Tuesday, September 24, 2024

A Touch of Magic

It's always great to have a former blog guest featured again. It means the author has a new book out and I always look forward to new releases. My guest today is Mickey Flagg and I am pleased to welcome her back and feature her newest release, Night of the Crescent Moon, which is part of The Champion Chronicles series. It is now available for pre-order and will be published on October 2, 2024.

Mickey's imaginative world is full of mystical warriors, witches,  not-so-normal vampires, and now she has added teenage ghosts! She has published  five novels in the paranormal genre--tales about the paradox of love is a passion, and there is always a twist of fate involved. 

Mickey is also a contributor to a book on urban music education and has published a piece in Still Standing, a web-magazine about loss and healing. She is a life-long New Jersey resident, a member of Liberty States Fiction Writers, NJ Author Network and NJRW.


Mickey, what is your book that you will feature today and how did you come up with the idea to write it?


Thanks for having me on your blog today, Rebecca. 


Night of the Crescent Moon, book four in my paranormal series The Champion Chronicles, takes place sixteen years after book three, His Soul to Keep. Although I loved creating Michael, a mystically enhanced vampire who gains redemption, creating his troubled teenage son, Lukas, had always gripped my heart. 


Michael’s story is set in the early 2000s. I wanted to continue the series, but didn’t know where I wanted it to go. Then I had an idea about a minor character introduced in the first three books. I kept seeing the teenager Martine Kendrick, now as a powerful good witch. Once it hit me that she’d be the perfect love-match for Lukas, I knew I had to bring the two of them together as adults, with baggage, of course 😊. That said, the plot for Night of the Crescent Moon started to take shape. 


The idea to write this book meant that world-building in book four had to expand to include the Second and Third Realm where threats to innocent humans abound. The use of magic plays a subtle role in Martine’s life, in Lukas’s as well. Although Michael’s unprecedented journey was the crux of the first three books, moving the storyline into the present switches that focus to Lukas and Martine. There are new characters introduced as well as established characters revisited.     


I’m a pantser, not a plotter. But the idea to finally create Lukas and Martine’s story totally reignited my imagination. Since writing Night of the Crescent Moon in 2021, I’ve written four additional novels in the series. Book 5 is with my editor at TWRP. I hope readers enjoy these tales that explore paranormal romance with a twist of fate as much as I enjoy writing them.  


Let's get a Blurb:

Some wounds never heal. 

Martine, a good witch and ER nurse must enlist Lukas, a mystical warrior to save her patient who is under the spell of a dark witch from the Second Realm. But she pushed Lukas out of her life years ago. When Lukas agrees to return to the realm where he was once held captive, he faces unexpected danger to bring the dark witch back to lift the spell.  Many assist Lukas, but few are trusted through his travels in a realm with ugly memories.  Will Lukas succeed in saving her patient from a fate worse than death? Will Martine open her heart, or lock Lukas out again?  

Want more? How about an excerpt?

Curious about what her daughter knew and proud of her powerful talents, Mary asked, “So what did the old one say?”

“Something about a dark witch slipping into our world, and you know that witch wasn’t the friendly Tabitha type. She mentioned the crescent moon. And she used the word fornication. Piecing it all together, between the legend and what was in her mind, I get dark witch on a fertility mission. Having sex with a human for the specific purpose of getting pregnant. Jeez. I hope the old one makes it because she looked pretty weak.”

“And the old one just happened to be at the ER, at the same time as your John Doe. At the very hospital you work in.”

“One and the same,” Martine answered.

“Martine. I urge you to listen to me. You shouldn’t get involved.”

“Too late. I see need. I help.”

“I don’t care.”

“But I do,” Martine replied, more intense than usual. “Mare, he’s an innocent. Used in a terrible way.”

