My Writing Corner

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

A Visit to The Dark Side

Authors always seem to have great stories to tell about how and why they become authors. Today's guest in My Writing Corner has a great story of her own. My guest today is Mystery and Suspense author Cynthia Rice. She is also a physician. Cynthia lives in the Milwaukee area and is a proud member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Her debut novel, The Last Broken Girl, a psychological suspense and winner of the 2023 Claymore Award, is set in rural Wisconsin, where she has strong ties. When she's not working on her next novel, Cynthia says she keeps busy reading, traveling, and playing mediocre tennis and golf. She lives with her two cats Clarice (not named for Silence of the Lambs) and Porkchop.

Cynthia, what do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

For me, the most challenging part of being an author is maintaining a disciplined writing schedule. I recently retired which has made it easier, but even now it’s hard to carve out time for writing and revision every day. I tend to go in spurts, weeks where I buckle down and accomplish a lot, and days where life intervenes. My best writing time is late morning.

How do you come up with your plots?

I’m constantly on the lookout for plot ideas. There are so many true crime reports in the news every day that can be twisted and expanded into a plot. Some of these won’t support a novel but work for a short story. Sometimes a location/setting sets off a series of “what if” questions. Listening to conversations in restaurants or on the train if you commute can trigger an idea. I carry a small notebook everywhere and make notes about interesting people or situations.

Tell us about your road to publication.

I worked on The Last Broken Girl for approximately three years before I started querying. I used a developmental editor which was extremely helpful. I started querying agents initially and received requests for full or partial manuscripts but no offers. I then started querying small traditional publishers, many which do not require an agent. I had full requests and fortunately a contract to publish within a few months.

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 my debut novel, The Last Broken Girl, a psychological suspense published by The Wild Rose Press with a release date of June 3rd, 2024. The novel explores the potential dark side of small-town living, which can offer its victims no escape. The protagonist, Eric Moore, is a psychologist whose own rigidly structured life goes into a tailspin when the man who kidnapped her when she was fourteen is paroled early back into the community where she lives with her young daughters. In the plotting of the novel, I wanted Erin’s backstory to include a major traumatic experience which she survived, but which has had a lasting impact on her personality and life choices. The kidnapping fit the bill.

Let's get a blurb and some book reviews:

In a small town in Wisconsin, safety had always been an illusion. Especially for Erin Moore, who had been kidnapped as a teenager and held for months, when she learns her abductor is up for parole. The police always believed her captor acted alone, and that the female accomplice Erin described years ago was the fabrication of a traumatized mind.

Twenty years later, Erin leads a rigidly structured life with her husband and two young daughters and has a successful psychology practice in the same small town. When her abductor is paroled early and goes missing, leaving behind a large pool of blood, Erin and her husband become prime suspects. Erin receives threatening notes she is certain came from the accomplice, but she is unable to convince the police the menace is real.

As Erin watches her life unravel, including her marriage, career and possibly her sanity, she knows the only way out is to bring the accomplice to justice, even if it’s twenty years late.

Reviews:

“Rice has written a masterful debut thriller with a fantastic hero in Erin, who leaps off the page with her bravery and relatability… For those who enjoy thrillers about strong women who face impossible odds, this is a terrific read. An exhilarating page-turner showcases this debut author’s talent for suspense.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A survivor. Her imprisoned captor. An early release. Game on. When you get to the denouement, your pulse will quicken, guaranteed. And you thought zero bars on a cellphone made you uneasy before? Just wait. Two thumbs up for The Last Broken Girl.”
—Tracy Clark, author of the Cass Raines and Det. Harriet Foster series

“A riveting psychological mystery with a complex, multifaceted protagonist.”
—Independent Book Review

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

I’m in the final edit stage of a mystery novel, still untitled, and is the start of a potential series. It takes place in a popular resort area in Wisconsin, Door County, and involves the disappearance of young woman. I’ve also been writing some short stories intermittently.

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

I would advise new writers to prioritize finding a community of other writers. Writing is a solitary endeavor by its very nature, and finding the camaraderie and support of other writers through local or on-line writers’ groups is very helpful. I belong to Mystery Writers of America, International Thrillers Writers, and Sisters in Crime, who offer many learning opportunities through workshops and conferences.

