Search Results for: Day After disaster

Featured Interview With Chrys Fey

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Chrys Fey is the woman I become when I am writing. In other words, she’s my alter ego. I step into her shoes whenever I sit down at my desk or pick up a pen.

When I was six years old, I became interested in writing thanks to my mom, an aspiring writer. At the age of twelve, I started writing my first book. By seventeen I had written three books in a series and was working on the fourth when something unthinkable happened . . . writer’s block! I thought my muse was gone for good until I discovered the problem and, with an abundance of determination, I set about rewriting my entire series. I worked on that series for eleven years.

I published Hurricane Crimes in 2013 with The Wild Rose Press. The sequel, Seismic Crimes, is coming out April 22, 2016. I am an administrator for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and head their newsletter. I live in Florida and am always on the lookout for hurricanes. I have four adopted cats who keep me entertained with their antics, and three nephews who keep me entertained with their antics.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
One day, when I was twelve years old, I sat down on a small grassy hill next to my house after a lone game of basketball. I was playing with the sharp blades of grass when my fingers brushed something stuck deep in the roots. I thought it could’ve been a lucky penny or a key to a secret place.

Curious, I dug it out and looked at my find. Unfortunately, it was not a penny or a key but a screw. The tip was crooked and it was crusted with orange rust. For the strangest reason, while holding that pathetic screw, a story came to me about an extraordinary girl in an alternate world.
I rushed inside my house, grabbed an old notebook and a black pen, and then ran back to that little mound of grass to write the beginning of that story. I wrote fiercely, trying to catch all the words stumbling around in my head.

I’ve written ever since.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read romance in all of it’s sub-genres and anything supernatural/paranormal, but no genre is ever out of the question. I enjoy reading J.D. Robb, Stephanie Evanovich, J.K. Rowling, Laurie Halse Anderson, Gillian Flynn, and Sandra Brown.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Seismic Crimes is a romantic-suspense novel set in Florida following a hurricane and California during an earthquake. Seismic Crimes follows the novella Hurricane Crimes and is book 2 in the Disaster Crimes series, a unique series that centers around disasters and the crimes, as well as the love, that transpires from devastating events.

BLURB:

An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments.

Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a criminal’s crosshairs.

When a tip reveals the killer’s location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?

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Featured Interview With Jocie McKade

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Howdy! I was what I like to call a company brat. My family was moved a lot by the company my mother worked for so I attended LOTS of schools and lived in LOTS of places. Right now, I’m a Midwest girl and live in a very rural area. I have an office mascot — Diesel the Wonder dog. He is part Jack Russell, part, I’m not sure. He was a pound puppy and is, wow, almost eleven years old!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was one of those nerdy early and voracious readers who could read before they went to school. I actually wrote my first full length novel at twelve. It was horrific, I mean it was a fire-starter, but it taught me a lot. I have written most of my life — as a journalist, advertising, marketing and for magazines. I’d written dozens of books, but they gathered dust as I raised a family and worked a ‘real’ job – the kind with a paycheck and benefits. Then, after my hubster went through cancer I realized if I wanted to grab this dream I needed to go for it. I published my first novel only about five years ago.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read everything! Seriously, stick a cereal box in front of me, I’ll read it. About the only genre I don’t read is horror – mostly because I’m a coward and I can’t afford the leave the lights on all night. I love thrillers, mysteries, romance, and anything with humor.

My writing isn’t necessarily inspired by other authors. Honestly, people who have the tenacity to stick it out, even when that is the toughest thing to do, they inspire me. When I get rejections, or a bad review, I usually read a story about someone who overcame real difficulty and it puts those rejections in perspective pretty fast.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Baer Truth is the first book in the series, The Three Baers. Yeah, I couldn’t resist that pun. The story smacked me in the head in the great state of Wyoming. We were taking a family trip to Yellowstone, stopping in Cheyenne at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. (Can you say hot cowboys?) Anyway, my mind rambles often and it went, ‘what if one of those beef ranching country cowboys feel for a city born, vegetarian? The Baers were born.

The first book, Baer Truth finds Abby Clark stranded alongside a road in Wyoming in January. She soon comes across a downright grumpy Joe Baer. His ranch is being lost, his family is in shambles and they aren’t exactly a match made in heaven.

Abby has not clue about anything on a ranch, and she’s well, a klutz and disaster follows her like a dark cloud. Hired as a cook on the ranch, she soon worms her way in the cowboys hearts and eventually into Joe’s.

Here’s an excerpt of her arrival at the Hidden Rock Ranch:
“Please, call me Mike.” He smiled, starting the engine. Making a hard u-turn, the truck slid across the pavement.
Abby fastened her seatbelt and grabbed the handle above the window.
The truck fishtailed across the ice, but Mike didn’t slow down. “I hope you don’t plan on going shopping very often.” He turned the wipers on. They screeched painfully across the glass. “It’s a fair piece to the nearest store. We plan far in advance for shopping trips, so you’ll want to keep a list for pantry purchases.”
They pulled off the main road onto a gravel road. He made several more turns onto smaller and smaller gravel roads, until they reached a rutted, one-lane dirt road. Suddenly the dirt road gave way to a smooth blacktop drive that wound around snow-covered banks, atop which a red snow fence ran as far as the eye could see.
“I think I’m going to have to drop breadcrumbs to find my way in and out of here.” Abby couldn’t remember ever having been so far from civilization. “Tell me, do you ever get snowed in back here?” As far as she could see in every direction was nothing, absolutely nothing, except hills, snow fence, trees, snow, and huge mountains.
“Occasionally we’ve been snowed in for a few days. We’ve got snowmobiles and we can get out for supplies with them.”
A lump formed in her throat that refused to be swallowed.
“We’ve also got the Cat and the Deere with plows and shovels.”
Abby had no clue what he was talking about, but as long as those things could get her out of this desolate wilderness, she liked them.
“Nobody’s lived at the cottage for awhile. I had the boys go in, knock down the spider webs, and make sure no snakes or anything was living inside, but they don’t always get everything. You aren’t afraid of spiders and such, are you?”
The lump on her head began to ache. Mike’s expression was kind, but odds were she was about to face those things, afraid or not. “I can’t say I care too much for them.”
“Well, snakes are hibernating this time of year. But they can move about when you start disturbing them. I’ll have the boys leave you a hoe just to be safe.” The truck slid across the blacktop road. Mike chuckled. “That was fun.”
Abby pushed a hand against the dashboard, her mouth becoming suddenly dry. “A hoe? What do I need a hoe for?”
“For hacking the snakes’ heads off, honey.” Mike was matter-of-fact.
“Hack its head off?” The ache in her head turned to throbbing and was joined by a rumbling nausea deep in her stomach. “Couldn’t I just call you or one of the men to come and–” she shuddered– “hack the thing?”
“Sure, but we’re usually out in the field or up at one of the cattle barns. It could be awhile before one of us could get it for you. By then it could disappear under the floor only to pop back out in the middle of the night and snuggle up with you in bed.”
“They’re cold-blooded, you know, and they like to find a warm spot to sleep. So it would be best if you just hack them when you see them.”
Her head swam. Her vision turned gray and began sliding into black. She had gone from a bad dream to a horrific nightmare. Abby pinched her thigh, wincing at the pain. Awake. She was awake. The nightmare was real.

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Jocie McKade’s Website

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Featured Interview With Teiran Smith

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. After living in Connecticut and Sandusky, Ohio, my husband and I moved again to Grand Haven, Michigan in January 2014. I am absolutely in love with western Michigan. It is hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The Grand Haven community is very supportive of the arts which has been incredibly inspiring for me. It inspired me to publish my first novel, Rooter. And I have fallen in love with landscape photography and even dabble in abstract painting.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Oh my. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated with writing and reading. For me, books have always represented hidden treasure. They offer an escape from reality. Reading has an extremely calming effect on me as does writing. I can’t go a single day without one or the other without going through withdrawals.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Another hard question. The first Author I fell in love with was Edgar Allan Poe. I love his work. I’ve read everything he’s written. I remember the first time I came across The Raven in middle school. I was hooked immediately. Then came Shakespeare-my second love followed by Jane Austin.

In recent years I discovered Jamie McGuire. Her book, Beautiful Disaster, resembled that which I write and I became an immediate fan. I also enjoy Colleen Hoover.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Rooter was a real labor of love for me. I had such a fun time writing it. This was the first book I didn’t follow an outline for. I let the characters lead me and rather than writing the story I wanted to tell, I wrote THEIR story. I fell so in love with Sophie, Rooter, Miranda, Bear, and Ryan that I actually cried when I finished writing it. It felt like saying goodbye to good friends. Halfway through the story I’d already decided it would be a series. I just had to keep going with all of them!

Sophie is a very troubled young woman. She has no family. The only family she ever had was her mother-a drug addict who committed suicide when Sophie was seventeen. So now she lives with her best friend, Miranda, and her brother Mike. All Sophie wants is a normal life with family and love-something she’s never had and something she believes she’ll never have.

Miranda and Mike also recently lost their parents so they’re all kind of grieving their losses together. But Mike’s feelings for Sophie are more than just friendship. He admitted he’s in love with her and when she didn’t reciprocate, he spiraled out of control. Now he’s doing drugs and drinking and has become abusive. The derision between them causes tension between the three of them. Sophie’s infatuation with Rooter, the “vicious criminal” next door only makes matters worse.

When Mike finds Sophie conversing with Rooter, he goes into a jealous rage and attacks both girls. Rooter comes to their defense which only increases Sophie’s interest in him. But he makes it clear that nothing will ever happen between them-he’s a bad guy and she deserves better. But when Sophie gets attacked yet again he comes to her rescue and finally admits that he has feelings for her.

They embark on a passionate romance, but it’s hampered by Rooter’s secrecy, controlling behavior, his crazy, obsessed ex-friend-with-benefits. As much as they care for one another, there just seems to be one obstacle after another. When it seems things can’t get any worse, Sophie is accused of committing a brutal crime against Rooter. Heartbroken, Sophie moves out of the house to put distance between the two of them. But now that she’s separated from Rooter’s watchful eye and protection, Mike decides Sophie needs to pay for breaking his heart.

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Teiran Smith’s Website

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Featured Interview With Alex Athanassakos

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Greece, but now I live in Toronto, where I moved in 1979. I initially came to Toronto to visit my brother, but fell in love with economics and stayed to do a graduate degree on that subject.

I have no pets, but I do have two sons.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved reading. By grade 11 I had even compiled a list of “must” reads that included HG Wells’ World History, Marx’s Das Capital and Plato’s Republic.

This particular book (i.e., Our Travels with Alexander) I began writing 24 years ago when we returned to Canada from our year off.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Some of my favorite authors include: Graham Green (the title of my book is a play on one of his books “Travels with my Aunt”), Par Lagerkvist, Xenophon, and Harry Mulisch.

My favorite genre is history. However, I find that contemporary history books read more like fiction these days. So I began reading the “original” texts of ancient writers. I started with Herodotus and in 3 years I have reached Dios Cassius. I believe I will stop when I reach the 16th century authors since, owing to the invention of the printing press, a lifetime will not be enough to read everything that was published after that.

I also like science books, especially biographies, and went I go to bed I usually read fiction (books about saving the world from impending disaster).

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called On Democracy: A Novel. Some of the ideas in this book come from my PhD dissertation, but others were developed over time. My basic premise in the book is that the present-day “democratic systems are badly designed an do not take into account human nature. All of them are not democratic, in the sense that a majority is behind every action of the state, but improvements could be made especially with the advance of the Internet. Copies of the book can be bought here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011ONQVUE

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Alex Athanassakos’s Website

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Featured Interview With Dusty Grein

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
A lifelong native of the Pacific Northwest, I have mountains and evergreen forests in my blood. I have been living with one of my daughters in Ohio for a year, but am on my way back home to Washington State this month. A father of five, and grandpa to 7, I have also been a pet person all my life.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I learned to read at four and was devoted to Sesame Street as a young child. I devoured my first novel, “Lad: A Dog” when I was six and I have never looked back. In school, I was that kid who actually loved it when the teacher told us to read quietly at our desks – best day ever! – and longed for the day when I could buy my own books.

I started writing full time after a heart-attack interrupted my working routine, and now I only wish I had started sooner.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read a lot. I love so many authors, and have tried to read everything they have written, successfully in most cases. Dean Koontz, JA Jance, Piers Anthony, Preston and/or Child as well as the classics – Dickens, Carroll, Poe.

Thrillers and Horror are my passion, and Stephen King is, hand down my favorite author ever. He is also the motivating force behind my writing career (and I like to think behind the success I have enjoyed so far). His book ON WRITING is the reason I finally realized that the story machine (and multiple characters) in my head needed to be turned on and let run free.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is something of a marvel. It is the story of the residents of a small town in Western Washington State to the east of Seattle. They live, work and play in the shadow of Mount Rainier – the largest dormant volcano in the continental US – and this story explores their relationships and lives during the week before a cataclysmic eruption.

