Dan Burns and A Fine Line

A Fine Line (A Sebastian Drake Novel) by Dan Burns

“I don’t need the second shot . . . but you’re worth it.” Sebastian Drake

About the Book:

When a struggling author with a secret government past is hired by a wealthy philanthropist to investigate a cold murder case, he has no choice but to expose the dark and buried secrets of a powerful political family in Chicago.

Sebastian Drake is a novelist working out of a dilapidated apartment in the city who’s trying to come up with his next story idea. But he’s stuck.

Drake receives an unexpected visit from a man interested in hiring him for a project and who thinks he has just the solution to Drake’s writing challenges. He also thinks that Drake’s past and secret life with a shadow government organization is a valuable asset. His proposition to Drake is simple: become a hired agent to investigate a cold murder case involving one of Chicago’s most powerful political families. The job comes with a decent paycheck, all the support he might need, and the types of real life experiences that can form the basis for great fiction stories.

This is a story about a man with a new lease on life, who leads a dual existence. Behind his desk, he is an aspiring author. On the streets, he is a rogue undercover and unknown vigilante. His biggest challenge is keeping intact the fine line between reality and fiction.

Publisher: Chicago Arts Press

ISBN: 978-0-9911694-2-9 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-0-9911694-4-3 (E-Book)

Publication Date: June 6, 2017

Genre: Mystery

Website: www.danburnsauthor.com

Signed Copies AVAILABLE HERE 

Also available at Barnes&Noble, Amazon, and Independent Bookstores Nationwide

My Review

The premise of Burns’s thrilling detective story grabbed my attention. Sure, Sebastian Drake is almost a Sam Spade pulp-alike, a forties-era anti-hero for today, but honestly, how can you not love the wounded but capable man-of-few-words detective with a soft spot for his family? Who’s also an author!

Drake’s initial success has not led to the subsequent best-seller notice he needed to survive in the authorial world. His agent dug deep and found a contract for a book he has yet to complete. Time’s running out and he’s desperate. Unlikely help comes through his former secret life. His shadowy employer knows things Drake would rather not remember, but Drake is fascinated by the request to dig back into a long-cold mystery.

Drake’s hefty financial reward for a little detective work isn’t necessarily the main attraction to get his hands dirty once again. He’ll hopefully reap the material he needs to finish his novel—if he survives. Combing his acquaintances for help and returning to the scene of the crime as well as revisiting the original police files is not quite like old home week. Enemies and friends are suspiciously hard to differentiate. Drake slowly peels off layers of dust as well as fresh scabs from wounds both professional and personal, until the answers are bared.

Told through Drake’s perspective, readers are pulled into a side of Chicago off the tourist trail. A Fine Line is a tale of winners and losers, and the chance to move forward and find both retribution and redemption. Those who enjoy detective adventures, particularly set in a familiar town, will find much to like about this novel.

A Brief interview with the Author  

Dan, what do you love about this book?

What I love most about this book is the path I had to take to see the novel come to fruition. My protagonist, Sebastian Drake, appeared first in a short story, Letting Go, which I wrote back in 2012. My process for the story was simple: put him at a table in a coffee shop, have him meet a person from his past, and see what happens. When I finished the story, I learned a little about Drake—who he is and where he came from—and I thought that was the end of his story. But Drake would not leave me alone. He had more to say and forced me to develop his story further. So, I went back to work and wrote a screenplay for a feature film that put him in the middle of a cold murder case in Chicago. The process was exhilarating and fun, and again, I thought that was the end of the story. The screenplay received national recognition and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Naperville Independent Film Festival, and fans at the festival asked, “What’s next for Drake?” I thought about the question often, and it seemed to me that the story I told in the screenplay was not quite complete. I could not get the story or Drake out of my mind, so I forged on and developed the story as a novel. I love the book and the story, and through the process, I came to the realization that Sebastian Drake is a part of me. He’s taking the lead now, and his story is just beginning. Where he will take us is anybody’s guess.

Congratulations! What a great way to find a story.

Introduce us to the character you had the most fun creating.

