my marriage and not spend 24 hours a day holed up in my home office, I bring my laptop downstairs while my husband is watching TV. At least we’re then in the same room and can still chat; I get writing done and he’s happy to actually see me.

Anne – Wow! I envy your ability to do that. I need complete silence. How many rejections did you acquire along the way? What kept you going?

Joanne - Since I started work on my first novel as a senior in high school, I have encountered many rejections along the way. However, deep in my heart I knew I was always supposed to be a writer; that God wanted me to write. That belief kept the dream alive in my heart and enabled me to persevere when I wanted to give up.

Anne - If you could just snap your fingers and go, where would you visit, return to, or move? Why?

Joanne - That would definitely be Hawaii. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and it was so beautiful and I’d like to go back to visit some time. After we went there, I got inspired to write a romantic suspense book, which I completed but then put aside to work on my current published novel. I’m working on the edits now to Island Honeymoon and every time we watch the new Hawaii Five-O on TV, I love watching the scenery and pointing out to my husband, Oh, we were on that beach in Waikiki…remember?

Anne – Hawaii is certainly on my bucket list. What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself from your writing?

Joanne - That there is always something more to learn and improve in your writing skills--since I completed my second novel, I’ve learned how to better my craft and I can see improvement in my third and fourth manuscripts. I think a good writer is someone who realizes he or she is never done learning. If you think you know it all, there will always be someone out there who knows more than you do.

Anne – Wise words. I completely agree. Are you a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person?

Joanne - I’m a glass half-full kind of person. I’ve always been an optimist and I think it’s funny that God brought me and my husband together; he is more of a realist. He can pull me down from walking with my head in the clouds if I’m getting too out of this world and I can pull him up to dream a little.

Anne - Quick. Your five favorites – author, actor, movie, song, quote.

Joanne - Author: Karen Kingsbury. Actor: Sean Connery. Movie: The Cutting Edge. Song: The Prayer. Quote: C. S. Lewis ~ “You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

Anne – Where can readers find you online?

Joanne – They can visit my blog, follow me on Twitter, or friend me on Facebook.

Anne – You’re offering a giveaway of an e-book copy of Mr. Shipley’s Governess to one lucky commenter. What question would you like them to ponder?

Joanne - In my book, Mr. Shipley’sGoverness, the characters Sophie, Sebastian and Anastasia go to Ireland and one of their excursions is on the C.S. Lewis Trail to visit places in Belfast and then Downpatrick and his childhood home—they tour places from Lewis’ life. I’m a big fan of Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia book series and figured if my characters were going to Ireland, why not include some facts about Lewis…that fit into the book because of Sophie’s affinity to his writings as well as to Jane Austen’s work.

So, what are your thoughts on the C.S. Lewis quote and do you have a favorite author of classic literature? I’d love to hear about it.

Anne – Super question, Joanne. Thank you so very much for dropping by today. It’s been such a pleasure. Mr. Shipley’s Governess is definitely on my TBR list.

 

 * * *
Are you an author? Do you have a book to promote?

I'd love to interview you and talk about your book(s).

Email me: annekalbert AT gmail DOT com

Mention “Request AKA blog feature” in subject line.

* * *



Beth Anderson's Raven Talks Back

Today is the first day of the Mystery We Write Blog Tour. For the next twelve weeks I’ll be featuring twelve very talented mystery and suspense authors. First up is Beth Anderson.

Beth is a multi-published, award winning author in several genres including romance and mainstream fiction. A full time author, she lives in a Chicago, Illinois suburb. She has appeared on Chicago's WGN Morning Show, The ABC Evening News, as well as numerous other radio and cable television shows. She has guest lectured at Purdue University and many libraries and writers' conferences. She loves music, particularly jazz.

Welcome to my little corner of the blogsphere, Beth. It’s a joy to talk to you today.

Now that the introductions have been made, let’s talk writing!

Anne - When did you first know you were destined to be an author?

Beth - I was eight years old when I would listen to my favorite radio program in my room. They were holding a contest for the best script written for their program. I knew I could do it. Just knew it right down to my bones.

I had been reading magazines and books since I was five, and had probably never thought about writing then, but it must have been there all along since several of my family have been newspaper and political speech writers and one had written a book (never published, written in 1918 or so, the editor wanted him to cut some of it and they would publish it but my grandfather refused.) So one night I grabbed my pencil and my little lined tablet and quickly discovered I could do no such thing. ;-) I put that aside, but when I was in junior high I found myself not only doing a column in our school newspaper as the roving reporter, but also writing one-page romance stories for my girlfriends and their current boyfriends for a dollar apiece. The school principal put a quick stop to the love stories.