“You don’t know that, and you aren’t going to stick around him to find out.” Mary didn’t care if she looked like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse in the house. “The violation of Unwritten Law is never acceptable. The witch purposely jumped dimensions, knew what she wanted and went for it. We all sensed something, it was the only topic of discussion in our healing circle last night.” She had to convince her daughter, saying with a sigh, “Martine. You’re jumping into something you can’t fix. Again.”

“You’re crossing a line, Mare.”

“No I’m not. I know what you carry in your heart, in your soul. I know the sadness, the devastation.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Honey, it’s exactly what I know to be true. You can’t interfere because he’s marked by her. She can find him and use him again if she wants to… if what they did last night doesn’t result in conception.” 

The shake of her daughter’s head was predictable, also unwise. “It’s a ridiculous piece of folklore. The night of the crescent moon crap. How does it go again? I remember you and Granny Martha saying it on All Hallows Eve, like a fairytale turned nightmare or something.”

Mary recalled the stories as well, whispering the rhyme. “On the night of the crescent moon, a male child strong will be conceived. And after all his time within, ‘twill be on the night of a crescent moon received.” She rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh. “It’s been said Second Realm witches and warlocks believe this child will be raised like a prince and then sacrificed for the sake of the immortal sorcerers.”

Her daughter’s hand flew up in the air. “It’s just fantasy and folklore. Special births and sacrifice. Pfft!”

With a tilt of her head, Mary studied her daughter. Too thin and too stubborn. “Whatever you may or may not believe, if there are issues in the Second Realm, let’s say a move against the Third Realm vampires? The next ones they’re coming after are those of us who chose to stay in the human world.”

Want even more? Well, you'll have to buy the book!  Thank you, Mickey for being my guest today.  Here are the buy links and contact information for Mickey and her new book:

Any questions  or comments for Mickey?

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Living the Writing Life

Some people are just meant to become authors. After learning about today's guest, I'm convinced that was the case for Rosetta Diane Hoessli who is joining me this week in My Writing Corner.

Rosetta  has been a freelance writer since 1985. A winner of national and state-wide writing contests, she also tells us that she has served as senior feature writer, columnist, and executive editor for three (3) regional publications – two in San Antonio and one in Houston, Texas.

She has also collaborated with New York socialite Jeanette Longoria in Longoria’s self-published book entitled Aphrodite and Me: Discovering Sensuality and Romance at Any Age, co-authored biographical novel Falling Through Ice with Carolyn Huebner Rankin, and edited a book of short stories, Working On the Wild Side, compiled and written by Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Jeff Gager.

Whispers Through Time (2021) was Rosetta’s first solo novel, and was Book One in a series by the same name. Tip the Piano Man, a mystery/suspense novel, is her second book and was released by The Wild Rose Press in May.


Today, Rosetta says, she focuses most of her attention on writing historical fiction and traveling with her husband, Kevin. They live in San Antonio, Texas with their two rescued fur-kids, near their daughter and two grandchildren. Let's learn more about Rosetta.


Tell us about your road to publication.

It’s been a roller coaster, that’s for sure. Back in the ‘80’s, after I took a year-long Writers Digest course on article writing, I began publishing human interest stories in women’s magazines. Then, one day, a fully-formed story popped into my head, and I wrote my first book – a historical novel set in 1840’s Texas. My only goal was to finish it (which was good because it wasn’t that great), but I did get my first agent with it – a wonderful elderly gentleman from NYC who’d moved his wife to San Antonio for her health. He never sold anything for me, but he gave me more good advice than anyone else ever has about writing and marketing. In fact, looking back on it, he was more my mentor than my agent. 

Over the years I’ve worked as a ghostwriter, a co-author, and an editor, as well as a columnist, freelance writer, and the managing editor of three (3) large regional publications at the same time. I wrote a mystery/suspense novel entitled Tip the Piano Man (and then shelved it), as well as a sort of paranormal/historical novel called Whispers Through Time that I saw as the first book in a series by the same name. My best friend, also a writer, recommended that I send Whispers to her agent, which I did, and she sent it to The Wild Rose Press. They gave me a contract, and I enjoyed working with them so much I decided to pull Tip The Piano Man out of the closet. I updated the thirteenth draft (literally!) after my agent read and critiqued it, and brought it into the world of computers and the 21st century. She submitted it, and they accepted it in less than ninety (90) days.