To quote Neil Gaiman, “Everything good that happened in my writing career happened because someone, normally another writer, helped me. Suggested me for something, put in a good word, and so on. The idea was always that you help others and they help others in turn. It’s not a win or lose game.”

Here are Cynthia's Buy Links and social media information:

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-last-broken-girl-cynthia-rice/21350408?ean=9781509255399

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509255397

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-broken-girl-cynthia-rice/1145051975

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-last-broken-girl/id6479898404?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=books_box_link

Social Contacts:

Twitter: https://x.com/CynthiaRice22

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynthiarice.author/

Website: https://cynthiaarice.com

Email: cynthiarice.author@gmail.com

Buy Link: https://mybook.to/CynthiaRice

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

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Taking the Road Toward Emotional Journeys

It's time to start planning those summer getaways and today's guest in My Writing Cornner has the perfect book to take along. Author Terry Segan is making a return appearance to my blog and she says she's out to get a reaction from those who read her books. Her latest book sounds like it fills the bill!

Terry is originally from Commack, NY, but she now resides in Nevada. She says that to appease her gypsy soul and travel cravings, she’s rarely found at home on the weekends. Her many journeys inspire the paranormal mysteries filling the pages of her books. She adds that some of her best ideas are worked out while traveling on the backseat of her husband’s motorcycle. His only request is to be a chalk outline in one of her novels—providing she’s still writing fiction. Terry’s goals are to cause her readers to laugh out loud, cry with joy, or cower under the covers wondering if that thump under the bed was real or imagined. Let's learn more about Terry and her latest book.

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

The title is Five Steps to Celestia. My inspiration for the story came from a driving trip through Oregon. At the time, my husband and I had only known each other a year, when he chose to take his RV to Oregon for the summer months. I drove there with him, then flew back to Nevada, where I still worked. The scenery was beautiful and kick-started my creative juices, so I jotted down some notes about a story, then put it aside while finishing other projects. Since then, we’ve made several trips through the Pacific Northwest via car and motorcycle. We’ve visited lakes, waterfalls, ocean shores, and wineries along the way. The views from the coastal roads were breathtaking, and they helped form the book I wrote. Of course, my genre is paranormal mystery, so I added fantastical elements. The result is Five Steps to Celestia.

Let's get a tagline and blurb:

A mysterious plant, a forgotten necklace, and years of lost memories…

Twenty-two years after a tragic accident claimed Joy’s memories, a chance discovery in a gift shop nudges her forgotten past to the surface. Was it the cashier’s purple necklace, the Celestia seeds, or long-suppressed recollections pushing her to remember her former life?

As she searches for clues leading home, unknown elements threaten her current happiness and those she loves. When a cryptic symbol forms on her wrist and additional instructions appear on the seed packets, they offer more confusion than clarity.

With her best friend’s help, Joy strings together the missing pieces of her mysterious provenance. Her quest uncovers those who have paid the price for her reckless youth. Will she be welcomed back with open arms or scorned for having survived?

Let's hear directly from Joy:

Tell us about your current life. What do you really like about it and what would you like to change?

The most important thing in my life is Grace, my daughter. She’s grown into a smart and vibrant young woman, who brings me happiness every day. I count myself fortunate that she works with me at the winery I own. My other treasure in life is my best friend, Suzi. Everyone needs a pal like her. No matter what the situation, she’s always there for me whether it’s happiness, grief, adventure, or laughter. The one thing missing is Drake, my late husband. He welcomed me into his life, despite neither of us knowing who I was or where I’d come from. My memory never returned, yet he gave me a name and loving family. We spent twenty wonderful years together, and it breaks my heart that he won’t be here to enjoy our golden years.

Joy, what do you want for your future?

I’d like my daughter to take the reins of Mystic Swirl, the winery that had been started by Drake and now belongs to me. Grace was only four when her father and I married, and I believe with all my heart he would want this legacy for her. The sticky part is her husband, Owen, a controlling, arrogant man without much business sense. He’s chomping at the bit to take control of the place, while I’m pushing her to be the sole owner, which is what her father would want.

