The Story Behind The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry

I couldn’t tell you exactly why, but I’ve been intrigued by stories of religious persecution since I was a teenager. I won’t argue with you if you come back and tell me that it’s morbid, but I’m encouraged by accounts of people who remain faithful in the face of intense opposition.

I think for a while in my teen and young adult years, I had some kind of martyr complex. I imagined moving to another country and helping victims of religious violence find hope and courage. I pictured myself risking health, comfort, imprisonment, maybe even my own life, to help bring comfort and hope to others.

Then I became a mother. As soon as I felt that little child swimming around in my womb, I began to have second thoughts about my grand life “goals.” Maternal instinct battled compassionate zeal. Sure I wanted to help save the world. But only if I could keep my child safe!

For a while I felt guilty about my shift in mindset. And a little scared too. For years, I had assumed that I could withstand just about whatever opposition came my way. I’d be like those heroes in the persecution stories I liked to read. Nothing would make me waver in my faith.

Unless my child was threatened…

What would I do if someone held my child hostage? Wouldn’t I do whatever I could to protect them, no matter what “sacrifices” of faith that entailed? I read stories of parents who had to choose between their religion and their children’s safety. I had nightmares. What could a mother do faced with that kind of a dilemma?

The nightmares kept coming, until one day I decided my subconscious was telling me something. I needed to explore these issues more. I needed to figure out what happens in a parent’s soul when their child is put in danger by their own religious beliefs. I was familiar with instances of religious persecution in North Korea already, probably because the stories there are especially brutal, and so I decided to write a novel set in North Korea that explores the relationship between parental protection and religious fidelity and describes what happens when those two forces can no longer co-exist.

The Beloved Daughter was published in April, 2013. It was a winner in the Women of Faith writing competition and topped the amazon charts in Christian suspense in a matter of weeks. If you’d like to see how purchasing a copy of The Beloved Daughter helps support victims of religious persecution, visit alanaterry.com/the-beloved-daughter, or get the ebook on amazon.

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Alana Terry is a homeschooling mother of three. “The Beloved Daughter” is her debut Christian novel and won second place in the Women of Faith writing contest. Alana is also the author of “A Boy Named Silas,” the story of her son’s complicated medical history and “What, No Sushi?” a children’s chapter book about the Japanese-American internment.

Visit her website at www.alanaterry.com or connect with her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aboynamedsilas.

 

The Story Behind Narcotic Nation by Scarlett Savage

In college, I hung out with a group of young people who were also aspiring artists; we’d hang out late
into the evening, a bunch of little pseudophilosophers who were going to save the whole wide world
with art. One evening, one of my friends brought over a paper they’d been assigned to read in his
economics class; it was all about how if we legalized all narcotics, the country would go to hell for
twenty years, and then be the better for it. I thought, ‘how interesting would it be to write about those
twenty years…’ and began working on it that very night.

I am all for the legalization of narcotics. Prohibition of any kind, history has proven, simply doesn’t work.
A hundred years ago, they would prescribe heroin kits to new moms with post partem depression; dock
bosses would give workers their allotment of cocaine to make sure they were pumped and ready to work.
Now, we spend trillions–TRILLIONS–of dollars fighting drug use, distrubution, and production. Can’t we
find a happy medium between prescribing heroin use to new moms, and spending trillions of government
money that could be used feeding our hungry and paying for insurance and medical care for our sickly?

Additionally, the ONE drug that is hands down the most dangerous, alcohol, is as legal as breathing. I’ve
seen alcohol turn sweet, loving people into brutal, vicious monsters. My own mother, one of the most
intelligent people ever put on God’s earth, once she discovered alcohol, dove into a bottle of MD 20/20
and never looked back. The loving, wonderful woman she was when sober was eaten alive by the
demon she became when she drank. And when she sobered the next morning, she wouldn’t remember
a thing. Alcohol destroyed her.

You never, ever read that someone picked up an axe and killed their family after smoking a joint; you hear
they drank a fifth of tequila and did it.

