 How about a little paranormal chill with your mystery? I'm proud to welcome Dr. Randy Overbeck, award-winning author of the Haunted Shores Mystery series. I'm in the middle of reading his latest mystery Scarlet at Crystal River. It almost has me sleeping with a light on! It's evocative, suspenseful, and sweetly romantic all at once -- an amazing combination! I invite you to more about the talented author, his books, and his podcast. Dr. Overbeck, thank you for joining us today. 1) What sort of books did you enjoy reading as a child? Did you have a favorite book or series? I was an early reader—my mother told me I was able to read by the age of three—and I read a little bit of everything, mystery, adventure, science fiction, poetry, and fantasy. 2) What sort of books do you enjoy reading nowadays? I’m a very eclectic reader today and have favorite authors in several different genres—thrillers, mysteries of course, stirring historicals and some science fiction. I’ve even been known to engage in a little romantic suspense from time to time. 3) Around what age did you realize that you liked to write? And when did you know that you wanted to write books? I’ve been interested in writing for as long as I can remember. During high school, I took a great Creative Writing class that really excited me and I thought I might want to try my hand as a professional author. Then my pull to serve kids as an educator hit me and I became a teacher and school leader for 40 years. Eve then, I never lost my desire to tell stories and become a published author. When my life gave me time to pursue it, I took advantage of it and, now five published novels and ten national awards later, I’ve been able to realize my dream. That you placed dedication to education and children above your dreams is truly inspiring. That you never gave up and have achieved your dream after years of dedication and service is even more so. How wonderful. 4) What’s the first thing you wrote that you remember being proud of? During high school I wrote a mystery short story that I thought was pretty good, but what did I know? 5) Tell us about the creative force within you. What inspires you to write, to create? Writing has always been a major part of my life and profession, as a teacher, a college professor and a school leader. So I’ve been creating and writing right up to and including a hundred plus page dissertation. When I had the time and chance, it was a natural move to turn my writing talent and skills to fiction. I find I have more stories within me that are simply begging to come out. I find I hardly have enough time to cast the characters in the worlds I’m creating. 6) What’s your writing space like? I’m very fortunate in that when my wife and I designed our new house about five years ago, I carved out a really nice office of about 150 square feet. It has an expansive L-shaped desk, a large screen monitor (for my older eyes), a printer, a file cabinet and a beautiful six-shelf bookcase—which is never big enough. There is even a bed if I decide I need to take a break. Perhaps, best of all, from the desk, I have a beautiful view through three windows of our neighborhood pond and the surrounding woods, which are absolutely gorgeous in the fall. It’s a space that very welcoming and inspirational.  What a great space! 7) Do you have a favorite time of day to write? Any habits or little rituals that put you in a writing mindset? Partly as a result of my habits as a district leader, I learned to take any time I was given to get my tasks done, In those days, there never seemed to be enough time and I always seemed to have plenty of distractions. These days, I’ve been able to continue that habit and seize any time I have a few minutes to write, edit and revise. I write while waiting while my car is worked on, while my wife is doing her physical therapy and while she is shopping. Most days, though, I start my day with 90-120 minutes of writing. 8) Time to talk about Scarlet at Crystal River (rubbing hands together). But first, how did you come up with the idea for the Haunted Shores Mystery series? Are there any interesting tidbits you’d care to share with us? For all three entries in the Haunted Shores Mysteries, I started with a great resort location, invented a mysterious cold-case murder, added in a little woo-hoo and tied it to a larger social issue. Then, for fun, I added a bit of romance with the arc running through all three novels. Scarlet at Crystal River is the third installment in the series and is set in a beautiful, old Florida town on the Gulf coast. (Yes, a real town.) The romance plays a larger part in this story as my protagonist, Darrell—high school social studies teacher and researcher and sensitive—and his beautiful wife Erin are off to celebrate their honeymoon during the Christmas holidays in the Florida sun. But problems develop when Darrell is stalked by the ghosts of two murdered Latino children who beg him to find justice. The investigation takes Darrell and Erin into the rolling heartland of Florida, full of massive farms and hundreds of migrant workers, trying to learn who these children were and what happened to them. Their inquiries lead them to a real world-famous artist, to school people working with migrant children to wealthy land owners and hard-working foremen as well as to an immigrant camp. Let’s just say the happenings produce a honeymoon unlike anything Darrell and Erin were expecting. It's a thrilling novel and I, for one -- especially given the chill factor and suspense -- especially appreciate the lovely romance! 9) You also have another literary outlet, your wonderful podcast Great Stories About Great Storytellers. I could listen all day. I have to say I especially loved the episode about Emily Dickinson, a favorite poet of mine since childhood. My podcast, Great Stories about Great Storytellers, shares the little-known back stories of famous writers, directors and poets listeners already know. So far I’ve revealed interesting, unusual and sometimes strange details about the lives, work and writings of such great as Charles Dickens, John Grisham, Walt Disney, Ray Bradbury and yes, Emily Dickinson. Each episode is quick listen, about 10-12 minutes, and listeners come away with interesting tidbits about some of their favorite storytellers. 10) I realize you are a very busy man! Still, I can’t help but ask – do you have anything waiting in the wings? Of course, I always have another project around the corner. I just finished proofing my latest work and giving the go ahead to the publisher. Cruel Lessons, the first in a new series I’m calling Lessons in Peril, is an amateur sleuth mystery about a dangerous new hallucinogen which falls into the hands of some young children (fifth graders) and end up resulting in their deaths. This series feature two middle-age protagonists, Stacy, an elementary teacher and Ken, a school administrator. These two are thrown together and risk death threats and prison to figure out who the drug pusher is before he (or she) poisons more children. Oh, wow! SUSPENSE! 11) Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? As you probably gathered, I’m a full-blooded educator and I believe teachers are real unsung heroes, especially with all they are expected to accomplish today. So it should come as no surprise that all of my stories, from thrillers to paranormal mysteries to my new amateur sleuth whodunit, are set in the realm of public school and all of the heroes of my fiction are…you guessed it, teachers. Just my way of saluting the incredible, unselfish and often unrecognized work done by great teachers everyday. That's wonderful. Where would we be without teachers? Cheers to you, Dr. Overbeck, and to educators everywhere. Thank you for sharing your time and mission with us. Wishing you all the best! And now, Scarlet at Crystal River!  From the Author: My Favorite Character My new release, SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER, like the first two in the Haunted Shores Mysteries, is “a cold case murder mystery wrapped in a ghost story served with a side of romance, all set in a beautiful resort location.” Special thanks to the early reviewer who coined this perfect summation.) Also, like the first two entries, the murder (or in this case murders) are entangled with a larger social issue, this time the abuse of migrant workers and the whole debate on immigration. I thought it was important, then, to have a central character who was in fact a migrant and who could speak from an immigrant perspective.  I created Luis Alvarez, a twenty-something recent immigrant who helps my protagonist navigate the world of immigrant laborers. But since this character was far out of my personal experience, I needed to be careful to be sure my portrayal was accurate, neither patronizing nor derogatory. It was a major challenge. Needless to say, I had a good deal of assistance in everything from translation to dialect to culture. In the end, I’m satisfied and early reviews have spoken quite well of this character portrayal. I’m now waiting to see how my readers respond—to the story and Luis’ place in it.  Darrell and Erin head to Florida for a carefree honeymoon but, once there, are haunted by the ghosts of two immigrant children, who plead for help. All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help. When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew. Excerpt Darrell started, “Like I said back there, it’s complicated. We—” Erin’s side window exploded. The fractured glass shot slivers across the front seat. The sound of an explosion followed a beat behind. Erin screamed. Something stung Darrell’s right arm. He grabbed a cut on his skin and then looked across the seat. Damn. Erin’s arm was bleeding, bad. He couldn’t breathe. “Erin?” He stared at her for a second and then jerked his gaze back to the road and straightened the car. Something hit the rear window. Luis yelped. The glass shattered and a second later, another crack followed. Luis fell forward. Was he hit? Darrell’s gaze jumped from the road to Erin to the back seat. Luis had fallen to the floor. Darrell couldn’t see him. “Luis?” Erin called. No answer. Dragging his eyes from the road, Darrell shot another glance at Erin. Her entire arm was now turning red, the edge of her short sleeve wicking up the scarlet. The fingers of her left hand gripped tight around her right arm, the knuckles turning white. The blood still seeped through. Dragging his eyes from Erin for a second, he turned in his seat to try to look[…]”  About the Author Dr. Randy Overbeck is a best-selling author of the award-winning series, The Haunted Shores Mysteries, each a cold case murder mystery wrapped in ghost story served with a side romance, set in a beautiful resort location. He is the host of a new podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations, “Thanks Still Go Bump in the Night” and “A Few Favorite Haunts” with audiences all over the country. More info about his novels, programs and podcast can be found at his website www.authorrandyoverbeck.com. One thing that is particularly special about Overbeck’s books is that they unabashedly tackle social issues within their plots. “Scarlet at Crystal River” forces readers to confront…the dangers of racism and xenophobia. ★★★★★—ReaderViews This is another masterpiece from Randy Overbeck. His excellent writing style has left me speechless for one more time. He writes in a way that makes you feel what the characters feel and you have no choice but to partake in the journey with them.”★★★★★—Ioanna’s Reviews, Greece
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 I'm honored to welcome Author Dawna Coutant, who recently published Evil Alice and the Borzoi. Set in Hawaii, it sounds like a tantalizing mystery! She's going to tell us about it -- and we have a great excerpt -- but first let's become better acquainted with Dawna. Hi, Dawna! Welcome! Hi. Thanks for having me. I’m delighted to be here. 1) What sort of books did you enjoy reading as a child? Did you have a favorite book or series? My love of mysteries started young. I was a big Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden fan. I dreamed of having violet eyes like Diana Lynch (one of Trixie’s friends) But I had a cousin who introduced me to fantasy, The Hobbit and LOTR and Dragons of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. And I was enthralled by those too. 2) What sort of books do you enjoy reading nowadays? I adore all kinds of books! Mysteries of course, like Richard Osman, Thursday Murder Club Series, the Inspector Bruno series by Martin Walker, anything by Julie Mulhern (Poppy? Ellison? They are both great). But I’m also drawn to series with a paranormal approach like, The Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews and The Daevebad Trilogy by Shannon Chakraborty. Other books I’ve read and loved in the last 6 months: Jane Smiley’s Perestroika in Paris, Jojo Moyes, Night Music, and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Sorry, that is probably a longer list than you wanted, but I LOVE to read! That's a great list! 3) Around what age did you realize that you liked to write? And when did you know that you wanted to write books? I enjoyed writing as a teenager. I was published in our Literary Magazine, The Luminary, at my school, Pinellas Park High School. I was Editor my senior year. I didn’t think I could write a book. It seemed overwhelming at the time. In college and graduate school, I put creative writing, and most of recreational reading aside. But once I was a professor, I craved fiction again. I returned to my escape into books, and dabbled with a notebook of ideas on stories I might write, one day. But it took another decade or two before I started writing Evil Alice and the Borzoi. The title came first, and the plot and characters followed. 4) What’s the first thing you wrote that you remember being proud of? A very short story in that high school literary magazine. Fifteen-year-old me was on top of the world! That makes me smile! You must have been so excited! 5) Tell us about the creative force within you. What inspires you to write, to create? My non-writing life deals with serious, sometimes tragic, situations. Writing fiction allows me to control my mental world. I can write a satisfying ending. I can make good win out over evil. And I always feel happier after I write. Somehow it refreshes and recharges me. 6) What’s your writing space like? Cluttered. I have a great office that I share with my dog. But I usually end up with a lot of notebooks, dog toys, papers with story ideas, my skis, and all sorts of paraphernalia stacked everywhere. I cleared away some of my clutter for this picture, so let’s keep my messy office a secret just between us.
