Every time Chuck Black comes out with a new novel, my brother and I don’t waste time purchasing it! Since all my blogging time this week has gone to working on the new site, I thought it would be fun to re-enjoy this interview from 2012.
Author Interview: Sandra Orchard
Remember I promised you a cool interview with Sandra Orchard? Here it is! Sandra was kind enough to follow through with this interview even though she was on her way to be with her grandson who had an extremely serious accident. (Check out her Facebook page to learn how to pray for little Jed.)
If you missed my review of Sandra’s novel, A Fool and His Monet, check it out now! 🙂
If I was going to write a mystery, the art crime specialty division wouldn’t be the first thing I reached for! What made you aware of/interested in writing about it?
I read a newspaper article about the detective who founded Montreal’s art crime unit, which led me to research the FBI’s Art Crime Team and read the biography of its founder. I sensed immediately there was lots of fodder for potential mysteries. I’ve even read a couple of biographies and blogs of (former) art thieves.
What’s your favorite thing about museum-quality art and why?
The sense of stepping back in time and experiencing a different era or ethos.
What non-fiction (or fiction!) book(s) would you recommend to someone who wants to learn more?
Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures
by Robert K Wittman.
There are many others, but that is a good place to start.
If Serena time-traveled to the civil war, what role do you think she’d play in the war?
Hmm, she’d probably be a spy or scout.
What else would you like readers to know about yourself and your Serena Jones books?
My next Serena Jones novel, Another Day, Another Dali, is dedicated to my grandson Jed who inspired a character in the book. That dedication was written long before the tragic accident that recently left him struggling for survival. Prayers for his recovery would be greatly appreciated. The novel releases in October.
A great big ‘thank you’ to Sandra for being here today. I’m going to have to check out that book she recommended! What about you? Do you enjoy art? Does the idea of being an art crime detective intrigue you?
Author Interview: Samara’s Peril
When I received the invitation to be part of the Samara’s Peril blog tour, I submitted my author interview questions and waited eagerly to receive Jaye’s replies. I really wanted to know which characters she’d pick to play which roles in her wedding!
What did writing Samara’s Peril teach you about life?
Actually, I think it was more the opposite—that life taught me how to write Samara’s Peril. The last several years of my life have had quite a few ups and downs. There’s been a lot of emotions to deal with. But the one thing I’ve learned through all of that is to really cling to faith, no matter how painful it is. So much of Ilyon Chronicles was born out of these emotions and struggles, especially with my main character, Jace. He really sinks into despair in this book, yet it’s when he reaches his lowest that he finally finds the hope he’s always looked for. That is often true in life.
Clinging to faith and trusting God no matter what is something I’ve been learning lately too. It’s encouraging to see that struggle (and the benefits of it) play out in characters’ lives!
What’s one piece of advice you’d give people about pushing through hard times–especially as a writer, but for other things too.
Never give up or lose faith. I know, it is so easy to do, and there are times where you don’t really want to care anymore, but even if you slip, keep hanging on. This can be applied to both life and being a writer. Being a writer is scary. You bare your soul for anyone to see and might get crushed a little sometimes, but keep pushing forward. With every book I’ve ever published, including Samara’s Peril, there are inevitably times I start to worry it’s not good enough—that I’m not a good writer. That can be really hard, but just keep going.
Hmm. I admit this question was largely for myself because I’ve been struggling to make progress on the sequel to Counted Worthy. I’m going to have to take this to heart!
If the characters of Samara’s Peril were going to be in your wedding, what roles would they play?
Good question. Well, supposing my fiancé (are you out there anywhere? ;), was cool with anything I chose, Jace and Kyrin would definitely be part of my wedding party. Kaden too. Meredith would be the flower girl, and I would definitely have Talas and some of his crete friends do the music. 🙂 Lenae would probably be in charge of the food. Oh, and I would have Timothy do the ceremony.
