Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Escape with A Writer Turns One!



September 29 is the 1st Birthday of 
Escape with a Writer Sunday!!

Thank you to all of you who have trusted me to share your work with the world!
 In honor of the big day, I’m making a couple of tweaks.


1. It is now called Escape with a Writer
2. I am booking authors for Wednesdays as well as Sundays!!

Please be sure to message me for availability and follow on the following facebook pages:

Escape With A Writer: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatoreditor

Diane Bator, Author: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatorauthor


Hope to chat with you soon!!  

Diane

 


Sunday, September 27, 2020

Victoria Dowd has released her first novel The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder!




Before we get started, I have two things I'd like to say. 

  1. I had the great fortune of reading The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder! If you are an Agatha Christie fan or a lover of "locked room" mysteries, you'll absolutely enjoy Victoria's style of writing. She's updated the genre for today's audience and kept me engrossed and guessing until the end. Her descriptive writing style had me highlighting sections of text just to savor them. The entire old mansion setting evoked just the right feel for a murder during a book club retreat.
  2. Please read to the VERY END of this interview for a special surprise.
That's it! Welcome to author Victoria Dowd with her debut novel "The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder."



 Victoria is a crime writer and her debut novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, is published by Joffe Books. It’s the first part of a crime series that is modern take on the classic murder mystery with lots of dark humour.

Victoria is also an award-winning short story writer, having won the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction in 2019 awarded by Go Gothic. She was runner up in The New Writer’s writer of the year award and her work has been short listed and Highly commended by Writers’ Forum. She was also longlisted for The Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition and has had short stories published in various literary journals and magazines. Victoria also writes the non-fiction series Adapting Agatha about adaptations of Agatha Christie novels. She is originally from Yorkshire and, after studying law at Cambridge University, was a criminal law barrister for many years before becoming a full-time writer.

What would you say are your strengths as an author?
I’d say I’m pretty diligent. I like to keep as organised as possible and, as a writer of whodunnits, I plan meticulously. I have masses of notebooks and files filled with research and a very big pinboard covered in maps, photographs and a lot of red string. In some ways, it does look like I’m planning a murder! I go over the details again and again, making sure there are no plot holes and that everything fits together like a perfect jigsaw.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
I write Monday to Friday, every day for about five hours. I try to take weekends off unless I have edits that need to be finished and sent back. I am quite strict about that otherwise I just wouldn’t get it done. I never usually write after about 6pm, particularly since I may well have had a glass of wine by then and the writing is absolutely awful after that!

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
Hopefully, as the writer of a successful series of crime novels and, who knows, maybe someone will make them into a TV series! Now that would be marvelous. Like most writers, I’ve imagined who’d play each role and all the settings!

If you could offer one piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?
Stick at it! Just keep going and write as much as you can, as often as you can. Do it for the love of writing and write what you love. Don’t write what you think other people will like, write what you have a passion for. I adore Golden Age detective fiction so that’s the genre I write in. But I also love ghost stories and the supernatural so I write short stories in that genre. Don’t send anything out to people until you’re absolutely happy with it and it’s finished. Make it the best thing you’ve ever written until you just think it can’t be any better. That might be more than one piece of advice!

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?
It would be about the quality of the writing. If people say it is beautifully well written, I’m a very happy writer, because, after all, that’s what it’s all about.

What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished writing the second book in the Smart Women series. It’s called The Smart Woman’s Guide to Survival and follows the women who survived at the end of the first book. They decide they weren’t particularly good at survival so set off on a Bear Grylls’ style survival weekend to the Outer Hebrides. When they are shipwrecked on a deserted island, the murders begin. Is it one of their group or was someone, or something, there already? I like to play with the classic whodunnit scenario and put unusual people in unusual settings. I think there’s a bit of everything in there this time, fear, humour and the all important murder mystery to be solved. I’ve absolutely loved writing this one! It’s been fantastic fun taking the characters on further and getting behind why they act in the extraordinary way they sometimes do. I’m just waiting for the edits to come back so I can get to work on those and, my favourite part, seeing the cover art! I love watching the ideas and words come to life and finally form into a book. It’s an absolutely magical transformation and a very special moment when you finally see the finished book. I can’t wait!