I married very young, started raising children, put everything but that aside for the most part, but I always knew I could write and people encouraged me to do it. It was many years later when I finally began to teach myself how to write a book, since there was no one I knew who could help me.

Anne – Okay, so that takes me to my next question. How long was your journey from wannabe writer to published author?

Beth - I was working full time when by chance I found a writers’ club just opening up. There was a lot of talk about writing romances, but it soon became evident that I was the only one with the drive necessary to actually sit down and write an entire novel and keep at it every single spare moment until someone wanted to publish it. They all started books but soon enough, one by one, they all found out how hard it actually is, and so their focus turned mainly to writing reviews for others who had written books, and to running yearly conferences, neither of which interested me.

So, except for their encouragement, I was on my own again. But I really was determined, so for literally years I spent most evenings and a good part of my weekends in my writing room, learning how to do this novel writing thing. I sold my first book after eight years and many full rewrites on an electric typewriter to Harlequin Superromance and I was off and running. But as it turned out, not so much in the direction of romances. My Harlequin Superromance contained a mystery. That was where I was headed, and where I remain today, seven books later.

Anne - What book are you most proud of?

Beth - My favorite is always the one I just finished or am working on, because my whole goal in writing is to outdo myself every time. ;-) The book I just finished, which will be published by Krill Press in late May this year in print, Kindle and Nook, is called RAVEN TALKS BACK and it’s definitely my best because I’ve learned a lot over the years about subplots and I like to write books with a lot going on. My first three were NY books before they had Amazon.com, but the rest are up there on my author page. RTB will be there very soon now in print and Kindle, maybe by the time you read this.

Here’s my book blurb to RAVEN TALKS BACK:

Raven Morressey is living the good life. Nice home, husband, three healthy children, and it's finally summertime, when life is again lovely in Valdez, Alaska. All this explodes one morning when builders, digging up her back yard, uncover a recently murdered headless, handless female body covered with scarification--hundreds of colored designes cut into the skin to resemble tattoos. As if this isn't enough, where the corpse's head should have been is a large rock with a face painted on that resembles an Alaska Native mask. 

Raven's eight year old son, Timmy, is the first one to see the body and is suddenly unable to walk or respond in any way. On that same day, Raven hears the voice of her long dead Athabascan father coming from Timmy, who is unaware of the ancient hunting chants he sings in his sleep and the words he suddenly speaks in Raven’s native tongue—a language he does not know.

Jack O'Banion, Valdez's Chief of Police for the past few years, faced with his first murder case in Valdez, begins his official investigation. Everywhere he goes he finds nothing but deception. The town seems to have closed into itself and nobody will tell him anything that might help him solve this case. Then one murder quickly morphs into two, then three, and the Alaska State Troopers are hot on his back to find the killer now.

Between Raven’s voices and the visions she develops, and Jack, whose career as well as his contented life in Valdez are on the line, they both feel they have to find the killer and restore some sanity to the town—not to mention their own lives, which are quickly unraveling out of control.

Anne – Wow! Raven Talks Back is definitely going on my TBR list! Where can readers reach you online?

Beth – My website and blog are at http://www.bethanderson-hotclue.com

Anne – Thank you for visiting with us today, Beth. Enjoy the rest of the Mystery We Write Blog Tour.

Beth – Thanks, Anne. You too!

* * *

My guest next week

on the Mystery We Write Blog Tour

is Pat Browning. Don't miss it!

She's here May 29.

* * *



Mystery We Write Blog Tour

Tomorrow is the start of the 2011 Mystery We Write Blog Tour. For twelve consecutive weeks I will interview/feature twelve incredibly talented mystery and suspense authors.

Who are they?

May 23 - Beth Anderson
May 29 - Pat Browning
June 6 - Sharon Ervin
June 13 - Jackie King
June 20 - Mary Martinez
June 27 - Marja McGraw
July 4 - Jean Henry Mead
July 11 - Marilyn Meredith
July 18 - Carol Shenold
July 25 - Regan Taylor
August 1 - Jennifer Di Camillo
August 8 - Vivian Zabel

Talk about a line up! You won't want to miss a single moment of the fun, mystery and mayhem. See you tomorrow!

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JoAnn Carter's Paradox

Today my guest is author JoAnn Carter.

