@MargaretWestlie on Loving All Her Stories #AmWriting #Historical #Mystery

What writing are you most proud of?

I love all of my stories.  I don’t know if I can choose one to be more proud of than another.  I think if I were forced to choose it would have to be the Selkirk Stories series, which includes Anna’s Secret.  However, there is also the Haunted PEI series that are a lot of fun too.  In fact, Shades of Molly, the first novel in that series, came about right after the creative writing class I took as an undergrad.  If my husband’s computer had not been switched on that first day I would not be a writer today.  I was computer illiterate and couldn’t type very well.

What are you most proud of in your personal life?

I think I would have to say that I am most proud of my mind.  It is the basis of everything I think say and do.  It is very inquisitive and goes lickety-split.  I can’t possibly talk as fast as my mind works and very few people can follow where I go.  When I was nursing I was doing in-service education, and another nurse and I were meeting on the choice of topics to present.  However we got onto it I don’t remember exactly, but I got us from fire safety education and fire drills to outer space by free association.  Needless to say the other nurse could hardly believe that we’d taken that whirlwind tour of the cosmos all because of fire drills.

What books did you love growing up?

I loved the Anne of Green Gables stories and ultimately read every one several times.  I liked J. M. Barrie’s Little Minister, and Maggie Muggins.  There were others of this nature.  I also liked the Cherry Ames series (nurse) and the Nancy Drew series.  My father encouraged reading and education and he always read to me when I was tiny and read poetry to me when I was older.

Who is your favourite author?

I don’t know if I have a favourite author.  I like stories that have a happy ending with all problems resolved satisfactorily.  An author who provides this is one I will likely read again.  I am rather taken with the Mitford novels by Jan Karon just now and have read about half of those so far.  I don’t like stories that are dark and brooding.  I like interpersonal relationship stories.

What do you hope your obituary will say about you?

That I was joyful.  I don’t know what else to say.  Of course, I am many other things like warm and kind but those traits are kind of cliche to say out loud.   I’m gentle and mostly non-judgemental although if you look at judgement as discernment that opens up a whole other discussion.  I am discerning.  I’ve thought off and on that I should write my obituary just for the exercise of it.  It seems a little extreme but it could be very revealing.  The other side is that what I would write now and what I would write in ten years time could very well be something entirely different.

Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and where you now live?

I grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was educated in the Halifax school system.  I took my  nursing diploma at the Victoria General Hospital School of nursing, worked in ER there, then on to Dalhousie University in Halifax. After my nursing degree I lived in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia doing Public Health, then on Prince Edward Island doing several nursing jobs. I then lived in Calgary, Alberta, doing in-service education, then on to Waterville, Maine, as a nursing supervisor and night charge nurse.  I met my husband in Waterville and we lived there for a year until he took a job in Liberty, Missouri, and we moved to the Kansas City area.  I worked for awhile as a night charge nurse at the hospital and then retired in 1988.  I started studying music at the college where John was professor because I always wanted to study music.  My writing education began there.

How did you develop your writing?

I picked up the English courses I needed at the college where my husband was teaching to convert my nursing degree to an English major, then went to University of Missouri at Kansas City for a Masters’ degree in English with a professional writing emphasis.  Since then I have taken various workshops in poetry and now have over two hundred poems.  I have also been writing and writing, and reading about writing and practising writing.  You rarely see me without a pen in hand and my listening ears on.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Inspiration comes to me through stories I hear.  My uncle, now deceased, was a great story teller.  The germ of Anna’s Secret came from the story of Anne Beaton’s Hollow.  The murder occurred in Lyndale  and the hollow is still called by that name.  My grandmother was another source of good stories.  She lived to be 106 and died in 1990, just before I started writing.  She was bright to the end and people came from far away to learn about their ancestors.  They’d ask her about a certain person and she’d think for a moment and then say:  “yes, he/she was so -and-so’s child but he/she always went by this nickname.”  A lot of stories went with both her and her son.

Do you find it hard to share your work?

