Interview with Cynthia Harrison - 12 Days of SinC Christmas

Who is Cynthia Harrison?

Cynthia Harrison has been publishing her work since she was the star reporter for the Cardinal newspaper at West Jr. High in Taylor, Michigan. She has a twin love of reading and writing, which highlights the various genres her novels represent: romance, mystery, and now a step into her comfort genre: historical romance, which allows the 60-something author short escapes from our ever-changing tech heavy world.

"I have a couple of degrees in English Literature, but read sweet Regencies in my younger years, kept reading them as a treat every Christmas and then I went back to them full-on for the two long years of COVID. This saved my sanity." 

After retiring from a twenty year teaching career, she has relocated with her husband of almost forty years to the Florida Gulf Coast. 

Releasing December 18th: Christmas Courtship

Helena Beaumont’s debut into Regency society has not gone as planned. She wants to marry and rescue her mother from a madhouse for genteel ladies, but her bookish nature saw the ton label her a shy bluestocking. Her father insists she marry well or join her mother in banishment. Her second chance comes at a Christmas house party where she is reunited with Julian, Earl of Harrington after once waltzing with him in London.

Julian also has parents who pressure him to marry for the sake of his estate. As he trades quips with Helena, they form a friendship and agree to a marriage of convenience.

Then Helena's newly returned mother harshly rejects the couple's plans to marry. And Helena learns she needs Julian more than ever.

HOW TO WIN A BOOK

Say "hi" in the comments. That’s it. Introduce yourself here on my friend page and you win the book of your choice. You will need to send me the title you select, your home address for a print copy and your email address for an e-book. The format of the book is your choice from the books below. One book per person. USA addresses only. I will send notification to the winners next Thursday.

Funny story…my new book, releasing December 18, is not a mystery. And it’s only available as an e-book. While I ease into historical romance, I will offer my mystery novel, Blue Lake Christmas Mystery. It concerns a college grad moving north to bring a small town newspaper online. She really wants to be a true crime writer, but she loves the idea of a paycheck so she becomes a journalist. Then someone gets murdered at a holiday party and she becomes an investigative journalist by default. There’s a romance, too.

I also offer the first two of my Florida mystery series, Jane in St. Pete and Body on the Bayou. Jane is a recent widow who decides to retire from her art lecture career and move to Florida. A handsome police detective enlists her aid in the murder of an outsider artist in her neighborhood. Body on the Bayou continues Jane’s art expert partnership with the St. Pete police detective when the lady who owns expensive art and lives the penthouse is killed. Jane stumbles upon her body laid out on the Bayou that winds through the condo property where Jane lives. Yes, these books also have a splash of romance. I’m still at work on the third book in this series, having been side-tracked by historical romance.

The Interview: 

Where do you get your ideas? 

Never the same place twice. I lot of things I write about are relationships. Romantic and otherwise. I’m interested in people and their problems. My senses are always putting out feelers for a good problem that I can make much much worse. I was told by so many people not to write a COVID book because everyone is sick of that reality. I did write COVID in to the book I was working on, but in revision I was able to cut all of it. The book is better because of that. 

What are you working on now? 

Well, it’s funny. In the last interview, I had just written Jane in St Pete and was looking forward to it being published. I’ve written three books since then. Well, two and a half. I am working on the third “Jane” book. I hope it comes out next year. 

I also noticed that at the time I was “reading” a lot of Regencies. Well, I wrote one! It’s due to release December 18. It’s a Christmas novella (about 40 thousand words) so it will be e-book only. It’s up on Amazon and all the internet places for pre-sale and best part, it’s only $2.99.

How did that happen?

It’s one of those synchronic things. The universe stepped in and pointed me in a new direction. In other words, my publisher put out a call for Regency stories which they’d bring out under the name “Christmas in the Castle.” So I contacted my editor and she said I am one of a very few contemporary writers she edits. She usually edits historicals and she encouraged me to write the Regency. The process was so joyful. My editor wondered if I’d write another. Yes, yes I will! But I had to finish my Jane in St Pete trilogy. Because I love Jane and I want her to have her happy ending. 