I had the most fun creating Sebastian Drake because he needed to be a complex, conflicted, and sympathetic character. He also had to be different, with character traits, experiences, and skills that we haven’t seen in other mystery series characters. I feel I accomplished that objective. However, I also feel I’m just getting to know who he is and what he can become. He’s not a typical protagonist or hero—he’s really an antihero, since he lacks the conventional attributes of a heroic character. Drake continually walks the fine line between the past and the present, right and wrong, and reality and the fiction he writes. His life is an endless high-wire act, and there is no safety net.

In a mystery novel, there has to be a nasty character, an antagonist, and in A Fine Line, there are many of them. But I especially enjoyed developing the character of Jerry Fitzsimmons: “an older man, thin and gaunt, almost sickly looking.” “He’s always grinning, like a cat who just ate a mouse.” From his “thin lips pressed together like a cadaver” to his “yellow teeth,” I found I disliked him more with each sentence I wrote about him. He gives me the creeps, and he adds a necessary dimension and complexity to the story. Fortunately, Drake doesn’t care much for him either and effectively addresses all of Jerry’s issues.

Those are fun characteristics put together in a believable way!

Share two things you learned either researching or writing-related during the production of this book?

A Fine Line is a murder mystery set in Chicago. To make the story interesting and believable, I felt it was necessary to make the city a character and include details about the city that would pull the reader in, whether local or not. I grew up on the North Side, but the story had to take place in and around areas I didn’t know about, where I haven’t been—unknown places, darker places. The Chicago Police Department also plays a large role in the story, and I had to make sure I understood the hierarchical structure of the organization and the basics of police procedure, especially because there’s at least one character who doesn’t follow procedure.

In researching both topics, what I learned is that even though I have lived in the Chicago area for fifty-four years, there is so much I still don’t know. I find that realization fascinating. There’s always more to learn and experience, and I think Sebastian Drake will make sure my education continues.

Readers--take this and run with it! Explore your own community.

What are you reading now?

I just finished reading Speed the Plow, by one of my favorite writers and playwrights, David Mamet. I’m in the middle of a memoir by Oscar Levant titled, A Smattering of Ignorance. He was a talented musician, composer, actor, and writer, and I find his writing insightful and humorous. I used one of his quotes as the epigraph for my book: “There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.”

Dan, what's next for you?

I’m always juggling several projects. I recently completed a stage play script, Grace, and I’d love to produce it at a Chicago theatre. I am also continuing to write short stories and hope to have another story collection ready for publication next year. And Sebastian Drake continues to pester me. He has another story to tell, and together, we’re in the process of figuring out what that story is.

Theater is fun!

And I'm looking forward to seeing what trouble Drake gets into next.

Thanks for sharing about you and your work.

About the Author

Dan Burns is the author of the novels A Fine Line and Recalled to Life, and No Turning Back: Stories, the short story collection, He is also an award-winning writer of stories for the screen and stage. He resides with his family in Illinois and enjoys spending time in Wisconsin and Montana.

Author Website: www.danburnsauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/danburnsauthor/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DanBurnsAuthor

YA action fiction with Dave and Diane Munson

Paperback, 224 pages

Published 2012 by Micah House Media

ISBN 9780983559023

http://www.dianeanddavidmunson.com/books/night-flight.shtml

$4.99 eBook

$9.99 Print

I met Dave and Diane at a conference and bought one of their books--this one. Hard to believe it's been five years. The Munsons have a fun, exciting background which makes them uniquely qualified to write these linked series of stories about federal agents and their families. Night Flight is the first of a young adult series linked to the "family friendly" adult series.

Agent Bo Rider's teenaged children accidentally become involved in a federal case of counterfeit money and go to hide out with their mother's parents in Florida. Naturally they find more adventure with smuggling and a homeless child.

It's been a while since I've had teens around, so I asked my high school teaching husband about the typical teen behavior and learned the Munsons were right on target. Junior high and teen readers up to fifteen or sixteen will like these stories flavored with enough danger and adventure, and the typical teen actions like getting a driver's permit. A retired working dog named Blaze plays a prominent role, so pet people will love reading about him. Faith talk also interweaves the narrative.

The story is told from both kids, Glenna and Gregg's, viewpoints, so the reader travels right along with them as they visit the beach and scary neighbors, airport, and ride in boats. One scene is from the crook's perspective. The book is a nice length, not too short to feel as though you're missing something, but not epic fantasy length for readers who may not have the patience to sit through a longer read.