Twitter: @victoria_dowd
Instagram: dowdvictoria


THE SMART WOMAN’S GUIDE TO MURDER

A faded country house in the middle of nowhere.
The guests are snowed in.
The murders begin.

Withering and waspish, Ursula Smart (not her real name) gate-crashes her mother’s book club at an isolated country house for a long weekend retreat. Much to Mother’s chagrin. Joining them are Mother’s best friend, Mirabelle, Aunt Charlotte and Less, and Bridget with her dog Mr Bojangles. It doesn’t matter that they’ve read Gone Girl three times this year already, this retreat is their chance to escape bustling suburbia. But someone has other ideas.

A body is found in the grounds.
Is a lone killer hunting them? Or has one of their own group embarked on a killing spree?
What they need is to stop sniping at each other long enough to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again.
What they need is a guide to survive.

A GOLDEN AGE COUNTRY HOUSE MURDER MYSTERY BROUGHT BANG UP TO DATE

Funny and shocking in equal turn, Victoria Dowd's brilliant whodunnit is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, Liane Moriarty, Faith Martin, Frances Lloyd and Stuart Turton.



AND NOW FOR THE SPECIAL BONUS!!


Victoria was absolutely thrilled to be asked to give a reading of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder on BBC Radio Devon and chat about writing, Agatha Christie and her favourite place - Burgh Island. 

Here’s the link. She appears exactly 30 minutes in. 



Sunday, September 20, 2020

Nicole Thorne talks about her novel Chasing Butterflies



Welcome to debut author Nicole Thorne!


I was very lucky to get to read Chasing Butterflies and add my own review:
When tragedy strikes her mother, Helen, Hope runs away from the beautiful Cornish town of Port Merdow to build her own life. She becomes a respected architect with a loving husband until problems in her life drive her back home. In order to move on with her life, she needs to come face to face with her past to find peace.
Thorne has written an intriguing novel that I found hard to put down. The only thing that could have made it better was a good edit but my heart went out to Hope and all she endured.
Diane

Nicole Thorne lives on the North-West of England with her husband Sean and her children. She is a former teacher who now owns and runs a tea room.
Nic has always had a passion for developing characters and stories. In her younger days she wrote plays for the other children in the street to perform. In junior school she won a competition with a play she wrote. In high school she brought her English teacher to tears with a story about bullying.
Nic's writing focuses on the emotions of the situations. Her debut novel Chasing Butterflies is a very emotional journey with twists, turns and ups and downs along the way.
Nic is currently working on a prequel to "Chasing Butterflies" called "The China Doll".


Tell us about your life outside of writing.
Outside of writing I have quite a busy life. I have four children, but two of them are grown up so don't need much from me. I own and run a tea room. A few years ago I decided that the pressures of teaching were too much and decided to start my own business. It's hard work, but incredibly rewarding. I have some fantastic customers and have built a really good reputation in the town. To relax I love to sit down to a delicious home cooked meal and a glass or two of wine while me and my other half put the world to rights. I also really love my family time. Getting all the kids around to play a board game or watch a film is great. Other than that I love to soak in the bath with a good book.

Do you have a work in progress?
I'm currently working on a prequel to "Chasing Butterflies" called "The China Doll". Hopefully readers will gain more empathy for the character Helen who they met in Chasing Butterflies.

What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
The most difficult part was writing about the miscarriage. I suffered multiple miscarriages before I conceived my youngest daughter so the emotions conveyed in that part of the book were very real. I had all of these people around me expecting me to pick myself up and brush myself off as though nothing had happened and I just couldn't do that. I wrote about the miscarriage shortly after I suffered my first loss five years ago. I left it for quite some time before revisiting the story. I altered the events and the Character Hope's circumstances were very different to mine. I decided to explore the reasons a person who craved a family of her own might postpone pregnancy until she was almost forty. The story that unfolded started with the miscarriage as a catalist, but ultimately that is not what the story is about. I thought about the events that might have happened in her life to damage her trust in people, especially men. Hope is a very damaged and fragile character, but she also displays a great deal of strength and determination.
What sort of research do you do for your work? - Most of the research was just via google. The book is very character based so it depended mainly on my own imagination. I of course drew on my own experiences too. For my latest novel I have been researching fishing techniques and art courses.

Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you?
I tend not to read one particular author these days. Mostly I'll look for books by indie authors or just pick something up that I like the look of. I used to be obsessed with Steven King and Dean Koontz, although I had to sleep with the bedroom light on when I had read their books.

Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
I've always had a desire to write. I don't think it came from anyone else. The stories have always been there developing in my mind. At school I used to get told off for daydreaming. I had a few English teachers who praised my writing, I found that encouraging.


CHASING BUTTERFLIES

    Chasing Butterflies is the story of Hope.
It's the story of a girl who is damaged by life. A story about finding love against all odds. It's a story of hidden truths and painful lies.
Thmain character Hope is on the cusp of her fortieth birthday. She has just about got her life together. She is married to Ben who she absolutely adores, she has an amazing job as an architect.
Everything changes following a devastating twist of fate. Hope's life starts to spiral out of control, she is troubled by dreams that remind her of the past she left behind.
Hope returns to the idyllic Cornish village of her childhood to find the answers she needs to find peace.
Will she find the truth is more painful than the lie?

Amazon Link


Saturday, September 19, 2020

Round Robin Blog Fest September 2020



Happy Fall to you all,
Summer in Southern Ontario was hot and sunny with breaks of cold and rainy. For now though, we've settled into cooler fall weather and waiting for the leaves to change color and collapse in exhaustion from this crazy year we've had so far!
September's question for all the Round Robin Blog Fest authors is:  Most novels have an easily understood point to make to the reader, do your stories ever have more subtle or intuitive themes?

My first thought went straight to this oldie but goodie meme that we've all heard before:



Sometimes a blue curtain is just a blue curtain.
A brown dog is just a brown dog.
Most of the time, I write my novels without a planned message or underlying theme.
BUT most of the time there actually is an underlying message in novels whether they are planned or sometimes subconscious to the writer then they create the first draft. These remind people to hold their families close, that friends are important, or to take care of themselves.  Even a lot of sci-fi and fantasy novels carry messages about the establishment and justice or the hazards with having fire-breathing dragons.

Women who are down but not out and find their way out of bad situations. That seems to be my ongoing theme for most of my series. Like Gilda in my Gilda Wright Mysteries, they may face dark days but they will always come out fighting, or at least crime solving. While I don't focus on things like blue curtains, I show the ways the women rebuild and empower themselves whether it be through martial arts, running a business, or in Lucy Stephen's case in The Mystery Lady, becoming a mystery writer.

Gilda Wright started off as a "weak" person who becomes stronger with each mystery and each karate class she kicks her way through. Even when she has her down moments, she fights back and never gives up. Her whole reason for getting involved with karate was to empower herself when her boyfriend (Jason Thayer) cheated on her. Now that she's more confident and a stronger person, he's been trying to win her back while she is also getting to know Kane Garrick and dealing with secrets her boyfriend Mick Williams is hiding.

Laken Miller, in All that Sparkles, book one of my Glitter Bay series, is a former model who became ill and had to start her life over. Like Gilda, she seeks to rebuild her life from the ground up after a nasty divorce and a bout with cancer. She is lucky to have fame and money to use to her advantage, but many things she's had to deal with don't require money. Like dealing with her free-spirited sister.

Audra Clemmings in Drop Dead Cowboy has already raised her kids, built her business, but things keep popping up to knock her back down.

So where did this drive to write about resilient women come from? I was raised by them!
My mom rebuilt her life after separation from my dad.
My amazing grandma who passed Sept 1, 2020, lost her husband over 30 years ago and took driver's training with me in her late 50s! 
With such great role models, what else would I write about?

My Grandma's first car!

Off we go to find out what themes other authors use in their novels....

Connie Vines 
Judith Copek 
Diane Bator 
Fiona McGier 
Dr. Bob Rich 
Anne Stenhouse  
Victoria Chatham 
Helena Fairfax 
Rhobin L Courtright 

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Debra Goldstein reveals her Sarah Blair Mystery series



 

Mysteries with recipes and cuddly animals? Welcome to Debra Goldstein!!