Is writing always such a messy process?

Yes. Yes it is. But I love it anyway. Because life is messy too!

To learn more about Cynthia, visit: https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-prolific-cynthia-harrison.html

Socials:

Website:   https://cynthiaharrison.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cindyharrisonwhowrites

Virtual Launch Party with Lisa Malice - 12 Days of SinC Christmas

On the 10th Day of Christmas, my Sisters in Crime are helping me celebrate the release of the PAPERBACK edition of LEST SHE FORGET, my bestselling, award-winning debut novel!

You can share in the joy of this VIRTUAL LAUNCH PARTY and win 1 of 10 FREE copies of my book (your CHOICE of hard copy, paperback, audiobook, or eBook).

How? There are 3 ways to earn up to 5 CONTEST ENTRIES: 

• Go to my website (www.LisaMalice.com), click on BOOK REVIEWS, then COPY & PASTE a review that speaks to you to the COMMENTS section of this post. (1 Contest Entry)
• Add YOUR OWN REVIEW to the COMMENTS section of this post -- just a word or two is fine (this assumes that you’ve already read LEST SHE FORGET).    (1 Contest Entry)        
• SHARE THIS POST with your friends with a few words encouraging them to read the comments and consider buying their LEST SHE FORGET for the readers on their holiday gift list. (THIS OPTION is worth 3 CONTEST ENTRIES!)

Easy! And a great way to win a special gift for someone this holiday season, including yourself!

CONTEST ENDS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15

Winners contacted Monday, December 16

Interview with Joel Shulkin - 12 Days of SinC Christmas

Who is Joel Shulkin?

Joel Shulkin, MD, is the author of the the Memory Thieves series and the Death Benefits series. He has also penned award-winning short stories and poetry. A pediatrician and United States Air Force veteran with a master’s in public health, Joel lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters.

The Giveaway:

The chance to win a free signed copy of HEROIC MEASURES (see blurb below) to anyone who signs up for my newsletter at https://authorjoelshulkin.com. Valid to US residents only and must sign up by December 12, 2024, before midnight. Also, Dec 8 & 9 the ebook of Heroic Measures is only $0.99 on Kindle!

Stephen Englehart, an Armed Forces medical examiner. dedicates his life to bringing peace to the families of fallen soldiers. Tagged as one of the best, he’s able to spot forensic clues others miss. But when the body of a US Marine, supposedly burned beyond recognition, shows up with hardly a scratch, even Stephen is stumped. Were the bodies switched? Then, in the middle of the autopsy, the impossible happens.

The soldier wakes up.

Something incredible—and dangerous—is happening to the military’s elite, and Stephen may be the only one who can figure it out. And when Stephen’s sister, a Green Beret, goes missing, the entire military machine seems designed to stop him from finding her. To find the truth and save his sister, one man must stand against an army. Can he be the hero he never thought he could?

The Interview:

What genre do you write in, and what drew you to that genre? 

I write medical/sci-fi thrillers. I had gotten a flyer from a group called SEAK back when they were still doing contests for physicians who wanted to write.  I wrote a short story called “Simon Says.” I haven’t gotten this one published yet, but it was about a psychiatrist visiting a very difficult patient—complicated, bipolar, manic—and I submitted it, and it ended up winning first prize.  And I thought, OK, maybe I should write more medical kinds of things.  After that, I was at a Massachusetts Medical Society meeting and Michael Palmer was there, giving a talk about how to write medical thrillers.  I attended, and I got to talk to him afterwards about it.  He really encouraged me and said, “If you write a medical thriller, I’ll give you my list of agents, I’ll write a blurb for you, do whatever you need.”  He was mentoring me and supporting me.  So that really got my foot in the door.  

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve written five medical thrillers and published three so far. I also have a YA fantasy, a sci-fi/fantasy thriller, and an urban fantasy thriller I’m thinking of rewriting if I ever have time. Of my published books, Heroic Measures is definitely my favorite as it not only draws on my experience as a physician and a military veteran; it’s a homage to the Captain America comics I loved growing up. I was able to work in numerous comic book references and Easter eggs for sharp-eyed readers and that alone was a lot of fun. 