What do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

For me, keeping my thoughts straight and organized is easily the most challenging part of being a writer, and finding big enough blocks of time in which to work. Life happens. I’ve been married for fifty years, we have a daughter and two grandkids, and we’ve survived more stuff than I could even tell you – but I kept writing through all of it. That’s not easy, but my husband is the most amazing support system in the world, and he’s the main reason I’ve been able to live the incredibly fulfilling life I’ve lived. I know that’s a politically incorrect thing to say about one’s husband – today’s woman is supposed to do it all on her own and not give anyone else any credit – but it’s the truth. Whatever I’ve accomplished, he’s given me the freedom and room to accomplish it.

How do you come up with your plots?

I have two methods for creating my plots. One is, I write what I know. The other is, What If? The story in Tip The Piano Man came entirely from what I learned through personal experience and extensive research. The story in Whispers Through Time came from personal experience, research, and using the "What If "approach: What if a famous historical novelist discovers a gift that enables her to step back in time and use what she learns to help people in her own era? I just thought that was a fascinating concept.



What is your book that you will feature today and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

The book I’m featuring today is Tip the Piano Man. I began working on it in 1986 after we discovered that a child in our family had been sexually abused by a neighbor for a number of years. I didn’t know anything about pedophiles at that time – people didn’t talk about it – so I did what writers do: I started researching pedophilia, the legal system, groups that worked with victims, etc. I volunteered with a missing children’s organization, headed up my own group, spoke all over the state and before a Texas senate committee, advocated in the courtroom for children – and as I did all this, the story of Piano Man began to percolate. While a suspenseful mystery was the natural outcome of all this experience, Tip The Piano Man isn’t sordid. It’s actually a story of redemption, atonement, and healing.

Let's get a blurb:


When little Piper Callaghan appears at Hope's Home, too traumatized to speak after discovering her murdered mother's body, Dr. Madison Wagner hopes to make the child's possible father, writer Luke Callaghan, take responsibility for the bloody chaos he's apparently created. For his part, Luke has his own story and refuses to be patronized. But when they discover Piper is the victim of prominent citizens profiting from an online international child sex ring, Madison and Luke understand they're in this fight together. And guiding them from beyond the grave is a murdered young mother seeking retribution...and atonement. Madison and Luke must prevail against overwhelming odds, or their relentless pursuit of truth will hurtle them toward a shocking reality neither ever anticipated.


How about an Excerpt?

Luke took a deep breath. “Do you think this place would make a good home for Piper?”

“Well, of course! Why would you even ask that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been a dad before. I don’t know what you guys look for—”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be this nice. We’re not ogres, Luke. We’re not all out to get you.”

“Easy does it, Dr. Wagner. What’s wrong?”

She sighed and gazed pensively into the water. “Nothing. I’m sorry. I’m tired.”

“Madison, I get it. You’re wondering how I can enjoy all this when there are so many children who have nothing. Especially when I was one of them. You’re wondering, how could I have forgotten where I came from? How could I have not opened this wonderful place to every needy child I came across?”

She ran her fingers though her hair and looked up at him. “I’m sorry,” she repeated in a whisper. “I’m really so tired…”

For a moment, as the sunlight danced over her hair and turned it into a shining cap of burnished gold, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The thought shocked him—he hadn’t felt that way about any woman since Lacy. But it didn’t matter right now. All that mattered to him was that she realized he wasn’t as self-absorbed and narcissistic as she’d first believed.

