Q&A with Phoebe Darqueling, No Rest for the Wicked

You’re living in Germany right now. What are some pros and cons of ex-pat life?

Freiburg im Breisgau is a gorgeous city at the foot of the Black Forest and nestled between France and Switzerland. I really love being so centrally located within western Europe, and my husband and I are taking the opportunity to travel. After all, when you can just pop over to Zurich for an art exhibit or go to a wine tasting on France’s Rue de Vin (wine road) for the cost of a carshare rental, there’s really no excuse NOT to get out and see more of the world.

The biggest con, besides being so far away from friends and family, is navigating the bureaucracy. I found out just a couple of days ago that in order to have a long-term resident permit, I have to take 700 HOURS of “orientation” and language courses. And though I’d like to be able to banter with the occasional cashier, learning German is really hard. I leave the classes feeling completely exhausted mentally, which makes it hard to get writing done. I’m switching to evening classes in the hopes that I can do my writing in the morning before I get so tired of braining for the day.

So far, what has your publishing journey been like?

Unfortunately, my publishing journey has been plagued by promising organizations that implode on me right after I’ve invested a lot of time and effort. The small press is a difficult model to maintain, and I’ve been sucked in doing a lot of extra work marketing other people, then been spat back out because the institution folded after a big fight a couple of times. One of my pieces of advice for new authors now is to make sure you don’t put all of your publishing eggs in one basket; you never know when someone’s going to knock it over.

Luckily, No Rest for the Wicked and my Mistress of None series has found a home with Black Rose Writing, which is a very stable indie press located in Texas. I’m in great company there, both with the authors and the staff.

But before all that, I got my first publishing credits by working with the Collaborative Writing Challenge. They had this really interesting system where authors get the first chapter of a book, the chapter that precedes the one they are going to write, and reference notes. Then, 3-5 people would take their best shot at writing what came next. A story coordinator would choose their favorite chapter, sometimes two but also sometimes none, and then the story would move on from there. I contributed to one of their novels and had two out of three of my attempts chosen for the book, including writing the big climax. I thought it was such a cool concept that when they were trying to decide what genre to do next, I suggested Steampunk and offered to be the coordinator. Over a year later, Army of Brass was born.

Since then, I’ve had two novels published and I am actively working on two more. My first nonfiction book, The Steampunk Handbook, will be available starting this summer, but it is currently available for free for people who subscribe to my newsletter.

I’ve also been a part of a couple of short story anthologies. My shorts tend to be a lot darker and graphic than my novels; probably because I don’t like to dwell too long in that headspace. Better to dip a toe in the darkness than to dive right in.

What comes first in your writing, the plot or the characters?

With the two novels I have finished, the characters definitely came first. The main character in Riftmaker is basically what I think my dog would be like if he suddenly found himself in a human body with human thoughts.

Viola Thorne, the main character of No Rest for the Wicked, has an interesting story behind her. I absolutely love the “bad science” of the Victorian era and where it intersects with magic. Spiritualism, for instance, is fascinating to me. So when I got a job as a tour guide at the Sacramento History Museum and needed to create a persona, I immediately had the idea to be a medium. However, Sacramento was also famous for the high density of grifters and thieves at the time, so I decided to create a fake medium. And thus Viola Thorne was born.

With some of the other ideas I’ve had for books that I haven’t started yet, the plot came first. It was an interesting challenge to go the other direction and figure out who would be the best character to star in story that already had plot points in it rather than the other way around.

Where does your inspiration for your pieces come from?

I really like what I lovingly refer to as “bad science.” These are concepts that make some semblance of sense, but turn out to be false. Or the phenomena are real, but the explanation is just plain wrong. I enjoy taking these concepts and creating stories around them. This can make what I do a little tough to classify sometimes because it is sits right where fantasy and science meet.

I’ve also realized that the idea of worlds that are separate but overlap somehow, be they actual portals you walk through or the ability to see the dead among us, has a real hold on me. That is more like a common theme than inspiration though, because it seems to be where I end up but not necessarily where I start.

What is No Rest for the Wicked about?

Other people just think they’re “haunted by the past.” In Vi’s case, it’s true.