It doesn't look messy to me! It's a gorgeous space. I looove that window! 7) Do you have a favorite time of day to write? Any habits or little rituals that put you in a writing mindset? My favorite time of day to write is late morning. After a couple of cups of coffee and I’ve read the newspaper. Unfortunately, life usually intervenes, and some critical task needs high priority, so my writing often gets pushed to late afternoon. Do I have writing rituals? Not really. I look over my outline and see which section I feel like writing that day, or if I left a section unfinished the day before I go back to finish that. If I’m really stuck I watch or go back to notes from a writing class. I’ve taken a ton of online classes, so going back to review those usually triggers something. 8) Time to talk about your latest release (rubbing hands together). But first, how did you come up with the idea for the series? Are there any interesting tidbits you’d care to share with us? I think the germ of the idea started on a visit to Guam, there was a case in the newspaper about a suspected murder. I scribbled down some ideas, but it was years later when I saw a painting in an art gallery and the ideas popped back into my head. My title came to me as I studied the painting and the rest of the plot developed from that. And no, I didn’t buy the painting, it was way out of my price range. 9) Now let’s hear about – Evil Alice and the Borzoi. Evil Alice and the Borzoi is a not-too-dark, but not-too-light traditional mystery set in Hawaii. Cleo Cooper, a cross-cultural psychology professor, is living the dream on the Big Island of Hawaii. With ocean-dipping weekends, she enjoys her dog, her job, and her boyfriend Ben - until the day she’s on a research vessel and a dead body is caught in the dragline. The police determine it is murder and set their sights on a gentle former student, Kai. It doesn’t take much urging from Kai’s auntie for Cleo to investigate. But Ben grows distant, and Cleo’s dog grows ill. A couple of accidental deaths later and someone makes an attempt on her life. What happened to Cleo’s life in paradise? Can she discover the true killer? Can she stop the killer before the killer stops her? That sounds fabulous! 10) I comprehend that you’ve just recently published a book. I know what that takes. Still, I can’t help but ask – do you have anything waiting in the wings? I do! I’ve got a finished draft and am fine-tuning revisions on Cleo’s second adventure. It will be based in Santa Fe, NM, so a completely different environment. But Cleo will stay in touch with her friends and Hawaii won’t be far from her thoughts. 11) Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? Hmm, I guess that I, like my protagonist, loves dogs. I’m currently raising a 9-month Old English Sheepdog. She is a sweetie pie but is a teenager in dog years, so we are having some trials and tribulations. But she has helped with my book promotion, (see my Instagram posts:) so I cut her some slack.  Such a cutie! Dawna, congratulations on your new release. Thank you for sharing your time, talent, and adorable puppy with us today! And now, Evil Alice and the Borzoi!  Paradise is shaken when the body of a young woman is dragged onto a university research vessel during a class outing in Hilo Bay. Cleo Cooper is shaken when she finds her favorite student is on the hook for the murder. Danger lurks on land and sea as Cleo and her friends are enticed to search for the true killer. In between paddling, swimming, and arguing with her boyfriend, Cleo discovers all is not what it seems on the Big Island of Hawaii. But will she figure out the truth before she becomes the next victim. Excerpt As I was musing ‘what ifs’, my eyes drifted to an intense mountain of a man in a red shirt so saturated with color I expected it to drip onto his jeans. The almost-to-the-elbow sleeves revealed ropey forearms the color of a dried kukui nut. The bones in his broad face, made me think of a tiger, not traditionally handsome, but arresting. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Almost as if he could feel my scrutiny, he turned his head and looked directly at me. My pulse quickened and I froze - an impala trapped in the gaze of a predator. I couldn’t look away. A barely perceptible smile appeared on his face. He knew the effect he was having on me. Embarrassment gave me the strength to jerk my eyes down to my feet. What the hell was wrong with me? Maybe low blood sugar? I didn’t eat much breakfast. I risked a glance back at him. Damn, he was still looking at me with his self-assured smile. He greeted my glance with a hint of a nod and turned his attention back to the speaker. Flustered, I too looked back at the speaker, but I couldn’t make out what the guy was saying so I went back to looking at the crowd, carefully avoiding the red-shirted predator. There were a lot of locals who I didn’t know, but I saw Rikki and Gina standing together. No sign of Kawika, Gina’s cop-husband. I would have thought the police would want to come to the funeral as part of an investigation now that they suspected foul play.  About the Author DK Coutant graduated from Davidson College with a Psychology degree, and applied her behavioral training at Sea World, training dolphins and whales. Realizing that scrubbing fish buckets might get old, she went back to school and earned a Ph.D. in Psychology. Her academic career began at the University of Southern Maine before DK made the jump to the University of Hawaii at Hilo rising to Department Chair of the Psychology Department. After many happy years in Hawaii, DK made the move out of academics to become a professional geopolitical forecaster for GJP, Inc ( https://goodjudgment.com/Inc ) and INFER ( https://www.infer-pub.com/). Evil Alice and the Borzoi is her first work of fiction published by The Wild Rose Press.
 Today, I'm proud to welcome author Kathleen Jae! Her new murder mystery Island Times Three just launched yesterday and it looks SO GOOD! But before we get to the book, let's get to know this talented author a little better. Welcome, Kathleen! 1) What sort of books did you enjoy reading as a child? Did you have a favorite book or series? Thank you for having me, Anastasia! I adored the classics: Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty, The Wizard of Oz, Treasure Island, Peter Pan, etc. I also loved Scholastic Books—especially those about horses. I couldn’t wait until my book order arrived at school! 2) What sort of books do you enjoy reading nowadays? I don’t seem to have much time to read for enjoyment as I’m researching the sequel to my current book. When I do find time, I’ll read one of my vintage books on nature, decorating, cooking and home improvement I’ve bought at a local library book sale. 3) Around what age did you realize that you liked to write? And when did you know that you wanted to write books? My earliest attempt at writing was a comic book about a couple of birds called Pepper and Salt at age 10. Some years later I began writing for a local wildlife rehabilitation group. I rehabbed Eastern cottontails at the time and wrote stories for the monthly publication. Soon after, I became a reporter for the local newspaper and also wrote a semi-monthly column. I was allowed to write about anything I wanted, and it was then I thought I might want to write a book. I wrote it in longhand but never finished it (I still have the notebooks and from time to time pull them out and transcribe some pages). 4) What’s the first thing you wrote that you remember being proud of? I’m most proud of my first book, From Prompting to Shaping to Letting Go. It’s a memoir/biography of my daughter’s journey from her autism diagnosis to age 27. That is awe-inspiring. I get emotional making a scrapbook! 5) Tell us about the creative force within you. What inspires you to write, to create? I think it’s knowing I am able to actually write a book. For years, I thought it would be impossible to do. I thought I didn’t have the imagination or know-how. And even when I began my first novel, Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, I wasn’t sure how I would fill up the pages. I knew the beginning and the end—they never changed. I didn’t outline that book and wrote it in sequence. 6) What’s your writing space like? My husband finished off a room behind the garage, and I was going to use it as a painting studio, but I decided to focus on writing instead. It’s out of the way and quiet. Besides my desk and chair, I share the room with some books, my computer and a sofa. 7) Do you have a favorite time of day to write? Any habits or little rituals that put you in a writing mindset? I’m up pretty early, but I can’t seem to start writing until mid-morning. I usually must down a few cups of coffee before I can plan out what I’m going to write or research that day. 8) Time to talk about Islands Times Three (rubbing hands together). But first, how did you come up with the idea for the series? Are there any interesting tidbits you’d care to share with us? I didn’t intend for Island Times Three to be a series. I had planned to write a book of short stories, and a historical story about a detective who helps a famous woman on a remote island was one of them. After I started writing, it was clear the story would need to be expanded to book length. In the beginning, Raymond was a 50-year-old, out-of-shape detective. I knew the story’s main location would be Sanibel Island, and I was going to incorporate the mosquito-control events that occurred there in the early ‘50s. I was also going to include something about buried treasure on the island, as some of the historical books I read alluded to this possibility. But after I talked with a local historian at the Sanibel Public Library, she convinced me no buried treasure existed, and I abandoned that plot line. I did, however, keep the plot historical as it takes place in April 1952.  9) Now let’s hear about Island Times Three. Raymond Gray is a Manhattan private investigator. He was a cop and detective for several years, and he owns a small agency near the East Village. He agrees to fly to Sanibel Island off Florida’s Gulf Coast to meet his newest client, Jane Girdlestone, who is staying with her daughter in a rented cottage. He learns his client is a famous Hollywood actress, and Raymond loses no time trying to find the blackmailer. The clues point to an elusive Cuban, but everyone is suspect, including Henry, the cottage’s caretaker. Raymond soon discovers the sparsely populated and remote island is the perfect backdrop to pull off a blackmail scheme—or worse! Wow! It sounds amazing! 10) I comprehend that you’ve just recently published a book. Still, I can’t help but ask – do you have anything waiting in the wings? Yes, I’m doing research for the next Raymond Gray novel in the series, with a working title of The Numbers Runner. 11) Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? I have two other books out, The Elanora and the Salt Mystery Study Guide for Teachers and Parents, and An Amazing Manatee* Journal. The Study Guide conforms to Florida Standards. Because the manatee is an important character in Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, I decided to create a journal showcasing this gentle creature. I checked these out! I will be introducing Elanora and the Salt Mystery to my grandchildren! Links are below! Kathleen, congratulations on your new release! Thank you for sharing your time and talent with us. Thank you for this opportunity, Anastasia! And now, Islands Times Three!  His job was to protect her. The island had other ideas. What’s a Sanibel? From the time he accepted the job from a woman vacationing on the remote island of Sanibel off the coast of southwest Florida, Manhattan private investigator Raymond Gray should have known this would be no ordinary case. For starters, someone with knowledge of the woman’s secret must have followed her, and when the suspects begin to multiply, Raymond must turn to his trusted secretary to provide essential information to keep the woman and her teenage daughter safe. As the suspects and clues evolve, the goon at the center of his investigation remains a constant, but the puzzling addition of a mysterious woman throws the case in a new direction. As Raymond struggles with the possibility that simple blackmail could turn into something even more sinister, he realizes that the isolation that Sanibel Island brings is the one thing the goons depend on—and it’s the kind of setting that could ultimately sabotage his clients’ rescue. Island Times Three is at once a mystery novel and a historical narrative. The sparsely populated and isolated island of Sanibel in the middle of the 20th century is the heart of the story, and Island Times Three introduces readers to Raymond Gray, a Manhattan private investigator. This combination results in a gripping tale of blackmail and murder! Excerpt A figure suddenly emerged from the bushes, and in the darkness, Raymond made out the silhouette of a man holding a knife over his head. Jane blocked his line of sight as he withdrew his revolver, and the lack of light prevented him from getting a fix on the target. “Jane! Run!” Raymond yelled again, and he was glad she ran in the direction of Bailey’s, as that caused the attacker to run past him. They were running away from him now, but once again the attacker was situated directly behind Jane, and Raymond’s heart started to pound when he raised his revolver and realized he couldn’t get a clear shot. He raced toward them and fanned to the left. Christ! If only I had some light—any light! He could just make out the man was closing in on Jane, and Raymond could do nothing but keep running to close the distance between him and the attacker. Forty feet…thirty feet… The parking lot was suddenly as bright as day, and Raymond stopped, aimed his revolver and pulled the trigger. Available at Amazon.  