Meredith is so perfect to be the flower girl! ❤
In upcoming books, which character’s personality arc are you most looking forward to?
Daniel! 😀 He gets a whole storyline dedicated to him in book four, so I’m really looking forward to sharing that. Also, Jace, of course. He changes a lot in Samara’s Peril, but it doesn’t stop there. I love watching him continue to grow throughout the series.
Oooh! My brother and I have been hoping for Daniel to get more screen time.
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Author Interview: Morgan Huneke
Today is
the release day for Morgan Elizabeth Huneke’s novel, Espionage! I’m excited to share her answers to a few interview questions.
Check Out Other Stops in the Release Tour
Without further ado…
If you were to create a devotional based off Espionage, what would the theme be?
Forgiveness and mercy. I don’t want to elaborate too much—if I do, I’ll give away the ending—but it’s a very important topic for the book, one I certainly did not put in there intentionally. No one deserves mercy. Absolutely no one. But that’s what makes it so much greater.
How did writing this book grow you as a person?
Well, it did help me to better understand the messages of forgiveness and mercy. None of the theological elements in the book were things I didn’t already know, but sometimes you know things with your head and not your heart. It’s tough to forgive someone who has wronged you. It’s tough to show mercy to someone who sought to ruin your life. But the consequences of not showing mercy are so much worse. Dying without Jesus is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. That last point really hit home for me when a relative died several years ago, and writing Espionage brought it back up and helped me to share just a bit of that. (Now, the two incidents are slightly different because I did care about the relative and I don’t like the character.)
Pick one of your favorite characters from Espionage. If s/he found an abandoned infant, how would s/he react? How does his/her backstory impact this reaction?
I’ll pick Kyle, though I think his reaction would be much the same as Vannie’s. He would take the baby home and take care of its needs right off. He would try to find out who the baby belonged to and why it was abandoned. If it was simply because the family was too poor to support it, he would provide them with what they needed. If the family truly didn’t want the baby, he would find a loving Christian family to adopt it. This is where he differs from Vannie, because Kyle’s home life is too terrible for him to bring someone else into it, and Vannie’s is secure and happy enough that she’d want her parents to be the ones to adopt the baby. How Kyle’s backstory impacts it. Mostly because he knows what it’s like to be neglected and unwanted. As nobility, he’ll never be physically abandoned, but he knows emotional abandonment well. And he’d never wish that on anyone else.
What do you want readers to know about yourself and Espionage?
Growing up involved in politics had a huge impact on this book. The whole conflict in the book is sparked by an alliance controversy. And that political side of things is very important to me. However, this is more of a personal book. It’s about family and friendship. About always doing what’s right. And about showing mercy. It’s a book that means a lot to me, and I hope it means a lot to you too.
About Espionage
“Sir Roland has invited us to visit for the Autumn Feast.”
“Do we have to go, Papa? I couldn’t feast with the most crooked politician in all of Briznom.”
As the daughter of a Briznomian vassal lord, Vannie Cumberland has spent her childhood immersed in the world of politics. Relations between Briznom and the neighboring country of Calhortz are strained due to the tyrannical rule of the strytes. A proposed alliance could calm relations between the two countries, but would come at the cost of Briznom’s freedom.
When her father’s political archenemy invites them to the Autumn Feast, Vannie uncovers an evil scheme endangering the life of someone close to her. Personal enmity comes to a dangerous head as Vannie struggles to expose the corruption and stop the alliance. Time is running out.
Events are becoming too big for her to handle. Will Sir Roland’s son help or will things finally spiral out of control?
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About Morgan
Morgan Elizabeth
Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Books have always been a big part of her life, never more so than when working at the local library. Her other interests include reading, playing the piano and violin, and politics.
You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest.
Giveaway
Join in the excitement of Espionage and enter to win a special prize! The first prize winner will receive a signed copy of Espionage. The second and third prize winners will receive an eCopy of Espionage in the eBook format of his/her choice. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
Espionage Cover Reveal
Nothing like being fashionably late to the party! The cover reveal for Morgan Elizabeth Huneke’s upcoming book was this Monday, but I was sick in bed and not thinking about anything besides sleep. 😛
Here’s the cover now!
Author Interview
Which of your “bad guy” characters would be most likely to show compassion to a homeless person? Why?
I only have two bad guys in Espionage, “the stryte” and Sir Roland. Between the two, probably Sir Roland, but more from elimination, because the stryte is too gleeful in his misdeeds to show compassion. Sir Roland’s not really much more likely.
If one of your characters could teleport to the 21st century and drive a car, which of them would most enjoy the experience?
My mom said Kyle when she saw the question. Other than the fact that he’s twelve and so it would technically be illegal, he probably would enjoy it the most. It’s something normal for our world, and he craves normal.
What did you learn from writing Espionage?
Not every book is as hard as Time Captives. Also that worldbuilding can be fun, but when my worldbuilding backs my characters into a corner, it makes sequel plotting exceedingly difficult. That even bad guys should be shown mercy. And that a girl from church actually looks exactly like my main character. (She’s the girl on the cover.)
About the Book
“Sir Roland has invited us to visit for the Autumn Feast.”
“Do we have to go, Papa? I couldn’t feast with the most crooked politician in all of Briznom.”
As the daughter of a Briznomian vassal lord, Vannie Cumberland has spent her childhood immersed in the world of politics. Relations between Briznom and the neighboring country of Calhortz are strained due to the tyrannical rule of the strytes. A proposed alliance could calm relations between the two countries, but would come at the cost of Briznom’s freedom.
When her father’s political archenemy invites them to the Autumn Feast, Vannie uncovers an evil scheme endangering the life of someone close to her. Personal enmity comes to a dangerous head as Vannie struggles to expose the corruption and stop the alliance. Time is running out.
Events are becoming too big for her to handle. Will Sir Roland’s son help or will things finally spiral out of control?
Release Date
Espionage, A Companion to Time Captives, will be released on May 16th, 2016. Stay tuned on Morgan’s blog and Facebook page for more information and sneak peeks.
About Morgan
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Her other interests include reading, playing the piano and violin, and politics. She is the author of Across the Stars and The Experiment as well as the Time Captives fantasy trilogy.
You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Author Interview: Steve Rzasa
Back in November, I reviewed two sci-fi novels, The Word Reclaimed and The Word Unleashed. Author Steve Rzasa was kind enough to answer a few questions for an author interview. Enjoy!
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Welcome to Leah’s Bookshelf, Steve! Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself?
Steve Rzasa here. I’m a librarian and recovering journalist, educated at Boston University and a native of New Jersey—more specifically, the region we natives call “South Jersey.” It matters. I’ve lived there, Massachusetts, Maine, and my current locale of Wyoming. My wife is a teacher and we have two boys in middle school grades. Those boys are my biggest fans and when I come out with a new book, they’re ready to read. Does a dad’s heart good.
What do you write, why do you write it, and what inspires you?
I primarily write science-fiction, though I’ve also written steampunk, fantasy, and a superhero novel (the latter of which has yet to be finished). These genres all appeal to me because of their fantastical qualities. They make people dream, and exercise the imagination to the max. Most of my inspiration comes from history. There’s so many stories you can adapt from historical accounts and figures that it boggles the mind. I also draw inspiration from the real science advances these days.
Of course, with all my books, I try to touch on Biblical themes and the sovereignty of God. That is a vital theme that you can expect to find in all my work, whether blatant or subtle. Reader be warned.
What kind of research did you do while creating the world and tech of the Face of the Deep series? What are some neat facts you learned and how did you find out about them?
Ironically, most of my research was old-school. I read current and back issues of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics to glean near-future technologies and expand on ideas there into far-future concepts. For the Realm of Five, I played around with some historical governments and did my best to adapt that to a spacefaring confederacy/kingdom. One neat fact I learned was the existence of experimental plastics that, when electrical currents are applied, expand into a hardened shape. That formed the aerowings used by the Starkweather Lancers.
If Baden had to chose an alias, what would it be?
Given his sense of humor and newfound appreciation for the written Word, I’d say “Bill Tyndale,” in honor of the original Bible smuggler.
I know you have at least one cool new book in the works. Tell us about what you’re working on now and what we should be looking to add to our bookshelves in the future. 🙂
The real question is, what haven’t I been working on? Let’s see: I finished my rough draft of The Word Endangered, the follow-up in The Face of the Deep that continues the adventure 10 years later in the same story universe. Enclave Publishing will release it in July. I’m also self-publishing a novel tentatively titled For Us Humans, which is an alternate modern day of Earth occupied by aliens. There’s another sci-fi project I’m beginning this winter which is top secret, for now, but should be out in early spring. Add to that some short story plans and another book idea I started on a couple weeks ago, and it adds up to a very busy—but happy!—writer.
P.S. Steve gave me some inside info that he’s signed the contract for The Word Endangered to be published by Enclave Publishing in July 2016 and turned it over to an editor.
Thanks for the interview, Steve!
Do you have any questions for Mr. Rzasa?
The Inside Scoop on a New Book in Indie Publishing
Author Interview: Jaye L. Knight
It’s been a long time since I did an author interview, so for those of you who enjoy author interviews, today is a day for celebration! 🙂 Jaye L. Knight (previously known as Molly Evangeline) was putting together a blog tour for her newest release, so I signed up to host an author interview. Hopefully you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed coming up with the questions. Having done a bunch of interviews for the publication of Counted Worthy, I know how repetitive questions can become, so I wanted to give Jaye something fun to answer and us something fun to read. 🙂
- Who is your ideal reader? Describe the person who would most enjoy the Ilyon Chronicles.
My goal when I first published Resistance was to have a series geared toward new adult/college aged readers. I personally love young adult fiction, but sometimes you wish the characters were closer to your age. So Ilyon Chronicles is ideally for readers 18-25+ who enjoy YA fiction, but are looking for older, more mature characters. 🙂
- If Jace and Kyrin could pick one person, dead or alive (but from their world), to spend a day with, who would it be and why?
Well, Jace would probably choose his mother (and I can’t say whether she’s alive or dead as that’s for a future book). He doesn’t know anything about her, but I know he would like to find out where he came from and what his past is. As for Kyrin, I think she would choose her deceased grandfather, Jonavan Altair. For most of her life she was taught to believe he was a traitor, but since she found out he wasn’t, she would definitely like to get to know him. Especially since she lacks a close relationship with her other grandfather.
- What are Jace and Kyrin, respectively, most afraid of?
Besides losing loved ones, I think Jace’s greatest fear boils down to rejection, especially being rejected by Elôm (God). It terrifies him, really. As for Kyrin, she’s most afraid to lose her loved ones. She’s so close to different members of her family as well as Jace. She would give up anything else, but losing someone she loves would crush her.
- Which of your “good guy” characters would be most likely to rob a bank if teleported into our world?
Haha! Oh my goodness, that is so funny. I have no idea why, but the first person to jump into my mind is Kaden. I really don’t know why. But, giving it a bit more thought, I could see Daniel doing it. Maybe more so than Kaden.
- If you could chose to spend a day with one of your characters, which one would it be and what would you do together?
This is so hard because I could choose so many for different reasons, but I would probably have to go with Jace. He is, after all, my favorite character I’ve ever written. I’d take him to one of my favorite places to go hiking and spend the day in the woods exploring. (And keeping out of sight of his fangirls, lol!) I’d see how much I could learn from him since he knows so much about the forest.
Enjoy the interview? Visit Jaye’s blog to enter her release giveaway. She’s got a pretty cool package of stuff for one lucky winner.
Leah E. Good 