Judge Debra H. Goldstein authors Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series including recently published Three Treats Too Many, 2020 Silver Falchion finalist Two Bites Too Many, and January 2019 Woman’s World Book of the Week One Taste Too Many. Debra also wrote Should Have Played Poker and 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories have been chosen as Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer finalists. Find out more about Debra at:

Twitter - @DebraHGoldstein
Instagram – debra.h.goldstein
Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/debra-h-goldstein

What would you say are your strengths as an author?  
My biggest strength as an author is and has been my passion to succeed as a writer. That motivation is what has enabled me to willingly learn from other authors, readers, books, and classes how to better my writing. It also forced me to translate my ideas into written words that eventually were enough for a short story or a novel.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?  
I wish I could say that I write daily or have an established routine, but I don’t. When I was still on the bench, I was more disciplined – writing between midnight and four a.m., as well as on weekends, but now, days blend into each other and I only write when the muse hits me or I have a deadline.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?  
Five years from now, I hope I am a better and more disciplined writer who gives back in the same manner people have extended themselves to help me. In terms of my writing, I would love it if my Sarah Blair series is still going, my short stories are continuing to be accepted, and I have written a standalone that is well-received.

 If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?
Assuming the novice writer is writing rather than talking about it, my advice is “Be a sponge.” Take classes, attend lectures, read books on writing, network, learn from writers who are higher in the food chain, and read and dissect well-written and poorly written books in the genre you are writing in.

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?
The best compliment is that my book was fun and made the reader, for a little while, forget about the real world. 

What are you working on now? 
Because Three Treats Too Many, the third book in Kensington’s Sarah Blair series, was released on August 25, I’m busy juggling promoting it with writing the fifth Sarah Blair mystery. I recently turned in the fourth book. It will be published in June 2021.


THREE TREATS TOO MANY - published August 25, 2020

When a romantic rival opens a competing restaurant in small-town Wheaton, Alabama, Sarah Blair discovers murder is the specialty of the house . . . 
 
For someone whose greatest culinary skill is ordering takeout, Sarah never expected to be co-owner of a restaurant. Even her Siamese cat, RahRah, seems to be looking at her differently. But while Sarah and her twin sister, Chef Emily, are tangled up in red tape waiting for the building inspector to get around to them, an attention-stealing new establishment—run by none other than Sarah's late ex-husband's mistress, Jane—is having its grand opening across the street. 
 
Jane's new sous chef, Riley Miller, is the talk of Wheaton with her delicious vegan specialties. When Riley is found dead outside the restaurant with Sarah's friend, Jacob, kneeling over her, the former line cook—whose infatuation with Riley was no secret—becomes the prime suspect. Now Sarah must turn up the heat on the real culprit, who has no reservations about committing cold-blooded murder . . . Includes quick and easy recipes!


TWO BITES TOO MANY - 2020 Silver Falchion Finalist - published October 2019

Things are finally looking up for Sarah Blair following her unsavory divorce. Settled into a cozy carriage house with her sassy Siamese cat, RahRah, she has somehow managed to hang on to her law firm receptionist job and – if befriending flea-bitten strays at the local animal shelter counts – lead a thriving social life. For once, Sarah almost has it together more than her enterprising twin, Emily, a professional chef whose efforts to open a gourmet restaurant have hit a real dead end…

When the president of the town bank and city council is murdered after icing Emily’s business plans, all eyes are on the one person who left the scene with blood on her hands – the twins’ sharp-tongued mother, Maybelle. Determined to get her mom off the hook ASAP, Sarah must collect the ingredients of a deadly crime to bring the true culprit to justice. But as neighbors turn against her family, can she pare down the suspects before another victim lands on the chopping block.


ONE TASTE TOO MANY - published January 2019

For culinary challenged Sarah Blair, there’s only one thing scarier than cooking from scratch—murder!

Married at eighteen, divorced at twenty‑eight, Sarah Blair knew starting over would be messy, but things fall apart completely when her ex drops dead, seemingly poisoned by her twin sister’s award-winning rhubarb crisp. Now, with RahRah, her Siamese cat, wanted by the woman who broke up her marriage and her sister wanted by the police for murder, Sarah needs to figure out the right recipe to crack the case before time runs out. Unfortunately, for a gal whose idea of good china is floral paper plates, catching the real killer and living to tell about it could mean facing a fate worse than death—being in the kitchen!    
 [Recipes in One Taste Too Many include Jell-O in a Can.]





Buy Links:






Escape With a Writer Has MOVED!

  You can find all of the latest and greatest releases, interviews, and books at: https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/