About the Author Island Times Three is Kathleen Jae’s second novel. She has been writing in one form or another for almost twenty-five years. Her greatest success story is her daughter, Katie, whom she refers to as “my hero,” and their journey is chronicled in Kathleen’s first book, From Prompting to Shaping to Letting Go: My Love Affair With ABA and How Being a “Bad Mom” Helped My Daughter With Autism Succeed. In past lives, the author has been a proofreader, editor, newspaper reporter and columnist, newsletter writer for a wildlife organization and writer of stage plays and screenplays. Two of Kathleen’s short stories made it to the finals of the 2017 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award competition. Her first novel, Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery, was a 2021 Page Turner Awards finalist. Books by Kathleen Jae: Island Times Three Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery Study Guide for Teachers and Parents An Amazing Manatee* Journal From Prompting to Shaping to Letting Go: My Love Affair with ABA and How Being a “Bad Mom” Helped My Daughter with Autism Succeed  Kerry Blaisdell's latest book Burying the Dead launches in just a few days. I am SO looking forward to this party! Lots of great authors will be celebrating with her. Readers, too. There will be games, giveaways, and more! Join her FB readers group Kerry's Kindred Spirits asap so that you don't miss a thing. In the meantime, I've scored a great interview with Kerry. I thought it would be the perfect time to learn more about her writerly ways and literary background. But first, CONGRATULATIONS, KERRY! This is so exciting!  Literary You Welcome, Kerry! 1) What sort of books did you enjoy reading as a child? Did you have a favorite book or series? Oh, man – too many to list. 😊 I of course started with picture books (is that too far back? LOL!), of which The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf was my absolute favorite. Looking back, I can see that may have been because Ferdinand did the unexpected – he didn’t cave to stereotypes, and just did his own thing. Today, my books are filled with “surprising” characters, who may seem one way at first, but turn out to be something entirely different by the end. I also had an early love of scary stories, especially The Monster at the End of This Book, starring Grover from Sesame Street. If you haven’t read it, it’s a must-read. 😊 And mysteries – I read Nancy Drew books by the time I was in Kindergarten or First Grade, then moved to Trixie Belden, and very soon, Agatha Christie, Michael Bond, Ngaio Marsh – the list goes on. And, when I was about four years old, I demanded that my parents read The Hobbit to me. I thought it was going to be about a frog 😊, and my mother was convinced I’d get bored in a few pages, but instead I *loved* it, and we ended up reading all the way through the LOTR books. I also had an early love of historical stories, which were contemporary when they were published, such as the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and L.M. Montgomery’s Anne series. Both of those started my love of romance in stories, as well, and by junior high school, I’d started reading full on romances, as well as fantasy, sci-fi, classics (especially anything by Jane Austen!), and mysteries. I enjoyed many of the same series as a child. But not Lord of the Rings! WOW! I didn't read those books until high school! But my grandchildren and I totally agree about The Monster at the End of the Book. 2) What sort of books do you enjoy reading nowadays? Oh, man – too many to list. 😊 Really, I still read in all the above genres, but… I have very little time to read anymore. Wah!!! Teaching full-time while also managing a writing business/career doesn’t leave room for much else, especially during the school year. But I try to read fiction that’s new to me at least 3-4 nights per week, and right now, I’m on a YA Urban Fantasy kick. I have an idea for a series in that genre, and am reacquainting myself with it after a few years away. 3) Around what age did you realize that you liked to write? And when did you know that you wanted to write books? Too young to remember. Seriously – I used to dictate stories to my dad from a really early age. He would write them down for me on coloring paper, and then I would illustrate the stories. 4) What’s the first thing you wrote that you remember being proud of? One of the stories my dad wrote down for me was about a princess who got bored with the prince and ran off with the dragon instead. He made a little book with the coloring paper, and bound it with twine, and I illustrated the pages. I found it a few years ago, and then lost it. I’m hoping it’s somewhere in the house, because my dad died twenty years ago, and it was a beautiful memory of what a wonderful person he was. ☹ As for the story itself, it explains a LOT about my twisted, quirky writing style now! LOL That's so beautiful. Oh, I hope you find it. But what a wonderful memory. 5) Tell us about the creative force within you. What inspires you to write, to create? Anything, everything, nothing. I just write. I’ve always written, and not-writing is impossible. My father-in-law, who owned a used bookstore, said to me shortly after we met, “You’re either a writer or you aren’t.” I believe that wholeheartedly, and quietly think it to myself whenever someone says to me, “I want to write a book…someday.” That said, it’s hard sometimes (most of the time…), especially when I’m working on a new book, and trying to launch/promote the previous book, and those are two separate parts of my brain. I’m better at hyper-focusing on one or the other, so sometimes I have to make myself sit down and hammer out at least a few words, before reverting to “business” mode. 6) What’s your writing space like? I carved out a corner of my bedroom. I have a tiny desk, and I write on my iPad. I started doing that as an experiment during NaNo 2021 (National Novel Writing Month, where you try to write 50,000 words in 30 days). I really hate doing most things on the iPad, so I thought it would be less distracting, and I was mostly right! But I also discovered that I like the page-like view of the Word-for-iPad document, and it’s harder to constantly self-edit. I also put my writing Kanban board on the wall above my desk, and I have plotting boards on the wall next to me. I’m a very tactile and visual person (and a kinesthetic learner), and I discovered I like having physical sticky notes that I can touch and see and move around. It also helps me keep track of the myriad of details associated with an increasingly complex five-book series. And if I’m trying to get new words written, but have an idea for a future scene, or something I need to research, I can quickly sticky-note it, and then get back to actual writing, instead of going down an internet hole immediately. 😊  7) Do you have a favorite time of day to write? Any habits or little rituals that put you in a writing mindset? I’m more of a morning person, so I get up early. During NaNo 2021, I got up diligently at 4:00 a.m. every day and wrote for 2-3 hours before work. Now, without that pressure deadline, I still set my alarm early, but usually only get about an hour of writing in, due to the aforementioned promo/business stuff, and also my day job interfering with my writing goals. 😉 8) Time to talk about your latest release (rubbing hands together). But first, I confess to being really curious about the name of the series – The Dead – and the titles that follow. Can you tell us a little about that? How did you come up with the idea for the series? I’ve always been fascinated by the supernatural, especially ghosts and magical or mystical beings, psychic abilities, tarot cards, palm-reading – all the “woo” stuff. (But weirdly, I’m more of a practical/logical person on the surface – I just trust my intuition/gut, and believe there’s more to the universe than we really know!) My bachelor’s degree focused on early-early Arthurian literature, which introduced me to the Celtic concept of The Otherworld, and the veil between us and it. Then, my father-in-law died somewhat unexpectedly, and we took the kids (in 4th and 1st grade at the time) down to clear out his apartment and his bookstore. I had had this idea for a book about the assistant to the Angel of Death, Michael the Archangel, whose job it is to deliver souls up to St. Peter in Heaven, or down to Hell, as appropriate. So my heroine was going to be the gatekeeper to the gatekeeper of the Afterlife, so to speak, and would be “debriefing” the dead, before passing them on to her boss. So that’s where the first book’s title came from, and since I envisioned it as a series from the start, I thought “the Dead” should be the series connector in all the titles. But other than that, I had no idea what the actual story would be. As we were dealing with my father-in-law’s death, I set up a chair in his backyard and started typing, and somehow, Hyacinth and her adventures came out. I’d say that first book in the series was almost 100% an unconscious expression of what Jennifer Crusie calls “the girls downstairs.” 😊 Book two was also pretty much pantsed (not plotted), but by book three, I had so many plotlines and important details in the mix, I had to at least do some rough planning, to make sure I didn’t screw anything up! 9) Now let’s hear about Burying the Dead! Where to start? 😊 This was my NaNo 2021 book (see above). Between WAKING THE DEAD (book two) and DAMNING THE DEAD (book three), I struggled to write. I had a lot of things in my personal life just completely blow up and explode and shatter, and then the world imploded. WTD was released in summer 2019, and my life fell apart in November 2019, then Australia burned up in January 2020, and we all know what happened next. ☹ It was a rough time, but I managed to finally finish DaTD and get it to my editor mid-2021 (basically, it took me two years to finish it ☹), then floundered when starting BTD. So, NaNo was a way for me to get out of my own head and just write-write-write. And surprisingly (or not! 😊) what came out feels, to me at least, like the best in the series so far. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but let’s just say Hyacinth makes some big decisions and comes to some important realizations. And we find out some stuff about Eric’s past finally! 10) I comprehend that you’ve just recently published a book. Still, I can’t help but ask – do you have anything waiting in the wings? You betcha! Lots!! LOL! I am working on the *next* Dead Series book, RAISING THE DEAD. But I’ve also got a completed Historical Mystery I’m contemplating self-pubbing, and the aforementioned idea for a YA Urban Fantasy novel/series. And I have a completed Romantic Suspense novel that I planned to revise and publish in 2019, shortly after releasing PUBLISH OR PERISH (August 2019), but then… see “life/world exploding/imploding” above. Oh – and I’m starting to record The Dead books into audio! So, I’m super excited about that, but… “the time, it is lacking,” as Claude Rousseau says in book one. 😉 I really need someone to pay me my full-time teaching salary, so I can stay home and write with my dogs. LOL! Audiobooks! That's exciting! I love listening to a great book while I take care of mundane tasks.  That cute little face! 11) Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? Nope! Pretty sure I’ve “talked” your ear off (written your eyes off??) already. 😊 Thanks so much for having me! Congratulations again! Kerry, thank you again for sharing your time and talent. Wishing you all the best! Thanks! You, too! 😊 Cheers! And now for Burying the Dead!  