The silence stretched for a few moments before he finally spoke. “Listen, you’ve been involved with kids for years. They’re all you care about. I understand that. But until two days ago, I didn’t know I could be anyone’s father. I didn’t know I could have a child who might be living out of garbage cans, and being forced to participate in some kind of filthy movie business. It took all my energy to escape my own childhood, and I certainly wasn’t going to drag a hundred other kids into my life who’d do nothing but remind me of where I came from.”

“They’re not all I care about—”

“Let me finish. You, on the other hand, put yourself in that sewer with them. You have no ulterior motives, nothing but pure love, and I’ve never seen that before. So, if it isn’t too much trouble, give me a few minutes to get used to it, will you?”

She didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, she touched his arm. “I’m sorry, Luke. You’re right. I can be a judgmental witch.”

He took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips, pleased that his touch brought a flush of color to her cheeks. “Thank you,” he said softly, “because I only want to hear you say one thing about me, and I won’t be happy until I hear it.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to hear you say about me what you said about Julian Alvarado. I want to hear you say that I’m an extraordinary man.”


What’s your next project or what are you working on now?

I’m working on the second book in the Whispers Through Time series. The plot of each book in this series will have a contemporary conflict that links to something that happened in the past. In a nutshell, in Book Two, Journey of the Heart, our heroine, Sierra Masters, once more uses The Power, which she received in Book One, to walk in the footsteps of the Comanche Indians of 1870’s north Texas to bring peace to a canyon that’s been haunted for more than 150 years.

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

Where do I start? Read everything you can. If you don’t like it, analyze why not. If you love it, study it. In other words, study your favorite authors. Pay attention to what makes that book great…but be your own person. You’re unique. Bring what you know to the table. Remember, there are only eighty (80) plots and they’ve all been done – but not by you.

Write, write, and then write some more. Write letters – not emails, but real letters. (That’s a dying art.) Write in a journal. Keep a diary. Don’t throw away your work. (I’m incorporating some of one of my very first efforts into the book I’m working on now.) Take writing courses. If you can’t afford that, get books on writing at a thrift store and work the assignments. Learn all you can about the craft you’ve chosen.

Don’t write just for money. Write what you want to write, the way you want to write it. For example, I can’t write for a specific genre, and I certainly can’t write formulaically – but maybe you can. Do what works for you. Never turn down an opportunity, whether it pays or not. 

I would caution you about writers’ groups, unless you have a very strong sense of yourself and your work. Don’t take criticism to heart, and always consider the source. The camaraderie is fun, but one sour apple can ruin the whole batch. I’ve known writers whose work was destroyed by one person in a critique group, and they never wrote again. That’s incredibly sad.

Never give up. If you have to stop writing for some reason, it’s okay. Your time will come. When you’re rejected – and you will be – do what F. Scott Fitzgerald did: He papered his bedroom wall with rejection slips. If you believe in yourself and in your work, someone else will, too.

Finally, don’t rest on your laurels. Always have a goal.

Thank you for that advice to writers and thank you, Rosetta,  for being my guest today. Here are the buy links for Tip the Piano Man and Rosetta's contact information:

Buy link(s):

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Piano-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli/dp/1509254412/

AllAuthor: https://allauthor.com/page/rosettah21/3/

The Wild Road Press: https://wildrosepress.com/s=Tip+the+Piano+Man&post_type=product&type_aws=true

Barnes & Noble Book Store: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tip-the-piano-man-rosetta-diane-hoessli/1144905691?ean=9781509254415

BooksAMillion: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781509254415

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/tip-the-piano-man-rosetta-diane-hoessli/21260577?ean=9781509254415&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwildrosepress.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/tip-the-piano-man/id6478547553

Social Contacts:


Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RonniHoessli


Facebook Author’s Page: https://www.facebook.com/RosettaDianeAuthor

AllAuthor Landing Page: https://allauthor.com/page/rosettah21/3/

Follow me on Twitter (X)! My handle is @DianeThomp3419

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/21788498.Rosetta_Diane_Hoessli

Any questions or comments for Rosetta?

