#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Adele Gardner

I’d like to welcome author Adele Gardner to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Some of my recent favorite Christmas gifts: a glow-in-the-dark, light-up moon; an album by and magazine about William Shatner/Star Trek; a Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) doll and mug; and Julia Child cookbooks.

Things you need to throw out: Broken things I’m always intending to fix but never have the time.

Things you need for your writing sessions: An open mind, a willing heart, and often, a deadline! Cats. Sitting on me. Purring. A glowing moon (real or the one on my desk). Jazz.

Things that hamper your writing: The fear that my work will never be good enough. Cats. Sitting on my page/computer, playing with the “mouse,” or running off with my pen.

Hardest thing about being a writer: The fact that all the time I’m spending on writing is taking time away from other things, like spending more time with my relatives, archiving family memories and getting all of Dad’s writing published, building a family of my own, organizing my house. Another problem: the “boring parts” like reviewing my voice dictation files versus the typed transcript, or typing my handwritten drafts.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing itself! I love the mental challenge and, at the best of times, that soaring, creative flight of the heart! Also the way that diving deep for a detail brings memories vividly to mind, including things I hadn’t realized I remembered at all.

Favorite music or song: I love so many songs and styles. Two favorite genres are 1930s-1950s jazz and 1970s-1990s rock (especially alternative). For a while I had “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. as my wake-up song; also loved hearing Dad sing Bing Crosby’s “Meet the Sun Half-Way” in the mornings! “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush. Fats Waller, Jack Maheu, Cyndi Lauper, the B-52s, Phil Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian and Sylvia, and so much more.

Music that drives you crazy: My neighbor’s country music blasted over the neighborhood so that I can’t sit in my back yard and write in peace.

Favorite beverage: Coca-Cola Classic and Vanilla Coke

Something that gives you a sour face: Alcoholism runs in my family, so I am perturbed by the casual and obsessively frequent use of alcoholic drinks promoted in popular culture at every turn as the answer to all ills.

Last best thing you ate: My mom’s hamburgers. Her homemade burgers are so good they are one of the top reasons I gave up being a vegetarian. (Another is pepperoni pizza.)

Last thing you regret eating: A diabolical combination of a Hawaiian pizza (which I normally love) plus anchovies. Never again!

The last thing you ordered online: Birthday presents for my niece, including a Hero Cats graphic novel and Plusheen unicorn. (Our family loves cats!)

The last thing you regret buying: A chain saw. I invested in it as a much cheaper alternative to a tree service, due to the increased hurricane damage to my trees every year. While it would be really handy in theory, with my back issues and the known safety hazards, I’ve been too scared to use it.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Walking or jogging a mile is a great thing to do in and of itself! Especially if there’s interesting scenery/architecture/trails/trees/flowers, or I’m on the fitness center treadmill watching a show I like. I love taking walks with loved ones, or jogging with great music or an audiobook.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: TV shows that emotionally manipulate viewers in an evil way. This includes the emotional torture of characters one cares about, just to get people to binge watch.

Favorite things to do: Snuggle with my cats and spend time with human loved ones.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Losing a loved one. I would run through fire to save them!!!

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Traveling to Pennsylvania alone to meet World War II veterans at a large convention. I am very shy and find crowds stressful on a good day. This was a very tense situation for me, but also very important. My father was a World War II veteran, and I wanted to take every chance I could to speak to other vets, to thank them for all they went through and hear their stories. Yes, I hope these experiences will help to inform my mystery novels featuring a WWII vet detective, but it meant so much more to me than that. Almost like a chance to visit my father.

Something you chickened out from doing: Running a 10k at NASA with my brother at the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. I’d trained for it for most of a year, but when I found out my brother and I would have to drive separately and find each other, I couldn’t face the horde of people.

About Adele:

Adele Gardner (www.gardnercastle.com) is a professional member of Sisters in Crime, SFWA, and HWA. With mystery stories in Mystery Weekly Magazine (cover), Seascape: The Best New England Crime Stories 2019, and A Study in Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes, Adele has over 450 stories, poems, art, and articles published all told (under bylines including C. A. Gardner, Lyn C. A. Gardner, Adele Gardner, and Max Jason Peterson, among others). A former editor for The Mariners' Museum, this genderfluid night owl can be found reading comics with cats--or drawing them. Adele serves as literary executor for father, namesake, and mentor Dr. Delbert R. Gardner, who also has a cover story in Mystery Weekly Magazine.  

Let’s Be Social:

www.gardnercastle.com 

https://twitter.com/AdeleGardnerDRG

https://www.facebook.com/thegardnercastle

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Kristin Kisska

I’d like to welcome my friend and very talented author, Kristin Kisska, back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Something crazy you did on vacation:

Years ago, I visited the Cayman Islands for a long weekend getaway with a friend.  She convinced me to go on a snorkeling trip to Stingray City, which is a sandbar area between the islands frequented by stingrays. For about two hours, I swam among dozens of wild stingrays. Very cool experience, but probably not one I’d ever repeat, especially since Steve Irwin died from a sting.

Something you’d never do again on vacation:

I decided to “brighten up” my home office. Famous last words.  Over one stay-cation, I selected a paint color I thought would be tan with rose undertones.  After all the walls had been painted, it looked more like Pepto Bismol. Ugh. I spent the rest of my vacation repainting my office gray. I will never do that again, nor will I undertake a DIY project as a “vacation.”

Your favorite thing to get from the ice cream truck:

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream bars.  I loved them as a kid and stumbled across one recently—they still sell them! Of course, I had to test and still see if it is my favorite. Yup!

Some dessert that you wish you’d never bought:

Shhhhhhh! Don’t tell anyone, but I’m really not a fan of chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake.

 Most favorite place to write/edit in the summer:

As much as I dream and fantasize about escaping to the beach for a DIY writing retreat, I know in my heart of hearts that I wouldn’t get any work done there.  Still, my go-to place to write is my writer’s cave (a.k.a. my home office).  My favorite summer place to *read* however, is absolutely at the beach.

The worst place to try to write in the summer because of all the distractions:

Any place I visit with my family over the summer qualifies as the worst place to write. Too many people juggling in too little space makes me a grumpy and frustrated writer.  I need quiet and routine to hit my creative zone.

 Favorite thing to do on a summer evening:

I love going for walks outside on a summer evening, especially in Virginia. With the sun out later, we usually get a break from the intense daytime heat, and the balmy evening is so calming. The crickets and cicadas offer a pure summer soundtrack. If I’m lucky, I’ll even get a peek at firefly or two.

Least favorite thing about summer:

Mosquitos.  They love nibbling on me for their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Favorite place to visit in Virginia:

The beach is my happy place, so my favorite Virginia haunt is Sandbridge Beach.  It’s one of Virginia’s best-kept secrets and the setting of my upcoming short story, “Vendetta by the Sea,” which will be published in the mystery anthology VIRGINIA IS FOR MYSTERIES III this autumn.

Somewhere you’ve visited way too much. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt:

Tysons Corners mall in Vienna, Virginia. Honestly, I’m not a shopping person, to begin with, so malls hold little appeal.  Add massive crowds, gridlock traffic, and terrible parking, and you’ve created my perfect storm.

The thing you like most about being a writer:

My absolute favorite moment of being a writer is when my characters hijack my story and take over.  When this happens, I’m no longer the driver but a passenger along for the ride, and I try to capture the events unfolding as best I can.  I’m guessing it’s a lot like the thrill of surfing a wave.

The thing you like least about being a writer:

Writer's block. Nuff said.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life:

I can’t pick just one because I’ve enjoyed a few personally epic milestones thus far in my writerly journey. My top three moments are: writing “The End” on my first novel, signing my first ever published short story, “The Sevens,” and getting a call from my literary agent to offer me representation.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

I wish I’d started attending writer conferences sooner. Much of writing is such a solitary adventure. Meeting and networking with other authors and those in the publishing industry would’ve helped me create a stronger support group over time. Book people are fantastic!

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

In my twenties, I decided to move to Prague, so I bought a one-way ticket to give it a shot and see if I could find a job. Three years later, I moved back to the States to go to grad school. Those were (and always will be) the best and most adventurous years of my life.

Something you chickened out from doing:

As I was starting college, my professor uncle embarked on a year's sabbatical in Australia. He was taking his entire family to Sydney, and they extended an invitation for me to join them. I decided against going and started college on time, but I always will wonder about the fun adventures Down Under I might have had if I’d taken that gap year.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

The comment came from another author who’d read one of my short stories, “A Colonial Grave.” She told me it was so good; she was jealous she hadn’t written it.

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

Someone wrote a review about one of my short stories: “To the Moon and Back” was the perfect mix of terror and pity.” While I appreciated that they honed in on the pity elements, I hadn’t been gunning for a tone of terror as much as motherly love.

The funniest thing that happened to you in an airport:

I lived in NYC in my twenties. At the time, Delta had hourly flights to Washington, D.C. called the Shuttle. Since my family was living in Virginia, I flew back for weekends fairly regularly.  One Friday evening, I rushed to LaGuardia airport after a long day at work to catch the Shuttle. After handing in my flight pass, I was allowed access to the passenger waiting lounge, where I promptly fell asleep and missed my flight. No one bothered to wake me up, so I woke up in a completely empty lounge. At least there was one more flight scheduled for later that night.

The most embarrassing thing that happened to you in an airport:

While going through TSA at O’Hare, my teen daughter’s bag was flagged for inspection because they found powder (her eye shadow case had broken). The guards determined that one of us had to be patted down, so I volunteered as tribute. With hundreds of passengers passing through the security zone witnessed my embarrassment as a female guard patted my body, swept under my bra line, and otherwise made me blush. One of the guards then asked for a Q-tip, and I was so grateful it was meant to swab my hands and not some other body cavity! We finally got the all-clear and made it to our gate on time, but my daughter will NEVER be allowed to carry makeup in her carry-on luggage again.

The best summer job you ever had:

While in college, I was considering a career in law. Since my home was right outside of Washington, D.C., I wrote to the United States Supreme Court to see if they offered any summer internships. They did, and I was ultimately offered one. For three months, I worked among the Supreme Court Justices as a courier and even met Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O’Connor. Though the internship was unpaid, it was an amazing experience!

The worst summer job you ever had:

In college, I worked nights and weekends as a seating hostess at a local restaurant and got a first-hand experience of how much attitude people can throw around if they have to wait for a table. Hostesses don’t earn tips, so it’s really a thankless job.

About Kristin:

Kristin Kisska used to be a finance geek, complete with MBA and Wall Street pedigree, but now she is a self-proclaimed fictionista. Kristin contributed short stories of mystery and suspense to nine anthologies, including Malice Domestic’s Agatha Award-winning anthology, MYSTERY MOST EDIBLE (2018). She’s looking forward to releasing her short stories of suspense “Swiping Right” in MURDER BY THE GLASS in autumn 2021.

Kristin is a member of International Thriller Writers, James River Writers, the Vice President of the Central Virginia chapter of Sisters in Crime, and has been a contributing blogger at SleuthSayers.org. When not writing, she can be found on her website~ KristinKisska.com, on Facebook at KristinKisskaAuthor, Tweeting @KKMHOO, and on Instagram @KristinKisskaAuthor. Kristin lives in Virginia with her husband and three children.

 Let’s Be Social:

Website - KristinKisska.com

Instagram -  @kristinkisskaauthor 

Twitter - @KKMHOO

Facebook - KristinKisskaMehigan

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Daniel Willcocks

I’d like to welcome author, Daniel Willcocks, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you need for your writing sessions:

My wireless headphones, a pair of compression gloves for my fingers, my glasses (only worn for writing sessions), and a killer playlist of instrumental horror tracks on Spotify. I’m all about putting myself into that ‘zone.’

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Self-discipline is a muscle, and it requires work every day. The words don’t write themselves, and on the days where you’ve got no energy and all you want to do is relax, you still have to drag yourself to the keyboard to get the work in. It’s how the books are made. Blood, sweat, and copious amounts of coffee.

Something you’re really good at:

I’m pretty good at asking people the questions that make them think. I use Becca Syme’s “Question the Premise” method, and look for alternatives to typically accepted situations. It’s all about thinking outside of the box.

Something you’re really bad at:

Resting. I put workhorses to shame. I barely take days off, and I work until I burnout. It’s an endless cycle I’m working on, and hopefully I’ll be able to make it some day.

Something you wish you could do:

I’d love to play the drums. I’ve never had proper go to actually try. On the small opportunity I had, I sucked. I know I’d get there with practice, but who has a drum set just lying around these days?

The last thing you ordered online:

A tool to help increase the strength in your fingers. I want to look after my typing digits, and I’m also looking ahead to rock climbing in the future.

Things you always put in your books:

I will always put in ridiculously tough moral dilemmas. As a horror writer, I strip characters down to their core, and have them face the questions that are fundamentally human. No one cares how many followers you have when you’re standing on the brink of death.

Things to say to an author:

 “I could not put your book down.” That phrase is like crack to an author.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Out of all the places I’ve been that stick with me, I have to say that climbing St Michael’s Mount in Edinburgh and overlooking the city at 6am, a sunrise and a cloth of fog over the city… That really hit the spot.

Favorite books (or genre):

Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King, Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon, The Troop by Nick Cutter, and The Ritual by Adam Nevill are always on my recommend pile.

Biggest mistake:

Waiting until I thought I was “ready” to start doing the things that scared me.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

I’ve jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet. I mean, it was either that or attempt a three hour road trip without making the four-year-old do a “safety wee” first…

About Daniel:

 Daniel Willcocks is an international bestselling author, award-nominated podcaster, book coach, and speaker.

He writes dark fiction, spanning the genres of horror, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi, and helps authors tell the stories they’re dying to tell.

Let’s Be Social:

 www.danielwillcocks.com

www.facebook.com/willcocksauthor

www.instagram.com/willcocksauthor

www.twitter.com/willcocksauthor.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Stephanie LaVigne

I’d like to welcome author, Stephanie LaVigne to the blog this week for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: A “special beverage” in a mug or cup that is visually sizable enough to remind me that I don’t have to get up for a refill anytime soon. Usually filled with coffee, hot chocolate, or some weird concoction like chai w/ lion’s mane.

Things that hamper your writing: People. Especially people who live in my house and are very loud and like to visit me. (*Strangers in coffeeshops are not a problem. However, I never get to write in coffee shops any more, soooo….)

Favorite beverage: (I’ll go adult beverage on this one, even though I hardly drink.) White Russian or anything with cream, Kahlua, Bailey’s, Amaretto, etc.

Something that gives you a sour face: Only time I ever throw up is when drinking something with a sour base, like Whiskey Sour, Margherita, etc. (I’d have to drink quite a bit to get sick, but for some reason I can’t stomach this type of drink.)

Favorite smell: Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Satsuma oranges. Not together though.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Pepper. Like, sniffing a pepper grinder is really off-putting to me. Why I have done this enough times to know that is its own question.

Something you’re really good at: Dealing with emergency situations, finding silver linings in any situation, and coming up with out-of-the-box ideas.

Something you’re really bad at: Time management. Regular maintenance of normal, reasonable things. Thinking inside the box.

Something you like to do: Trying new things, learning new things, giving advice, and laughing. (Ex: for my bff’s bachelorette party we did a treetops ropes course, rented mini-boats, took aerial silk and pole dancing classes, played board and trivia games, went to see comedy shows, and went dancing. I planned the week and it was basically my dream vacation…hers too, don’t worry.)

Something you wish you’d never done: One of the only things I ever feel regret over are times where I was unnecessarily mean or dismissive of someone. I haven’t done it a lot in my life, but the times I’ve acted too cool for school or maybe made someone feel bad, those memories haunt me. Even when I was in my first two years of college and didn’t call my parents back a lot or did dangerous things that I now realize really scared or worried them make me feel awful.

Things you always put in your books: I think I always add personality traits of people I know or have met to characters, and/or use name inspiration from people I’ve known.

Things you never put in your books: I try to avoid adding things that are graphically traumatic. I don’t want to propagate, normalize or glamorize violence, so I try to curb it. I’m also fairly empathetic and tend to not be able to get awful things out of my head once I’ve visualized them, so I try to not let those things spend too much dancing around in there.

Favorite places you’ve been: I don’t tend to have favorites, in general, but I really want to return to Iceland, Canada, and the Azores for starters.

Places you never want to go to again: I always seem to have bad luck in Savannah, Georgia (though I’m sure I’ll visit again at some point.)

Favorite books (or genre): I like a good Private Eye-type series, especially if it has some laughs (ex: I loved Edna Buchanan’s Britt Montero series even though she was technically a journalist.) I also love weird Florida authors like Carl Hiaasen. I also buy a LOT of reference and non-fiction books.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Generally I’m not into space/war/historical/future/dystopia stuff. I can get into anything if I give it a chance, but I won’t purposefully choose those styles. They give off a very drab, grey-brown feeling to me, and I feel like it’s just going to be heavy and depressing.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Lily Tomlin, Sally Fields, Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Carol Burnett, Goldie Hawn, Dolly Parton

People you’d cancel dinner on: Certain politicians that shall remain nameless. (Not being political. These are some of the only people that I can think of off the top of my head that may be too boring or untrustworthy to have a meaningful conversation with. To be clear, I have some amazing, interesting, pure-hearted friends who are in politics, so I’m not saying the above as a generalization or a slur or anything. There are just some politicians that I would cancel a dinner on, if I had to choose someone.)

Favorite things to do: Going on adventures. Planning cool travel itineraries and then doing them. I love wandering around a new place, trying food from there, exploring, trying a new activity.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Skydiving. I do not enjoy the feeling of free falling. And adding a couple thousand feet to that equation makes me want to cry.

Things that make you happy: Unique lodging: yurts, treehouses, houseboats, earthhouses, cool hotels, sprawling estates, etc. Researching things. And trying new things in new places.

Things that drive you crazy: Feeling like I’m stuck in a life of never-ending obligations and status-quoness. When I can’t see that I am moving forward, and instead life seems to be a perpetual recycling of days and activities, I get really freaked out that life is passing me by and I’m not living it in the way I want. It makes me feel crazy.

About Stephanie:

Stephanie LaVigne comes from a long line of mystery lovers. In an effort to keep them in her good-graces, her books combine intrigue, quirkiness, and adventure with a healthy dose of humor and wit.

She has published over fifty popular, often bestselling, novels under her name, as well as pen names, in both romance and mystery.

From hopping trains across the US to crewing a sailboat on a trans-Atlantic crossing, from mushing dogs on a Canadian dogsled to unwittingly hiking Mount Washington, she’s been lucky enough to have incredible adventures alongside all kinds of real-life characters. One of her missions is to introduce readers to the kind of colorful personalities that have shaped her life.

She currently lives in her favorite South Florida neighborhood surrounded by palm trees, peacocks, a few wild kids, one wild husband, and a handful of incredible family members and friends. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Novelists, Inc.

Let’s Be Social:

www.StephanieLaVigne.com

https://www.facebook.com/thestephanielavigne

https://www.instagram.com/thestephanielavigne

https://twitter.com/stephunderwater

https://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-LaVigne/e/B014DUTKOY

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/stephanie-lavigne

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14291865.Stephanie_LaVigne

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with O. E. Tearmann

I ‘d like to welcome author O. E. Tearmann to the blog or #ThisorThatThursday.

O.E. Tearmann is a pen name for a writing duo: Olivia Wylie and E.S. Argentum.

The ‘O.’ in O.E. Tearmann, Olivia Wylie (she/her), is a professional horticulturist and business owner who specializes in the restoration of neglected gardens. When the weather keeps her indoors, she enjoys researching and writing about the plant world, the future, and the complexities of being human. Her solo work is in illustrated non-fiction works of ethnobotany, intended to make the intersection of human history and plantevolution accessible to a wider audience. She lives in Colorado with a very patient husband and a rather impatient cat. Her works can be viewed atwww.leafingoutgardening.com

As the ‘E.’ in the O.E. Tearmann writing duo, E.S. Argentum (they/them) brings to a life a cast of eccentric, loveable characters. They bring the same passion for diverse, character-driven stories seen in Aces High, Jokers Wild to their solo work. E.S. Argentum’s fantasy and scifi romances center on GLBTQ+ relationships with the emotional comfort of your favorite puff piece, layered with rich, unique twists. They have short stories published in multiple anthologies under the pseudonym of Emily Singer, including Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Crossing Colfax and Ultimate Power, from Northwest press. When they’re not writing, they’re generally found playing video games, having existential crises, or napping with their cat. Their work can be viewed athttps://argentumbooks.com

Things you need for your writing sessions:

E.S. Argentum: Hot tea, coffee shop ambience sounds, and my fountain pen.

O.W.: Hot tea in the early morning and good music (read, rock music with some punk thrown in)

Things that hamper your writing:

E.S.: A cat on my lap or keyboard! I also really struggle to write when my mental health isn’t

great.

O.W.: Physical tiredness after a couple days out in the garden. No writing happens in a week like

that. Only resting.

Things you love about writing:

E.S.: Worldbuilding and character development.

O.W.: Interpersonal relations and finding believable ways for the tech to be really, really cool.

Things you hate about writing:

E.S.: Editing (as of this interview, I’m currently editing my first personal novel, so I have a bias).

O.W.: Finding a typo in a book that’s already gone to print. Seriously, after all the passes from us, the beta readers, the sensitivity readers, the editor and the formatter, how?! Just HOW?!

Things you never want to run out of:

E.S.: Is it cliché to say friendship and love? I’d be totally lost without my found family.

O.W.: Friendship, tea and 90% dark chocolate. I need all three.

Things you wish you’d never bought:

E.S.: I’ve had some run-ins with disgusting pumpkin spice products. They always sound so good and then taste terrible.

O.W.: Eggplant. I mean Eugh-plant! People told me if you cook it right it’s delicious. People were wrong.

Words that describe you:

E.S.: Introverted, nerdy/geeky, loyal, nearsighted.

O.W.: Passionate, energetic, diligent, driven.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t:

E.S.: Anxious, unorganized, bad at decisions.

O.W.: Klutzy, fearful, faking the making it.

Favorite music or song:

E.S.: I will always be a sucker for Broadway show tunes of any stripe. Musical theatre is my not-so-secret guilty pleasure.

O.W.: I have a list! But my top are: S.J. Tucker, Frenchy And The Punk, The Interrupters and Bon Jovi.

Music that drives you crazy:

E.S.: I’m not a fan of the really heavy metal/screamo rock. If there are English lyrics in a song, I like being able to understand them.

O.W.: Skrillex and any Country music that is mostly glitz and tw-a-a-ang!

Something you’re really good at:

E.S.: Listening to and supporting my friends when they’re struggling.

O.W.: Putting plans and complicated step-by-step initiatives together.

Something you’re really bad at:

E.S.: Household chores, especially laundry and dishes.

O.W.: Handling other people’s frustration and anger.

Something you wish you could do:

E.S.: Pay off debt for random people and donate to more crowdfunding campaigns.

O.W.: What they said! Also, play the violin in a way that doesn’t sound like a cat sliding down a chalkboard.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do:

E.S.: Put my own needs aside to cater to others.

O.W.: Hide my emotions so well that even I don’t always know when I’m overloaded.

The last thing you ordered online:

E.S.: The Final Fantasy XV Official Works limited edition set.

O.W.: Really awesome reusable cloth menstrual pads from Sacred Spiral Creations on Etsy.

The last thing you regret buying:

E.S.: A container of edible cookie dough that’s not nearly as tasty as it sounded (I’m sensing a theme with my regrettable purchases here; whoops).

O.W.: Cookies that turned out to be Way Too Sweet. Regretted it after two bites, and I still had a box. Can’t give them out to friends who come over right now, either :(

Things you always put in your books:

E.S.: Queer romance! I generally lean toward the sweet and fluffy side, but occasionally get into some pretty steamy scenes, like we have in the Aces High series.

O.W.: Agreed! Also, found families and adopted-sibling shenanigans. I love interconnected communities supporting one another.

Things you never put in your books:

E.S.: Sexual violence. There’s too much out there and, in my opinion, it’s lazy, misogynistic writing.

O.W.: Sexual violence, or any sort of ‘purity’, whether that be genetic ‘purity’ in sci-fi or ‘blood purity’ in fantasy. That’s a holdover from Eugenics that we can put right in the trash. Give me the multi-species kids who are stronger because of hybrid vigor, the multicultural kids pulling their disparate parts into a whole and the people with a foot in more than one world.

Things to say to an author:

E.S.: “I left you a review on Goodreads and Amazon, and I’m telling all my friends about your book!”

O.W.: “I had so much fun with this!” or “I wanted to slap This Character when She Did A Dumb Thing” or “thank you for writing characters I can connect with!” If you really want to earn undying love, “wow, this book really opened my eyes/got me thinking about things in a different way.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:

E.S.: To this author duo, at least: “Is this series related to the G.R.R. Martin Wildcards series?”

O.W.: Oh groan, I HATE it when we get asked ‘did you borrow that idea from Martin?’ People. Nothing against Martin, but the people in this duo are in their early 30s. The series was popular before either of us were born. By the time we were aware, it had fallen way out of public discourse, and everyone was talking about his fantasy work. We didn’t hear of the work in question till our second book was already out! *Loud sigh*.

Oh, that and, if you call my writing partner ‘little lady’ or say ‘I don’t see many ladies writing this kind of thing’, I WILL base a side character off you and kill them. Gruesomely.

Favorite books (or genre):

E.S.: Fantasy will always be my home, and even better if it’s got great GLBTQ characters.

O.W.: Charles de Lint’s urban fantasy saved me in high school, and Terry Pratchett got me through college. I will always love them both for it. Beyond that? Anything affirming and well written; I’m pretty eclectic in my reading. I have soft spots for fantasy, sci fi and nonfiction narrative history.

Books you wouldn’t buy:

E.S.: Anything by someone I know is a bigot in any way, shape, or form.

O.W.: Anything bigoted, and the majority of procedural or thriller style stories. Weirdly, I get bored.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

E.S.: I went to Ireland on my own when I was 20 for my junior practicum in college. It was my first time traveling internationally on my own, and I didn’t know anyone in the country beforehand.

O.W.: I started my own business with $500 in the bank and some tools strapped to the roof of a Mazda 3. Worked out great!

Something you chickened out from doing:

E.S.: Telling my parents about my gender identity. Not sure I’m ever going to get the guts for that one, unfortunately.

O.W.: I really wanted to do a trip abroad in high school, had the required GPA and was invited to do all the fundraising, but I couldn’t get up the courage to ask my cash-strapped, overworked mom if I could try to raise the funds. She and I both regret this.

Thanks for having us on!

About O. E. Tearmann:

O.E. Tearmann (they/them) is the author of the Aces High, Jokers Wild series. Their books include strong themes of diversity and found family, providing a surprisingly hopeful take on a dystopian future. Bringing their own experiences as a marginalized author together with flawed but genuine characters, Tearmann’s work has been described as “Firefly for the dystopian genre.” Publisher’s Weekly called it “a lovely paean to the healing power of respectful personal connections among comrades, friends, and lovers.” Tearmann lives in Colorado with two cats, their partner, and the belief that individuals can make humanity better through small actions. They are a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, the Colorado Resistance Writers and the Queer Scifi group. In their spare time, they teach workshops about writing GLTBQ characters, speak and plant gardens to encourage sustainable agricultural practices, and play too many video games.

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#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Lynn Slaughter

I’d like to welcome Lynn Slaughter to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: strong coffee, water, music, a scented candle, and my computer.

Things that hamper your writing: scam phone calls!

Things you love about writing: I love getting into the zone and immersing myself into my characters’ world.

Things you hate about writing: I’m lousy at marketing and social media, and that’s part of the job.

Words that describe you: warm, empathetic, humor lover

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: overly sensitive

Favorite foods: pasta, chocolate, peanut butter

Things that make you want to gag: Seafood

Favorite beverage: orange juice, coffee, white wine

Something that gives you a sour face: beer

Something you’re really good at: listening

Something you’re really bad at: I have absolutely no spatial sense!

Last best thing you ate: my husband’s homemade chicken noodle soup

Last thing you regret eating: a dish made with pork that didn’t agree with me

The last thing you ordered online: gift certificate for my daughter-in-law for a “facialist” she loves

The last thing you regret buying: I ordered this automatic timer sprinkler attachment. When we turned it on, it made this ear-splitting noise that shook the whole house!

Favorite things to do: Hanging out with my husband, hugging my grandchildren, reading, writing, singing, going to garage and estate sales, supporting other writers

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Yard work- not my thing!

Things that make you happy: my husband, love, kindness, laughing, music, good food

Things that drive you crazy: Injustice, folks who peddle misinformation and hatred, and any sort of cruelty, especially to children

About Lynn: After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn Slaughter earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Section Hill University. She writes coming of age romantic mysteries and is the author of the newly released Leisha’s Song; While I Danced, an EPIC finalist; It Should Have Been You, a Silver Falchion finalist; and Deadly Setup (forthcoming from Fire and Ice, 2022). She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel and serves as the President of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, the Ohio River Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime.

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#WriterWednesday Author Interview with DonnaRae Menard

I’d like to welcome DonnaRae Menard as my guest today.

A few of your favorite things: I like real coffee, black, no hybrid flavors, fall weather, and old movies

Things you need to throw out: all the skinny clothes I will never fit into again, fabric scraps from old projects, all the plastic take-out containers

Hardest thing about being a writer: I hate the selling, the feeling I am begging somebody to like me.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Letting the words flow and telling my story out loud to people.

Words that describe you: I think I’m half as old as I am, I have a hard shell that’s fake, and I love to travel even virtually.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: I speak without thinking, can be hurtful, am not all that smart.

Favorite music or song: I love music from the 60s and 70s. The Last Kiss, a lot of classical, oh, and Christmas music.

Music that drives you crazy: Loud, banging stuff where I can’t understand the words, Christmas music that’s been redone to something modern and without depth.

Favorite smell: Fresh baked bread

Something that makes you hold your nose: Unwashed hair.

Something you’re really good at: I’m a great talker. My grandmother told me when I was six that

I didn’t have to talk to everyone on the city bus.

Something you’re really bad at: Remembering I took notes and to use them.

Something you wish you could do: I’d like to be able to sing. I know all the words but can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Not tell the truth to save someone else’s feelings.

There always seems to be sorrow later when you try to save someone from reality.

Something you like to do: Have a conversation with my mother.

Something you wish you’d never done: Not had a conversation with my mother.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A friend, the joy of walking, peace of mind

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: People who have the same two conversations on replaying tapes.

Things you always put in your books: Hm, I always try for the human element; confusion, self-doubt, then awareness.

Things you never put in your books: Animal cruelty, self-mutilation, maybe suicide.

Things to say to an author: Tell me what you’re working on.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Wow, that sucked.

Favorite places you’ve been: Albuquerque, New Mexico, Boston, Mass., Ausable Chasm, NY.

Places you never want to go to again: Seaside, CA, Quebec City, Quebec, Columbus City, Ohio (I got a ticket because I was lost and crying in frustration in a no parking zone.)

Favorite books (or genre): Romance mysteries where the story isn’t necessarily all about the romance.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Self-help, it’s like doctor heal thyself.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): George Lucas, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama

People you’d cancel dinner on: The head of the local selectmens board, Donald Trump, Sarah Palin

Favorite things to do: Write, visit my kids, write, travel, write, eat cheeseburgers.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Oh, gotta be housework; dusting and cleaning bathroom and fridge.

Most embarrassing moment: Doing an intro and forgetting the headliner’s name. I was so nervous I couldn’t read the crib notes.

Proudest moment: Seeing my website for the first time. I felt as though I was really going to be able to sell a book.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Once when I was a teenager, I jumped out of a second story window on a dare.

Something you chickened out from doing: Bought the ticket, could not get in that hot air balloon basket to save my life.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: You made me cry, at a place where I cried when I wrote it.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: This character is me, isn’t it? And I’d never met the person until that day.

About DonnaRae

My writing career began in the seventh grade, where I was a country kid in a city school. I took to writing disparaging descriptions of other students in self-defense. Unfortunately, when I got caught writing during class, I had to stand up and read my notes aloud. That was also the start of my training for the one hundred yard dash in track and field.

As time went on, I had diaries, journals, two tiny columns in small-town newspapers, and wrote competition pieces for Toastmaster's International. I also had boxes under my bed filled with novels finished and not.

On April 28, 2008, I was diagnosed with stage 4 squamous carcinoma. My prognosis was bleak. I fought back and won. In 2010, I decided I was going to write and be published. Not just self-published, but by a real publishing house. I kept writing, took classes, went to seminars, book signings, readings, and conventions. Anywhere I might meet someone with experience.

At Crimebake 2019, I met Harriette Sackler and Bruce Coffin. One offered me professional advice, the other the promise to meet me at the top. I went back to work, this time treating writing like employment, not a hobby.

I live just outside of town in the type of place where people feel free to drop off cats, kittens, cages of gerbils or white rats, and even the occasional farm animal. I have a swinging door for those that need. We talk, eat, laugh, and all the while, I type.

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DonnaRae’s Books

Murder in the Meadows

Willa the Wisp

The Fairy Mothers, The Clarion Call Anthology, Vol 4, Fairytale Riot

Murder in the Meadows

After 10 years gone, Katelyn Took returns home in 1974 to find the grandmother who raised her has been killed in the farm meadow. Grams will leaves Katelyn ownership of the now dilapidated farm, but includes a stipulation regarding seventeen cats. Then there's the confused old woman still living in the farmhouse. Katelyn doesn't want to stay, but the longer she does, the more drawn into finding Gram's killer she becomes.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Michele Drier

I’d like to welcome author, Michele Drier to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Read, read, read.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Cleaning house, primarily vacuuming.

Favorite snacks: Popcorn, nuts, raw veggies, M&Ms

Things that make you want to gag: Organ meats (liver, sweetbreads), kale, escargots (but oh, the garlic butter!)

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: Either a Grand Prix driver or an archeologist.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Type for a living (writing!). I’m of an age when mostly girls took typing so they could be secretaries. I started college as a chemistry major…no typing there! I took one typing class in college so I didn’t have to pay to have my papers typed. Got a D.

I’ve ended up making a living at typing (reporter, editor, writing grant proposals, annual reports and now, novels…working on the 18th so far). I still type about 45 wpm with errors.

Last best thing you ate: Greek salad
Last thing you regret eating: Ohhhh…brownie with ice cream! Same meal.

Favorite places you’ve been: Europe, almost anywhere but primarily Paris. Based my Kandesky Vampire Chronicles on Hungary because I loved it there.
Places you never want to go to again: North Dakota

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):Louise Penny, Elizabeth George, Barak Obama
People you’d cancel dinner on: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul

Favorite things to do: Travel, learn new things.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Household chores, going to meetings (sigh).

Best thing you’ve ever done: Had my daughters.
Biggest mistake: Getting married, getting married, getting married (yes, three times, the last one ended more than 30 years ago).

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Driven through Greece and Hungary in a rented car. Couldn’t even read the street signs.
Something you chickened out from doing: Climbing to the top of the Duomo in Florence (I chickened out almost at the top and had to fight my way down through all the other tourists coming up the one-sway staircase)

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Vice President Kamela Harris. When I was running a Legal Services organization in Oakland, she was the newly-elected DA in San Francisco and we worked together (mostly I called and left messages) on legal conferences we presented about recognizing and halting Elder Abuse.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: This goes way back, but I saw Shirley Temple shopping several times at Sak’s in a Palo Alto mall. This was when she was Shirley Black and an ambassador and Chief of Protocol for the U.S.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: Telling wonderful stories about women I want to be like.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Start earlier and try harder to find an agent.

Tapestry of Tears

History had always been a strong magnet for Rosalind Duke. She took up the medieval craft of making stained glass and was building a solid international reputation, taking on larger and larger commissions. Her idyllic life with her husband, Winston Duke, an art historian at UCLA, was cut short when he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. After moving to a small town on the Oregon coast, she’s offered a commission to translate the medieval embroidery, The Bayeux Tapestry, into stained glass for a museum at a small Wisconsin university. Roz jumps at the chance. Not only to try to transfer the Tapestry into a new medium, but to spend time in Southern England and Northern France, tracing the path taken by the invading Normans under William the Conqueror. But the 21st century drags her back when she finds a body crumpled against a wall in an ancient stone church in the small town of Lympne, on the southern coast of England. Has she walked into a contemporary murder?

About Michele

Michele Drier is a fifth generation Californian. During her career in journalism at daily newspapers in California, she won awards for investigative series. She is the past president of Capitol Crimes, a Sisters in Crime chapter; the Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime, current vice president of NorCal Sisters in Crime, and co-chaired  Bouchercon 2020.

Her Amy Hobbes Newspaper Mysteries are Edited for Death, (called “Riveting and much recommended” by the Midwest Book Review), Labeled for Death and Delta for Death. A stand-alone, Ashes of Memories was published May 2017.

Her paranormal romance series, SNAP: The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, named the best paranormal vampire series of 2014 by PRG. Currently writing Book Eleven, SNAP: Pandemic Games.

Her new series is the Stained Glass Mysteries, Stain on the Soul and Tapestry of Tears, and she’s working on the third, Resurrection of the Roses.

She lives in Sacramento with her cat, Malley.

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Visit her webpage www.MicheleDrier.me

Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMicheleDrier

Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G/