No.  Once it’s written it is no longer really mine, and it is what it is.  It doesn’t matter what people think it says about me, I am who I am.  People may disagree with what I’ve said for their own reasons that have nothing to do with what I’ve said. Also, I am no longer shy about saying that I’m a writer because that’s what I am, published or not.  That insight came to me a few years ago when I was thinking about what makes a writer.

Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you?

Now they do.  I get more encouragement from others outside the family than I do from family members.  That’s what the family I belong to is like.  I think it’s partly because they don’t really understand what it takes to conceive of and construct a novel.  Everyone thinks it’s easy when it is all consuming and demanding when I am in the creating phase.

Anna Gillis, the midwife and neighbour in Mattie’s Story, has been found killed. The close-knit community is deeply shaken by this eruption of violence, and neighbours come together to help one another and to discover the perpetrator. But the answer lies Anna’s secret, long guarded by Old Annie, the last of the original Selkirk Settlers, and the protagonist of An Irregular Marriage. Join the community! Read Anna’s Secret and other novels by Margaret A. Westlie.

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Genre – Fiction, mystery, historical

Rating – G

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 Connect with Margaret Westlie on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.margaretwestlie.com

Message of the Pendant by Thomas Thorpe #Mystery #Thriller #AmReading

Suddenly, a loud voice bellowed upstairs. “Bastard!”

Charles raced up to the third floor and found Arthur Hurst sitting at a desk, rummaging through drawers.  He clutched a piece of paper in one hand, shaking with rage as he looked up at Charles.

“Businessman, hah! This man, Black is a British agent! Here's the proof of his duplicity. Where is he? It's time to put an end to the vermin.”

Charles gasped in shock. The entire charade was unraveling! He tentatively leaned toward the desk and reached for the note. “What do you mean? What evidence?”

Hurst glanced down at one of the drawers. He reached inside and picked up a ledger. "Wait a moment. There's something else."

Charles' eyes darted toward the window, knowing Black lay outside, unconscious and defenseless. Quelling an urge to run, he pretended to be curious and slowly edged around behind the man, as if to look over his shoulder. What could he do? Desperately his gaze searched for an answer until he spied a letter opener. In one motion, he grabbed the dagger and plunged it into Arthur's back. The rotund body jerked upwards, dropping the notebook. He tried to turn around, but instead, slumped forward onto the desk.

For a moment, Charles stood shaking in disbelief at what he had just done to his sister's husband.

William Darmon and wife Elizabeth were powerful figures who in 1818 set society's pace from expansive grounds known as Mayfair Hall. When a family member is murdered, a mysterious pendant is found containing a long lost request by Napoleon Bonaparte for an American mission to burn down Parliament buildings. The couple sets out on an action filled pursuit of the killer. While interviewing Henry Clay in post-war Maryland about the failed mission, they uncover evidence of a conspiracy to free the Emperor from exile. The Darmons infiltrate the cadre, but a shipwreck off the coast of Scotland, a firestorm at the Darmon's Manor and a harrowing assault on the Island of St. Helena loom before the mystery can be unraveled.

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Genre – Mystery, Historical, Thriller

Rating – PG

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Website www.darmonmysteries.com

#Author Fenella J. Miller Shares A Publishing Horror Story @fenellawriter #AmWriting #AmReading

Publishing Horror Story

This is not my story, but is a true account of what happened to another writer I know. This writer had been, like many others, trying unsuccessfully to find an agent or publisher for a book she had devoted many years to writing. This manuscript had been sent to a professional editing service and was more than ready, but still found no home. The writer had tried every publisher and agent she'd been told about and then, at a writers' meeting, heard about a relatively new publisher who it seemed was open to submissions from debut authors.

This writer immediately sent off a query letter and they asked to see the entire manuscript. Almost by return she had a contract which she signed eagerly, believing she had found a dream deal. The contract was signed without her having fully understood what she was signing up to. I could have warned her that no reputable publisher makes an offer so quickly, the book has to be read thoroughly by several members of that company before a decision can be made.

The publishers proved to be an aggressive and difficult people to work with and this particular author was in shreds long before the book was ready for publication. The cover she was offered was not what she wanted, she believed it to be amateurish and unprofessional looking, but again she was harangued for daring to criticise.