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Mystery takes a Holiday

For many, many years I have been a big fan of reading books in a series--especially mystery and suspense stories.  The main characters in those books become like old friends, and today's guest in My Writing Corner brings us the latest in a series of a familiar heroine that I've enjoyed getting to know well.  My guest today is author Susie Black.

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie was born in the Big Apple but now she currently calls sunny Southern California her home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie works as a successful apparel sales executive. She says she began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in a series of  humorous mysteries. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that she says probably sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she says she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and says she has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect. 


Susie, what is your book that you will feature today and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

 

The book I will feature today is Death by Jelly Beans, which is the fifth book in the award-winning Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series.

 

I came up with the idea to write the story after a holiday time visit to a department store that held an Easter extravaganza promotion replete with a jelly bean contest and an Easter Bunny sitting on a throne. I loved the idea of a holiday-themed mystery. I elaborated on what I saw at the department store and used my quirky imagination to come up with the most unlikely victim and accused murderer possible.


Tag Line:

“Brings a whole new meaning to the rabbit died.”


Let's get a Blurb:


Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik discovers the Bainbridge Department Store Easter Bunny slumped over dead and obnoxious swimwear buyer Sue Ellen Magee is arrested for the crime. Despite her differences with the nasty buyer, Holly is convinced the Queen of Mean didn’t do it. The wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to nail the real killer. But the trail has more twists than a pretzel and more turns than a rollercoaster. And nothing turns out how Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent on revenge.  


Let's learn more about the 'Queen of Mean' and talk directly to Sue Ellen:


Can you tell us a bit about you?


I am Sue Ellen Magee, the much unfairly maligned ladies’ swimwear buyer at Bainbridge Department Stores in Los Angeles. Just because I am tough and don’t cut those whiny suppliers any slack or put up with BS from any of them, that is no reason for vendors to refer to me as the Queen of Mean or the Bitch of Bikinis. 


What is the personal relationship between you and Holly?


We do not have a personal relationship. It is purely professional. Holly is who I work with at Mermaid Swimwear. I have a strict rule about not mixing personal and professional relationships. That way there is no question of favoritism. 


What do you admire or dislike about her?


I admire her because she is not afraid to stand up to me. 

I dislike her tenacity. Tell Holly she is getting an order, and she is like white on rice until you write it. 


Did you know or personally have a relationship with the victim?


I did know him, but my relationship with the victim was professional only. He was the President of a character company contracted to provide Easter Bunnies for our Easter Extravaganza. 


Why do you think the police think you did the murder?


They had me on the security tape transferring tainted jelly beans from my desktop canister into the contest jar where the victim ate the poisoned candy.


Why do you suppose Holly thinks you are innocent?


While I will push you around if you let me, Holly knows I would never stoop to murder as the solution to a problem. 


Now for some questions about yourself so we can get to know you better:


What is your idea of perfect happiness? 


A canister full of Jelly Beans on my desk and no mark-downs at the end of the season.


What is your greatest fear?


Not being respected.

 

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? 


I am way too nice. 


What is the trait you most deplore in others? 


Whining. 


What do you consider the most overrated virtue?


Patience. 


On what occasion do you lie?


Never. Ever. What I say is not often popular, but I always tell you what I think and NOT what I think you want to hear.


What is the quality you most like in a man?


 He is attracted to a woman’s mind, not just her bra size. Oh yeah, and it goes without saying…a great ass.


What is the quality you most like in a woman?


She stands up for herself. 


If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?


Absolutely NOTHING. I am perfect exactly the way I am.


What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?


Prison. 

 

What do you most value in your friends?


Loyalty and the courage to tell me the truth no matter how much it might hurt.


Which historical figure do you most identify with?


Amelia Earhart


Who are your heroes in real life?


Myself


What is it that you most dislike?


Liars.


What is your greatest regret?


I don’t have any.


What is your motto?