Sometimes, to stop the world from going to Hell, you have to work with Demons. Hyacinth Finch has one goal: Save her nephew Geordi from the Hell Demon who kidnapped him. But to succeed, she’ll have to work with his demon Mafia relatives, which she swore she’d never do. Worse, she’ll have to make another deal with the High Demons who murdered her. But Geordi’s life is worth it, even if she loses her own humanity in the process. Meanwhile, Hyacinth’s ghost boyfriend Eric is wasting away, after being ejected from his “borrowed” body. While digging in his past for something to make him fight for survival, she uncovers secrets that could destroy their relationship. Moreover, her feelings for Geordi’s demon cousin Jason are stronger than ever, though every morally impossible choice she makes drives him farther away. Can she save Eric and Geordi, without losing herself—and Jason—forever? EXCERPT from BURYING THE DEAD Now, as we approached the cemetery, I had to shift focus. We’d stopped at the hospital and found Bala much improved. Dito was embarrassed by his behavior, but she was so happy to see him that he managed an apology and they kissed and made up. Figuratively, but still. Jason didn’t act any different in front of her. After what we’d shared, I’d expected him to hem and haw a bit, but nope—nada. So maybe he’d told the truth about there being nothing between them. On his part, anyway. I couldn’t help noticing that Bala’s eyes cut to him often, but she always looked away before he caught her. Prior to the fight with Marchosias, she’d been a smartass, pressing my buttons and flirting with Jason at every opportunity. Now, she’d sobered. Her injuries were serious—the doctors had used the phrase “life-threatening” many times. So maybe the experience rearranged her priorities, making her realize what—or rather who—she really wanted. I didn’t know how I felt about that. My own feelings were confusing enough. But I was grateful for everything she’d done, trying to save Geordi, so if she loved Jason, maybe they should get a shot at making it work. She couldn’t be more messed up than me, and he deserved a chance at real happiness. Dito gave her hand a squeeze, then Jason leaned close and said something low in her ear that I didn’t catch. Her eyes widened, and she faced me. “Are you nuts?” Guess he’d told her the plan. “Maybe. If you have a better idea, I’d love to hear it.” “Nope.” Her gaze shifted to Jason and softened. “Be careful. Sharing your blood—your powers--with the Rousseaux’s in you—who knows what that could do.” “True,” he admitted. “But even I can’t see another way at this point.” She turned to me again. “He’s only doing this because you asked him to.” Jason cut in, “No, she didn’t. I offered.” Bala snorted. “Same difference. You’re doing it for her. Why?” The directness of the question showed she already knew the answer, and Jason reddened. “It’s…complicated.” “Yes,” she agreed. “It is. Have you told her the risks—like what could happen if you drain too much of your powers? Either into Stefan, or just from the process itself?” I frowned. “What does that mean?” “Nothing,” Jason said levelly, his focus on Bala. Something passed between them, and her eyes flickered black. Then her shoulders slumped and her irises faded back to blue. “Whatever. But she’s not one of us. Keep that in mind, while you’re doing her favors.” That stung, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t already thought about myself, and until I put out all the current bonfires in my life, I couldn’t focus on figuring out where I did fit in, so we said our good-byes and left. We found an unlocked supply closet, and I stood outside the door, while Dito went around a corner to stand watch there. Jason slipped inside to grab what he’d need for the blood draw, coming out again moments later, before anyone happened by. Something about it—the fact that he was stealing, from a hospital—gave me an attack of conscience, and I said, “You really don’t have to do this. Bala’s right. It’s too risky, and—” He took my hand, squeezing it. “Bala’s a worrier. It has nothing to do with you.” “Tell me what happens if you drain your powers.” “I won’t.” “But—” “I won’t. I’ll be fine. I want to help you, so will you just let me, for once?” I glared at him. “Stop being so damn—” He put a finger on my lips. “I swear to God, I’m not being nice. Niceness might be the last thing on my mind right now.” His thumb caressed the side of my mouth, and I fought to maintain control, to not lean into him and take what he so blatantly offered. “We have to go…” He blew out a breath and stepped back. “Fine. I said I wouldn’t press you. I just…I can’t help it, sometimes. I need you to know this isn’t a fling for me, and it scares the shit out of me. You scare the shit out of me.”  Meet Kerry Kerry Blaisdell is the bestselling and award-winning author of the acclaimed Dead Series, including DEBRIEFING THE DEAD and its sequels, which InD’tale Magazine recommends for “fans of shows like ‘Constantine’ or ‘Supernatural.’” She also writes award-winning Romantic Suspense (PUBLISH OR PERISH, a Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize Quarterfinalist) and Historical Mystery. She has a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Comparative Literature (French/Medieval English), and a Master’s in Teaching English and Advanced Mathematics from University of Portland. Kerry lives in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest with her family, assorted animals, and more hot pepper plants than anyone could reasonably consume. To connect with Kerry online, join her Facebook Reader Group (http://bit.ly/kerryskin), or subscribe to her Very Occasional Mailing List (https://www.subscribepage.com/kerrysvoml) and get TWO free downloads! https://linktr.ee/kerryblaisdell Don't forget to join the RELEASE DAY CELEBRATION for Burying the Dead! January 16!  Some people make the world so much better with their kindness, their generous spirits, their light. I am pleased and honored to be spotlighting the new work of just such a soul, Cadhla Logan. She has designed an absolutely gorgeous, lined journal filled with beautiful, inspiring quotes.  ‘Love, Cadhla’ is a new release from Mad Mountain Publishing. This 5x8in paperback edition consists of 500 Quotes formatted within a Celtic-style journal designed by Cadhla Logan. For the past eight years the Dublin, Ireland lass has worked with Irish Heath and Bog, an independent publisher with several Bestsellers in its catalogue, most notably the long-running Calendar For Writers Series. Cadhla primarily designs book covers and interiors, edits, and produces commercial animations. She also writes fiction and screenplays. Her book, Magdalene Mountain will be published in early 2023. ‘Love, Cadhla: 500 Quotes on Love and Kindness in a Lined Journal’ is a joint effort by Cadhla, her beloved Gran and, she adds, her cat, Mix. They live in Gran’s small cottage in North Dublin, just across from the Irish Sea. Collecting quotations has been a lifelong love of Cadhla. She reads widely and lists Akhmatova, Tolstoy, Balzac, and Zola among her favourites. Beckett is her most beloved Irish author. She has collected all of his books and plays. As for James Joyce, often the Irish writer so many think of immediately, the only work of his she found readable and loved was The Dubliners.  As for the book itself, it is meant to be a thought-provoking journal: read quotations from hundreds of books from over the years and write your ideas, feelings, either good or bad or a mix of the two…. it’s a book meant as a quiet companion, there when you need it. The format itself is eclectic, like the lass herself, quotes here and there amid the lovely, Celtic-themed pages. The cover is an amazing fantasy piece by Willgard Krause, an artist in Saxony she met online. Cadhla fell in love with the photo immediately and the artist graciously granted her permission to publish it. She redesigned the colouring to match her own style and the feedback has been tremendously positive… especially from Willgard! PARTIAL LIST OF AUTHORS INCLUDED: Balzac Beckett Yeats Malraux Baudelaire Forster Colette  FOREWORD: Like many children, I grew up within a difficult family. I tried everything to escape, physically and mentally. I remember thinking I must have the worst pain in the world to bear, trapped amongst these people with their quarrels, fights, accusations, hatred. Abuse seemed to know no end, my physical scars still visible on my face even today. But there were good days, those when I escaped into my books. How I loved moments of peace and life within those fantasy worlds and long-past times, how I wanted to be left there, far from the turmoil I could do nothing to make better, much less to end. The local library and a bookshop inside an elderly lady’s cottage, became my favourite haunts, my sanctuaries. I loved reading but I found it difficult to concentrate. Memorizing was almost impossible, but I started writing things down to read over again later… and this is how I came to love and collect quotations. A handful of words, like a magical faery dust, would instantly transport me back to my happy childhood escapes. The quotes within are some my life-long favourites, and Gran shares a few of hers with you. You will see several by the same authors, also, please note, we decided to not create an artificial length to each section. There is a randomness that reflects that of our own lives, having little time for reading, we always feel so grateful to find a few moments to spend with a book. This book is not meant to be read straight-through, but over days, weeks, months. We hope you enjoy our collection and, too, that these words perhaps will speak to someone and give them the comfort they seek and that they once gave me. It is never too late to craft yourself a safe and happy future…you just have to find the words to inspire the motivation you need. :> love, Cadhla, Gran, and Mix   Today, I’m delighted to welcome Author Randy Overbeck. Talk about suspenseful books! I have so many questions! But first, welcome Randy! Thank you for sharing your time. I really appreciate the opportunity. You know we authors are always glad to have an audience. Before we get to your writing and your latest release, Scarlet at Crystal River, won’t you tell us a little about yourself? Well, I’m a long time educator, serving children as a teacher, college professor and school leader for almost 40 years. For the past ten years, I devoted much of my time to writing , an avocation I’m finding I enjoy almost as much as I did helping children learn. My wife and I have been married for 50 years and we have three great kids (adults now) and are blessed with seven remarkable grandkids. Your books are adding up! You’re working on your fourth now, aren’t you? And it hasn’t taken you very long to write them. I stand in awe. Actually I’m shopping my fifth and I’m working on my sixth. My first published novel, LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND, was published in 2011. It is a thriller about a terrorist cell which takes over a high school and the teacher and volunteer who battle the intruders. More recently, I’ve penned three paranormal mysteries in my Haunted Shores Mysteries series, released in 2019, 2020 and 2021. And I’m shopping my fifth, an amateur sleuth mystery, which may well be the start of a new series. It all sounds amazing. You are prolific! Do you have a favorite time and place to write? Actually, I’m very lucky. I can write almost anyplace and almost anytime. I carry my computer with me and I squeeze in time anytime and anyplace I can—waiting for my car being worked on, sitting in a doctor’s office, grabbing lunch or dinner alone. But I’m quite blessed to have a great office to work in, with a huge L-shaped wooden desk, a large monitor (my eyesight is not as good as it used to be) plenty of research documents and a beautiful view out the wide windows. I find I do some of my finest work there. A perfect setup! You have a great, bookish podcast, too. Please tell us about it. It’s called “Great Stories about Great Storytellers” and in each episode, I share the inside story of famous authors, poets and directors. So far, I’ve profiled greats like John Grisham, Agatha Christie and Walt Disney. Maybe the best way to explain it is this. One of the reviewers called it “Paul Harvey’s The Rest of Story” for famous storytellers. But your readers would have to be a certain age to get the reference. Basically, I give the weird and unusual backstories most people don’t know about the famous storytellers they do know. The podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, iHeart radio, Apple podcasts, etc. and I’m working hard to build my listener base. And now, for your books! I’ve enjoyed getting to know you through our publisher, The Wild Rose Press. You always encourage fellow writers, cheer us on, offer help… For someone with such a positive and sunny disposition, your books seem to be, well, bone-chilling! Ghosts! Murder! Eeek! How did you come to write paranormal thrillers? My first book in the series didn’t start off as paranormal. A few years ago, I was attending a writer’s conference and sat in on a session about ghost hunting. Skeptical at first, I was so taken in by what I learned that session (and the remarkable amount of research and scientific manner of the process), I decided I wanted to find a way to include a bit of “whoo-hoo” in my tales. Like everything else I write, I’ve done extensive research into ghosts and have included slivers of what has been documented about them in my tales. I’m only afraid of the dark after I’ve read something scary. Then, I’m turning on lights before entering rooms! Clearly, you’re not so easily intimidated. But does your writing ever keep you up at night? The writing yes, the subject no. Let me explain. My stories are a bit scary but not terrifying. I’ve worked hard to make the portrayal of ghosts as realistic as possible—which, based on the bulk of paranormal research that been done, tells us ghosts are usually not scary. (Apologies to Steven King and Dean Koontz). However, there are many nights when I lay my head on my pillow and my mind will not stop racing through language and ideas about my latest writing project. Most times I try to fall asleep figuring I’ll remember it in the morning—if it’s important. But there have been many nights I have to get up, get down on paper (okay, computer) what’s rolling around in my brain before my mind will let me go to sleep. Please tell us about your Haunted Shores Mysteries and especially about your latest release, Scarlet at Crystal River. SCARLET is the third entry in my series and was the most fun to research and write. In this story, Darrell Henshaw, history teacher and researcher—and ghost whisperer—and his new wife Erin have arrived in Crystal River, a beautiful old Florida town on the Gulf coast at the start of the Christmas holidays. They want only to have a great honeymoon, jog on some of the scenic trails, swim with manatees and enjoy seafood at the great local restaurants. However, the ghosts of two murdered migrant children have other ideas and haunt Darrell, asking for his help to find justice for them. Darrell, a man who has dedicated his life to children, can’t ignore them and begins researching what might have happened to the two kids. His research leads him to an amazing young artist, a mega-agribusinessman and eventually to a migrant camp. However, there are those who don’t want Darrell to discover the truth and will do almost anything—including murder—to keep their secret. I’m thrilled that SCARLET, like the first two in the Haunted Shores Mysteries series, has won three national awards and garnered scores of five star reviews. Oh, and did I mention, it’s a Christmas mystery, perfect for that reader who’s looking for a Christmas tale with a great deal of suspense, a bit of romance, incredible scenery and just the right amount of whoo-hoo. Before we go, would you tell us just a little bit about the book you’re working on now? We can keep a secret. My newest writing project is one unlike anything I’ve tried before. I’m working on a historical suspense (with romantic elements, probably) set during the Revolutionary War. Without giving too much away, I’ll simply say that the heroine is a teacher (of course) and that she will make a significant contribution to helping turn the tide against the British in the war. The writing is requiring an immense amount of research—which I love—and is a major challenge for me. I’m only about a third of the way into the tale but I’m excited to see where this leads. Stay tuned. We absolutely will stay tuned! Is there anything else you would like to share with us? Landing my BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE at Wild Rose Press has introduced me many talented young (and not so young) writers like you. I’ve enjoyed working with them and love the way we support each other. I’ve found WRP to be a great home for me, my hero Darrell and a few ghosts who came along for the ride. I agree. My experience with The Wild Rose Press has been wonderful. Randy, thank you for joining us today. Your books get such great reviews. I wish you continued success. Thanks, Anastasia for hosting me. I’ve been thrilled and humbled by the tremendous response my books have garnered and I’m delighted to have a chance to share my stories with my readers.  Dr. Randy Overbeck is a best-selling author of the award-winning series, The Haunted Shores Mysteries, each a cold case murder mystery wrapped in ghost story served with a side romance, set in a beautiful resort location. He is the author and voice of a new podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations, “Thanks Still Go Bump in the Night” and “A Few Favorite Haunts” with audiences all over the country. More info about his novels, programs and podcast can be found at his website.  A cold-case murder mystery wrapped in a ghost story served with a side of romance all set in a beautiful resort location You get it all in the award-winning SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER. Christmas time, 1999. All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. But his carefully laid plans go sideways when they discover a hidden painting of two young Latino children, which turns out to be haunted. Is Darrell willing to derail their entire honeymoon in this perfect, quiet corner of the world to unravel the mystery of the children's deaths?  Excerpt
Darrell ran harder, finishing the loop and circling back to Erin. She was so engrossed in her paperback he managed to sneak up behind her. He leaned and in and grabbed another long kiss. She kissed him back, smiling. “Now that’s better than a little fictional romance.” She got up and stretched her long legs. “You ready for some waves?” he asked. “If you’re up to it, let’s do a mile or so on the sand first.” “You’re on.” Darrell gave a gentlemanly wave of his hand. “I’ll race you.” Erin took off like a shot, and Darrell hurried after her. Since the beach was small, they covered the same ground Darrell had a few minutes earlier, passing the family sandcastle builders, another jogger, and the same strolling couples. As usual, she was quick, and he had to hustle to keep up, using some fancy footwork to sidestep sunbathers as they ran. When they got to the north end of the beach where Darrell had turned to double back, Erin headed for a little spit of land that strutted out into the water. He looked beyond and saw what she was headed for. Accelerating, he passed her. Ahead, at the far end of the beach, a pair of young kids, he’d guess about six, sat in the sand as the waves rolled over their legs. Their small hands busied with a primitive sandcastle. One had long, brown hair tied into pigtails, and the other had a full head of brown hair, unkempt and in need of a trim. He came up to them and stopped, Erin a few seconds behind. The kids wore street clothes, not swimsuits, but he didn’t think much about it. Then he noticed something about the young boy. His right leg was stuck out at a grotesque angle, as if it had been broken and never set. Both kids giggled at the gurgling water that rolled up around their bare feet and pooled in the makeshift moat they’d dug around their sand creation. The castle was crude, a nearly round construction with seashells sticking up like turrets. The two kids glanced up, caramel eyes wide and pleading with half smiles of white teeth. In unison, they said, “Ayudaños?” “Huh?” Darrell said. “Cute castle, huh?” Erin stared at the sand and looked up at Darrell. “I wonder who made it?” Her eyes roamed around the area. “Out here on this spit of land it isn’t going to last very long.” “Those kids—” he started, pointing to the pair. When he looked down, the sandcastle sat alone, the gulf water flowing around the construction and into the crude moat. His glance darted out to the waves, thinking they’d abandoned their work and ran into the water, even in their street clothes, though he wondered how the boy could have run. No girl or boy. Oh, God! The same two kids? “You vill have two visitors.” “What’d you say?” Erin asked, her gaze meeting his. The ghosts. Erin hadn’t seen them! Shit, he couldn’t tell her. Not now. Not here. “Nothing,” he managed around the lump in his throat and glanced back down at the sand. There at his feet, the crude sand construction they’d been working on, complete with the three blue seashells sticking out of the top, sat alone on the sand. He reached down and grabbed one of the small seashells as the prickle on his neck returned and sizzled. Then he sensed something else, something ominous. No, not ominous, malevolent. More of Natalia’s warning came back to him. “I see a malevolence, a great danger lurking nearby.” A big wave rushed in, rolling over their ankles and leveling the mound of sand, leaving the beach empty. As if nothing had ever been there. “¡Ayúdaños!”  Today, I’m pleased to welcome Karen Pennington, lay minister, blogger, podcaster, and author. Karen, welcome and congratulations on your recent publication, An Anointed Mess, Discovering the Daily Adventure of Grace. I just love that title. But before we talk about the book, will you tell us a little about yourself and your mission? You have such a fresh and down-to-earth approach to Scripture. Thanks so much. I’m always grateful for the opportunity to share my story and my heart. About me… I have a lot of words, but at the risk of sounding redundant, I could sum myself up using only two of them: anointed mess. I feel very flawed, yet beautiful. I have lots of issues, yet I sense and claim God’s favor upon my life. I am so messy that I can’t even tell you where my iron is, let alone the last time I used it. And yet God continually works this mess that is me into a masterpiece of a life. The key for me is to remember that it’s about God’s the artist. I’m just the paint. To be more specific, I have four passions in life: The God of scripture, family, friendships and clearance sales, in that exact order. I currently live in Jamestown, NY with my husband of nearly 20 years and boyfriend of nearly 22 years (same guy), Ben. I still think he’s hot. We adore our daughter Ali and her husband Baker. And don’t even get me started on our granddaughter Amelia. She’s just about the best thing ever, or at least the best thing in 2,000 years. Beautiful -- and I completely understand about grandchildren. They really are grand, aren't they?  I just finished listening to the latest episode of Daily Adventures in Grace. Your podcasts feel so warm, welcoming, and honest. They’re like a cozy chat with a friend and, like the best of chats, there’s always a valuable takeaway. Do you usually plan your podcasts or are they straight off the cuff? Is there one aspect of podcasting that is more challenging for you than others? I feel sure that for your listeners, the topics can be emotional – different ones for different people. Do your podcasts ever catch you off guard emotionally? Thank you so much for saying that. I sometimes think of my episodes as a little messy, and I am never quite sure if that comes off as a good or bad thing to those who listen. But it’s important for what I offer to come off as 100% me. I post every weekday, because my book claims that if we seek out the adventure of grace every day, then God will show it to us every day. So I felt the conviction to do just that. I do not think I have the right to challenge others to seek out God’s grace every day if I am not doing so myself. I always do some sort of Bible study or devotions right before I record, but that is not always what affects the subject matter. Sometimes the episode content comes to me after a few days of thinking things through as studying, or even as a conclusion after years of study and thought on a matter. Sometimes I read or realize something just minutes before recording, and I get so excited about what God has revealed to me that I just have to share it right then and there. Sometimes- and this sounds crazy- I will pray and begin with nothing more than a sentence or two in my head, completely unsure of where God is taking me. Those are the times I pray a little extra before I hit the record button, and I am often just as surprised as anyone else would be at what God draws out of me. It truly is a daily adventure for me. Your book, An Anointed Mess is uplifting, encouraging. How did you come up with the title? Was it the first one that came to mind? Like your podcast and blog, the tone is beautifully conversational and friendly. Please, share with us your heart’s feelings about this devotional. I ask because it’s clear your heart went into it. You might find it interesting to know that I started the first manuscript of the book about 15 years ago. I thought I was done six months later, but God had more to write in me, and I had much more to learn. I thought at first I could use God’s Word to answer some of life’s tough questions. But somewhere along the line it became more about honoring the journey itself, and rather than trying to tidy up life’s chaos, I began to appreciate the mess. I am not saying that we should not try to go through healing or seek out godly wisdom and understanding. But we don’t have to wait until our life’s problems are all solved (which does not happen on this side of eternity) to enjoy the grace and favor of God, nor to be used by God as an instrument of grace in others’ lives. The book title changed about halfway through the process. I can remember two distinctive conversations. One friend once told me this: “We woman may be a hot mess, but at least we’re hot.” And someone else commented that I always seemed to be going through some sort of a struggle in life. I think that second comment was meant as an insult, but it inspired me to own my flaws. Right there something in me connected the mess with the miracle. In my mind I linked it with the original biblical concept of anointing, which literally means to pour oil all over the head of someone who has been set apart by God for a special purpose. That’s super messy. That’s extravagantly beautiful. That’s me! I want the book to help other gorgeously imperfect people see themselves there too. Wow. Bravo! It's beautiful and brave of you to share yourself and your struggles in order to lift up and encourage others. Is there another book on the burner? Do you have special blogs, podcasts, or anything else planned for the holidays? Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I have A LOT of words, and I use them often. I blog about once a week. I do Youtube posts, which I convert to podcasts, about five times a week. I post daily Scripture verses, midday quotes on weekdays, and a smattering of resources, shares and just plain silly thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkIn, along with the occasional pictures on Instagram and Pinterest. I just wrote a short eBook devotional called “10 Healing Truths from God’s Word.” It is a free gift that I send out weekly to all new subscribers to my “Words of Grace” newsletter. This book forms the seeds of a longer, more in depth book I am developing called “Not Flawless, but Perfect: A Journey from Wholeness to Healing.” All of this, along with my personal contact information, can be found at my personal website, karenmariepennington.com. It all sounds wonderful. Thank you. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? As I mentioned at the beginning of this interview, I am just so grateful for the chance to share my story and my heart. Everybody’s story matters, and everyone’s life is an adventure, whether they know it or not. And God has amazing plans for everyone reading this. We just need to let God in. Thank you for joining us today, Karen, and for the wonderful, generous work you do. May God bless you in all your endeavors.  An Anointed Mess: Discovering the Daily Adventure of Grace by Karen Pennington Whether our struggles seem big or small, life changing, or merely mildly annoying, we generally just want God to take them away. But what if we changed our mindset to instead seek God’s grace in the midst of these difficulties? Author Karen Pennington considers grace the key to experiencing God’s victory, transformation, and peace in the everyday chaos as well as in the major life challenges. An Anointed Mess: Discovering the Daily Adventure of Grace will inspire you to not only seek God’s grace but also become a bearer of this heavenly gift, ultimately empowering you to manage life’s ups and downs with joy, faith, and integrity. Karen beautifully weaves personal experiences with biblical parallels and common burdens of today that intimately connect us with one another, such as anxiety, forgiveness, weakness, shame, and control. Engaging and easy to read, An Anointed Mess will benefit the reader as either a personal devotional or a group study. Each chapter includes insightful questions encouraging you to discover how God’s Word and grace intersect with your own story. Quotes from the book: The Bible is the world’s largest anthology of seriously messed-up people. I love that God’s Word does not merely outline a bunch of spotless, picture-perfect personalities and lifestyles that I could never attain. But the landscape of life is far richer than the peaks and lows, and the Lord is the architect of it all. We easily forget that the Lord has an extraordinary ability to bring about the most amazing results out of the most seemingly ordinary circumstances. I believe that God can grant any of us victory and peace right within the struggle, while at the same time constantly moving us forward in grace. As we learn to receive and live by God’s merciful power and plan, we become both witnesses to and bearers of heavenly grace. In fact, it shatters the powers of darkness in unspeakable ways when we choose to persist as warriors praising and worshipping God even when our emotions and circumstances beg us to retreat. We cannot in any way resemble God if we do not to some degree possess in our innermost core an intense yearning for what is good and right. As we come to God openly and honestly with whatever we feel, God will be faithful to walk us through it all, and even to work it all for our good. Sometimes it takes a total break to lead to complete healing and restoration. Available at Amazon.  ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A devotional blogger committed to seeking the excellence, fun, and wisdom of God in daily living, Karen Pennington also has written and published Christian magazine articles. Her career has centered on education and Christian ministry, including local, regional, and national lay ministries; curriculum development; and conference and seminar planning. Karen now enjoys substitute teaching and serving at her church. She and her husband, Bill, live in Jamestown, New York, and consider church and Sunday family dinners—with granddaughter Amelia (the light of their lives), daughter Aletha, and son-in-law Baker—the highlight of each week. Second to being in the presence of those she loves, Karen’s happy places are the beach and in the middle of a good clearance sale. For review copies and media interviews, contact: Karen Pennington Email: [email protected] YouTube Podcast   Her Royal Spyness is a thoroughly fun, clever, well-constructed cozy. Of course, it's by Rhys Bowen, so that's not surprising. I had hesitated to begin the series, not particularly excited to read about a "royal" -- it just didn't sound cozy -- but Lady Georgiana is a wonderful character. Georgie to her friends, she is only half-royal. Not only is she a great-granddaughter to Queen Victoria, she is also flat broke and has an independent streak. The combination makes for a comedy of errors and plenty of unusual circumstances, some, of course, involving murder.
The book, really, the whole series, gives us a glimpse of Britain's history in the 1930s. The supporting cast is absolutely funny and loveable -- her somewhat removed, but very glamorous actress mother, her socialite best friend, her cockney grandfather, and, of course, the delicious Darcy O'Mara. I listened to the book with Audible. Katherine Kellgren does a brilliant job with all the voices. She has an amazing talent for accents. Whatever the format, Her Royal Spyness is a fun and often hilarious escape. Highly recommended!   Richard Abbott’s Half Sick of Shadows: I love it and look forward to revisiting it often. It’s unique. It’s timeless and beautiful. It’s a historian’s romantic poem of the ages. It’s a classic. I’m immensely proud to introduce one of my favorite authors to my readers. Dr. Richard Abbott’s books range from historical fiction to fantasy to science fiction, and that’s when he’s not working on computer applications or walking the moors in England’s historic Lake District. Welcome, Richard. Before anything else, I’d like to congratulate you on your move from London to Grasmere. You are now living in Classic Writer Land! While of course I enjoy William Wordsworth’s poetry, I’m a lifelong fan of Beatrix Potter and have read so much about the beauty of the area. I’ve also enjoyed the photos from your travels that you’ve shared online over the years. Still, it has to be a major change from London. Has the transition been tough? What made you decide to make the move? Do you feel even more inspired to write? Anastasia! It's a real pleasure to be chatting today, all the way from this side of the Atlantic. Thanks for welcoming me to your blog, London to Grasmere - it's quite a change! In fact, there were also other transitions happening at the same time. As a place to live, there is no comparison between the two - even on a bad day, Grasmere is spectacularly more beautiful than north London. I do miss the accessibility of museums and such like in London, though of course with everything that's happened since March 2020 they would have been often out of reach, even though geographically close. But there were changes as well in my working life. I used to work as a software developer and tester as part of a team at various large firms: now I am one member of a very small family business (we run a guest house, pub, and micro-brewery). I still write software, but now I get to see the impact of it straight away, and it's great to be applying these skills at such a small level. The programs I write have so many more obvious benefits to us and our staff. But as perhaps some people reading this will know, there's always something else to do in a family business, and you have to be quite disciplined about time, just in order to do regular things like get out walking on the fells. So yes, some bits have indeed been tough... but worth it. As to what made me decide to make the change - well, there were a number of factors, some of which might well appear in disguised form in a future science fiction novel! But they are probably not suitable for today. Do I feel inspired to write while living here? Well, yes, definitely, especially with a project I have had in mind for a while which I'll talk about in a while. There is so much history here, right outside the doorstep - for example, Cumbria has more surviving stone circles and other ancient monuments than any other English county. Every time I get out to walk one of the nearby ridges I start thinking about how the surroundings - both natural and of human origin - might be incorporated into the plot. The problem is making enough time to write in the midst of everything else. You'd have thought that this year, with so much of it closed as a business due to our three national lockdowns (mid March - early July, most of November, and late December to now), would have been an ideal time. Since March, we've been closed more than open. But in fact those months have been hugely busy for all of us, with all kinds of decorating, preparation work, and in my case programming tasks which you simply can't do when you're open. This year has to have been the hardest any of us have ever worked on the business, and writing is one of the things which has had to take a back seat for a while. Hopefully, as things get back to whatever new normal we find ourselves in, that will change again. I certainly have no shortage of subjects to write about! But right now, there's a difficult tension between the desire to write, plus the inspiration provided by the surroundings, and the available opportunities. That is certainly understandable. I do hope that 2021 will be a good year for you and yours. As you know, I tied myself in knots over this interview. I had so many questions I wanted to ask that it was hard to pick and choose. You write computer code, but you also have a PhD, hence the jaw-dropping Triumphal Accounts in Hebrew and Egyptian. Why don’t we begin with you telling us a little bit about yourself before we get to your fascinating body of work? The PhD was studying poetry in the ancient world, and in particular how ancient Egyptian poetry might have influenced that of ancient Israel, back around about 1200BC. It sounds a bit rarefied, but it was a whole lot of fun. I originally thought I was going to work on something about the chronology of the ancient world, but once I began, I realised that poetry, and its potential cross-cultural influences, was a whole lot more exciting than the regnal dates of rulers. So I studied a lot of Biblical poetry, focusing mainly on the earliest pieces, and - to cut a long story short - concluded that those early pieces of writing were influenced by Egyptian writers and Egyptian conventions. Some of the ideas turn up in my historical fiction series, starting with In a Milk and Honeyed Land. Poetry and song are at the heart of those books. And in fact, music of one kind or another features pretty strongly in all my writing, so the experience obviously rubbed off., But not just music - in the historical books I tried to combine that with cross-cultural influences between the various people of the age. I think that interest which we share in what happens when different cultures intersect one another is what first brought us together as friends, Anastasia - it's a theme I have always enjoyed and appreciated in your own writing. What else? I have moved around a lot within England over the years, starting in childhood in the south, then moving into East Anglia when I went off to university, then into county Durham in the north-east after that. Somewhere along the way I spent a year in Seatlle, USA. And now here I am in the north-west, in a part of the country that over the centuries has forged close links with both England and lowland Scotland! Indeed, it was the last British kingdom to resist the Saxon invasion back in the days after the Romans left and before the Normans arrived. Dunmail, or more properly Duwnwahl, died in 975 in his last unsuccessful attempt to stem the tide, and can reasonably be called the last authentically British king. There's a ridge just up the road from here which is named after him, and a huge cairn of stones which, according to some stories, was first raised by his soldiers before that fateful battle. Back at university I studied math, and really enjoyed it - long ago I used to be a bit embarrassed to admit to that, but I've got more confident about it over the years. My working life as a computer programmer was heavily involved with AI in one form or another. One of my favourite projects from that time of life was working with the UK airports authority and Met Office on an AI program to estimate cloud and weather conditions at airports based on regular and infra-red pictures. Eventually I moved into writing programs for Amazon Alexa (called "skills" in their parlance), and I still try to find time for that every now and again. Some of these experiences have been recycled into parts of the background for my science fiction books - a major theme in the plot is how humans and AI individuals which I call personas form working partnerships and relationships. Right now in the real world we are not at the point where an AI could be a meaningful work partner to a person, though of course some people seem to treat their mobile phones as frustratingly sentient. But I reckon that within the next fifty to one hundred years we could be at that stage of development.  