Clairvoyant Viola Thorne wants to forget about her days of grifting and running errands for ghosts. The problem? Playing it safe is dull. So when a dead stranger begs for her help, Vi jumps at the chance to dust off her hustling skills. The unlikely companions are soon tangling with bandits, cheating at cards, and loving every minute.

Then she finds out who referred him, and Vi has to face both a past and ex-partner that refuse to stay buried. Though she betrayed Peter, his spirit warns her of the plot that cost him his life. Vi’s guilty conscience won’t let her rest until she solves his murder. Though she’s spent her whole life fighting the pull of the paranormal, it holds the key to atoning for the only deception she’s ever regretted—breaking Peter’s heart.

The Mistress of None will take Vi from CA down to New Orleans and up the East Coast of the US in the fall of 1871. The series is planned for a 5-book arc, but I love the character so much that I have also been playing with the idea of writing a prequel book or two as well.

Where can people find you on the web?

From May 17-19, I’m part of OWS CyCon 2019, a cyber book convention for readers and writers. In addition to hosting guest posts on my blog and sharing posts with others, we’ve got contests and games going on all weekend. If you RSVP to the Facebook event page, you’ll get a reminder to check out the festivities when they begin.

I spend a lot of my non-fiction writing energy on writing reviews and articles for the Steampunk Journal. In addition to myself and my co-editor, we have a ton of guest writers who drop by to add their flare. Plus, indie authors send in chapters of their books for our readers, so stop by and find a fun new book to read!

 Here are a few other ways to connect with me online:

Newsletter - Sign up and get a FREE copy of The Steampunk Handbook

Facebook Fan Group - Where I post links to all of my guest posts and other goodness

Twitter

Instagram

Thanks for having me, Michelle!

Guest Post: Vannetta Chapman, A Perfect Amish Match

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As is often the case, my upcoming release A Perfect Amish Match is patterned after some people I know. And although my book is about Amish people, and the folks I was thinking about as I wrote this story are Englisch, I am convinced that the Amish deal with many of the same problems that the rest of the world deals with.

In this case, it’s the idea of love, of soul mates, of whether there is someone out there for everyone. Some people (most romance writers) are believers. We are certain that there is true love for everyone, but sometimes it’s hard to recognize the person who could be our forever love. For instance, when I first met my husband, I was going to set him up with my sister. That’s a true story! I did not think he was my type. After twenty years of marriage, I’m now sure that we were meant to be.

As I was plotting A Perfect Amish Match, it was easy enough for me to envision Olivia Mae. She’s a young (but not too young) Amish woman, someone who believes in love but thinks that her chances have passed, someone who finds contentment in matching other people. Yeah. I could see that easily enough.

And then along comes Noah Graber. Oh, Noah. What can I say about him other than he reminds me of many of the men in my own family: men who are convinced that dating is fine for everyone else but not for them, men who think they’re destined to always be a bachelor so they might as well enjoy it, men who don’t read romance books and don’t believe that everyone has a happily-ever-after.

Just as the sparks fly for Olivia Mae and Noah, I continue to believe that someday the guys in my life just might find the one. Until then, I’ll keep using them for story characters. They provide plenty of heart, hilarity and hope for both the married and single among us.

I hope that you enjoy A Perfect Amish Match, and I pray that through it you will be reminded that God has a perfect plan for everyone.

Q&A with L.E. Rico, Mischief and Mayhem

How did you pick Minnesota to be the location of the Story?

L.E. (Lauren): My primary career is as a classical music radio DJ and when I was in my late twenties, I had the chance to work for a nationally syndicated service called Classical24—which happened to be based in St. Paul, MN. Even though I’d lived all over the east coast, I knew the Midwest was a whole other world, so I was pretty scared when I got there. But the Minnesotans welcomed me with open arms and helped me weather (pun totally intended) my first winters, buying and maintaining my first house and my ongoing struggle with depression. I had friends almost immediately and was totally enamored of the quirky, cool community around me. The polka mass at the local Catholic church, the obsession with hotdish, and the state fair—where everything is on a stick and Princess Kay of the Milky Way reigns supreme, were some of my favorites. Honestly, had I not met my husband and moved back to New York, I’d probably still be there now!

Was it always your intention with this book to do it about a sister and then two brothers?

L.E. (Lauren): Yes. We first see Jameson in book one, Blame it on the Bet and it’s clear that her marriage to Win is in trouble. Knowing that her book would be next, I was already concocting scenarios for her to find love after divorce and by having someone who’s been away for so long, I was able to use him to reintroduce the readers —who may or may not have read Blame it on the Bet—to the whacky town of Mayhem and its quirky residents. Plus, I knew it would make Win craaaazy! And that’s always a bonus :^)

Was it always your idea to have different issues like stroke, adoption, working in foreign countries a part of the story or it just came as the story flowed?

L.E. (Lauren): It all came as the story unraveled under my fingers. My characters often tell me what their stories are, believe it or not! I start off with a very basic idea of who they are and then the events just kind of unfold.

Adoption played into this story. Was that something you researched or did you know someone who went through that?

L.E. (Lauren): I have two uncles who were adopted—the youngest of whom is two years younger than me. He and I grew up more like brother and sister and we’re still very, very close today. And, while I didn’t purposely set out to write a story about adoption, it was easy to paint that kind of attitude that we were raised with—family is family is family, blood or not. In the case of my elder uncle, my grandparents had to fight for him when, mid-adoption, a “white” family was interested in taking him (my grandparents are Latino). Those were totally different times—even though it was just in 1961—and it was a battle but they never backed down. So this idea that Big Win and Marjorie would do whatever they had to do to adopt that child and keep him—and his identity—safe wasn’t foreign to me.

Was the county fair always part of your original story?

L.E. (Lauren): Ohhhhhh yeah… I’ve never seen anything like the Minnesota State fair. The food is all deep-fried and on a stick, the rides are amazing, there are people walking around in bee costumes for the honey judging. And, of course, there’s Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her royal court— the inspiration for my Princess Mary of Midwestern Dairy. They really do make a butter bust of her! How could I NOT include that?! Although, I have to admit that the float catastrophe was all mine.

Do you have a process that you come up with when you are choosing names and personalities of your characters?

L.E. (Lauren): I’ve run through most of the guy names I like so I sometimes use a name generator for help with that. I’ve got a ton of girl names, though. Sometimes I consult a baby names book. The personalities just kind of unfold as I write. I had a good idea of who Jameson, Win and Big Win were based on Blame it on the Bet. Scott was a mystery to me—I had to figure out what it was about him that kept him from coming home and confronting his past for a full decade. Oh, and then there’s little Jackson…God help us all. He was the most fun of all! I’m at a loss for what I’ll do with him as he gets older in the upcoming books!

Do you use daily events sometimes as your inspirations?

L.E. (Lauren): Oh, sure, all the time! The character of Bryan, Hennessy’s boyfriend, is basically me when I first moved to Minnesota. I was the fish out of water—especially when it came to things like winter preparedness and regional foods like lutefisk (yuck!) and cheese curds (yum!). But more than events it’s people I know who inspire my characters. Janet Lahti, the pie-making mystic is actually an aunt of mine. She’s a bit of a psychic and has had some really spooky occurrences over the years. Julie Freddino, aka The Knitty Kitty, is a girlfriend of mine who took up knitting and gave me a pussyhat last year. It gave me the idea for her business and she picked out her own purple hair.

Did you always have big Win getting sick at the beginning in your draft?

L.E. (Lauren): Oh, yeah. In the absence of the late “Pops” O’Halloran, Big Win is the paternal figure here. So when his life is in serious jeopardy, it’s a crisis that sucks them all in—the sisters, Win Jr, Scott—even Jackson is effected by the fall of his “goppa.” So it’s a good thread to bring them all together in shared fear and stress and grief. And with his life on the line, it was an opportunity for me to explore the kind of man he’d been when he was younger—when Scott and Win came along. It was also a chance to really see his incredible strength and the love that comes with that.

Was that scene considered the hook to the story?

L.E. (Lauren): I’m big on starting things right smack in the middle so that the reader is immediately thrown into the deep end. And that image of Big Win on the floor with Jameson giving him CPR and little Jackson wailing in the background—well, it doesn’t get a whole lot more high-stakes than that.

When you began to write this book did you know it was going to be a romance and a mystery?

L.E. (Lauren): Bringing Scott home was easy—his father’s health crisis put him in an impossible position. He had to come back. But that begs the question—if he’s such a great guy, why did he leave in the first place? So, yeah, it was kind of a mystery for me as well while I sorted out what kind of demons might make someone run away from their family—from their life—for a decade.

When do you know that the time in the story calls for humor, like the float scene at the fair?

L.E. (Lauren): Honestly, I didn’t even know I was funny until the reviews came in for book number one—Blame it on the Bet. So it was pretty scary approaching Mischief and Mayhem thinking I HAD to be funny. But I found my way. There were a couple of early drafts that were just way too dark and my editor helped me find my way back to a more lighthearted, funnier place—like Princess Mary showing up at the pub and the iguana on the plane. Of course, there’s always going to be something around the Knitty Kitty. But, yeah, that float scene—it was totally organic and it STILL cracks me up!

If your book was made into a movie who would you have play…

L.E. (Lauren): Yikes! This is always tough for me…

Jameson: Rose Leslie

Scott: Theo James

Win Jr.: Alex Pettyfer

Win Sr.: Treat Williams

What song or songs best describes your couple or book as a whole?

L.E. (Lauren): It’s the theme song from the prologue through to the epilogue—with a generation in between:

“Make You Feel My Love” – Garth Brooks

“Make You Feel My Love” – Adele

What is your next project and when is due out?

L.E. (Lauren): I’ve just released a new, non-Whiskey novel, Counterpoint about two concert pianists who bond over a tragic past, a dismal future, and their love for one another.

2019 will also see books for the remaining two sisters, Walker and Bailey.

What Inspired The Starlight Chronicles Series by P.S. Malcolm

It was after a short writing break that I was inspired to sit down at my wooden desk, cup of tea in hand, and write a psychological thriller. It's also worth mentioning that I had no clue how to write such a genre at the time. But I was driven around the concept of the stars actually being lanterns in the sky in need of regular re-lighting, and creating a world around that with a stealthy antagonist.

Of course, the book flopped a couple of chapters in for this reason, and the draft was left saved on my memory stick which I unthinkingly lent to a friend for her assignment.

This friend happened to be a major bookworm and found the manuscript, devoured it, and demanded I keep writing it. At the time, another story concept had floated into my brain—one consisting of stars and princesses and magical kingdoms. The two ideas sort of blended together, and suddenly I was really inspired to write a story much more within my reading tastes.

A tragedy story with gritty, dark romance and action!

I wanted my readers to cry, to scream with frustration, to feel deeply for the characters. I wanted them to be awed by the plot twists and not be able to possibly predict what was coming.

I loved reading stories like that—was constantly awed by authors who could make me feel such a way, and I vowed that I would do the same. It all fell together so easily and so quickly that I finished the story in a month. By the end of the year, I had four books drafted out and a small following of loyal readers glued to the series.

What makes this series so powerful is the conflict between the characters and how deeply entwined it is with the plot—there are so many stakes and perspectives to consider. Each character is uniquely different and contributes to the overall plot, making them necessary key players in the conflict. This was one of my big goals—I wanted to write a story where siding with just one character would be difficult, and there would be amazing character growth ARCs to witness.

After many re-writes, the first book is finally hitting shelves and I couldn't be more excited or prouder—I can't wait for readers to connect with my story and follow the exciting journey waiting for them!

You can grab your copy of Lanterns In The Sky here: https://www.amazon.com/Lanterns-Sky-Starlight-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B07NZXTMQ4/

If You Love These Books, You'll Love Lanterns In The Sky

I am a huge fan of royal revolutions, magical fantasy and powerful, badass characters—which is why I read these books as well as write them!

In this post, I want to help you figure out if Lanterns In The Sky is your next go-to read by sharing a couple of similar books with relating themes, settings or style. You might even discover another book you haven't heard of yet (did someone day two for one?)

So buckle up, and let's take a look shall we?

Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

I'm sure most people who read YA fantasy have heard of this book by now. Red Queen kind of blew up—and I definitely see why.

Some of the best parts of this book were the magic structure in this world, the worldbuilding, the stakes and the plot twists! (If you've read this one you know exactly what I'm referring to).

Enter Lanterns In The Sky—a story set in the present world descending into a slow downfall of society, with major stakes and a super killer plot twist to throw you off—because I love Victoria Aveyard's style! *wink*

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

Ah… dreamy Stardust! I love this beautiful, whimsical read and the adventures the characters go on. Also, the romance is just lovely!

Though Lanterns In The Sky is more dark and gritty, it has it's powerful and lovely moments—and if you love 'star' magic and constellations, then Lanterns In The Sky is heavily based around that entire concept.

I like to think that the writing is balanced between dark moments and hopeful ones—with an interesting love story unfolding along the way.

An Ember In The Ashes, by Sabar Tahir

This book has some amazing character development, action, and shares a very similar theme to the backstory of The Starlight Chronicles. Character conflicts are something that come up a lot in Lanterns In The Sky—so these books share a parallel here.

If you love resistances and royal revolutions and enjoyed reading An Ember In The Ashes, then you'll definitely want to add Lanterns In The Sky to your reading list (especially because the following novella, Starfall, will really intrigue fans of An Ember In The Ashes.)

Daughter Of Smoke And Bone, by Laini Taylor

If you love European settings crossed with fantasy worlds, you will just adore Lanterns In The Sky.

One of the most notable things about Daughter Of Smoke And Bone was it's distinct settings in Prague and Paris and other places outside of the U.S. It also managed to magically blend fantasy worlds in the epic way that Laini Taylor does!

Although we don't get to explore the other 'fantasy' worlds of The Starlight Chronicles until book two, the setting of Lorelei is entirely unique on its own and influenced by Vienna and Salzburg. Plus, there are angels in this book and they are super cool beings!

I hope this post has inspired your next read and helped you decide if Lanterns In The Sky is for you! You can grab your copy of Lanterns In The Sky here: https://www.amazon.com/Lanterns-Sky-Starlight-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B07NZXTMQ4/

Happy reading!

Q&A with Nicolina Martin, Heat

Hello Nicolina Martin. You are releasing your second novel, Heat, in a few days, the first in a new mafia series about the Russos, we want to know all about it, but first: tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi! Well, I’m a Swedish born gal who has never written in Swedish, even though it’s my first language. I work as a radiologist, I’m a mom of three teenage girls and three cats. I live and breathe writing, and my mind works on plots and dialogue non-stop. I make a little space every week to sing in a gospel choir, I love my tiny little garden, and to drive my car really fast.

What inspired you to start writing?

A long time ago I wrote fanfiction. I wrote for several years and learned a lot about the trade, both through the instant response you get when you post chapter by chapter, but also through some brilliant authors I met, who are still my friends. Several of them have gone on to publish books. I always wanted to write a real book, that was my own, but didn’t think I had it in me, until I suddenly had. January 2018 my first story took off, and it’s actually Heat, but it’s had many, many versions between then and now.

How would you describe your genre and your favorite trope?

Sizzling hot romance with a ton of suspense and lots of darkness. Favorite trope by far is enemies to lovers. It’s built in to some extent, a little, or a lot, in most of my stories. There’s just something extra hot with that dynamic that gets my juices flowing. I mean creative! :)

What attracts you to the darker side of romance?

I don’t even see myself as that dark, but many say I am. I work a lot with emotions, and angst. The situations I put my characters in are tense, and sometimes they balance on the edge between life and death. That creates a certain darkness. What attracts me to it is that I get to play with all the feels and bring my reader, and myself, to the edge of the seat in agony before I give us some relief, and the happy ending of course.

How dark is too dark? Where do you draw the line and tell yourself, hell no?

Are you asking how dark I can write, or how dark my books can be? I think I can write the darkest imaginable. I’ll leave that up to your own imagination. I’m even thinking of creating a separate pen name, because there are things I’d love to explore. What you won’t find in my books is the hero tying up the heroine in a dank basement, torturing her until she loves him. That’s not my kind of darkness.

Now, tell us about the Russos. Who are they? How did you come up with them?

Oh yes! The Russo Saga. We’re embarking on a journey that I don’t know when and where it will end. Several books are lined up for publishing during 2019 and even more are being plotted as we speak. We get to follow a mafia family with sister and brother Bianca Russo and Luciano Salvatore at the helm. Bianca runs a business of organized crime in Chicago, and Luciano owns the whole west coast of the USA, with his seat in San Francisco. Bianca has five children, Christian, Nathan, Matteo, Luca, and Angela. There are also trusted co-workers and friend in this inner circle. Everyone will have their own book in due time.

First out is Nathan Russo who goes on a mission to exotic Dominican Republic. He meets innocent Sydney Lewis who goes there on vacation and sparks fly from the very first gaze. Nathan has a dark side to his persona as well as his sexuality, and Sydney gets to explore both her innermost desires as well as fears.

The Russos came to be when my friend and critique partner pointed at several works in progress I had last autumn and said: girl, these can all go together, they can all be a part of the same world. I saw what she saw and the rest is history. Within five minutes I had the whole backstory and clan made up. They begged to be written.

Is this a series that needs to be read in order?

Every book is a standalone, except for a duet that I’m working on at the moment. They won’t need to be read in any particular order. No single event depends on that you know what happened in the other books. There will however be an enhanced experience from reading them in the order I publish them, because you’ll get to know the whole cast a little more with each book as they make cameos in each other’s books.

Favorite authors? Who are your one-clicks?

Ohh, too many. I’m a huge fan of Stephen King and Jodi Picoult. I love Meghan March, Jennifer Bene, Addison Cain, Zoe Blake and Renee Rose. Lots

What can we expect in the future?

More of the Russos of course. Much more. I have material in my head that will keep giving us books through 2020. I hope to get to spend many, many hours with these enticing people, and to keep my readers on their toes. of good fun and hot power exchange in those!

Last, but not least: where can we stalk you?

Well, my home address is— just kidding. I mentioned my website www.nicolinamartin.com. I always keep it updated. You can find links to everything there, for instance make sure to follow me on Amazon and Bookbub. I’m very active on Facebook and have a great reader group https://www.facebook.com/groups/martinsmisfits/ Welcome to join!

I hope you’ll enjoy my new release Heat, and the dangerously hot Russo boys as much as I do!

Behind the Scenes in Nothing is Forgotten by Peter Golden

I didn’t know how I was going to step foot in Germany, let alone tour the Dachau concentration camp. Yet summer was coming, when I traveled for research, and I was writing Nothing Is Forgotten, and both Munich and the camp, 25 kilometers outside the city, were central to my novel. Munich was where the headquarters of Radio Liberty was located, and the station, broadcasting into the Soviet Union, made the city a battleground between the CIA and KGB, and it would play a pivotal role in the life of one of my main characters. And the Dachau camp was crucial to the story, a nexus where the present and past would collide.

Most important, for me, I saw historical novels as where imagination meets reality, each igniting the other and providing a necessary spark for the writer. So I had to go to Germany, but how could I visit a country that had murdered members of my extended family? I came up with a plan to do my research in a day, driving in from Belgium then hightailing it for Switzerland. However, that didn’t give me enough time, so I was stumped—until I interviewed James Critchlow, a former employee of Radio Liberty who worked in Munich in the 1960s.

Back then, Mr. Critchlow said, the concentration camp was being transformed into a memorial, and the town officials of Dachau were unhappy about it. One of them complained to James that in the future, because of the memorial, whenever anyone heard “Dachau,” they would think of the camp and not the lovely old town in Bavaria.

I laughed, a bizarre reaction that unnerved me. Then I said, “You mean, if they put up a brewery where the crematorium used to be, everyone would think of Dachau as a beer?”

“Something like that,” Mr. Critchlow replied.

When I got off the phone, I knew that I could go to Germany. Two decades after the camps were liberated, a German official remained unaware that words like Dachau and Nazi, and the names of Hitler, Himmler et al would remain synonyms for unspeakable evil.

When I got off the phone, I knew that I had to go to Germany—not simply to see the birthplace of the Holocaust. But to contemplate the extraordinary talent humans possess for self-delusion.

If you are interested in a brief photo essay of my tour, hit Ctrl+click to follow the link: Peter Golden@Dachau

About Peter Golden

Peter Golden is an award-winning journalist, novelist, biographer, and historian. He lives outside Albany, New York, with his wife and son. He is the acclaimed author of the novels Comeback Love, Wherever There Is Light, and Nothing Is Forgotten.