What's your approach to writing? Are you a plotter or do you let your story unfold and the characters present themselves (Pantser)?

I refer to myself as a “plants-er,” kind of in-between. Adverse Effects was pretty much just “pantsed” out. I just wrote it chapter by chapter to see what was going to come next.  I couldn’t do that for Toxic Effects, because I had a deadline.  I had to have an idea of what I wanted, so I wrote a rough outline.  The next books I’ve written, I’ve done more about really making a clearer outline, but not super detailed. I’ve recently started writing my first non-medical thriller, and I have that outline already. Then I can make changes along the way if I need to.  With an outline, I tend not to totally let things go; you hear about writers who have a side character who runs away with the story, and that usually doesn’t happen because I know whose story it is, and I know what I want to be happening and how I want the character to change by the end of the book. 

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Teleportation, for sure. I’m so sick of driving and flights are ridiculously expensive. It would be amazing to just blink over to another part of the world, and much easier to visit friends and family (and to go on a book tour)!

Since it’s the holidays, what’s your favorite holiday food?

Most “holiday” foods we eat throughout the year so it’s not really that special. If I had to choose something only eaten this time of year, I guess I’d go with sufganiyot, jelly-filled donuts to celebrate Hanukkah. But I also love glühwein, a heated wine found at every Christmas market in Germany, though it’s must more satisfying in cold weather than in Florida. 

Tell us about your current work in progress.

I’m editing/formatting my next medical thriller, SPONTANEOUS REMISSION, which will release in May 2025. It’s a more traditional medical thriller than my others. Although Betsy Daniels, suffering from end-stage scleroderma, wishes she had more time to live, she’s ready to free her husband of his burden caring for her, and to end her torment. Until, miraculously, her condition improves. Not only are her kidneys healing; she’s getting stronger and healthier, with an energy she hasn’t felt in years. As happy as her doctor, Regina Thomas, is that Betsy is getting better, she’s fraught by the fact she can’t find a reason why. But someone else knows. A hired killer is searching for a prototype panacea drug. He’s tracked it to somewhere in Clearwater, Florida, where Betsy lives, and he’s closing in. He’s not the only one, though. Biotech genius Friedrich Gersch, is also following clues to the prototype. Whoever finds Betsy first will hold the key to the greatest medical discovery in human history—or its greatest threat.

I’m also currently writing the sequel to Heroic Measures, titled EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES; as Heroic Measures was a twist on Captain America, this one will be a twist on the X-Men.

Lightning Round – Just for fun:

Holiday pies --- apple or pumpkin - Pumpkin

Morning person or night owl – Night but after having kids I now wake up at 4:30 so I can write and get everything done before everyone else wakes up, so I’m sleepy by 9!

Beach or Mountains - Beach

City or Country– City

Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream:   Vanilla

Favorite Movie- Princess Bride

Last book Read –Burn Out by Joshua Hood 

Print, audio, or ebook -   Audiobook to/from work, though if I have time, I prefer print

Social Media:

Facebook:        https://www.facebook.com/drjoelshulkin

Instagram:       https://www.instagram.com/drjoelshulkin

Threads:           https://www.threads.net/drjoelshulkin 

Interview with Gayle Brown - 12 Days of SinC Christmas

Who is Gayle Brown?

Formerly a full-time teacher, now a full-time writer, Gayle’s passion for writing started when she could hold a crayon in her hand, using the walls as her storyboard. Since then, she’s connected pen to paper and fingers to the keyboard at every given chance. Gayle is also a mentor for the writing program, The Book Incubator. She is a member of various writing organizations, including the Women’s Fiction Writing Association, International Women’s Writing Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. When not writing, mentoring or reading, you can find her spending time with her family, including a very spoiled mini dachshund.