Sea of Galilee Your first published book, In a Milk and Honeyed Land, remains one of my favorite pieces of historical fiction. Your subsequent works, Scenes from a Life, The Flame Before Us, Man in the Cistern, and The Lady of the Lions are all set in the same area but not necessarily during the same time. Despite the truly ancient setting, you’ve brought the characters to life in ways that make it easy for us to relate to them. Your writing conveys a timelessness that I especially appreciate, as well as a strong, cross-cultural emphasis. What inspired you to write fiction set in such long-ago times? Please tell us about the books and your process – both research and writing. Well, I've talked a bit about the research process from a poetry and history point of view, but there was a lot of other stuff of an everyday nature. What kind of houses did people live in? What was their social and family structure like? And so on. The book is set in the period when, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites arrived into Canaan from Egypt. But I wanted to write the story not from the viewpoint which the Bible presents. but rather from the perspective of those who lived in that land - those who chose to associate themselves with these newcomers. But we know very little about how these people actually lived, outside of some rather ambiguous archaeological records. So I felt free to borrow something from other ancient world societies in order to put flesh on the bones, and chose to make that society a matrilineal one rather than patriarchal. So households belong to, and are maintained by, the women in a family and not the men. A man marries into a woman's family, rather than the woman leaving her household and going to the man. The woman of the house has the power to invite people in or shut them out. A number of cultures in the ancient world worked like this, but over the years, this pattern of society vanished. So as well as imagining what such a society might be like, those stories also explore how old values and habits of life are eroded, as newcomers and new ideas arrive and become dominant.  Any fiction gives us the opportunity to speculate on the might-have-beens, and to focus on people or places which were of no consequence to whoever was making and maybe writing history at the time. Now, some historical authors like to position their writing in places and times where we already know a great deal about what happened, or about people who were famous in their time - the powerful families of Tudor England, for example, or the infighting in the days of the Roman Empire. My preference is to pick times and places where we quickly run up against the boundaries of what we know, and therefore we have to set out into the unknown. I pick people to write about who were unremembered by the leaders and generals of their day. Damariel, the central character of those three books, is a village priest and scribe, and his concerns are for his family, his people, and those he loves. History won't ever remember Damariel or those like him, but we can enter his world through fiction. It makes it more like ordinary life, and, I think, helps to get more directly into the things which are timeless about human nature and relationships. Half Sick of Shadows – it has replaced In a Milk and Honeyed Land as my favorite of your works. It’s fun and profound all at once, not to mention hauntingly beautiful. It might be based on the classic poem The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but you’ve added a very different twist. You describe the novella as historical fantasy and so it is. But it’s still more. Would you call this twist New Age? Science Fiction? Religious? All three? Please share your feelings about this masterful work. I like Tennyson, and have used or alluded to his poetry in various books, though not usually so overtly as here! But of course the tale of Elaine of Shalott (or Astolat), goes back long before the Victorian fascination with it, at least to 13th century Italy and probably much earlier. It is part of the body of material about Arthur and his retinue, which though often inconsistent and difficult to place, nevertheless gives us a rich tapestry of lore which hovers somewhere between mythology and history. There's even a local connection to my new home here - one school of thought places Arthur's court up in the north of England. If correct, his men were doing vigil in the wild lands where Hadrian's Wall stretches between Cumbria and the North Sea, still marking out the furthest extent north of the Roman Empire. In this version of the tale, the Lady of the Lake, and Arthur's sword, came from Ullswater, a long lake a few hours walk north-west of Grasmere. When you see the morning mist hovering low over the water of the lakes up here, it is easy to believe that's where it came from, and to imagine a sword-brandishing arm emerging from below the surface. But Half Sick of Shadows is deliberately vague about geography, and readers are free to locate the events in north or south, just as they please. But you're right, Anastasia, I wanted to do more than just write a kind of medieval tragedy, and this brings us to the elements that are more like fantasy. And yes, I think there are New Age elements in there, with a deep love of the natural world which eventually leads to a kind of transcendence. I hope there is a religious dimension, though one which is expressed in different ways by various characters. For the Lady, it is a kind of personal quest for meaning and connection. For some of those around her, it is enacted in ritual and ceremony. But what all of those individuals want is relationship, of a deep and authentic quality. For most of the book, this relationship is thwarted and frustrated. So as well as the things you have mentioned, it is also a love story, of a kind. I think that it's my favourite of my own books as well. I loved exploring, however briefly, all those different periods of English life, in the ages before there was anything at all by way of written history. And inevitably it has made me wonder about the people in the book. especially the Lady - what have they been getting up to outside of the snippets of their lives I write about in Half Sick of Shadows? It's all too tempting to pick up their storylines in other books! I'm sure that your readers would enjoy learning more about the characters' lives! Moving on to science fiction! You’ve published Far from the Spaceports, Timing, and The Liminal Zone. I haven’t gotten to the series yet. Seriously, you make my head spin! But it’s not entirely surprising, considering your technical background. What made you decide to leap from the ancient, distant past into the future? Please tell us about the series. Hmmm, good question. I very much enjoy reading science fiction and that led naturally to writing it as well. But - just as with my historical fiction - I wanted to write about ordinary people, not space battles or galactic empires. So the first two books (Far from the Spaceports and Timing) borrowed heavily from some of my software work experience. The main character, Mitnash, is a kind of technical detective - he solves financial crimes using his skills, and works in close partnership with an artificial intelligence called Slate. Slate is not an android or robot - she's a persona, and is more like a very-much-advanced version of today's digital assistants such as Alexa, Siri, or Cortana. Slate very much has her own agenda, and sometimes disagrees about the best way to proceed, so Mitnash has to deal with her ideas and plans alongside his own... just like any pair of human coworkers. Most of the time they get on with the job in hand using their own resources, but they also have to decide who can be trusted among the scattered habitats across the solar system, and in particular near their home base in the asteroid belt. These books are set something like a hundred years in the future, by which time I suspect we will have little colonies on the more favourable (or profitable) planets and moons, but won't have any kind of travel between the stars, I hugely enjoyed writing about this imaginary future world, and hope to return to it again before long. The Liminal Zone is a little bit different - it's set a few years later in time, for one thing, and it's more of a first-contact book than it is about fraud in space. It's still the same world in the sense of people and AI assistants, but with a new set of characters to get to know. It's also, in some ways, a kind of follow-on to Half Sick of Shadows. I don't think I'll write another book specifically as a sequel to that, but I definitely want to do more exploration of that future setting. Through all of your different works, is there an underlying theme or concern? I thought a lot about this, and decided that there are a few themes that I keep returning to. One is the one that I have already mentioned - I like to look at the lives of ordinary skilled individuals, not "important people". Whether looking at the past or the future, I feel that human society and human relationships has lots of things in common. The surroundings may change, from Bronze Age villages to habitat domes on inhospitable planets or in the vacuum of space. Or the nature of surrounding cultures may change, from lands across the sea who speak different languages, to machine intelligence and the prospect of visitors from other star systems. But human nature is, I believe, a common factor, and in every age we have to decide how we respond to others, whether they have travelled from over the mountains or through space. Secondly, I love to include music! It is, I think, another common factor through the ages. So music, celebration, or dance appears in one form or another in all my books. Finally, I like to write so that readers get a sense of what it might be like to live at another place or time. That's fairly normal for historical writers, I think - we all want readers to be able to put themselves into the story, even if at the start of the book we don't know much about the place and time. But it applies to my science-fiction writing as well. Parts of Timing are set on a moon which is very fragile - the ground under the residents' feet is, quite literally, at risk of breaking up. How would that affect your everyday life, if all the time you knew you couldn't really trust the surface you walk on? The Liminal Zone is set out on the moon of Pluto, hugely distant from the comfortable warmth of Earth. A planetary year out there is about 250 years long - things move very slowly, out in the darkness there. How would it affect people's conscious and unconscious lives to be constantly aware that they are right on the edge of what is known? I love that sort of question. Considering our uncertain times, it seems a very relevant question to explore. Before we go -- dare I ask – what are you working on now and what is on the horizon? Well, up until about three months ago I was sure that I was going to write a follow-on to Timing, which would close off the original science-fiction trilogy. I still have the first few sections of that off to one side, waiting in the wings. But in fact another project has pushed its way to the surface - a return to much older history than before, and with a local twist. Just over three miles as the raven flies from where I am sitting, or maybe six if you walked the footpaths across the open fells, are the Langdale Pikes. These are the very dramatic remains of an ancient volcano, long since worn down into steep crests around the rim of a central hollow. And amongst those Pikes a vein of very unusual rock comes to the surface here and there. Back in the Neolithic Age, that rock was prized for the manufacture of stone axes - axes from Langdale have been found all over the British Isles, hundreds of miles and many weeks of travel from here. Many were obviously treated as precious objects, maybe sacred ones, and were never actually used to cut anything down. So my current writing project - tentatively called Quarry - is a story about those peaks, the men who found simple rocks and transformed them into highly polished luxury items, and the nearby communities who benefited from their skill and wealth. There's not very much of Quarry written as yet, though the overall shape of the book is becoming clear in my mind. If all goes well, and if not too many other things intrude, I am hoping to finish it this year. We shall see! Quarry sounds amazing! In the meantime, it’s comforting to know that your books are available on many platforms. The links follow, as well as an excerpt from Quarry. Booklinks -- Most are on SALE this week,March 29 through April 5, at Amazon and AmazonUK! Website Blog Goodreads Richard also shares extracts and downloads on his website: Extracts from historical fiction Extracts from fantasy/science fiction General download page          Excerpt from Quarry by Richard Abbott There was noise in the heart of Ty Caroc, the open place at the centre towards which all the little huts faced. Bran was working at the first rough polish on one of yesterday’s finds: it was coming along, but even this initial buff would take half the morning. He laid the stone down. It would not be hurried, and he was both bored and curious, lured out by the early summer day. Through the open door he could see that the men were gathering, clustering around some focus that he could not quite make out. He got up, went across to join them. At the hollow centre of the group was Gavur mab-Ymelud, the trader, beside the little handcart he brought just after each full moon. He was watching the stoneworkers pull at this and