Ah, therein lies a story.

I was between jobs when I went on an archaeological excavation in Belmont, New Hampshire. I’ve always liked mythology and folklore and had gravitated to Irish mythology. I decided to go to the Harvard Extension School and get a Master of Liberal Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology. While there I took a course in Old Irish, which was spoken in Ireland between A. D. 700 and 900. I got a chance to go on a dig in Ireland and was hooked.

​I decided to go to National University of Ireland in Galway. I earned a Master of Literature in Archaeology. Fun fact: I thought of the initial idea for Price of Vengeance walking back to my apartment toward the end of my stay. I didn’t know whether it should be science fiction or fantasy at the time.

I decided to get my PhD. at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The summer before I started, I began the process of outlining Price of Vengeance. Once I started, I had little time for fiction writing. After I graduated in 2010, I found few opportunities for work. I picked up the outline and started to flesh it out. Over time, I slowly built up a career as an adjunct.

My archaeology is just under the surface of my writing. Underlying my world building are ancient civilizations that disappeared before the current spacefaring species arose, including humanity.

My two major inspirations were the late Andre Norton’s Forerunner series and the Halo video games.

Andre Norton’s science fiction often featured ESP powers.

​Halo inspired the military end of things. I also took inspiration from the first F.E.A.R. video game. The protagonist had an ability similar to stepping out of time. People have compared the Dreamscape Warriors series to Star Wars. If it did provide inspiration, then it was subconscious.

Family is important to me. My parents have always supported me. Mom helped with a great deal of editing. My brother and sister-in-law did some beta reading. Even my younger niece caught a mistake or two. In one book, my father, a military historian, also provided some advice.

​My father died August 17, 2021, after battling age related illnesses. Mother and I had to take care of him for nine months as his mobility deteriorated. Age has caught up to Mother as well. I live at home so I can take care of her. My brother spots me if I have to teach on a really bad day.

That’s a hard one. There is a bit of myself in each character, which is true for any author.

If I may be indulged in being allowed two, it would be Liam and Kergan. This protagonist/antagonist pairing is interesting because they’ve both been shaped by similar events. Liam lost his birth parents and foster parents, ultimately on a traitor’s orders. Kergan lost his parents, siblings, and friends when alliance warships launched an incendiary bombardment on his home planet. He watched friends and family burn to death. They are both men with wounded souls. Liam quickly turned from the path of vengeance. For Kergan, the pain of loss inspires him to allow vengeance to drive him.

I’m also releasing Legacy of Valor this year as well. After reading Price of Vengeance and Promise of Mercy. Mom said, “Kurt, there is a story in between these two.” Legacy of Valor has become the second book in the series. Liam is forced into the role of division commander when the higher ranks are taken out be a hidden explosive. He’s lost his orbital support, and Kergan’s forces out number his six-to-one.

The next two books are Gift of Peace (that title may change) and Mark of Integrity. The first has Liam’s son Aidan trying to get information Kergan’s after to Finnian Military Intelligence. The second is a prequel, taking place 600 years before the events of Price of Vengeance.

Another complicated one. If you are talking about Star Trek before the J. J. Abrams film and Star Wars before Disney, it’s a hard choice. I liked both equally. I grew up on the Original Series. The Next Generation and DS 9 were intriguing. I never really got invested in Voyager and Enterprise.

Star Wars Legends continuity, as it is now called, was always intriguing, especially the expanded universe. I used to play Jedi Academy all the time. When both “updated” they lost the magic of both.

I did draw technical inspiration from Star Trek. Star Wars lightsaber combat inspired me to research actually fencing moves for plasma blade combat.

If you're anything like me, you're starting 2024 with some pretty big writing goals in mind. You're ready and eager to get started and I applaud you! To get you started (and to keep you going!) below are three of my favorite books on the art and business of writing. And as always, comment below with recommendations of your own!

