#WriterWednesday with Machiel Hoek

I’d like to welcome Machiel Hoek to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you never want to run out of:

Love, gratefulness, positivity, empathy, kindness, humor, clean air, clean water and good food

Things you wish you’d never bought:

A brand new big sailing yacht, rewarding myself for the hard work and based upon the anticipated financial income that would come my way, which it didn’t, due to a profound choice I made (to follow my heart and write my book). I liked the yacht a lot, but had to sell it after 2 years for almost half the price I paid…

A few of your favorite things:

I just love to celebrate life every day through my five senses. And, especially through eating, drinking and listening. So I really love my Italian espresso machine and my audio gear, not for what they are, but for what they bring me: utmost pleasure!

Things you need to throw out:

All papers and things spread-out on the desk, floor and everywhere around my study, which thus is the exact opposite of a Zen-room…

Things you need for your writing sessions:

Time, rest and an open, empty mind. Not-thinking, not-wanting, not-trying.

Things that hamper your writing:

To-do-lists, obligations, thoughts, frustrations….

Favorite music or song:

The 2nd piano concerto of Rachmaninov

Music that drives you crazy:

Dutch schlagers.

Favorite smell:

The smell of freshly-mown grass on a Spring morning… what could beat that?

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Cheap, synthetic perfumes that never seem to fade…

People you’d like to invite to dinner:

Cleopatra. Ronald Reagan. A “witch” from medieval times. My deceased father. My wife. Miika, my little boy at how he is in 20 years from now (I’m so curious!). And, finally, Lisa, the daughter that I will never know in my life.

People you’d cancel dinner on:

Any dictator, any big ego, any energy-drain.

Best thing you’ve ever done:

Listening to my inner voice and heart by changing my life 180 degrees, which brought me a new life, the rebirth of my true self, a sparkling relationship, and fatherhood…

Biggest mistake:

I would like to say: “not listening to my inner voice and heart all those times before”, but then I wouldn’t have my current life. I believe in divine timing.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

Choosing for myself, giving up my company, my financial security and telling my wife after 24 years of relationship that I wanted to go my own way, without her.

Something you chickened out from doing:

Having a large spider walk on my arm. Some of my readers told me my book has finally helped them from their fear of spiders, but I’m not there yet…

The coolest person you’ve ever met:

Actually, that has got to be Stedman Graham, Oprah’s partner. He’s so cool as he totally, 100%, is walking his talk. He is genuine, true and stays true to his message and mission on identity leadership. I admire him for that.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video:

Sir Richard Branson. I went to an expensive seminar, just to see him talk. He was the last speaker on the agenda, and all speakers before him just filled the room, made a huge impression. When Richard stepped on stage, he didn’t. I felt underwhelmed. He was doing his talk, improvising, being nice and funny. And only then I got it: he didn’t have to make an impression. He was just a true human being, no ego, not at all (indeed, like Stedman Graham). That insight changed my day, and changed my perception of this wonderful fellow.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

“Thank you for writing your book; I now understand my childhood, I now understand my parents, I now finally understand my life!”

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

“Your book saved my marriage”

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books:

Once in San Francisco, getting into a local coffee shop, a homeless, somewhat handicapped man drew my attention. I went into the shop, got a cappuccino for him and me, approached him and asked him how I could help him. He gracefully accepted the cappuccino and started talking about how he got here. Long story short: he was hit by lightning twice! He showed my newspaper articles backing up his story. In my book, he appears as homeless Rick, a former teacher who got hit by lightning twice as well.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not:

Lisa’s father has made a huge mistake in his life, causing severe damage. As it appears as an ominous undertone throughout the story, some people think this is about me. Luckily, it isn’t.

About Machiel:

As a young boy, Machiel Hoek didn't understand the world at all. Why was there so much suffering, why was he bullied at school for being himself? At the age of 7, he decided he wanted to discover the secret of life.

But then the so-called real world stepped in, meaning school and study. After university, he worked as CPA, entrepreneur and international CEO for over 20 years. At some point, a large sum of money was waiting for him if he would stay on for just two more years. "Ah, then I can finally go on the quest to discover this secret of life", he thought. But at that moment, his heart kicked in and told him: "No, you have to do it NOW, or you will never do it".

