#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Matthew Hughes

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Liza Groen Trombi, Locus Magazine,

I’d like to welcome author Matthew Hughes to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time:

Play the piano, when I have a piano.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list:

Shave.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave:

A laptop and a wireless keyboard. I started out in a daily newspaper newsroom, full of reporters clattering away on manual typewriters, talking on the phone, and shouting for copy boys to come and collect their takes. After that I can write anywhere.

Things that distract you from writing:

Not much. Sometimes, I get bored with what I’m doing and spend some time watching YouTube shorts. Then I put myself back to work. Habit of a lifetime spent writing to feed my family.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Self-promotion. It doesn’t come naturally to me.

Easiest thing about being a writer:

Writing. I’ve done it for a living for more than fifty years and have written (and be paid for) just about everything except cookbooks and poetry.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid:

A paleontologist. I was dino-crazy from about the age of seven to eleven.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do:

Travel the world as an itinerant housesitter. I always thought in conventional terms of settling down somewhere, probably because I was constantly being uprooted when I was a kid. I went to fifteen schools between kindergarten and Grade Twelve, and I skipped Grade Four.

Last best thing you ate:

Cabbage in a Dijon cream sauce. Part of the national dish of Ireland. I learned how to make it from a chef in a restaurant in Tipperary.

Last thing you regret eating:

Korean ramen noodles. Even though the package said “mild,” I spent a night devoted to belching and Tums

Favorite places you’ve been:

Wangerai, in the North Island of New Zealand. Beautiful setting, lovely people. Vieste in Italy. The food, the scenery, the sense of ancientness.

Places you never want to go to again:

Sequim, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Another beautiful setting, but too much culture-shock for a Canadian.

Best thing you’ve ever done:

My award-winning historical novel What the Wind Brings, that I waited forty years to write.

Biggest mistake: signing with a novice indie movie producer to handle a deal with a pay-tv network that had picked my story idea out of more than a hundred submissions. He couldn’t raise the budget in time, and the project died. It could have been my entry into the world of screenplay writing.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

An autistic person said that my description of the way the world looks to an autistic person was the first time he’d seen it accurately described.

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

“Too many big words.”

The most exciting thing about your writing life:

All the first times: first front-page headline, first short story sale, first novel advance, first award nomination, first award win, first recognition from authors I’d read and admired.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life:

The failed movie deal mentioned above. I would have liked a career, or at least a sideline, in screenwriting.

About Matthew:

Matthew Hughes writes fantasy, space opera, and crime fiction. He has sold 24 novels to publishers large and small in the UK, US, and Canada, as well as more than 100 works of short fiction to professional markets. His latest novels are:  Margolyam and A God in Hiding, both set in his ongoing extrapolation of Jack Vance's Dying Earth, and his 2023 Dying Earth novel, The Ghost-Wrangler, recently won the Global Book Award in the dark fantasy category.

He has also won the Endeavour and Arthur Ellis Awards, and has been shortlisted for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Endeavour (twice), A.E. Van Vogt, Neffy, Derringer, and High Plains Book Awards. In 2020 he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame. 

Let’s Be Social:

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

 Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Hughes_(writer)

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Paula Charles

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I’d like to welcome my friend, Paula Charles, back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Reading. I devour books like their sustenance!

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Dusting. When I was growing up, my sisters and I had to dust the house every weekend. Now I do it so rarely it’s embarrassing.

Things you will run to the store for at midnight: Coffee, cottage cheese, and ice cream!

Things you never put on your shopping list: Mangos! I know that’s strange, but I can’t stand the taste of them!

The coolest thing you’ve bought online: Probably my personal neck fan. It’s literally cooling and perfect for me since I don’t tolerate heat well.

The thing you wished you’d never bought: I once ordered a pair of shoes online that we’re supposed to be Earth brand shoes. They took MONTHS to come and when I finally got them, they were definitely not Earth brand, and smelled like chemicals so badly that I took them right out to the garbage.

Something you’re really good at: Really good might be a stretch, but I’m a decent baker. Being gluten-free with a ton of food allergies makes it a bit more challenging, but most people are shocked my stuff is gluten-free when they try it.

Something you’re really bad at: Singing. Believe me, you don’t want me joining your local choir.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: I loved books about horses when I was a kid—fiction, nonfiction. It didn’t matter. I always dreamed that I was going to have a ranch in Kentucky raising racehorses. All the fields would be surrounded in white fencing.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Write books! I’ve always been a voracious reader, but never thought I would actually be someone writing the books!

Last best thing you ate: Those yummy twice baked potatoes my husband made on New Year’s Eve.

Last thing you regret eating: That delicious prime rib he made, as well. It was really good but my stomach is still rebelling at the red meat!

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: We used to white water raft all the time. Had our own rafts and floated rivers in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Idaho. Super fun and what makes it daring for me is that I can’t swim!

Something you chickened out from doing: Jumping off the cliff into the river when everyone else was doing it.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: There’s a whole lot of exciting about this writing gig, but one of the best things is seeing and hearing readers talking and posting about how much they enjoyed my books. It just seems so crazy to me that people willing spend some of their precious time reading my books!

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Just get started sooner and not spend so many years thinking about it but not doing it.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I loved your book so much that I bought a copy for my sister for Christmas!”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “I really enjoyed your books, and I usually don’t like women writers.” (I think I said this the last time I visited, but it still remains the craziest thing a reader has said to me – and it was my father-in-law! LOL)

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Get up from your desk and go for a walk. Just get outside or go somewhere you can people watch and get a new perspective. Once I put the book out of my mind, the solution to whatever is blocking the flow of words usually presents itself.

Things you do to avoid writing: House chores – sweep, vacuum, laundry, dishes, etc. And of course, get distracted scrolling through social media!

About Paula:

When Paula Charles isn’t writing, you can find her reading and contemplating murder under the towering trees of the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of the Hometown Hardware Mysteries, as well as the Zen Goat Mysteries written as Janna Rollins. Paula is a member of Sisters in Crime, the national chapter, the Guppies, and the Columbia River chapter. Her debut novel, Hammers and Homicide, was featured in Woman’s World. She lives in Washington state with her extremely patient husband and a gaggle of furry and feathered creatures.

Let’s Be Social:

Website – www.paulacharles.com

Facebook - Facebook

Instagram - Instagram

BookBub - Paula Charles Books - BookBub



#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Diane Kelly

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I’d like to welcome the fabulous Diane Kelly to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Having to live a real life when all I want to do is disappear into my stories 24/7.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with story ideas. I have more than I’ll ever be able to write! I seem to find inspiration everywhere.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Cats to keep me company.

Things that hamper your writing: Cats keeping me company.

Words that describe you: Creative. Open-minded. Animal lover. Caring/compassionate. Organized (even if it doesn’t look like it). Hardworking.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Impatient. Overextended. Easily distracted.

Favorite music or song: My all-time favorite song is “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray. I love 70’s and 80’s music – the songs of my formative years.

Music that drives you crazy: Jazz. To me, it’s too random and nerve-wracking.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A stray animal that needs help.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: The sound of someone chewing, especially crunchy foods.

Things you always put in your books: Pets.

Things you never put in your books: Sexual violence.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: In a review for Death, Taxes, and Sweet Potato Fries, which involves human smuggling/illegal immigration and young women escaping a desperate and violent situation, a reader said I handled the sensitive subject well. I appreciated that a lot.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: When I still had a day job, a coworker read my first book and later came into my office, closed the door, and told me she didn’t like it. She didn’t have a sense of humor and was definitely not my target audience. I was surprised she was so blunt, especially since she knew I’d been working hard for years to get published, but I know no book will be everyone’s cup of tea and I appreciate her keeping me humble.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Being a mother. Parenthood puts a person in all kinds of situations where they have to think on their feet and come up with creative solutions to problems they never could have anticipated.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: My children. Ha-ha! They are definitely their own people which, truthfully, is exactly who I want them to be.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: When my son was a baby, I fed him too many orange baby foods and his skin turned orange. I used this in Death, Taxes, and Sweet Potato Fries, where I had my main character eat too many sweet potato fries and turn orange.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: The sex scenes in my Death and Taxes series. My sister told me she pictured me and my husband when she read the scenes. I was horrified! My main characters might share some of my traits or values (or not), but they are NOT me.

Your favorite movie as a child: Tie between Pippi Longstocking and Charlotte’s Web. The first because the thought of being independent and self-sufficient seemed fun, and the latter because it was about compassion for animals.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): “The Blair Witch Project.” That movie scared me to death! It felt so realistic.

About Diane:

Diane Kelly writes funny mysteries featuring feisty female lead characters and their furry, four-footed sidekicks. Diane is the author of over three dozen novels and novellas, including the Death and Taxes white-collar crime series, the Paw Enforcement K-9 series, the House Flipper mystery series, the Busted female motorcycle cop series, the Southern Homebrew moonshine series, and the Mountain Lodge Mysteries series. When not writing, Diane enjoys volunteering at her local animal shelter, playing with her cats, or hiking with her dog in the beautiful woods of her home state of North Carolina. Learn more about Diane and her books at DianeKelly.com.

Let’s Be Social:

website: https://www.dianekelly.com/

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

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

Twitter/X: https://x.com/DianeKellyBooks

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DianeKellyBooks

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dianekellybooks

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Sarah Ickes

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I’d like the welcome the multi-talented Sarah Ickes to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Getting people to take a chance on your books.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Finding enjoyment in writing the story. (Now editing is another matter)

Things you need for your writing sessions: A clear mind and a small snack certainly helps.

Things that hamper your writing: Too many to count I’m afraid.

Something you’re really good at: Memorizing movie lines/quotes from numerous films.

Something you’re really bad at: Remembering road names is not my forte.

Last best thing you ate: A classic that doesn’t go out of style; a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

Last thing you regret eating: That final pound of candy corn when I was much younger, which is still the reason why I haven’t touched another piece since.

Favorite music or song: Uplifting music is more my speed.

Music that drives you crazy: Songs that are solely rap are not in my playlist.

Things you’d walk a mile for: My dog, family and friends…and in that order

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: When someone touches my stuff!

Favorite books (or genre): Even though I write mysteries, I actually read more fantasy/adventure.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Romance isn’t my thing.

Favorite things to do: Draw, write, watch movies with my dog, explore the outdoors, and reading, of course!

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: The laundry…most definitely.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “Where’s the next one?”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: I haven’t had much experience with this side yet.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: In Angled for Revenge, I used my past experience from riding on a few steam engine trains to help bring more realism to the scene where they disembark in Nebraska. (This is just one example, as many of my books include a variety of researched materials and actual historical references.)

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Some think I’m Vectra Tillerman, the main character in my fantasy series, but the idea for her actually started from the concept of creating a character I would love to dress up as at a renaissance faire.

About Sarah:

Sarah Ickes has a devoted passion to art, a love for reading and writing, and has an old soul when it comes to television and films. Though she has a degree in Fine Arts, her life is not as simple as a piece of paper. She has worked in retail management, web designing, and marketing to name a few of the realms of her experiences. The pets in her life take precedence, as anyone with animals knows. Her interest in historical America comes vividly to life in her Murial Robertson mysteries, following the adventures of a woman in the 1880s. Currently, she has three books in the series, as well as one in her Vectra Tillerman Adventures (Action/Adventure/Greek Myth/Steampunk), and the first installment in her Cybil Lawson Mysteries (Cozy/Light-hearted Traditional Mystery).  

Let’s Be Social:

My Website

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Wendy Neugent

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I’d like to welcome the fabulous Wendy Neugent to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Tea and my cat, Apurrham Lincoln.

Things that hamper your writing: Arthritis in my hands.

Favorite music or song: “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” by Taylor Swift is my new favorite song to sing loudly in my car when I am alone.

Music that drives you crazy: Any songs that have police sirens.

The last thing you ordered online: The book, Buried in the Backwater by Drew Strickland

The last thing you regret buying: An inflatable hot tub.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Really good gluten free donuts. I’ve been gluten free for over a decade. Yeast raised donuts are the food that I miss the most.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: When someone has the TV and everyone talks loudly to be heard over it.

Things you always put in your books: Vacation destinations.

Things you never put in your books: Graphic violence.

Favorite places you’ve been: Tahiti. It was the most amazing place I have ever been. Everywhere you turn, it looks like something out of a travel magazine. I got to swim with sharks, pet a sting ray, and kayak surrounded by dolphins. I’d love to spend a year there.

Places you never want to go to again: Twice I ended up in cities, Key West and Milwaukee, where they were having a Harley Davidson conventions! The cities were awesome, but the noise was not!

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Working as a headliner entertainer on ships for a decade. I was a magician and got to build my own illusions, do my own choreography, design and sew my costumes, and train my parrots. I started out with just a 10 minute set in the middle of a the revue show and grew my show until I had enough material to perform 2 forty five minutes shows. It was a lot of fun.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Oh, so many! But sometimes the best things come from a plan that doesn’t go the way you expected.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: I worked on cruise ships for a decade so many things that happened to me during my years on ships are in my books, including a shipboard fire, a concussion, and the ship crashing into the dock. Thankfully, there weren’t any actual murders on any of the ships while I was there!

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Because I worked on ships as an entertainer like my character, readers think that everything that happens to Olivia is something that happened to me. A lot of Olivia’s adventures are pulled from my imagination or from things that happened to my co-workers.

The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: The soundtrack to Grease!

A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: Rap music isn’t my cup of tea.

My favorite book as a child: Anne of Green Gables. I was lucky enough to get to visit the real Green Gables on Prince Edward Island when I was working on a Canada/New England cruise.

A book I’ve read more than once: Many of The Cat Who books. They are such a comfort read for me. Fun to visit Moose county and hang out with Koko and Yum Yum.

Your favorite movie as a child: Grease. I wanted to be Olivia Newton John when I grew up.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): The Wizard of Oz. The flying monkeys were terrifying. Flying monkeys are still terrifying!

About Wendy:

Wendy Neugent spent a decade as part of an award-winning magic act performing on cruise ships all over the world.  She traveled from Alaska to Venezuela, Bermuda to Tahiti, and many exotic ports of call in between.

Now, Wendy uses her insider knowledge of cruise ship life to write fun and entertaining cozy mystery books set on cruise ships.

Wendy’s Cruise Ship Mysteries are the perfect books to read while taking a cruise or when you wish you were on a cruise.

Wendy Neugent’s debut mystery, Murder Takes a Bow was a Cozy Mystery Indie of the Year Finalist. All her books feature adorable pets, strong female protagonists, and riveting mysteries.


#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Bjorn Leesson

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I’d like to welcome Bjorn Leesson back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you never want to run out of: Wonder at everything in the world. I always find something about everything that is interesting to me, and I would hate to stop finding things of interest. I’m pretty sure it won’t happen. Ha.

Things you wish you’d never bought: I can’t think of a single thing. I learn from the mistakes I make, to include bad purchases, and those “learning through pain” moments are also what makes each of us – us.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Just a functioning brain and an idea. And the functioning brain is maybe a little less reliable than it once was.

Things that hamper your writing: The self-imposed idea that “this isn’t any good” before I have given the story or character a chance to develop. I am getting better about this, but every once in a while, I have to resist the urge to purge what I have written en masse. I walk away from it for a while, and nearly always discover the spark needed for me to be happy with it.

A few of your favorite things: The forest, open desolate country roads, and the babbling of water features (water fountains, rocky streams, etc).

Things you need to throw out: Eventually, I need to shed all the material things that aren’t necessary. But, that is hard for us humans to do. One day, though.

Favorite music or song: I like a little bit of everything, but my favorites are ragtime, big band, classical, historical themed songs (such as Johnny Horton), and comedic (such as Ray Stevens and Spike Jones.)

Music that drives you crazy: Most rap. Sorry, it just isn’t music to me. It is only loud, unimaginative storytelling that rarely seems to have a positive message. Just one guy’s opinion.

The last thing you ordered online: Author copies of Runes of Revenge, the next release of the Outside the Thalsparr series. February 25, 2025, and I am very excited about it.

The last thing you regret buying: A hamburger from a local fast food chain that I already know is not very good, but I did it anyway – and paid the digestive price for it later. Ha.

Things you’d walk a mile for: The perfect field or forest to sit in and just enjoy the serenity, wildlife, and natural noises to be heard. It’s my idea of heaven on earth.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: People who want to dominate a room, force their opinions on others, and can not just agree to disagree and let it go at that. I don’t want to think for others, and I surely don’t want them to think for me. I don’t speak of healthy debate – I love healthy debate – but there is a point where an impasse is encountered. Some people just won’t stop until they have tried to beat someone else into the dirt.

Things you always put in your books: A wide emotional range for each character. It is my goal to make the reader laugh, gasp, cry, and wonder. Essentially, I want it to feel like “life,” even if it is a fiction fantasy story.

Things you never put in your books: The “f” word. It is just a word, yes, and it is very popular these days. But just like pointless sex scenes, the “f” word is just gratuitous, overused, and unnecessary in my opinion. Its use would not stop me from reading a book, but I don’t put it into my own writing. (Having said that, the word is alluded to a few times in my books, but not used in its entirety.)

Favorite places you’ve been: I label my answer here as “best” in the sense that I have only been once, and it isn’t likely I will be able to go back anytime soon – Great Britain. I went on vacation there many years ago to visit friends with more friends, and I enjoyed pretty much every second. Fabulous place.

Places you never want to go to again: Anywhere that contains a large number of drunk people in a confined space. Some of them are entertaining, while others are more trouble than it’s worth. Ha.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Alive – Jeremy Clarkson, George RR Martin, and William Shatner. Dead – Einstein, J RR Tolkien, and my father.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Pretty much any of the internet, radio, or television rabble-rousers who just employ shock and awe for ratings with no regard to any ethical responsibility to society.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I drove a street stock car at the local race track for a season. It was very fun, but became a little too expensive for someone just out of high school.

Something you chickened out from doing: Not as much as chickening out as much as just refusing to do it outright. Ha. My friend (who got me into stock car racing to begin with) wanted me to go sky-diving with him. That was a hard “no.”

About Bjorn:

Bjorn was born in the Lowcountry of South Carolina a long, long time ago.  He has worked in manufacturing all his working life to feed himself but has nourished his mind with the study of many topics; history of all eras, the paranormal, astronomy, writing of different types, photography, archeology, genealogy, vexillology, some other -ologies, even stock car racing for a couple of years, and on and on.  Bjorn finds just about everything fascinating in some way and has been accused of being too easily entertained.  A blend of a few of his interests led to the creation of the Thalsparr Universe.  The first installment of the series will be “Runes of the Dokkrsdottir,” with a release date to be determined.  He currently lives in the Midlands of South Carolina with his wife of 25 years on their hobby farm.

Let’s Be Social:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPGJWXLY?binding=paperback&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1733701027&sr=8-1

Website: Thalsparr.com

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jennifer Anne Gordon

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I’d like to welcome Jennifer Anne Gordon back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: This may sound ridiculous, but I never want to run out of books…It’s not something I fear in day-to-day life, but it’s the reason I travel with a couple books and a Kindle loaded with books, and my phone loaded with audio books!

Things you wish you’d never bought: Years ago, I bought a couple retro style “rockabilly” and “wiggle” dresses…they looked good, so I bought more, and more…and let’s be honest, where am I wearing these dresses?? They take up over half my closet space now.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Crippling imposter syndrome.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Being able to write the things you are too afraid to say out loud.

Things you need for your writing sessions: I am a beverage goblin. I need to get that out of the way. So…depending on the time of the writing session I will need coffee, a bubble water, and a regular water. If I am writing late at night I will need a bubble water, a regular water, whiskey, and if there is a deadline I need to meet—also coffee. These all need to be in easy reach, but also not close enough for me to flail around and spill on my computer.

Things that hamper your writing: Being talked to, my dog being so cute that I need to stop what I am doing, and ADHD.

A few of your favorite things: Travel, knickknacks that people think are strange (bones, rocks, old rusty keys, very tiny mirrors.

Things you need to throw out: For years I was a professional performer and dancer…I have a ridiculous number of costumes, and wigs, and dance shoes that I can’t even walk in anymore. I hate to get rid of these things because it feels like a door closing completely on a time I will never get back.

Something you’re really good at: Worrying…also I am very good at the waltz.

Something you’re really bad at: Hiking or walking when there is a cliff on one side of me…also going down escalators. Terrible at both of those.

Favorite music or song: “If you Could Read My Mind,” either the original Gordon Lightfoot or the Johnny Cash version.

Music that drives you crazy: after teaching ballroom dance for the last 14 years…It kills me every time I hear “Kokomo” (The Beach Boys), and have to scream “It’s a rumba.”

Last best thing you ate: I was in Latvia this fall and while there I had the best Indian food I had had in my life! We had it almost every night we were there, as traditional Latvian food was…NOT good.

Last thing you regret eating: Um…Latvian Onion Soup. It was a big bowl of brown sadness.

The last thing you ordered online: a giant eyeshadow palette.

The last thing you regret buying: Day of the Dead “temporary” face tattoos.

Things you’d walk a mile for: If there was a sign with an arrow that said “Baby Foxes to pet”

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: If someone is touching their eyeball or even talking about touching their eyeball.

Things you always put in your books: Twins, reflections that are not quite right, grief, ghosts that might not be ghosts.

Things you never put in your books: I can only say never for now…but I have never put in a steamy sex scene.

Favorite places you’ve been: Venice, Prague, Porto, Montenegro, Detroit, New Orleans, Budapest.

Places you never want to go to again: Tampa, Atlantic City, Madrid, Las Vegas (still had a great time in all of those places but for me…the vibes were off).

Favorite books (or genre): horror is my genre of choice…that said my current fave books are- Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman, Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi, The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste, The All-Night Sun by Diane Zinna

Books you wouldn’t buy: Roman-tasy is NOT my thing.

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning author and podcast host. Her debut novel Beautiful, Frightening and Silent won the Kindle Book Award for Best Horror/Suspense for 2020, as well as the Best Horror Novel of the Year from Authors on The Air and was a finalist for American Book Fest’s Best Book Award- Horror, 2020, and a Finalist for the Shelley Award from Chanticleer International Book Awards for Best Supernatural Novel for 2023. Her novel Pretty/Ugly won the Helicon Award for Best Horror for 2022, and the Kindle Book Award for Best Novel of the Year (Reader’s Choice). Her collection The Japanese Box: And Other Stories was an instant Amazon Bestseller and her story The Japanese Box won the Lit Nastie Award for 2023 for Best Short Story.

Her personal essays have been featured on Horror Tree, Nerd Daily, Ladies of Horror Fiction, Miniskirt Magazine, Tangled Locks Journal, and Quail Bell Magazine, and are featured in the collections Such a Loss, Not Ghosts, But Spirits Vol V, and Letting Grief Speak: Writing Portals for Life After Loss.

Jennifer is the creator and co-host of the popular comedic literary podcast Vox Vomitus, as well as a co-host of House of Mystery on NBC Radio.

For benevolent stalking please visit www.JenniferAnneGordon.com

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Michael Hingson

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I’d like to welcome Michael Hingson to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Sometimes coming up with the words to express a thought. Coming up with appropriate ideas about concepts especially about blindness so that readers will really understand

Easiest thing about being a writer: telling personal stories. Once I have ideas fixed in my mind, putting them down. Making people laugh.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Quiet time. Help from others to make ideas real. Making myself smile.

Things that hamper your writing: Outside noises. Interruptions. Suggestions from others that simply don’t fit into the story.

A few of your favorite things: Garlic bread. Chocolate. Good clean comedy. Quiet time to ponder everything.

Things you need to throw out: Old papers. Old electronics that doesn’t work any more. Negative thoughts since they only hurt me and not others.

Favorite foods: Garlic bread. Rib eye steak. Chocolate chip cookies. PG Tips tea.

Things that make you want to gag: Tomatoes. Kiwi fruit.

Something you’re really good at: Laughing at myself. Public speaking. Working with dogs.

Something you’re really bad at: Creating visuals for videos. Quickly coming up with ideas to include in books I am writing, but I do get there.

Favorite music or song: Swing and big band music. Michael Buble. Classical pops music like from the Boston Pops.

Music that drives you crazy: Rap. Hip hop. Heavy metal.

The last thing you ordered online: USB cables. Pizza. Treats for my guide dog.

The last thing you regret buying: A ladder that didn’t meet my needs. USB cables that were wrong because the online description didn’t give me enough information to reject them. An audio book I didn’t like.

Things you always put in your books: True snippets about me. Some relevant bible verses to emphasize a point. Stories about my late wife.

Things you never put in your books: Swear words. Negative things about people, even terrorists.

Favorite places you’ve been: New Zealand. Hawaii. San Francisco. New York. Boston.

Places you never want to go to again: Any hotel that is inaccessible to blind persons. Any restaurant that serves only fried food, (too much isn’t that good).

Favorite things to do: Cruising. Talking with people. Traveling with others.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Cruising alone. Listening to any politician that isn’t interested in listening back. Not being able to have calm conversations with others because they won’t share respectfully. Sitting through a speech where the speaker spends most of their time simply pointing to items on a screen

Best thing you’ve ever done: Married my wife. Escaped from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Began my public speaking career and continuing it after the pandemic. Starting my podcast, “Unstoppable Mindset”.

Biggest mistake: Not starting an IRA earlier. Starting my speaking career later than I should have. Not learning to play Chess well.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Larry King. Peter Falk. My wife.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: I wouldn’t know about that, needless to say. However, Adam West, (TV’s Batman), who was quite unfriendly.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: Your book changed my life. I have a whole new perspective on blindness because of your books.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: At a book club meeting where everyone swore they had read Thunder Dog, “What were you doing in the World Trade Center anyway?”. “How do blind people have sex?”

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Helped perfect Ray Kurzweil’s Reading Machine. Helping to bring assistive technology products to the blindness market. Teach people about accessibility. Opened a New York office in the World Trade Center.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Constructing a Braille computer terminal. Running my own business from 1985-1988, we didn’t get the revenue we wanted.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: Escaping from the World Trade Center. Talking about public speaking. Lessons I learned from my eight guide dogs that are in “Live Like A Guide Dog”.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I personally lead 30 people out of the World Trade Center. I was lead out of the World Trade Center by my guide dog, (guide dogs don’t lead, they guide). Others wrote my books, not I.

About Michael:

Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is!

Michael’s family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine.

Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles.

Michael Hingson’s life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.

Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind.

Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. AccessiBe provides an artificial intelligence-based product that makes web sites accessible to many persons with disabilities.

He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2014 Mr. Hingson published his 2nd book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson’s third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”.

Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world’s most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today’s major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world.

In June, 2024 Mike was inducted as an alumni member into the honors Fraternity Phi Beta Kappa.