Two of my characters are ten-year-old twins, who share a psychic link, and must use their abilities to save their family from the coming disaster. A second interwoven storyline involves their eighteen-year-old babysitter and the young man who loves her, and the final primary character is the local veterinarian, who is ready to retire. These people are all from a very small town, and know each other, and are unaware that within a week, their lives will change forever, and some of them will end, in the worst natural disaster to ever hit the US.

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Featured Interview With Stacy Barnett Mozer

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a third grade teacher, an Assistant Advisor for the New England Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators (NESCBWI), and a mom to two wonderful tweens. I was raised on Long Island, in Merrick, NY. The best part about growing up in Merrick was that it was so close to Jones Beach and other fun things to do. I could ride my bike everywhere, to friends’ houses and to the beach and the pool. It was also close to NYC. Now I live in Stamford, Connecticut, which may not have the best beaches but it is also close to New York City and to my parents on Long Island. And both are close to my favorite sports team, the NY Mets!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I always remember loving to read. When I was in late elementary school I told my parents that I was afraid of the dark so that they would leave the light on in the hallway and I could place my book in the doorway. That worked well until one night when I was so into the book that I didn’t hear my dad come up the stairs until his foot was standing on my book.

I never thought of myself as a writer when I was younger, though I wrote all the time. I had diaries and journals and would pass a notebook of notes back and forth with some of my middle school friends. I still have all of them and sometimes reread them to connect with the younger me.

I started writing “for real” after spending a summer at Teacher’s College learning how to teach writing using a writer’s notebook. My instructors had us keep our own notebook and from then on I collected words and stories. Eventually one of those stories turned into my first finished manuscript. That story is still unpublished though because I still had a lot to learn about writing at that point. I continue to go back to it between writing other novels. Hopefully one day it will be ready for the world.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
While I will still pick up a new Stephen King book every now and again, for the most part I avoid adult books and read middle grade and young adult. I read all the time and very quickly, in a wide range of genres. To give you an idea so far this week I read three realistic fiction young adult books: ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT by Kristine Asselin, THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY of a PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie, and I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman. I have three more realistic young adult books on my two be read list. Once I finish them, I am sure I will be looking for some new middle grade fantasy book series so I can get lost in an imagined world or I have a list of new middle grade novels that I will read before September so I can recommend them to kids in my class.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
THE SWEET SPOT is the story of Sam Barrette, a thirteen-year-old baseball player. When her baseball coach tells her that her attitude’s holding her back, she wants to hit him in the head with a line drive. Why shouldn’t she have an attitude? As the only girl playing in the 13U league, she’s had to listen to boys and people in the stands screaming things like “Go play softball,” all season, just because she’s a girl. Her coach barely lets her play, even though she’s one of the best hitters on the team. All stakes now rest on Sam’s performance at baseball training camp. But the moment she arrives, miscommunication sets the week up for potential disaster. Placed at the bottom with the weaker players, she will have to work her way up to A league, not just to show Coach that she can be the best team player possible, but to prove to herself that she can hold a bat with the All-Star boys.

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Stacy Barnett Mozer’s Website

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Featured Interview With Alex Athanassakos

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Greece, but now I live in Toronto, where I moved in 1979. I initially came to Toronto to visit my brother, but fell in love with economics and stayed to do a graduate degree on that subject.

I don’t have any pets, but I do have two sons.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved reading. By grade 11 I had even compiled a list of “must” reads that included HG Wells’ World History, Marx’s Das Capital and Plato’s Republic.

This particular book (i.e., Our Travels with Alexander) I began writing 24 years ago when we returned to Canada from our year off.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Some of my favorite authors include: Graham Green (the title of my book is a play on one of his books “Travels with my Aunt”), Par Lagerkvist, Xenophon, and Harry Mulisch.

My favorite genre is history. However, I find that contemporary history books read more like fiction these days. So I began reading the “original” texts of ancient writers. I started with Herodotus and in 3 years I have reached Dios Cassius. I believe I will stop when I reach the 16th century authors since, owing to the invention of the printing press, a lifetime will not be enough to read everything that was published after that.

I also like science books, especially biographies, and went I go to bed I usually read fiction (books about saving the world from impending disaster).

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The book describes a year off in France through the wines, food, culture and history of Burgundy, Provence and Dordogne. The adventures of a new family whose original plan never included the challenges of travelling with a toddler are intended to show that raising a baby and living the dream, while not easy, can be funny, enlightening and worthwhile. While this is a how-to for all those parents who plan to live differently, even if it is only for a short time, it is also an in depth exploration of what makes France famous for “la belle vie”.

Buy the book on Amazon.

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Alex Athanassakos Twitter Account