#WriterWednesday Interview with Mally Becker

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Mally Becker back to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: A laptop, coffee, scratch paper for notes, and fuzzy socks.

Things that distract you from writing: Good weather, good music, or an empty coffee cup.

The coolest thing you’ve bought online:

A rowboat-sized sailboat. It was delivered to our house in a box—unassembled.

The thing you wished you’d never bought:

After my husband finished building that small boat-in-a-box in the cellar, we discovered it was too wide too take outside through the basement door.

Favorite snacks: Anything chocolate.

Things that make you want to gag: Calamari.

Something you’re really good at: Baking.

Something you’re really bad at: Softball.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: A dancer with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Write mysteries! My Revolutionary War mysteries are available wherever books are sold, and I’m at work on a new story.

Last best thing you ate: Shrimp with green sauce and yellow rice from the Portuguese restaurant where my husband and I had our first date.

Last thing you regret eating: The (entire) giant chocolate cookie a friend brought me.

Things to say to an author: “I couldn’t go to sleep ‘til I finished your book.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I don’t read fiction. I don’t see the point. I mean, it’s not real, right?”

Favorite places you’ve been: Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mexico, Paris, Lake Placid, N.Y.

Places you never want to go to again: Middle school.

Favorite things to do: Kayak with my husband. Go to Mets games with the whole family. Visit wineries with friends.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: There are books in every room in our house, and I’ve promised to get rid of some. Well, a few. Maybe three. Just not today. Not tomorrow, either.

The funniest thing to happen to you: Being chased up the street by a wild turkey. (Don’t judge. They’re tall and mean!) It was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing as I sprinted away.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: Being chased by a wild turkey.

Best piece of advice you received from another writer: Most writers don’t make a ton of money. If you don’t find writing fun, don’t torture yourself. Find another line of work.

Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: Making up stories is even more fun than you imagine, and it’ll lead to some of the best adventures of your life. Enjoy the ride!

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Writer’s block is my subconscious sending up a warning flag, forcing me to stop when I’ve written myself into a corner but don’t yet realize it. I go for a walk or to a movie, then brainstorm alternatives to find an alternative approach to the scene that’s giving me trouble.

Things you do to avoid writing: I’ve gotten more disciplined with time, but housekeeping chores are a great way to avoid writing.

About Mally:

Mally Becker is a two-time Agatha Award-nominated author of the Revolutionary War Mysteries, which include The Turncoat's Widow, The Counterfeit Wife, and The Paris Mistress. My stories feature Becca Parcell and Daniel Alloway—George Washington's two least likely spies—as they search for traitors in revolutionary-era Morristown, New York City,  Philadelphia, and Paris. I've woven fictionalized versions of real events and people into each story. I hope you enjoy Becca's and Daniel's adventures as much as I liked writing them.

​I was an attorney and volunteer advocate for foster children before becoming a full-time writer. When I'm not writing, you can find me at The Writers Circle Workshops, where I teach mystery writing, on Guns, Knives & Lipstick, the crime fiction Podcast I co-host with three fabulous female mystery writers, or online at the Historical Novel Society, where I interview other authors. I live with my husband in Somerset County, New Jersey, not too far from Morristown, where my first book is set. 

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What's Your Author Brand?

What is your author brand?

Branding helps readers identify you as an author and sets expectations for your readers. It helps you create a visual identity. Your colors, fonts, photos, graphics, and logo need to match your writing style and your genre.

My first traditionally published piece was a short story in an anthology that had a red and black cover, so I matched my graphics to that color palette. I talked to a publicist years later, and she asked why my sites looked dark because my writing style is light and humorous. Now, I use pastels. If you need help, Google color wheel. There are tons of them out there. It helps you choose complimentary colors.

Things you need:

• Know who your audience is. It’s not everyone who reads. You need to figure out who reads what you write.

  • Look at authors who write you like you. Who follows them? Who reviews their books?

  • Look at your website and social media metrics. These can help you narrow down age groups, countries of origin, and genders of your followers and visitors.

• Know who else is writing in your genre. Check out their websites.

• A logo - This helps readers identify your social sites, newsletter, blog, and website. It needs to match your style of writing and your colors.

