Take Five and Meet Author Leeann Betts and Her Novel ~ Hidden Assets

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Leeann Betts.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book Hidden Assets?

I’d recently been to eastern Wyoming, and love the area, and thought what a great place to build a town and have a murder. And I had a friend who recently traveled from Denver to San Francisco on the train, so I just knew I had to involve a train in the story.

Have you been a lifelong reader of cozy mysteries?  What are some the first books you remember reading?

I have loved mysteries ever since I was a kid. And as I got a little older, I devoured Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle mysteries. I went through a phase of Dorothy Sayers and Dick Francis, then started in on American Authors such as Lillian Jackson Braun, Mary Daheim, and Diane Mott Anderson, among others. I love series, and I MUST read them in order.

What do you do to rev your creative juices?

I read lots, I watch lots of mystery movies, and I often go on an Agatha binge, or a Donald Bain (Murder She Wrote) binge.

To you what makes a great romance hero or heroine?

I think the answer is the same for both – they must be strong and capable, smarter than the bad guy, and willing to accept help from someone else – even if they don’t know it yet.

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

I hope the object of the Romers’ search doesn’t show up. That would be too creepy :) (You’ll have to read the book to find out why)

Give us a brief summary of Hidden Assets:

Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, responds to a call from her friend, Anne, who is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and travels to Wyoming to help find assets Anne thinks her husband has stolen. But the mystery begins before Carly even arrives when she sees a man thrown off a train. Except there’s no body. 

Husband Mike uncovers an illegal scam in a computer program he has been asked to upgrade, and then Anne is arrested for her ex’s murder. 

Can Carly figure out what’s going on, and why a strange couple is digging in Anne’s basement? Or will she disappear along with the artwork, coins, and money?

  

To Buy: 

Amazon | Smashwords

Bio:

Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. She has released six titles in her cozy mystery series, By the Numbers, with Hidden Assets released in June. In addition, Leeann has written a devotional for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial folk, Counting the Days, and with her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, has published a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, a compilation of essays, articles, and exercises on the craft. 

She publishes a free quarterly newsletter that includes a book review and articles on writing and books of interest to readers and writers. You can subscribe at www.LeeannBetts.com or follow Leeann at www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com 

All books are available on Amazon.com in digital and print, and at Smashwords.com in digital format.

Find Leeann:

Facebook | Twitter  

Take Five With Leeann Betts

Leeann Betts also writers as Donna Schlachter. Leeann is her contemporary suspense writer's nom de plume while Donna writes historical suspense.  How about that for fun. And wait until you read her last answer!

 Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Leeann. Tell us, what inspired you to write your book Hidden Assets?

Hi L.A., thank you for having me on your blog as Leeann this time. I actually wanted to make the next book an Alaskan cruise adventure, but I didn’t get to go on the cruise yet, so I had to find another setting. We recently visited eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska, and so I chose to set it there.

How do you use setting to further your story?

The setting should be as obvious as the nose on your face yet as unobtrusive as breathing. Setting, when used properly, doesn’t intrude on the story, but the characters make different choices based on what the setting is. If I had set this one in New York City, for example, it should be a different story because there are more resources available, easier to find people, more difficult to stay focused because of other distractions.

How do you construct your characters?

Carly is very autobiographical, and Mike is fashioned after my husband Patrick, so I tend to incorporate some of the things we say and do. However, Carly is much quicker on the comeback than I am, and Mike is much more likely to give Carly her head and let her run with an idea than my hubby would. Other than that, secondary characters are fashioned after people I know or have met.

How is your main character completely different than you?

Carly is much more bold than I am. She’ll go down in a basement whereas I won’t, and she’ll dig in a place where she’s likely to find a body, where I wouldn’t.

Tell us something about yourself we might not expect!

I once ice skated with an Olympic champion.

Give us a brief summary of Hidden Assets:

Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, responds to a call from her friend, Anne, who is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and travels to Wyoming to help find assets Anne thinks her husband has stolen. But the mystery begins before Carly even arrives when she sees a man thrown off a train. Except there’s no body. Husband Mike uncovers an illegal scam in a computer program he has been asked to upgrade, and then Anne is arrested for her ex’s murder. 

Can Carly figure out what’s going on, and why a strange couple is digging in Anne’s basement? Or will she disappear along with the artwork, coins, and money?

Buy Links: 

Amazon

Bio:

Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. She has released five titles in her cozy mystery series, By the Numbers, with Hidden Assets releasing the end of June. 

In addition, Leeann has written a devotional for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial folk, Counting the Days, and with her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, has published a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, a compilation of essays, articles, and exercises on the craft.

Find Leeann:

I publish a free quarterly newsletter that includes a book review and articles on writing and books of interest to readers and writers. You can subscribe at www.LeeannBetts.com or follow Leeann at www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com 

Facebook | Twitter

Take Five and Meet Author Donna Schlachter

Today we get to meet one of the authors in the "Pony Express Romance Collection". 

I can't wait to see what it's all about. Come meet Donna Schlachter

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Donna.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book  Echoes of the Heart?

Thanks for having me as your guest today, L.A. I discovered since I started writing seriously that I love history. I hated it as a subject in school, where I’m from, it seemed history meant memorizing dates of reigns of Monarchs. I met up with Mary Davis at an ACFW conference (here’s a great reason to go to conferences) and asked her what she was working on. She said she and three other authors were putting together a proposal on the Pony Express. I said if there was an opening, I’d love to join. A month later, she emailed and said one of the ladies had to drop out and now there was an opening. In the meantime, I read everything I could about the Pony Express, visited a couple of stations within a day’s drive of where I live, so I was ready. I wrote about a subject I knew nothing about at the beginning, but I know a lot now! 

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

The plot comes for me first, and then the character to fulfill that plot. I love asking those “what if” questions.

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

Emotions. Especially romance. Which is funny, since I write historical romance. I have no problem with writing conflict, bickering, fighting – which probably says a lot about me.

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

Write a synopsis. Then go back and fill in the holes, add in the romance—if it’s a romance—and then make sure there is a spiritual thread. The synopsis gives me the structure for the book, keeps me on track, but gives me enough room for creativity and surprises—even for me.

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

Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s little old lady amateur detective who lives in St. Mary Mead. I’m fairly observant, and I love knowing the story behind the story. However, I’m not white haired, and I don’t knit fluffy pink baby outfits.

Give us a brief summary of Echoes of the Heart:

This is a 9-in-1 novella collection from Barbour Books centered on the Pony Express, which ran from April 1860 through November 1861. The Pony Express already seems to be a romantic snippet of Americana, and so it seemed to make sense to write a collection of historical romance set on the trail. My story, Echoes of the Heart, features a mail order bride responding under an assumed name, a crippled station master who thinks no woman will want him, and their search for a future—together or separately.

Buy:

Donna's Amazon Books | The Collection


Bio:

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick, her first-line editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts. She is a hybrid publisher who has published a number of books under her pen name and under her own name.

Her current release, Echoes of the Heart, a 9-in-1 novella collection titled "Pony Express

Romance Collection" released April 1. Donna is also a ghostwriter and editor of fiction and non-fiction, and judges in a number of writing contests. 

She will be teaching an online course for American Christian Fiction Writers in June 2017, “Don’t let your subplots sink your story”. Donna loves history and research, and travels extensively for both.

Find Donna:  

Blog | Website |  Facebook Author | Twitter