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An Interview with Author Jack Woodville London

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Award-winning author Jack Woodville London studied the craft of fiction at the Academy of Fiction, St. Céré, France and at Oxford University. A former U.S. Army quartermaster officer and courtroom lawyer, he has authored nonfiction articles and reference books, as well as novels and short stories. Jack shares his love of writing at national and international conferences and teaches veterans who want to pen their own stories. Meticulous research of World War II and its affects on the home front play out in his French Letters historical fiction series praised for its authentic portrayal of the culture and the times. Children of a Good War (Vire Press, 2018) is the third book in that series. You’ll find Jack on his website at JWLBooks.com and on Facebook.

What is your elevator pitch for Children of a Good War?
Hamilton and Burr. Grant and Lee. Custer and Crazy Horse. Nixon and Kennedy. And the Hastings brothers, Frank and Peter, each of whom detests the other. Peter accuses Frank of being a bastard their father brought back from WW2. Frank believes Peter stole their parents’ home and dumped them to die in a soulless retirement center. Neither will learn who the other truly is until he learns who he is himself, quests that take Frank to France and Peter into the cockpit of a hijacked 747. Included in the Kirkus Review edition of Best Books 2018, SouthWest Writers’ own Parris Afton Bonds says the novel is “Beautifully written, a paean to humanity and a masterpiece of insight.”

When readers turn the last page in the book, what do you hope they take away from it?
Are we who others think we are? Or who we have decided for ourselves to be? We often wear masks to make others see us as we want them to see us or as we think they see us, but hide inside who we really are. We even take for granted who our parents are, rarely knowing who they were before us, people who had their own loves and suffered their own tragedies and who kept hidden their own secrets. And, of course, we are usually wrong about thinking we know all there is to know about others. Two of life’s most important quests are to find out what is behind these masks to discover who our parents were and who we really are.

What would you like people to know about the story itself?
The brothers’ mother, Virginia, gave birth to Peter when their father, Will, was an army doctor in France during WW2. The brothers grew up assuming they were married and also assuming that their parents had cozy lives together when in fact WW2 cost each of them the people they deeply loved. Four decades after the war, when the United States had become rich, urban, self-centered, and polarized, the brothers discover their parents did have secrets and that they may not themselves be who they think they are.

Tell us a little about your main characters. What is it about your protagonists that will make readers connect with them?
Peter was a star athlete, great student, Air Force Academy graduate who loved flying gunships in Vietnam before becoming a Pan Am pilot, the golden child everyone wants to be growing up. Frank was an ugly duck who was kicked off school teams for mooning Peter and for using chicken manure napalm to scorch the school rival’s initials into the football field, a skill he came to regret in Vietnam. His good quality was to question why things are the way they are. Their last argument arises from putting Will and Virginia in a nursing home. Candace, Peter’s wife, was a child of the sixties who becomes a loving suburban mom. Eleanor, a doctoral student from England, sees and brings out the goodness in Frank’s inner core. Their father is Will, a doctor who dies while on a walk from his retirement home and leaves the boys to fight over what will happen with their mother, Virginia, who has become aphasic and alone. And in France, four bitter widows use their medicines to play poker, remembering what really happened in WW2 when Will saved lives in their apple barn as a young army doctor. And one lonely, wonderful French nun in an Irish convent…

What sparked the initial story idea for the French Letters series?
A combination of Bible stories (Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau) and the observation that all of us put on our best face to others. We may lapse into being who others think we are or we may hide who we really are to make others believe we’re better or different from the person who (deep down inside) we would like to be. I framed the issue with three stories. In the first book, Virginia is a single woman in a small town during WW2 who hates being gossiped about and taken for granted, and who gets pregnant. In the second book, Will is thrown into mortal combat in Normandy and loses everything—Virginia, family, friends, and nearly his life, because he refuses to be who his commanders consider him to be. Their Children of a Good War, Peter and Frank, know nothing of their parents’ pasts or secrets and are comfortable baby boomers, happily hating one another over mistaken beliefs about each other’s supposed bastardy and treachery.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Integrating into the story historical details—rationing of food, gasoline and gossip in a small town during the Second World War, landing on Omaha Beach and struggling through France, the barely perceptible shift from small town to big city America, and the polarizing division between Americans. The long story arc also includes more recent history: the AIDS fright of the 1980s, bank failures, hijacking of Pan Am airplanes in Pakistan, the discovery of DNA. All of these shaped us as a people while we soldiered on in the comfort of thinking we know who we are. Among my personal favorite episodes are two backstories I wrote: the Navy losing its goat at a football game and Pakistani government ministers trading a hijacking captive for a box of helicopter parts.

What do many beginning writers misunderstand about telling a story?
When readers pick up a book they look for three things: what is the story about, who are the characters, and where do I come in? Telling a story is a contract between the storyteller and the audience. The reader has to become invested in the story for it to succeed. To invest readers, the story must be something they can see themselves being a part of. The story must make the reader expect the conflict to come out a certain way and continue reading until the conflict does come out, although not necessarily as expected. The story doesn’t get better with clever phrases and lots of adjectives.

Do you prefer the creating or editing aspect of writing? How do you feel about research?
I prefer creative writing and love research, and don’t so much love real editing. Whatever I have written that has become readable is so because I have wonderful editors.

How has your experience writing nonfiction benefited your fiction writing?
It has taught me to be precise. Care with language, with accuracy of details, and writing the fewest words possible to convey the story all come from practice in nonfiction. Having said that, and reading what I wrote above, one could reasonably argue that I should practice what I preach.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing/publishing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I was the John Snow of beginning writers. Criticism is painful, but not fatal.

Do you have a message or a theme that recurs in your writing?
It hurts when people take us for granted. It hurts when we lose people we care about. It hurts when we discover that our lives and the lives of people we care about are messy and uncertain. People do have secrets, often for good reason. And, everyone we know is more complicated, richer, deeper, better but also sometimes meaner and nastier and greedier than we see on the surface. Know yourself; whether you choose to let others know that self is up to you.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
Sex scenes. I vastly prefer to invite the reader to imagine any necessary details.

What writing projects are you working on now?
A lighthearted and funny (I hope) Popeye versus Bluto story set on a WW2 troopship in the Pacific, in which the Popeye character disappears overboard and Bluto washes up on a desert island—next to a Japanese POW camp. Their names are Bart and Olafson and, despite the improbability of the story, the historical backdrops are accurate.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Don’t write for money. Write for the art of writing. There isn’t much money and what little there is will disappear fast. But, the satisfaction you will have from your artistry will be with you always.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Benjamin Radford

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Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has seen his nonfiction work published in over 20 books (as author, co-author, or contributor) and has written thousands of articles on topics such as urban legends, mysterious phenomena, critical thinking, and media literacy. His newest release is the award-winning Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits (2018). You’ll find Ben on his website at BenjaminRadford.com and on Facebook and Twitter. For a list of all his books stop by his Amazon author page.

What is your elevator pitch for Investigating Ghosts?
Investigating Ghosts is an in-depth look at scientific attempts to contact the dead, from historical, cultural, and folkloric perspectives. From Shakespeare to the Victorian era to modern-day ghost hunting, people have always tried to find ghosts, and this is a look at their methods and how to bring science to them. I’m open-minded but skeptical.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
This book is a culmination of about 20 years of research and investigation into the subject, and it’s probably one of the broadest topics I’ve written about. My previous books were often on narrower topics (such as New Mexico mysteries, the chupacabra vampire, and evil clowns) which allowed me to do a deep dive and analysis into them. But with ghosts, there’s an enormous amount of information I needed to tackle, from early ghost-based religions (such as Spiritualism) to ghost folklore, the psychology of a ghost experience, ghost hunting devices, ghost photos, the scientific process, and so on. In all these cases I wanted to bring something new to it, not just copy and paste information or third-hand sources but give readers factual, science-based information. That’s why there are eight pages of references; it’s not just a book of spooky, told-as-true ghost stories, but evidence-based analyses, including my own investigations. Even with all that, I couldn’t get everything into 320 pages.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Throughout the book I describe my firsthand investigations, including many here in New Mexico. I’m not just an armchair investigator! I love to get out in the field, go to haunted locations, interview witnesses, examine evidence, and try to figure out what’s going on. So I enjoyed describing some of the investigations, for example at the KiMo theater, the Albuquerque Press Club, courthouses in Santa Fe and Espanola, the tiny town of Cuchillo, and so on. I have also done haunted house investigations for television shows in Los Angeles, Jamaica, Canada, and other countries. It’s part memoir, which was fun, and I’m especially pleased it won the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award.

Tell us how the book came together.
Investigating Ghosts is actually a follow-up to a previous book titled Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries which came out in 2010. In that book I cover pretty much what the title states: How to investigate—and more importantly, solve—seemingly unexplained mysteries. I cover a wide variety of phenomenon, including crop circles, lake monsters, psychic detectives, and ghosts. But I realized that ghosts are so popular, and such an often-investigated phenomenon, that they really deserved their own book. There really are many different aspects to ghost investigation (photos, experiences, so-called EVP or ghostly voices, etc.) that I couldn’t do it justice in just a chapter or a few articles. Plus I kept meeting well-intended amateur ghost hunters who were going about it in completely the wrong way—often influenced, unfortunately, by “reality” TV shows—and honestly I felt badly for them. This book is partly an attempt to help sincere ghost investigators, whether skeptic or believer, to improve their methods so that if ghosts do exist, it can be proven. Or, by the same token, if ghosts aren’t real, we can help prove that, too.

Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share from Investigating Ghosts?
“If you prefer that mysteries remain unsolved and would rather not look too closely at a phenomenon lest its secrets be revealed through logical deduction and perseverance, this book is not for you…. Everyone—skeptic and believer alike—benefits from clarifying the situation, improving the quality of evidence, and distinguishing fact from fiction.”

Any “Oh, wow!” moments when doing research for the book?
I think what surprised me most was the variety of phenomena that can be, and have been, mistaken for ghosts. When most people think of ghosts they imagine dramatic depictions on television and in films, but in fact most ghostly phenomena are very mundane and subtle. It’s more like missing keys, feeling watched, or odd sounds and odors. For many people, ghosts are comforting, not scary.

Of the eleven nonfiction books you’ve written, which one was the most satisfying to write?
I’d have to say my 2011 book Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore (University of New Mexico Press, 2011) is probably among my favorites. It was challenging because it took me five years to investigate and another year to write. But it’s by far the highest-profile mystery I’ve ever solved. It’s satisfying to be able to do good research and bring it all together into a sort of real-life vampire mystery. Plus the book has sections of memoir, such as my experiences in the jungles of Puerto Rico and Nicaragua looking for the creatures.

Tell us about your writing process.
I need silence to work and write. I’m always jealous of, and astonished by, people who can somehow write amid chaos. I begin by determining the scope of the book, so that I have a clear picture of what’s relevant and what’s not. I usually outline the books, at least informally, and make changes as I go along. I usually do about four drafts: the first is just to get the words on the screen, the second is to organize them, and the third is more editing. Then I print out a hardcopy of each chapter and edit with a red pen, like an old-school copyeditor. It gives me a tactile sense of working the words. Then I make those changes on the computer files, and set it aside for a week or two. Then I come back and do another few rounds of edits, and with any luck I’m 90% of the way there. The last 10% is always the hardest, for some reason.

How do you choose which writing project to tackle next?
I’ve been fortunate that as a writer I’ve mostly been able to choose projects that interest me and that I’m passionate about. I have to, since I often spend years on them and I’ve only got so many years, so many books in me. I’ve done plenty of freelance writing, but I don’t think I could do a whole book unless it was something I cared about. Although if it was a huge check, I could probably make myself care enough to do a good job and get through it… That’s what a writer does; you can’t wait for the muse to sing. As Tom Waits says, you “got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow.” So I do that, but I choose which field to plow.

You released a dark satire, The Merchant of Dust, in 2015. How did your experience writing fiction compare to writing nonfiction?
I enjoy both fiction and nonfiction, but of course they’re different beasts. I hope to return to fiction someday, but for now I’ve made my niche in nonfiction. I wrote a first novel set in Ecuador titled Jungle Green, which—quite justifiably—will never see the light of day. Well, I shouldn’t say that… I think it’s a decent first novel but it’s one of those you have to write before you can write, as they say. Organizing a nonfiction book is much easier than organizing a fiction book, at least for me. There are so many narrative threads to quality fiction, so many things that need to be right, and you have a little more leeway with nonfiction. I’m better at editing and improving other people’s work. Part of that is being an editor for twenty years, and part of that is having the necessary emotional distance to objectively tell what’s good and bad.

What is the best advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
There’s plenty of writing advice out there, so much to choose from, but one of my favorites is, “Writing is rewriting.” They’re not separate things. Nobody’s prose is good in first draft, I don’t care who you are. You may be typing, you may be scribbling, you may be blurting out words, but you’re not really writing until you’re rewriting, editing, and shaping what you’ve done.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m working on a long-gestating book about the role of fear in American culture. It’s partly about the politics of fear, but also how science and critical thinking can help improve the world. I’ve been working on it for well over a decade in one form or another, and I’m feeling added pressure to finish it and get it out there because of the current social and political climate. There is light to be found in the dark forest of negativity, but you have to know where and how to look. The book won’t solve the world’s problems, of course, but it might help bring a positive message of unity and optimism if I can help fight phantom fears.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



Author Update: D. E. Williams

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D. E. Williams began her writing journey at an early age but didn’t consider being an author until later in life. While working full-time as a software trainer, she honed her writing craft on her off-hours and went on to publish an award-winning science fiction novel, Child of Chaos, in 2015. Chaos Unleashed (2018) is the second book in the Chesan Legacy series. Visit Dollie on her website at DollieWilliams.com and on Facebook, and read about book one and the journey to publication in her 2017 SWW interview.

What is your elevator pitch for Chaos Unleashed?
“A young assassin risks everything to save her friends and find the truth about her past—and her future. The cost could be her life, but will it be enough?”

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
Connecting this continuation of a complex story without dropping important lines was the most difficult challenge. Because the story is told from two perspectives, the other big challenge was to keep the story moving without crippling the suspense in one point of view or the other. There was a ton of rewriting and moving scenes around.

Your main character in the Chesan Legacy series is Tridia Odana, a 17-year-old assassin. What are her flaws and strengths, and why will readers connect with her? Brenden Aren, a former Master Assassin sworn to kill Tridia, is the main antagonist in the story. What is the most difficult aspect of writing from his point of view?
Tridia is fiercely loyal to her friends and selfless in her determination to help them. Even though some allies could become enemies, she’ll do whatever it takes to free them. Her loyalty and sense of duty are also flaws, causing her to take risks on her own that may not be necessary. I think her most endearing quality is her deep desire for an innocence that she lost long ago, but the one that makes her unforgettable is her utter refusal to give up—even when there appears to be no way to go on. Brenden Aren becomes more complex and mysterious every time I write about him. People keep telling me they don’t know what to think about him. Is he one of the good guys or one of the bad guys? Keeping that suspense going is a real challenge. Tables get turned in this book and Brenden becomes more dangerous than ever.

What was your favorite part of putting together Chaos Unleashed?
Seeing my characters come to life once more for other people has been my favorite part. Working with my first and second readers was an amazing experience this time, and I’m looking forward to working with them again with book three.

In your previous interview, you said it took seven years to write what you thought was one book. After realizing it was really two books, it took another four years to separate them and refine the first novel into Child of Chaos. How long did it take to refine the second book? When did you know book two was finished and ready to publish?
It took an additional two and a half years to refine Chaos Unleashed. My first readers—three amazing friends: Clare Davis, Shari Holmes, and Kevin Cooley—had to help me decide when it was finished. Letting go of a project like this can be really hard. And when I was ready to quit too soon, Kirt Hickman had to remind me that a good book is worth the revision time. So, I had lots of help!

Now that you’ve written two books in the Chesan Legacy, what are the challenges of writing a series?
Those who’ve read my books know they’re very complex, and I’ve got a lot of small things running in the undercurrent now that will become significant later. Not dropping those threads is the biggest challenge. Keeping the story moving at its established pace is also huge. (My books don’t slow down.)

You consider yourself a pantser. After taking more than 12 years to bring two books to market, do you see the benefits of being a plotter or will you remain a diehard pantser?
Book three is already swarming in my head. There’s no way for me to tame it with an outline at this point.

What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
My best compliment has come from several readers at Comic Cons who’ve come to the table to tell me they’ve been waiting for book two. The first time it happened, I was stunned. The next several times were only slightly less of a shock. I’m just humbled by the enthusiasm when they see the second book. I’m looking forward to giving them a third and fourth!

Looking back to the beginning of your writing/publishing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I would have encouraged my first and second readers to be more forthright a lot sooner. I wouldn’t have waited so long before deciding to self-publish. And I would have let go of the first book about three years earlier.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m currently working on Chosen Son, The Chesan Legacy Series Book Three, and a couple of short stories about the other Chesan survivors.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



2018 Releases for Authors Robert D. Kidera, Sarah Storme, and D. E. Williams

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Robert Kidera, Sarah Storme (aka Sarah Baker), and D. E. Williams are three of the most active members of SouthWest Writers (SWW) who continue to provide stories their fans adore. Each of these authors represents a different genre, but all have new releases (or re-releases) for 2018 and all have one or more interviews posted on the SWW website.

Robert Kidera is the author of the award-winning Gabe McKenna Mystery series with four books released through Suspense Publishing since 2015. His newest novel is Midnight Blues. You’ll find Bob on his website RobertKideraBooks.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Read more about him and his series in his 2015 and 2017 interviews.

Midnight Blues
What kind of person would harm a child? Neophyte P.I. Gabe McKenna and his buddy The Onion find out the hard way, when their plan to ransom a kidnapped boy goes terribly wrong. Finding themselves in a battle against international human traffickers, they rely on the help of unlikely friends in a race against time to rescue dozens of enslaved young victims. In a final, deadly showdown at a New Mexico ghost town, Gabe faces his ultimate challenge. How high a price is he willing to pay? Can he risk death and his own conscience to save the innocent without turning into his enemy?

Available on Amazon.

Sarah Baker writes mystery as S.H. Baker, romance as Sarah Storme, and erotica as Lydia Parks, and currently has 20 novels, numerous novellas and short stories, and three audiobooks available. Her publishers include Kensington, Harlequin, Five Star, Siren Audio and others. In 2018 she released four books from her backlist. You’ll find Sarah on Facebook and Twitter. Discover more about her writing in her 2015 interview.

The Long Way Home was originally published by Five Star and reviewed by Library Journal. Hardbacks are in libraries worldwide, but this is the first time in e-book.

Sam Calvert is the only veterinarian within a hundred miles of Rocky Butte, Colorado. He doesn’t have time to get involved with anyone, but when a stranger appears at the local bar, he can’t let her walk out into the night alone. Allie Tate has hit rock bottom. The only thing she really wants is a home, but life won’t cooperate. When she discovered her husband cheating, she ran. Her car, however, died in the mountains, so she’s on foot without money or a friend…

Available on Amazon.

Strength of a Promise was also published by Five Star. This is its first time in paperback or e-book.

Diana Duncan left New York to find a safe place to raise her daughter. She hopes Hillton, Texas will be that haven, but the house she inherited needs more work than she realized. Thad Crowley has returned to Hillton to care for his aging mother. Repairing a roof for Diana Duncan is the first decent job he’s had in a year. Diana thinks Thad is good-looking and hard-working, but the town hates him and no one will tell her why. Can she trust him around her daughter? Thad can’t tell Diana about his past. A twenty-year-old promise is still a promise. And if he breaks his promise, he won’t be worthy of Diana’s love.

Available on Amazon.

Just Kiss Me and Bayou Rhapsody are books one and two in the Hearts of Marshall’s Bayou historical romance series, originally published by Echelon Press. Book four, Angel in My Arms, is only available in audio, and book three, Moonlight on the Marsh, has not yet been released.

Just Kiss Me: In 1918 Marshall’s Bayou, Louisiana is being ravaged by a drought, but no matter how bad things get, Alberta Strickler will never leave her home and family. And she’ll never let a man rule her life the way her domineering father has. Isaac Broussard, an easy-going Frenchman, is eager to find a place to settle down. He isn’t impressed with Marshall’s Bayou until he meets the woman who steals his heart. Problem is, she’s determined to send him away. As Isaac works to win over Alberta, it isn’t just her stubbornness that gets in the way. Her father is certain Isaac is no good. Can Isaac win Alberta’s heart? And even if he can, will they be able to overcome the social prejudices of those around them in order to be together?

 

Bayou Rhapsody: Daniel Griffin is the new minister in Marshall’s Bayou, Louisiana. This post is not a prestigious one, but it offers the opportunity to examine his faith and maybe prove himself worthy of returning to Atlanta. Unfortunately, his faith seems to be on the verge of abandoning him altogether. Mae Strickler doesn’t intend to stay in Marshall’s Bayou for long. It’s 1920 and there’s a whole world waiting for her. The appearance of the handsome stranger on the boat home promises to make her visit more fun until she discovers he’s the new Methodist minister. Mae finds Daniel more than a little attractive. And Daniel is drawn to her strength, independence, and wild beauty. Mae soon realizes her reputation could ruin his career if they give in to the attraction…

Just Kiss Me and Bayou Rhapsody are available on Amazon. See Sarah Storme’s Amazon author page for more of her books.

A note from Sarah: The Cold Hand, the last of the Dassas Cormier Mystery Series (by S. H. Baker) will be released in 2019 or 2020. I have also outlined a new series, The Tru Mystery Series, set in the near future in Albuquerque. The first book, Dying of Thirst, may be published in 2019. My current passion is for writing short stories; I’ve submitted several to magazines and contests, and I’m working on my critique group’s self-published anthology.

D. E. Williams began writing at the age of 10 but didn’t pursue it as a career until later in life. Between working full-time as a software trainer and honing her writing craft on her off-hours, she managed to publish an award-winning speculative fiction novel, Child of Chaos, in 2015. Chaos Unleashed (2018) is the second book in The Chesan Legacy series. You’ll find Dollie on her website at DollieWilliams.com and on Facebook. Read more about her writing in her 2017 SWW interview.

Chaos Unleashed:
Tridia Odana faces a death sentence if her hidden memories reveal she committed the crimes she’s denied. Her forgotten past is not the only danger. The Chaos Vision foretold that she could destroy the galaxy through a brutal holocaust. Brenden Aren stands ready to execute her to save the galaxy from a nightmarish future. Only reaching an exiled prince to recreate the vision could prove Tridia’s innocence, but she’s forbidden to approach him. And a Hierarchy officer always obeys orders — doesn’t she? As Tridia and Brenden rush toward their inevitable confrontation, an ancient enemy prowls at the edge of the galaxy, preparing to launch an invasion to enslave Tridia’s people and conquer the known worlds. Encountering these foes plunges Tridia and her allies to the brink of a war that will bring the Chaos Vision to life. Her sacrifice could save them all—or guarantee a horrific outcome. Does she dare take the chance?

Available on Amazon.

Coming Up: An author update interview in January focusing on Chaos Unleashed.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Ronn Perea

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Ronn Perea might be best known for his ventures into comedy and theater productions in the United States and abroad, but he is also a history buff and a published author. His newest book is the historical novel Elsie and Elsa (2018) which sheds light on important events that occurred in the American Southwest from 1943 to 1975. You’ll find Ronn on his website at RonnPerea.com and on Facebook.

What is your elevator pitch for Elsie and Elsa?
During the mid-20th century, many historical events occurred in the American Southwest that shaped the lives of many families. This story brings to light those events and the people who changed the course of history including World War II secret prisoner of war camps, atomic bomb espionage, the embryonic birth of technology, the Pope, the President, movie stars, celebrities, and a future rock-n-roll sex god. As this story takes place, a life shaping relationship grows between two high school girls, Elsie and Elsa.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing the book?
Fleshing out the history while actually viewing, touching, and feeling it.

Tell us a little about your main characters.
Elsie and Elsa were my mom and her high school friend. Historical events occurred around them that they were unaware of as the events happened. Elsie and Elsa would later be a resource as witnesses to these actual occurrences.

Do you have a favorite quote from the book you’d like to share?
I’ll paraphrase from the New Mexican 200th and 515th Coast Guard Artillery groups who were the first to shoot down Japanese planes on December 7, 1941 (the same day as Pearl Harbor). This time our guys were not surprised when the Japanese started to attack them in the Philippines. During the next four months, as our cut-off troops were using up their last bullets and eating their last slices of bread, newspapers back home were calling them The Battling Bastards of Bataan. When 70,000 Americans finally surrendered and were forced to march the infamous Bataan Death March, our boys were resigned to their motto, “No Mama, No Pappa, No Uncle Sam.”

How did the book come together?
Elsie and Elsa took ten years to compile, write, rewrite and edit. When about to be published, I discovered new facts that I had to include. It took another year before the book was ready for publication.

What first inspired you to become a writer?
As soon as I was out of college, I wrote my first novel. It’s now collecting dust somewhere.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I have realized that it helps to write about what you know. The intimate details are easier to describe.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
Ernest Hemingway. Action with historical. Do I need to say more?

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received on your writing journey?
Never give up. Explore all options, some will always work for you.

What have you learned as a comedian that has helped you with your writing career?
As a show biz producer of stage presentations, it’s simple. Start with a strong opening that leads to a solid middle that leads to a killer ending.

What writing projects are you working on now?
My next novel is about baseball. Not about the star home run hitter or the star pitcher. But when was the last time you read a story about five generations of a family of umpires? It starts in the future and goes back to the beginning of townball and how it migrated west. And how in 1880 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad brought it to Albuquerque.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Gabrielle Dorian

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Author and attorney Gabrielle Dorian marries courtroom experience with witty banter and memorable characters in her debut romantic comedy Waking Up in Vegas (2018). When she’s not writing or practicing her magic in the Land of Enchantment’s legal system, you’ll find her rollerblading or kickboxing. Connect with Gabrielle on her website at WritingWithTheSharks and on Twitter.

What is your elevator pitch for Waking Up in Vegas?
A stop-and-go divorce case spurs a stop-and-go romance between opposing counsel on the case.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
Formatting. The characters communicate with each other via text occasionally throughout the book, and I wanted the text messages to appear in the book as they would look on a phone screen. Now that that’s been accomplished, it is proving to be a challenge adapting the text messages for the audiobook script. Fortunately, I am working with a creative audio team, and I think it’s going to be great.

What was your favorite part of this writing project?
I loved the moments when I made connections between something that had happened earlier in the story with a later part, where something cool could happen, just because I had fortuitously set it up. Maybe it was there on some subconscious level. I’m willing to give myself some credit. But it felt like I had a lot of serendipitous “aha” and “yay” moments where I was able to work something back into the story, which gave it a lot more depth.

How did your book come together?
I had been happily single for about seven years when I met someone (not opposing counsel on a case, but an attorney I met in court) who made me question my views on relationships. But that relationship ended just as quickly as it began, and I was left wondering: What just happened? I started working through my thoughts on relationships, using writing, and a story developed out of it.

The first draft was completed in about nine months, and then the book went through two major editing rounds (which included a few additional rounds targeting specific chapters). It took about two years and some change  from initial idea to the time I hit “publish” on Amazon KDP.

Why did you choose Las Vegas, Nevada as the setting for the book?
I chose Vegas as a backdrop for a few reasons. Although it is almost as easy to get married in many other states (no blood test required, no waiting period), there is still a common perception of Vegas as the destination for a spontaneous marriage or quickie divorce. One thing I discovered about Vegas in my research is that the County Clerk’s office is open sixteen hours a day, which, coupled with the legal public drinking and ongoing party atmosphere, probably does allow for (if not encourage) a higher rate of spontaneous weddings than in other states. I also enjoyed juxtaposing Mallory’s character (somewhat introverted, career-focused, risk averse) with the stereotypical outlandish Vegas setting.

Tell us about your main characters.
The two main characters are attorneys. Mallory, a talented estate planning attorney, is reluctant to leave her comfort zone. Tyler, a brazen divorce attorney from Chicago, starts off on the wrong foot, looking like a smug jerk to Mallory. He quickly wins over Mallory’s paralegal, Amanda, and Amanda convinces Mallory to give Tyler a chance.

I really enjoyed writing Amanda, because she has a lot of qualities I wish I had, plus a ton of confidence and minimally censored sassy responses. My favorite character to write was actually Tyler’s mother, Quinn. Completely uncensored and unapologetic, Quinn is the free spirit who enters into a spontaneous marriage that sets the whole story in motion. Those close to me have pointed out commonalities between me and several of my characters.

Did you discover anything interesting while doing research for Waking Up in Vegas?
I searched for “crazy things people do in Vegas” online, and read a lot of interesting stories. Only one anecdote ended up becoming the basis for a minor character in my story, but describing it would spoil one of my favorite surprise moments in the book.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write, and what do you do to get over this hurdle?
I find it difficult to write scenes involving dialog in a group of people because the reader has to be able to tell who is talking, and because there must be action (a lot of people just standing around talking gets dull quickly), and again, the reader has to be able to tell who is doing what. I hate using a lot of dialog tags, but when more than two people are talking in a scene, I have accepted the need to use more tags to identify the speakers. I try to make each character’s voice as distinguishable as possible and to pair a character’s action with the speech to minimize the necessity of tags.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I am currently working on the second book to follow Waking Up in Vegas, tentatively titled Chicago is So Two Years Ago. I am also working on a series of short stories about lawyers, more dramedy than romantic comedy, to be released close to the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” in 2019. I blog about lawyers, being a female attorney, and dating on my website. Finally, I am working on a screenplay about gym rats—a modern day bromance.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Thelma Giomi

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Author Thelma Giomi is a novelist, award-winning poet, and a psychologist. She used her personal experience with chronic illness and as a caregiver, as well as her years in the medical arena, to fashion her newest release, Shatter My Heart (2018). You’ll find Thelma on her website ThelmaGiomi.com and her Amazon author page.

What is your elevator pitch for Shatter My Heart?
Shatter My Heart is a dynamic story that immediately immerses the reader in the lives of four friends. Individually and together they face and overcome some of life’s most devastating challenges—invisible illness, loss, infidelity, and the demands of commitment to each other. They emerge from these challenges with poise and compassion to become the heroes of their own lives.

Tell us a little about your main characters.
Lauren loves working as a psychologist in a medical setting but is haunted by persistent and undiagnosed symptoms of her own. She remains a steady force finding ways to live with her illness and its consequences while finding delight in life and never losing her compassion for others. Emotionally wounded surgeon Ian Blackburn is running from his own sense of compassion. He is tormented by his feelings of helplessness to cure his wife or care for his son. Ian and Lauren’s love story is a compelling drama filled with shifting moods and events as Ian spirals to near self-annihilation. Lauren’s best friends, Paul and Nikki Fiori, live their lives with passion, humor, and an acceptance of life’s challenges. The couple provide a sanctuary for Lauren in her darkest moments.

What themes do you explore in the book?
One of the major themes pervasive in Shatter My Heart is that taking care of each other is the only thing that really matters in life. Nikki, Paul, and Lauren all demonstrate this throughout the book in their care and commitment for each other. Another theme is that “reality cannot be fooled.” As Lauren’s symptoms (like many with “invisible illnesses”) are dismissed or trivialized by the medical profession and others, Paul reminds Lauren of the reality of what she is experiencing and urges her to not give up. Throughout this novel Lauren and others must find in themselves what Camus calls “an invincible summer.” As challenges and crises occur in their lives the characters in this book find ways to live not only constructively with the challenges, but with an ability to continue to find pleasure, shared happiness, caring and compassion. The novel also addresses who a healer is and the consequences of running from fears and vulnerabilities.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
One of my challenges was to incorporate into the story my own experiences and those of others living with invisible illnesses while letting Lauren find her own voice and speak her own truth. Another challenge was in researching Lauren’s different medical issues by interviewing professionals and patients to provide authenticity to the scenes and events. For me, as with anyone living with a chronic illness, writing this novel posed a constant need to balance writing times with the physical manifestations of Systemic Lupus.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Shatter My Heart?
The most rewarding aspect is the emotional feedback I have received from readers. It affirms my vision and hope for this book—that it offers the reader an engaging story with complex and compelling characters and that it reaches a wide and diverse audience. Hearing from a variety of readers with their different experiences and points of view has affirmed that this book offers compassion to those living with chronic illness as well as insight and understanding to those who have not experienced the life challenges and consequences of such illness. Many reviewers have said that the story is “well told.” That is a goal we storytellers strive to achieve and perhaps one of the best evaluations one can receive.

Tell us how the book came together.
The story emerged while I was listening to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. I envisioned a couple, the man casting a shadow over the woman, and realized that this could embody a story of how the couple faced some devastating challenges in their lives and survived. My next thought was that this could be the way to tell the story of invisible illness and its impact on individuals, their families and friends. I began to see how writing a good story with engaging and passionate characters would reach a wider audience than the limited one my nonfiction writing (and speaking) had reached before. Writing this book included the very essence of what it is like to live with chronic illness and remain creative while experiencing its random and unpredictable episodes. The book grew in spite of my physical limitations and never being able to write on a schedule.

Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for this book?
What surprised me most was the development of the Fioris’ friendship with Lauren and how it grew despite her mounting health challenges. They became intimately involved in helping Lauren find answers to her symptoms and life challenges, even including her as a beloved family member. Their compassion was very touching to me. I was also surprised by how little medical professionals know about Lupus and other invisible illnesses and how rarely they look for these diseases when presented with ambiguous symptoms. As I interviewed and met others with invisible illnesses, I was surprised by how ubiquitous my experience was. In researching this book, I came to have deeper respect for those medical professionals that never lose their compassionate connection with their patients. Robert Frost said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” I can truly say as I wrote this novel, and as I read it over, there were still tears and surprises.

How has your work as a poet influenced your fiction writing?
Through my poetry I have always hoped to connect with the unearned challenges life brings us and embrace new perspectives and constructive alternatives to coping. Writing Shatter My Heart has allowed me to do this in fiction as well. In my poetry I use imagery and sensual experiences to bring the reader into an intimate connection with the words. I think I was able to carry this over to my novel. Writing poetry also has enhanced my fiction work with a sense of rhythm and pace that can be mesmerizing as it captures the reader’s attention and changes their breathing.

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
While my mother was in hospice she asked me to read my poetry to her each day. One morning she said, “Your words fill the room with beauty. How beautiful life could be if your poems touched everyone. Please promise they will be published so that your words will find the ones who need them.”

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have many projects in the works including a sequel to Shatter My Heart which will answer many of the enthusiastic questions I have received from readers who want to know more about the characters and their lives. I have finished compiling a book of meditations written by my sister. Church of My Heart will be released next month. I am also in the process of preparing Beagle Blues about the adventures of a little beagle who gets into everything with an exuberant innocence. When completed I will offer this book to rescue groups, vets and others to mitigate some of the cost of caring for abused or abandoned dogs. And I am completing my new collection of poetry which I hope to have ready for publication later this year. Other projects include contributions to anthologies, my website and blog, and public speaking and workshops on the two topics prominent in my life—writing and coping constructively with chronic illness.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I love feedback from my readers and would appreciate their comments on my website at ThelmaGiomi.com.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Gail Hamlin

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Gail Hamlin is a poet as well as a nonfiction author, associate publisher, and editor of over 30 reference books pertaining to Native Americans and United States history. A journey of love and faith produced her newest book, Prophetic Utterances: The Cry of His Heart (Volume 1, 2018). You’ll find Gail on her website at Gail-Hamlin.com and on Facebook and Instagram.

What is your elevator pitch for Prophetic Utterances?
My book Prophetic Utterances: The Cry of His Heart reveals the heart of God, and it shows His immense love for His children. He says, “My sheep hear My voice,” and through these prophetic utterances, He is speaking to His children. He speaks not only of His love, but He warns them to prepare themselves for what’s ahead. These prophetic utterances are a foretelling of events to come.

When readers turn the last page, what do you hope they’ll take away from it?
I want them to know just how much they are loved, and that Jesus’ coming is nearer than they think.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing the book?
It was hearing the still, small voice of God and interacting with Him. I appreciate that He trusted me enough to share some of His heart, words, mysteries, and secrets with me. It was an experience that cannot be fully understood with the natural mind.

Tell us how the book came together.
The inspiration for it came about as a result of answered prayer. I wanted to write a book written by God, not by Gail. I asked Him to give me something new to write about, and He did that on two separate occasions. The first time was in 2002, when I was awakened from a sound sleep at midnight with all kinds of words running through my mind. I began to write what I heard, and this lasted for three days and three nights. The second time was in 2013, when the words started pouring through my mind again—only this time, it lasted for five weeks. There was a rhythm to the words, and pauses as well. I learned to stay in sync with God as He gave me these writings. The amazing part to me was how similar the writings were, even though these two experiences were many years apart. They came at all hours, with some sessions lasting three to four hours at a time. Some of the writings were preceded by visions and dreams. During this time I had a vision of the hand of God over my hand while I was writing; I saw the lower part of His arm covered in a white robe with His fingers outstretched over mine. I wrote the book over a period of five years before having it edited and published.

This is a nonfiction book, but do you believe it contains a character or characters?
Yes, I do. God is the main character and also the author (Omniscient Narrator). We (His children) are minor characters. There is another character who is written about, and that is Satan, and he is quite the character….

Do you have a favorite quote from Prophetic Utterances that you want to share?
That’s a tough question, because there are so many that I like! I think the one at the top of my list is from the writing titled “I AM THE AUTHOR” (page 66)—“I AM is coming to sign
HIS book. Will you come meet HIM?”

What advice do you have for discouraged writers?
Don’t give up! Push past all the obstacles, all the fear and doubt, and all your insecurities. And above all, pray!

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
The writings came to me like a scroll; some were so long that I had to figure out how to break them up into bite-size pieces for the reader to chew on. So, I used the first line of each new topic for the title. There were more writings than I could put into one volume, so a second volume will be published. I encourage the reader to allow God to speak to them through these writings. God is speaking all the time and in so many ways that people often don’t recognize it’s His voice. They might credit their own mind and ingenuity without realizing it’s God’s ingenuity that He is passing along to them.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Don Morgan

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Don Morgan is a versatile author of 13 published novels written in different genres under the separate names of Donald T. Morgan, Don Travis, and Mark Wildyr. As Don Travis, he’s released four mysteries through Dreamspinner Press, with a fifth scheduled for publication in 2019. His newest book, The Lovely Pines (August 2018), is the fourth volume in his BJ Vinson Mystery series that follows a private investigator and his partner as they solve crimes across the Land of Enchantment. You’ll find Don on his website at DonTravis.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

What is your elevator pitch for The Lovely Pines?
When Ariel Gonda’s winery, The Lovely Pines, suffers a break-in, the police write the incident off as a prank since nothing was taken. But Ariel knows something is wrong—small clues are beginning to add up—and he turns to private investigator BJ Vinson for help. When a vineyard worker is killed, there are plenty of suspects to go around. But are the two crimes related? As BJ and his significant other, Paul Barton, follow the trail from the central New Mexico wine country south to Las Cruces and Carlsbad, they discover a tangled web involving members of the US military, a mistaken identity, a family fortune in dispute, and even a secret baby. The body count is rising, and a child may be in danger. BJ will need all his skills to survive, because between a deadly sniper and sabotage, someone is determined to make sure this case goes unsolved.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I know nothing about the wine industry. Heck, I don’t even drink it, except for an occasional glass of red with a good bleu cheese salad, but wine making needed to be at the center of the novel. Why? Because my books feature New Mexico as a continuing character. Each book showcases a different part of this beautiful state. And because I wanted a pivotal character to be Ariel Gonda, the book had to revolve around wine. Why Ariel Gonda? Simple, I liked his name when he showed up (by reference only) as the treasurer of the Alfano Vineyards in The Bisti Business, the second book in the series. Simple-minded, I know, but there you are. I also wanted to concentrate on the Albuquerque/Bernalillo/Placitas area of the state, and that’s wine country. Ergo… I’m trapped into writing about wine. Ariel and his wife and nephew are Swiss nationals, which lent a bit of uncertainty between the European concept of primogeniture and our own hereditary laws and customs.

How did the book come together?
As I said above, the novel came out of a desire to develop the character of the Swiss winemaker and to roam around the area north of Albuquerque east to the Sandia foothills. I began the book on April 13, 2016 and completed the first draft in March of 2017. I did two additional drafts, finishing the last on April 17, 2017. (Successive drafts tend to go fast). I am able to quote specific dates because I note successive drafts with a beginning and a completion date. I will often do as many as five or six drafts, but this book didn’t take that many.

My editing style is right out of the public school English Grammar classes of the last century, full of commas, too many exclamation points, and the like. By the time my publisher, Dreamspinner Press (DSP), completes their three edits (and I really appreciate the fact they go to this extreme), it’s more or less Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) mixed with DSP house style. Because my head editor knows how much I despise CMOS, they diplomatically claim the changes they want are to conform with house style. Not surprisingly, they win a few editing points, and I win a few. That’s the way it should be, right?

Tell us about your characters.
The protagonist of all the books in this series is Burleigh J. Vinson. (Do you blame him for going by BJ?) He is a former Marine, ex-Albuquerque Police detective turned confidential investigator (he doesn’t like the label private investigator) who is gay but moves comfortably through every strata of Albuquerque society. He neither flaunts his homosexuality nor conceals it. He would probably prefer to still be an Albuquerque cop, but a bullet wound put an end to that career. Paul Barton is a UNM grad student majoring in journalism. He intends to become an investigative journalist, which is likely one thing that draws him to the intrepid investigator BJ Vinson. They meet in the first book, The Zozobra Incident, where BJ has difficulty in determining if Paul is one of the good guys or one of the bad guys. Either way, they establish a powerful connection which grows into love.

Lt. Eugene Enriquez is BJ’s former riding partner when they were both APD detectives. They remain close, helping one another with problems. Ariel and Margot Gonda are the owners of The Lovely Pines Winery and Vineyard in fictional Villa Plácido, New Mexico. Charlie and Hazel Weeks are BJ’s business partners. Charlie is a retired cop, and Hazel is the office manager of Vinson and Weeks Confidential Investigations. The antagonist in the story is not revealed until the final pages of the book, so I’ll not mention that individual here. The remainder of the characters are drawn from the winery workers, former owners of the Lovely Pines, two AWOL soldiers, and other fringe players.

In listing major players, I would have to include the Land of Enchantment, the 47th state of the United States. New Mexico—the fifth largest and fifth least populated of the states with a landmass of 121,699 square miles and a population of around 2,000,000—is one of the Mountain States located in the southwestern section of the nation. A “wowser” of a state!

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the series?
Is it not apparent that I am in love with this country? I was born in woodland Oklahoma, attended college in Texas, settled in fabled Denver after service in the army, but was bowled over when I drove south into the Land of Enchantment. I had found a home.

Did you discover anything surprising or interesting when doing research for the book?
I always learn something that surprises me, and a lot that interests me, when I begin research for a book. I learned Bernalillo was originally an Anasazi settlement a thousand or so years before the Spanish settled the abandoned site. Likewise, Placitas was originally one of the “ancient ones’” settlements. Did you know that? Despite the present-day hype about New Mexico wineries, I didn’t know that our state was one of the first major wine-producing areas in the northern hemisphere. To a history buff, that’s fascinating. To a writer, it stimulates the imagination.

What sparked the initial story idea for the BJ mysteries? When did you know BJ had enough life in him to carry an entire series?
As is typical for me, a character appeared in my mind first, a man searching for his environment. BJ Vinson was born whole, so to speak. The Santa Fe Fiesta was approaching, so naturally there were advertisements with depictions of the Burning of Zozobra on the tube. So I began to draw connections, and The Zozobra Incident emerged. I tend to become emotionally vested in my characters, so it was clear the story of BJ Vinson and Paul Barton was not finished. Thereafter, I looked for various interesting parts of the state on which to hang a story. By the way, I generally tend to write a prologue and then build a story based on the mood set by the prologue. The prologue for Zozobra sets the scene as New Mexico and then foretells the nature of the book by a forced car crash on La Bajada. The Bisti Business shows a murder in the Bisti-De Na Zin Wilderness area. City of Rocks sets a more jocular tone—the theft of a duck from a ranch in the Bootheel section of the state.

Of the novels you’ve written, which one was the most difficult to write and which was the most enjoyable?
The most interesting of the BJ Vinson mystery novels thus far is the fifth (yet to be published) called Abaddon’s Locusts. Interesting because it allowed me to bring two characters from previous novels together—Jazz Penrod, a mixed-blood Navajo kid, and Mrs. Gertrude Wardlow, an elderly widow who’s a retired DEA agent living across the street from BJ. These two are the most beloved characters from my books according to readers’ comments. Abaddon allowed me to bring them together even though Jazz lives in Farmington while Mrs. W. lives in Albuquerque. It took a ring of sex traffickers to do that. The most difficult to write was the first novel because I had to flesh out the main characters. Once I had living, breathing characters, it was easier to let them tell me how to write them in successive books. (If you think I’m kidding, then you’re not a writer.)

You help writers perfect their craft at a local community center. What is it that many beginning writers misunderstand about telling a story?
Dennis Kastendiek and I teach a writing class called Wordwrights at North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center each Monday at 1:30 p.m. What I find to be the most common misconception for beginners is assuming that the incidents (real or imagined) they choose to put down on paper are as fascinating to others as they are to themselves. While that may or may not be true, it is the manner of the telling that determines whether or not the writing is truly interesting. It’s a simple concept, but so many of us (even experienced writers) have to relearn this each time we sit down at our desk.

What first inspired you to become a writer?
Tubercular as a child, I lived in the library, not on the sports fields. I became interested in various cultures—especially Native American—and started doing essays. Then they became little stories…none of which survived. Nonetheless, I kept writing, except for a brief foray into oil painting. I wasn’t bad at painting, but it didn’t scratch my creative itch like writing did, so I picked up the figurative pen again.

What else do you want readers to know?
The fifth book in the BJ Vinson Mystery series, Abaddon’s Locusts, will be released in early 2019, and I am presently working on the sixth book with a working title of The Voxlightner Scandal. What some readers might not know is that I also write erotic historical fiction under the name of Mark Wildyr. I have published eight books under that name. My original publisher seems to have virtually gone out of business, so I’m beginning to think I need to reclaim the titles and look for another publisher. Under my own name, Donald T. Morgan, I have self-published an eBook called The Eagle’s Claw. I have a sequel on paper that needs a lot of work. I also want to write a prequel on which I have done nothing yet. In addition, I have six unpublished novels (four of which make up a series) and decided I’d like to get those in publication. So now I’m going through the painful process of looking for an agent or a publisher. By the way, I’ve never felt the need for an agent before since I write for a niche market. Not so with the Morgan novels. Ergo….

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview Update with Corrales Writing Group

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Corrales Writing Group formed in 2012 and meets twice a month in the village of Corrales, New Mexico to review members’ writing and plan projects. This closed group is currently made up of authors Chris Allen, John Atkins, Maureen Cooke, Sandi Hoover, Thomas Neiman, Jim Tritten, and Patricia Walkow. Together they produce an annual anthology that includes essays, short fiction, memoir, and poetry. Their newest book, Love, Sweet to Spicy, was published in 2018. Follow Corrales Writing Group on Facebook and read part two of their 2016 interview for their take on group structure and indie publishing.

Why did the group pick the theme of love for the 2018 anthology?
Since the group formed, its members have written stories about love from time to time. It wasn’t necessarily about romantic love. Some stories were about parental love, love for a pet, and then, of course, romantic love. We had enough content to create an anthology on the theme, but we also wrote new stories, a few of which were collaborative efforts.

Five of the twenty pieces in the book are collaborations. What was the easiest part of collaborating for Love, Sweet to Spicy, and what was the most challenging?
The most challenging part of writing a collaborative piece was the need to leave our egos in a parking garage on Mars and work toward the common goal of creating a viable story. Imagine a blank canvas and asking three artists to create a visual work. Just like visual artists, writers have different styles. The commitment the writers make must be to the story itself, and not to their own opinions, methods, or styles.

Specifically, our group experimented with ways to get past the ego issue and settled on a method that worked for us. Each person in the group came up with a brief concept of a story with enough detail and character description to serve as a workable writing prompt. We then broke into teams of two or three members, but the individual whose idea it was did not participate in writing that particular story. Getting everyone to agree to this approach was probably more difficult than the actual writing. Once everyone tried it the first time, the method worked fine and all the finished stories were accepted for publication in anthologies or journals not associated with the Corrales Writing Group. Most won prizes in the annual New Mexico Press Women Communications Contest.

The easiest part of collaborating was the synergy and brainstorming that occurred when we created something together. Also, assignment of who did what was never an issue. Everyone did their fair share of work. Another enjoyable part was pairing male and female writing teams to ensure characters stayed true to their gender. This often led to interesting conversations that generally included something like, “Well my husband would never say that, or never do that,” followed by validation from group members of the opposite sex. We had a lot of fun kicking those situations around.

We initially designed our collaborative stories with more romance and just a hint of sex. Later, we experimented with more sexuality than romance. In the end, we found a balance between romance and sex in the stories based on suggestions from our beta readers.

Pick a piece from the anthology written by another member and tell us what you enjoyed most about the writing or the story.
CHRIS ALLEN: I loved the piece “The Anniversary Letter” by Pat Walkow. It describes a husband-wife connection in a wonderfully amusing way. It is made all the funnier knowing it is a memoir. Pat perfectly captures the dialogue of a couple after years of marriage.

JOHN ATKINS: “Last Days – A Dog’s Perspective” by Chris Allen recounts the final days of a beloved pet’s life. I’m drawn to stories about a person’s love for a pet. I particularly like Chris Allen’s approach. She gives the reader a unique look at a dog’s end of life routine as seen through the body and mind of the pet. Her writing tells a story all too familiar to many people, but from a point of view that makes it all the more moving.

MAUREEN COOKE: I particularly enjoyed Tom Neiman’s “A Heart’s Journey.” He writes eloquently about the love for his wife Gretchen and his concern when Gretchen underwent heart surgery. What makes this piece stand out is that Tom and Gretchen married in their later years, or as Tom writes, “…this wasn’t our first rodeo.” I enjoy reading about a real, as opposed to a Hollywood, love story. Tom’s devotion to Gretchen and her healing from heart surgery jumps right off the page.

SANDI HOOVER: “The Power of a Smile” is a beautiful homage to a loved one. Jim Tritten’s trick of not revealing—until the end—the person being written about is so artfully done that the reader floats along on the river of words, simply enjoying the emotions, the love felt for the object of the story.

TOM NEIMAN: “Enough to Kill,” written by Sandi Hoover and Jim Tritten, was developed from my original idea and they took it from there. When I read the first draft, it was as if my baby had grown into adulthood. I was so proud of how the authors stuck with my premise and developed it into their own.

JIM TRITTEN: I am not one who reads, writes, or normally critiques poetry. “What Love Is” by Sandi Hoover challenged me to understand, appreciate, and attempt to comment on an unfamiliar genre. I remember reading this piece for the first time. Here is what I sent the author: “My first thought was that the recipient of such feelings is a very lucky person.”

PAT WALKOW: I particularly liked two stories. “I Remember Hoover” is John Atkins’ story about love for a dog named Hoover. I found the dialog realistic, the emotion real, and the pace perfect. “End of the Story” is Maureen Cooke’s accounting of the end of a once-loving relationship. It is beautifully written and heart-wrenching.

Since the last interview in 2016, Corrales Writing Group published Passages as well as Love, Sweet to Spicy. What’s new with the group? Any lessons learned from the publishing side?
We’ve grown from six to seven members. In addition to individual work published in various print and online anthologies, members of the group have two major projects going. A group of four writers is working on a murder/mystery/romance novel, and a pair is working on an adventure novella. The writing will be reviewed within the group just as other pieces have been reviewed in the past: a series of questions will be answered by reviewers, changes will then be made by the writers, and the piece will be reviewed again. And possibly yet again!

We’ve learned a few key things:
1. It is best to have one person take the lead on being the editor of a specific anthology, with a secondary editor. Of the seven members of the group, five have now edited an anthology and become familiar with CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing.

2. Read, reread, and reread before you publish. Then give it to others to read, reread, and do it again. No matter how many eyes have looked at the book, some silly flaw will escape until it is purchased, and then it blinks in neon. Fortunately, with independent self-publishing it is easy to fix.

3. Marketing consumes an awful lot of time, and we need to step up our efforts. We are actively engaged in finding places to present our work as performance pieces. A presence on Amazon, Facebook, Hometown Reads, and other social media outlets is necessary, and we share our work there. Our website is in progress.

The constant delight is still the fun we have, as well as the intelligence and humor of the members of the group. We have formed close bonds.

Six of the seven members of the group were featured in part two of the previous interview. Tell us about John Atkins, the newest member.
He’s retired, having spent more than 40 years in project and technology management in healthcare, hardware/software, and energy companies. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Mexico with a degree in Communication. His work has appeared in Love, Sweet to Spicy, as well as The Esthetic Apostle and 50-Word Stories. He’s well into the second draft of a speculative fiction novel and continues to serve as transcriptionist to worlds and characters that demand attention. None will leave until they have been written, rewritten, and polished until the turds they once were shine like the jewels they demand to be.

Give us a summary of your group’s accomplishments since forming six years ago.
The Corrales Writing Group (CWG) as a whole has published five different books. Two of our anthologies were produced both in black and white and color versions and all are available as Kindle books. Four members who wrote collaborative short stories had six chapters picked up and published elsewhere in other books. Six members had six chapters from our anthologies published as short stories in journals. Four of our individual members had six chapters published in other anthologies and thirty-seven of their CWG chapters published as short stories in other journals. The group’s books have won six awards, two additional awards for editing, and were finalists in two other competitions. Chapters or short stories based upon CWG chapters have won eighteen individual awards.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
As part of the Corrales Writing Group, our members have written more than 100 pieces of humor, fiction, memoir, essay, and poems. We also reprinted Passages and Love, Sweet to Spicy in color to honor local artists who contributed photographs of their work to our anthologies. Individual authors have additional articles published in magazines, newspapers and journals.

Also, every Tuesday a few members have lunch at Las Ristras Restaurant in Corrales from 11 am to 1 pm on Taco Tuesday. It’s a meet-and-greet with other authors…sort of a round table discussion. Send a message to John if you’d like to drop by and chat.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



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