There are several stories behind Dark of the Heart, beginning with families in the news to a few I knew as a child. I saw first-hand the results of alcoholism and how it destroyed lives from one generation to the next. What was true then is true today. Parents who drink are often violent toward…
I have always been fascinated with politics and its power to influence our lives so in 2004 I volunteered as a canvasser for that year’s Presidential campaign. I flew to Cleveland and set myself up in a motel and pitched in to help get out the vote in the poor urban neighborhoods. I recall election…
I have been teaching teens and young adults for over twenty five years, and I have discovered how vulnerable adolescent girls feel when they are in their early teens. I have also spoken to a few teens in my church and in other communities too, and they all expressed a very raw vulnerability, one that…
Inspiration. It incites us to take risks. To follow our dreams. To try unreachable things. What did you do the last time you were inspired? Think about it. I’ll wait. See? Inspiration drives us to embrace our crazy. And no one is crazier than I am. I decided to undertake a 444-mile endurance walk on…
After I finished writing my first book, The Black Elf of Seaward Isle, I had some friends read it and asked for their comments, specifically asking for any errors. I received rave reviews so I self-published it. Then I realized it was a mistake. My first review noted a lot of punctuation errors as well…
It’s been said that every author has a story they need to tell. After years of submissions I had finally been signed by a traditional publisher. They’d released two of my novels when I submitted Solo. Since they primarily published commercial fiction I had my doubts since it was intense, edgy— even a bit on…
In a conversation with my dad and aunts, I discovered that my grandmother was completely different than I’d ever imagined. I’d always known she was a strong Christian, and that she had struggled through extreme poverty in the Depression. I knew that she had passed down a legacy of strong-willed independence in her five daughters,…
A number of years ago my husband, Richard Beck, and I were sitting in a restaurant in Germany with my son, Patrick Madland, a pilot living in Anchorage Alaska. “Mom,” Pat said, “you never talk about World War II. Don’t you have anything to say about it?” I started talking and when I finished, said,…
My writing method normally involves a high-octane, action set piece and I build the story around it. For Legion’s Lawyers, I had the idea for a lawyer at his desk during a normal work day, who receives a phone call that assassins are on their way to kill not only him, but the entire law…
I never thought in a million years that I would become a writer. I used to struggle writing essays at school and couldn’t comprehend how anyone could write a book! But four years ago, after giving up teaching to look after three small children, I was trawling Amazon for a good read and struggled to…
The Story Behind the Book 