The Giveaway:

The chance to win a free signed copy of A DEADLY GAME (see blurb below) to anyone who signs up for her newsletter at www.gaylebrownauthor.com. Valid to US residents only and must sign up on December 12, 2024, before midnight.

When local college student, Jaden Pierce, disappears one night playing 'Manhunt in the Woods' with his fraternity brothers, Nicole, an empathetic stay-at-home mom living a blissful life, joins the search party.

Combing through the wooded area, Nicole unearths her son Kyle's license and withholds this potential piece of evidence. She trusts him, but a sliver of doubt festers below the surface, thanks to one unresolved incident from middle school and his shady pastime. After he is officially named a person of interest, she must decide what to do next. Unsettled but determined to protect him, Nicole searches for the answers on her own.

While probing deeper, surprised by her unethical actions interfering with the investigation, Nicole realizes she's being followed. As the situation deteriorates, she is blindsided by the truth, suddenly shattering her trust in people as well as her entire belief system. Now, unsure who to believe and running out of time, Nicole faces her most challenging moral dilemma: With someone's fate resting in her hands, will she reveal what she's learned or keep it to herself?

The Interview:

What genre do you write in, and what drew you to that genre? Do you aspire to write in another genre? If so, which one(s)?

I write in the suspense/mystery genre because I like to read mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. I love challenging my mind and having to figure out who did it and why. I’m also obsessed with true crime shows and podcasts. I listen intently, making notes for my books. I have also tried my hand at a rom-com and found myself loving writing humor, so my next books, the ones I’m currently working on combine humor with mystery and suspense.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I have written four books, but have only one published to date. I am currently working on my fifth manuscript, the second one in a series (see below).

It's hard to choose a favorite book because each one has a special significance in its own way. Since A DEADLY GAME is my debut, it holds a special place in my heart, but I also love my new character, Avery Montgomery, and the situations she finds herself in. Her sidekick is a lovable character as well.

What's your approach to writing? Are you a plotter or do you let your story unfold and the characters present themselves (Pantser)?

I’m sort of a hybrid.   I’ve tried outlining, but it doesn’t really work for me, so much so, the only time I wrote an outline, it sat under my notebooks for the entire project. It wasn’t until I was cleaning everything up I found it. And guess what? The story didn’t follow the outline. There were some parts that matched up, but as I wrote, the story took twists and turns. I love when I write something that I didn’t see coming. I know the reader will feel that, too.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Read minds! What I could really learn about a person if I could hear their inner thoughts. And what juicy material it would make for my books!

Since it’s the holidays, what’s your favorite holiday food?

This may sound boring, but it’s squash casserole. My mom makes the best one, and it’s the one food I crave at the holidays!

Tell us about your current work in progress.

I am working on book 2 in the Avery Montgomery, Bridesmaid for Hire series. I am about a quarter of the way through, and the characters are revealing themselves to me. The series is about a teacher turned professional bridesmaid, who, ironically, doesn’t believe in marriage. While assisting at weddings, Avery becomes entangled in less than stellar circumstances, challenging her trust issues and self-worth. Putting on her amateur sleuth hat, she has to follow the clues, along with her sidekick, Phoebe, to save the weddings and herself.

Lightning Round – Just for fun

Holiday pies --- apple or pumpkin - Pumpkin

Morning person or night owl – Morning!

Beach or Mountains - Beach

City or Country– City

Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream:   Vanilla

Favorite Movie- When Harry Met Sally (a classic!)

Last book Read – Expiration Dates, Rebecca Serle

Print, audio, or ebook -   Print first, ebook second, rarely audio

Find Gayle on Social Media:

Facebook:        https://www.facebook.com/gaylebrownauthor

Instagram:        https://www.instagram.com/gaylebrownauthor

Threads:           https://www.threads.net/gaylebrownauthor

Interview with Sarah E. Glenn - 12 Days of SinC Christmas

If it's December 6th, it's my turn.

So, who am I?

Sarah E. Glenn loves mystery and horror stories, often with a sidecar of humor. Several have appeared in mystery and paranormal anthologies, including G.W. Thomas’ Ghostbreakers series, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, and Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology. She is the Web Maven for the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and also serves as Editor-in-Chief for Mystery and Horror, LLC.