JoAnn lives in Vermont with her husband of 18 years, four children and Ginger, who according to JoAnn is the best dog in the world. She enjoys being with her family & friends, writing, reading, and cooking.

In the past JoAnn has worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse, an apple orchard guide and as a substitute teacher. She is available for speaking engagements to book clubs, reader groups, library groups, women's ministry events, school events and church retreats. To contact her, please write jo.glenncarter@yahoo.com

Anne – Welcome to my little corner of the blogsphere, JoAnn. Let’s talk writing! What one or two lines best sums you up as an author?

JC - Anne, thanks for having me here today! I don't know if this sums me up or not, but this is what I strive for as an author; and that is to encourage faith through fiction

Anne - What activity consumes your time when you’re away from the keyboard?

JC - I'm involved with lots of things. I volunteer at the school to help with math, I work at the Church office 8-12 hours a week to help my husband (He's the Youth Pastor), I meet with a group of Mom's that pray for our schools and children with Moms In Touch, and now we're into baseball season! With four boys this keeps our whole family very busy. J

Anne -Tell us about your most recent release.

JC - I'd be honored to... Paradox releases May 15th through Desert Breeze Publishing.

 

BLURB: Lilly Holland’s passion is flowers-not people. All she’s ever dreamed of was a peaceful life surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation. The exact opposite of what life is like at the touristy Holland Lodge in the small town of Paradox. So, why does she feel like God is nudging her to go? He, if anyone, should know better than ask this of her.

Ric Walker, Holland Lodge’s grounds keeper, is Lilly’s only link to sanity. His steady presence and strong faith encourages her through this trying situation. However, that sanity is threatened as she realizes her feelings for him are changing into something more, something deeper.

Will Lilly learn that Paradox is more than a town’s name, but rather a divine place where God can reveal His power, bring healing, and love, just when she thinks all hope is gone?

Anne – It sounds like a wonderful story, and is now on my TBR list! Is there a message in Paradox you want readers to grasp?

JC - You bet! But I'd rather let each reader discover that for him/herself. Would you mind instead if I shared a neat message I grasped as I was preparing for this interview?

This morning while I was lying in bed in the early pre-dawn I heard a bird singing out a beautiful melody. Normally, this would make my heart happy, but then I'd just turn over and try to catch a few more moments of rest. But not today. Today was extra special. Why? Because crazy as this may sound, this little birdie was lifting it's sweet praises in the midst of a thunderstorm.

Amazing! God used two rather "ordinary" things to create and extraordinary experience for me—God showed me something awesome and real—a perfect picture of peace. Thunderclouds rolled in, lighting flashed across the dark gray sky, and rain teamed down the windowpane yet this bird was secure. In fact, it was more than secure, it was full of joy, willing and wanting to sing.

This sends Goosebumps up my spine as I think about it. It's a paradox and truly a God thing. Especially since this word, paradox, obviously has been near and dear to my heart since that's the tile of my latest release. Yet, perhaps paradox is not a word you're familiar with, so let me explain. Paradox is flowers on snow, joy in the midst of trials, compassion for others as your own heart breaks. It's what many of us just celebrated, Easter-- Jesus laying down his life for me, someone sinful and undeserving. It's victory and life born out of death and suffering.

Through this experience, God reminded me that He delights in using those ordinary things to accomplish His marvelous purposes. And that's super news! If He can use Fishermen, tax collectors, birds, and thunderstorms, I know He can use me—a very average, ordinary person to do extraordinary things for Him. Perhaps you're feeling "ordinary" today. Take heart, it's through that very thing that God can show His creativity, His power, and even His love just like He did for me in the midst of this early mornings storm.

Anne - How many books have you written to date? Are you most proud of one in particular? If so, why?

JC - This will be my sixth book published. I have four more contracted that will release between now and 2012. As for which one I'm most proud of... that's hard to say. They all feel very different to me. I must say that Floating Place, which will be released July 15, 2011 is my first historical fiction which was a hoot to research and write.

 

Anne - Of all the characters you’ve created, does one hold a special place in your heart? Why?

JC - Hmm... Dani in Daniella suffers with self-image issues, Lilly in this story, Paradox, counts the cost of following a dream or her heart, Ellie in The Floating Palace is a real go-getter and the first stewardess to work on a steamboat in 1923... You know what, they are all special, unique individuals and just like a mother with her children... I love them all differently but with all my heart.

Anne – You’re offering a reader to comment for chance to win an e-copy of your book. What question would you like them to answer?

JC - Here's the question of the day... would you help me spread the word about Paradox by sharing the link to this post on your FB, Twitter, blog, etc.? Then let us know where you posted it and your name will be entered into this contest drawing for an e-copy of any book I have available on my web-site.

Anne, thanks again for having me here today. It was fun. You’re a blessing.

Anne – It was my pleasure, JoAnn. I wish you every success. I’d like to encourage readers to visit JoAnn’s web-site. She’s also on Facebook. Or email her at: jo.glenncarter@yahoo.com

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Are you an author? Do you have a recent release?

I'd love to interview you and talk about your book(s).

Email me: annekalbert AT gmail DOT com

Mention “Request AKA blog feature” in subject line.

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Charlotte McClain's Long Memory

My guest today is Charlotte McClain, writer of romance, angst and silliness, and a teacher who currently works and resides in the United Arab Emirates. Welcome Charolotte!

Everyone comfy? Good. Let’s talk books!

Anne - I often write while sitting in my car. Parked. In my driveway! I call it my “cone of silence”. My very own writer’s cocoon, if you will. Do you have a unique place to write? Tell us about it.

Charlotte - I have a whole apartment as my cone of silence. Part of my teaching contract states that the school will provide me with an apartment. (You never knew teachers got those kinds of perks, did you?) My school provided me with a three bedroom, two and a half bath apartment for little old me. So the only distractions are the ones I provide. Unfortunately, I'm a gold medalist in procrastination.

Anne - Describe your home office as appears right now. Is this a good or bad thing?!

Charlotte - Messy! Very Messy! You'd thinking living alone I'd be able to control my mess, but when I came back from Jordan two weeks ago I cleaned out my purse of all the mementos I had saved and they are still piled on the corner of my desk – on top of the projects I was working on for school before I went to Jordan! This weekend, I swear, I'll clean everything up and put everything away. I swear.

Anne - Do you belong to any writer’s organizations, critique groups, and/or depend on beta readers?

Charlotte - I belong to several online groups. My globetrotting lifestyle makes face to face meetings difficult. The UAE's internet policies have me blocked from Romance Divas which is one of the most supportive groups of romance writers going, but I still keep up with my Yahoo critique group. Besides them I have several people who read for me and do my dreaded galleys.

Anne - If you could just snap your fingers and go, where would you visit, return to, or move? Why?

Charlotte - Thailand! I loved Thailand when I visited there on vacation. The people, the food, the scenery. I've lived in three countries (outside the US) and I would love to move to Thailand.

Anne - How many books have you written to date? Are you most proud of one in particular? If so, why?

Charlotte - I've written seventeen and published seven with three more either about to come out or under contract. I'm proud of all of them at different times for different reasons. The first Arden FD book with Lyrical Press is the first book I ever finished and I've just signed the contract for number three this last month. The boys in the band in the Touchstone series (Freya's Bower) have developed into really interesting and well rounded characters and ended up spawning an industry because I had to start writing about their rock star friends too. My Weaver's Circle series, also with Lyrical Press, has allowed me to explore life in a small town which is one of the settings I have always loved. For me writing is all about the challenge and every book I've written as started with “I wonder if I could pull that off.”

Anne - What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Charlotte - Galleys. After the book is written and after it's edited, the galleys arrive. That's when all kinds of things start jumping out at me, but I can't change anything at that stage. Very frustrating.

Anne - Are you a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person?

Charlotte - Half full and it's probably half full because I drank the other half and enjoyed it immensely. I'm a terrible Pollyanna.

Anne - Outside of writing, what accomplishment are you most proud?

Charlotte - My teaching. I spend my days teaching kindergarten in the UAE and I love watching my munchkins go from frightened babies who speak no English to confident children who can communicate in two languages.

Anne – Where can readers find you online?

Charlotte - At my blog and on Facebook.

Thanks Anne, for featuring me today. I’d like to offer readers a chance to win a copy of book two of the Weavers' Circle, LONG MEMORY. To enter the draw, leave a comment based on this question: Who's the most unusual character you've ever met in real life? You don't have to name names, but I love to hear about special and unique people.

Anne – A great question, Charlotte. I can't wait to read the comments. Thanks SO much for dropping by. I wish you every success with your new release...and with your travels.  

* * *

Are you a romance author? Do you have a recent release?

I'd love to interview you and talk about your book(s).

Email me: annekalbert AT gmail DOT com

& mention “AKA blog feature” in the heading.

* * *