There are people locked up in prison, being subjected to unimaginable tortures, because they bought and/or
used narcotics. We’re supporting them as they learn how to be better criminals (if they survive this torture,
that is). We could put the farmers back to work. We could create millions of jobs–both in creation and distribution–
and all the money we spend fighting drugs, we could spend educating people in public schools on the dangers
of usage. We could spend the money we make in taxing them helping this country rise from the ashes of
what it once was to become great again.

Drug use isn’t going anywhere. Once we realize that, we can make decisions that will best serve the country;
take the money out of the hands of the drug lords and stop turning addicts into criminals.

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Scarlett Savage was born and raised in Maine. She began her writing career at age 5 after reading LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS. When she finished the book, she announced to her family that she would become an author. She began to write stories but soon turned her attention to the theater, which led her to explore playwriting. By the time she was in high school, she was writing for professional stage companies in Maine. She received a full scholarship to the University of Maine at Orono, where she won her first major writing awards. Her play, DEAR DADDY, LOVE CASSIE, won several awards and raised money for both national and regional sexual assault support centers. Scarlett moved to Los Angeles in 2009 and made her L.A. theater debut with her latest play, SHE F*&KING HATES ME: A LOVE STORY. She lives in Santa Monica with the love of her life, Mike Biggie, who designed the cover of NARCOTIC NATION.

Visit her website at www.ScarlettSavage.com.

The Story Behind Revived by Grace by Emma Clay

The idea for my first book really hit me out of the blue, and I’m convinced it came from the Lord as a gift. He told me to write, so I sat down and wrote and wrote. Sometimes I would get through twenty pages and feel like someone else was writing for me. It was after my third book (which is actually the first one I wrote) that I realized something. Unless I wrote all of the painful parts in the first two books, no one would understand just how amazing the Lord has been.

They would not fully understand where I had been, who I had been, and the amazing transformation that happened in my life. No one but God could have brought me through it. After that, it would have been irresponsible for me to keep to myself all that I had learned and seen and witnessed.

The inspiration for this book came from forgiveness. I was holding a grudge over wrongs done to me and was getting older every day from feeding the monster. It was awful, and the internal battle was unlike any I had ever experienced—mostly because I could not see the resentment I was holding onto.

The more I fought to have control over my circumstances and the more I cried because of the hurt done to me, the more I simply could not let go. I thought I had been so good and had finally gotten things right, and I didn’t think I deserved to be treated the way I was.

Around the time I first started writing, I was doing a lot of reflection on all of this. After reading the book of Job, I realized what a hypocrite I had been. I was like a Pharisee. With this realization, I was finally able to let go of the resentment. It was like something physically left me. It was then I was really able to write the book—not just journal my feelings but shape my experiences into something that others could understand too.

Writing my first book was really healing in a lot of ways, as I was able to articulate everything I had gone through and share it with others, so they can perhaps learn from it too.

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Emma Clay is a writer who shares her own experiences about her encounters with self and her bad decisions. She shares how she transformed a life that seemed hopeless and seeks to give answers to your own questions.  She is dedicated to sharing her true stories with others, in the hopes they will avoid the same pot holes, pitfalls, and detours in their own lives.

She loves people, and her need to share this love will hopefully encourage others to find their own way.

Her latest book is the Christian inspirational memoir, Revived by Grace.

Visit her website at www.EmmaClay.com.

 

The Story Behind the Book by Tami Goldstein, author of Coming Through the Fog

 

 

ABOUT COMING THROUGH THE FOG

 

A mother tells the journey of her daughter’s recovery from Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder to Functioning Recovery and independent living, giving tips to parents on how to navigate the medical and educational domain. This story is an example of the unique obstacles facing a parent raising a child with Autism. The challenges they face getting supports. What is Sensory Processing Disorder, CranioSacral Therapy and Bio-Medical Therapy, and what roles they play on the road to Functioning Recovery and independent living? See actual projective trials pertaining to sensory supports. Is educational discrimination the reason there is difficulty getting help in school? As this story unfolds it provides useful tips to other parents to help them on their journey with their child. This story is notable because this mother’s daughter was successful overcoming numerous obstacles while providing useful tools, inspiration and hope to others.

Purchase:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

The Story Behind The Story                  

 

I have no training as a writer and the story Coming Through the Fog was an emotional, all consuming, financially training account that played out over a 13 year process from diagnosis to Functioning Recovery and independent living. I have 3 storage containers with information, medical, psychological, educational and the training that I took to understand the disability and how my daughter presented. Heather’s Occupational Therapist, Sue Kratz, continued for years to encourage me to write Heather’s story and I had many failed attempts.

In the spring of 2012 a good friend of mine, Cheryl “Smitty” Smith a 30 year retired school teacher familiar with Heather’s story  and my inability to get it on paper, gave me a cassette tape recorder with a bunch of tapes and said, “Tell me Heather’s story. Nine months later, Coming Through the Fog was published.

Though it is Heather’s story, we walked this journey together. She understands how difficult the journey was and feels as strongly as I do about the need to reach out and help other families.

Reading Coming Through the Fog will make it easier for others to navigate the world of autism spectrum disorders and provide tools inspiration and hope for their journey. 

 

ABOUT TAMI GOLDSTEIN

This journey begins with a mother’s love for her daughter. After learning her daughter was on the Autism Spectrum Tami began to tirelessly educate herself in the sciences of: Behavioral Health, Child Psychology, Human Anatomy, Occupational Health, Pharmacology and Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and has been a parent advocate for her daughter since 1997.

In 2002, as her knowledge and passion grew, Tami began reaching out to other families in need of help. In 2005, Tami founded the Rock County Autism Support Group and she is the community resource liaison for the SPD (Sensory Processing Disorders) Parent Connections Support Group of Rock County and the surrounding areas. Since 2005, Tami has been State and National Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and in 2013 she certified in CranioSacral Therapy with the Upledger Institute in Florida.

Tami currently has two offices where she facilitates CranioSacral Therapy. Approximately 38% of her clientele are children, teenagers and young adults on the Autism Spectrum or with other neuro-developmental delays. When asked to lecture, Tami uses her personal experience, extensive knowledge, and dedication to help others learn about and understand the medical and educational aspects of Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders and SPD.

You can view his website at http://www.comingthroughthefog.com.

His latest book is the autism awareness book, Coming Through the Fog.

Connect with Tami:

FACEBOOK

 

The Story Behind When the Morning Glory Blooms by Cynthia Ruchti

Barbara Scott was the fiction acquisitions editor at Abingdon Press in 2008 and acquired my debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home, which was honored with several recognitions including RT Reviewers’ Choice Book of the Year nomination, Retailers’ Choice nomination, and a Carol Award finalist.

Soon after the release of They Almost Always Come Home in 2010, Barbara asked what other novels were percolating. I presented seven ideas to her—basically a one-sheet with a short blurb about each of the projects. She’s a uniquely perceptive person and waited, in essence, to be moved by one of the seven ideas and its storyline.

She pointed to When the Morning Glory Blooms and said, “This one. This is the one.”

I admit my reaction at the time was, “Really? That one? What about—?” But she was convinced When the Morning Glory Blooms was the one Abingdon should acquire next. And they did.

Even though I’d received some heartening encouragement about the story in its early stages, it wasn’t fully fleshed out when the novel was contracted. So when it came time to write the story, I still wondered, “Really? This one?”

It was during the writing process that I discovered what my editor at the time had known all along, conflict waiting to express itself, layers I didn’t see initially, impact I couldn’t have imagined…both in my own heart and for my readers. It morphed from the story of one woman’s life to the stories of three in three separate eras—no small feat! But what emerged from the seed of an idea became what I hope others will see as a lush garden of a reading experience with the fragrance of hope on every page.

Editor Ramona Richards “adopted” the project when Barbara Scott moved from Abingdon to other pursuits. Ramona and I raised this child, and with the help of freelance editor Jamie Chavez, we readied it for its introduction to the world.

I look at the completed project that is now getting into the hands of the readers for whom it was created and can’t help but be grateful for savvy and sensitive editors who point to an idea and say, “This is the one.”

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Cynthia Ruchti is an author and speaker who tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through her novels, nonfiction, women’s events, and outlets related to the Heartbeat of the Home radio broadcast she wrote and produced for thirty-three years. She and her plot-tweaking husband live in the heart of Wisconsin, not far from their three children and five joy-giving grandchildren.

Her latest book is the Christian fiction, When the Morning Glory Blooms.

You can learn more about Cynthia and her writing and speaking at www.cynthiaruchti.com.

The Story Behind Blood Moon, by Alexandra Sokoloff

Aspiring authors are always asking me if it’s worth it to go to book conferences. My answer is always a resounding YES. And I don’t just mean for the networking and promotional opportunities. Conferences also are goldmines of inspiration.  Case in point:

I got the idea for my Huntress/FBI thriller series at the San Francisco Bouchercon, always the most inspiring of the mystery conferences for me.

I’d been wanting to do a book about a female serial killer for years. I’ve read everything the FBI has ever put out on serial murder/sexual homicide, and I am obsessed with the idea that there really aren’t female serial killers. Women kill, and sometimes they kill numbers of people, but arguably there has never been a woman who has committed what profilers call sexual homicide.  That’s the issue I wanted to dig into.

So one afternoon at the conference there were two back-to-back discussions with several of my favorite authors: Val McDermid interviewing Denise Mina, then Robert Crais interviewing Lee Child. (Can you even imagine…?)

There was a lot of priceless stuff in those two hours, but two things that really struck me from the McDermid/Mina chat were Val saying that crime fiction is the best way to explore societal issues, and Denise saying that she finds powerful inspiration in writing about what makes her angry.

Write about what makes you angry? It doesn’t take me a millisecond’s thought to make my list. Child sexual abuse is the top, no contest. Violence against women and children. Discrimination of any kind. Religious intolerance. War crimes. Genocide. Torture.

That anger has fueled a lot of my books and scripts over the years.

And then right after that, there was Lee Child talking about Reacher, one of my favorite fictional characters, and it got me thinking about what it would look like if a woman were doing what Reacher was doing. And that was it—instantly I had the whole story of Huntress Moon and for the series: a woman who was killing like a serial killer, but who was not exactly a serial killer, and the FBI agent hunting her who becomes more and more conflicted about catching her once he uncovers her background and motives.

It was one of those blinding flashes that pulls everything that you want to write about into one package. As a screenwriter for eleven years, and a novelist for five more, I know those flashes are gifts from the creative universe.  Huntress Moon is my most successful novel to date (just nominated for a Thriller Award for Best E Book Original Novel), Book II in the series, Blood Moon, is out now, and I’m currently writing the third book in the series with no end in sight.

So conferences?  Yeah, I’m in favor of them!  You never know what lighting might strike.

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Purchase BLOOD MOON

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandra Sokoloff is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill award-nominated author of the supernatural thrillers THE HARROWING, THE PRICE, THE UNSEEN, BOOK OF SHADOWS, THE SHIFTERS, and THE SPACE BETWEEN, and the Top Ten Amazon bestselling Huntress/FBI thriller series (HUNTRESS MOON, BLOOD MOON), which has also been nominated for a Thriller Award for Best E Book Original Novel. The New York Times Book Review has called her a “daughter of Mary Shelley,” and her books “Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.”

As a screenwriter she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written two non-fiction writing workbooks: SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS and WRITING LOVE, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog, and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA, west and the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.

Find the author on the Web: 

Website: http://alexandrasokoloff.com

Blog: http://www.screenwritingtricks.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/alexandra.sokoloff

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AlexSokoloff

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/axsokoloff/

 

 

 

The Story Behind Incidental Daughter by Val Stasik

Growing up, I learned there were a few of us who might be termed WWII collateral damage—the offspring of women and innocent young men who went off to war. None of these women expected to become mothers; the stresses and uncertainties of war spurred them to compassion for the men who feared they would not return. Some men did not return, but others did. A few mothers, because of a feeling of betrayal or for whatever reason, chose to turn their backs on the men who in one night had drastically changed their lives.

Some of the children of these single mothers grew up to live normal lives while others faced challenges that either crippled them or honed them into very successful people. The years following WWII harbored secrecy; many of these children were told their fathers died in the war. When they grew old enough to see through the lie, they could still elicit very little information about their fathers. Such were the times.

I chose to tell the story of one child, Liz Michaels, who overcame her trials with the help of compassionate friends. I decided to explore what might happen if at the peak of her career, she loses a child and her marriage fails. Then I decided to throw in a few curves from the past that could ironically lead to the love and family that has always been out of reach. I’ve been asked if this story is autobiographical. No, it’s pure fiction, but many born into the same circumstances as Liz will see themselves in it and, perhaps, be inspired.

So, how did my book get published? I chose to publish under my own imprint rather than wait two or three years for a traditional publisher to release the book. Going this route gave me more creative control. In fact, I designed my own cover as well as the interior set up. And I determined when and how it would be distributed and promoted.

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Val Stasik shares a home in eternally sunny Santa Fe, NM, with her aging mixed terrier, Sugar, who allows her to sleep in his queen-size bed as well as sharpen her culinary skills for his benefit. Stasik spent many years as a writing teacher, helping other writers find their voice and tell their stories, and is a consultant for the Northern Virginia Writing Project. INCIDENTAL DAUGHTER is Stasik’s debut novel.

Stasik studied drama and English at the University of Pittsburgh and then transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating with high honors and a B.S. in Secondary Education, Communication. The year she attended graduate school was filled with student protests, bomb threats, and military helicopters.

Stasik became an editorial assistant for THE PHARMACOLOGIST in Bethesda. She then moved to Harpers Ferry where she taught for five years and participated in the Old Opera House Theatre onstage and behind the scenes.

In Harrisburg, PA, she became a groom and mutuels clerk at Penn National Race Track and, later, a commercial lines underwriter for Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company. Right before her son was born, Three Mile Island happened. So far, neither glows in the dark.

In Virginia, Stasik enjoyed the enriching experience of teaching writing and literature in the Loudoun County Public School system, instructed other teachers in assessing student writings, and helped develop various English curricula. She also participated in the Fauquier Community Theatre on and off stage. From 2002-2004, she developed a part-time hypnosis practice. She then retired to Santa Fe where she has been writing—a few film scripts that have been produced (Café Destiny, on the Web,  Spring 2013, http://www.cafe-destiny.com) and a couple of award-winning play scripts.

Stasik is currently a member of the New Mexico Book Association, the New Mexico Book Co-Op; Southwest Writers; the Independent Book Publishers Association; the Small Publishers’ Association of North America; the Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network; and Pennwriters.

Visit her website at www.ValerieStasik.com.

Connect & Socialize with Val!

TWITTER | FACEBOOK

The Story Behind Before He Kills Again, by R. Barri Flowers

BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN is a thriller novel centering on an FBI criminal psychologist and profiler matching wits with a ruthless serial killer.

As a real life criminologist with an expertise on the most infamous serial killers that the world has known and feared over the centuries, I was able to use this knowledge to create a fictional serial killer for this crime thriller.

Unlike most thriller writers who write about serial killers with little more than imagination and television serial killers, such as on Criminal Minds, Dexter, and Hannibal, to work with, I bring a high degree of verisimilitude to my serial killer.

As such, readers get some insight into many of the character traits often found in real serial killers, making the novel that much more realistic in its scariness and impact. For example, the majority of serial killers have a sexual motivation to their killings, whether they sexually assault their victims or not. This theme is portrayed cleverly in BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN.

Real serial killers are also pretty cunning and not so easily apprehended, which is why they are able to kill more than one person and keep it going for a while.

In my novel, this very quality frustrates and motivates the law enforcement trying to catch the killer.

My protagonist, FBI Special Agent Veronica Vasquez is pretty much a female version of myself in that she relies on her knowledge of the deviant mind of a serial killer to assist the police in profiling and tracking down the killer, who seems two steps ahead at every turn. But she is dedicated to the task, determined to bring him down at all costs.

The story takes place in Portland, Oregon. It is nicknamed, “The Rose City.” As a former resident of Portland, I use this in dubbing the serial killer, “The Rose Killer,” which has a double meaning as he leaves a rose on the bodies of his victims.

Readers who live in or have visited Portland will recognize some of the landmark s or other things related to Portland that I sprinkle throughout the novel.

BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN was a fascinating story to write and I suspect that readers will be just as riveted from beginning to end.

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Purchase:

Amazon Trade Paperback / Kindle /Kindle UK / Kindle CA / Barnes and Noble Nook eBook / Smashwords / Kobo

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R. Barri Flowers is an award winning criminologist and internationally bestselling author of more than sixty books–including thriller and suspense fiction, relationship fiction, young adult mysteries, true crime, and criminology titles.

Bestselling mystery and thriller fiction, including SEDUCED TO KILL IN KAUAI, MURDER IN MAUI, MURDER IN HONOLULU, KILLER IN THE WOODS, DARK STREETS OF WHITECHAPEL, STATE’S EVIDENCE, PERSUASIVE EVIDENCE, and JUSTICE SERVED.

Other novels by the author include the bestselling relationship novel, FOREVER SWEETHEARTS, and young adult novels, COUNT DRACULA’S TEENAGE DAUGHTER, GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY, and DANGER IN TIME.

Flowers has also written a number of bestselling true crime books, including THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS, THE PICKAXE KILLERS, SERIAL KILLER COUPLES and MASS MURDER IN THE SKY. He was editor as well of the bestselling anthology, MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME.

The author has been interviewed on the Biography Channel and Investigation Discovery.

Official Website: http://www.rbarriflowers.com/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Barri_Flowers

Video Introduction to Author: http://youtu.be/kKvkXirbpgM

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/R.-Barri-Flowers/e/B000APKBLI

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RBarriFlowers

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rbarri.flowers?ref=ts

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/rbarriflowers/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=52919163&trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/#102817962533514256321/posts

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/crimewriter_rbarriflowers

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/authorrbarriflowers

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=r.+barri+flowers

LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/author/flowersrbarri

 Blogs:

Mystery Fiction Blog: http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=node/334

Thriller Fiction Blog: http://hawaiimysteriesauthorrbarriflowers.blogspot.com/

True Crime Blog: http://rbarriflowers.blogspot.com/

Young Adult Fiction Blog: http://bestsellingteenfiction.blogspot.com

Audio Books Blog: http://authorrbarriflowers.wordpress.com/

The Story Behind Grim by Joseph Spencer

I began Grim because I missed writing terribly. For the first decade of my professional career, I’d written at regional daily newspapers with the pressure to produce entertaining and informative stories on a tight deadline. The pursuit of my writing goals led me to papers across the country in Illinois, Iowa, Virginia and Colorado, but the gloomy outlook for print newsrooms created by the explosion of digital media and a desire to see my family more often led me to switch careers.  Four years ago, I completely rebooted myself at the age of 30 as a 9-1-1 emergency dispatcher.  The abrupt change created a void that I didn’t expect.

Grim started as an idea after I’d watched The Dark Knight for the hundredth time. Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker captivated me in its vision for the character as an agent of chaos. I know it’s a movie telling Batman’s tale, but I longed to know more about the Joker. I wanted to create my own version of an agent of chaos, and tell that character’s story in more depth. I also wanted to explore a non-traditional storyline in which there aren’t clear cut good guys and bad guys, one where many of the characters and their motivations are morally gray. As a nod to Heath Ledger’s work in the film, I named my title character Heath.

Other characters from my favorite works of literature also influenced Grim. I love Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter series, and I strived to use a similar sort of dark humor with a serial killer, a character typically viewed as a social pariah, as a sympathetic figure, albeit as an anti-hero. I’ve been captivated with anti-heroes since reading Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, and that theme of vengeance looms large in Grim. I’ve also developed an affinity for the grit of hard-boiled fiction writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Sara Paretsky, and often explored in graphic novels by Frank Miller and Alan Moore. In Prairieville, I tried to create a city every bit as gritty and dirty as Miller’s work which inspired the film Sin City.

Unlike most other novels in the crime vein, I chose to include several paranormal and mythological themes within the framework of the story. Heath Grim’s possessed by Abaddon, a spiritual entity whose character and motives are as murky as most of the rest of the cast. When gaining vengeance for a victim of a violent crime, Heath uses one of my favorite myths from Egyptian mythology concerning the weighing of a soul to determine its destination in the afterlife.

During my writing process, Grim became much more of a lifelong milestone rather than a manuscript I expected to have professional potential. I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish a novel, not just tell myself that I could do it someday without putting my feet to the fire. I took a year after I finished to have it edited by Stephen King’s first editor, Michael Garrett, and to query agents and publishing houses. I received a few offers from independent horror trade presses, and selected Damnation Books because of their eagerness to work with me. I plan for Grim to be the first book in my Sons of Darkness series. My next book, Wrage, will continue the series when Damnation Books releases it on June 1, 2013.

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As a boy, Joseph Spencer immersed himself in the deductive logic of Sherlock Holmes, the heroic crime fighting of Batman and Spider-Man, and a taste for the tragic with dramas from poets like Shakespeare and Homer.

Before Joseph took to spinning his own tales, he pursued a career in print sports journalism, graduating summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He covered such events as NASCAR’s Subway 500 race in Martinsville, the NBA Draft Camp in Chicago, the Junior College World Series, and Minor League Baseball’s Midwest League All-Star Game during a ten-year career throughout the Midwest. Now, he works as an emergency telecommunications specialist with an Illinois police department. The combination of years of writing experience with a background working with law enforcement professionals gave rise to his writing aspirations.

Joseph was married Dr. Amy (Waggoner) Spencer, an accomplished veterinary doctor, on March 14, 2012. He received word his debut novel was accepted by his publisher, Damnation Books, the next day. Joseph and Amy look forward to their honeymoon in Paris in September 2012. Murphy, a 15-year-old orange tabby, is perhaps the most vocal member of the family. The Spencer family enjoys reading Charlaine Harris, George R.R. Martin, Mary Janice Davidson, and most paranormal stories. The Spencers also enjoy quoting movie lines from “The Princess Bride”, “Rain Man”, “Bridesmaids”, and “Office Space”.

His latest book is the paranormal crime thriller, Grim.

Visit his website at www.JosephSpencer.com.

The Story Behind Rowena and the Dark Lord, Melodie Campbell

Come with me to a corner of England more known for sheep than people…

Sometimes you fall in love with a place.  Never mind that it has not been in existence for several hundred years, or at least not in the family anymore.

But it was once. Tony Clegg-Hill (original name Huel) was the previous Viscount Clegg-Hill, and my late cousin.  I adored him.

Tony would regale me with anecdotes about the family home and villains: the original Viscount Huel, who was basically a henchman for William the Conqueror.  More recent rogues like Sir Rowland Hill gambled away anything that could be taken as a stake.  It’s a damning history, yet a vibrant one.  But not all the family were black sheep; one Lord Hill distinguished himself as the second in command to the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo.  When Wellington was made Prime Minister in 1824, Hill succeeding him as commander in chief of the army.  The coat of arms (which illustrates the family tree with all the crests of family intermarriage) is twelve feet long.

So when it came to writing Rowena and the Dark Lord, I had to feature my favorite place.  The original Norman castle, with its rounded turrets, crenellations and merlons has been in my imagination for decades.  Rowena walks through the wall to her ancestor’s land, and she falls in love with it too.

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Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Digest compared her to Janet Evanovich.

Melodie got her start writing comedy (stand-up and columns.)  In1999, she opened the Canadian Humour Conference.  She has over 200 publications including 100 comedy credits, 40 short stories and 4 novels. Her fifth novel, a mob caper entitled The Goddaughter’s Revenge (Orca Books) will be released Oct. 1. She has won 6 awards for fiction, and was a finalist for both the 2012 Derringer and Arthur Ellis Awards.

Melodie is the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada. Her humour column ‘Bad Girl’ appears in The Sage.

Find Melodie on the web:

www.melodiecampbell.com

www.funnygirlmelodie.blogspot.com

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Twitter: @MelodieCampbell