What are your strengths?

I’m very resilient and compassionate. I try my best to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, however, that doesn’t mean I’m a pushover. Some may add stubbornness to that list, but I prefer to look at it as doing the right thing when necessary. And if the right thing means standing my ground in the face of adversity, then I’ll gladly accept the challenge.

What are your weaknesses?

While I mentioned compassion as one of my strengths, it’s also a weakness. In trying to give everyone a fair chance, I blindly put the ones I love in danger. When I trusted new people who came into my life, I found out too late that they didn’t have my best interests at heart. Those I hold very dear paid the price for my misguided faith.

What has now happened in your life that changes things?

My memories have begun returning. A previous life I thought would never be recovered has now presented itself in odd ways. Dreams, becoming nightmares, show me flashes from my past life, as well as other mystical occurrences I can’t rationalize. I bought these Celestia seeds in a gift shop, and now that I’ve planted them, new instructions have materialized on the package. A raised symbol has appeared on my wrist, and I can’t muster the strength to remove this purple vial necklace I’d received in the hospital after my accident years ago. I’m compelled to follow the clues to the end—but I’m afraid I won’t like what I find. Perhaps fear of losing all I love should be added to my list of weaknesses as I move forward to discover my mysterious past.

Want more? Let's get an EXCERPT:

“Michael,” Joy screamed, clutching at the man in front of her. Her mouth formed his name again, but no sound emitted. Sensing weightlessness, she no longer felt the bike beneath her. As her body flew, she saw clouds, trees, dirt—it all spun. Cold air rushed past as she soared. She glimpsed Michael still clutching onto thea handlebars of the motorcycle, as he flew over the cliff and was gone.

The impact jolted the back of her head. Pain coursed through her shoulders and hips. Then everything went black.

“Joy! Wake up! Joy!” Suzi stood by the bed shaking her. She never looked so scared—or so ridiculous in a baggy T-shirt and penguin pajama pants. With her blonde hair wrapped in pink curlers, she looked even more comical. Suzi continued shaking Joy even after her eyes opened. “Joy. You’re dreaming. Wake up!”

“I’m awake. What? What is it?” Joy, confusion tightening her jaw muscles, wondered why the woman woke her. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” She heaved for breath. “You were screaming. It must’ve been a nightmare. Are you all right?” Her body trembled. “Oh God, I need to sit down.” Shoving Joy over, she collapsed onto the bed.

More concerned about Suzi, she asked, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. What happened?” Suzi asked, still visibly upset, her face flushed.

Joy couldn’t remember anything except being shaken awake. They had hit the wine bottle (or two) hard before bedtime.

“You were calling out.”

“What?”

The older woman put a hand to her heaving chest. “You were yelling. Who’s Michael?”

How bizarre, Joy thought. Why would she ask her about a man who wasn’t her deceased husband?

“I give up. Who’s Michael?”

“You called his name. Hell, you screamed his name. He was either in danger, or you were having wild sex.” Suzi’s breath still came in gasps.

“I don’t remember the dream, but I doubt it was the latter.”

“You sounded terrified. Can’t you recall anything?”

“I…I don’t know. I called him?”

“Yes.”

“Did I say anything else?”

Someone banged on their hotel door. “Security! Everything okay in there?”

Both looked at each other, eyes wide. Slowly, Suzi arose and walked to the entry. Checking the peep hole, she hesitated before unlocking the bolt. Cracking the door, she said, “Yes. Everything is fine. Why?”

“Well, ma’am,” came a voice from the hallway, “someone called the front desk and said they heard screaming.”

Suzi turned her head, looked at Joy, then back through the opening. “Sorry, officer.” She lowered her voice. “My friend tends to have…ah…erotic dreams. It’s a rare condition with some long medical name I can’t pronounce. I’m sorry if she disturbed anyone. Her therapist is working on an experimental treatment, but it still has a few kinks to be smoothed out.”

No response for several seconds. “Well…ah…ma’am, maybe she could try to keep it down? People are trying to sleep.”

“You bet, officer. I’ll make sure she keeps it to a PG-13 rating.”