Worse was to come as it became clear that the only way she could acquire copies to sell at the book tour venues she had set up was by paying the full price. This meant that when she sold a book she would actually be making a loss because nobody buys a book at a book signing expecting to pay the price on the back cover. The publisher did nothing to promote the book; they made a small fortune from this writer's ability to sell her own books at her own promotional venues.

This writer is not going to make any money from her book although she has hand sold hundreds of copies. She will not be sending a second novel to this publisher and I hope she has better luck next time; she didn't deserve what happened to her. I have since heard of another debut author has been trying to get published for many years and has just signed an identical contract with the same publisher. She got a contract two days after sending her manuscript – somebody did try and explain this was not a publisher to go with –but like many new writers she is just desperate to become a published author and is prepared to ignore all the horror stories she has heard.

There are far too many small publishers set up by individuals in order to exploit those desperate to

become published. My advice to any new writer would be to listen to what is said by others about a small, independent publisher before signing the contract. Far better to be indie published, and have control of the whole process, than go with a publisher like the one I have described above.

World War II brings divided loyalties and tough decisions in this page turning drama from Fenella Miller.

Hannah Austen-Bagshaw’s privileged background can’t stop her falling in love with working-class pilot, Jack, but Hannah has a secret. Torn between her duty and her humanity, she is sheltering a young German pilot knowing she risks being arrested as a traitor. Hannah’s worst fears are realised when Jack finds out what she has done and their love begins to unravel.
Will her betrayal be too much for Jack to forgive?

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Genre – Historical fiction

Rating – PG

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Survival of the Fittest by Robin Hawdon @authordebate #Detective #AmReading

The questions are always with us. Does God really exist? Are science and religion incompatible bedfellows? Charles Darwin shook philosophy to its foundations with his theory of evolution, yet strangely, he himself refrained from commenting in depth about the religious implications for fear of adding to the furor.

But suppose that he did in fact write down his conclusions as a secret addendum to his seminal work, Origin of Species. And suppose his beloved wife, Emma, who kept her own secret journal, was the only other person to know of this hidden postscript.

The novel Survival of the Fittest is the modern day story of the search for these two hugely significant works. An eccentric and endearing London antiquarian book dealer is hired by an equally eccentric American billionaire to track down the documents for his world famous collection of original manuscripts.

The complex investigation ranges across England, from historic towns and stately piles to prisons and Darwin homes, and involves a series of encounters ranging from the criminal to the romantic and the revelatory. Along the way, it explores the spiritual struggle within the extraordinary Darwin household, and the effects of that same struggle on the creators of the atom bomb and on modern terrorists.

Do we want to know the answer, or will it stir up a hornet's nest?

This dramatic investigation of man's spiritual dilemma occupies the spaces between authors Dan Brown and Richard Dawkins.

About the Author:

Robin Hawdon is one of Britain's most prolific playwrights. His plays have been seen in over forty countries. At any one moment there may be over a dozen productions running across the USA, Europe, and elsewhere. This is his third novel.

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Genre – Detective, philosophy, religion, historical

Rating – G

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Connect with Robin Hawdon on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.charlesdarwinblog.com

Lauren Linwood on #Writing & A Game of Chance @laurenlinwood #Romance #TBR

*Can you share a little of your current work with us? A Game of Chance is a western with a twist. It doesn’t have any cowboys in it. It doesn’t take place on the Great Plains. Instead, it’s set in the very cosmopolitan city of San Francisco, which rivaled large European cities of the time. It’s the story of twins separated at birth, with the father taking the boy that was born and leaving the mother to die. After he leaves, she gives birth to a second boy before her death. Many years later, these twins will come across each other in California. The novel revolves around mistaken identity.

*Can you tell us about your main character? My hero Jed was raised by a midwife after his mother died in labor, but what he doesn’t know is that a baby was born just minutes before him and taken away by his father. He’s a Civil War veteran and now a gambler who’s made his way to San Francisco, a very cosmopolitan city back in 1870. My heroine Lily is the daughter of the most famous whorehouse owner in the city, and she’s been kept isolated away from that life, first with a governess and then attending boarding school back east.

