#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Jennifer Lieberman

Jennifer Lieberman is my guest today for #ThisorThatThursday!

Last best thing you ate: I’ve been obsessed with these savoury sourdough kale and cheddar scones at this coffee shop near my yoga studio.

Last thing you regret eating: The kale and cheddar sourdough scone. They’re so good. I’ve been struggling with self-control.

Favorite music or song: Rock ’n Roll, Baby!

Music that drives you crazy: Electronic music, I’m so old school.

The last thing you ordered online: Revlon round brush/blowdryer thing, total game changer.

The last thing you regret buying: I bought a couch online last year. It’s really not that comfortable, but I haven’t found one I love enough in person to replace it.

Favorite places you’ve been: Santorini, Greece was quite magical, same with Iceland.

Places you never want to go to again: A night club on New Year’s Eve. It’s just not worth the trouble, the traffic or the overpriced tickets.

Favorite things to do: I love hiking and being outdoors in nature.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: A HIT class or a boot camp workout. My nervous system wasn’t made for that. I’m a yoga and pilates girl.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I went skydiving when I turned 18. I don’t think you could pay me to do it again.

Something you chickened out from doing: I chickened out from going over to talk to Jason Bateman when here was just a few feet away from me at the Cannes Film Festival. I love his film Bad Words and wanted to ask him about it, but I totally lost my nerve.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I’m also an actress, and my novel was originally a one-woman-show where I played 10 characters on stage.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: My Web-Series Dumpwater Divas was a total flop. Over a decade later, we barely have a few hundred views. That being said, I am still extremely proud of it. Making it was hands down the most fun I’ve ever had.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: My first roommate in NY really did drop out of college to become a dominatrix, but that was after we lived together.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Readers sometimes think the whole book is about me. Many people just assume it’s my life. If only I were that cool and adventurous.

The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: The first album I ever bought was The Sound of Music soundtrack, I was obsessed as a kid.

A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: I don’t love music that isn’t played live by people actually playing instruments and singing.

My favorite book as a child: As a child, my favorite book was I Have To Go by Robert Munsch. I thought it was hilarious.

A book I’ve read more than once: There are several books I keep going back to. With the release of the new film I suspect I will revisit Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte yet again.

Your favorite movie as a child: My favorite movie as a child was Dirty Dancing,

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a kid. Who are we kidding? I still do. The mix of horror and romance definitely kept me up as night.

About Jennifer:

JENNIFER LIEBERMAN is an actor/writer/producer from Maple, Canada. Her award-winning Solo Show YEAR OF THE SLUT is now the 5-time-award-winning and Amazon #1 Best Selling Novel YEAR OF THE WHAT? Lieberman's short films have screened at several international festivals including the Festival De Cannes Court Métrage; DETAILS, her directorial debut was a semi-finalist for Best Female Director at The Art House Festival of Beverly Hills in 2022 and her latest short film THE PENIS FAIRY won Best Comedy Short at the Culver City Film Festival in 2023 & Best Screenplay at the Hollywood Short Film Festival 2024. Jennifer founded Make Your Own Break Ltd. to help emerging actors and writers to create opportunities for themselves (like she did).

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#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Tricia Copeland

I’d like to welcome Tricia Copeland back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: The hardest thing about being a writer is wondering if readers will like my work.

Easiest thing about being a writer: The easiest thing about being a writer is getting lost in my characters and world.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Must haves for my writing sessions are Diet Coke and quiet.

Things that hamper your writing: Things that hamper my writing are lots of distractions and noise.

Words that describe you: Words that describe me are patient, quirky, and reserved.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Words that I wish didn’t describe me, most of the time, are structured and neat-freak.

Things you’d walk a mile for: I’d walk a mile for Diet Coke, chocolate, and one last hug from my sister which I’d walk many, many miles for.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: I hate wet socks, a messy room, and mean people.

Things you always put in your books: I always include a fun romance in my books.

Things you never put in your books: I’ll never include graphic violence or detailed intimate scenes in my books.