• A tagline - This is a short statement that describes your writing.

  • Mine is Mysteries with a Southern Accent.

• A professional photograph - You need a professional photo (no selfies). That was one of my first investments. Your readers need to be able to know that they’ve found the sites of an author.

What else would you add to my list?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Joanna Vander Vlugt

I’d like to welcome Joanna Vander Vlugt to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: I like to read fiction. I do so much reading when I’m writing, i.e., how to write a press release; my own stories when re-writing, but I like reading other people’s novels to escape from my own work. Also, I enjoy taking my two mini-schnauzers for walks.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: I hate cleaning windows. I’ll wash floors, bathrooms, dust, but getting outside and cleaning windows, groan. The other thing I hate is cleaning blinds.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: I need my mocha (I make my own), and my two mini-schnauzers. One schnauzer is considered a “senior” because he’s 12, and the other one will be turning 2 in April. They’re quite the duo.

Things that distract you from writing: If my husband is watching TV in the other room, I find that distracting. He likes watching political podcasts. That’s when I close the door to my writing room/office.

Hardest thing about being a writer: The hardest thing being a writer is the marketing. Finding the right company or business that will help promote you and not scam you.

Easiest thing about being a writer: The writing is the easiest part of being a writer. When you get in that zone, and it’s not even fishing for words, you’re like a conduit and the words flood out.

Favorite snacks: My favorite snacks are my own protein balls that I make with peanut butter. I’m so predictable. That’s my morning breakfast, a protein ball, orange and mocha, and I take that into the writing room and the dogs follow.

Things that make you want to gag: Snails and liver. I like seafood. I like mussels but I will not eat octopus, snails, and liver. My mother use to make us eat liver. It doesn’t matter how much you coat in breadcrumbs or soak in ketchup, liver is awful.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: I wanted to be involved in magazines and marketing.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: I never thought I’d have my own podcast. As a child I was a terrible reader. Thank goodness I found that one book that turned my world around. I started reading voraciously and then I became a writer. Now, I read short stories out loud on my podcast SAM Magazine.

Things to say to an author: Keep writing, even if it’s only fifteen or thirty minutes, because you never know when the magic might happen. You can’t predict anything when it comes to creativity.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: If I were fictionally killed off in another author’s book, I’d want to be in a fancy hotel in New York City, wearing great clothes, and not a hair out of place. Don’t put me in a dumpster because I’m scared of bugs and rats.

Favorite places you’ve been: Kihei, Maui because it reminds me of Canada but with heat. It’s so relaxing to stay in Kihei. That town has such a zen attitude.

Places you never want to go to again: Some of your readers may be shocked when they read this, but Las Vegas. I’m not a gambler. I’ve seen it once and that was good enough.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: I would say the most exciting thing is when after one or two years of working on a novel, actually physically holding that book in your hands. That’s pretty exciting.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: I wish I had never taken a 20 year break from writing. But given my life circumstances, the break was understandable. I had different goals.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: It was the greatest compliment from a reader. She messaged me on Facebook and said, “Joanna, I can’t put this damn book down.” I will always remember that.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: I thought it was another sweet compliment, but a reader had read The Unravelling, and she told me that in the next book, Jade needed to eat. She’s never eating, throw her a burger. So, in Dealer’s Child, I used the readers line about “throwing Jade a burger,” and it was a lot of fun to work that in.

Best piece of advice you received from another writer: Do not compare your success with another author’s success. Writing is such a volatile, twisting and turning career path with highs and low. Be true to yourself and always ask yourself, why do you write?

Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: Never say never. You’re going to go through some up and downs. You’re going to stop doing what you love, writing, and you’re even going to tell your friends, that you’re not writing anymore. But trust me, life throws curve ball, and you will get back to writing and when you do you, like Alicia Keys sings, “This Girl is On Fire.”

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Trust the process of writing and don’t beat yourself up. Maybe go for a walk, take a 3-day break, get away from the desk and get outside. The inspiration will come back.

Things you do to avoid writing: Honestly, I don’t have this problem. I really do love writing. If I don’t write for three days, then I get jittery.

About Joanna:

JOANNA VANDER VLUGT is an author and illustrator. As a teenager, she drew charcoal portraits and wrote mysteries. Now, she uses Copic markers to illustrate motorcycles and scooters. Under the pseudonym J.C. Szasz, Joanna’s short mysteries Egyptian Queen, and The Parrot and Wild Mushroom Stuffing were both published in Crime Writers of Canada mystery anthologies. Her essay, “No Beatles Reunion” was published in the Dropped Threads 3: Beyond the Small Circle anthology.

The Unravelling, her debut novel, and Dealer’s Child were Canadian Book Club Awards finalists. Joanna draws upon her 13 years’ experience working in the prosecutor’s office and 10 years working in the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner for inspiration for her novels. Joanna is proud of her podcast SAM Magazine and the many authors she has interviewed. Joanna’s novels, art and podcast can be found at joannavandervlugt.com. As well, her quarterly publication SAM Magazine, can be found at sam-magazine.com.

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#WriterWednesday Interview with Teresa Trent

I’d like to welcome Teresa Trent to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: I love to sew apparel. I have a list of YouTube ladies who sew and I get my inspiration from them. When people find out I sew they almost always say sewing is no longer a way to save money over buying garments in a store. That’s when I tell them that I don’t sew to save money. I sew because I’m a creative person and it’s fun!

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: It used to be going to the dentist, but now I would say tax-related paperwork.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Writing a book and self-publishing it.

Something you chickened out from doing: Seeing a scary movie in a theater. I hate “jump-scares.” When I went to see The Shining, years ago, someone in the seat in front of me asked me to quit screaming.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: There have been many wonderful things. I was over the moon when my late agent, Dawn Dowdle agreed to represent me. I had only self-published, so it felt like I was becoming one of the cool kids. Then getting the opportunity to work with traditional publishers, which was not always easy, but always rewarding. Then, getting the chance to share my writing and have people actually like it. I will always be Sally Fields at the Oscars. “You really like me? Really?”

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: I wish I would have waited to self-publish my first book, A Dash of Murder. It was full of grammatical errors and even though I had it professionally edited, the first reviews are still up on Amazon.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I had a reader tell me she wanted to live in the small towns I create in my books. I understood completely, because there are days I live there, too!

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Is that me in your book? Am I that character?

Best piece of advice you received from another writer: Your book is your product that you are trying to sell. Along with making it creative, make it buyable. That means no buggy books. The story should flow, the grammar is correct, and it should have a clear-cut resolution in the end.

Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: Have confidence in your abilities and do not compare yourself to anyone else. No one has the life-experiences you have, and you do not have theirs. Your story is worth telling.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: I wanted to be an actress. I went to New York City to visit a friend when I was 19. She was trying to get hired on Broadway. The minute I saw all the sacrifices she was making, I changed my mind. I went into teaching.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Write a book! I wanted to write when I was younger but got busy with teaching school and raising children. When I decided to make time in my life for writing, I never dreamed I’d still be at it over a decade later. It’s been a wonderful journey so far!

About Teresa:

Teresa Trent is the author of the Swinging Sixties Mystery Series published by Level Best Books featuring The Twist and Shout Murder (2022), If I Had a Hammer (2023), and Listen, Do You Want to Know a Secret (2024). She has been writing and publishing mysteries since 2011 starting with the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series and followed by the Piney Woods Mystery Series. When Teresa isn't writing novels and short stories, she spends her time creating narrated excerpts on her podcast, Books to the Ceiling, where she gets to use all that community theater experience from her teens and twenties along with a little audio editing she learned from her daughter. Teresa is a former English teacher, but also spent many years teaching music to preschoolers working with children of all abilities. Teresa makes her home in Texas with her husband and son.

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Everyone has a secret, and in 1964, Dot Morgan's new job at KDUD Radio is filled with them. Her boss, Holden Ramsey, is a terrible flirt, but he's also engaged to a beautiful socialite. When Dot finds out he's hiding involvements with other women, the hidden facts lead to a grisly murder. Can Dot figure out who is murdering the women in Holden's life before she finds herself next on the hit parade?   

Amazon Link    https://www.amazon.com/Listen-You-Want-Know-Secret-ebook/dp/B0CQ192VZ1/

Happy National Proofreading Day!