By listening to his heart, the bag of money would disappear. But what is worth more? So Machiel complied with his heart, changed his entire life, and went on the quest to discover the secret of life. He found his, and through his bestselling book "The Girl Who Changed The World" he now helps others to find theirs.

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/machiel.hoek

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/machielhoek/

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

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/machielhoek

Website: http://www.machielhoek.com/

#WriterWednesday with Bjorn Leesson

I’d like to welcome Bjorn Leesson to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Hardest thing about being a writer:  Realizing that the one the most invested in your story is you, and you will likely not find a person more interested in your work.

Easiest thing about being a writer:  Just the writing when the stars are in the right alignment, and everything is flowing smoothly.  It’s wonderful.

Favorite foods:  Pizza, fried chicken, and pizza.

Things that make you want to gag:  Dill flavoring. I just can’t make myself like dill.

Favorite beverage:  Regular old black coffee.

Something that gives you a sour face:  Ridiculously and unnecessarily strong coffee (like expresso), and nearly anything from Starbucks (sorry, just not a Starbucks fan – price or taste).

Something you’re really good at:  Developing characters in stories.  I love it.

Something you’re really bad at:  Stopping, and that’s likely why my “short story” has turned into a series with eight foreseeable installments, and maybe more.

Things you always put in your books:  Humor, and lots of it.  All stories, no matter how dark they might be, should have some chuckles in it too.

Things you never put in your books:  Gratuitous and pointless sex.  In my opinion, a story should be strong enough to stand on its own without throwing in a bunch of smutty scenes that don’t add anything to the story.

Things to say to an author:  “My, you sure have a vivid imagination.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:  “I would have written that differently.”  To which my reply is, “Then write your own.  What’s stopping you?”

Favorite books (or genre):  Adventure, supernatural mystery, and both fiction and nonfiction historical.

Books you wouldn’t buy:  I can’t think of a book I definitely wouldn’t buy.  I might suspect I wouldn’t enjoy some, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:  “I never enjoyed this type of story before, but I love yours.  You might have converted me.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you:  “You put too much detail in your stories.” 

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done:  I secretly built an English/Irish styled pub in the back of my garage over the course of a couple of months without my wife even knowing until I finished and showed it to her.  She was impressed, even though she will never admit it to anyone else.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it:  Raising goats to keep the grass cut.  As it turns out, I have the most finicky and spoiled goats in the world.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books:  My series being historical fiction fantasy, much of it is based on historical fact with my own added fiction to it.  For example, the Norse did settle England and were wiped out by the Saxons – helping to kick off the two hundred years of massive Viking raids on England.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not:  Not so much a scene of the story, but a friend of mine who has read some of the books (he is not a book reader, per se) told me he can definitely see a lot of me in the protagonist, Myrgjol the Dokkrsdottir.  I found it to be an honor for him to say so.

About Bjorn:

I am Bjorn Leesson.  I was born in the Lowcountry of South Carolina a long, long time ago.  I have worked in manufacturing all my working life to feed myself but has nourished my mind with the study of many topics; history of all eras, the paranormal, astronomy, writing of different types, photography, archeology, genealogy, vexillology, some other -ologies, even stock car racing for a couple of years, and on and on.  I find just about everything fascinating in some way and have been accused of being too easily entertained.  A blend of a few of these interests led to the creation of the Thalsparr Universe.  The first two installments of the series, “Runes of the Dokkrsdottir” and "Rune of Renewal” are out now with more coming.  I currently live in the Midlands of South Carolina with my wife of 25 years on our hobby farm.

Let’s Be Social:

website:  thalsparr.com

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bjorn-Leesson/author/B0C3TG5NBS?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1728149792&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

#WriterWednesday Interview with Tong Ge

I’d like to welcome Tong Ge to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Favorite thing that you always make time for: Reading and writing.

The thing you’ll always do just about anything to avoid: Starting a legal battle.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: my computer, my glasses, and a cup of water.

Things that distract you from writing: social media posts.

The thing you like most about being a writer: In the fiction world you created, you are the god. you decide who does what, even who will die and who will live.