Favorite books (or genre): My most recent favorite book is A Million Junes by Emily Henry, but I love just about any YA fantasy, books by Cassandra Clare and L.J. Smith, and the like.

Books you wouldn’t buy: I never buy erotica and rarely horror or political thrillers.

Favorite things to do: I love reading, mostly in the form of audiobooks, and hiking and running.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: I hate washing dishes and folding laundry.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: The most daring thing I’ve done is publish a book.

Something you chickened out from doing: In middle school I chickened out of joining the track team.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: The nicest things readers say to me is that they loved a character.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: A reader once told me that my face was very symmetrical.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I love creating video trailers for my books and audiobooks.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Three words: I can’t draw.

 My favorite book as a child: Dorothy and the Wizard In Oz

A book I’ve read more than once: I’ve read Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Gone with the Wind multiple times each.

About Tricia:

Award-winning author and podcaster, Tricia Copeland writes young adult fantasy. Her audiobooks have garnered critical acclaim with To be a Fae Guardian winning the Benjamin Franklin Award for YA Fantasy. With the Kingdom Journals urban fantasy all released in audiobook, the final audiobooks of the fae fantasy Realm Chronicles will release in 2026. You can find all of Tricia’s books on her website at www.triciacopeland.com.

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#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Seth Voorhees

I’d like to welcome author Seth Voorhees to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Hardest thing about being a writer: The hardest aspect of being a writer, for me, is financial: professional editing services, marketing, publishing, and advertising. It requires a team. Writing and doing revisions are the easiest parts.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Drawing inspiration. I have an active imagination. I’m inspired every day. By what I read, see on television, experience at work, hearing the news, when talking to coworkers, driving down the road, or even when I’m at the gym. Frequently through observation, I find myself thinking, “I should write about that.”

Things you need for your writing sessions: I’m an early morning writer. For me, I need my coffee, or hot chocolate if it's really cold out.

Things that hamper your writing: Traveling for work. It takes me out of my groove and limits my writing time. I am an early-morning writer. That’s when my creativity and imagination are at their peak. I’ve learned that after three in the afternoon, I’m useless.   

Words that describe you: Positive, Spiritual, Creative, Caring, Productive, Humble, Loving, Joyful, Dorky, Humorous, and Patient. 

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Stoic, Reactionary, and Blunt.

Favorite music or song: That depends on my mood. I love most genres. But the song that comes into my head frequently is “Fly Me To The Moon,” by Frank Sinatra.

Music that drives you crazy: Screaming heavy metal.  

Things you’d walk a mile for: A great movie. I love going to the movies. You can walk into a theater with troubles, and when you leave the theater, all of those troubles have vanished.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Big Spiders.

Things you always put in your books: Aspects of spirituality, because it is a big part of my life, and it can lead a character down many roads.

Things you never put in your books: Killing off the main character. I’m not a fan of killing them off. Even if their ending fulfilled some larger picture, or they are now at peace because they completed some unfinished business, I don’t care. I feel it ruins the experience.

Things to say to an author: Don’t let the trope police scare you. Writing about a popular trope with your clever twist is not copying someone else's work. Proof: scan the mystery section and point out all of the books with the trope: Person dies, their friend doesn’t agree with how the investigation is being handled, so they try to solve it.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: My views on Politics, Men’s Health, and Religion.

Favorite books (or genre): The Horror Genre. I cannot pick one book. There are too many to count. But one that I’ll recommend is The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Sorry Politics, but no thanks.

Favorite things to do: I love reading, fishing, going for walks, doing puzzles, watching the Pittsburgh Steelers, and hanging out with my family.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Going to a late-night concert. I have no interest anymore.  

The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: The first Cassette Tape I ever purchased was Garth Brooks, titled: Chase.

A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: Heavy Metal. I can live without it.

 My favorite book as a child: The Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel. I loved all of them. My mother read them to me before bed.

A book I’ve read more than once: I’ve only read one book more than once. That was Animal Farm by George Orwell. The reason was that I’d read it in High School and didn’t grasp its deeper themes. I reread it as an adult to better understand it.

