Author interview no.708: mystery writer Joyce T Strand

Welcome to the seven hundred and eighth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is contemporary and historical mystery author Joyce T Strand. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further… but not before you check out the giveaway that Joyce has kindly offered – details after the interview. My thanks go to Della of Dellagate for arranging this interview…

Morgen: Hello, Joyce. It’s great to have you back.

Joyce: Thanks for having me on your blog. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about my contemporary and historical mysteries that I write to entertain the whodunit fans.

Morgen: I love whodunits, although I rarely get them right. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Joyce: I currently live in Southern California near San Diego, although I lived most of my working life in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is why many of my mysteries are set there. Before writing fiction, for more than 25 years, I spent most of my career writing by-lined articles, whitepapers, press releases, and fact sheets. When I lost my job in 2008, I had difficulty finding a new one and decided to write fiction. It was an interesting transition!

Morgen: San Francisco’s certainly a popular location for writers. A few of them have visited this blog. You write contemporary and historical mysteries, have you considered other genres?

Joyce: With The Reporter’s Story, I have now written and published two historical mysteries and five contemporary ones. Not only do I write mysteries, but I also really enjoy reading all kinds: cozy, thrillers, historical, and procedural. If I were to change genres, I would probably write historical novels. Clavell’s Shogun is my favorite novel, and to be able to write like that would be incredible. I felt like I was actually in medieval Japan and was drawn into the chess-playing plot of intrigue.

Morgen: History was one of my worst subjects at school; trying to remember all those dates. 1066, 1665, 1666 and the twentieth-century wars is about as good as I get. You’ve self-published, what led to you going your own way?

Joyce: I have self-published. Three circumstances led me to that route. (1) I am impatient. The traditional process just takes too much time. (2) My background and career in public relations exposed me to publishing and marketing, giving me just enough background to make me think I knew something. (3) The ability to produce e-books at low-cost and publish them on Kindle and Nook at no up-front charge. Eventually the proliferation of social media added to the marketing quiver. However, I believe that the clout of a big publisher still carries considerable punch to the widespread success of an author.

Morgen: I’d agree and so I’ve self-published but am also planning to submit to publishers… the best of both worlds. 🙂 You mentioned eBooks (Kindle and Nook), how involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Joyce: I confess that I took to the e-book tablet very quickly. I am not one who needs printed-paper pages to enjoy reading. I find the e-book format convenient and alluring. I carry my Kindle with me everywhere and seldom mind waiting in doctor’s offices or in lines because I can pull it out and read. Of course, I have at least fifty books loaded and beckoning me. At the same time, I get very excited when I receive the print copies of my own books—the cover is so enhancing, and flipping through the pages seeing my words in print is exciting. OK, so maybe I still do enjoy the printed pages a little!

Morgen: Me too. I prefer eBooks to read, especially when Mrs Kindle reads to me (very useful when checking my own writing). Which authors did you read when you were younger and did they shape you as a writer?

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Author interview no.707 with novelist Michelle Dim-St. Pierre

Welcome to the seven hundred and seventh of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with Michelle Dim-St. Pierre. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Michelle. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Michelle: I was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and spent half my life there before relocating to the US. If someone had asked me ten years ago, where I saw my career heading in the next decade, “a writer,” would not have been the first thing to roll off my tongue. As many of my readers know, nursing is my first love and was always my first passion. I poured my heart and soul into my studies and eventually my profession. Over time, nursing became second nature. A profession that I loved, and that fundamentally shaped my personality, intellect and emotional development, had finally reached its peak. I knew it was time for a new challenge. This is when I began to give in to my desire to write.

What started as a hobby—a deviation from my daily work schedule, an imaginative escape into a fantasy world that I could shape and produce as I saw fit—has turned into so much more. A few pages grew into a few chapters. A few chapters grew into more chapters and before I knew it I had an intricate story and an admirable heroine. I felt like I’d found my second calling.

Morgen: I was the same, in a way. I came to writing very late (ten years ago when I was in my late thirties) in comparison to some and it took two or three years to think I might be able to do it as a career and another three or four years until I gave up my day job. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Michelle: My first book is largely women’s fiction with an emphasis on romance, though perhaps not in the traditional format that many are used to. It is a story about the duality of love and hate and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of tough choices.

Morgen: Very relatable. Have you self-published? If so, what lead to you going your own way?

Michelle: I started out with the intent of self-publishing. However, once I established a relationship with BookLogix and they read the manuscript they offered to publish it under their name. I did not pitch it to an agent or to a large publishing company, as the industry is difficult to break into for a first time author. Still, I would not eliminate this option down the road.

Morgen: It is very much. A lot of us are still working on cracking that clichéd nut. Is your book available as an eBook? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Guest post: She is My Daughter by novelist Joshua Braff

Today’s guest blog post, on the topic of children and movies, is brought to you by Joshua Braff, courtesy of http://www.bookmarketingservices.org, and originally posted on The Huffington Post. You can also read my interview with Josh at https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2015/12/01/author-interview-no-706-joshua-braff.

She Is My Daughter

We had a girl in 2003. She was 12 this summer. Unlike her older brother she is of pastel colors and random giggles. Her room is purple with unicorn-ish bedding and a cotton candy lampshade. Her hair-ties shimmer of glitter and some of her socks do too. She laughs a lot and says it feels good to do so and only recently began brooding, briefly, returning to silly spells on the carpet, a turtle on its back. Her addition to our chemistry is immeasurable, her desire for the tips of her hair to be blue, immense.

“Hey, crazy turtle. You do your homework?”

“Turtles don’t need algebra.”

“Sure they do.”

“Nope, ask any of ’em.”

“Do turtles take showers?” my wife asks.

“Not me, man.”

We wait and she uncoils and ends up with her chin in her hands. “Can I get a turtle?”

We find them in the back of Petco. She names the first one Instant and I laugh, thinking of “In an Instant,” admiring the ease her mind locates humor. She then names the second guy Coffee. Instant & Coffee live in a tank with rocks and sludgy water which will get yuckier if we treat it right. They eat real greens that they reach with outstretched necks. At bedtime the two of us are alit by the glow of the tank as we snuggle before she sleeps. We decide Instant is the older brother and in a heartbeat my daughter says, “But only by a hair.” I sit up and look down at her.

“What?” she says.

“That’s funny.”

“Thanks.”

“And fast.”

“Lay back down, daddy. I can’t see the tank.”
It is easy to see my mother’s face in my daughter’s. She has my wife’s forehead and chin and it appears, an even more evolved sense of humor than my own, a tool I’ve used to respectable success in my prose. Who will she become? How will she use the gift? Before her existence I’d only begun to learn what selflessness could bring me. And then fatherhood. I’d say we’ve all grown, my son to six feet tall in his 15th year. His teenaged brooding began at eleven or so and seems to be waning. For my daughter the bouts of quiet thought appear almost heavy for her, as if she must sit to take it all in. I have empathy for someone who will need to navigate her life as I did. The road may be steep. But the humor will both hurt and help her. She can use a phrase or idiom she heard once, maybe a year ago, and apply it perfectly, originally, with the confidence one saves for reciting their phone number.

As of late she is sinking into the pubescent vortex. I sense a higher propensity for more acerbic and questionably age-appropriate wit. She is tired, cranky, unmotivated and staring at me right now. I touch the wrinkles above my eyes because that’s where she looks.

“Am I chewing too loud?” I ask.

Her eyes close before her head slowly returns to The Shawshank Redemption, her new favorite movie.

I slowly sink my two front teeth into the apple but leave them there. It’s going to
be hard to continue the bite without making noise. But I try.

“Just eat it, Dad. Eat it already.”

“It’s loud food.”

“You are loud. I’m trying to watch this and all I can hear is your jaw and teeth.”

I stand with my apple and walk to the kitchen. I take a giant bite and look at the blond ponytail waving at me from the couch. I play with memories of us. Times when my eating was less intrusive. I toss the apple in the garbage and walk back. I attempt foolishly to snuggle with her, as we’ve done a million times, but she growls and turns her shoulder. I find my own chair. Morgan Freeman walks the beach of Zihuatanejo and finds Tim Robbins atop the fishing boat. The credits roll.

“You know what I love about this movie?” my daughter says.

“Tell me.”

“The music. It’s so important, ya know, to the scenes. They’d have less meaning without it. The scenes.”

We have the same color hair and our eyes do a similar thing when we smile. What is this gift I couldn’t have anticipated, where I am so clearly watching myself at times, in the frame of someone evolved. The family tree climbs upward through the life cycles and here I sit with my contribution, a branch that is us, and our time here together. I’m luckier than the richest man alive. And it’s something you cannot take from me.

It’s true that when I was in college I anticipated dialogue I’d share with my 11-year-old girl after seeing a movie. And then, of course it happened so often I’d stop thinking of it, letting the surrealism dwindle away. She’s a movie buff, can watch three in a day and will discuss them in detail afterwards. When she was ready to watch Jaws at the age of nine I let her because she wouldn’t stop talking about it. When it ended she announced it was her favorite movie of all time. Within minutes she’d begun to build not only the shark but the entire cast out of Legos. When Richard Dreyfuss was complete we played for awhile, recreating the scenes. I’ll never forget how she wanted to do the human side of the story, the texture out of the water. She saw tenderness, the human element, the very intricacy of art that my life’s work is about.

“You don’t have to go in the ocean,” she says, as we clean up. “It’s not the law.”

“No, but it’s nice. A good part of life.”

“I’m just sayin’ it’s not required.”

“Never let a movie keep you off the beach.”

“Dad. There was visible Elmer’s glue on the shark’s fin. It didn’t scare me.”

I tuck her into bed and we gaze at Instant & Coffee. I think of the final scene, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider are floating on a piece of the destroyed boat. The sky can be seen, it’s been awhile, and the sun is out. The music is relieved, light and airy, and the possibility of a long and lasting life is seen in the splashing of their feet. I am absorbing great films I’ve seen before through the eyes of my daughter. Every piece of art has new meaning as I share them with her. Who said parenting was thankless?

“Let’s watch something else tomorrow, Daddy,” she says. “Think of a good one. I’ll think too. What’s that one you mentioned, Harold and something?”

“Harold and Maude.”

“Oh,” she says. “Those are much better turtle names.”

“No. Yours are perfect.”

“Then when I get fish. Harold and Maude. OMG.”

We watch it, I can’t believe how long it’s been. The film is rich with humor and pathos and has a Cat Stevens soundtrack throughout, leaving each scene dripping with the recoiling of war and the tenderness of his lyrics. My daughter turns to me about ten minutes before Ruth Gordon takes the fatal pill, the pill she never warns Harold about. I feel empathy for where she must go but will not warn her. What’s a better lesson for a lover of stories than to be witness to the fragility of humans from a safe distance. How do I keep Harold and Maude from a girl who recognized the brilliant human elements of Jaws, without ever being scared of the shark. She loves stories, characters, humor, plot angles. Maude takes the pill, Harold screams and races to get her in an ambulance. Cat Stevens sings the song, Trouble as Harold’s Jaguar/hearse revs high over the wailing sadness of his voice.

Trouble/trouble set me free/ I have paid my debt now won’t you leave me in my misery. I haven’t got a lot of time. I have to go there. Just let me go there.

My daughter’s eyes are filled with tears but she stares ahead, swallows, twice.

The film ends with Harold playing the banjo Ruth gave him. The love of his life is dead. But he is alive. As with Jaws, the ending is a flash of optimism, occurring in the waning seconds of catastrophe. And isn’t it best that we brace for such lessons in a life. My daughter is silent and still as she watches the credits. We don’t say anything until we reach her room.

“Harold looked like one of the Beatles,” she says.

“I agree. The hair. The pale skin.”

“That was funny but very sad.”

“Yeah. Emotional.”

“I loved it. But it made me really sad.”

Author interview no.706: Joshua Braff

Welcome to the seven hundred and sixth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today I welcome novelist, essayist and short story writer Joshua Braff, courtesy of Book Marketing Services. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And see below for details of Joshua’s giveaway.

Below is a list of suggested questions. Feel free to answer as few or as many as you are comfortable with (there are a lot to choose from).

Morgen: Hello, Joshua. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Joshua: I am based in Northern California, a town called Lafayette, not far from Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco. In the early 90’s I got very interested in writing short stories. I pursued it, took classes, found a community in Seattle where I was living. From there I got an MFA at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA, very close to where I live now. I published in national literary journals and then got an agent in NYC. From there I took on novels.

Morgen: Ah, short stories. My first love. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Joshua: I write fiction but utilize any truths I want to throw in. I also write essays for the Huffington Post. I have dabbled in screenplays and poetry but think I’m a short essay / novel kind of person.

Morgen: It’s good to try everything so we find our comfort zone. What have you had published to-date?

Joshua: I’ve published three novels, The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green (2004) Peep Show (2010) and The Daddy Diaries (2015). Multiple anthologies, Huffington Post essays, literary journals and magazines.

Morgen: Have you self-published? If so, what lead to you going your own way?

Joshua: I self published The Daddy Diaries. Massive shifts in the industry, the notion that a reputable small press wasn’t going to give me enough marketing attention, my wife being a digital publishing executive for twenty years and the feeling that my career would dwindle away if not for my taking the reigns. Dwindling away is not so bad, except I’m probably an author that should stick around a bit more.

Morgen: I think we all should, and we all have to do our own marketing. Are your books available as eBooks? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Joshua: Yes, available electronically and on audio. I was very involved in all aspects of forming my own press. It is called, Prince Street Press. I have never read a book on a kindle or computer. I was born in 1967. I love vinyl records also.

Morgen: Same year as me, (although I sold all my vinyl years ago). Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Author interview no.706: debut novelist J Russell Smith

Welcome to the seven hundred and sixth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with debut novelist J Russell ‘Rusty’ Smith, courtesy of Book Marketing Services. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. Rusty is kindly offering a giveaway with this interview – see below for details.

J Russell ‘Rusty’ Smith has spent a lifetime fighting for a sense of moral justice, on both a personal level and on a broader stage. His experiences in the Vietnam War and his graduate studies in intellectual history and political theory allow him to bring both an intimate perspective and a scholar’s analysis to the writing of Longworth. Rusty is currently at work on his next two novels.

Morgen: Hello, Rusty. Welcome to my blog. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Rusty: I am currently based in the US, in Southern California. While I have always entertained the notion of writing, I really “found myself” during the writing of Longworth. I then decided that I would continue writing as long as I was able and had the time. Unfortunately, I have a company to run, thus I am writing much less than I would like.

Morgen: I didn’t start my creative writing journey until my late thirties and thought I was late to the party but then read that Mary Wesley had her first novel published when she was 74, and Barbara Cartland was still writing (dictating) her novels until her death at 99. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Rusty: I have only written the one book, but I am in the midst of two others. One of those, probably the next one to be published, is science fiction. The idea came to me in a dream / nightmare.

Morgen: An interesting mixture. Do you write under a pseudonym?

Rusty: No, I have not used a pseudonym and will not likely use one.

Morgen: It’s hard enough getting known as one name so I don’t blame you. You self-published, what lead to you going your own way?

Rusty: I did it that way only because I could garner no interest from either agents or publishers. The discouraging part was the fact that I was dismissed without a single firm looking at my book.

Morgen: It’s often how it goes, but if authors do well online, there is more chance of them getting picked up, and marketing (guesting on blogs just one option) is a way to become more visible. Your novel is available as an eBook, how involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Rusty: My book is currently available in hard cover, soft cover, and eBook. While I do not read eBooks, I felt it necessary to offer it in that format, as so many read eBooks. I remain old-fashion enough to want to hold and feel my books, preferably in hard cover.

Morgen: 🙂 Most people do. I love my Kindle as it has a text-to-speech function and I love Mrs Kindle reading my books out to me. Do you have a favourite of your characters? If your book was made into a film, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Rusty: If I had to choose a particular character, it would be the protagonist, Carson Longworth. Regarding whom I would choose as the leading actor, I have not a clue. I suppose there are many who could play the role. Certainly a young actor with gravitas.

Morgen: If your book was audiobooked, whom would you have as the narrator?

Author interview no.705: novelist Katalin Kennedy

Welcome to the seven hundred and fifth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with novelist Katalin Kennedy. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And see below for Katalin’s book giveaway.

Morgen: Hello, Katalin. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Katalin: Thank you so much, Morgen, for giving me the opportunity to discuss my second novel “Reconnecting” which was recently released by Baico Publishing, Ottawa, Canada in June 2015. I was born in Hungary and came to Canada as a child with my parents as refugees, following the Hungarian uprising in 1956. I spent most of my life in Ottawa, and worked in the Canadian Federal Government; after retirement, my husband and I moved to Cornwall – Ontario, not England. 🙂 As I considered how to reinvent myself in this new role, I realized I had always written. Writing gave me intense fulfilment. I was invited to write a column for a community newspaper “Seaway News” and I also began my first novel “The Women Gather” which was published in 2012.

Morgen: You’re very welcome, Katalin. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Katalin: My two published books are both fiction. I’m not sure where other work will lead me. I consider “The Women Gather” to be a Utopian fiction, rather than science fiction or fantasy. And “Reconnecting” I choose to call plausible fiction.

Morgen: Interesting genres. You mentioned that the latest novel is published with Baico. Have you self-published? If so, what lead to you going your own way?

Katalin: I appreciate the feasibility of going the self-publishing route. I am grateful, however, that I was able to find Baico Publishing in Ottawa who published both my novels. President Raymond Coderre and Vice-President Stephanie Bertrand have been most supportive. They give new authors encouragement by having their work published.

Morgen: Are your books available as eBooks? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Katalin: I realize that eBook publishing is the current and future way of the publishing scene. I am an English Literature major and am still lingering in the desire to have my novels available in hard copy. I know the time is coming when I will need to explore the eBook method. I have to admit, I am nervous about copyright infringement and hacking possibility concerning this approach.

Morgen: Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Katalin: Both my books are close to my heart, though quite different from each other. As for the characters, they are after all the off-spring of my inner self but with traits unique to them. I am rather fond of Lin Yao and Aideen in “The Women Gather” and Iris in “Reconnecting”.

Morgen: If your books were audiobooked, whom would you have as the narrator(s)?

Katalin: My mother has macular degeneration and I have therefore recorded both my novels on a digital machine, at her request. If I were given the privilege of having someone record professionally, I tend to think Emma Thompson would be super for “The Women Gather” and Meryl Streep for “Reconnecting”. Now isn’t that a lofty dream?

Morgen: Dreams can come true. Emma Thompson’s brilliant, as is Meryl Streep, but my favourite film is ‘Stranger than Fiction’ and Emma is one of a great cast. Which authors did you read when you were younger and did they shape you as a writer?

Katalin: I studied Canadian Literature at university and was mesmerized by the late Dorothy Livesay’s poetry as well as Margaret Atwood’s novels. Both these women have written throughout their lives, shifting their approaches as they matured both in age and
in their confidence, ideas and perspectives. I don’t know that either ‘shaped’ my writing; rather, I think they inspired me to stretch my thinking and accept a certain amount of self-belief that what I had to say was valid.

Morgen: Did you choose the titles / covers of your books?

Author interview no.704 with novelist and children’s author Sherel Ott

Welcome to the seven hundred and fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with Sherel Ott. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Sherel. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Sherel: Hello, Morgen. Thank you for inviting me to your site. I was a little introverted as a child and did a lot of reading, mostly Sci-Fi and Romance. I loved getting lost in other worlds. When I was in Middle School, for one of my English class writing assignments, we were assigned a project; write a story based on a phrase. My teacher (Mr. Daniel Pritchett), gave each of us a phrase, mine was “…and then there was one.” He was so impressed with my storyline and character development that it inspired me to want to write. I did write a ‘teenage love story’ based around my friends and I and the guys we liked at the time. I also wrote short stories but during high school I mostly wrote a lot of poetry. My senior English teach (Mrs Phyllis Lovett) encouraged me and entered me into a National Haiku Poetry Contest. Didn’t win it of course but it was fun.

Morgen: Wow, you remember your teachers’ names. I thought I didn’t but then remembered Mrs Davis (she might have been my English teacher?), Mr Philpott (the dreaded physics teacher) and Sister Etna (who we very irreverently called ‘Mount’). My favourite was Mike O’Toole who used to come in to my dad’s photographic shop. Anyway, I digress. Sorry about that. You write children’s books, was there a reason to choose this genre?

Sherel: I chose this particular genre because I had noticed that there weren’t books for girls of colour, plus most of the stories out there seemed to have the female heroine needing help, direction as if she couldn’t think for herself, make a decision on her own and that she needed to have a man guide her. I wanted girls to know that they are smart, brilliant and beautiful no matter what other people say. They should be proud of themselves for who they ae, love themselves and know they can stand on their own feet without depending on a man and wanted to present it in such a way that it isn’t preaching to them. I fell that sometimes lessons can be taught best when it is seen and observed instead of being made personal.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date?

Sherel: This my first foray into publishing. There might be some poems that got group published years ago (and I do mean years ago) but nothing like this.

Morgen: 🙂 What age group do you write for?

Sherel: These stories are for middle grade / tweens. Although, I have heard great feedback from adults as well.

Morgen: I like ‘tweens’. Which authors did you read when you were younger and did they shape you as a writer?

Sherel: Wow! That is a tough one. I’ve read so many different types of books. Sci-Fi / Fantasy and Romance stories were the ones I gravitated to the most… Andre Norton, Mercedes Lackey, Piers Anthony, Debbie Macomber, Fern Michaels and Danielle Steele, to name just a few. They made their characters and world come to life for me…esp. the sci-fi / fantasy authors.   I felt as if I was really there. They have made me want to create that type of feeling in my books.

Morgen: Which author(s) would you compare your writing to?