Okay, so full disclosure: I haven't actually read many of King's novels. But this book is one of the best books I've ever read on the art and practicality of writing.  

King starts with his personal success/failure/success story in the first section, giving you a really good idea of how unglamorous the life of one of the world's most successful novelists can be.  It's absolutely fascinating and gives you a real sense of where his much-acclaimed realism comes from. 

For me, though, the real gems are in the second section, where King outlines his best tips and tricks to starting, surviving, and thriving as a writer. It's helpful, frank, and surprisingly uplifting. If you don't have this book, seriously, you need it!

Susan Shapiro is a novelist, writer, and professor whose highly success writing classes spawned two books, The Byline Bible and The Book Bible. In these two books, she distills her years of experience as a magazine contributor and an author and offers practical and oft-times hilarious insights into the industries.

I picked The Byline Bible over The Book Bible for this review only because this book stunned me: not only does she offer clear, easy to follow advice on how to compose, package, and sell your magazine piece, she's had astonishing success with her method. The book is packed with examples of published pieces from her students, who, by now, number in the thousands. (She offers classes on Zoom now - I highly recommend!) If you're looking for some hands-on advice on what to do to get your words out there, look no further: The Byline Bible is your best bet.

This book is not a "how-to" book. It's a "how-to-be" book. Look, writing is awesome, the best thing ever, but living in your own head is fraught with peril as everyone knows. It's easy enough to discourage yourself, let alone hearing "helpful" advice from people who love to tell you how impossible this field is.

Kenower's book walks through each of your fears and doubts about your ability as a writer and explains how to manage and thrive despite them - sometimes, even using them as fuel for your art. From finding time to write to learning how and when to take critiques, Kenower is knowing, kind, and encouraging. My advice? Don't read this book all in one setting. Take it a chapter at a time on your worst days and let Kenower encourage you to reach for the stars.

LogoSophia Magazine is an ecumenical musing on the religion, life, and culture. It's a quarterly magazine (with a weekly blog online) that delves into every aspect of life, from Sunday morning worship traditions to musings on the virtues featured in Sailor Moon. Each print magazine is centered around a theme (this summer, it was "God & Country - an Issue of Patriotism") and attempts to view any given subject from multiple viewpoints. It is heartfelt, respectful, and thought-provoking. 

Helmed by the redoubtable Sarah Levesque and featuring contributors from all over and from every walk of Christian life, LogoSophia is one to watch. Submissions are welcome and, in a feature I particularly like, you can listen to the magazine, often read by the writers themselves. 

I've contributed a few pieces in the past and have been interviewed with my sister on The Encounter Series. But beyond my affectionate regard for a publication that has published me, LogoSophia is well worth looking into, both as an example of ecumenism, but also as an example of strength, courage, and determination. Publishing a magazine is no easy feat - but these folks make it look easy!

Today, I am interviewing friend and fellow author, Steve Van Samson. Steve is, among many other things, a podcaster who combines horror and nostalgia to great effect in his fun and funny show, Retro Ridoctopus. He writes gritty and memorable horror and his latest book, published through Weird House Press, is the horror western Year of the Rattlesnake. As anyone who knows me for longer than three minutes will tell you, I heart westerns muchly and, having read Steve’s Predator World vampire series (highly recommended, but do not read while you’re eating!), I can not WAIT for this one to hit the shelves!

    Most of my book ideas are born of me trying to figure out a new angle to something. In the case of the first Predator World book “The Bone Eater King”, my initial thought was there was nothing more to say about vampires. But, I started thinking about it. Was there really no way to make this tired monster feel fresh or, more importantly, memorable? 

   I reasoned that the first thing to go was the typical settings and character tropes. No castles or cities. No sex-starved alabaster-skinned goth models. I wanted monsters, and I wanted them to face off against characters that were very different from the sort we usually get in these kinds of stories. 