Your favorite movie as a child: The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner. As an adult, I still love it.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): As a child, Are You Afraid Of The Dark on Nickelodeon. The Tale of The Fire Ghost was one of several that kept me up. As an adult: Arachnophobia.   

About Seth:

Seth Voorhees lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with his partner and stepdaughter. He enjoys drawing from his experiences as a social worker, particularly in adolescent development and mental health, to shape his characters and their journeys through human morality and challenges. He identifies himself as a Dark Fiction author. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in Sociology and Psychology from Black Hills State University. 

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#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Pat Daily

I’d like to welcome Pat Daily to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite snacks: Peanut butter pretzels

Things that make you want to gag:  Fish and the smell of cooking fish. I made a pact with fish early in life – I won’t eat them if they won’t eat me.

Something you’re really good at: Public Speaking

Something you’re really bad at: Understanding that not everyone thinks I am as funny as I do.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: Astronaut

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Work on a team creating a hydrogen-powered aircraft

Last best thing you ate: Chicken Vindaloo from Tandoori Twist in Houston

Last thing you regret eating: Brussel sprouts

Things to say to an author: I love your work. Your Spark Chronicles series is fantastic!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Have you ever written anything I might have read?

Favorite places you’ve been: Yosemite, Tokyo  

Places you never want to go to again: Beijing

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): J.K. Rowling, Senator John Kennedy, Bill Maher

People you’d cancel dinner on: Anyone who chews with their mouth open

Favorite things to do: Stare into a campfire while chatting with family and friends

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Watch televised golf or NASCAR

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marry my wife and have two phenomenal daughters

Biggest mistake: Speaking to a colleague out of anger rather than taking my time and responding more professionally.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Jumped out of an airplane the second time. The first time, I was too naïve to understand how scary it was going to be.

Something you chickened out from doing: Scuba diving at night

The nicest thing a reader said to you:  “When Spark gets turned into a movie, I want to do the soundtrack.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “My God, do you even speak English?”

The most exciting thing about your writing life: Solitude. I know it sounds odd, but I love the time alone with my characters as we try to figure out what words will go on the page.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Start much earlier in life.

 About Pat:

Pat Daily is a polymath, serial entrepreneur, gamer, and the author of the Spark Chronicles, a near-future science fiction series. Pat began his professional career as an engineer and Air Force test pilot. After leaving the military, Pat worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs before launching his first company. He has worked globally as a human performance and safety consultant.

When not writing or bringing new airplane designs to life, Pat can be found gaming. He is a fan of role-playing games – particularly open worlds with engaging storylines where actions have consequences. Pat and his wife live in Houston.

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Website: https://thepatdaily.com

Blog: https://feraldaughters.wordpress.com

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#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Sharon Marchisello

Sharon Marchisello is my guest today for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Marketing. A close second is the first draft once I get past the opening scene.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Proofreading. Also, talking about being a writer and seeing my books in print.

Things you need for your writing sessions: A computer with Microsoft Word in a quiet area.

Things that hamper your writing: The internet, email, social media. While I love having Google at my fingertips to look up words or do research, I’m easily distracted once I allow myself to get online.

Last best thing you ate: A piece of fresh, perfectly-prepared sea bass in a specialty restaurant on a cruise ship.

Last thing you regret eating: A chocolate brownie. (No nutritional value, and more calories than it was worth.)

Favorite music or song: Classic rock from the sixties, seventies, and eighties speaks to me.

Music that drives you crazy: I could never get into rap music.

Things you always put in your books: I lost both my mother and mother-in-law to Alzheimer’s disease, and the subject seems to have worked its way into my books. Going Home, my first published novel, was inspired by my mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s, so the disease is central to that plot. Michelle, the protagonist in Going Home, is a secondary character in Secrets of the Galapagos, and there’s a brief reference to her mother’s Alzheimer’s in that book. (She’s afraid it could be hereditary.) But also in my new cat rescue mystery series, DeeLo’s mother resides in a memory care facility, suffering from Alzheimer’s. Her mother’s situation is not central to the plot, but it has turned out to be more important than I thought it would be.

Things you never put in your books: I won’t kill an animal. (Humans are fair game, though.)

Things to say to an author: I loved your book, I wrote you a 5-star review, and I’m buying copies for all my friends.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Why can’t you be as rich and famous as J.K. Rowling? Your books must not be that good.

Favorite places you’ve been: The Galapagos Islands, South Africa, Antarctica, Alaska (anywhere I’ve seen animals in the wild).

Places you never want to go to again: The slums of Mumbai.

Favorite books (or genre): Mysteries, domestic suspense, psychological thrillers.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Books about politics.

Favorite things to do: Travel, read, cuddle with cats.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Bungee jump or skydive. Of course, I wouldn’t run through a fire or eat bugs, either. I’d never cut it on The Amazing Race.

Some real-life story that made it into one of your books: In Trap, Neuter, Die, I used my rescue group’s quest to change the county ordinances to support Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return for free-roaming cats, and some of our ensuing drama. The antiquated animal ordinances governing fictitious Pecan County are based on the real ones followed in Fayette County, Georgia, where I live (and they’re not unique).

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: When Going Home came out, one of my neighbors asked me if I really found my mother hovering over the bludgeoned body of her caregiver. (That’s the opening scene.) Fortunately, that never happened!

Your favorite movie as a child: The Wizard of Oz. It came on every year, and sometimes my parents would let me stay up late to watch it.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): Bambi. I cried and cried when Bambi’s mother died, and I had nightmares about the forest fire. I wanted to rewrite the story and give it a happier ending.

About Sharon:

Sharon Marchisello is the author of the DeeLo Myer cat rescue mysteries from Level Best Books. Trap, Neuter, Die was published in 2024; Trapped and Tested in December 2025. Her other mysteries were published by Sunbury Press: Going Home (2014), Secrets of the Galapagos (2019), and Murder at Leisure Dreams – Galapagos (2025). Sharon has also written a nonfiction book about personal finance (Live Well, Grow Wealth - 2018), travel articles, a blog, book reviews, and short stories, one of which was a Derringer finalist. She earned a Master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is active in Sisters in Crime, the Atlanta Writers Club, and several critique groups. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, and serves on the boards of the Fayette Humane Society, Hometown Novel Writers Association, and the Friends of the Peachtree City Library. Sharon fosters cats for the Fayette Humane Society when she isn’t traveling the world.

Website: sharonmarchisello.com (https://smarchisello.wordpress.com/)

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#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Mark Bergin

I’d like to welcome the multi-talented author, Mark Bergin, to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday.

Hardest/easiest things about being a writer: I find the actual writing, the putting down sentences and paragraphs, then polishing it pretty, is the easiest part. The hardest parts are thinking of what to write, so I carry a notebook everywhere.  And I get stymied because I write chronologically, so if a scene or chapter comes hard, I can’t figure out how to push my characters through it and tell what I want, I can’t step past it. Sometimes I just put a lot of crap down to get moving, and in my new book I did that and it turned out fine. I said Kelly’s not coming out of that office till he learns what caused… whatever, and I ended up with a useable scene.

Things I am good at, or not: I am very good at public speaking and breaking down issues in ways people can understand. I was a training officer and enjoyed teaching new officers how, and sometimes why, we do what we do, and I try to do that in the books. Although my first, APPREHENSION, suffered for it, much too dry and detailed. I am not good at computer programs. I have tried to teach myself Scrivener twice and can’t get the hang of it. I was a cop for 28 years, and only in the last one did I have two desk jobs that required extensive use of computers and data systems. And that’s the year I died of two heart attacks and had to get out of the cops. All the years on the streets were fun, exciting, dangerous, rewarding, and I never had any issues. Deskwork killed me

Words good: goal oriented; I decided to get published, then I decided to get really published by a real publisher. Optimistic: I bought Ruth’s wedding present after three months of dating and a year before I asked her. Friendly. Supportive; I have had the most fun recently being able to work with new and experienced authors with police issues and procedures. I like to see writers get it right, and usually that can be done without losing the drama. I will admit, though, that I completely fabricated the procedures for burial of an indigent jail prisoner in my first novel. It had to go the way I wanted, and I didn’t want to know if I was completely off-target.  Words bad: Arrogant: if you’re wrong, you’re wrong and that usually pivots on whether you think like I do. Forgetful; I can’t remember a name to save my life, so I have actually excused myself from parties to go write a name down if I think I will need to talk with them again. Lousy skill failure for a cop, but I am good with faces and, if you‘re a cop, you can ask their name.

Music: I like Americana/hard country/singer-songwriters. My first personal purchase of music was the album American Woman by The Guess Who. I hate gangsta rap. I don’t think it is a threat to society; it’s just offensive. Why would you say that about yourself and think that endears you to me? @#$% You kiss your mom with that mouth?

Things I always put in my books: I like to humanize my heroes, so I have them do things other than their specific tasks. In my new book, I have Kelly dive into a crashed car that is leaking gasoline to comfort and help rescue a driver, actually an armed robber who was running from police. (Almost a true story. On a recent vacation I saw a car crash and overturn. I got into it through a broken window and was tending to the not-terribly-injured driver when gas started dripping on us. We got out. Never in books: killing a cop. It is too easy a shortcut to amp up emotion and anger, and it is never portrayed accurately in any fiction I’ve read or seen. In my new book I started writing that scene, but realized I could cet the same emotional impact if I had the international criminal kneecap a detective instead of killing him, plus such a death would completely overshadow all the other things I had to have my characters do.  Killing a cop is devastating to a department, the loss of a friend, the reminder of our tenuous hold on safety, the fear in our spouses and families. My wife and I stopped watching Will Trent last year when they very casually killed a cop, a female bomb-squad officer setting up to be the hero’s love interest. It meant nothing on the show.

Favorite places: The southwest coast of Ireland, the craggy, rough almost fjords and the deep sea. I visited there ten years ago and found a setting that will emerge in Book Four, whenever I get to it. Santa Fe and the American Southwest, just love the environment, the sand, the huge blue sky. Least favorite place: Las Vegas. Went once because everybody has to, and I go back because the Public Safety Writers Association meets there every year, but what an ugly, brutal and fake environment.

Favorite book and author: The Secret Ways by Alistair MacLean. The perfect thriller by one of the most gifted writers. I remember carrying the paperback in my pocket and deliberately mouthing off in Mr. Fenicle’s ninth-grade music class so Id be sent out to sit in the hall. And read! I discovered Alistair MacLean in my early teens, and remember getting his books out of the library a second time so I can try to figure out how he did it, how he built suspense, how his stories laid out. Still haven’t figured it out, and I can’t write like him but he’s great.  Books I wouldn’t buy: none. I attend the annual Creatures, Crimes and Creativity conference with authors of all kinds of genres. Each of them works hard to craft their stores, hard as I do (but when you can just conjure a dragon to deus ex machina your hero out of her plight, it seems too easy and cheap.) And the first writers I ever met, after I decided to try, at a mystery writers library panel were cozy writers Sherry Harris and Maya Corrigan who just died this week, may her memory be a blessing. I came out of the presentation thinking these are just some ladies writing soft mysteries, what can I learn from them? But their writing was tight and clear. Had to be, they couldn’t just shoot or punch somebody to move their story along.

Coolest person I ever met: I was in the Mystery Bookstore on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia in about 1982, talking with the owner, a novelist, when he looked past me, walked to shake the hand of a customer just entered and said, “You’re Warren Zevon, aren’t you? I’m Art Bourgeau.” We talked mysteries for about a half an hour. Cool guy, very unprepossessing, in town because he was dating a local FM DJ (Cindy Dru if you have to know.) I also thought it was cool that Bourgeau introduced himself too, as if being a novelist was also cool. And now I know it is.

Daring thing: Tandem skydove out of a helicopter down the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland. My son and I came up with it, I told my wife, she said, “You know my answer.” Well, I knew her answer but it apparently shocked her when I actually went ahead and did it. A long time to recover from that one.  Chickened out: I rowed in the World Championships in Villach, Austria in 1976 (took fifth) and on the plane back to the United States I learned that two girls from my high school class were aboard, having just spend the summer in an Israeli kibbutz. And I was too shy to go talk with them. Here’s me, at the height of my game, international athlete, and here they are, just having done something so cool. But they were pretty and above my class and I was so shy.

Real-life story in a book: One night when I was a patrol officer I stood outside an apartment waiting for partners to finish something up. A little old lady tottered by and looked at me and remarked, “Oh, you look just like that Father Mulcahey from that MASH show.” (Glasses and such.) I made the sign of the cross in front of her and said, “In nomine Patris, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti.” She said, “Oh, is you Jewish?” I wrote that into my first book APPREHENSION, and later discussed it on a blog with another writer. Later, I found I had actually edited that scene out for length. It may rise. Not real: In my books my hero John Kelly dates then marries a public defender, Rachel Cohen. While I did marry a public defender, Rachel is not my wife Ruth, and the personal things between them in the book are entirely fictional. Fictional Rachel does not conduct herself in the way Ruth does, and Ruth hates her for it.

Nicest thing anyone said: Two ex cops who cowrite mysteries sought me out at BoucherCon Dallas and asked me to blurb their upcoming book. “Me? Mark Bergin? You sure you mean me?” I didn’t know anyone knew me or knew of me. Worst thing: Maybe oddest. A friend, in my wife’s book club after they ready my first, said, “Oh, there was too much sexy stuff in it.” One line! Where Kelly is imagining the curve of Rachel’s hip. Oy vey!

About Mark: Mark Bergin spent four years as a newspaper reporter, winning the Virginia Press Association Award for general news reporting, before joining the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department in 1986. Twice named Police Officer of the Year for narcotics and robbery investigations, he served in most of the posts described in APPREHENSION, his award-winning debut novel. APPREHENSION was reprinted by Level Best Books as the first in a four-book series called The John Kelly Cases. Book two in the series, SAINT MICHAEL’S DAY will be published this year and was a finalist for the Killer Nashville Claymore Award. His short stories appear in three Anthony Award-nominated anthologies; PARANOIA BLUES, LAND OF 10,000 THRILLS and SCATTERED, SMOTHERED, COVERED AND CHUNKED, as well as THE TATTERED BLUE LINE and THE EVICTION OF HOPE. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

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Website: https://markberginwriter.com/

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jonni Jordyn

I’d like to welcome Jonni Jordyn back to the blog for the first #ThisorThatThursday of the new year!

A few of your favorite traditions: Watching the leaves turn.

Something holiday-related that you’ll never do again: I had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant, but they served sliced deli meat.

Favorite fall treat: I'm definitely a pumpkin spice girl.

A fall treat that makes you gag: I have allergies to mint and chocolate, but gagging might be mincemeat pie.

Favorite beverage: Sweet tea, but that's year-round.
A drink that gives you a sour face: Lemonade.

Favorite smell: I like the smell of pines and the forest in general, but I'm not sure it would be a favorite.
Something that makes you hold your nose: I'm not too fond of dead and rotting flesh.

A funny true story: I took my six-year-old granddaughter to the Spirit store. We were way in the back of the store when a coffin opened up, and Dracula popped out. She immediately ran to the entrance with her hands in the air while screaming at the top of her lungs.

Something embarrassing that happened: I took the same granddaughter to Knott Scary Farm for Halloween, and she freaked out. I had to ask for a refund.

Best thing you ever cooked/baked: I've made a couple prime rib dinners that worked out.

Your worst kitchen disaster: Not mine, personally, but we went to my uncle’s for Christmas. He had a turkey to cook, but the oven died THAT DAY!! This was in the mid 70s, so they went out and bought one of those newfangled microwaves, a really big one. They set it on the counter and set the turkey to cook for four hours. After four hours, it still wasn't browned. So they cooked it some more. Nobody knew about cook times or browning elements. Naturally, it was inedible. Nobody's fault, but quite a disaster.

Your best costume: I have a grim reaper costume that I could wear to gigs. The sleeves had Velcro, so I could stick them to my shoulders and still play the keyboards.

A costume that wasn’t quite what you imagined: I tried to be Elvira, but just couldn't fill the dress.

Favorite holiday treat: I couldn't find it this year, but my grocer used to carry a pumpkin spice eggnog.

Something that should never be pumpkin-spiced flavored: Coffee? But then, I don't drink coffee.

Best holiday memory: I created a computer program to play short audio snippets from horror movies. I had my pro stage speakers in the yard pumping out themed music while my granddaughter and I would cue these snippets. A young boy around five or maybe seven, dragged his father past all the other houses on the street to the corner with all the sound effects, but when he got to us, he froze on the sidewalk. We had to go out and soothe him.

Worst holiday experience: My band was booked at a nice hotel. I wore a black dress with tuxedo cuffs and collar. First, there was a big hubbub about my not being eligible for best costume, then, I kept getting hit on by my own bass player.

About Jonni:

Jonni Jordyn was born in Oakland, California in 1957. She started writing at an early age, writing music, poetry, short stories, radio, film, and stage scripts. She didn’t start writing novels until later in life, after she retired from playing music, and found herself travelling away from home for extended periods. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.

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Website: https://www.jordynatlargebooks.com/

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Veronica Lee

I’d like to welcome the wonderful Veronica Lee to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Knowing when my manuscript is ready to submit. I too often jump the gun.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Is there something easy about being a writer? If there is, I can’t think of what it would be. LOL!

Something you’re really good at: I can make really good homemade cheesecakes.

Something you’re really bad at: Making hamburgers and biscuits. They both turn out hard as hockey pucks.

Favorite music or song: I love “Over the Rainbow,” by Judy Garland.

Music that drives you crazy: Songs full of really foul language.

Things you always put in your books: There’s usually a subtle faith-based message in them.

Things you never put in your books: I haven’t written a furry side-kick in any of my stories. But I’d really like to!

Favorite places you’ve been: I visited Krakow, Poland about ten years ago. It was absolutely gorgeous. The whole country was!

Places you never want to go to again: Can’t come up with any place that I really hated.

Favorite books (or genre): Anything Jane Austen related.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Political Thrillers. Just not my cup of tea.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I worked as a housekeeper in a nursing home during the pandemic and often had to go into the covid units to clean and help out.

Something you chickened out from doing: Performing Arts Workshop when I was a teen.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Eva Mozes Kor. She was a Holocaust/Mengele twin survivor who created the CANDLES Museum.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: I have never met any famous celebrities in person.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: That my book was their favorite.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: One suggested I used AI to write it. I swear, I didn’t!

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: Well, my book The Keeper of Lost Daughters was partly inspired by how in Poland, Jewish children were left with Christians during the war to save their lives. After the war, the Jewish families would try to reclaim their children only to find that the Christians didn’t want to give them up.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I don’t think anyone has suggested anything in my book was about me.

My favorite book as a child: When I was little, I had this picture book about a mouse and on every page with the mouse was a little bird. Well, my dad came up a story based solely on the bird, calling it “Little Birdy Buddy.” Over time the story evolved. His storytelling was so enthralling that others would listen to him tell it too. Unfortunately, the book fell apart and I have no memory of what the story actually was.

A book I’ve read more than once: Pride and Prejudice.

Your favorite movie as a child: The Wizard of Oz.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): Braveheart. When I was a kid, my dad had bought the VHS and was watching it, and I saw the scene where William Wallace is being tortured/executed. I was sick to my stomach for days. Probably didn’t sleep at night after watching it.

About Veronica:

Veronica Leigh has been published in numerous publications, such as Saturday Evening Post, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and The People's Friend. She recently published her first novel, The Keeper of Lost Daughters. She aspires to be the Jane Austen of her generation and she makes her home in Indiana.

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