that, arguing, speculating, negotiating. But Bran’s eye was caught not by the familiar, but the strange. A woman was behind the cart, tied to it with a length of rope around one wrist. She carried herself as though the tether meant nothing, and she remained silent, aloof. The men were carefully, studiously ignoring her, apart from quick glances when they thought the others would not notice. He looked more carefully at her. She was tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and reminded him of the women of his own island. And in the skin up the length of her arms, in little pinpricks and ink all the way from wrist to shoulder, were signs and symbols that he recognised. She had been taught herbs and plants, songs and spells, healing and story-telling, and she had been taught by somebody who signalled the training with the same marks that he knew from Inis Mon. Possibilities circled around him. “Bran! Join us, my friend. See what I have for you today.” Gavur was affable, confident. Bran glanced in the cart but saw nothing that he needed. “No rope?” “Not this time. Next, perhaps. How much were you looking for?” He gestured with his hands, then pointed to the woman. “About twice the length as you have used to keep her with you.” Prental, on the other side of the cart, straightened and laughed. “Don’t take your chances there, Bran. Stick with the women at Dolgolvan. Even that Melen who you favour, though I can never think why. This one here sounds too much like hard work. Not worth it.” Gavur shook his head. “She could be a nugget of gold in a mountain of scree for one of you. Lindirgel is what she calls herself, but, just as true as I’m standing in front of you, my honest belief from my journey here alongside her is that she should be named Bronwen. Who’s interested in her?” The woman looked scornfully around the little group. “Who’s interested in me? Don’t any of you think that I’m an easy take. The man who lays his finger on me unasked will regret it ever after. I’ll so freeze the manhood within him that he’ll never lie with a woman again. His heart will fail at the sight of a breast, and his pride will go weak at the thought of a thigh. Whether by day or by night, whether in the hills or the valley, whether this year or the next, my curse will follow at his heels, and my words shall never be away from his side. And even my little sisters in Dolgolvan will mock him if ever he goes to them again.” They drew a little away from her. One or two turned their backs. Brogat shook his head. “She should be called Bron-suraf, not Bron-wen. I’ll have nothing to do with her. None of us should. You keep her, Gavur, and try your luck with her over at Lug Laesach. Anywhere away from here.” There was a murmur of agreement, a hardening of attitude. Bran walked across to her. Having not so long ago joined the men of Ty Caroc, his sense of community with them had never fully settled. The exchange had scattered it again. Moreover, he admired her solitary defiance, and the clear signs of wit and training that she showed. I’ll chance it. Some of the men murmured behind him, but he ignored that. She looked at him distantly. She was only very slightly shorter than him, and her bearing was proud. It would, he thought, be easy to feel dismissed by her. He nodded his head in greeting. “I am Bran of Inis Mon.” She looked sceptical, having listened to the way he used his words. At a guess, her home was close to the other island called Mon, the one almost joining the mainland. “Mon Allan, I mean, not Mon Mewn. Is Lindirgel your given name?” “Lindirgel mer-Crechidh. From the coastland beside Avon Ogwen, and the hill behind my village looks over at Mon Mewn.” He nodded. He had never heard of her river before, but he could imagine where it was. “I know where you mean.” He turned to Gavur. “Loosen her for me, if you will. I accept responsibility for her.” Gavur leaned on his cart and ran a hand through his hair. “If she’s what you’re looking for, then that’ good enough for me. But she’s trade goods, not a gift, my friend. We have yet to agree a fair exchange.” Fin, headman of Ty Caroc and one of the oldest men there, stepped forward, clearing his throat. “Bran, let’s you and I have a crack about this. Before anything’s done that’s not easily undone.” He took Bran’s arm and led him away from the group. Gavur watched them go, his eyes thoughtful, and then busied himself with items that the other men wanted from his cart. Bran let himself be taken behind the nearest hut, out of sight of the others. “You’re a good lad, Bran, and I’d not like to see you do something that would divide the men. I’ll not have them all set against one another because of some stranger coming in.” “That’s why you’re our headman, Fin. I’m content with that, and I’ll do nothing to upset it all.” Fin looked at him, steadily, for a long time without speaking. “Then why do this? You know that we don’t have women living out here with us. Dolgolvan’s for that.” “That’s not altogether true. Lewenidh lives with Avank. Cowann has Salis to help. Why should this be any different?” ^“To be sure. And Cornigil beds at Gwovan’s house. But those are not the same at all. Gwovan lost the use of a leg in that rockslide. Avank is easily old enough to be your father, and has earned respect and an easy life. And Cowann, though he’s a fine stoneworker, would mislay his own fingers if he didn’t have somebody alongside him. But you? You know it’s not the same. You owe nothing to this woman, and with Gavur you have no debt. Tell me why you do this.” Bran paused, marshalling his thoughts. “I think she has a talent I can use.” The older man shook his head, then leaned very close to Bran, his shrewd eyes bright in the afternoon sun. “It’s a talent for making division that she has, that’s what it’ll be. I don’t understand why you’re set on this. Let go of her again, and satisfy yourself at Dolgolvan.” “That’s not why I’m interested in her. I’ll still come along with you all at the quarter moon. So tell me straight: do you forbid it? If you do, I’ll maybe challenge your word.” Fin sighed. “No, lad. You’ve heard what I have to say about it. If you’re set on this, I’ll not forbid it. It is what it is.” “But you don’t like it?” “I can’t say that I do. And you’ve seen how the men look at her after that little speech of hers. What if they turn against you because of her? And listen now: if that happens, I’ll not hesitate to put you away from us. Outside Ty Caroc. Are you so sure now that it’s worth it?” He studied Bran again, then shook his head slowly and released him. They went back to the cart. Most of the other men had dispersed by now, and Fin followed them, striding away towards his own hut. Gavur beamed when he saw that Bran remained. He glanced this way and that, and seeing that nobody had stayed to dispute the matter, loosened the rope and handed the free end to him. “You’ll not regret this, not at all. Take your time, Bran, and we can settle the exchange next time I come by.” He turned and left with rather unseemly haste, pushing the cart away down the track that hugged the valley side. Bran looked at the woman, untied the rope from her own wrist and gestured towards his hut. She went ahead of him, ducking under the low door-lintel. She looked around the room, a quick, thorough glance which, he felt, absorbed all there was to know about his habit of living. Then she turned back and looked very directly at him. “If you’re thinking that what I said to the others applies any the less to you, you’re wrong. You with your honey words about knowing where my home is. Anybody might say that, and until I’m convinced you mean well, I’ll do the same to you. Don’t use me badly, if you have any care for your own future.” He shook his head. “You’ll get no demands from me.” “So why take me into your home?” He picked up the rock that he had begun to fashion earlier. It was the right size – nearly as long as his forearm, elbow to wrist – and not far from its final shape, but otherwise was scarcely begun. It still looked dull, rough, and betrayed all too clearly how recently it had been teased out from other rocks. “When I’m done with this it’ll be polished smooth, and have a rare shine on it. You’ll near enough see your face in it. But it takes longer than I’d like to prepare – much too long, in fact. That little princess there will take me the better part of a month, mixed in with other jobs. Just now it’s as unformed as a newly caught baby, hidden inside its mother while its true shape comes onto it.” He put the embryonic axe down again. “This’ns right at the start. I’ve done the prayers and the chants for taking her from the mountain, but I’ve not even decided on her name. Look now: you’ve got skill and you’ve had training: I’m thinking that you can help me find a quicker way to turn it out.” “So you want me to work for you on these bits of rock. Just to turn them into axes. Just to cut things down. And what’s wrong with the men all around you? Can they not already do this for you?” He grinned. “The men here? They’re good men, most of them, but they won’t change from the ways they were taught, the ways that have always been used. But I have a fancy that you and I could work together to change some of that. You with your talent and me with mine. You’ve learned things that maybe I can use. When once you’ve seen one of these little things truly finished, you’ll see why we do this. These axes are worth more than jewels, and they’ better than gold or silver. People up and down the land, people who live beside the other seas, east and south, they all want these. Not to cut down trees, and not to cut down their enemies. They want them because they are things of rare beauty. They join the sky and the earth, the earth and the underworld, and they take up the qualities of all of them. You’ll see. I’ll show you every step of what I do. We’ll start with the naming tomorrow. But, look now, it’s slow work. Help me do it faster, better, neater, and together we can get more of these bits of rock out to where they’re wanted.” She turned and looked at him curiously. “You sound quite eloquent about it all.” She paused, looked around the room again, assessing the full places and the empty, the tidy parts and the untidy. “Swear to me that I’ll not be harmed by you, and I’ll work on this with you. We’ll see where it goes. But our first job will be to change the way you organise your house.” He picked up one of his tools, nicked a finger with the sharp edge so that a drop of blood welled out onto the table. “I do so swear. And yes, change the house however you like. And after all you said today out there in front of everyone, I’ll ask you to share my house, and my table, and my tools, and my plans, and my food. But I’ll not ask you to share my bed, and I’ll come and go as I please without asking you first.” A shadow of a smile crossed her face. She took the tool from him, drew blood from her own finger, and let it drip onto the little puddle of his.” “Then let it be so.”   “Danger. Threat. Mate.”
What a great addition to the Rabbit River Saga! Lone Wolf is intense from the very beginning, even before the main characters meet, and that intensity grows throughout the story. Jesse Wayne is a sexy sweetheart of a man. Throughout the series, his skills, loyalty, and honor, to say nothing of his sense of humor, have heightened every scene he’s in. He’s also achingly vulnerable, but that doesn’t stop him from doing whatever it takes to protect those he cares about. When the story opens, Jesse is in Mexico, on a mission to save his younger cousin Annabelle. He ends up saving Melissa, more than once. In fact, they save each other. Melissa is American, a down-to-earth, hard-working farmer – something I personally appreciate – who had eagerly seized an opportunity to improve a good friend’s family farm in Mexico. She’s totally unprepared for drug lords, human trafficking, kidnapping, and murder. It’s a good thing that Jesse is prepared. And he wants Melissa, needs her. From the first, he recognizes her as his mate. But unless they’re mated, he can’t tell her the truth about himself, about the People – and she has questions. How in the world will he convince her to accept him when she knows he’s holding back? These two have a lot to deal with. There is a sweet tension between them through much of the story. Melissa, especially, struggles with both fear and longing. Jesse, for his part, is battling the Sickness. Even though he knows that being with his true mate can save him, he doesn't want to force the bond. He loves Melissa. But time is running out. It’s not just the two of them, either. They have to save Annabelle, and they are dealing with very dangerous men. Lone Wolf is packed with action. The setting -- Elyce de Reefe’s descriptions of the area – makes everything easy to visualize. We, the readers, are there in the Chiapas. The slow-burn romance is well-paced and satisfying, culminating in an absolutely delicious Moonrise ceremony. The heartwarming homecoming is a generous bonus. This story made me smile and sigh. I look forward to spending more time with the Rabbit River pack and hope the next book comes out soon! |
A Little of This, a Little of ThatKeep me away from the wisdom that does not cry, the philosophy that does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children. – Gibran Khalil Gibran Archives
January 2025
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