Interview with Lindsey Fairleigh and Lindsey Pogue, Authors of After the Ending

Lindsey Fairleigh lives her life with one foot in a book—as long as that book transports her to a magical world or bends the rules of science. Her novels, from post-apocalyptic to time travel and historical fantasy, always offer up a hearty dose of unreality, along with plenty of adventure and romance. When she’s not working on her next novel, Lindsey spends her time reading and trying out new recipes in the kitchen. She lives in the Napa Valley with her loving husband and confused cats. You can visit Lindsey’s blog at lindseyfairleigh.blogspot.com.

Lindsey Pogue has always been a little creative. As a child she established a bug hospital on her elementary school soccer field, compiled books of collages as a teenager, and as an adult, expresses herself through writing. Her novels are inspired by her observations of the world around her—whether she’s traveling, people watching, or hiking. When not plotting her next storyline or dreaming up new, brooding characters, Lindsey’s wrapped in blankets watching her favorite action flicks or going on road trips with her own leading man. You can visit Lindsey’s blog at lindseypogue.wordpress.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Team Lindsey. Can you tell us what your latest book, After The Ending, is all about?

Lindsey Pogue (LP): With pleasure, and thank you for having us! There are a few non-conventional aspects to our book that we feel make it not only unique, but enjoyable to a wide variety of people. For starters, After The Ending is a post-apocalyptic story told in first person, but from two different perspectives–Zoe’s and Dani’s. I write for Zoe and Lindsey Fairleigh (LF) writes for Dani. The story begins with a deadly virus that infects everyone, including our characters and their loved ones. After the virus wipes out most of the human population, Dani and Zoe (best friends, mid-twenties) learn they are among the few who survived the pandemic. Although adult life has sent Zoe to the East Coast and Dani’s life is on the West Coast, their friendship is one of the few remaining things they have in the virus-ravaged world, so they embark on separate journeys to meet up with each other at a supposed safe haven, the Colony. It’s through their individual journeys that the reader can experience what our heroines see and feel as they discover what the world after The Ending is like and, in turn, discover more about themselves as survivors.

LF: From the get-go, we aimed to make sure the focus of After The Ending wasn’t entirely on the hardcore survival aspects of the post-apocalypse, but on the characters, specifically their personal struggles and relationships. The story highlights the undeniable power of friendship, love, and hope, and how they can make life worth living even when everything else is lost. There is romance, but there are also some definite science fiction elements, such as the spontaneous genetic mutations caused by the virus, leading to extraordinary abilities in survivors…or to insanity. We’ll be the first to admit that After The Ending was written with a female audience in mind–it’s very character-driven and the romance storylines aren’t negligible–but we have heard from male readers who enjoyed the book as well.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

LP: Our two leading ladies are very different in both appearance and mannerisms. Zoe is the more serious of the two friends–a determined, independent artist. She grew up in a dysfunctional family, which has made her closed off and generally bitter about life. Zoe is twenty-six years old, tall, has long black hair and teal eyes, both of which end up being important character traits as the story progresses. She has a good grasp on reality that helps her remain level-headed in most situations, but she’s also melodramatic, and that makes her seem a bit younger at times. One thing she is is determined. It both aids and hinders her throughout the story. Dani is the only constant thing in Zoe’s life, so she’s grown to love her more like a sister than a friend. She relies on Dani’s vibrance and quirkiness to help coax her out of her hardened shell.

LF: Dani is petite, with curly red hair, green eyes, and a fierce intellect that she tends to hide. She is quite a bit girlier and more emotional than Zoe, and sees Zoe as the embodiment of personal strength and determination. She often draws on her perception of Zoe to help her get through tough times throughout the story. By far, I would say the most defining characteristic about Dani’s personality is that she’ll do almost anything to keep the people she cares about safe. Unfortunately, that tends to get her into slightly sticky situations in the world of The Ending.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

LP: I’ve actually had a number of people ask me if Zoe is an extension of myself, if I see myself the way I portray her. The answer is no, not at all, and she’s not really like anyone I know either. I definitely don’t look like Zoe or act like her. I mean, she’s pessimistic, or “realistic” I like to call it, like me, but I think the similarities between us stop there. She has a lot of the qualities I admire in other people though. She’s super determined, whether she juggling two jobs, trying desperately to get to Dani when the world seems to be against her, or even just trying to understand her brother and every other man in her life.

LF: Dani is entirely from my imagination. So much so that it’s really difficult for me to picture any real people–actresses, models, or otherwise–as her. I think the problem is that she exists so vividly in my mind that nobody else quite looks or acts like her. I’m not sure where she came from, and she’s certainly nothing like me, but I love her all the same.

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

LP: Because this project was a team effort, we definitely had to draw out a skeletal outline so we knew which direction we were going with our characters. Once we determined the major subplots, character arcs, and where we wanted to end the book, each of our stories took off on their own, changing even from what we’d individually planned to write about. Characters have a way of doing that to you.

LF: Yeah, our characters definitely have a talent for commandeering the story. I have one character in particular, Jason, who has such a strong personality–I guess you would call him an Alpha–that I pretty much expect him to steal the reins whenever he’s present in a scene. I suppose I should apologize to LP because she’s had to deal with him a lot in the second book, Into The Fire. Sorry LP! I have to say that when the characters take over and the story starts writing itself is when I have the most fun.

LP: I guess you’re forgiven :)

 Q: Your book has many different settings. Can you tell us why you chose the cities you did in particular?

LP: I know for Zoe’s team, it was more of a question of “what’s practical”. Although our story is science fiction, we tried to make it as realistic as possible–using a logical route to move the characters from point A to point B across the US was one of the ways we did that. I had to figure out realistically how far a group of people could drive or walk in X amount of days and in the snow. That helped me narrow down my settings in Ohio, Kentucky, and St. Louis before finally getting to Colorado. Once I knew which areas I needed to have them settle in, I searched for locations that would work well with my evolving storyline.

LF: Like LP, I mapped out Dani’s route throughout the entire book, first by car, then by horseback, before I wrote the majority of it. I couldn’t just pick a town willy-nilly, but had to keep in mind how far a horse could travel in a day, or where there might still be unscavenged fuel or food left after X amount of time had passed. There are a few locations we chose purposely, like stationing the Colony, our heroine’s destination and meet-up point, at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs based on the military branches stationed there and its central-ish location. We chose Bodega Bay as Dani and Zoe’s hometown because it was near enough to where we live that we could conduct setting research with relative ease.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

LP: I think it definitely does. Our characters are just as new to The Ending as our readers are, so we needed Zoe and Dani to experience what was going on around the entire country. Not only does moving them around get them closer together and progress the story, but through their eyes we see the types of Crazies (those survivors driven mad by the virus)  they come across and how quickly and how much the world is changing.

LP: On a more technical note, the setting actually directed portions of the story because we had to be mindful of weather patterns. For example, Dani’s group of survivors spends some time near Lake Tahoe in the heart of winter, and it slowed down their travel pace quite a bit. I had planned for them to move faster than they did, but there was no working around it–snow slows travel plans, even in our own post-apocalyptic, fictional world.

Q: Open the book to page 69. What is happening?

LP: That’s sort of a funny and difficult question to answer. If you’re looking at the hardcover version, it’s a pretty intense Zoe chapter. She’s discovering how unnerving her developing Ability is, she thinks she’s losing her mind since she has no clue what’s happening to her yet, and she’s also starting to really process the fact that the world has ended and that her father is most likely dead.

LF: In the paperback version, Dani and her travel companions are just arriving at a swanky hotel in Portland…to squat. That is one thing to note about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world–the characters get to bunk down in some pretty interesting places, from mansions to wineries to barns. Let’s see, on this page Dani is also dealing with some tangled emotions regarding a certain man in her group–Zoe’s brother, Jason.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

LP: This is one of the scenes I enjoyed writing the most. It’s a huge turning point in the Zoe chapters and her life is about to change more than she ever thought possible:

“Feeling alright?” Clara asked, batting her eyelashes and smiling innocently.

I hunched over as my stomach gurgled and churned, tangling into knots. Once again I reached for the water, but she yanked it away, dumping it out on the floor beside her.

Her grin lingered. “Sorry, I can’t let you do that.”