The thing you like least about being a writer: doing my taxes. Being a writer just makes it more complicated.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life:

In 2006, I signed up for my first creative writing course. I remember feeling so happy on my way to the classroom at Mount Royal University—something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Even though writing has been my lifelong dream, I always felt I had to make a living first and had no time to indulge in creative writing. It was the best gift I ever gave myself. On top of that, I had endured so much pain in my life, with the most recent being my boyfriend’s suicide in 2005.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

We all make mistakes. Some are more painful than others. Last April, I was working with the editor from my publisher. We were editing my book chapter by chapter, with the last section due from my end by the Easter long weekend. As I’m always self-conscious about my English, I decided to ask ChatGPT to check the grammar for the final quarter of the book, and I ended up adopting its suggestions. I worked until 4:30 on Good Friday morning and sent the final draft to my editor. By the late afternoon, she called me and asked what I had done. She said I somehow had lost my own voice. Even worse, after making those changes, I had saved only the revised clean copy because there wasn’t any time for back-and-forth revisions anyway. As a result, my editor and I had to work together over the phone for hours on Good Friday, line by line, to restore my original version. Although we eventually got it done, the stress of the situation caused me to reinjure myself. I had suffered repetitive strain injuries in both arms due to excessive computer work back in 2001 and had never fully recovered. This episode put me right back into the depths of that pain, leading to a year-long disability leave. If I could do it over, I would’ve never asked ChatGPT to check my grammar.

Something you’re really good at: I’m really good at my job which is financial planning. I’m also very good at investing.

Something you never learned how to do: Fixing my car or building a deck.

Things you always put in your books: Real lifetime events.

Things you never put in your books: My personal sex life.

Favorite things to do: Reading, writing, attending live theatre, traveling, watching good movies, connecting with friends, swimming and learning new things.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Jumping out of an airplane or bungee jumping.

The funniest thing to happen to you:

The funniest thing happened to me earlier this year when I was scheduled to give a presentation at a public hearing in my city. Before leaving the house, I was doing my makeup, but then I got a phone call. After the call, I realized I was running late, so I quickly jumped into the car my friend was driving. As we neared City Hall, for some reason I checked my makeup in the car mirror—and I was horrified! I had only done makeup on half my face. The only way to fix it was to find a store, buy some cosmetics, and quickly finish my makeup before my name was called.

I pulled out my phone and found a nearby Shoppers Drug Mart. We detoured to the store, but there was no parking in front. Normally, I would have asked my friend to idle the car and wait, but there was a police car parked right there, along with a few cops. My friend had to drop me off and circle the block. I rushed inside, explained my situation to a clerk, and she asked which brand I preferred. I said, “The cheapest one!” She led me to a shelf with budget products, and I quickly bought foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, an eyeshadow brush, and eyeliner—no blush or brush, since I could use my finger to apply lipstick to my cheeks.

When we finally made it to the main hall of City Hall, I heard my name being called just then. Luckily, they were calling four or five names at once, so I knew I had a bit of time. I told the gate keeper guarding the meeting room that I just needed to dash to the washroom. In the washroom, I hurriedly applied makeup to the other half of my face, but to my horror, the lipstick broke at the base.

In the end, I managed to make myself presentable and delivered my presentation in front of the city officials and the public, both in person and online—God knows how many people were watching! Thankfully, no one commented on my makeup. What my friends remembered were my words.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you:

When I was a graduate student, we had a course where each student had to give a presentation to the entire class. At that point, I had been in Canada for only two years, but I was confident that my English was good enough for academic studies. When it was my turn, I stepped onto the stage and began speaking. Then I noticed the professor burying his head in his hands, trying to hide his uncontrollable laughter. To my horror, I realized I had been saying "sexual" instead of "structural" every time I used the word. Oddly enough, the other students didn’t seem to notice the funniest part of that class!

The nicest thing a reader said to you: My debut novel, “The House Filler,” was the best book she had ever read.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: A review on Goodreads mentioned that if she had known my next two books weren’t out yet, she wouldn’t have read the first one. I wouldn’t call that the craziest thing, though.

The best job you ever had: I once worked as a mortgage insurance underwriter for CMHC, a Crown corporation of the Canadian Federal Government. I loved the job because of the excellent learning environment. The company paid for our travel to different cities for courses and also covered the cost of our French lessons.

The worst job you ever had: Oddly enough, it is the same job. I was injured on the job, resulting in a permanent disability that forced me to leave. I’ve never fully gotten over it. I still often dream of returning and have mourned the loss for the past 23 years.

About Tong:

Born and raised in China, Tong Ge came to Canada in the late 80s as an international student. Since 2012, she has been publishing poems, prose, and short stories in both English and Chinese across North America, England, and Taiwan. With four literary prizes already received, she is also a finalist for four others. Her debut novel, The House Filler was published in Canada in 2023 and is one of five worldwide finalists for the 2023 Eyelands Book Awards in the Historical Fiction + Memoir category. It is also the winner of the 2024 Independent Press Award for New Fiction and a finalist for the 2024 Canadian Book Club Awards.

Let’s Be Social:

Website (Coming Soon): Tong-Ge.com | Author

X: @Tong_Ge1

Instagram: @writertongge

#WriterWednesday Interview with Chris Denmead

I’d like to welcome author Chris Denmead to the blog. He’s the perfect author for Halloween week.

Things you never want to run out of: Food

Things you wish you’d never bought: comics

A few of your favorite things: comics my son and my cat

Things you need to throw out: clothes

Things you need for your writing sessions: a computer

Things that hamper your writing: my adhd and depression

Hardest thing about being a writer: distractions

Easiest thing about being a writer: nothing is easy

Words that describe you: active and depressed

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: depressed

Favorite foods: lasagna and pizza

Things that make you want to gag: vomit

Favorite music or song: Johnny b goode by Chuck Berry

Music that drives you crazy: Country or gospel

Favorite beverage: Coffee or diet ginger ale or beer

Something that gives you a sour face: politics

Something you’re really good at: organizing stuff

Something you’re really bad at: staying organized

Last best thing you ate: cookies

Last thing you regret eating: bad pizza

The last thing you ordered online: a book

The last thing you regret buying: bad food

Things you’d walk a mile for: my gf and my son

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: stress and co workers

Things to say to an author: keep writing

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: by a shark please

Favorite places you’ve been: Hawaii

Places you never want to go to again: Virginia

Favorite books (or genre): horror or documentaries

Books you wouldn’t buy: religious

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Abe Lincoln and Stan Lee and Wes Craven

People you’d cancel dinner on: my father

Favorite things to do: read comic books

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: visit some relatives

Best thing you’ve ever done: raise my son make radio of Horror last for 17 years

Biggest mistake: not connecting with my dad before he died

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: travel to Hawaii

Something you chickened out from doing: hang gliding

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Director Wes Craven

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: too many too name and too cruel to answer

The nicest thing a reader said to you: they loved my book a lot

The craziest thing a reader said to you: the book was shipped badly by amazon ... I don't care and that's not my problem why tell me

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Paint

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Vlada

Let’s Be Social:

www.wcuw.org

www.radioofhorror.wordpress.com

#WriterWednesday Interview with Jenna Greene

I’d like to welcome Jenna Greene to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Favorite thing that you always make time for: I always make time to read and write. I’ll sacrifice housework to make sure I can be creative.

The thing you’ll always do just about anything to avoid: The above-mentioned housework. The weather too nice? I can’t be inside doing chores. The weather is yucky? That’s the best time to curl up with a book.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: A cup of tea, preferably very hot.

Things that distract you from writing: Anything happening in the house. Usually, this means my children are trying to tell me something. They tend to ignore me unless I have something I need to do.

The thing you like most about being a writer: Being creative. Creating worlds. Going on a journey with my characters and discovering the story with them.

The thing you like least about being a writer: Editing. Yes, it is necessary. Yes, it’s important. Yes, it’s not as fun as a first draft.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: The sequel to a good book. Or the last in a trilogy.

Things you never put on your shopping list: This may surprise you, but cleaning supplies!

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: The feeling of completing a book, having it published, and being able to hold it in your hands as an actual, physical book.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

Something you’re really good at: I’m a pretty good coach. I coach dragonboat paddling and racing and I’ve been told I explain things well. Plus, when the team gets really tired, I motivate them with very corny jokes.

Something you never learned how to do: Knit. I think it’d be good for me if I knew how. I tried learning to crochet once, but the lessons went very badly. I can kind of sew, so that’s something, right? I can’t make a fancy pillow, but I can repair stuffed animals, which is a skill that has come in handy over the years.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: Fairy princess.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Teach, which means talking in front of people all day long. I used to be a very shy child.

Things to say to an author: I’m proud of you!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I thought about writing a book once. It looks easy.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I rappelled once. It was terrifying. If I could have escaped from doing it, I would have. But I had to be brave for the children I was with.

Something you chickened out from doing: Scary rides at the fair that don’t have proper seat belts.

The funniest thing to happen to you: I’m fairly clumsy, so most days there are at least 5-6 funny or embarrassing things that happen to me. I walk into a lot of door frames. I am forced to pee in very unfortunate places. I’ve worn two different shoes to work multiple times.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: I think trying to get into someone else’s car (that looked like mine) is pretty bad. It’s happened a few times, but only once where the person was sitting in their vehicle and yelled at me.

The best job you ever had: Writing and teaching: The two best gigs in the world.

The worst job you ever had: Retail.

The one thing you cook/bake that is better than a restaurant dish: Um… nothing. I’m the world’s worst cook. My eight year old is now better at making spaghetti than I am … and everything else.

The one thing you cooked/baked that turned out to be an epic disaster: Any casserole I’ve tried. Most lasagna’s I make. I can burn microwave popcorn, so that’s not good. I’ve messed up soup. Sometimes I can re-heat things in the microwave.

About Jenna:

Jenna Greene is a teacher, writer, clumsy dancer, dragonboat coach and paddler, and semi-professional napper. She loves every part of her life and starts each day with a cup of tea.

Let’s Be Social:

Jenna Greene – Author

#WriterWednesday Interview with Charles Palliser

I’d like to welcome Charles Palliser to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

The thing you like most about being a writer:

I have complete freedom to spend my time doing what I choose without having to be at a certain place at a certain time.

The thing you like least about being a writer:

I enjoy talking to my readers but sometimes I have to spend a lot of time getting to where they are and back again which I’d rather use for writing.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life:

It’s taken me to new countries and cities to meet interesting people. Working with people in other countries is much more interesting than just being a tourist there.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

I can never experience again what I felt when my first publisher put into my hands the finished copy of my first book.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night:

Dark chocolate.

Things you never put on your shopping list:

Dark chocolate again. I’m strong enough not to put it on my lists, but somehow it appears when I get home.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

Someone in a bookshop told me he took my first novel, THE QUINCUNX, on his honeymoon and spent much of the night reading it.

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

“Is this the story of your life?” Since the hero of tht same novel is born in 1812, I answered truthfully: “No.”

The best summer job you ever had:

Selling ice-creams on a beach in Cornwall where I mostly grew up.

The worst summer job you ever had:

Working on the pumps at a gas-station. The boredom and the repetition nearly killed me.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening:

There’s a lovely old pub not far from our home that we like to stroll to when it’s warm and not raining (which is not always the case in London!) and they serve wonderful food in the beer-garden.

Least favorite thing about summer:

When it does get hot London isn’t expecting it and there isn’t much air-conditioning around.

Something crazy you did on vacation:

At seventeen I hitchhiked mostly alone from London through France and Italy down to Rome and then back up through Austria, Germany and then Belgium. I was robbed and propositioned in various ways but how was I not murdered?

Something you’d never do again on vacation:

Apart from hitch-hiking, I’ll never lie on a beach again. I’ve learned the hard way how dangerous the sun is.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

Jumping into the sea from a clifftop in Cornwall.

Something you chickened out from doing:

I was offered a flight in a tiny plane that held just four people and I had already found one twice that size to be unnerving.

Best vacation memory:

The two weeks I spent in Avignon in the south of France with its charming old streets and delicious food and endless festivals of cinema and theatre and art.

A vacation disaster that you’d rather forget:

A flight to Spain that was delayed for nine hours so that we arrived in the middle of the night with no way of getting to our hotel.

Favorite beverage:

I have the bad taste to love piña colada.

A drink that gives you a pickle face:

I’ve never liked blended scotch whiskey. (But single malt is another matter!)

About Charles:

Charles Palliser is an American-born and British-based novelist. He is the author of five previous novels. His most well-known novel, The Quincunx, has sold over a million copies internationally. He is the elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser. He was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and lives in London, UK.

#WriterWednesday Interview with Authors Midge Raymond and John Yunker

I’d like to welcome Midge Raymond and John Yunker to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you never want to run out of:

Midge: Chocolate. Wine. Books.

John: Beer. Books. Notepads and pens.

Things you wish you’d never bought:

Midge: Shoes I thought would fit just because I loved them.

John: Several of the vintage typewriters in my very large collection.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Midge: The blank page.

John: Rejection.

Easiest thing about being a writer:

Midge: Revision (basically the opposite of the blank page).

John: Low overhead.

Things you need for your writing sessions:

Midge: Inspiration, time, patience.

John: To get out of the house.

Things that hamper your writing:

Midge & John: The internet.

Words that describe you:

Midge: Bubbly.

John: Introvert.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t:

Midge: Bubbly.

John: Balding.

Favorite foods:

Midge: Any and all vegan sweets.

John: Vegan Mexican.

Things that make you want to gag:

Midge: Anything made from animals.

John: Carrots, literally (I’m allergic).

Favorite smell:

Midge: Vanilla.

John: Bagels.

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Midge & John: When our cats vomit.

Last best thing you ate:

Midge: Maya’s Cookies.

John: Dinner at Donna Jean.

Last thing you regret eating:

Midge: Too many Maya’s Cookies.

John: Carrots.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Midge: Australia and the Galápagos Islands.

John: Australia.

Places you never want to go to again:

Midge & John: Miami International Airport.

Favorite books:

Midge: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson, Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark, everything by Jane Harper…and I could go on and on…

John: The Spare Room by Helen Garner.

Books you wouldn’t buy:

Midge & John: We’ll read anything … at least the first 50 pages.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

Midge: Bungee jumping off a bridge.

John: Starting Ashland Creek Press.

Something you chickened out from doing:

Midge: Visual arts.

John: Acting.

About Midge and John:

Devils Island is the debut collaboration by Midge Raymond and John Yunker. Midge is the author of the novels Floreana and My Last Continent and the award-winning short-story collection Forgetting English. She earned a certificate in private investigation from the University of Washington. John is the author of the novel The Tourist Trail; editor of the Among Animals fiction series and a nonfiction anthology, Writing for Animals; and his plays have been produced or staged at such venues as the Oregon Contemporary Theatre, the Source Festival, the Centre Stage New Play Festival, and Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference. 

 Let’s Ne Social:

Twitter: @midgeraymond — @johnyunker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Midge-John/100093520224575/

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

#WriterWednesday with Author Sue Minix

I’d like to welcome my friend, the fabulous Sue Minix, to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Things you never want to run out of: toilet paper and deodorant

Things you wish you’d never bought: all the exercise equipment I never use

Things you need for your writing sessions: Something to drink and my writing buddy Sadie.

Things that hamper your writing: Distractions of any kind.

A few of your favorite things: my books and vinyl records

Things you need to throw out: all the power cords from every phone I’ve ever had

Favorite foods: ice cream and spaghetti

Things that make you want to gag: Brussels sprouts

Something you’re really good at: procrastinating

Something you’re really bad at: managing social media

Favorite music or song: oldies, light rock, and older country

Music that drives you crazy: heavy metal and hip hop

The last thing you ordered online: medicine for my dog

The last thing you regret buying: the hat I thought would look great on me, but didn’t

Things to say to an author: I loved your book!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Don’t quit your day job.

Favorite books (or genre): mysteries

Books you wouldn’t buy: literary for deep thinkers. I don’t want to work that hard.

Favorite things to do: hiking and watching old movies

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: cleaning the house

About Sue:

Sue is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Crime Writer's Association. When she isn't writing, you can find her reading, watching old movies, or hiking the New Mexico desert with her furry best friend.

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