Happy National Proofreading Day! I believe that the editing/revising stage of your writing is the most important part of your writing process. You often have one chance when you’re querying, and you need your manuscript to be the best it can be.

Here are some proofreading tips that can help.

• Print out your document and proofread it on paper.

• Use your word processor’s read-aloud functionality to listen to your manuscript. You will often hear misused words (e.g. then for than) that you may miss reading.

• Make sure you spellcheck your document after ever editing session to catch any gremlins that slipped in.

• Check for missing punctuation, especially quotation marks.

• Make a list of your overused words. We all have them. Then use the search feature to find them. You will be shocked at how many times you used some words/expressions.

• Find a writing partner who will swap manuscripts with you for proofreading. It helps to have another set of eyes on it.

What would you add to my list?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Elizabeth Crowens

I’d like to welcome Elizabeth Crowens to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: Money, milk, and coffee. I can live without sugar or honey in my coffee but not my whole milk, and I hate powdery coffee creamer—the fake stuff.

Things you wish you’d never bought: A bed-in-a-box that gets shipped to your house. They give you a 90-day free trial. The mattress felt fine for 90 days. Then it hurt my back. Also, they are too unwieldy to repack in the box they came in to return. Wasted close to $450 on a piece of crap.

Words that describe you: A progressive, “big city” liberal, Type-A, New Yorker personality (but without the accent), often a fish-out-of-water, especially in small, Southern towns.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Pushy and aggressive to the point of being annoying, especially when I refuse to take “no” for an answer. Willing to still beat that dead horse. Extremely impatient.

Favorite foods: Katz’s Deli (Where Harry Met Sally) Kosher corned beef or pastrami sandwich with creamy coleslaw and homemade dill pickles, and steak fries. Junior’s cheesecake. Top-notch New York Pizza. Red bean sesame balls from Chinatown bakeries.

Things that make you want to gag: Natto, a Japanese fermented soybean that tastes like rotten beans swimming in spit. You’d never convince me to drink Mezcal and swallow the worm afterwards.

Favorite music or song: 30’s and 40’s jazz and blues, Swing music and big band. Rock and Roll – Fifties through select eighties (Queen, Punk, New Wave, Van Halen), and select Nineties (Green Day, Weezer, Foo Fighters), Classical music, Motown, Funkadelic, Soul.

Music that drives you crazy: Heavy Metal and Rap gives me a headache.

Favorite beverage: Coffee

Something that gives you a sour face: Lemon-flavored Magnesium Citrate (colonoscopy prep solution!)

Favorite smell: Pungent roses. These tend to be garden grown. So many flower sellers have roses with no smell.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Cigar smoke!

Something you’re really good at: photography and graphic design

Something you’re really bad at: putting together Ikea furniture.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A Haagen Daz or Van Leeuwen ice cream parlor.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Listening to a recording of Yoko Ono.

Things you always put in your books: Humor and/or history

Things you never put in your books: I’m a big fan of Victorian paranormal and ghost stories and Gothic horror like Poe, Shelley, and the Hammer Horror films, but am turned off by spatter punk, body horror, and zombies just don’t do it for me.

Things to say to an author: I just read your latest book and gave you a five-star review on Amazon, Goodreads, on social media, my blog, and everywhere else I could post it.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I just read your book and gave you a one-star review, because Golden Age of Hollywood-style mysteries with celebrities aren’t my thing. I posted my opinion on NetGalley and Goodreads and told my book club that I would never recommend it.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: When I was in college, one of my best friends and I hit a few bars on Ft. Lauderdale beach looking for cute guys and a party, but we kept striking out with dull crowds and nothing going on. Then my friend came up with a crazy idea.

She said, “Why don’t we hop in your car and hang out in Marco Island?”

My response: “Where is Marco Island?”

Her response: “Through the Everglades across Alligator Alley.”

It was already 11 pm. Without thinking and with seven dollars cash in my pocket with no credit card, we went for it, managed to find cute guys to buy us drinks, and realized it was 2:00 am and we couldn’t afford a hotel. She wanted to sleep on the beach. The bartender found us a friend’s vacant apartment where the furniture had been left behind. We crashed there, gave phony room numbers, and got free mimosas on the beach at a local hotel the next morning before driving home. I can’t believe we did it and got away from it but would never do that again. Ah, youthful folly!