Want to keep reading? You'll have to buy the book! Here are the Buy Links for Five Steps to Celestia as well as Terry's social media contact information:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Steps-Celestia-Terry-Segan-ebook/dp/B0CYHN8LKX

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/five-steps-to-celestia-terry-segan/1145hank you028822

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Author Website: https://terrysegan.com/

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerrySegan

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeganTerry

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

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Terry-Segan/e/B087YQGXMD

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18604926.Terry_Segan

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/terry-segan

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

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Destination: Inspiration

As someone who has often been inspired to write a story simply from the location I'm visiting, I was fascinated to read the biography for today's guest in My Writing Corner. Visiting us is Karen Hulene Bartell.

She is the author of the Trans-Pecos, Sacred Emblem, Sacred Journey, and Sacred Messenger series, as well as Kissin Kin, Fox Tale, Wild Rose Pass, The Keys: Voice of the Turtle and more. Karen is not only a best-selling author, she is a motivational keynote speaker, IT technical editor, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural.

Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her mews—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog. Let's chat with Karen to learn more about her and her latest book.

Karen, what is your book you will feature today and do you have any other information you would like us to know about it?

Kissing Kin and the inspiration for location – Travel – and a Missed Turn!

Whenever I visit provocative places, encounter new experiences, sample different ethnic foods, or chance upon stimulating people, I’m inspired. Ideas flow. (I should’ve been a travel correspondent.) There’s something about traveling that takes me out of my rut and propels me into new realms of possibility.

I’ve written some of my best concepts sitting in noisy airports or hotel bathrooms at midnight (so I don’t wake my husband with the light). Being out of my element and in new environments stimulates my imagination.

As I visit new destinations, I’m infused with innovative ideas, envisioning scene after scene, like vignettes flowing from one to the next and the next.

In Kissing Kin’s case, my husband and I spent Christmas week hiking and horseback riding in Big Bend National Park twenty years ago. You’ve seen the area on maps--the southernmost tip of Texas that borders the Rio Grande and dips into Mexico. Spanning more than 800,000 acres of Chihuahuan desert, mountains, and rivers, Big Bend is larger than the state of Rhode Island--and filled with lions and bobcats and bears. Oh, my!

Driving home early that New Year’s morning, we missed the turnoff in Alpine and followed TX-118 north. Snow-covered and glinting against the frosty blue January sky, a remote jumble of mountain peaks and ranges beckoned as they rose above the desert floor. I was enchanted. Gazing at the sky island for the first time, wide-eyed, I wondered whether those rocky pinnacles were mirages or optical delusions.

But as the craggy peaks loomed larger (a mile high, I later learned), I realized they were no hallucination or Fata Morgana. A hasty glance at the map told us these were the Davis Mountains. As we approached, vertical basalt columns rose like thousands of giant fingers reaching for the sky. The palisades, buttes, and bluffs towered above both sides of the road with a raw, majestic beauty, and I breathed a contented sigh, almost as if coming home.

That missed turn took us only a half hour out of our way, but as we drove through those mountains, my life changed. From that day to this, the area’s held my heart and imagination. Wild Rose Pass became Book I of the Trans-Pecos Series, and Kissing Kin has become Book II. Both novels are standalones with dissimilar genres--Wild Rose Pass is a historical novel, while Kissing Kin is a paranormal romance.

Let's get a blurb:

Maeve Jackson is starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.

When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.

But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?

Let's talk to Maeve:

Why are you having to start over?

In the military, I had a routine—orders and schedules. After my discharge, I had no direction, and I’d had big expectations about civilian life, fantasizing about Cody and marriage…but those plans didn’t pan out. Working at the vineyard gives me a sense of purpose—at least until I figure out where to go from here.

What do you want for your future?

Growing up with vagabond parents and no permanent address, I want to belong. I always fantasized about living in one of those comfortable homes I viewed through the car window. I want a home and a family of my own.

What attracts you to Luke?

He’s polite, handsome, funny, and generous. His gaze is direct, and his warm, coffee-brown eyes—fringed with impossibly long lashes—are captivating.

How’s he make me feel? Despite being out of my element, I have to admit, when he walks by in his tooled leather boots and thigh-hugging jeans, he makes my blood pressure spike, and frankly, it’s nice to be working toward a common goal with a partner, someone to share the load with instead of always having to prove myself.

What bothers you about him?

When silvery white feathers appear on my bed, I suspect Luke of sneaking into the cabin, and hand-placing them. Then Cody’s betrayal come to minds. Is Cody the reason I can’t trust people, or is being wary all the time just another side effect of PTSD?

Then when I catch Luke with his arms around his ex-girlfriend, I figure he just wants his cake and eat it, too.

Now let's turn the table around and talk to Luke:

Tell us about your vineyard and how you came to own it?

I got started working summers at my grandfather’s boutique winery. Then I changed my major to viticulture, the study of grape cultivation, with a double major in enology--the study of wines and winemaking.

After graduation, I interned at a major winery—didn’t pay much, but it gave me firsthand experience in winery design, wine-processing technologies, fermentation, and my personal favorite, flavor chemistry. But the most important takeaway was that I learned how to prevent Pierce’s Disease, a bacteria that’s spread by sharpshooter leafhoppers that attacks grapevines from Florida to California. It’s what destroyed my grandfather’s vineyard. If he knew in the 70s what I know now, he wouldn’t have lost his shirt—or the vineyard. I saved up and bought property.

What concerns you about becoming involved with Maeve?

Maeve has an ex-fiancé, who’s obviously not over her. The question is, is she over Cody?

What draws you to her?

Not fussy or frilly, Maeve is good looking but doesn’t know it. She’s a kindred soul, who’s persistent, despite self-doubts. Her jade-green eyes are mesmerizing. No makeup, her face is bare except for the freckles on her button nose. She wears her tawny brown hair in a pixie cut that emphasizes those haunting eyes. Her figure’s lithe and slender, and she moves with a dancer’s grace.

What do you want for your future?

I want to add an open-air tasting room and turn this vineyard into a winery. But on a shoestring budget, I’m hoping sweat equity makes up for my lack of capital.”

Want more? Let's get an excerpt - Dozing by the Fire

        “Mind if I camp out ’til the roads clear?”
       “Under the circumstances?” The clerk shook his head. “Not a problem.”
       “Thanks.” He started toward the sitting room and nearly bumped into Maeve, leaning against the wall. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”
       “You didn’t.” She tossed her chin. “I was cat-napping.”
       “Right.” He compared her guarded veneer to her sleeping-beauty persona. Which is closer to her true self?
       “Couldn’t help overhearing.” Gesturing toward the clerk with her chin, she grimaced. “I’m responsible for you being out tonight--”
       “No.” He shook his head. “This is just a freak storm.”
       “You don’t have to sleep in a chair.” She took a deep breath and gave a quick, tight-lipped smile.                 “My room has two queen beds, and you’re welcome to one of ’em.”
       Unsure of the extent of her invitation, he did a double take.
       “Just so we understand each other, this is a bunk, a place to sack out. Period. Amen.” She spoke in a low-pitched, no-nonsense voice. “Nothing more, so don’t get any--”
       “Got it.” He covered his disappointment with a laugh. “Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine dozing by the fire.”
       “Hey, I’ve bivouacked with soldiers in Afghanistan. We do what’s necessary under extenuating circumstances.” Shrugging, she glanced at the door. “And this blizzard qualifies.” Her face relaxed into a smile.
       Her offer tempting, he compared sitting up all night to stretching out in a bed. Then he glimpsed the clerk.
       “If you’re worried about my reputation, don’t be.” She laughed, the sound like sleigh bells tinkling on a crisp, wintry night.

What is it about her that conjures thoughts of other times--other eras?

Want to read on? Here are the Buy Links as well as social media contact information:

UNIVERSAL LINK: https://books2read.com/u/boXl10

AMAZON: https://shorturl.at/iwEIJ

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204849593-kissing-kin

APPLE: https://books.apple.com/us/book/kissing-kin/id6475424012

BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kissing-kin-karen-bartell/1144521766?ean=9781509253951

Social Media Links –

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

MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/karenbartell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuleneKaren

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/karenhulenebartell/