   The darkened plains of Africa quickly emerged in my mind as the natural choice. One that accommodated everything I was looking for, but also came equipped with a wealth of dangerous natural predators (like lions, leopards and hyenas) that could add to the menace our characters were going to face. 

    Sure! The idea was initially born from reading “The Dying Earth” by Jack Vance. For those who don’t know, that book is a collection of short stories that all occur in the same general area, around the same general time. What makes the book so special to me is the way that characters will appear in more than one story. Sometimes what feels like a small chance encounter with someone on the road, will actually serve as an introduction to the protagonist of a different story. You just never know who’s going to show up where. 

   At some point, it occurred that a western full of notorious wanted men, might be the perfect vehicle for trying out that linked-short story format I loved in “The Dying Earth”. I needed stories that would really stand out on their own, but with the knowledge that certain characters were going to show up again. I don’t expect every reader to catch all of the connections on their first read, but my sincere hope is that the stories are good enough to keep them coming back. Maybe discovering new things every time.

   ​I was drawn to horror because it’s been in my blood since before I was allowed to consume it. I was that kid who was always always sneaking off to the horror section of the video store, ogling all the tapes I knew my parents would never rent in a million years.

    For me, I have to have silence to write. My best writing rhythm is when I start first thing in the morning. I’ll get up an hour early and go make a cup of tea. Then I’ll sit down and force myself (whether I want to or not) to start typing. Even if I only type 100 words, this AM session forces my brain to start thinking about the story. Then it’s with me on my morning commute and by lunch, I’m ready to get back in and get back to the story. If possible, I’ll finish up with another two or so hours before bed to finish the day out. My daily word counts are never much compared to most professional writers, but on a day like that I can never feel like I didn’t give it my all.

   ​I’m currently working on a novella for Weird House Press. After that, my plan is to get back into my original series and write the third Predator World book.

    I honestly am a fan of both Trek and Wars, but Star Wars will always be my favorite. Favorite modern writers are Joe R. Lansdale, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, and of course, Stephen King. For classics, I love me some Robert E. Howard and Phillip K. Dick. And for authors you may not have heard of, Jonathan Janz, Ed Kurtz and Rob Smales are all incredible and should be household names. Currently I’m reading “Fright Night Origins'' written by the writer/director of the movie, Tom Holland. It’s like a director’s Cut of Fright Night and I’m loving every apple-chomping second of it.

By Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better. Shay would die for them to like her. She may have to.

REVIEW:
Hendricks and Pekkanen deliver another nail-biting, twisty mystery with a heavy dose of upper-class New York style for good measure. This thriller is fun, fast-paced, and absolutely riveting, but the back cover copy does the story little justice. 

Shay is a data-minded loner who, while on her way to an job interview, witnesses a young woman's suicide. That's enough to ruin anyone's week, but Shay has also just lost her job, her crush, and her apartment. Desperate to find out more about the mysterious woman, she goes to her wake and discovers the Moore sisters and their tight group of friends. The Moores welcome the achingly lonely Shay into their circle... but not without an agenda. Soon, Shay finds herself caught in a web of intrigue, one that may cost her life - or more.

As I said, this is a fun thriller that's a lot lighter than these authors' previous outings (domestic violence is difficult to stomach and this book has none of that). The main character is a sympathetic mess, the main villains pleasingly calculating and clever, and the pacing is quick enough that you can read this in an afternoon or two. Will it rock your world? Probably not. Is it fun escapism? Absolutely. As such, its highly recommended.

So, one of my many New Year's Resolutions (I'm sort of a masochist, I guess!) was to refresh and revitalize my look and website. And lo and behold, I actually did it! Along with the new look, I'm hoping to post more book reviews and the occasional article and clips from The Early Late Night Live Show, as well as news about our film, The Dinner Party, and the new episode of Felson and Company. Also new is the fact that I'm writing now for a new publication called LogoSophia Magazine, so be sure to check out their website here: logosophiamag.com. 

rom the book jacket:

The quest to find Anton Nym and his errorist army are put on hold as Typo Squad is called away to London to help one of their own confront a villain from his past — a mysterious foe known only as the Wordmonger. 