Sarah developed strong ideals from her parents, a salesman turned missionary and an activist turned social worker. Despite their tutelage and a short stint as a classical languages grad student, she still loves Kolchak, superheroes, geek fandoms, and pop culture.

Her great-great aunt served as a nurse in WWI, and was injured by poison gas during the fighting. After being mustered out, she traveled widely. A hundred years later, “Aunt Dess” would inspire Sarah to write stories she would likely not have approved of.

Shaddap already! What's the giveaway?

On December 5th and 6th, the Kindle version of Murder on the Mullet Express will be free. Also, if you comment on my blog post with the word "snowbirds," you will be entered into a drawing for the new audiobook version of Murder on the Mullet Express!

Oh, wait. You won the drawing, but don't want an audiobook? We can negotiate sending you a print copy of MOME, or one of the other books in the series. Write me at sarahglenn 63 @ gmail.com minus the spaces.

And now ... the interview!

1.          What inspired you to start writing? I began reading at a very early age. I loved stories. Loved, loved, loved them. I couldn’t think of anything nobler to do (not sure where humor came into it). My earliest writings were continuations of the stories I loved (aka fan fiction), which I drew as well as wrote. I began with horses (big Black Stallion fan), moved to Betty and Veronica, and eventually to The X-Men, where I introduced my own characters.

In college, I was introduced to fantasy. I shifted to prose inspired by Roger Zelazny’s world of Amber, but developed my own plots and characters. I do enjoy other worlds, whether science fiction, fantasy, or historical.

2.          What did you want to be when you grew up? A witch, an astronaut, an alien, a superhero, a spy, an actress, and an author. The beauty of being an author is that you can be all of these people and more.

3.          What genres do you write? I started with horror and paranormal tales, but my interest in mysteries developed over time. People’s secrets and hidden motivations are fascinating. Zelazny’s first Amber series (the first five novels) starred Corwin, who woke up with amnesia in a private hospital and broke free. His first question was “Who am I?” The hospital’s records led him to his sister, who was not forthcoming. A brother, one of many, shows up. He’s in trouble, and offers to help Corwin take the throne. Turns out Corwin has been missing for longer than their father. The family has been betrayed by one of their own, and Corwin must discover what is going on.

Meeting Gwen sharpened my interest in mysteries as a genre. She is a long-term Agatha Christie fan. I’d read several of my grandmother’s Perry Mason books, but mostly watched my detectives on television. Together, we discovered Anne Perry, Donna Andrews, Catriona McPherson, Janet Evanovich, Louise Penny, and the Elizabeth McPherson series by Sharyn McCrumb.

4.          What advice would you give to a new writer, someone just starting? Write what inspires you. Don’t “write to market.” By the time you finish writing a story in a popular trope, the readers will have moved to something else. Plus, you will have wasted your energy on writing something you didn’t love. Writing is something that comes from the self, like any creative endeavor.

5.          Plotter or pantser? Oh, I pants my way through the beginning of everything I write. I have tried outlining first, but it takes the life out of the process for me. I usually have to write 30,000 words of a book before I figure out what the real story is. Then I outline, usually with the help of a calendar.

I don’t write in chronological order; I write the first scene that appears in my head. Eventually the narrative grows into a scene and sequence pattern, and the plot takes form. At some point, I have to move a block of story because I realize it should have happened earlier in the tale, and then retrofit things so it looks like it was there all along.

6.          Do you listen to music while you write? My co-author can only write in silence. My imagination rides music like a horse. When I’m writing in a specific historical period, I listen to music (with earbuds) from that era. It helps set the mood, and in some cases, the attitude of the culture. The popular music of the 1920s is more rambunctious than the compositions of the French Romantics and Impressionists, even though they aren’t far apart in age. Life has a soundtrack, as far as I’m concerned.