*How do you feel about self-publishing? I’m not interested in it at this time. I’m happy that it’s opened up avenues for many writers to get their work out to the public, but I’m happy that my publishing house (Soul Mate Publishing) handles things for me such as editing, formatting, and cover design. That way I have more time to concentrate on the writing part. Those in self-publishing have to divide their time more between those activities.

*Do you find the time to read? I will always make time to read. Reading takes me to new places. I have adventures. I learn. I laugh. I cry. It challenges me. Informs me. Guides me. There will always be a place in my life for reading.

*Who do you admire? First responders and those who serve in our nation’s military. I believe those are the most noble calling.

*What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why? It’s by Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher—“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” This quote really speaks to my heart. As a writer, I could be overwhelmed thinking about producing an entire novel, but something like that doesn’t happen overnight. Every book ever written started with that first word, then first sentence, then first paragraph. Alone, those few words don’t seem like very much, but together, putting paragraph after paragraph, chapter after chapter, taking your time crafting plot and characters—it all adds up to a wonderful whole. Breaking down any difficult task in life into smaller, more manageable steps is the best way to accomplish your goals.

*What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life? My daughter is, and always will be, mine and my husband’s greatest accomplishment. She’s creative, passionate, nurturing, intelligent, humorous, and caring. To see I had a small hand in the person she’s become is simply breathtaking.

*What genre are you most comfortable writing? Right now, I’ve only written romances. That’s a very comfortable fit for me. Someday I would like to stretch and try other genres, though.

*Who or what influenced your writing once you began? Stephen King is a master at creating believable characters, and I try to do the same. Romance novelists such as Amanda Quick, Karen Robards, and Mary Jo Putney inspired me with their stories and characters, as well.

*Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? I had to research a lot about poker! My hero Jed is a gambler, and he’s very good at what he does. I learned about all kinds of poker hands. Now would I make a great poker player? Probably not. My face is an open book and would probably advertise what I held in my hand.

*What is your greatest strength as a writer? I think my stick-to-it-ness is my strongest quality as a writer. I’ve stayed with writing for a long time and no matter how down I got or what the odds were, I kept persevering. I knew one day that stubbornness would pay off!

*Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? I have experienced writer’s block and have found the best thing to do is simply walk away. Close the file on the computer and don’t come back to it for a long time. Start a new project with new characters. Eventually, ideas for the problem begin to formulate, and inspiration can come in mysterious ways.

*How did you come up with the title? Since it’s about a gambler, I thought A Game of Chance was an appropriate title. The hero takes lots of chances throughout the novel, and his best bet winds up being one about love.

Lily Frontiere returns from a costly European trip to find her mother has accumulated large gambling debts. Things grow worse as her mother’s health deteriorates and she can no longer run Lucky Lil’s, the most famous whorehouse in San Francisco. Though Lilian shielded her only child from house life by sending her away to boarding school, Lily takes over and poses as Madam Lil. Her intelligence and astonishing resemblance to her mother help, but she’s entering a world she knows little about. Lily tries to extract the house from impending financial ruin until a handsome stranger turns up with the deed to Lucky Lil’s in hand.

Gambler Jed Stone journeys to California to track down Simon Morgan, the man responsible for his best friend’s death. Arrested for robbery and murder upon arrival, he is shocked to see his face on a wanted poster. Jed escapes before his hanging, unaware that the man guilty of those crimes is the twin brother he never knew existed. In a case of mistaken identity, Jed acquires Lucky Lil’s in a rigged card game his twin is meant to win. Jed asks Madam Lil to stay on as he learns the business. 

Lily clashes with the new owner over ways to make the establishment profitable, yet she is attracted to the charming risk taker at the same time. Jed is fooled by Lily’s charade until he stumbles upon the real Madam Lil and learns the truth behind Lily’s deception. His admiration for Lily blossoms into love. But Simon Morgan seeks both Lily’s hand and ownership of Lucky Lil’s—and he will go to any means to possess both. Will Jed foil his nemesis while bringing his outlaw brother to justice? 

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Genre - Western Historical Romance

Rating – PG

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Connect with Lauren Linwood on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.laurenlinwood.com/