Joining forces with Her Majesty’s Royal Typo Brigade, Typo Squad takes up residence in Buckingham Palace to try and draw out this dangerous madman. 

With the lives of the royal family in their hands, will Typo Squad be up to the challenge of finding and capturing the Wordmonger? Or will history repeat itself?

Book Review:
In a world where typos kill, the one thing standing between civilization and chaos is Typo Squad, a crack team of specialists whose immunity to typos render them the only people able to battle Errorists.

A worthy follow-up to Lomer's first novel, Return of the Wordmonger takes the wise-cracking team of American misfits and drops them in the posh world of British etiquette. The Wordmonger, an old foe of Ewan Hoozami, has returned to threaten Princess Anne and the entire royal family. Invited to work with the Royal Typo Brigade, Typo Squad, led by the now-legendary Dick Shonnary, find themselves fishes out of water in a world run by rules of decorum. Shenanigans, faux pas, and puns abound as they hilariously try to bring the Wordmonger to justice while not jeopardizing Anglo-American relations. Too bad they had to bring Chris "Big" Whig along.

Fans of Mel Brooks and Monty Python will especially enjoy this outing. Hilarious, irreverent, and highly recommended.

A Book of the Month Club Selection
By Riley Sager

Review:
Lock Every Door is a carefully plotted, slow-burn thriller featuring little-lost-girl Jules, a young woman whose past is marred by tragedy. Lured by both the Bartholomew's mystique and her own financial hardship, she quickly becomes mired in a labyrinth of mystery and suspense, searching for a missing girl even while trying to keep her own sanity. Despite some well-placed flash-forwards, the first half of the novel can feel slow - I put the book down a few times before committing to finishing. I'm glad I did, because the last third of the book introduces a few truly surprising twists and one heck of a grand finale. In an era where the third act final twist is fairly dependable, this book is a stand-out. Highly recommended (though those with weak stomachs might wish to look else-where).

From the Book Jacket:
Not all secrets are meant to be found.
Nolan Moore is a rogue archaeologist hosting a documentary series derisively dismissed by the "real" experts, but beloved of conspiracy theorists. Nolan sets out to retrace the steps of an explorer from 1909 who claimed to have discovered a mysterious cavern high up in the ancient rock of the Grand Canyon. And, for once, he may have actually found what he seeks. Then the trip takes a nasty turn, and the cave begins turning against them in mysterious ways.
Nolan's story becomes one of survival against seemingly impossible odds. The only way out is to answer a series of intriguing questions: What is this strange cave? How has it remained hidden for so long? And what secret does it conceal that made its last visitors attempt to seal it forever?

Book Review:
Rutger's novel is fast-paced, hilarious, and a nail-biting story of survival. His sharp-witted main character and narrator, Nolan Moore, is a delightfully sarcastic story teller, and the supporting cast is strong as well. The first half of the book is a strong adventure story with a touch of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's awe and wonder. The second half is still strong, but the plot twists and ultimate conclusion might be a little too far out there for some readers. But it's one heck of a fun ride and this reader is delighted to know that this is the first in a serious. Recommended.

From the Book Jacket (edited for brevity):
The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives and A Certain Age creates a dazzling epic of World War II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
​
The stories of two unforgettable women thread together in this extraordinary epic of espionage, sacrifice, human love, and human courage, set against a shocking true crime . . . and the rise and fall of a legendary royal couple

Book Review:
Ms. Williams weaves together two stories about two women who, on the surface, appear very different. Newly-widowed Lulu  is a smart, sophisticated reporter during World War Two who finds herself caught up in international intrigue. Elfriede is the delicate, unhappy wife of a German aristocrat who finds herself falling in love with an irrepressible Englishman in the early 1900s. As politics, personal tragedy, and war swirl about them, the two women find themselves challenged both by love and circumstances - and grow to become women of strength and conviction. It's a fascinating, immersive read with lots of delicious detail and a heart-felt ending that feels as real as it is uplifting. Highly recommended.

Book Review:
Fishing is a riveting read - icy cold horror mixed with psychological realism, all wrapped up with a demented twist worthy of Richard Matheson. This is not for the faint of heart - those easily triggered by blood, violence, and assault should look elsewhere. But for readers looking for a fast-paced, chilling look into the heart of evil, this story is made to order!

Book Review:
Amber Oak's story gets even more detailed in this imaginative prequel from author Ceara Comeau. Years before the events of Memories of Chronosalis, Kyhra Crawford rebels against her industrialist father's demanding ways and slip-shop production practices. Determined to stop the pollution that her father is producing, Khyra joins an underground research team, dedicated to saving the planet. When a deadly virus wipes out most of earth's population, it seems the human race is doomed - until Kyhra's old friend reappears with a bold - and risky - plan. But even if they save the human race, can Krhra and her rag-tag team of unlikely allies save humanity from an even more insidious evil? Remorse is a galaxy spanning adventure with a spunky lead - though listed as  prequel, it is definitely best read after Memories of Chronosalis.

1. What are your books about?
     I tend to write a little of a genre mashup. My current Sunset Lands Beyond trilogy are portal fantasies, centering around a parallel world, Aerisia. They could be considered portal fantasy and epic fantasy, with a side dash of romance.
      Coming in December is an entirely different work, Knight’s Rebirth, that’s a fairytale fantasy. That’s the best way I can think of to describe it, anyway. Knight’s Rebirth is sort of a humorous take on the larger than life aspects of common fairytale themes. 
    Currently, I’m working on an urban fantasy project for Nanowrimo called Ashes on the Earth that concerns a naive, human girl getting thrust into a world of warring shifters. However, when I started this project, I knew I didn’t want “standard” shifters, such as werewolves, wolves, panthers, bears, etc. My shifters change into creatures from legend, mythology, and folklore all over the world. It’s a blast finding new creatures for my shifters’ doubles, and the supply is endless! 

2. Who or what inspires your writing? How do you hope your work inspires your reader?
     I’m inspired by nature, by music, by movies, by books, and by the world and people around me. I have found inspiration everywhere from a dirt road to a sunset to a forest to the 1980’s gangster movie, The Untouchables.
      I hope my work inspires readers, ultimately, with a sense of hope. I tackle difficult topics in my books, but I always want to write an ending that leaves readers with a sense of hope and of good triumphing over evil. I feel like there’s so much negativity in the world. Fiction should offer some escape.
 
3. I use soundtracks to help me focus when I write. Do you have any writing rituals or tricks to help you keep in the mood to create?
      Soundtracks for me, as well! Last of the Mohicans is my all-time favorite, but Pirates of the Caribbean, Gettysburg, Anna and the King, Lord of the Rings, and many others also provide fantastic inspiration.
 
4. I love fantasy and so I have to ask: Who is better, JRR Tolkien or CS Lewis? Or, if not these, who is the King of Queen of Fantasy?
      Ah, I definitely enjoy Narnia and its world, but, to me, Lord of the Rings is the ultimate in epic fantasy.
  
5. What's next for you?
     As I mentioned, Knight’s Rebirth is set to debut in December. After that, I plan to write and rapid release Ashes on the Earth and its sequels. Ashes on the Earth is the first book of the Stones of Fire series, and it’s plotted to be a four, possibly five, book series. Following the release of Stones of Fire, I will go back and finish up my second Aerisia series, Beyond the Sunset Lands. (Book 1 is available now.)

Find Sarah on Amazon.com!

1. Hi and welcome to Wanderings! Our audience is dying to get to know you, so tell us a little bit about yourself!
 
Thank you for having me. It’s nice to be here.
I’m what would qualify as a ‘lady of mature years’, having raised five children, unofficially adopted another, who between them have brought twelve gorgeous grandchildren into my life, two of whom are now married. It’s rather disconcerting to also be mother to a grandfather, since we now have a great-grandchild. Yikes! Where did the time go? And here I am, only 26 years old! The upshot of all that is that I have loads of life experience to bring to my writing, as you can perhaps imagine.
I’ve always been a writer. It captured my heart as soon as I realised I could express myself that way, and I used to love essay writing at school. I wrote articles for the Women’s Page in a local newspaper when my children were young. Then progressed to short stories for magazines. And now, I write Contemporary Women’s Fiction, and have 9 published novels sitting on my bookshelves.
I’m currently enjoying a bit of a departure out of my comfort zone and have a historical romantic strand in my contemporary work in progress. It’s still in the early stages, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the research I’m having to do and the adjustments I have to make to my writing style to invoke a different era.

Although I was born in London, England, I have lived most of my life in Scotland - ten miles outside Edinburgh for the past forty or so years and my novels are all set in and around Edinburgh, though some of them wander elsewhere in Scotland in the unfolding. I love going ‘on location’, checking out the settings and making sure of my facts.

​2. What inspires your writing? 
            Stories! I have so many stories buzzing around in my head all the time. It’s great to have a way to record them. I’m a ‘people person’, sociable and interested in people of all sorts. A ‘people watcher’ too, making up stories about the man running for the bus, the woman in the checkout queue ahead of me who has rather a lot of wine in her basket, or the teenager looking round furtively as she walks along the street. My novels are very much character-based as a result. There’s always a story, but it’s people who inspire me.

3. What inspired you to write Gold Plated?           
My latest release, Gold Plated, was inspired while I was on holiday in 2016.
My husband and I were walking on a beach in the North of Scotland. Often, walking is a great time to chat, sharing thoughts and dreams, decisions and schemes, but today we were silent. There was a heavy mist on the North Sea and the horizon was hiding, taking our words with it. There was something about the haar: it silenced birds, the wind, the whisper of long grass as well as our words - but it couldn’t silence the continuous rolling waves as they broke onto the beach - and it couldn’t silence our thoughts.
Often, thoughts would tumble out of our silence and we would share them. There was no reason not to today - yet we didn’t. We were enjoying a world shrouded in a soft, white veil, from which rays of sunshine struggled to break free while the sea, ruthless, relentless, ripped through to crash on the shore.
I didn’t ask what he was thinking, but concentrated on the story that was forming in my mind.
We were here on vacation with our family and there, set like a pearl in the middle of the two weeks in 2016, was our anniversary. Forty-nine years of married bliss.
But that’s never true, is it?
No-one is perfect, so no two imperfect people can forge a perfect marriage - not even us. We’d had ups and downs - never ins and outs - and some years were better than others - but we’d never not wanted to be married to one another.
Our children had asked what we wanted to do to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary the following year, 2017.
The conversation still swirled in my mind as my husband and I walked in our misty, magical silence.
Then, in a sudden rush of gold, the sun won the struggle to light the world, compelling us to pause to take a few photographs.
I stood at the water’s edge.
Wave after wave of water rolling in, breaking with cold white froth over the landscape of the beach - year after year of life rolling in, breaking with warm love over the landscape of our marriage.
But what if?
What if it had been different?
So I wrote a story about a very different couple who had a very different fifty-year marriage from ours.

4. What is your new book about? 
Gold Plated is about a couple, Rosanna and Paul, who are celebrating fifty years of marriage. When the story starts, their daughter, Heather, is helping Rosanna plan a Golden Wedding Anniversary party, and it looks like being a wonderful night: sixties music, all their friends and family present, good food and a beautiful location. Rosanna has been wresting with what to get the man who has everything, but has now bought the perfect golden gift for Paul:
 
“I can already feel the glow in my cheeks at his surprise in my choice. I think he assumes I’ll be getting him solid gold cufflinks or something.”
 
When an uninvited guest shows up at the party, Rosanna’s world is shaken and she is forced to look back over their fifty golden years and see them as they were.
Were they golden? Or just gold-plated?
So this book traces the ups and downs and drama of a love affair that lasts more than fifty years, surviving against all odds - but has it? And will it continue to survive?

5. Romance is the best! Which classic couple is your favorite: Elizabeth and Darcy? Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester? Romeo and Juliet? Or do you have another favorite and if so, what makes them the best? 
Of the ones you mention, I’d have to say Elizabeth and Darcy. I think theirs would be a love that would last. They were both mature and made their decision to marry based on a love so deep it was able to overcome the constraints of the era.
I don’t usually write romance novels as such, though there is always some romance in the course of telling the story. I write about life, relationships, family - and romance is certainly part of that, just not always the main story line in my novels.
Having said that, this latest one, Gold Plated, is a love story so plenty romance in it. In fact, it is Contemporary Romantic Fiction.
All of my books, including Gold Plated, are ‘clean reads’ with no sex, swearing or gratuitous violence. I find it’s possible to allow the reader to feel romance and emotion without being graphic, by using a few well-chosen words and phrases. Like Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice, it is possible to show passion in your writing while still keeping the book family friendly.

Bonus Question: So, you’ve just written a book: what’s next? 
Another book of course. Set in Scotland again, this time partly contemporary and partly set in the early years of the 20th Century. And I’m having a great time writing it.

Amazon author page: http://author.to/ChristineCampbell
Blog: http://cicampbellblog.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriteWhereYouAre
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Campbama  
Instagram: https://instagram.com/christine_writes/
Facebook Group: Christine’s Kist Of Stories: https://www.facebook.com/groups/199853890760414/
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/Cw0Dyt1Yeq4
Trailer for The Reluctant Detective Series: https://youtu.be/kg8HIhMszg4
 
 ​

1. Hi and welcome to Wanderings! Our audience is dying to get to know you, so tell us a little bit about yourself!
Hello, and thank you for having me by. I’m the proud author of eight sweet, historical romance novels. I live in Toronto and love living where I can walk to everything. But we also love to get out of the city and hike in nature. Like most authors, I started out as an avid reader and I still love to read. Another passion of mine is travel. My husband actually inspired both of these loves. He dared me to start writing and he’s the one who got me hooked on travel. I’m also “trying” to get addicted to exercise since both reading and writing are sedentary activities and I want to be healthy enough to keep pursuing my interests until I’m old and gray.

2. When did you begin writing? What inspires your writing?
For me, these two questions go together. I’m an avid reader, as I said. If I’m reading a good book, even if the house exploded, I might not notice until I finished. My husband, not an avid reader, doesn’t love this particular quality. He used to complain about my reading and suggest I ought to be writing books instead of reading them. Finally, when I wouldn’t stop reading, he challenged me to write a book before I read another one. I didn’t think I could do it, but I accepted his dare and stuck my behind in front of my computer and gave it a shot. The end result, after a year or two of hard work, was my first published book, Tempting the Earl. Now I love writing almost as much as reading, but it doesn’t preoccupy me in the same way so my husband doesn’t mind nearly as much. And I love my husband dearly so I would say he’s my inspiration. This challenge took place about ten years ago with my first book getting published in 2010.

3. Family is so important! How does your family inspire and support your work?
My husband is very supportive. He thinks it’s great that his wife is a published author. He “lives” every book along with me. While we both know my characters aren’t real, we have been known to discuss them as though they were. If anyone ever overheard us, it would be hilarious! And my parents are my biggest fans! They read each draft of every book and then buy it when it releases. They are my motivation because they’re always anxious for the next one. ​
​