My stomach cramps worsened, and I broke out into a cold sweat–I knew I didn’t have much time. I needed to find help. Trying to run for the door I doubled over in pain and cried out. Fire seemed to be scorching my insides. Bile rose in my throat, and I began salivating profusely, unable to swallow. I spat desperately.

“I really hate you, Zoe. I’m not completely sure why, but I have to admit, this is a very good day for me.” Her cheerful voice was like a hammer in my head as I twisted and spasmed on the mess hall floor.

I prayed someone would find me before it was too late.

LF: I considered several different passages, some more dramatic and some more romantic, but I settled on this one because it shows the special relationship Dani has with one of my favorite characters, Jack, her faithful German Shepherd.

I tore open a peanut butter and chocolate chip protein bar as I exited the bedroom, tripping over my dog on the way out.

Jack wagged his tail happily while I righted myself. “Good morning, Sweet Boy,” I said between bites.

He yawned dramatically and bowed, earning the last nugget of the tasteless bar.

As I lumbered down the stairs, a plan of revenge formed in my mind. I waved at Chris and Ky, apparently the only other people awake at such an ungodly hour, as I neared the front room’s largest window. I peeked around the heavy tan and green-striped curtain and spotted Jason standing on the lawn—he was staring off into the woods. Smiling, I led Jack to the back door, and we silently slipped out into the damp morning chill.

Pausing on the back porch, I clicked my tongue, and my dog watched me intently. “Okay Jack,” I whispered, kneeling down in front of him. “You’re going to go that way.” I pointed to the left side of the house, and his eyes followed. “Find Jason. You need to be happy and loud.” I scratched his neck with both hands. He licked my cheek in return.

“Go find Jason,” I commanded quietly and stood. Jack instantly trotted away, barking every few steps.

Stalking in the opposite direction, I made my way around the house and found Jason watching Jack frolic like a month-old puppy. The grass muffled my steps as I snuck up behind him. I crouched, gliding the last few steps, and held my breath. Revenge is so sweet!

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Team Lindsey. We wish you much success!

LF: Thank you for having us and for the wonderful questions!

Interview with Michael Bigham, Author of Harkness

Raised in the mill town of Prineville in Central Oregon beneath blue skies and rimrocks, Michael Bigham attended the University of Oregon and during his collegiate summers, fought range fires on the Oregon high desert for the Bureau of Land Management. He worked as a police officer with the Port of Portland and after leaving police work, obtained an MFA degree in Creative Writing from Vermont College. Michael lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughter. Harkness is his first novel.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Michael. Can you tell us what your latest book, Harkness: A High Desert Mystery, is all about?

Harkness occurs during the summer of 1952 on the high desert in Central Oregon. Up to this point, the worst crime Matt Harkness, the local sheriff, has faced is two drunk cowboys playing quick draw out behind the local tavern. But now two star-crossed teen-age lovers are murdered. It’s up to Harkness to bring whoever has killed them to justice. His task is complicated by the secretive nature of the townspeople. Harkness is privy the local’s secrets and he must decide which secrets to reveal to catch the murderer.

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

Matthew Harkness is a man formed by violence. His father died when Harkness was eight and his mother physically abused him. He left home at the age of 12, drifted around for a while and ended up living in Barnesville with his uncle. Drafted into the military during World War II, he fought in jungles New Guinea and bears both physical and emotional scars from the conflict. He strives to put aside his past, but the recent murders test his resolve. The great love of his life is Kate Barnes. The complication is that Kate is married to the local judge and most powerful man in the county, Porter Barnes.

Kate Barnes is a bright woman from local farming stock. She loves Harkness but questions his ability to commit to a long-term relationship. Like many women in the post-war era, she wants to be more than just a housewife.

The town of Barnesville is named after one of Porter Barnes’ fore bearers. He wields the real power in the county. He loves Kate in his own way, but his real passion is reserved for another.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination? 

Like most writers, my characters are a mix of my imagination and bits of real people. I’ve found that if I focus too much on real people, I’m limited on what I can do with my descriptions and characterization.

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

I knew that Harkness would have to solve a murder and I had a vague awareness of the setting and circumstances of the climax. The journey between the two points was one of discovery and exploration.

Q: Your book is set in Barnesville.  Can you tell us why you chose this city in particular?

I grew up in a small Central Oregon lumber and ranching town called Prineville. Though my characters aren’t based all that much on reality, the town of Barnesville is. Some folks may not think my depiction is flattering in spots, but I think it’ important for a writer to give the reader a true sense of a place, warts and all.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

Absolutely. During college, I spent my summers fighting range fires on the high desert 50 miles east of nowhere near the little village of Paulina. I came to love the stark nature of the country. It’s a landscape of juniper, sagebrush and rimrock. There you’ll find lonely vistas and fertile valleys. It’s still unspoiled by progress. If you have a chance, visit there before it all disappears. As a writer, I find that landscape plays a crucial role in developing my narrative. 

Q: Open the book to page 69.  What is happening?

A:  Sheriff Matt Harkness has just returned to his office after interviewing a suspect in the murder of a young woman. There are two people in custody in his jail; Ronnie Gearhart, who beat up his father when the man attacked his mother and Thomas Stewart, an African-American man, who by bad fortune happened to be driving through the all-white town of Barnesville and was arrested by another peace officer as a suspect in the murder. Harkness knows he will have to find the real murderer to clear Stewart.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

A:  Early in the book, Sheriff Matt Harkness drives up into the hills to tell Ethan Kelly his daughter is missing.

Ethan Kelly had his head stuck under the hood of a military deuce and a half converted into a hay truck.  The flatbed had been cobbled on in some local garage, but the job looked good enough.  If he was surprised to see me, he didn’t show it, just wiped his hands on his overalls and offered me a drink of water.  He was a smallish, slender man with bad teeth, sun-blackened arms, and the odor of three or four day’s hard labor about him.  I told him I was here about his daughter, and he got a long, sad look on his face.  He invited me into the line shack to get out of the sun.  “A man shouldn’t hear bad news in the sun.”

I told him it wasn’t as bad as all that.  I didn’t add the ‘yet’ part.  Maybe I didn’t want to admit to that part myself.

The line shack consisted of a single room about as big as the Kelly home.  Light came from kerosene lamps, and there was a hand pump next to the sink for water.  As usual with those old places, the crapper was out back, and I got to thinking about how and where Elias Warner got bit by the black widow spider.

Kelly settled into warming up the morning coffee while I told him his daughter was missing.  His shoulders sagged at the news. “I was just going to have beans for supper,” he said.  “Care to join me?”

I’d had more than my share of beans growing up and wasn’t partial to them, but I wasn’t one to let a man eat alone when he was in the sorrows, so I said yes.  The line shack creaked in the afternoon wind while Kelly opened a can of pork and beans and dumped it into a battered saucepan.  “Virginia’s a good girl,” he said.  “A pretty gal, but smart, too.”

“That’s what folks tell me.” My comment seemed to please Kelly a bit.  “They also tell me she was seeing the McIntyre boy.  What about that?”

“Her mama told her not to give it up too soon, not to get knocked-up and ruin her life.  Us folks ain’t got much in this life other than our reputation, she tells her.”  He handed me a plate of beans and a cup of Joe. “Esther seems to think that graduating from high school is important.”  He shook his head as if he wasn’t sure he agreed.  “Hope you don’t mind cowboy coffee. Last line rider up here took off with the percolator. Now we have to boil the bejesus out of the grounds.  Got some sugar if you want it.”

“Black’s fine.” The stuff looked like something you’d swab onto a flat roof.  “Joey McIntyre,” I prompted.  “Tell me about the boy and your daughter.”

Kelly allowed that he didn’t know much about his daughter’s recent dealings with McIntyre, as he’d been over in Willamette Valley for most of the summer roofing and doing pickup labor.  “The money’s good enough, but too many people in the Valley.”  So he’d asked Dirk Redmond if he might have a job on one of his ranches, and Dirk said, “Hell, yes. Come on back.” So he did.  “Esther, she frets about Virginia, sneaking out all hours of the night with God knows who.  Virginia was a hard girl to handle, being so smart and all, and Esther had her hands full taking care of all them kids and doing seamstress work on the side. Maybe we should take a switch to the child, but neither of us has the heart for it.”