7.          How did you convert your book into an audiobook? Scott Ellis of Scott Ellis Reads spoke to our Sisters in Crime chapter a few years ago. One of our dreams has been having audiobooks, so when we reconnected with him earlier this year, we decided to go ahead with him.

We sent Scott sample material from Murder on the Mullet Express, and he sent us audio from different narrators who work with him. Even though the primary characters were mostly female, we chose him for his facility with the different accents and general tone.

Scott guided us through the process with ACX, which is owned by Amazon (so far, Amazon has provided us the best bang for our buck for the series). I claimed our book on ACX, and extended an offer to his company (we had agreed on the rate by then).

He posted his reading of the first chapter quickly, and we made comments. We also met with Scott via Zoom to provide more information on the characters—their general tone (pleasant, gruff, etc.), backgrounds (some are Southern, others are not). Scott offered his suggestions for how minor characters might sound.

After that, he uploaded recordings of the chapters to ACX for us to listen to and approve. Once we had approved the initial recordings, we then received completed recordings for final approval. It was a last-minute chance to catch problems, which I appreciated.

The projected date of completion at the time of the offer was late January 2025, but the audiobook became available before Thanksgiving. Amazon/ACX runs the book through its own approval process. They say the average time for approval is 10 days, but ours took two weeks. But there were no requests for corrections!

Gwen and I were both pleased with the work Scott Ellis did with the audiobook. He did an excellent job.

On December 5^th and 6^th, the Kindle version of Murder on the Mullet Express will be free on Amazon. If you comment on this post with the word “snowbirds,” I will enter you into a drawing for a free copy of the audiobook. If you don’t want a download of the audiobook, I can send you a print copy of Murder on the Mullet Express or another book in the Three Snowbirds series.

Lightning round – Just for fun:

Tea or coffee? Yes, with sugar. Lots of sugar.

Morning person or night owl? Whooo, me?

City or country? The ‘burbs suit me best.

Thanksgiving or Christmas? Halloween.

Extrovert or introvert? Introvert in person, extrovert online.

Print, ebook, or audiobook? Ebooks for nonfiction, audiobooks for fiction.

Pizza, burgers, or pasta? Pizza. See, I can give a straight answer!

Other books by Sarah E. Glenn

Murder at the Million Dollar Pier - co-written with Gwen Mayo.

Ybor City Blues - co-written with Gwen Mayo.

Short Stories:

"Bolita and Blues" - Paradise is Deadly: Gripping Tales from Florida’s Gulf Coast

"Hornswoggled" - Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon

"Two Old Crows" - co-written with Gwen Mayo for Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon

"The Odds Are Always Uneven" - co-written with Gwen Mayo for Hoosier Hoops and Hijinks

"New Age Old Story" - Fish Tales: the Guppy Anthology

Okay, that's about all the fun I can stand. I got wordy.

I hope you have a great end to this year, whichever holiday you do or do not celebrate. Drop me a line below--I'm eager for other people to hear our first audiobook!

Want to follow me? Thanks!

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SarahGlennAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahelleniglenn/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahglenn.bsky.social

Interview with Gwen Mayo - 12 Days of SinC Christmas

 

Who is Gwen Mayo?

Gwen Mayo is a history junkie who grew up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.  Her home state’s colorful past forms the backdrop for her Nessa Donnelly mysteries, Circle of Dishonor and Concealed in Ash. The series is set during the turbulent political upheaval of post-Civil War Kentucky at a time when Kentuckians were often confronted with murder.

She teamed up with humorist Sarah E. Glenn to write the Three Snowbirds travel mysteries set in the 1920s. Murder on the Mullet Express, Murder at the Million Dollar Pier, and Ybor City Blues are available wherever books are sold. The fourth Three Snowbirds mystery, Mustering Out, is coming soon.

Gwen is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, an active member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and a member of the Derby Rotten Scoundrels Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies, in webzines, and in micro-fiction collections.  

The Giveaway:

On December 5th and 6th, the Kindle version of Murder on the Mullet Express will be free. 

