Author Archives: Staff

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

 I started writing October of 2011 and how I started is such a cliché, I had a dream. I know,  sounds  pretty corny but that’s how it started.

Talk about Rescued from the Dark

FBI undercover agent Jason Michaels remembers what Mercy can’t and those memories are breaking his heart. Forced to keep his distance from his lover and their unborn child, Jason risks his life to protect Mercy from a cell of international terrorists who have vowed to get the secrets locked in her memory, no matter the cost. Can Jason convince Mercy to trust him until she remembers their past, or will he lose her to a man who will trap her in a nightmare world of darkness from which there is no escape?

How did you come up with the title?

I dreamed it. Sounds kind of strange, but It was part of my initial dream. So I guess I can say my characters wrote the book in my dreams, and even picked out the book name.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

Love conquers all.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

Writing is my passion, Reading is my Love.

Thinking outside the box, if you could do/be/accomplish anything in the world, what would it be?

I would love to be an accomplished artist. My first love, as a teenager, was painting. I would

Love to have a Gallery, half for my paintings, the other half for my books.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I love to read series. My favorites are Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series and Cindy  Gerards Black OPS series.  When I first wanted to write I e-mailed Cindy Gerard. She has helped me by answering all my questions and pointing me towards websites when I needed more help than she could give.

What books have most influenced your life?

I’m going to date myself here, but I loved reading Bill Cosby as a young adult. He kept things funny, yet with a message.  Also Erma Bombeck. I read her stories as a teenager. She told stories about life, laced with a lot of humor. But I also loved to sneak my mother’s Harlequin romances into my room and dream about my future prince.
You can purchase Rescued from the Dark through our bookstore.

And connect with Lynda Kaye Frazier on Facebook| Twitter  | Goodreads | Website | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start? 

I began writing a journal during a manic episode in 2007.  I wrote periodically in a blog thereafter and then finished my book in early 2013.

What inspired you to write your first book? 

My journey with Bipolar Disorder.

How did you come up with the title? 

I feel like when we are challenged in life there is an open door right in front of us that we often don’t see due to fear or guilt or a variety of other obstacles.  When I finally embraced my mental illness and walked through the open door, I found peace.  During manic episodes I walk in Heaven on Earth, so that is what I write about in the second half of my book. 

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp? 

Heaven on Earth is real and coming soon for all of us, and we will walk there when religion ends.  Also, you can be anything you want in this life in spite of mental illness. 

What was the hardest part of writing your book? 

The courage it took to be so honest, which was a risk to my reputation as an attorney.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? 

I learned that to be truthful will bring more reward than to hide who you are.

Who are some of the authors you particularly admire or who’ve had some influence on your own writing? 

I like historians like David McCullough.  And Lief Enger.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by. 

There are two types of people in the world: those who conform to fit the world around them and those who change the world to suit them.  Be the latter.

Thinking outside the box, if you could do/be/accomplish anything in the world, what would it be?

I’d like to be a mental health advocate, giving my talk around the world to shine a light on mental illness.


You can purchase Through the Open Door: A Bipolar Attorney Talks Mania, Recovery, and Heaven on Earth through our bookstore.

And connect with Hilary Martin Chaney on Facebook | Twitter | Google+

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I started writing short stories and poems when I was a young teenager. I discovered at a young age that writing can be a great way to express emotions, both good and bad. I have found writing to be very therapeutic.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My brother David who was sadistically murdered in 1994. The book is for him and about him. My family and I have spent more than 19 years fighting for answers to his sudden and unexpected death. Antifreeze Cookbook was written as our last hope.

Talk about Antifreeze Cookbook.

It is the true story about the love for my brother and the tragic mystery of his sudden death.

How did you come up with the title?