Kelly sighed and took a couple bites of beans.  “Maybe we figured she’d grow out of her wildness.  If only…”  He sipped his coffee and spilled some on his t-shirt.  “Shit,” he said, brushing himself.  He sat there in a straight-backed chair, mouth set in a tight line, and stared at the bare wall as if I wasn’t there.  Did he know or intuit something I didn’t?

He roused himself and told me that Virginia wanted to attend beauty school.  “She’s got the gumption to do it.  Fucking boys anyway. Sniffing around her like bird dogs.”

I asked him if he knew the names of anyone else she might have seen other than Joey McIntyre. He told me he wouldn’t be surprised if she had, but he didn’t know who, and he didn’t know where she might be.

He seemed pretty much talked out by then, so I asked him if he needed anything with the hay truck being broke and all, but he said “Nope.”  I left him sitting in his chair with a stained t-shirt and a plate of cold beans.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Michael.  We wish you much success!

A: Thanks. I really appreciate the opportunity. You have a great blog. If you have a chance, check out my blog at www.michaelbigham.com

A Conversation with ‘A List of Offences’ Dilruba Z. Ara

Dilruba Z. Ara was born in Bangladesh. Nurtured on Greek mythology by her father, and hearing Indian fairy  tales as bedtime stories from her mother, Dilruba had her first story published when she was eight years old. While in university at the age of twenty, she met  and married her husband, a Swedish Air Force officer, and moved to Sweden, where she obtained degrees in English, Swedish, Classical Arabic and linguistics. She now teaches Swedish and English in Sweden. An accomplished, exhibited artist, her paintings have been used as the covers for the Bangladeshi, Greek, and U.S. editions of A LIST OF OFFENCES.

Visit her website at www.dilrubazara.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Dilruba. Can you tell us what your latest book, A List of Offences, is all about?

Ans: Essentially, it’s about the consequences of inequality between men and women, and the domestic oppression, and often violence that are practised to uphold that system of inequality within South Asian families. I have tried to show that through the story of one girl, Daria, the heroine of my novel. She is born into a family that operates the age-old system where every daughter’s behavior is controlled; she is taught to be patient and quiet, and to do whatever she is told. Basically, she is being groomed to be a suitable daughter-in-law.

Daria, however, marries the man she chooses, but within that marriage she suffers domestic violence. She is forced to endure constant shame, brutality, and coercion. She can’t return to her parental home, because her mother wouldn’t shelter her ‒ as a divorced woman, Daria would bring shame upon the

family. Daria is advised by her mother to make the marriage work. Like many Indian mothers, Daria’s mother is concerned only about her own status within her community. Daria is made to feel that she is the perpetrator and not the victim. The story is about Daria’s struggle to overcome cultural and social barriers in order to fulfill herself as a person. But at the same time it also tells the stories of numerous girls born in the subcontinent who are forced to endure similar treatment by their own families.

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

Ans: Daria, the main character, is caught between the norms of her own family, which is traditional, religious, and old-fashioned, and the norms of her husband Ali Baba’s family, which is anglophile, secularist, and modern. There is also Mizan, an orphan boy, Daria’s best friend ‒ and a secret admirer of hers.  There’s Bina ‒ a young Muslim woman, who defies tradition and makes her living by dancing. She becomes Daria’s role model at Firingi Para, where Daria lives with Ali Baba. Daria’s father is a sensible man, but Daria’s England-returned brother Hadi is a dominating young Muslim man, whose status at her natal home finally makes Daria aware of her own insignificance there. Then there are the two women ‒ Daria’s mother and mother-in-law ‒ who adamantly refuse to accept Daria as a person with a mind. And finally, Ali Baba’s sister Rani, who hates Daria from the bottom of her heart.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

Ans: I tend to base most of them on real people.

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

Ans: I am aware of it before I begin a novel.

Q: Your book is set in Chittagong city.  Can you tell us why you chose this city in particular?

Ans: In A List of Offences, the village signifies the traditional, while the city signifies the modern mode of life. I wanted to show that you don’t have to go abroad to feel like a foreigner; there are cultural clashes even within same country, depending on your family’s mindset. I chose Chittagong for various reasons. First its history ‒ it is not just any city; it was invaded by a range of people over the centuries and thus offers an interesting setting for a family like Ali Baba’s, which doesn’t follow any particular culture or tradition. And then its location ‒ situated in the valley of the River Karnaphuli, and also on coast of the Bay of Bengal. Daria, who was born in a village whose name means river, was destined from her birth to find a way to the sea.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

Ans: Yes. Absolutely.

Q: Open the book to page 69. What is happening?

Ans: This is where Daria discovers the piece of paper on which Mizan, under the title “A List of Miscellaneous Offences,” had point by point written down the exact nature of offenses he had been subjected to during his stay at Daria’s home. Daria shows it to her parents. Eventually we find out that it was Gulabi, the family’s maid, who had been bullying Mizan behind the curtains. Up until that moment Mizan had been forgotten by the family, but now Daria’s parent start to take an interest in his welfare and adopt him as a family member. From here starts Daria and Mizan’s friendship.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

Ans: Jharna Begum’s thumb froze on one bead, her face turned pale. And within her, her triangular heart cringed like a triangular marshmallow being licked by fire. She lifted her eyelids to look into Daria’s face with a curious interest as though it was the first time she was seeing a woman behind the word “daughter”. But, that look lasted only for a fraction of a second. Once again, fear chilled her heart and she shook her head.

“Be quiet! I won’t hear of such ineffable matters. There are many men who take up a second wife, and totally forget the first wife. You’ve mothered his child. You and Jhinuk belong to him. Besides, Hadi is getting married soon. The bio-data (a phrase Ammu had adopted from England-returned Hadi) given to his in-law’s family says that his only sister is married to a well-known lawyer. What shall he tell them if you don’t remain married to Ali Baba? It will hamper his prospects as a suitable groom.”

Daria looked at her Ammu.

Interview with R. Gregory Lande, Author of The Abraham Man

 

R. Gregory Lande, DO is a physician and retired US Army Medical Corps Officer. Dr. Lande completed his medical education at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Lande was commissioned an officer in the US Army. During his career in the military, Dr. Lande was active in a wide variety of clinical, academic and administrative positions. Upon leaving the US Army as a full colonel, Dr. Lande was awarded the Legion of Merit recognizing his career contributions. The next phase of his career involved administrative positions in hospital management, research, and teaching at various civilian facilities. Dr. Lande is the author of numerous medical and historical works. He lectures widely on both subjects.

 

Visit Dr. Lande online at http://www.medicallegalhistory.com/

Q: Thank you for this interview, Greg. Can you tell us what your latest book, The Abraham Man, is all about?

 

A:  The title of this work, The Abraham Man, probably evokes several different ideas about the book. In this case, the title has a definite meaning which directly relates to the book’s theme that malingering – in all its various forms – has actually propelled the growth of modern day medicine. Malingering prodded physicians in the nineteenth century to sharpen their diagnostic skills and through the process laid the foundation for psychiatry and neurology. For many centuries the Abraham Man was actually a well-recognized pejorative label affixed to malingerers.

Q: How did you come up with the idea?

A: A clever criminal forces a detective to sharpen their investigative skills. In a similar manner, the malingerer is challenging the physician’s skills. In America’s nineteenth century the nascent field of medical legal practice was beginning. This opened up vast new opportunities for the Abraham Man to exploit. The growth and development of medical legal practice could never gain credible ground without confronting this diagnostic nemesis.

Q: What kind of research did you do before and during the writing of your book?

A: My historical research was broad and deep since the whole idea of malingering was rarely documented. In some respects it must be like panning for gold. A huge amount of water is explored until –hopefully – a few small nuggets are found. Extensive exploration in newspapers, legal records, courts-martial records, books, and historical archives served as my “water”.

Q: If a reader can come away from reading your book with one valuable message, what would that be?

A:  Malingering, pretty much universally, is scorned. In my opinion that overlooks another facet of the behavior which paradoxically has helped sharpen medical diagnostic skills.

Q: Can you give us a short excerpt?

A: “The explosive growth of civil and criminal litigation after the Civil War brought lawyers, doctors, and the Abraham Man together. In the beginning, most of the contests involved disputes over large estates. These early cases paved the way for more complex trials involving matters of insanity, mental competency, and an endless array of exculpatory mental maladies. The Abraham Man positively flourished.

Around this time, the practice of medical legal medicine began to take shape. Lawyers increasingly sought poised physicians able to contend with court room drama. Asylum doctors, given their daily contact with the mentally ill, seemed the natural choice. Another group not affiliated with the large institutions challenged the asylum doctors’ hegemony. In fairly short order these disparate camps coalesced around two dynamic doctors.”

Q: In your own experience, is it hard to get a nonfiction book published today?  How did you do it?

A: Yes. I have to give considerable credit to Algora Publishing. Although an author must write “a good story,” it also requires a publisher willing to take a calculated business risk.

Q: What’s a typical day like for you?

A:I am psychiatrist and spend my time involved in the clinical, administrative, academic, and research activities of my profession.

Q: What’s next for you?

A:I alternate my writing and speaking between strictly medical topics and historical interests.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Greg.  We wish you much success!

A:Thank you!

 

Interview with R.H. Ramsey, author of ‘Just Beneath the Surface’

Rhonda Ramsey is a prolific new author who enjoys breathing passion and life into each and every character she creates. She is an avid writer with eleven completed novels, four novels near completion, and five short stories. She is also a military wife, mother of two, and student.

Over the course of seven years, Rhonda has diligently researched topics ranging from but not limited to; relationships, addiction, abuse, and mental illness. With a passion for people, helping, and learning, Rhonda’s zeal for inspiring others through her writing has also expanded to freelance writing and blogging; as she has her own blog, and enjoys contributing to other websites as well. She hopes to continue in her quest of inspiring others as well as learning from everyone she meets.

Her latest book is Just Beneath the Surface I.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Rhonda. Can you tell us what your latest book, Just Beneath the Surface I, is all about?

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Just Beneath the Surface I is an emotionally intense novel about domestic violence, obsession, and much more.

Kendall, a mother of two, leaves a somewhat rocky relationship after fourteen years. She finds herself involved with a man who is shy and quiet on the surface, but turns out to be unpredictable and abusive. Meanwhile, her daughter Diamond becomes involved with an obsessive teacher’s aide; Diamond is also drowning in gossip at school. Just Beneath the Surface I is a story about a mother and daughter who find themselves lost, and in very unhealthy relationships.

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

In the novel, the two main characters are Kendall, and her daughter Diamond.

Kendall is a loving mother of two, who leaves a somewhat rocky relationship after fourteen years. She finds herself involved with a shy, quiet man who becomes very unpredictable and abusive. As the story unfolds, Kendall’s confidence and warmth diminish, and Kendall gradually loses herself in fear.

Diamond is an insecure teenager, who is not handling her parents’ separation very well. Her father becomes distracted and distant, her mother is nurturing her new relationship, and Diamond is stumbling along and seeking the wrong type of attention from males.

Michael is one of the supporting characters; he is the man Kendall has been with for fourteen years, and early in the book, readers may find him a bit difficult to tolerate. He is insensitive, immature, and impossible to communicate with.

In the beginning of Kendall’s new marriage, Michael appears to be completely opposite her new husband. (I will not give too much away, as the man Kendall marries is meant to be a ‘surprise’). She is drawn to the calmness, and sensitivity that the new man in her life seems to possess. He is not what he seems.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

I think writing about intimate details of another person’s life without permission is crossing a line. My characters are from my imagination. I have never written about the people I know. Although the situations I write about are very real, and very intense, they are purely fictional.

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

Generally before I start writing, the only things I am consciously aware of, are the messages that I want to convey. The twists, turns, dialogue, and conflict of the plot come to me as I write.

Q: Your book is set in a somewhat small suburban town.  Can you tell us why you chose this city in particular?

I did not name the city, but I did choose a smaller town because there are multiple incidents where bumping into ‘strangers’ is crucial.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

The setting does not play a major role in this story. The novel revolves almost solely around two separate relationships, as things spiral out of control and become dangerous.

Q: Open the book to page 69.  What is happening?

In page 69 of the book, Diamond’s relationship with Bobby has really started to blossom, but is also showing signs of instability. Diamond is with two friends from school, and Bobby is pressuring her to come and spend time with him. He seems to have forgotten her age, and is very frustrated with the restrictions placed upon their secret relationship.

Diamond enlists the help of her friends, Veronica and Tayla. She will ask them to cover for her, so that she can sneak away to be with Bobby.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

He stopped in front of the garage, and sat quietly.

“Something wrong with your garage opener?” I asked peering over at him. Why were we sitting in front of our house? Something deep down in my bones said run as I reached above our heads for the garage opener.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of his hand and flinched, but by then it was too late. He shoved my arm away from the garage opener and punched me so hard in the side of my head that my face hit the passenger window. I only sat doubled over. The car was completely quiet as he stared over at me and waited menacingly. Whatever he was waiting for, he would not get from me. I refused to look at him or speak.

I decided that any human being would stop there if I stayed crouched down and quiet. I was wrong; his fist connected with my ear. I gasped and let out the strangest sounding moan I had ever heard as I held onto the latch on the door. The world around me was quiet, and everything I looked at reminded me of a television screen with static; blurred figures and unclear sounds. I held my left ear with one hand and pulled at the latch on the door with the other.

Before I could open the door Spencer grabbed both of my hands and pulled me close to him, “Clubs? Drinking? Lies?” he growled. He threw me back over to the passenger side of the car,  raised his fist, again and began punching me repeatedly in my left ear. I instinctively covered my ear with both of my hands. I screamed over his shouting that I could not hear him over the ringing sound. I could only hear my heartbeat.

The longer I sat unable to make out what he was screaming at me, the more hysterical I became. But I managed to sit perfectly still, as I crouched over. What if I was deaf? What if the ringing and swishing sounds never stopped?

I opened the door and fell onto our driveway. I felt so dazed, but I had to run. Wherever I ran would be better than going inside of the house. As I pulled myself up using the car door, I could hear his loafers scratching at the pavement as he edged closer.

Q: Have you suffered from writer’s block and what do you do to get back on track?

Yes, I have experienced the infamous writer’s block. When I get stuck, I have to plan every detail; this is not the way I normally work. It feels forced, and writing is not something I like to force. But sometimes towards the end of my books, I find myself having to sit down and really brainstorm. And no matter how long it takes me, I will plan every detail.

Of course to take a break is a common suggestion to cure writer’s block, but I find it impossible to mentally disconnect from a story until it is finished.

Q: What would you do with an extra hour today if you could do anything you wanted?

With an extra hour, I would do what I spend most of my free time doing — I would write.

Although I am the type of person who can write no matter what is going on, my favorite time to write is when everyone has gone to bed, and I can listen to music as my thoughts flow. But if I could have that extra hour during the day, instead of staying up an extra hour at night — that would be ideal.

Q: Which already published book do you wish that you had written and why?

Nicholas Sparks novel, The Notebook is such a beautiful story. To write something that has touched so many hearts, inspired so many to fight for love, and moved so many people to tears would be a dream come true for me.

I always say that if one person is inspired or deeply moved by something that I have written, then I am genuinely happy; I would love to write a book as beautiful as The Notebook.

Q: What kind of advice would you give other fiction authors regarding getting their books out there?

I am very new, and my advice may be a bit limited.

I would say research everything related to writing, promotion, and publishing. Research until your eyes are blurry, and your fingers ache. I think it is very important to keep our minds open to learning new things, accepting constructive criticism, and most importantly, perseverence. Never quit, and certainly never allow outside influences to break your spirit.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Rhonda.  We wish you much success!

Thank you so much!

I really enjoyed interviewing with you…I appreciate the opportunity.

 

 

 

 

Visit her blog at www.arirjames.wordpress.com.

Interview with Dr. Jackie C. Cogswell, Author of Super Luke Faces His Bully

Dr. Jackie Chirco Cogswell is a family physician, wife, mother, former school teacher, and now author of a series of Christian children’s novels, the GIGGLEHEART ADVENTURE SERIES. Writing Christian books and reading the Bible has become her passion.

In recent years, Dr. Jackie has been led to teach children of all ages how to prevent and stop bullying. As a Christian mother, the issue of bullying became very personal to her when her child was bullied in elementary school. Through the many struggles her son had with bullies, Dr. Jackie learned from firsthand experience how to tackle bullying from a Christian perspective. SUPER LUKE FACES HIS BULLY was inspired by her son’s personal struggle and the good Lord, “Who equips us for every battle and gives us strength.”

Visit Dr. Jackie only at www.giggleheart.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Dr. Jackie. Can you tell us what your latest book, Super Luke Faces His Bully, is all about?

Thank you for this interview opportunity!

Super Luke Faces His Bully  takes the reader on a journey through the eyes of a fun-loving boy, Luke Giggleheart.  Luke had always dreamed of becoming a big, brave super hero.  Even though he was equipped with a fun super hero cape and “innocent citizens” to protect, his dreams came crashing down when he found himself shoved into a locker by the notorious school bully, Bulldog Jones!

During this adventure, Luke discovers how to be brave enough to tell caring adults about his bully so that they could help stop the abuse.

One of the best parts of the story is when Luke discovers how to get his heart bully-proofed when he exchanged his fears for courage by trusting in Jesus Christ!  Bulldog Jones also experiences a change in attitude when his heart was touched by the love and kindness of a real Savior!

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

Luke Giggleheart is an eight year old, tender hearted boy.  Luke was sweet, timid and shaky in his sneakers when it came to dealing with aggressive kids. This made Luke the perfect target for the school bully, Bulldog Jones!

Bulldog Jones was ten years old.  He was mean!  Bulldog would sniff out fearful kids and then would go after them as a means to take out his aggressions.  As the story unfolds, the reader discovers why Bulldog was so mean and nasty.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

 Most of my characters are inspired by my children and as they struggle with common issues like fear, anger, pride, lying, and bad attitudes. This often annoys my thirteen year old.  I can just hear her now, “Whatever, Mom!”

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

I know the story line before I sit down to write a book.  Usually the plot has been percolating in my heart for months before I actually start writing. However, many of the fun little details that knit the plot together usually just come to me as I write.

Q: Your book is set in a typical Midwestern suburban Christian school.  Can you tell us why you chose this city in particular?

The core setting for this book is in a Christian school and an average suburban neighborhood. No particular city was mentioned because it was not significant to the story line.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

The only real significance of the setting is that schools, buses and neighborhoods are all fertile grounds for bullying.  For a young reader, these settings would seem relatable and help the kids connect with the characters in the story. 

Q: Open the book to page 69.  What is happening?

This is a really fun question J.

On page 69, Harry “Bulldog” Jones,the notorious school bully is being examined by a physician for injuries he received from a fist fight.  The physician, Dr. Giggleheart (Luke’s mom), tells Harry’s mother that his black eye and bloody nose would heal.  However, Dr. Giggleheart warns Mrs. Jones that Harry’s behavior problems could be fueled by the aggressive music he listens to.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

 (Excerpt from page 13)

That day, my bully left me with a humongous problem.  Ever since I was two years old I wanted to be a superhero.  In fact, I used to stand in front of the mirror in my diaper, squeezing my muscles hoping they would someday be strong enough to turn me into a real super dude.  Now that I have strong muscles and a cool cape, I love playing Super Luke and saving my friends and family from big bad bullies.  But after getting stuffed into my locker, I know that it takes a lot more than a good looking cape, a superhero name and big muscles to make me strong and brave!  Learning how to be a real superhero is a major growing pain.

 

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Dr. Jackie C. Cogswell. We wish you much success!

Thank you very much for taking the time and interest to learn more about Giggleheart Adventure #2, Super Luke Faces His Bully!

Dr. Jackie C. Cogswell

www.giggleheart.com

www.drjackiec.com

Interview with Susan Spence: ‘Online writing communities are great sources of ideas’

Today’s guest is Susan Spence, author of the historical fiction, A Story of the West.  You can visit her website at www.writing-ranch.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Susan. Can you tell us what your latest book, A Story of the West, is all about?

My book is about early day ranching that began down in Texas. During the Civil War a lot of Texans went to fight for the Confederacy, leaving their cattle to run wild. Unmanaged, their numbers quickly increased and they soon over-ran their range. After the war ended, huge herds were driven north and so began the cattle industry as we know it today. A Story of the West tells the story of one family starting a ranch in Montana Territory during this time. It is also about greed and destroying other people’s lives to have it all.

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

My characters are based on people who settled the frontier. Matt Daly and his father see an opportunity when they arrive in the empty grasslands of the northern prairie. They, like others of the time, start grabbing land in an effort to control it for their own interests.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

My characters are based on people who could have lived during the time. I may have borrowed certain traits, but basically they are from my imagination.

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

This is my first novel and I was consciously aware of the choice my main character had to make, but I wrote and rewrote to figure out the body of the story. My second book is different because, instead of an event that I’m writing the story around, it’s more of a concept I want to get across.

Q: Your book is set on the prairie of Montana.  Can you tell us why you chose this place in particular?

The plot of my book revolves around cattle ranching in the American West. During the 1880s, the cattle industry was taking off as the grasslands filled with cattle brought up from Texas. Back then it was the “in” thing to invest in and people made a lot of money fattening cattle to ship back east.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

The setting plays a major part in my story. Just like any get rich scheme, where greed causes people to behave unscrupulously, early cattle speculating brought out the same behavior. Back then, on the frontier, there was practically no law enforcement, so it was a free for all.

Q: Open the book to page 69.  What is happening?

John Daly, Matt’s father, is out checking cattle to see how they are wintering. While struggling through a snow drift, his horse is injured and he is forced to walk home, leading the limping horse through the snow, as night falls and the temperature drops.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

Jake and Ed stopped their horses at one of the saloons, hoping to find a man who wasn’t yet drunk this early in the day, and that they could convince to take the job. Since they lived in primarily cattle country, it might be hard. If they had been running a cattle outfit, there would have been a line of men all the way down the street seeking work.

Matt rode up just then. The sheep men quickly looked him over before the foreman asked him, “You ever tend sheep before?”

“Nope, and I’m not lookin’ to.”

“Fifty dollars a month and keep.” The ranch owner knew his only chance of replacing the deserter was to offer the next guy more than he could make on a cattle ranch. It was a lot of money, something Matt needed.

“Will you stake me to new clothes?”

The old ranch owner looked Matt up and down again. Glancing at his boots, he could see the cowboy in front of him needed more than clothing. This fellow was definitely down on his luck. “Okay, I’ll give you a month’s wages in advance, and I expect you out at the Circle J headquarters by this evening. We’ll need to head out first thing tomorrow.”

As Matt agreed, Jake nodded to Ed. The foreman took out a wallet and handed Matt fifty dollars cash. “I’m Jake Judson and this here’s Ed Markus.”

Matt took the money. It was more than he’d seen in quite a while. “Thank you. My name’s Bill.” The men shook hands before Matt headed once more for the saloon door.

“Let’s see if we can’t find you a pair of boots.” Jake and Ed got on either side of him and steered him towards a ready-made clothing store down the street. Matt was going to get a drink first, but the two sheep men were smarter than that. Jake wasn’t going to just hand over his hard earned money to a stranger. As usual they both wanted to see that they got their money’s worth.

Q: Have you suffered from writer’s block and what do you do to get back on track?

When I can’t find the words or the plot fizzles in a particular spot, struggling never helps. I avoid becoming frustrated by hitting enter a couple times and moving on. Then I come back later with a clear mind and fix it.

Q: What would you do with an extra hour today if you could do anything you wanted?

Go outside and enjoy the beautiful spring weather we’ve been having.

Q: Which already published book do you wish that you had written and why?

Something like All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren would be a trip to write. To have the skill to write that in depth of a novel, one that holds the reader’s attention to the very end, not to mention the focus needed to see it through, is the ultimate achievement as a writer.

Q: What kind of advice would you give other fiction authors regarding getting their books out there?

Persevere. I got discouraged and gave up for a while as it became overwhelming. I have found that the online writing community is a great source of ideas and a lot of writers are willing to share their experience.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Susan.  We wish you much success!

You’re welcome. Thank you for the good wish.

Interview with David S. Grant, Author of BLOOD: THE NEW RED

David S. Grant is the author of ten books including Corporate Porn, Bleach|Blackout, Hollywood Ending, and Rock Stars. His latest novel, Blood: The New Red, is now available. David lives and writes his weekly rock, travel, and NBA columns from New York City. For more information go to www.davidsgrant.com Twitter: @david_s_grant

Q: Thank you for this interview, David. Can you tell us what your latest book, BLOOD: The New Red, is all about?

Blood: The New Red begins at an after party where Mickey, an ex-adult movie star turned supermodel, is aligning himself with one of top Designers of Seventh Avenue.  While trying to land a job on the runway Mickey is thrown into the center of a scene where sex is often the motivation, the wine is served by year, and cocaine is back in full force.  Juanita, Mickey’s girlfriend is having difficulties staying sober, fully clothed, and off of her famous boyfriend.

Mickey goes to work for Fashion icon Paul Johnson, one of the two top Designers in NYC.  The other is Sandy Johnson, another Designer who will stop at nothing including murder to guarantee victory.  A runway exhibition has been scheduled for the two to compete in and find out who truly is the best Johnson.  Mickey will be Paul’s top model, and Sandy has found a homeless person nicknamed Kung Fu Master to show his line.

In addition to getting his new line in place, Paul Johnson is also buying chain saws, the louder the better, to put the special in this special event.

Did you know that you can’t be sentenced to prison if actively seeking help at a mental facility?  Paul Johnson knows this.

Somewhere between the girls, counting Vicodin pills, and show preparation Mickey has grown a conscience and no longer likes what he sees.  He believes (and his psychiatrist agrees) that he has the power to change what’s happening around him.

Days before the show Kung Fu Master turns up dead and there is an attempt on Mickey’s life.  After a brief period of unconsciousness Mickey is back, is told that Juanita and brother Cheeks are now also dead and that he must continue with the show.  After all, what would Steven Tyler do?

The night of the show is laced with celebrities and models on the runway as well as one particular popular day-time talk show host that may or may not be murdered on the runway.

In the end only one Johnson will walk away, although this is temporary as Mickey has the last word.

Right before he pops his last Vicodin.

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

Mickey is an ex-porn star returning to model in New York City.  He initially has to decide between the top two current designers: Paul Johnson and Sandy Johnson, simply known as The Johnsons.

Paul and Sandy on the outside appear very different, but once you see their day-to-day you realize they are very similar.  Their drive and motivation rule over all other personal attributes.  They want to WIN!

This is not Mickey’s first time in the game.  Despite his too cool for the room aura it is evident that Mickey has matured from his “acting” days and now understands who really runs the business.  Despite being caught knee-deep between The Johnsons, Mickey and his manager have a knack for viewing situations from the outside looking in.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

I like to use real life situations as the motivation and then embellish as needed.  The actual characters are pure fiction; of course all characteristics are pulled from someone, right?  I’m definitely not saying there isn’t an ex-model-ex-porn star-model working the runways today, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t one named Mickey!

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

I usually have an idea, an “out” I guess, but I rarely end up using it.  My process is pretty basic, starting with an idea that develops into a high level outline by chapter.  The outline helps me move the story along, though not necessarily defining where the story will end up.  This makes the process more organic, allowing the writing to tell the tale as it unfolds versus full plotting.

Q: Your book is set in New York City.  Can you tell us why you chose this city in particular?

New York IS the fashion industry and also a wonderful playground for fictional characters.  The saying “I can get anything I want in the city” also applies to characters set in NYC: they have access to everything.  BLOOD: The New Red looks at the fashion industry, but also brings in other aspects of the city including the media, obsession with psychiatrists, and of course the unique neighborhoods throughout Manhattan. Without writing fantasy, how many cities allow a character to go from a margarita bar to a design studio to a high end TriBeCa brothel and still have time to meet their dealer?  Only one I know of.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

It’s a major part.  New York City is the Mecca of fashion and Seventh Avenue breaks even the greatest designers and models at some point.   It’s a matter of timing and luck.  For my book, Fashion Week is the light at the end of the tunnel, each chapter escalating toward the moment (or moments) on the runway.  The city provides a backdrop for everything from diversity to the work environment to clubbing to murder. 

Q: Open the book to page 69.  What is happening?

A:  Sandy Johnson is eating oysters with Ralph, a known hit man.  They are discussing a quandary Ralph recently encountered when he was asked to “take out” one of two men standing next to each other.  He “took out” the man on his right, but was later informed that this was the wrong person; instead the target was the man standing to THEIR right (facing toward Ralph.)  Ralph shows little emotion telling the story.  Sandy agrees with Ralph as he shoves another oyster into his mouth.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

Here’s an excerpt from chapter 1 of BLOOD: The New Red.

Always look like a rock star. This is the number one secret on how to be famous. I’m wearing chains, lots of chains. Eye shadow, lots of eye shadow. I’m standing on the second level of the Grand Hotel, overlooking the bar area. My manager tells me this is where I need to be standing. In five minutes I will move across the room and stand next to a long mirror where one of the Hiltons will walk by and notice my reflection. A photographer will be close by and be sure to get the picture. This mirror has been placed here for this sole purpose. My manager tells me not to stare at the mirror. If you asked me to list my weaknesses, this may be my number one fault.

DJ Shingles, the newest (which means hottest) DJ, is playing on a middle level between the first and second floors. There is barely enough room for him let alone the overflowing ashtray and oversized stocking cap. Rumor has it this is his last show, despite this being his first. There is talk that he is moving into production and will be working with a major player in the hip hop industry, depending on who is hot at the time. DJ Shingles is wearing an Armani black button-down shirt with the sleeves ripped off. Very last year, but this is more a statement than a miscalculation on his part. Last season is the new season.

My manager signals for me to make my way across toward the mirror. A reporter from GQ is following me and asking me questions about who I’m going to sign with and whether or not my past will affect my future. I get her number, tell her I’ll call her later, and then blow her off as I approach the mirror. Always leak your press, never tell. This is secret number three on how to be famous.

Four widescreen televisions are fastened to the wall behind the bar. All are showing TMZ. An orange haired girl wearing a Betsey Johnson dress sees me staring at the television sets. She walks over and whispers in my ear, “It’s the new CNN.”

A waiter carrying a tray of wine from 1980 is walking by. Every 15 minutes another waiter, another tray, another year will walk by. Welcome to the world of fashion parties. Ten percent content, ninety percent presentation.

A man who goes by the name Dontay hands me a coffee cup that is full of scotch. My manager tells me to sip it and not cheers anyone. Any buzz that insinuates I’ve been in rehab and have put my porn career in the past is good press and can only help my modeling career. As scheduled, I’m approached by someone with the last name Hilton.

The Hilton is wearing a blouse that is considered the color Ocean, the new blue, but since Aquamarine blue was in fact the new blue for last season and last season is in this season, no one should be caught dead in Ocean. Unless of course she is being ironic. If so, she will have to mention this to at least three people during the course of the evening.

“Mickey, you’re back! I mean, uh…” Hilton looks at the coffee cup. “Welcome back!” She tips her coffee cup to me.

I glance around at the guest list, wondering who has the most juice at the party, but am distracted by the waiter walking through with wines from 1990.

“Good year for cabernets,” Hilton says, then grabs her blouse. “Last season is the new season, huh?” She laughs and looks fidgety as lights pop around us. At one point Hilton puts her arm around me and kisses me on the cheek. FLASH. Mission accomplished.

“I miss you, Mickey. We should get together sometime, you know, have a cup of coffee, or something.”

Sure, I tell her and then she leaves because she has a rule about spending over forty hours a week on the Lower East Side and this season many Fashion Week parties have been in LES, the new SoHo.

According to my manager, I need to make my way to a reserved table next to the bar where Paul Johnson is sitting. My manager also says to ignore the temptation of champagne. I have a job to do tonight.

Act like you’ve lived this moment a hundred times over. This is the forty-third secret on how to be famous.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, David.  We wish you much success!

Thank you for having me, for more information on my writing and BLOOD: The New Red please check out http://www.silverthought.com/blood/ and http://www.davidsgrant.com. Follow me on Twitter: @david_s_grant.

‘Defending Jacob’ by William Landay: “…there is not much to separate any of the Barbers from the family next door.”

William Landay is the author of The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times Favorite Crime Book of the Year, and Mission Flats, winner of the Creasey Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and a Barry Award nominee. A former district attorney who holds degrees from Yale and Boston College Law School, Landay lives in Boston, where he is at work on his next novel of suspense. His latest release is Defending Jacob.

You can visit William Landay’s website at www.WilliamLanday.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook by visiting www.Facebook.com/WilliamLanday.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Bill. Can you tell us what your latest book, Defending Jacob, is all about?

Defending Jacob is the story of an ordinary suburban family — father Andy Barber, mother Laurie Barber, and 14-year-old son Jacob — who endure the unfathomable ordeal of seeing Jacob put on trial for the murder of a schoolmate. So it is first and foremost a taut, suspenseful story.

But it is “about” much more than that. The difficulty of raising kids. The impossibility of truly knowing another person, even a family member. In Defending Jacob the characters are constantly surprised by what they learn about one another. Long-held secrets bubble up to the surface — secrets that might never have been divulged, that might never have troubled their happy marriage.

The book also includes in its sweep a scientific question: could there be such a thing as a “murder gene”? It is a haunting idea, but it is based on very real science. Study after study suggests that a predisposition to violence may indeed be a genetically heritable trait. It is not quite a “murder gene” — human behavior is not triggered by a simple gene but by an unfathomably complex interaction of genes and environment. Still, it opens a new window on the ancient question of “nature vs. nurture.”

The book also delves deep into the criminal justice system. It is told by a consummate insider, the veteran prosecutor Andy Barber, whose views of the defendant’s position are informed by his many years on the other side.

So Defending Jacob is about a lot of things. In fact, the sheer variety of “what it’s about” is one of the reasons the book has received such an overwhelming response. (The “Barnes & Noble Recommends” pick for February, Defending Jacob has been on the B&N bestseller list since the week before it was actually published.) It is just a rich, engrossing book. It generates great discussions because it touches on so many difficult decisions and interesting topics, which makes it a great book-club book. And it appeals to many different audiences: fans of legal thrillers, of family dramas, of scientific stories. That is why it has pulled endorsements from writers as wildly different as Lee Child and Nicholas Sparks — two writers who have rarely been mentioned in the same sentence till now.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

There are three main characters at the center of the story. Andy Barber is a 27-year veteran of the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, near Boston. He is the First Assistant, which means he is the top deputy to the District Attorney herself. In Andy’s case, that means he is the number-one trial lawyer in the office — the top gun who handles all the biggest cases. But Andy is harboring a few secrets about his past, about his true identity, secrets that even his wife does not know until the murder charge against Jacob begins to strip them bare.

Laurie, Andy’s wife, is in some ways Andy’s opposite and his complement. Where Andy is tough, disciplined, devoted to law and order, Laurie is gentler, more expressive, more inclined to talk through a difficult problem. They are a lovely couple, perfectly suited to each other and still deeply in love after many years of marriage. Which is why it is so hard to watch them writhe under the strain of Jacob’s murder charge.

Then there is Jacob. A teenager with a moody, saturnine personality. But he is no monster. On the contrary, readers who know a few teenagers may find Jacob is uncomfortably familiar. He can be surly and withdrawn at times, but he can be funny and charming too. Physically he is poised between a gawky, awkward adolescent and the emerging young man he will soon become. He is smart and articulate — a fan of video games and computers and Facebook — but also prone to rash, foolish decisions. In short, he has all the maddening contradictions and emotional swings of any teenager.

For that matter, there is not much to separate any of the Barbers from the family next door. Or even your own family. Until the screw is tightened, then tightened some more. And all three of the Barbers try to resist the pressure as best they can.

Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

I never explicitly base a character on a real person, especially someone I know. Using a real-life model makes it awfully hard to write. I always worry about offending someone or hurting their feelings if the character tends to misbehave — as my characters regularly do. It is inhibiting to me.

At the same time, every character comes out of my imagination, so I know full well that I am borrowing bits and pieces of different people in my life and bolting them onto my characters. It is just inescapable.

The question is especially relevant in this case, because Defending Jacob is set in a real town and in a real District Attorney’s office — the same town where I live and the same DA’s office where I worked as a prosecutor for most of the 1990’s. So I always point out that the characters in this book have absolutely no connection to anyone I know. They are 100% pure products of my imagination. I promise.

Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?

Both. I am always aware of the plot before I begin, and the story always develops and changes as I write. I am a ruthless planner and outliner. It is the only way to manage the sort of complex plots and narrative devices I like to use. So I try to nail things down as much as I can. But then, inevitably, you feel the thing wriggling under your hand, coming to life, and all my plans go out the window. I usually go through multiple outlines as I make my through the manuscript, stopping every 75-100 pages to get my bearings and figure out where the story ought to be headed.

Q: Your book is set in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Can you tell us why you chose this city in particular?

First, I chose it simply because I live there. There’s nothing especially dark or mysterious about Newton. Quite the opposite, it’s a lovely, wholesome place. Even a little dull, at least as the setting for a crime novel.

In fact, Newton’s ordinariness is another reason why I chose it. I had written a couple of novels with gritty urban settings, and I wanted to change that. I wanted to discuss crime — which has been my topic from the start — in the context of a familiar, ordinary suburb, a world more like the one I actually lived in, and more like the one many of my readers live in. I was looking for a typical suburb, an Everysuburb. Newton seemed as good as any.

Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

Only in the sense that many readers will feel at home there. They will feel they’re on familiar ground. Again, this is a story that feels familiar at first: an ordinary town, an ordinary family. And then…

Q: Open the book to page 69. What is happening?

This is a difficult question to answer without giving away an important plot point, so I’ll have to be a little vague here.

It is May 11, 1950, in Lowell, Massachusetts. A salesman named Rusty Barber has come to call on Birke’s clothing store to show the new line of Mighty Mac winter parkas. After the sales call, Rusty stops for lunch at a hot dog place he liked called Elliot’s. Then this:

As he left Elliot’s, there was an accident. A car swiped the front of Rusty’s Buick Special as he crept out of the parking lot. There was an argument. A shove. The other man produced a knife. When it was over, the other man lay on the street, and Rusty walked away as if nothing had happened. The man stood up with his hands pressed to his belly. Blood seeped through his fingers. He opened his shirt but held his hands over his stomach a moment, as if he had a bellyache. When the man finally pulled his hands away, a slick coiled snake of intestines drooped out of him. A vertical incision split his stomach from the pelvis to the bottom of the chestbone. With his own hands, the man lifted his intestines back into his own body, held them there, and walked inside to call the police.

Again, I can’t say much more about that incident for fear of giving away too much. Defending Jacob is woven pretty tightly. It’s hard to pull out one page without unraveling a lot more of the plot.

But I will say that this scene grows out of my experience as an assistant D.A. My first assignment was in Lowell, a great community where Elliot’s and Birke’s were real places. (Elliot’s is still going strong and I highly recommend it. Great hot dogs. Tell them you want one “all around.” You won’t be sorry.) The stabbing described in this scene is based on an incident that occurred while I was working in Lowell — a man gashed across the belly, forced to hold his intestines inside by holding his hand over his belly, pressing it closed, while he was driven to the emergency room.

As for the salesman, well, it was my own grandfather, Harry Wolf, who sold Mighty Mac parkas to old stores like Birke’s all over New England. As a writer you grab what you can from any source available, your own history or the lives of others, and you spin it into your story.

Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?

Veteran prosecutor Andy Barber gives a weary but hopeful take on the court system, in which he has worked for 27 years:

Now, this was not exactly true. I do not believe in the court system, at least I do not think it is especially good at finding the truth. No lawyer does. We have all seen too many mistakes, too many bad results. A jury verdict is just a guess — a well-intentioned guess, generally, but you simply cannot tell fact from fiction by taking a vote. And yet, despite all that, I do believe in the power of the ritual. I believe in the religious symbolism, the black robes, the marble-columned courthouses like Greek temples. When we hold a trial, we are saying a mass. We are praying together to do what is right and to be protected from danger, and that is worth doing whether or not our prayers are actually heard.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Bill. We wish you much success!

Thank you for having me.

‘Unbridled Grace’ by Dr. Michael Norman: “This book is about God’s victory…”

Dr. Michael J. Norman has owned a family health center offering chiropractic care and wellness programs since 1992. Since 2003, he has served as a staff doctor at a non-profit center offering health care and life services to the indigent and un-insured of his community. In addition to his practice, Dr. Norman enjoys writing, speaking, mission outreach and completing graduate studies in Theology. He lives with his family near Dallas, Texas.

Unbridled Grace is his first book. You can visit him online at www.unbridledgrace.com.

About Unbridled Grace

Answering a two-line classified ad in the newspaper had life-changing consequences for a trustingly naive doctor fresh out of school, just starting his career and life as a new father. In a nightmarish true story that could occur to any of us, he innocently takes a part-time chiropractic job from employers who were later found to be a Russian-organized crime ring involved in money laundering, insurance fraud and other crimes. Despite his cooperation in a federal government investigation, the author soon finds himself surrounded by deception on all sides. As his cooperation is turned cruelly against him, Michael endures a federal indictment and an early-morning raid upon his home where he was arrested at gunpoint by six FBI agents in front of his five-year-old daughter. He’s left with two choices: plead guilty to crimes he didn’t commit, receive probation and avoid prison time; or fight the injustice and risk going to prison for at least 10 years. The first means cooperating with the government and lying to put people in prison who may be innocent; the second means doing the impossible and taking on the government.

Unbridled Grace is the true story of how one man rises from the forces of evil through his renewed faith in Christ and takes the reader on a journey to redemption through the bold use of our power of choice for God. Along the way, Michael meets a dynamic Catholic parish priest who gives him the courage to forge a path through this crisis and a hard-working attorney who joins him in this monumental battle. Will their efforts be enough to free the author and his family from this nightmare? It is at this time that a series of seemingly miraculous occurrences begin and the reader is shown what courage, faith and the power of heartfelt prayer can bring to all of our lives when all else appears hopeless.

You have an incredible story. I am not quite sure where to begin. I mean, you graduated college, answered an employment ad in the newspaper and unknowingly went to work for the Russian Mafia. How does something like this happen?

They (Mafia) were very good at what they do. They knew exactly what they were looking for. They live in a world of total deception just like all evil does. Nothing about their world is real and my book portrays what evil looks like. If someone has never been exposed to this type of world, they are easy prey. That was me.

And then, a few months later, despite your cooperation with the government investigation, you become one of their prime targets, culminating in an early-morning armed raid upon your home and arrest, all in front of your five-year-old daughter. I guess the scary thing for me, after reading your book, is that this could happen to any of us if it happened to you.

Absolutely it could. The storm just kept getting darker and darker for our family. I was surrounded by deception on all sides and for a while, nothing in my life was real anymore. It started with the deception and greed of the Russian Mafia and ended with the deception and arrogance of the federal government.

You live in Texas. What was the Russian Mafia doing in Texas? It sounds rather bizarre.

I’ll say! My understanding became that there was a spread of organized criminal activity that developed out of Russia after the break-up of Communism. There really isn’t any part of the world that is immune from the reach of their tentacles. They go where the money is.

I have to ask the obvious question. Why didn’t you hire an attorney early on in your ordeal?

Two reasons: I had no money and I did nothing wrong. I thought if you were innocent, you didn’t need a lawyer. Also, I relied heavily on free legal advice at that time. As the book relates, we all know where this got me.

Do you fear any retaliation from the Russian Mafia or the government?

No.

Did you write this book as “payback” for what was done to you and your family?

Absolutely not. This book is about God’s victory and all the incredible blessings that have resulted from this experience. I wrote this book to share what God can do in all of our lives despite anything we are facing. We simply must trust Him and then courageously choose His will. It’s not easy but it is truly the greatest of all roads to travel.

Okay, let’s talk specifically about your book. The cover photo is beautiful. Where was it taken?

This is on top of a peak in the Dolomites mountain range in the Alto Adige region of Italy (the northern-most region of Italy in the European eastern Alps).

Where did your title, Unbridled Grace, come from?

I wanted to hopefully convey the reality of complete, unrestrained grace that God wants to share with all of us. As I said in the book, a highly contagious ripple-effect of God’s grace can be unleashed through our life choices that can rapidly spread through our lives, our families, our churches, our cities and our world. I have found that God works through us in this way but our cooperation is necessary.

How long did it take to write this book?

On again, off again for about 10 years. There were several times I boxed everything up and packed it away in a closet but I kept “rediscovering” it. For me, it was the story that wouldn’t go away, even though I tried.

The theme of your book is the power of choice. Explain the importance you place on this.

It’s everything. It’s God’s greatest gift to us and it can unleash the most powerful force on the planet, His grace. I wrote about the fact that all of God’s new doorways for our lives can be bigger than the previous ones, if we use our power of choice for Him. Our lives simply keep expanding if we allow them to. Now the opposite is also true. When we mis-use His gift, our power of choice can lead to a “shrinking” of our lives until we begin to choose differently.

And this “shrinking” of our lives is what you called a hell of our own creation?

Yes and I knew it well.

Have you always placed such importance on the power of choice?

Absolutely not, as the early part of the book describes. Although, looking back over the years, my favorite movies have always been the ones which show alternate versions of life possibilities for the character if they had chosen differently. My favorite is still “It’s a Wonderful Life”. We all have an infinite number of life possibilities available to us depending on the choices we make.

You include inspiring but challenging meditations at the end of each chapter for readers. Where did these come from?

I don’t know how else to answer that except, they were lessons that came out of the pain. I wish I could have just learned them from a book instead! The themes of the meditations mirror their respective chapters and the events that unfolded within them. They’re kind of like “classroom notes” over several years.

Are you worried they are a little too challenging for the average Christian?

They are absolutely challenging. I read them often to help push myself. I know they won’t be for everybody. I have painfully learned that Christ challenges all of us to become more than who we are today. For me, this was difficult then, just as it remains difficult today.

Don’t you worry about the “hypocritical, holier-than-thou” label?

I’m used to it as a father of a teenager!

No, seriously.

Yes, there is always that possibility but it is far riskier to not write this book. This is God’s victory that is told, not mine. He permits all of us to pass through trials and difficult life experiences for a reason and it remains up to us to give a testimony to His power. If we don’t, who will? Everybody loves a good story. Why not share true stories that tell of His victories? I would love to see the book market flooded with them.

In your book, you share an incredible Marian experience that you and Laura received. How did this impact the eventual outcome of your ordeal?

I don’t think there would be a story without this event. It changed Laura and I completely. I write about how we were given a momentary glimpse beyond the veil and I am so thankfully humble to have received this awesome blessing and gift. I mean, we were able to make the courageous and impossible choice of risking a loss of family, freedom, friends, career, finances, home, everything. It helped us stand up for God and accomplish His will.

What about those who do not believe in Marian experiences or do not believe you?

I am sure there will be plenty. But Christ also tells us ‘by their fruits you shall know them.’ This is what I prefer to use as my “barometer”. I hope they would as well.

Although you are currently studying for a degree in Theology, you have no other formal theological training or credentials. Do you think this hinders the chances for your book being successful?

First of all, I consider my book a success if only my children and grandchildren would be able to read about God’s victory and the choices I made. That’s why I wrote it.

Fair enough. What about your lack of theological training and credentials?

As a hindrance to success? I think a theology “textbook” is difficult for most people to understand and apply to real-life experience. This is a true story that could occur to any of us and illustrates how theology can become practical and lived out in real-life.

Since your ordeal, what has been your biggest surprise?

When I speak to groups and share this story, I have met so many people who have gone through similar experiences within our legal system.

What were some of the biggest challenges in the writing of Unbridled Grace?

One of the biggest was overcoming the conflicting advice from the publishing world. From the beginning, they told me to choose “mission or market” but not both because that is not possible. It was strongly suggested that I bring this story to market as a strictly secular account with all the “winning” elements: an incredible true story, individual accomplishment and triumph over adversity. I just couldn’t do it. Without Christ and what truly helped me, this story could no longer be considered true. In the end, I would have cheated both, the secular market as well as the Christian market.

Where do you go from here?

My prayer is that Unbridled Grace helps many people and it could open the door to allow me to continue writing.

So, there may be a future book?

Hopefully.

Unbridled Grace: A True Story about the Power of Choice
Dr. Michael J. Norman
Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-145750-096-1
Available at Ingram, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores everywhere
www.unbridledgrace.com