We also have a brand new audiobook for this novel! Sarah Glenn is giving away a copy of the audiobook on December 6th. Visit her blog tomorrow to learn how to enter the drawing for a free download of the audiobook version of Murder on the Mullet Express.

The Interview:

1. What genre do you write in, and what drew you to that genre? Do you aspire to write in another genre? If so, which one(s)?

I write historical mysteries because I love the genre and the history. Classic whodunits are puzzles with key pieces hidden in plain sight. Using my brain to become a detective, follow clues, avoid misdirection, and find the truth is a wonderful experience. Exploring another time and place makes historical mystery the ultimate escape.

2. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

My current Three Snowbirds mystery, Ybor City Blues, is the third book in the series, which I co-write with Sarah E. Glenn. I wrote two historical thrillers in the Nessa Donnelly series, set in Kentucky during the 1870s. I have also written dozens of short stories, some in conjunction with Sarah, including one in the anthology, Paradise is Deadly – Gripping Tales from Florida’s Gulf Coast. 

It's hard to choose a favorite book. They are all pieces of me. I suppose it would have to be my first book, Circle of Dishonor. 

I had written a few short stories with my cross-dressing detective, Nessa Donnelly. 

The idea of writing a full-length novel was daunting. It took a little pressure and a lot of encouragement from my Sisters in Crime chapter in Kentucky to get me to attempt a book. 

It took lots of pressure and much laughter to get me to let my boss become the doctor in my book. The character of Dr. Haydon is not only named for him but was completely rewritten with him in mind. 

He died of cancer shortly after the book was released. I will never forget the look on his face when he held the first copy up and told everyone in the room that he was going to live forever.

3. What's your approach to writing? Are you a plotter, or do you let your story unfold and the characters present themselves (Pantser)?

I am a plotter. I start with a brief outline of what I intend to write. The outline does get shifted some as the story progresses. Characters get their own ideas of what they should do, but the bare bones of the story remain. I also write from beginning to end, which is really hard when you team up with a writing partner who is a pantser, who starts writing with whatever scene she likes and fixes everything when the story is off track. It has made for some interesting conversations.

4. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Healing. It would be amazing to have the power to stop pain, ease suffering, and mend the damage life throws at us.  

5. Since it’s the holidays, what’s your favorite holiday food?

Just one? That is so unfair. The holidays are all about getting together for fun and fabulous food. Turkey is the star at Thanksgiving; not just the bird and turkey gravy, but my father’s turkey dumplings and Sarah’s grandmother’s stuffing rely on rich turkey broth. My younger sister’s broccoli casserole and her pumpkin rolls are also big favorites. 

As for Christmas, I have a dozen amazing cookie recipes, one for chocolate pecan pie and the best old-fashioned peanut butter fudge recipe around. Over twenty years ago, I started a new family tradition by roasting a full prime rib for the Christmas dinner and serving it with a side of orzo thick with fresh spinach and toasted pine nuts. The other sides vary depending on who’s coming and what their favorite foods are, but the mingled aroma of Christmas in our kitchen makes every mouth water.

There is no way that I can pick just one favorite holiday food. Can you?

6. Tell us about your current work in progress.

I am working on book 4 in the Three Snowbirds series, Mustering Out. Cornelia is ready to retire, but a series of unexplainable deaths among the lung patients brings out the detective in her. The provost officers in charge of the case look no further than Cornelia’s hand-picked successor but Cornelia knows Ruth would never harm a patient. Her efforts to find the real killer threaten to turn her retirement party into a wake as Cornelia, Teddy, and Uncle Percival race against time to discover the angle of death roaming the halls of Fitzsimmons General Hospital. 

Lightning Round – Just for fun:

1. Holiday pies --- apple or pumpkin: Apple, if those are the choices. I prefer Pecan.

2. Morning person or night owl:         Night Owl

3. Beach or Mountains: Beach in spring, mountains in the fall

4. City or Country: Country

5. Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream: Vanilla

6. Favorite Movie: The Princess Bride

7. Last book Read: Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson

8. Print, audio, or ebook: Print, I’m old school (maybe just old)

Other books by Gwen Mayo:

Murder at the Million Dollar Pier - co-written with Sarah E. Glenn.