Take no prisoners.


Intrigued? Let's get an excerpt:


I dragged my eyes over to the throne. The Easter Bunny sat slumped over with his chin resting on his chest and his body listing to the right. Good grief. A double-whammy. Not only did he dip into the jellybeans again after being warned not to, but he fell asleep on the job in a booze-infused slumber. 

Why should I give a flying fig about the jerk who bowled me over without an apology, let alone helping me up? Yet a stab of unexpected pity pierced my heart. I checked the time. Still a few minutes before my command performance. Maybe rouse the poor guy and give him a chance to concoct another story Sue Ellen might buy unless the security cameras sealed his fate. 

I laid my messenger bag on the library table next to the throne and gently shook the rabbit’s left shoulder. Nothing doing. I shook him again. This time a bit harder. I put my lips next to his ears and implored him. “Pedro, wake up.” Zilch. Geesh, how much booze did the guy chug? Or maybe booze isn’t the culprit. Perhaps the guy had a late night before or he is just one helluva sound sleeper? Oddly, he wasn’t snoring, but I attributed it to his neck bent down and his head dangling over his body. 

I shook him again and got nothing for my trouble. His chest wasn’t rising and falling. Good gravy. Was the guy breathing? I passed my hand over the costume's mouth opening, but one so small I couldn’t tell. I clasped a paw to check for a pulse, but the heavy gauge costume fabric was too thick to detect one. 

I checked my watch. No more time to crap around trying to help this idiot or I’d be late for my meeting. Despite my efforts to rouse him, the guy hadn’t so much as twitched. Annoyance coupled with dread tied my stomach in knots. I panned the department. No one was around except the rabbit and me. 

The Goddess short-changed me in the height department but compensated by blessing me with a deep voice and a strong set of pipes. I put my lips next to his ear and shouted loud enough to wake the dead. “PEDRO, WAKE UP!” 

I grabbed the rabbit by the shoulder and shook him with all my might. The guy didn’t move an inch. I grasped his arm tightly and yanked it hard trying to right him. Good grief. The bunny was stiff as a board. I might as well try bending a steel beam. 

I let go of his shoulder and the rabbit slid off the throne. He crashed headfirst into the library table. Along with my messenger bag, the jellybean jar bounced off the edge of the table and fell onto the cement floor. My messenger bag survived the ordeal, but the jellybean jar broke into a zillion pieces. Jellybeans scattered all over the place. The bunny bounced twice and flopped unceremoniously face-down into a pile of jellybeans. 

The concept of shouting loud enough to wake the dead?  Trust me, it’s a pile of hot hooey. I didn’t need an MD after my name to make this diagnosis. Pedro Conejo was as dead as the proverbial doornail. When the first responders arrive, they’re gonna close the swimwear department for who knows how long. This ought to put a nice crimp into the Easter promotion. And who gets to break the good news to Sue Ellen? None other than yours truly. 

She’s not gonna be a happy camper. Naturally, I burst out laughing. 


If you want to read on, you'll have to buy the book. Here are the Buy Links for this latest Holly Schlivnik caper, Death By Jelly Beans:


https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-by-jelly-beans-susie-black/1145804565?ean=2940186124580

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212700868-death-by-jelly-beans?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PWl56Hmfkz&rank=1

https://www.bookbub.com/books/death-by-jelly-beans-holly-swimsuit-mystery-book-5-by-susie-black

Amazon.com : Death by Jelly Beans


If you'd like to know more about our guest author, here are Susie's Social Media Links:


Website: www.authorsusieblack.com

E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com

Facebook: Susie Black, author of The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series | Facebook

Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries

Instagram: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorsusieblack-61941011

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1_saved/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@hollyswimsuit


Thank you, Susie, for being my guest today.  Any questions or comments for Susie?

Getting Into The Story

I've said it before, but it bears repeating--one of the reasons I began doing a blog on writing and writers was because I loved the idea...