Something you chickened out from doing: Diving off a high diving board. Always pissed off the lifeguards.

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth Crowens has worn many hats in the entertainment industry in NY and LA for over 25 years. Writing credits include short stories and articles in  Black Belt, Black Gate, and Sherlock Holmes Mystery magazines, stories in Hell’s Heart and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated A New York State of Fright, and three alternate history/SFF novels, which she self-publishes under the name of Atomic Alchemist Productions.

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Happy National Unplug Day!

Happy National Unplug Day! I hope you can take a few moments to get away from the craziness of a normal day. Here are some ideas…

• Turn off the phone. If you can’t do that, then silence it and ignore the alerts and updates for a little while.

• Start a new, fun project. Try something you’ve always wanted to do.

• Work on something that’s been on your list for a while that you never get around to doing.

• Go for a walk or take your dog for a walk.

• Play tourist in your own town. Check out some sites that you’ve haven’t been to. (And take pictures for your social media posts later.)

• Reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while. It’s too easy to lose touch because of hectic schedules.

• Take a nap.

• Volunteer. There are so many worthy organizations out there in need of helpers.

What do you plan to do to unplug today?

#ThisorThatThusday Author Interview with Margaret Montet

I’d like to welcome Margaret Montet to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: I need Sharpie pens in many colors and a notebook. All of my first drafts are written in longhand. My first revision happens when I type up my sloppy, colorful mess of a first draft.

Things that hamper your writing: Noise and hunger.

Things you love about writing: I love the act of putting my ideas onto paper in order to tell a story in a unique but logical way. I love talking about my writing, answering questions about my writing, researching ideas, and meeting other authors and finding out their processes and ideas. I love reading books about writing.

Things you hate about writing: I hate when I don’t have time to write when a clever idea occurs to me, and I have to wait until I have a way to put this all down in detail. By then there are probably fewer details.

Favorite foods: I like pizza, burritos, Boston Cream donuts, blackberries, and lately, chicken & waffles.

Things that make you want to gag: Coffee, Brussels sprouts, fish

Favorite music or song: I love classical music (including opera), Bruce Springsteen, Prince, the Glenn Miller Band and swing, Dexter Gordon and saxophone jazz.

Music that drives you crazy: Country (except Johnny Cash)

Favorite beverage: Diet Coke, Chocolate Egg Cream, Shirley Temple, spring water

Something that gives you a sour face: anything with coffee mixed in: mocha is not an approved flavor.

The last thing you ordered online: Drawer dividers for the kitchen in the beach house.

The last thing you regret buying: That black winter coat with the soft fake fur around the neck which is plenty warm, but the zipper that worked in the store refuses to work in real life. It has snaps, too, but the zipper would be better.

Things to say to an author: I’ve read your book many times, and it becomes more meaningful with every reading.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: How long did it take you to write this?

Favorite places you’ve been: Cape May, NJ; Philadelphia, Manhattan, Colorado, Brooklyn, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona

Places you never want to go to again: I can’t think of any. I’d go anywhere again just to see if it changed, or I noticed something new!

Favorite books (or genre): Nonfiction, memoir, literary fiction (I read pretty broadly)

Books you wouldn’t buy: horror, fantasy, romance

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Bruce Springsteen, John McPhee, Colin Firth, Elizabeth Gilbert, James McBride

People you’d cancel dinner on: Miley Cyrus

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I read a lot of your book on the beach, and it made me LAUGH!”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Margaret probably has a lot of money because she writes commercially.” Actually this probably wasn’t a reader, just another writer in my circle. It has been a couple of years, and I am still trying to figure out what she really meant.

About Margaret:

Margaret Montet's narratives of place feature music, memoir, culture and occasionally genealogy. Also a college librarian, Margaret holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, teaches public speaking, and presents multimedia music-centered lectures at lifelong learning venues. Her creative nonfiction has been published in many journals and anthologies. Margaret’s first collection of travel essays is Nerd Traveler (2021). Brooklyn Family Album will be published in September 2024.

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