Ybor City Blues -  co-written with Sarah E. Glenn.

Circle of Dishonor - a Nessa Donnelly story.

Concealed in Ash - a Nessa Donnelly story.

Short Stories:

"Bolita and Blues" - Paradise is Deadly: Gripping Tales from Florida’s Gulf Coast -  co-written with Sarah E. Glenn

"Special Label" - Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon

"Two Old Crows" - co-written with Sarah E. Glenn for Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon

"The Odds Are Always Uneven" -  co-written with Sarah E. Glenn for Hoosier Hoops and Hijinks

Learn more about Gwen Mayo at:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/p/Gwen-Mayo-Author-100063602106093/

Author page - https://gwenmayo.weebly.com/

Interview with Harold Emanuel – 12 Days of Sisters in Crime Christmas

Who is Harold Emanuel?

Harold teaches Information Technology at Hillsborough Community College in Ruskin, Florida.  He lives with his wife, Katherine, in Sun City Center, Florida. He is also an author who writes in two genres: cozy murder mysteries and historical fiction. His Lionel Trevor/Tech Squad series follows Professor Lionel Trevor and six students in a community college forensic technology workshop as they solve murders using forensic technology.

His latest novel, Aliyah – A Jewish Family Saga, follows sixteen-year-old Lazar Hermanski and fourteen- year-old Daria Solov, who survive the 1881 Warsaw pogrom, endure a perilous journey in steerage, and arrive, penniless, in New York. Lazar and Daria marry, start a family, and create a new life for themselves, balancing the needs of their new country’s culture with their desire to maintain the Jewish traditions they love. Throughout the story, family members participate in historical events, such as the 1899 Newsboys’ strike, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and the sinking of the Lusitania, and interact with historical figures such as Fiorello LaGuardia, Fanny Brice, and Al Smith.

The Giveaway:

You can go to Amazon.com on December 5 and 6 to download a free copy of Harold Emanuel's collection of murder mystery stories, Murder in the Sunset Years, on Kindle.

The Interview:

What inspired you to switch genres?

Aliyah – A Jewish Family Saga was inspired by stories I heard growing up about my own family’s immigrant experience on the Lower East Side in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. I read many novels about immigrants on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. They all began and ended in the same locale, and in the late 19th Century.  I wanted a story that shows a family prospering and moving from the Lower East Side to Upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs, like my family did. 

Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

I get my inspiration from history. I place my characters, members of the Hermanski family, at the center of historical events and I have them interact with historical characters. For example, Lazar and Fiorello LaGuardia work on Ellis Island as translators. Lazar’s daughter works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on the day of the fire.

Can you give us some insight into what makes your main characters tick?

Family cohesion. The Hermanski family faces many obstacles adjusting to a new country and culture and learning a new language. They face these hurdles as a family, supporting each other against the outside forces tugging at them. 

Tell us about your current work in progress.

I am working on a sequel to Aliyah – A Jewish Family Saga, tentatively titled The Saga Continues. It follows Lazar and Daria, their son, Marvin, daughter, Nellie, and Marvin’s children, twins Peter and Ariel, through the Roaring '20s, the 1930s Depression, and World War Two.

What book are you currently reading?

Broadcast Hysteria by A. Brad Schwartz. It chronicles the evening of October 30, 1938. On that date, Orson Welles’ broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds on CBS radio’s Mercury Theatre convinced thousands of people we were being invaded by Martians. I plan to have the characters in The Saga Continues in the middle of the hysteria which occurred during and following the broadcast. 

Lightning round questions - Just for fun

Print book, eBook, or audiobook - Print Book

Favorite Movie – Funny Girl

Last Book Read – The Bonus Army by Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen

Tea or Coffee – Coffee

Beach or Mountains – Beach

Morning person or night person – Morning person

Sweet or Salty snacks – Sweet 

Find Harold Emanuel online:

Website: Haroldemanuel.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaroldEmanuelAuthor/