Author Spotlight ~ Debut Author Gretchen A. Carlson's "More Than Grit" Novel

 

Please welcome debut author Gretchen A. Carlson. 
She won't mention that she's already a #1 Best Seller, but I will :)

Thank you, L.A., for inviting me to your porch with your friends and readers. With a deep breath, I’ll jump in with two quiet confessions.

First, I might be the oldest author to share a debut book here… but I’m learning to live with a young heart. I used to see the glass half empty rather than half full. When the grit of life darkened my heart, I often escaped into books, especially historical fiction. Characters fueled my courage and inspired me.

My grandma was in her eighties when she told me a story kept secret for decades. That was thirty years ago, but today More Than Grit is available on Amazon. It’s a book about broken lives and deep friendships as the shadows of World War II lengthened. More importantly, it’s about forgiveness and grace. It’s a story for hearts that yearn to live young.

My second confession? I cried. No, I sobbed when I typed the last paragraph of the book. I realized no matter the twists and turns or disappointments of life, nothing can separate us from God’s love.

My prayer is that each of you sweet friends and readers will not stumble through life’s hurts and jagged edges with an old heart. Instead, let hope and grace carry you. This is why I write.

A bit more about the story and why I wrote it. The official genre is Middle Grade, although readers of all ages have contacted me that they enjoyed the book. I decided to target fourth through eighth graders for two reasons. First, that’s when books began to shape me. My main character is a spunky twelve-year old girl, and through her I want to inspire teens that their lives have impact. They can make a difference in their homes, school, and community. Secondly, I’ve been concerned with content trends in middle grade and young adult novels.

Thank you for listening to tidbits of my story, and thank you again, L.A. for connecting friends and books.

Blessings!

Gretchen A. Carlson

Excerpt: 

I rolled up my shirt sleeves even though Mother warned me not to sunburn my scars. Were the bird-pecked apples worth the risk?

But winter’s hunger was approaching. I grabbed two apples and reached for more. Sweat ran under my ponytail, down my neck and back.

Tossing apples onto my ragged quilt spread below, I scanned the yard. My breath caught. Dewey Dog was gone. Only the chickens’ throaty cackles interrupted the quiet.

Don’t panic. It must be safe since he wandered off.

With my skinny legs wrapped tight around a limb, I inched higher.

“Git down, ya thief.” A raspy voice cut the silence, and a long shadow stepped from behind a shed, a rotting rectangle ready to collapse. A brown stream of spit hit the ground with a dusty splat. “Stealin’ my apples.”

Old Man lifted the barrel of a shotgun. I froze.

“Girlie. Ya hear me?” Old Man’s shotgun edged closer, and my heart skittered to a stop.

“I heard you.” I swallowed hard and chucked another apple onto the quilt. “And I’m not Girlie. My name … is … Sissy Grumme.” I turned my head, expecting a reaction to my ugly melted cheek.

He raised the gun.

I stared down the end of the barrel.

“Last time. Git down.” Old Man spat and sniggered, “Girlie.”

My heart battered hard against my chest. Don’t. Call. Me. Names.

I picked an apple and threw it at Old Man’s feet. Rotten mush splattered his work boots, and he snarled. I hugged a branch with both arms and dropped to the ground. As I landed, there was the sharp crack of a shell sliding into a gun chamber followed by Dewey Dog’s deep growl. Behind Old Man stood my guard—his fur bristled. Old Man pressed the shotgun into his shoulder and spun around.

“No!” I rushed toward them.

Blurb:

When do secrets become lies? When is grit not enough?

Scarred by burns from a kerosene lantern, twelve-year old Sissy knows electricity is more than her farm family’s dream. It’s vital. She also knows they can’t afford the required deposit to be connected to electric lines, so she wrangles a secret deal to help her parents. As she faces danger and sacrifices to support her family, Sissy’s best efforts fail. She’s blind to what she needs most, and when she tells her secrets, she fears it’s too late.

Set in Kansas farmland, More than Grit is an unforgettable story of determination to succeed against all odds that will appeal to middle-grade and teen readers, their parents, and anyone who roots for the underdog.

Award winning author Gretchen A. Carlson fills her characters with grit and grace as she shares the story her grandmother kept secret. 

 Buy the Ebook and Paperback:

 Amazon

Bio:

More than Grit won the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis award for the young adult category and 2017 First Impressions award. Gretchen’s background in journalism and education has fed her heartbeat for writing and sharing stories of hope with students. For adventure and despite several bear encounters, she and her husband enjoy tent camping each summer. Her six grandchildren also fill their lives with adventure and fun. She is a member of Front Range Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and The Storyteller Squad.

 Find Gretchen:

 Facebook  Instagram  Website  How More Than Grit came to me video:

Five Secrets From Author Keta Diablo

Author Keta Diablo lives in the Midwest part of the United States on six acres of gorgeous woodland. When she isn't writing or gardening she loves to commune with nature. 

A pair of barn owls returns to the property every year to birth their young and show them off in the high branches of the oak trees. 

There is nothing more adorable than these white fluffy babies with heart-shaped faces. A lifelong animal lover, Keta devotes her time and support to the local animal shelter. Emma LaPounce, a rescued feline, has been her furry companion for the last ten years.

Hi, Keta please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about Season, Unforgettable or you, but will after today!

1)  I considered the main genre of this book to be a romance, or intended it to be. Several readers emailed me and said, "Keta, this is most definitely a thriller!"

2) Season, Unforgettable was one of those books that basically wrote itself. I had an idea of the basic plot, but then the book took a life of its own.

3) The hero and heroine are complete opposites, and yet, due to the hero's patience, they turned out to be a great couple.

4) I learned a lot about the Romani (gypsy) people and their culture. It's always a fun adventure and interesting to learn something new, especially when it's about real-life people.

5) The ending surprised even me. The muse took over and very creatively penned the perfect ending.

Blurb:

Would you forsake your mother to save the woman you loved?

Season Scrimshaw isn't selling the land her parents left her when they died, not even to the gorgeous Rann Brogan who saved her life in the forest. Especially not after she finds out he was in the woods surveying her property.

Rann's mother, Charlotte, owns a large land development company. She wants Season’s property to put up a strip of luxurious, lakefront condos and Charlotte always gets what she wants. She sends Rann on a mission to seal the deal. To say Rann and his mother have had a normal mother/son relationship would be a stretch…a big stretch, but he’s always done her bidding.

This time it’s different. Rann hasn’t been able to get the beautiful Season out of his mind. While on his mission to secure the property, he realizes how much Season loves the land, and…he realizes somewhere along the line, Season has stolen his heart.

He soon discovers his mother will go to any length to get what she wants…including murder. Lives spiral out of control, secrets and lies take center stage. Rann is forced to choose between his mother and the woman he loves.

And he’s forced to become as dangerous and as lethal as Charlotte.

Love a lot of thriller with your romance? Love a lot romance with your thriller? How about suspense, betrayal, and murder? If so, then Season, Unforgettable is the book for you.

Buy: 

Amazon

Bio:

  Keta is an award-winning and best-selling author who writes in several genres: Western Romance, Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance and Contemporary Romance. In a past life, she wrote Gay Romance. Her books have received numerous accolades, including RWA contest finalist, Authors After Dark finalist, Top Pick of the Month and Recommended Review from top review sites, and Best Romance Finalist from The Independent Author Network.

Find Keta:

Website |  Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon Page | Newsletter Signup | Instagram | BookBub | Goodreads | Wattpad

Take Five With Author L.A. Starks

*Breaking news--I’ve just learned The Second Law won a Texas Authors’ award for best international thriller.

Welcome back to An Indie Adventure, L. A. Starks. Your news is thrilling. Congratulations!!

Tell us, what inspired you to write your book, The Second Law, Lynn Dayton Thriller #3?

The energy business is—unknown to most—massive, global, and high-stakes. Economies of entire countries rise or fall on their production revenue or their energy costs, so it attracts powerful players worldwide whose motivations and desires inevitably conflict.

Thus, the global energy business provides a rich vein of plot possibilities.
And in a bonus for a fiction author, I can write in vivid, terrible explosions at any time.

How do you use setting to further your story?

I find the use of settings magical in propelling the plot forward. International scenes in The Second Law, like those in Poland, Curaçao, and Vienna, immediately set up language/communication difficulties and cultural/behavioral conflicts.

You’re having a dinner party. What character from your novel do you hope doesn’t show up? Why?

Comrade Mei Jin. She’s a bitter, unpleasant buzzkill of a character. She smokes, is fault-finding, and although a senior government official, is untrustworthy in the extreme. And those teeth! So unappetizing.

If you were not a writer, what vocation would you pursue?

I actually have a second vocation that involves writing: energy investment analysis. It progressed from my engineering work to talking about the energy background of my books at various events, to my own financial analysis, to a website, and now at the request of the editors, writing articles on two different platforms at the crowdsourced investor site, Seeking Alpha.

Do you prefer to read in the same genre you write in, or do you avoid reading that genre? Why?

There are few authors who write in precisely the same genre (international thrillers with a business/science thriller aspect—Michael Crichton is the closest) but I enjoy reading many, many authors across the mystery, suspense, and thriller genres.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

I take two approaches that are at odds with one another. When I wrote the first book in the series, I wrote scenes as I saw and heard them in my head, out of order, and then patched everything together. This is an inspired but ultimately very inefficient way to write—too much has to be removed that doesn’t serve the plot, and too much has to be rewritten or added. So now I preserve the initial inspiration of hearing and seeing scenes, but outline with plot progression, settings, characters, and narrative arc in mind. Indeed, I’m about to test this approach again with my fourth book.

Give us a brief summary of The Second Law, Lynn Dayton Thriller #3:

TriCoast Energy executive Lynn Dayton is visiting the company's San Francisco refinery when it comes under attack. Saddened by the fiery deaths of several workers, she traces the explosion to software malfunctions and contacts cybersecurity chief Kanak Singh to track it back to the source. The second law refers to the second law of thermodynamics: it means that in an isolated system everything tends towards chaos.

Lynn is still reeling when a TriCoast lease bidding manager is killed in New Orleans. The seeming motive is the theft of his computer containing billion-dollar secret offshore bid plans. Then her long-time mentor and good friend is gunned down in front of her in a Louisiana swamp. What terrible plan lies behind all these crimes? Lynn races against time to uncover a complex plot that stretches from murder in Vienna to a natural gas terminal attack in the Baltic to a major Caribbean oil installation off U.S. shores. Lynn is baffled as she learns of a high-stakes takeover bid by a mysterious group called the Second Law.

Who are these people? Worse, who is the mole inside TriCoast that is feeding them so much deadly information? Unless she can find out, thousands more are scheduled to die.

Buy:
Barnes & Noble | Amazon (Print and Kindle) | IndieBound (for independent bookstores)

Bio:
L. A. Starks was born in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in northern Oklahoma, and now lives in Texas. Awarded a full-tuition college scholarship, she earned a chemical engineering bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from New Orleans' Tulane University, followed by a finance MBA from the University of Chicago.

On energy investing and related topics she's multi-published at two Seeking Alpha platforms and in several print publications. Her engineering research was recognized when she was included as a co-inventor of a US patent for lithium alumina.

Working for well-known energy companies in engineering, marketing, and finance from refineries to corporate offices prepared her to write accessible, award-winning, and reviewer-praised global energy thrillers 13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy, Strike Price, and The Second Law. Strike Price won a first place award as the best mystery/thriller from the Texas Association of Authors.*

In addition to her books, two of her short stories have been published in Amazon Shorts, a third in an anthology, and a fourth independently at KDP. Altogether she's appeared at over 150 book marketing events. Additionally, she served as development co-chair, investment oversight chair, and treasurer of the Friends of the Dallas Public Library. She's run sixteen half-marathons and--similarly--looks forward to working on her fourth Lynn Dayton thriller.

Find L.A.:
Twitter | LinkedIn |Facebook | Goodreads | Website

Take Five And Meet Author Polly Iyer & Her Novel ~ Mind Games

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Polly Iyer. Tell us, what inspired you to write your book Mind Games?

Way back when, I read a book by a bestselling author that I found so mediocre, I decided I could do better. Ignoring my hubris, I began the daunting task to write one. The book was Threads, and I didn’t publish it until thirteen years later. By that time, I had written and published six other books.

How do you use setting to further your story?

The locales in my books vary. My series is set in New Orleans, a great setting for a crime novel. There are so many colorful aspects to New Orleans, and I have tried to capitalize on them, from jazz clubs and restaurants to the crowded squares filled with locals and tourists. I set one book in Manhattan, where my character is a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I tried to give the reader a bit of one section of the museum, which I visited with the purpose of getting that part right. I’ve written a couple of books set in different parts of South Carolina where I live, and a couple in Boston, my hometown. I make up some places like certain clubs but always try to keep the flavor of the cities in which the stories occur.

How do you construct your characters?

For me, it’s all about my characters. My series characters have become such a part of me that I know what they will do in any given circumstance. A writer has to step into the mindset of the characters she creates, give them habits and/or mannerisms that carry through the story. If the character is evil, he must also have some redeeming quality of he becomes a cardboard cutout. I do have one bad guy who’s bad through and through, but that’s unusual. I also have one where the reader gets into his head and his reasoning to justify what he does. The only advice I can give about characters is to forget who you and become them, think like them, feel like them.

How is your main character completely different than you?

I don’t believe you can write a character who doesn’t have some of your qualities. My women are strong women; my men are the kind of men women want. My series character is braver and more foolhardy than I am, but I’d like to be more like her, so I could develop her the way I wanted. I like characters who are flawed, some deeply so. I always wonder how I could write twisted and not be twisted, so maybe in some dark corner of my psyche, I am.

To you what makes a great romance hero or heroine?

Someone once wrote about my books that I make heroes out of damaged people. One of my favorite characters from my books is a man who spent fifteen years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He had PTSD and couldn’t stand to be in confined spaces. The female character had been married to an abusive husband and stayed with him until her sons went off to college. These two people find each other and fall in love. They protected each other and connected on a deep level. I wrote it, but I found it very romantic.

How do you create internal and external conflict in your characters?  I find conflict often the hardest to create when I start planning a book.

Answer: To make internal conflict believable, you MUST get into your character’s head. This is the same for the good guys as well as the bad guys. Psychological pain must be so great, loss so critical, love so deep, that your protagonist or antagonist lives it, and you live it through them. Notice I didn’t say they live it through you. You can’t write it without feeling it.

External conflict is controlled by someone else. The protagonist can only react or solve or confront. As soon as s/he thinks everything is okay, something happens to throw a monkey wrench into the situation. A lover is missing, a character is in mortal danger, someone dies. A simple answer is what I call the lull before the storm. You know when it happens in a movie because everything is too good; the characters are too happy. Then disaster. It’s up to the writer to make sure there’s some kind of aforementioned conflict before she solves all the problems and there’s a happy ending. Or not.

Give us a brief summary of Mind Games :

This is the first book in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series. Diana is stalked by a serial killer seeking revenge for something that happened twenty years before when she was a child. She’s a psychic entertainer known worldwide with a variety of fans and detractors who think she’s a phony. The twist is the man who targets her has the same psychic abilities as Diana.

Buy: Amazon

Bio:

Polly Iyer is the Amazon bestselling author of nine books of suspense and four sexy romances she writes under a pseudonym. She started out as a fashion illustrator and storyboard artist, importer, and store owner before embarking on her fourth, and last, career as an author. Writing opened new doors for her, allowed her to make wonderful friends in the community, and gave her carte blanche to put her fantasies into novels of excitement and romance.

Her novels include: Hooked, InSight, Murder Déjà Vu, Threads, Kindle Scout winner Indiscretion, and four books in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series: Mind Games, Goddess of the Moon, Backlash, and The Scent of Murder.

Find Polly:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Author Spotlight Featuring Candee Fick's New Release ~ Focus On Love

It's always a treat to have Candee here to introduce her latest book. 

Take it away, Ms. Fick :)

Thanks for hosting me L.A.

What if you had to choose between two career paths?

Elizabeth (Liz) Foster grew up loving photography and dance lessons. When circumstances at home fell apart, she set aside one dream to pursue musical theater. But now she’s met a handsome photographer and things are changing. Can she have both dreams again or will she need to choose?

I had a lot of fun getting to know Liz during the brainstorming process for Focus On Love. At first, I thought she was a free-spirit who felt stifled by the rules and expectations of her family and left them behind. So, I paired her with a freelancer who cut back on his travel in order to fit into his family’s routine, hoping that together they would learn to find balance. What I found instead was a greater metaphor about life and the multiple facets of love.

Excerpt:

About a hundred feet from the front doors, she spotted the tall cowboy exiting a large truck parked nearby, and her stomach whirred like her fast-action shutter.

Of course, it had to be nerves about showing her pictures to the Sheridans in front of the professional photographer—nothing to do with how handsome he was.

Ryan grinned as his long stride brought him quickly to her side. “Fancy meeting you here this morning. Liz, right?”

Liz tipped her head in a semi-curtsy. “I’m looking forward to seeing your pictures.”

His eyebrows rose. “Pictures? Does that mean you’re the other photographer?”

Uh-oh. “I thought you knew that.” Liz slapped a hand against her forehead. “Of course not. Mr. Sheridan didn’t mention my name.”

“Well, if you’re as talented with a camera as you are on the stage, then this might be a wasted trip.” The laugh lines around his eyes deepened along with his smile, stirring her heart in unexpectedly delicious ways until heat rose in her face.

Perfect. Now her complexion might match her hair color.

“Don’t make me wonder whether you need your eyes examined. I’m not star material.” Liz shook her head. “Not to mention, I’ve seen your website.”

“Really? Checking me out?” He reached the front door and held it open for her.

“Curiosity.” She cleared her throat and gestured toward the area where they were to meet. “But I’m still not sure why you would give up professional gigs for this.”

Mr. Sheridan appeared in the doorway of his office. “You’re right on time.” He stepped forward to shake Ryan’s hand. “I can’t wait to see what the two of you have come up with.”

Liz preceded Ryan into the office and felt the warmth of his large hand on her back as he guided her to the closest chair. Such a gentleman. His mother must be so proud of him.

“So who’s going to go first?” Mr. Sheridan swiveled his office chair as he looked from one to the other.

Her stomach clenched with a sudden wave of nerves. “The professional.”

“No, ladies first.” Ryan settled back in his chair with folded arms.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath for courage before handing over her flash drive. As Mr. Sheridan plugged it into his computer, she whispered a prayer of sorts that God would help her boss to like the pictures ... or at least not hate them. That would be humiliating.

Mr. Sheridan turned the monitor so all three could see the screen, and once the program loaded, he began to scroll. A few moments later, he whistled. “Dani was right.”

“Dani?” Ryan leaned forward and propped his chin on a hand as he studied the screen.

“My roommate is the one who told him I—”

“These are amazing pictures.” Mr. Sheridan clicked the mouse to enlarge one shot of several laughing actors gathered around the onstage piano.

Mrs. Sheridan entered and stopped just inside the door. “Wow. Mr. Callahan, you really are a professional.”

Ryan chuckled. “Thank you, ma’am, but Liz took these.” He winked in her direction. “She certainly has talent.”

To Buy: 

Amazon (Print) | Kindle

The Blurb:

Free-spirited Elizabeth Foster turned her back on her father’s photography business to pursue musical theater, but with a one-show contract, she’s a few weeks from unemployment forcing her home. Meanwhile sought-after photographer Ryan Callahan has put his career on hold to help his sister’s family while her husband is deployed, but the promise of a bigger assignment could lure him away from building a family of his own. If given the choice, what dreams would develop? Or will they learn to focus on love instead?

Bio:

Candee Fick is a multi-published author in both fiction and non-fiction. She is also the wife of a high school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy with her day job, writing, or coaching other authors, she can be found cheering on the home team at sporting events, exploring the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring happily-ever-after endings through a good book.

Find Candee: 

Facebook |Twitter | Blog/Website | Email List to get free chapters

Take Five and Meet Author H.D. Thomson & Her Latest Book ~ Anxiety

 It's my pleasure to introduce you to H.D. Thomson. If you know her work then learning a few more fun facts from her will be a treat, and if she's new to you, 

you'll find a new author to love. AND at the bottom of the post, after you've read it of course, is a Rafflecopter giveaway. 

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, H.D. Tell us, what inspired you to write your book Anxiety?

Hi, LA, thanks for hosting me on your blog. I actually started reading some H. G. Wells books and found a couple of them really dark and not what I expected. One of the concepts I loved and I wanted to twist it completely around with my own voice and today's style of writing. I was also in a very dark period of my life and I actually started writing Anxiety to escape into a world far worse than my own. I also was looking for hope and faith and I'm hoping that came through in the book.

How do you use setting to further your story?

I actually use the small town, the house as characters. I tried to add a sense of emotion and mood from both. You always hear about a sense of community in a small town, but what if there really isn't one? What if you are really considered an outsider even after living in one place for years?

How do you construct your characters?

I actually start with the plot and then I drop characters into the story. I make a point of putting the main characters into a situation I know they hate. Like Margot. She loves her privacy, but she doesn't get any of it. The whole town knows her business and what she'd had to deal with. Constructing characters is a slow process for me. I start with flaws, fears and then their strengths.

How is your main character completely different than you?

Actually, I'm not sure Margot is completely different than me. She might not have handled things well with what life has given her, but then I don't know how I would have reacted myself I had to deal with a past abuse and the death of a brother. I would like to think I would rise above. I could have had easily cracked. People break down. Some harder than others. I wanted Margot to rise above and have faith in life and to believe in herself when many didn't.

Tell us something about yourself we might not expect!

I used to paint watercolors. There was a point where I had to make a decision as to whether or not I wanted to spend all my spare time writing or painting. I'd entered a number of art shows and started going to arts & crafts fairs while writing on the side. Both were becoming more than a hobby and a lot of work regarding the craft of both. I decided to focus my energy on writing. I haven't picked a paint brush up since then, but I'm hoping to one of these days soon.

Give us a brief summary of Anxiety:
Jake Preston is on borrowed time.

If he doesn’t stumble upon a miracle and soon, he’ll end up dead. And even if he does, he still might end up dead with a clever killer hounding his heels. He believes that the one miracle and antidote to save him is in Margot Davenport’s house, across the country and miles away from Boston. Somewhere locked in her home is the key to reversing an experiment that is killing him with each breath he takes.

Margot doesn’t particularly care if she ends up dead.

She’s lost everything she’s ever cared for. A divorce and the loss of her job as a corporate lawyer has left her with little faith in herself or in anyone else. Most importantly, she’s lost the one person on this earth she’s looked up to and cherished–her brother, Johnny. His death in a car accident has devastated her, and she can’t find the willpower to pull herself from the chasm she’s fallen into. Her only solace is at the bottom of a wineglass. Having moved back to the small town in northern Arizona where she was raised, she’s made a point of isolating herself both mentally and physically from everyone other than a few chosen friends. Little does she know that her life is going to explode into chaos.

Buy Links:

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Bio:
Multi award-winning author, H. D. Thomson, writes romantic suspense, paranormal and contemporary romance. She writes about tortured heroes and ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. She loves everything by Dean Koontz, Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, and Linda Howard. Their fast-paced, twisting plots have all influenced her writing style.

H.D. moved as a teenager to the heat of Arizona where she graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in accounting. After working in the corporate world as an accountant, H.D. changed her focus to one of her passions—books. She owned and operated an online bookstore for several years and then started the company, Bella Media Management. The company specializes in web sites, video trailers, ebook conversion and promotional resources for authors and small businesses. When she is not heading her company, she is following her first love—writing.

Find H.D.:
Website | Amazon Author Page | 

 Facebook | Twitter |  Google+ | Goodreads | Instagram |Pinterest | Email

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Take Five And Meet Multi-published, Award Winning Author Maris Soule

 

Maris Soule has published 30, yes, you read that right, 30 novels.  

I'm honored to have her as a guest on the blog. 

Today we get a glimpse into why and how she creates her stories.

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Maris.  Tell us, what inspired you to write Echoes of Terror?

Two events led to the creation of Echoes of Terror. The first was while I had lunch with a writer friend who had just spent the summer in Skagway, Alaska, volunteering for the National Park System. I thought Skagway would be the perfect setting for a story. The second event was when I saw an interview with Elizabeth Smart, who recently had been rescued. In that case, I kept wondering what the rest of her life would be like after such an ordeal.

When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?

Hmm, that’s a good question, especially with this story in mind. As I said, the ordeal Elizabeth Smart went through (and since then I’ve read of many other women, and boys, who have endured the same terror) initiated the character of Katherine Ward. But once I knew I wanted a woman who had been kidnapped as a teenager, I had to think of a plot. What was Katherine doing now? How was she coping? That led to why would she be in Skagway? And from that point, how would she react if another teenager was kidnapped and she, as the only female police officer available, was assigned the case? Bit by bit the plot came together, but it was always tied to the character.

What is most difficult for you to write?  Characters, conflict or emotions?  Why?

With Echoes of Terror the most difficult part for me was writing the emotions. I’ve never been kidnapped, never found a friend’s dead body, never had to face a man who terrorized me for nine months. I struggled over those scenes, and I hope I captured how it would feel and how a person would react. Also, Katherine’s grandfather has dementia. It was difficult for me to write those scenes since my father ended up with Alzheimer’s. In that case, I knew how Katherine would feel. It’s terrible seeing someone you love, someone who used to have a wonderful mind, become a shell of himself.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

When I begin a new book I spend a lot of time playing with the idea(s) in my head. I may look like I’m walking the dog, but I’m really (mentally) talking to characters, picturing settings, or trying to come up with something (a plot) that will involve these characters and involve a reader. I may jot down some ideas. Usually I come up with an opening (introduce the main characters, setting, problem), and I usually have a rough idea how I want the story to end. With some books I’ve been a plotter and I’ll write an outline that will take me from point A to Z. On the other hand, there are times when I think I have a plot only to discover I’m a pantser. (That’s what’s happening to me with the book I’m working on now. The characters seem to have taken over, and I’m just along for the ride.)

If you were a TV, film or book character, apart from one you've created, who would you be?  And why?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be Zorro. I wanted to be thought of as incompetent, but at night I would ride in and right all injustices…and no one would know who I really was. I still like that idea, that sort of character. Usually they’re Marvel Comic characters. Fantasies. As for why, I guess it’s because I’m way too open. People who know me, really do know me. I’d like to have a secret side, but I don’t. I’d like to have talents that I could secretly use to help others. I’d like to be able to right a wrong and know I did so, but no one else would know. (Well, may one or two people would know, but that’s all.)

Give us a brief summary of Echoes of Terror :

A teenager is missing, and Officer Katherine Ward is assigned the case, never expecting it to parallel her own kidnapping experience seventeen years before. In Skagway, Alaska, the usual crimes faced by the police department’s small force are DUIs and missing bikes. With the chief in the hospital and officer missing, they’re not prepared for the kidnapping of a billionaire’s daughter.

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Bio:

Maris Soule is a two time RITA finalist who has won numerous awards for her novels. Born and raised in California, she majored in art at U.C. Davis and taught art for 8 years before retiring to raise a family. An avid reader all of her life, once she quit teaching, she decided to try writing, and she’s been at it ever since. Soule and her husband divide their time between Michigan and Florida. Echoes of Terror is her 30th published book.

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Cozy Mystery Week ~ Paty Jager on Location, Location, Location for a Cozy Mystery

I've brought in some of the best cozy authors out there to share their secrets and their insights about the booming genre of Cozy Mysteries.

Location, Location, Location for a Cozy Mystery 

by Paty Jager

Location, location, location. That’s what you hear from Real Estate agents, entrepreneurs, and yes, agents and editors. A good location for where you live, where a business is set up, and where your story is set can make a big difference in having a happy life, a good business, and a successful story.

Most cozy mystery books and series are set in a small town or village where if the amateur sleuth doesn’t know someone, they do know someone who knows that person. In a cozy mystery the person solving the mysteries is usually an amateur sleuth with little or no access to police information. Being in a small community allows the sleuth to talk with the people in the community who knew the deceased.

For this reason, it is good to have a location that 1) is a small town, village, or community 2) as in the case of several of Agatha Christie books, a derailed train, or snowed in resort, so the suspect pool is close at hand and small.

When it comes to cozy mysteries, having an amateur sleuth in an occupation where they come in contact with many various people can help keep the reader from thinking everyone in the sleuth’s life will be killed off soon.

Occupations that help you pick a good location for setting your cozy mystery or series are:

•         Caterer- because they would come in contact with many and varied people.
•          An owner of a bed and breakfast- this would give them access not only to the community but different people coming and going.
•          Gardener- this person would know many people around the community both as clients and where they purchased their plants, fertilizers and such.
•          Librarian- would know the community and have easy access to information.
•          Bookstore owner- again, know many people in the community and have access to information.

The list could go on. But this gives you an idea.

When you establish the occupation of the amateur sleuth, you can then decide the location. For instance, if you picked the bed and breakfast owner, you’ll want a spot that would bring tourists to the area, and decide how involved the sleuth will be in the day to day upkeep of the B&B. That will play into how well she knows her visitors, her staff (if she has them), and the community. Is the B&B for extra income because her job at the bank doesn’t pay enough for her two children and mother since her husband died or divorced her. These are all things to think about when deciding on the location.

While it seems one might be able to just say, my sleuth is a baker, his shop is in the middle of town, and my town has 12,000 people. That isn’t enough to knock the socks off an agent, editor, or reader. You need to make the character unique and put him in a unique location.

For my Shandra Higheagle mystery series, I came up with the character first. She is half Nez Perce, an American Indian tribe that lived in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. They are now on two reservations. One in Idaho and one in Washington. I wanted a character with this background to go with my branding. Next, due to her heritage and my brother being an artist and knowing a potter I could talk to for inspiration and knowledge, I made her a potter. A unique occupation that fits with her heritage. To make the occupation and her more unique, she digs the clay for her projects on land she owns. There is a whole process that must be done to purify clay. This process is one that plays into her art and her ancestry. And is something I learned from the potter I interviewed for my character.

Then came location. I like to keep my books in the Pacific Northwest. It’s where I live and easier to go to locations and experience the area and learn history. With this in mind, knowing the clay could be found on mountains, I picked a real area with a small ski resort and then plopped my fictional ski resort, county, and town on a fictional mountain in Idaho. This put my sleuth within 6-8 hours of her mother and step-father in Montana and her Nez Perce relatives in Washington (a whole other story).

This small community at the base of the mountain where there is a ski lodge, is my small town/village location for most of Shandra’s sleuthing. She’s built up friendships and business acquaintances in this small community where they also have a big art show every June (bringing in out of town people for new victims and suspects, just like the ski resort). But I also have a friend who lives on the reservation where Shandra’s family lives, which is real, in Washington. With her help, I have placed, part of a book and one whole book so far on the reservation. Again, a small community where everyone knows everyone else and is ready, with the help of Shandra’s relatives to talk about people in their community.

Both of these locations, the ski resort and town and the reservation have a small population, are community-minded, and have a realistic aspect of new people in the communities to befall a death or become a suspect.

The best location for a cozy mystery is a small town, community, or area cut-off from others that is unique in some way to make the mystery and characters stand out and make for a unique and enticing read.

Blurb

Book one of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

Dreams…Visions…Murder

On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Detective Ryan Greer believes in them and believes in her.

 
Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?

This book is FREE at all ebook venues. It is also available in print and audio.

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Bio:
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 30 novels and over a dozen novellas and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action adventure. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. This is what Mysteries Etc says about her Shandra Higheagle mystery series: “Mystery, romance, small town, and Native American heritage combine to make a compelling read.”

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