We considered numerous titles and after reading the book, the editor suggested the title, “Antifreeze Cookbook.” I admit when I first heard it I didn’t like it, but the more I thought about it and kept hearing it, the more I started to like it. It made perfect sense. I can’t imagine a more perfect title. It just works.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

I think the biggest message is “Never Give Up!” When you know deep in your soul that something isn’t right, like the suspicious circumstances of my brother’s death for example, you do what you can do to prove it and no matter how long it takes. We are all on God’s time.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

The hardest part for me was the fact that this traumatic time of my life, which I kept secret from most people, would be “out there” in a very public way. I’m a private person and having finished Antifreeze Cookbook makes me feel exposed and vulnerable, and I don’t like to feel vulnerable. But as I said earlier in the interview, writing is therapeutic. Telling my brother’s story and all that my family has gone through since his death, has lifted a big weight off of my shoulders.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

“Never Never Never Never Give Up!” Winston Churchill.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

This is a difficult question because there are so many that I like, but I especially admire William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I would like to say “thank you” for your interest and continued support for my family’s quest for justice. It can’t be done without all of you.
You can purchase Antifreeze Cookbook through our bookstore.

And connect with Tonya York on Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I’ve always been a reader, but I never attempted to write until I was in my late thirties. I started by writing fan fiction inspired by a television show, and in 2009 I wrote my first original fiction.

Talk about Nabbing Mr. November

This is the penultimate story in a twelve novella Hot Nights in St. Blaise series I wrote for Turquoise Morning Press.

Here’s the blurb:

The doctor becomes the patient when Luke Langston lands in St. Blaise’s overrun emergency room with a keister full of birdshot. Worse than the obvious Dick Cheney jokes, he has to endure the abject humiliation of having the one woman he wanted but never quite got round to calling pluck bits of shrapnel from his ass.

The minute Intern Elena Mendes pulls the last shard of shot from Luke Langston’s magnificent tuchas, she strips off her gloves and plants a big, wet kiss square on his assailant’s lips.

It was about time someone took Dr. Iceman down a notch. Or twenty.

Luke’s cockiness makes Elena crazy, but she can’t resist the sparks that fly each time she they butt heads. Every time he’s near, she’s compelled to turn it up a notch, curious to see how much heat it will take to melt the ice-man’s heart.

She doesn’t know Luke has been on a slow simmer since the day he first saw her. A tease, a taunt, a whispered confession and a heated kiss are all it takes to make their attraction boil over into something too hot to handle.

Looking one hundred years into the future, what do you hope people remember about you or your writing?

I want people to be happy and entertained by my stories, so I hope they remember laughing and perhaps crying just a little bit. I want to write stories that people can relate to in their own lives…but maybe a little hotter. 😉

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” ~ John Lennon

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I have so many favorites, but one of the most recent is Sarah Addison Allen. She writes small town stories infused with whimsy. Her descriptions are perfection, her characters engaging, and the magic she weaves into her story lines is the kind of magic I want to believe exists in the world.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Just keep writing. I always have a number of plot bunnies in the hopper. I try to move forward rather than get bogged down in past projects.

 

You can purchase several of the Hot Nights in St Blaise eBooks through our bookstore.


And connect with Maggie Wells on Her Website  | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I have been writing as long as I can remember. In 5th grade, I wrote a story that won a contest at the University of Illinois. During free time, I would make up new chapters to share with my classmates. I still have the original story that won and would love to publish a version of it someday. Too bad I never kept all the extra chapters. I wrote poetry (not very good ones) and short stories while I was growing up. As an adult, I’ve published over 100 articles in newspapers, magazines, and at web sites. It has just always been a part of my life.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My crazy cat. I have had cats in my life over the years, but two of our current ones are the inspiration behind the Cats in the Mirror series. My mom read lots of science fiction, and somewhere along the way she saw something about cats communicating with other alien cats in the mirrors of their homes. So I grew up with the idea of cats being aliens and maybe watching us through mirrors. Take that basic idea and pair it with a completely crazy rescue cat, and you have “Why Kimba Saved The World.” It went through several different stages before it became the book it is now, but Kimba and her sister Hiro were always at the heart of it.

Talk about Vacation Hiro.

“Vacation Hiro” came out in November 2013. It is the second book in the Cats in the Mirror series, focusing on Hiro this time as the main character and viewpoint instead of Kimba. Kimba and Hiro are still struggling with the pull between their lives as house cats and their heritage as space-faring cats, but in the second book the reader gets to learn much more about the sisters’ destiny in the stars.  “Why Kimba Saved The World” was honored with a bronze Moonbeam Children’s Book Award as a “Best First Book” in the chapter book category in October 2013. That is so encouraging!!