I also recommend visiting the Munson's website for more background information and a look at the  interlinking series of books. https://www.dianeanddavidmunson.com/

Coming soon: Dan Burns and A Fine Line

A Fine Line (A Sebastian Drake Novel) by Dan Burns

“I don’t need the second shot . . . but you’re worth it.” Sebastian Drake

About the Book:

When a struggling author with a secret government past is hired by a wealthy philanthropist to investigate a cold murder case, he has no choice but to expose the dark and buried secrets of a powerful political family in Chicago.

Sebastian Drake is a novelist working out of a dilapidated apartment in the city who’s trying to come up with his next story idea. But he’s stuck.

Drake receives an unexpected visit from a man interested in hiring him for a project and who thinks he has just the solution to Drake’s writing challenges. He also thinks that Drake’s past and secret life with a shadow government organization is a valuable asset. His proposition to Drake is simple: become a hired agent to investigate a cold murder case involving one of Chicago’s most powerful political families. The job comes with a decent paycheck, all the support he might need, and the types of real life experiences that can form the basis for great fiction stories.

This is a story about a man with a new lease on life, who leads a dual existence. Behind his desk, he is an aspiring author. On the streets, he is a rogue undercover and unknown vigilante. His biggest challenge is keeping intact the fine line between reality and fiction.

Publisher: Chicago Arts Press

Coming June 6!
Read my review and an intriguing interview with the author then!

About the Author

Dan Burns is the author of the novels A Fine Line and Recalled to Life, and No Turning Back: Stories, the short story collection, He is also an award-winning writer of stories for the screen and stage. He resides with his family in Illinois and enjoys spending time in Wisconsin and Montana.

Author Website: www.danburnsauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/danburnsauthor/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DanBurnsAuthor

Susan Day and Powerful Literary Role Models for Girls

How female characters can have a powerful influence on girls

Research certainly points to the fact that girls need strong role models from which they can form their own identity. If a girl is surrounded by women who can offer her positive attitudes, all the better. However, it is important not to underestimate how powerful female fictional characters can be and what kind of influence they can have. Importantly, we should be employing them to help shape our daughters’, and granddaughters’, views of themselves, and their visions of who they want to become.

Alice in Wonderland: A role model

Alice in Wonderland is probably one of the first female characters many girls meet. When the book was written it was unusual for a woman to take the lead role, never mind about a little girl.

But, Lewis Carroll gave us a strong role model who is marked by her incessant curiosity and never failing courage. Alice’s adventures are legendary and they are her reward for her strength of character, not to mention, her inability to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Alice is a sensible girl for the most part, but a bit reckless too. Fancy, accepting the advice on those bottles labelled ‘drink me’! She knows a villain when she sees one in the Queen of Hearts, and is naturally suspicious of the pipe smoking caterpillar, and the grinning cat. Whackos!

Alice’s most redeeming feature is her ability to reflect and curb her more audacious inclinations. As well, when she makes a mistake, she moves on with her head held high, and picks up where she left off. I couldn’t think of a more significant role model to begin my granddaughter’s education.

Women role models from literature

As girls grow they should be introduced to women of literature whose courage and determination make them noteworthy, and stand outs as powerful role models.

There are, of course, many strong female roles but perhaps my favorites are Maggie Tulliver, Mill on the Floss, Jane, Jane Eyre, and Lizzie Bennet, Pride and Prejudice. Although confined by the restrictions set by their respective societies and eras, these amazing women hinted to us that not all women should be powerless and subservient. They bent the roles, pushed the boundaries, and refused to be stereotyped regardless of who was watching or what was at stake, sometimes paying the highest price.

Modern female role models and writers

Of course, modern times calls for modern women to take the lead. Today’s teens have some very impressive women to lead and guide them too.

With Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, and Lisbeth Salander, from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I feel today’s generation are in good hands.

Having been a student of, Women who run with Wolves, I know why girls need strong, confident and resilient role models. For example, while Little Red Riding Hood shared Alice’s curiosity, she lacked Alice’s courage. Perhaps if she had she would have bopped that wicked wolf on the nose and spent a lovely afternoon with her grandmother instead.

I also must mention Caroline Paul’s, Gutsy Girl. I purchased a copy for a friend, a true gutsy girl, who walked the Kokoda Trail on her own. Once I read it, I realized that Paul’s accounts of her adventures; her amazing courage and her recklessness tempered with a whimsical bravado, where enthralling and needed to be celebrated. She soon became a role model I was excited about sharing so I purchased a copy for my granddaughter. At the time of writing this she is just one year old, but when she is older I will present it to her.

Her name is after all, Emma Jane; named after my daughter’s favorite fictional characters – Emma Woodhouse and Jane Eyre. Proof, I believe that I did something right in her education; filling her heart and her mind with powerful female characters from literature so much so she named her daughter after two of them.

About the author - Susan Day

Susan Day is an author of 15 books and a content marketer. Her blog, Astro’s Adventures Book Club, is full of ideas and tips for grandparents who want to build a strong relationship with their grandchildren. In particular, Susan specializes in helping grandparents share their love of books with their grandchildren. Susan is currently writing a book titled, The Top 10 Things Happy Grandparents Never Regret Doing!

Susan lives in Australia with four dogs, three boss cats, three rescue guinea pigs, and an errant kangaroo. And, apart from blogging, writing and reading; she loves drinking coffee, painting and learning to box.

Some of the images come from: Royalty Free Stock Photos. 

The Top 10 Things Happy Grandparents Never Regret Doing!

| www.astrosadventures.net | www.astrosadventuresbookclub.com

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Southside Hustle by Lou Holly

Southside Hustle by Lou Holly

“Every tough guy has a weak spot, and Trick’s is his love for his son.” Lee Graham

About the Book:

When a Mexican gang threatens his son, ex-con Patrick Halloran must turn back to crime.

Ex-con Patrick Halloran is trying to get a job and go straight. He missed out on his child’s early years, now all he wants is to spend more time with him. Getting back with his fiery ex, Ginger, would be a bonus.

In jail, Patrick concentrated on one thing: getting his head in order to do right by his son. He trained, studied and kept out of trouble; now he is hoping he can lead a normal life.

However, under pressure to pay off a debt, and unwilling to turn snitch, Patrick takes a risk, and ends up on the wrong side of a Mexican gang.

Having to raise cash quickly takes Patrick straight back into Chicago’s dangerous underworld where life is cheap, and deeper and deeper into an impossible predicament until he gets an offer he can’t refuse.

If you like tense and gritty crime fiction, look no further than SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE.

Published by The Book Folks crime action thriller publishers, March 27, 2016

E-book $2.99

Print $12.99

Buy on Amazon 

A brief interview with the Author

What do you love about this book?

The thing I like most about Southside Hustle is the realism. Some of the most outlandish things that take place are based on real life situations from the era, the mid-1980s. Southside Hustle was my attempt to write a crime novel that would appeal to women as well as men. Judging from the reviews that I’ve received from women, I succeeded. I like to think of Southside Hustle as a crime novel with a heart. Often, novels are either plot driven or character driven. I try to get a nice balance of the two in my stories.

Introduce us to your most difficult character.

The most difficult character to write was the protagonist, Patrick ‘Trick’ Halloran, because he walks a fine line between good and bad. He’s a thirty-year-old man who has just been released from prison after serving a term for a cocaine conviction. Now that he’s a free man again, all he wants is to reestablish a relationship with his now five-year-old son and work to pay off a financial debt he owes to an impatient, ruthless drug dealer. His attempts to stay out of trouble go terribly bad when an unusual situation draws him back into the dangerous world of crime in the southside area of Chicago.

Share some things you learned during the writing and publishing process for Southside Hustle.

The thing I learned most in writing Southside Hustle was the vast number of rewrites that it takes to polish up and complete a novel. The fun part of a project is the initial writing. The work is in the fine details.

What I’ve learned most about publishing is that you have to be willing to let your publisher make changes to the book that you’ve labored over for many months. Sometimes the changes can be minor, but sometimes they can be as major as writing out a character. There is a lot of negotiation that takes place. But hopefully, you can trust your publisher in their efforts to make your book as good as it can be. They are the experts, after all.

What are you reading now?

I just finished reading a 1957 paperback, Some Slips Don’t Show by A.A. Fair, who as many will know is a nom de plume for Erle Stanley Gardner of Perry Mason fame. I love the intricate plotting and the surprise parallel plot that is revealed later into the story. I’m now reading Suitcase Charlie, published 2015, by award winning writer John Guzlowski. John, like myself, is drawn to noir inspired tale telling.

What's next?

I recently finished writing another crime novel titled Razorback. It's about a bank robber named Vint Mercurio, who hops off a freight train in a small town in Arkansas, 1953. Vint gets into an altercation in a diner and accidentally kills a man in self-defense. While stuck in the town awaiting a hearing, he gets involved with two very different women, a shady English lawyer and two separate nefarious schemes. After he is cleared of the killing, the marshal wants Vint out of town, the brothers of the man he killed want him dead, but the temptation of a big score makes him stay when he should leave.

About the Author

One of six children, Lou Holly grew up on the southside of Chicago. As a young man, Lou worked in a number of factories to pay for community college classes. Otherwise, he has been self-employed most of his adult life. He owned a very successful band-booking agency in the 1980s and started his own limousine business in the 1990s, which attracted an array of celebrity customers. Lou’s writing career began as a reporter for a local newspaper in the late 1980s. His next foray into writing was a self-published book titled How to Succeed in the Limousine Business. With the success of the self-help book, he was invited to contribute articles to limousine publications in exchange for advertising and was awarded a bi-monthly column in Limousine Digest called "Chauffeur’s Corner." In 2009, Lou and his wife, Liz, launched the high-quality publication Keep Rockin’, a 1950s and 60s nostalgia magazine. Keep Rockin’ had subscribers in all 50 states and 11 countries. Lou retired in 2013 to become a full-time novelist. His first novel, Southside Hustle, was published by The Book Folks of London in 2016, and is receiving excellent reviews. Lou lives in Naperville, Illinois with his wife.

Facebook: Lou Holly Author

Twitter: @louholly_sr

Web: www.louholly.com

How It All Began by Robin E Mason

BLOGWORDS 

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Guest post by Robin E. Mason

 In the beginning God created…  Okay, not that beginning. Then again, in that beginning God created, and isn’t that what we are? As writers? Creators? (not to dis any other form of art, of course)

And when God created… ME, He instilled creativity in me. In mega doses, it seems. Fast forward a bit, and skipping over the why’s, for years I [attempted to] shoved that creativity into a nice little box—or cage. It didn’t stay.

And when I dove headlong into writing my debut novel, Tessa, in the fall of 2013, I realized I was swimming in the pond I should have been in all along. The water was perfect, there were—are—others like me here but not too crowded; we each have our own little eddy of space. And when those eddies coincide it’s a beautiful thing.

I tried for years to be something I’m not—a conformist. I tried to fit somebody else’s ideal for me. It didn’t fit. It didn’t work. And I was miserable. Then again, that very experience (years of that miserable experience) has given me the very thing I write about—identity. In discovering who I am and more importantly, who I am in Him, I discovered my purpose. And that is to write.

Interesting thing though. The more I discovered my identity as a writer, the more I discovered who I am in Him—which feeds my identity as a writer, which feeds who I am… Holy Spirit showed me something years ago about Psalm 37 verse 4.

Because they are tied together. The desires that are in our heart are there because Father put them there.

He made us that way. Whether it’s writing or singing or engineering or teaching—the thing we yearn for, that stirs within us is His to begin with. Therefore, when we pursue that very thing, we also are pursuing the One who put it there. Or perhaps, more accurately, we are fulfilling the purpose of the One who put it there.

I read a statement on another blog today, and I paraphrase here, “If my dream is not His dream, and if my dream does not bring honor and glory to Father, then I don’t want it.”

I’ve deviated from my journey as a writer. But maybe not. When I dove into that pond back in 2013, I truly had | no | clue. I wrote. And that was it. A friend hooked me up with Kindle (otherwise I was going to pay for vanity publishing! AACK!!) and even uploaded my doc for me. I started blogging, “I’ve been thrown into the deep end. Of a deep ocean. In a tidal wave.” That was my first blog. I floundered for several months, and published my book baby in print. After a few queries about a sequel (which I hadn’t considered before) I looked, and what to my wondering eyes did I see? Two distinct places, right there in Tessa, that point straight to Clara Bess. And even Cissy, the third and final book.

I’m still winging it, but I’ve learned more of the “air currents” of this crazy industry. With each book a read or blog I share, there’s something new to learn, something to apply in my writing or or networking or the dreaded marketing. With each word I write, I’m more selective, I’m writing sharper and tighter—and better. I’ve even ventured to write a couple of lovey-dovey scenes, something I’d not done before… reading plenty of them. (courtesy of Pepper Basham, and others)

Yeah, I’m in a new pond. And it’s my pond. And I’m swimming bolder and stronger and more confident every day. And I’m here to stay.

PS (and this is for Lisa) apparently I work better with a deadline…  ;-)

http://robinemason.com

http://robinsnest212.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robin-E-Mason-Author-Artist/224223274404877
http://www.amazon.com/Robin-E.-Mason/e/B00MR5IQ9S
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https://plus.google.com/u/0/108929134414473292325

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7808042.Robin_E_Mason

New Historical Fiction from Janalyn Voigt

Hills of Nevermore, Montana Gold Book 1

Janalyn Voigt

Mountain Brook Ink Publishers

May 1, 2017

Inspirational historical romance

Electronic: $.99

Buy on Amazon

About the Book

Can a young widow hide her secret shame from the Irish preacher bent on helping her survive?

In an Idaho Territory boom town, America Liberty Reed overhears circuit preacher Shane Hayes try to persuade a hotel owner to close his saloon on Sunday. Shane lands face-down in the mud for his trouble, and there’s talk of shooting him. America intervenes and finds herself in an unexpectedly personal conversation with the blue-eyed preacher. Certain she has angered God in the past, she shies away from Shane.

Addie Martin, another widow, invites America to help in her cook tent in Virginia City, the new mining town. Even with Addie’s teenage son helping with America’s baby, life is hard. Shane urges America to depart for a more civilized location. Neither Shane’s persuasions nor road agents, murder, sickness, or vigilante violence can sway America. Loyalty and ambition hold her fast until dire circumstances force her to confront everything she believes about herself, Shane, and God.

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, Hills of Nevermore explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.

My Review

Two lost souls risen from the ashes of loss of opposing hardships find freedom, redemption, and a new start on the American frontier.

A privileged young woman with a big lie on her heart feels she’d been dealt God’s justice when her new husband dies and she’s left to fend for herself and her newborn. A circuit preacher faces his sense of inadequacy when he sees little reward for his labors in the wild west just opening up to fortune-hunters and the fast life that goes with it.

America Reed and her infant daughter Liberty hitch up with a wagon train heading for Idaho, and befriends another woman and her teenage son who have suffered the terrible drowning loss of Addie’s husband on the route. The wagon train breaks up when they reach a settlement near which a gold strike entices many to stake their claim. America is disheartened by the roughness and wild antics of the west. Unwilling to return to her wealthy disinterested and dysfunctional home in St. Louis, she does the best she can, partnering with Addie who plans to open her own restaurant. When strange feelings over a circuit riding minister tickle America’s conscience, she knows she must spurn his interest in her lest he, too, serves as punishment for her sinful past.

Shane Hayes, an Irish immigrant so desperate to meld with America that he’s changed his name, faithfully follows God’s call to keep religion alive in a land determined to profane it. Hoping to make great advances for the Lord, he practices what he preaches by turning the other cheek and eye and jaw so often he loses the respect of those he wants to reach. To top it off, he’s become distracted by a widow who obviously needs Christian charity in light of her situation…and succeeds in securing more than his Christian love. Trying twice to convince his superiors he’s not fit for his call, one last piece of advice and encouragement from his friend helps Shane find his way.

Vogt’s research and use of recorded events bring this story of redemption and romance alive. The side stories all effectively channel the tale to a satisfying conclusion. Told in multiple viewpoints, those who enjoy reliving the wild west will enjoy this vicarious visit to the birth of Virginia City.

About the Author

My father instilled a love of literature in me at an early age by reading chapters from The Wizard of Oz, Robinson Crusoe and other classics. When I grew older, and he stopped reading bedtime stories, I put myself to sleep with tales I "wrote" in my head. My sixth-grade teacher noticed my penchant for writing and encouraged me to become a novelist.

 

I'm considered a multi-genre author, but I like to think of myself as a storyteller. The same elements appear in all my novels in proportions dictated by their genre: romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy.