When did you realize you wanted to write novels?
In high school I fancied myself a poet, and I am not. In the military I journaled and tried to write poetry. Then my best friend challenged me to write a story and continued asking, what if? With the inspiration he gave me, I hand wrote my first romance story in a hard back journal. During the creation of that untitled work, the realization of being an author took hold and three and a half decades later, I published my first novel, Small Bit of Justice.
How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?
My first short story was published eight years after the dream took hold. I was paid a whole ten dollars for it.
Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?
I am an indie published author.
Where do you write?
My favorite place is outside under the awning. In the winter I have a majestic view of the southwest desert and the mountains in the close distance. Second choice is at the dining room table if it is too windy outside.
Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?
Silence is golden. On the rare occasion I want music, it is to enhance the scene. Like the jail cell scene in Small Bit of Justice, I have the heroine, Tracy, meeting her first love from high school. “Here We Go Again” by Whitesnake was played a bit loud that day.
How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?
Quite a bit. My main character, Tracy Richards, is an online psychic and a single mom of two girls. She is similar to me as I was an online psychic since the late 80’s and retired in 2017. I have four daughters and was married to my high school sweetheart.
The plot is from my imagination, and I wrote the outcome the way I would want a missing person’s case to be.
My second series is The Séance Series. It is written the way a non-charlatan session is conducted.
When you visit me at an in-person event, stop by the table and draw a miniature tarot card for a micro mini reading.
Describe your process for naming your character?
The original story line, she was an only child whose father named her after his favorite detective, Dick Tracy. It was a pun that failed miserably.
Real settings or fictional towns?
Brule is a fictional town. During my travels I fell in love with a small town and the description is based on that town. I returned to visit the town after I had finished the story and it was so different, with all the trees cut and their stumps ground out. Brule became totally fictional at that time.
What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
Tracy listens to the advice her intuitive daughters offer her. Most mothers, including myself, would second guess their daughters’ advice whether intuitive or not.
What’s your quirkiest quirk?
I think things through while panning for gold.
If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?
That is a toss-up. The Miss Fortune series written by Jana DeLeon or Longmire by Craig Johnson. Ms. DeLeon keeps me laughing the entire time I am reading, even when it is the third or fourth time, I have read the series. Her characters could be members of my family. Mr. Johnson has the western sheriff, crime, fictitious towns and counties, native tribes and a bar that has elements I would love to incorporate with his finesse into my stories.
Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?
I probably should have been a journalist in the military instead of a jet mechanic.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
A blaring television.
You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
Kindle with solar charger, my furry 4-legged critters, and coffee.
What was the worst job you’ve ever held?
Backpressman at a cotton gin.
What’s the best book you’ve ever read?
The Monster at the End of this Book. My four girls wore out so many copies. When they had children, that was the first book purchased for their children. It is a Sesame Street Golden Book.
Ocean or mountains?
Mountains, but I do have to have a brook nearby.
What’s on the horizon for you?
This year, the five prequel novellas addressing Tracy Richards’ upbringing will be released through Kindle Unlimited called, Shamaness in Silhouette.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?
The second in the stand-alone series happens while Tracy is on vacation at her sister’s home when a serial crime spree erupts. There are fun antics, family antics, and danger around every corner.
Small Bit of Justice
Meet Tracy Richards. Mom. Internet Psychic. Local Crime Solver. Working with the Brule, Ohio Police Department, Tracy moonlights as their consultant and solves crimes with the help of her spirit guides.
None of which are that interesting.
- Find a missing Corgi
- Catch porch pirates
- Locate wandering peacocks
- Discover misplaced items
And all the thanks she gets is being called a witch.
There was a reason Tracy found her way to Brule, and all these years of escaping her past are for naught as it comes rushing back. After seventeen years, her childhood sweetheart, and baby daddy, comes waltzing back in with a case—find his missing niece.
It turns out her daughters have a cousin who’s been kidnapped, and it’s up to Tracy to find her before she disappears for good. With the help of her witchy neighbor Lehana, Tracy sets out on a chase guided only by her intuition and ghosts.
Danger lurks at every pit stop as the clock ticks, and the precious window becomes narrower. This isn’t the first time Tracy has followed visions of someone in danger, but last time, the only thing they recovered was a body. Now driven to save the girl, Tracy knows this is her chance to redeem herself, but when flashes of more girls come to her, Tracy realizes this might not be as simple as a snatch-and-grab.
Can Tracy beat the clock, or is she actually chasing ghosts?
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6 comments:
Thank you for having me today. This was so much fun. I get so nervous answering questions, sometimes I need prodded into more depth.
Come visit anytime, Cynthia. It was fun getting to know you.
Thanks, Lois and Cynthia. I will definitely look forward to reading about Tracy! Peg
Lois and Peg, Tracy is serious in book one, Small Bit of Justice but in her recovery she visits her sister and lots of action and laughter. NEWS FROM WILD ROSE HOLLER is in its first round of edits :)
Since the interview, I have released the first novella of my series, SHAMANESS IN SILHOUETTE - The Awakening. It is also available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. It is the first of five novellas that tell of the high school years of the heroine in SMALL BIT OF JUSTICE.
Great interview. Thanks!
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