How did you come up with the title?

I had already written “Why Kimba Saved The World” and was just beginning to send it to agent and publishers, so my family knew the story. We went on vacation to Florida, and when we first arrived we saw cats hanging out on the sidewalk below our rented condo. It was pretty obvious that they were agent cats sent to monitor us (well, it was obvious to US!) and the idea for “Vacation Hiro” as the sequel was born. There’s a photo of those cats in the book. All the photos in both books are of the real cats and their antics.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

I used to write a column about the spiritual meanings in movies, so I’m sure underlying themes like that are never far from my thoughts. There is a definite theme of love and family and loyalty and how those factor into the decisions the characters have to make, but it’s not all easy because they have split loyalties between the humans and their alien cat family. There is also a big destiny that Kimba and Hiro have to fulfill that will challenge them even more. That is a big part of the second and third books. “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” is book three and brings it all to a climax.

Looking one hundred years into the future, what do you hope people remember about you or your writing?

I hope my books are ones that the kid readers of today will want to share with their own kids down the road. I’d love them to wonder about cats talking to alien cats in the mirror while they are away. If that idea can make it past a couple of generations, that would be amazing! I hope to have more books than that series available before I’m done, so I’d love it to be more about ME as a writer than any one book or series that I did — though I’m sure L Frank Baum would tell me not to dis the power of a series franchise! If anyone knows who I am beyond my family in 100 years, I’d be pleased as punch.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

That can change from day to day, depending on my mood, but I love this one:

“A woman in harmony with her spirit, is like a river flowing.
She goes where she will without pretense, and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself… and only herself. ”
— Maya Angelou

What is your favorite book by another author?

I love the Dragonriders of Pern books by Anne McCaffrey and own them all. Plus her other books about psychic abilities and “The Ship Who Sang” are fantastic. I’m terrified of flying, but I could do it if I had my own telepathically-linked dragon.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I hope you love my books, and if you do, then please share the love. Write reviews at amazon.com. Buy a copy and give it to a friend as a birthday gift. Writing for the wind may still make one a writer, but it’s much more fun to have someone reading it and enjoying it!

You can purchase Vacation Hiro through our bookstore.

And connect with Meg Welch Dendler on Her website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I started writing when I was a child. As the story goes, I have been creating “happily ever afters” since I could talk. I can’t really say what inspired me to start writing, but my step-mom gets the credit for being my inspiration to write romance novels. I have a deeply romantic heart. She recognized that, and encouraged me to read and write in the genre.

Talk about Shadow of Sin

Shadow of Sin is the second installment of The Martin Family series. It releases on November 6, 2013. This story is a long time coming for Martin Family fans, and I’m excited to share Caleb and Samantha’s story.

How did you come up with the title?

The title for Shadow of Sin didn’t present itself until the book was almost complete. It was something Caleb thought about – how he’d lived under the shadow of his sins. I did a search to make sure there were no other titles that matched and I had a winner! Thank you, Caleb.

What is your favorite book by another author?

I’ve got many, but the book that started it all for me was The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I still read this book every year in the winter.

What books have most influenced your life?

As mentioned above, The Flame and the Flower was a huge influence on my career as a romance writer, as well as developed my love for all things happily ever after. The Hobbit was my favorite book as a child (my mother used to read it to me at bedtime) and, I believe, was the first to hook me in the fantastical worlds to be found in the pages of books.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

I love to try new authors. Liza Gaines just released her first book, Little Bird, which was fantastic. I’ve also recently discovered Shannon McKenna – who isn’t new, but she’s new to me and I’ve really enjoyed her romantic suspense novels.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

My readers are awesome! Thank you for your kind comments, emails, Facebook messages and Tweets. I love hearing from you and appreciate you so much. Thank you for reading!
You can purchase Shadow of Sin through our bookstore.

And connect with Parker on Her Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter