#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Lynn Cahoon

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Lynn Cahoon to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Chocolate, lap blankets, and a pile of books

Things you need to throw out: Books I’ll never read (okay, not throw out but give away), items from my past that don’t hold any meaning now, papers that I think might turn into a story, someday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: a computer (desk or laptop), my one page outline, a cup of coffee. (I really don’t think you need a lot of ‘setting’ stuff to write. I’m a Nike girl. Just do it.)

Things that hamper your writing: Being tired, too many things on my mind, people talking, music I like to sing along to, or on the other end - too quiet of an area.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Some days writing. Some days not letting the haters get in my head. Writers tearing down other writers.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Telling the story that my characters want to be told. Supporting other authors in their journey.

Things you never want to run out of: Stories. Sugar. Flavored sparkling water.

Things you wish you’d never bought: anything with fake sugar or flavoring. Frozen meals. A certain book I won’t mention that I wanted so much to be amazing. LOL

Words that describe you: Kind, ambitious, inquisitive, loving

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

Favorite foods: Homemade goodness. Fried fish. Mashed potatoes.

Things that make you want to gag: Beans, hot chilies, bad food makes me sad.

Favorite beverage: Flavored sparkling water

Something that gives you a sour face: Sweet Tea

Favorite smell: Jasmine.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Women with too much perfume. They give me migraines.

Last best thing you ate: Fried Green Tomatoes at Magnolias in Charleston SC.

Last thing you regret eating: Sugar. I need to kick the habit.

The last thing you ordered online: Vitamins and olive oil

The last thing you regret buying: Candy. I say I’m not going to eat it and yet.

Things to say to an author: I love your books. I loved the story. I wanted to be your character. I buy everything you write.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I found a typo on page 14. I didn’t get the character’s motivation. Can you make your book free?

Favorite places you’ve been: I have to say Haiti was beautiful. And the water was warm and salty.

Places you never want to go to again: I tend to find beauty in every place I visit, even for a short time. That being said, I don’t love being around a lot of people all the time. 

Favorite books (or genre): Time Travel, women’s fiction, mysteries, paranormals

Books you wouldn’t buy: War books, male centric thrillers, books without a happy ending

About Lynn:

Lynn Cahoon, author of THREE TAINTED TEAS, a Kitchen Witch mystery, is a NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Kitchen Witch, Cat Latimer, Farm-to-Fork, and soon to release, Survivors’ Book Club mystery series. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. Find out more at her website www.lynncahoon.com

Three Tainted Teas, a Kitchen Witch mystery

Aspiring witch and culinary entrepreneur, Mia Malone, must dispel a deadly plot to wreck her clients’ wedding in this charming continuation of New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s Kitchen Witch Mystery series.
 
Business is bubbling at Mia’s catering service and cooking school, Mia’s Morsels, but toil and trouble are not far behind. Mia just accepted her toughest gig yet: last-minute wedding planner for Magic Springs’ own Romeo and Juliet. Though the small town is fairly accepting of magic, two families have been locked in a vicious feud spanning generations. Unfortunately for both families, they’re about to become in-laws! Amethyst and Tok are excited to wed in a few weeks and somehow Mia must ensure the event is flawless.
 
But when she goes to pick up paperwork from the couple’s previous wedding planner, Mia discovers the woman murdered in an apparent attempt to stop the contentious union. Now, not only is Mia a prime suspect, as the new planner she may also be the killer’s next target. Backed by her squad, her charms—literal and figurative—and a protective amulet from her Grans, it’s up to Mia to save the star-crossed couple’s wedding, her professional reputation…and maybe even her life!

Book Links:

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BKCDVWF/

Apple - https://books.apple.com/us/book/three-tainted-teas/id1579116103

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/three-tainted-teas

BN.com -  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/three-tainted-teas-lynn-cahoon/1139909716?ean=9781496730336

 Let’s Be Social:

Goodreads -http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon

Twitter - https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon

Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor

Website - http://lynncahoon.com/

Amazon author page - http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Linda Norlander

I’d like to welcome author, Linda Norlander, back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday! Congratulations on your latest novel.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Continuous self-doubt. Is my writing good enough?

Easiest thing about being a writer: Conjuring up stories to write about.

Something you’re really good at: Keeping the gas tank full in the car. I have a great fear of running out of gas. (Ever watch the cemetery scene in “Night of the Living Dead?”)

Something you’re really bad at: Making pancakes—they are known as Grandma’s burnt breakfast

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: A cowgirl—of course I needed a horse which I didn’t have

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Manage a website

Something you wish you could do: A better job of managing a website

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Always being on time. I would love to be more spontaneous but this little voice in the back of my head keeps nagging me, “To be on time is to be late.”

Things to say to an author: This is Nobel Prize quality writing.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I slept through your first chapter.

Favorite places you’ve been: North Shore of Lake Superior and (of course) Paris

Places you never want to go to again: Las Vegas—Last time I was there I lost $20 playing slot machine poker and declared it enough! Time to flee the noise and the glitz.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Bruce Springsteen, Michelle Obama and Louise Penny

People you’d cancel dinner on: Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson

Favorite things to do: Playing Boggle with kids and grandkids (I never win.)

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Figuring out my taxes. I’m happy to pay someone else to do this.

Most embarrassing moment: Hitting the wrong opening chord as the church organist, thereby making a great blat onto the Lord. (I was thankfully fired from the volunteer job shortly thereafter.)

Proudest moment: Seeing the cover design for my first mystery.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I rode a bicycle from the west bank of the Mississippi River to Boston Harbor carrying a sleeping bag, a change of clothes and a water bottle

Something you chickened out from doing: Repeating the above.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Rosalyn Carter, a definite steel magnolia.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Bruce Springsteen—he’s short.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: Can’t wait for the next book.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: There’s a comma missing on page 46.

About Linda:

Linda Norlander is the author of A Cabin by the Lake mystery series set in Northern Minnesota. Books in the series include Death of an Editor and Death of a Starling and Death of a Snow Ghost. Norlander has published award winning short stories, op-ed pieces and short humor featured in regional and national publications. Before taking up the pen to write murder mysteries, she worked in public health and end-of-life care. Norlander resides in Tacoma, Washington with her spouse.

Let’s Be Social:

www.lindanorlander.com

www.twitter.com/LindaNorlander

www.facebook.com/authorlindanorlander

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Snow-Ghost-Cabin-Mystery/dp/1685121284/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2GFH1HXCRRLMX&keywords=linda+norlander&qid=1652806837&s=books&sprefix=%2Cstripbooks%2C397&sr=1-9

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Nicole Fanning

I’d like to welcome author, Nicole Fanning, back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Benji, Rocky and Loki-my fur children!

Things you need to throw out: Sentimental clothing that I will never wear again, and nearly every old phone I have every owned.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Knowing exactly what is going to happen, but not being able to share it with anxious readers because you don’t want to spoil the story!
Easiest thing about being a writer: Knowing exactly what is going to happen!

Favorite foods: Pizza, Ice Cream

Things that make you want to gag: Wasabi, Pickled Herring, Brussel Sprouts

Favorite music or song: Everything but twangy country

Music that drives you crazy: Twangy Country

Favorite beverage: TEA
Something that gives you a sour face: Sports Drinks

Favorite smell: Apple Cinnamon
Something that makes you hold your nose: Fish

Something you’re really good at: Overthinking
Something you’re really bad at: Relaxing

Something you wish you could do: Wrap Presents

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Sailing

The last thing you ordered online: My new Ducky Keyboard

The last thing you regret buying: A five-pound bag of flaxseed. Oops.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Any canine I could cuddle.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Spiders

Things you always put in your books: Easter eggs. ;)
Things you never put in your books: Pet deaths.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marrying my husband.
Biggest mistake: Dying my hair platinum blonde. “That was a lot of damage.”

About Nicole: 

Nicole Fanning is a smitten wife and super proud dog mom to three rambunctious rescue dogs.

She’s an old school romantic and documentary enthusiast, with a proclivity for a little mischief. She also has small obsession with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and obscure boardgames.

Her debut novel, Catalyst, is the first incendiary installment of the Heart of the Inferno Series which follows the romantic entanglement of deadly billionaire mafia don, Jaxon Pace, and his unexpected paramour, Natalie Tyler.

…And this is only the beginning!

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.fanning.1

Instagram: AuthorNicoleFanning

Twitter: AuthorNicoleFanning

Website: nherownwords.com

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Lane Stone

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Lane Stone back to the blog. She has an amazing new series that has just launched.

Favorite thing to do when you have free time:

When I’m in Lewes, I like to take Cordy to the dog park. In Alexandria, VA, I have season tickets to opera and symphony at the Kennedy Center.  

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Ironing. Cleaning the frig.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: Starbucks Trenta Black Iced Tea.

Things that distract you from writing: Can I say my husband?

Things you will run to the store for at midnight: I’ve made nighttime runs to the drug store for sick friends.

Things you never put on your shopping list: Red meat.  And we don’t eat much junk food.

Favorite snacks: Popcorn – if that’s considered junk food, please don’t tell me.

Things that make you want to gag:  Licorice. Larry loves mint ice cream. I think it’s nasty.

Something you’re really good at: I think I’m a good aunt.  When my nieces were young I would teach them a cuss word if they did what I said.

Something you’re really bad at: Singing.  The universe isn’t fair. I should be able to sing.

Last best thing you ate: Egg white bites at Starbucks this morning after my swim.
Last thing you regret eating: Last night I went wild and had a diet coke with dinner, and was awake most of the night. 

Things to say to an author:  I laughed a lot reading your book.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I thought I might just write a book.” 

Favorite places you’ve been: We went to Antarctica in February. It was just amazing.
Places you never want to go to again: 2020

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Why, you, Heather!

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Meg Ryan. She was short and sat in the back of the room where my husband was giving a speech.  Someone told me who she was – I wouldn’t have recognized her though I’m a huge fan. She was so unassuming. Not at all a diva.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: I’m over the moon every launch day. 

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Not let anything get in the way of writing. It took 10 years to write my first book, I’m embarrassed to say.

 About Lane:

Lane Stone lives in Alexandria, Virginia and Lewes, Delaware with her husband, Larry Korb, and their Standard Schnauzer, Cordy. She’s the author of THE COLLECTOR, an art thriller, which is the first book in The Big Picture trilogy. The first book in the Old Town Antiques Mystery series, DEAD MEN DON’T DECORATE, will be published in November 2022, and will be written as Cordy Abbott. She is the author of the Pet Palace Mysteries and the Tiara Investigation Mystery series.

When not writing she enjoys characteristic baby boomer pursuits:  being a dog Mom, traveling and volunteering for good causes, like AAUW and the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation. She serves on several boards.

She has a post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Theft and Art Crime.

Visit her at www.LaneStoneBooks.com and https://twitter.com/themenopausedog

She is represented by Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with V. S. Holmes

I’d like to welcome author. V. S. Holmes to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: Mood music, whether that’s a character playlist (which you can find on my website!) or background instrumental pieces.

Things that hamper your writing: Interruptions! People talking, or anything that keeps me to staying in the groove.

Things you love about writing: The ability to create new worlds, and weave the perfect character interactions.

Things you hate about writing: the fact that I can just plug my brain in and upload what I’m picturing!

Words that describe you: Loyal, kind, insightful

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: short-tempered, impatient, awkward.

Favorite smell: The smell of a rainstorm in spring.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Anything acrid and chemical! Also, French vanilla scented things.

 Something you’re really good at: I’ve got something of a green thumb.

Something you’re really bad at: Small talk.

Last best thing you ate: I had an amazing salmon with brussel sprouts dinner the other night, and my partner’s friend chicken is to-die-for!

Last thing you regret eating: Had a giant slice of pizza after a hike back out from a remote job site at the end of the week recently and that was a terrible life choice!

Things you always put in your books: Emotionally fraught reunion scenes!

Things you never put in your books: Needless bigotry.

 People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Ivan Coyote (they’re storytelling is so awesome!)

People you’d cancel dinner on: J. K. Rowling.

 Favorite things to do: I love exploring a new patch of wilderness, and taking the time to look at all the weird little signs of life.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Well, I actually like eating bugs, but that aside, I would do almost anything to avoid making a phone call!

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Ha, coming out, honestly. But beyond that, I took off on my own to travel across Greece and hike Mount Olympus (mostly barefoot!) without knowing much of the language or having any real plan.

Something you chickened out from doing: Confronting a few specifically toxic people in my life. It’s a lot easier to stand up for things in fiction than it is when cruel people are right in front of you.

 The nicest thing a reader said to you: I was told my book got someone through their quarantine, which was pretty incredible. I’ve also been likened to Tony Hillerman, which is awesome!

The craziest thing a reader said to you: That my books were too gay (we all know there’s no such thing!)

About V. S.:

V. S. Holmes is an international bestselling author. They created the BLOOD OF TITANS series and the NEL BENTLY BOOKS. Smoke and Rain, the first book in their fantasy quartet, won New Apple Literary's Excellence in Independent Publishing Award in 2015 and a Literary Titan Gold in 2020. Travelers is also included in the Peregrine Moon Lander mission as part of the Writers on the Moon Time Capsule. In addition, they have published short fiction in several anthologies.

 As a disabled and non-binary human, they work as an advocate and educator for representation in SFF worlds. When not writing, they work as a contract archaeologist throughout the northeastern U.S. They live with their spouse, a fellow archaeologist, their dog Rory, and own too many books.

Let’s Be Social:

Site: http://.vsholmes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VS_Holmes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorvsholmes/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vs_holmes/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/vs-holmes

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/v-s-holmes

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/V-S-Holmes/e/B014B55FJ0

#ThisorThatThursday with Author Mack Little

I’d like to welcome author Mack Little to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!


Things you need for your writing sessions:

Notebook with very good stock paper

Fountain Pen

Cigar

Glass of wine

Background noise (Music or TV)

Things you love about writing: I am a daydreamer. When I write, I give my daydreams form and they become something I can revisit whenever I like whether it be a specific part or relive the entire story.

Favorite music or song: I love Nick Cave. To me he is like the profit to the human soul. Right now the song that drives me crazy (in a good way) is Breathless by Nick Cave. I love Stromae also. His music can be poignant while at the same time be very danceable.

Something you wish you could do: I speak several languages I wish I could speak one or all of them fluently.

Something you like to do: I LOVE to travel. I go to Paris most regularly and I often use it as a spring board to visit other European countries. A few years ago I went to Scotland and I can’t wait to get back there especially since I am setting a portion of my novel there

Things you’d walk a mile for: Actually, I walk three miles every day a lot of the time just to hear my book on tape. Right now I’m listening to Bernard Cornwell’s Warrior of the Storm

Things you always put in your books: I always put historical narratives in my books that include little known facts

Favorite places you’ve been: Paris, France; Les Trois Moutiers, France; Scottish Highlands; Manzano Romano, Italy

Favorite books (or genre): My favorite genre appears to be historical which I tend to read the most of. Bernard Cornwall Last Kingdom series is especially well done. I also love Cormac McCarthy

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):

Nicholas Cage

Ginacarlo Esposito

Nick Cave

About Mack:

Mack Little grew up in the Deep South and has accumulated a vibrant experience which she often emulates in her storytelling. Her studies in International Politics and service in the Army have given her impressive perspectives to bring to her novels new layers of intrigues and twists, which are all quite prevalent in her latest novel, Daughter of Hades.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Laurel Peterson

I’d like to welcome author and poet, Laurel Peterson, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: my Canon DSLR camera, which I finally learned to use during the pandemic; my fuzzy yellow Labrador Retriever who interrupts me all day to go outside and play Frisbee; a pair of knee-high, Victorian style, lace-up black boots; the hammered silver collar my parents bought me in Santa Fe

 Things you need to throw out: all that anxiety I’m carrying around; all the clothes I don’t really love but keep around “just in case”; the old files I’m too lazy to go through; those old plant pots in the gardening shed that belonged to the previous owner.

Things you need for your writing sessions: quiet; a window to look out of;

Things that hamper your writing: My husband’s “hey honey?”; inertia; my day job.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Having to promote your own work after it’s written.
Easiest thing about being a writer: There is no easy thing about being a writer!

Things you never want to run out of: Money. (Just sayin’.) Bird song. Books. Peace in my country. (I’ve got Ukraine on my mind.)

Things you wish you’d never bought: That set of fragile pink wineglasses. The can of chestnut puree. The pointy-toed brown cowboy boots.

Favorite foods: roasted chicken with gravy and mashed potatoes; chocolate cake with white icing; the transcendent plate of cheese served at the Grand Hotel de Solesmes in Solesmes, France (across from the Abbey that resurrected the Gregorian Chant); chicken Marsala at Pasquale’s Restaurant in Norwalk, CT, where my characters (and I) go for dinner!

Things that make you want to gag:  Sheep’s eyeballs (and the stories about people eating them); stories about eating ortolans (anything you have to cover your eyes to eat seems like a bad idea, morally and gustatorily); that skit my friend did in high school where she drank a glass full of toothpaste and spit. (Ugh, I can feel it now!)

Favorite beverage: Bombay gin martini, extra dry with an olive; English breakfast tea: it’s a tie!
Something that gives you a sour face: Rum

Things to say to an author: I really enjoyed _________________(Put specific detail from their book/blog/column here); I’m so interested in the _______ issue you’ve raised in your book. Can you talk more about that?

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “You should have__________________.”; “Interesting outfit!”; “Your books are so cute”; “You are so sweet”—snicker.

Favorite places you’ve been: Delphi, Greece; Louie’s Backyard, Key West, Florida; Solesmes, France; Chinon, France; Paso Robles, California; Oxford, England; Antigua; the ferry from Athens to Santorini; the bar at Johnny Seesaw’s, 2002, Peru, VT

Places you never want to go to again: Middle school; that graduate writing class with the two women who couldn’t say anything nice about anyone; the office of the college president who was later accused of sexual harassment.

Favorite books (or genre): Ingrid Hill: Ursula, Under; Robert Penn Warren: All the King’s Men; Mark Doty: Atlantis; Pam Houston: Cowboys are My Weakness; Ben Lerner: Leaving the Atocha Station. I am a poet, so I love poetry, but mystery novels are my favorite genre.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Horror. Sorry all you Stephen King lovers out there, but one page and I wouldn’t ever sleep again.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): First, I do badly with famous people. They make me tongue tied. They would have to do all the talking. With that in mind: Meryl Streep; Lyle Lovett; Mark Knopfler; Sara Paretsky; Hilary Clinton; Colin Thubron; Pam Houston; Mark Doty; Kevin Young; Alice Waters; David Letterman
People you’d cancel dinner on: that jerk at my first job who snidely remarked that my lipstick matched my sweater; the Kardashians; my ex-department chair; the grad school professor who mistyped the address on my recommendation letter; that woman on the airplane who proclaimed loudly to her seatmate that no one was going to take away her bonus during the financial crisis of 2009.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Write a book, get it published, try to market it!
Something you chickened out from doing: hot air balloon—although it’s still on the table!

I’d love to hear your answers to these questions! You can reach me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—or check out my website.

About Laurel:

Laurel S. Peterson’s poetry has been published in many literary journals. She has published two poetry chapbooks, two full-length poetry collections, Do You Expect Your Art to Answer? and Daughter of Sky (Futurecycle Press) and two mystery novels, Shadow Notes and The Fallen (Woodhall Press). She is a writing professor, serves on the editorial board of Inkwell magazine, and was Norwalk, Connecticut’s, Poet Laureate from April 2016 – April 2019.

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Richard Paolinelli

I’d like to welcome author, Richard Paolinelli, to the blog for #ThiorThatThursday!

Things you love about writing: Creating new universes and telling stories that other people enjoy reading.

Things you hate about writing: I keep coming up with scenes while I’m driving or somewhere far away from my computer. But other than that there really isn’t anything else.

Things you never want to run out of: Dr. Pepper and new books to read.

Things you wish you’d never bought: A 1979 Ford Mustang that turned out to be a money pit.

Favorite foods: Pizza and chile rellenos.

Things that make you want to gag: Lutefisk and grits.

Favorite music or song: Voices Carry by Til Tuesday

Music that drives you crazy: Country music.

Favorite beverage: Dr. Pepper

Something that gives you a sour face: Any of the dark liquors. They all taste like paint thinner to me with the exception of Southern Comfort for some reason.

Something you’re really good at: Bowling

Something you’re really bad at: Painting

Something you wish you could do: Paint.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Photoshop.

Favorite places you’ve been: Ocean Shores, Washington and North Dakota.

Places you never want to go to again: Little Rock, Arkansas and the Antelope Valley of California.

Favorite books (or genre): Sci-fi.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Erotica and Romance

Best thing you’ve ever done: Married my wife.

Biggest mistake: Not going into computer programing in the mid-1980s.

About Richard:

Richard Paolinelli began his writing journey as a freelance writer in 1984 and gained his first fiction credit serving as the lead writer for the first two issues of the Elite Comics sci-fi/fantasy series, Seadragon. Following a 20-year newspaper writing career, he returned to his fiction writing roots and has published several novels, two non-fiction sports books, and has appeared in several anthologies. His novel, Escaping Infinity, was a 2017 Dragon Award Finalist for Best Sci-Fi novel. He also writes weekly short fiction on his website, www.scifiscribe.com. He is a huge proponent of the Superversive approach to fiction writing and publishing and his most recent novel, Galen's Way, is the first book in a multi-author Space Opera epic series.  

Let’s Be Social:

Website: http://www.scifiscribe.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richard.paolinelli

Newsletter (free e-book with new signup): https://dl.bookfunnel.com/hh7m9neuqz