#WriterWednesday Interview with Ann Charles

I’d like to welcome Ann Charles back to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you never want to run out of: Ha! That’s an easy one: coffee. Wait! Maybe dark chocolate. It’s a tie.

Things you wish you’d never bought: All of the clothes I think will look good on me and didn’t try on before buying them (many are still hanging in my closet because I can’t bring myself to get rid of them).

Hardest thing about being a writer: The constant marketing work—and the never-ending bookkeeping.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Signing an autograph

Favorite music or song: I don’t have a favorite type. I enjoy various songs from over the years from genres like classic rock, country, pop, alternative, old time classics and soundtracks from the 1940-1960s, disco tunes, and more. I think this comes from being the youngest kid in a big family where I often listened to my parents’ and siblings’ music. When I write, I like to listen to old songs in the background with a rain sound playing over them. Something about that is calming and allows me to focus.

Music that drives you crazy: Anything with screeching or loud screaming instead of singing. Also, anything with too much saxophone.

Favorite smell: Baking bread

Something that makes you hold your nose: Red Onions

Last best thing you ate: A fresh, breaded halibut sandwich at Mo’s restaurant in Yachats, Oregon.

Last thing you regret eating: Bad crab meat in Mazatlán, Mexico.

The last thing you ordered online: Books—author copies of my own books that I sell out of our online store. Oh, and cat treats. Our cats threatened to smother me in the night if I didn’t.

The last thing you regret buying: Cat treats—they eat them so fast I just know they don’t appreciate them.

Things to say to an author: Thank you for writing such a great story. It made me love reading and I didn’t want the book to end.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “Do better.”

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Anyone who is quick to laugh, loves to read books or to watch fiction movies/tv shows, and has crazy real-life stories to share.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Anyone who is going to REQUIRE me to dress in formal attire.

Favorite things to do: Take back roads while traveling, explore new-to-me places, laugh while reading, eat soft pretzels, drink frozen Coke Slushees.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Bookkeeping work

The coolest person you’ve ever met: A fun old guy named George who taught me how to play horseshoes and kept me laughing the whole time.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Louie Anderson, the comedian, looked like he did in videos, but he was even funnier in real life when we went to see him in Las Vegas. The way he worked with the audience to make the show more hilarious was amazing.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: My family and I once stumbled upon a real-life sword swallower in Uranus, Missouri at a circus museum. We were in the museum alone and she was happy to shock us with various swords that she slid way down her throat. I’ll never forget that day, nor worrying with my husband if we’d need to rush her to the emergency room if something went sideways.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Readers often think that I based Violet Parker, the heroine in my Deadwood Mystery series, on me and my life. She may share a sense of humor with me and have two kids, same as me, but she is far more daring than I am. I often advise her not to chase after supernatural troublemakers, but she rarely listens to me.

About Ann:

Ann Charles is a USA Today Best-Selling author who writes spicy, award-winning mysteries full of mayhem, adventure, comedy, and suspense. She writes the Deadwood Mystery Series, Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series, Dig Site Mystery Series, Deadwood Undertaker Series (with her husband, Sam Lucky), and AC Silly Circus Mystery Series. Her Deadwood Mystery Series has won multiple national awards, including the Daphne du Maurier for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Ann has a B.A. in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of Washington and is a member of Sisters in Crime and Western Writers of America. She is currently toiling away on her next book, wishing she was on a Mexican beach with an ice-cold Corona in one hand and a book in the other. When she is not dabbling in fiction, she is arm wrestling with her two kids, attempting to seduce her husband, and arguing with her sassy cats. 

#WriterWednesday with Lynn Slaughter

I’d like to welcome Lynn Slaughter to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My copy of WALKING ON ALLIGATORS, A BOOK OF MEDITATIONS FOR WRITERS by Susan Shaughnessy (I always read one of the meditations before beginning day’s work), computer, scented candle, music, water, LOTS of coffee.

Things that hamper your writing: Scam calls, any other phone calls, pop-ups on computer I can’t seem to get rid of!

Words that describe you: warm, empathetic, good listener, hardworking, perseverant, analytical, humor lover

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: naive, overly sensitive, mechanically challenged

Favorite foods: anything pasta, chocolate

Things that make you want to gag: eggs, liver, brussel sprouts, seafood

Something you’re really good at: listening, observing people, loving, laughing

Something you’re really bad at: driving directions, putting anything together, technical stuff, overall, mechanically challenged!

Favorite music or song: Love classical music from romantic era, the American Songbook, jazz, classical rock

Music that drives you crazy: misogynistic rap

Things you always put in your books: romance, mystery, conflict, flawed characters

Things you never put in your books: excessive violence, erotica

Favorite books (or genre): contemporary realistic young adult, romantic mystery, suspense

Books you wouldn’t buy: Not a big fan of science fiction or horror

Favorite things to do: hang out with my husband and grandchildren, write, go to libraries and bookstores, read, watch movies from the 1930s and 40s, sing with my community chorus, shop at consignment stores, estate sales, and yard sales

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: I’m very good at procrastinating when it comes to cleaning my house or organizing my gobs of books, files, stuff!

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “The ending brought tears to my eyes.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: (After reading one of my YA novels): “Your writing is so good you could probably write a novel for adults someday.”

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: During my dancing days, I choreographed a lot of dances!

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: I was trying to impress my new boyfriend (who later became my husband) for a dance company party by roasting a turkey. When he went to carve it, he discovered I’d never taken the giblets out. So much for my culinary skills.

About Lynn:

Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She is the award-winning author of five young adult romantic mysteries: MISSING MOM, DEADLY SETUP, LEISHA’S SONG, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU, AND WHILE I DANCED, as well as an adult mystery, MISSED CUE.  Lynn lives in Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: https://lynnslaughter.com

 X: https://twitter.com/lslaughter2

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/lynnslaughter

#WriterWednesday with Luce Sutherland

I’d like to welcome Luce Sutherland to the blog for #WriterWednesday! And many thanks for being the first interview for 2025!

Things you never want to run out of:

Migraine medication, vanilla Macadamia nut coffee from Maui Coffee Co., electricity, the internet, and colored pens. Oh, and good books to read!

Things you wish you’d never bought:

Nutri bullet blender as I’m over my smoothie craze. The last winter coat I bought (I live in Florida!). All the cute high heels I can’t walk in for more than five minutes.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Learning all the systems – KDP, Goodreads, Ingram Spark, Bowker, Instagram, all the rules and guidelines for the above. It is endless and daunting!

Easiest thing about being a writer:

My first response to that was “there is nothing easy about it.” Upon further reflection, it’s the actual writing and creating…when its flowing and you aren’t worried about grammar and adverbs and commas, oh my!

Things you need for your writing sessions:

Peace and quiet. Time to ruminate which I do during a massage and in the morning hours between sleeping and waking. And I like a bit of time pressure.

Things that hamper your writing:

My husband at my office door with ridiculous questions when I am trying to concentrate. My son FaceTiming when he cannot find something. The social media rabbit hole I take myself into!

Words that describe you:

Genuine, wise, funny, smart, and she swears like a truck driver but with a very classy style.

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

That I am too nice or too soft.

Favorite foods:

Linguini in white clam sauce, ribeye steak, pecan pie and ice cream, Vermont cheddar mac & cheese.

Things that make you want to gag:

Anchovies, super spicy stuff and boiled Brussel sprouts.

Something you’re really good at:

Making to do lists. Finding space for things that I shouldn’t be holding on to. Karaoke and dancing to electronic dance music. Unless people have been lying to me…

Something you’re really bad at:

Racquet sports, any type of coordinated aerobics, throwing stuff out and negotiating to get a better price.

Favorite smell:

When you open the windows during the first cool day and the breeze comes in. Or the smell of a ribeye sizzling on the barbeque, or pies baking…

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Cigarette smoke, sewage, the smell of weed, and bad broccoli.

Things you’d walk a mile (or 5) for: A good charity, to burn off the pecan pie, to meet my dearest friends or family, to greet fans of my book.

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

Cockroaches, mice and all fast flying bugs.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Edinburgh, Tokyo, Rome

Places you never want to go to again:

China

Favorite books (or genre):

Dark or steamy or erotic romance, and romantic suspense.

Books you wouldn’t buy:

Horror or true crime.

Best thing you’ve ever done:

Finished a book!

Biggest mistake:

Choosing the wrong date in the Amazon system when setting up the pre-order for my book! Only one revision is allowed – so I landed unexpectedly on a January 17th release date!

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

I don’t think I can say it here.

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

That I did the same research as my FMC to write my book!

About Luce:

Luce Sutherland has been reading juicy, erotic romance since before it was mainstream... when you couldn’t hide behind a Kindle, and you had to bring the illicit book to the register - and be judged by the cashier.

When those books became harder to come by, she resorted to writing her own stories about dominant, delicious, alpha heroes and the bold, sassy heroines they aimed to tame.

Luce lives with her own alpha husband in the Sunshine state, even though she gets sunburned walking from the car to the grocery store.

She is passionate about living each day to the fullest, which includes nurturing authentic friendships, savoring Maui coffee, and indulging in Scottish gin. Luce is also a devoted advocate for the benefits of self-care.

Her motto is LIVE LIFE JUICY - and you can find out more by signing up for her juicy blog.

Let’s Be Social:

Website:  https://lucesutherland.com/   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087012444165   

(Luce Sutherland Writes)   

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

Blog:  https://lucesutherland.com/blog/  

#WriterWednesday with Jonni Jordyn

I’d like to welcome Jonni Jordyn back to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Lately, I’ve been working to resume a novel that I set aside a few months ago as I prepared my previous books for new releases under my new imprint (publishing company). I have an outline, but still, picking up where I left off has proved challenging. I haven’t yet fully recovered the muse that took me through the story, and I have become painfully aware of how much I need to get that internal drive going. Until I fully recover it, I’m basically just filling out a form of what happens in the various scenes. This is not a disaster. I will go through the whole book again to flesh out some of the background and fill in details and “fluff” to what I’ve written. When I say fluff, I mean how far I go to describe the color of her dress, if I do at all.

Things that hamper your writing: distractions and interruptions, of course, but this time of year, a simple cold could hamper the clarity of my thoughts, especially if I’m taking cold medications.

A few of your favorite things: It’s the holidays and I’m a sucker for Christmas romcoms. I especially love stories of princes and princesses, Cinderella plots, and anything in Scotland so I can just listen to them talk.

Things you need to throw out: Shoes. On the one hand, a girl can’t have too many shoes, but I need to get rid of some to make room for new ones.

Favorite foods: My favorite breakfast sandwich is a scrambled egg with butter and jelly. It's sweet rather than savory, but it's my favorite start before my morning writing routine.

Things that make you want to gag: peach and apricot jam. It's a mental thing. When I was 5, my mother wouldn't believe that I could swallow a pill, especially the enormous penicillin pill they prescribed me, so she smashed it in a spoon and mixed it with apricot jam. Have you ever tasted penicillin? Nothing good can cover that hideous flavor. Add in my hypersensitive taste and smell and to this day, I can't allow those jams anywhere near my mouth.

Favorite music or song: “Windmills of Your Mind” as sung by Sting is one I will always stop what I’m doing to listen to.

Music that drives you crazy: “It’s a small world.” Disneyland was torture when walking past that ride, and my family loved pushing that button.

Things you’d walk a mile for: I don't mind walking, so there's not much I wouldn't walk a mile for.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: I am uncomfortable in loud crowded parties and may need to find a quiet spot to overcome the sensory overload.

Things you always put in your books: I always put some kind of a romantic thread in my books. It may just be a tiny casual relationship, or an enemy to friends or lovers romance.

Things you never put in your books: I have yet to put any kind of gratuitous sex or violence in my books. If I include scenes of sexual assault, they are not explicit and they are only their to paint just how evil the antagonist is.

Favorite places you’ve been: I went skiing in Vancouver at the Whistler & Blackcomb mountains. As a skiing adventure, these mountains provided one mile of vertical elevation, but I remember standing on top of the glacier and looking into its blue depths at my feet. I would love to return some day.

Places you never want to go to again: There are many wonderful things to see and do in New Orleans, but I went to Mardi Gras once, and I had no problem with flashing tops to get beads or some of the other shenanigans that went on there, but I was kind of disgusted that the gutters were actually flowing with spilled alcoholic beverages and vomit.

Favorite books (or genre): I tend to gravitate towards fantasy and sci fi, but I prefer books that only use the genre as a vehicle to advance a story that is about the people and their relationships. I don’t often delve into high fantasy, but the hobbit series was an exception. The 2001 series was pretty hard sci fi, but the story was about the personalities of HAL and Bowman.

Books you wouldn’t buy: I don't read horror. Stephen King's Thinner and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes may be as close as I come.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I responded to a woman on a dating app who was nothing like the women I had connected with. I don’t know what prompted my finger to like her. It was kind of other worldly as I sent her a nice introduction. It wasn’t the last thing that I had done that was out of character for me. We clicked and are going strong, but I don’t know where I got the gusto to initially contact her.

Something you chickened out from doing: I was in the sixth grade and new to a school at the start of my first semester there. I was invited to a party. I don’t party, but I went hoping I would make friends there. After some food, introductions and gossip, they wanted to play spin the bottle, but I totally made up some story about having to get home. Total chicken.

The funniest thing to happen to you: I was skiing with a friend and we took a turn down a trail that looked empty, except the trail fell off into a steep slope covered by a ground fog that was indistinguishable from the groomed slopes and made it look relatively mild. We survived and laughed.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: I was in the fourth grade and at dinner one night, my father was quizzing us and asked what the capital of Portugal was, and I quickly responded, “Lesbian! Oooops. Lisbon.”

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: I wrote a queer novel about a lesbian couple that had to go to Texas to accept an inheritance. My granddaughter totally knew which one was patterned after me.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I wrote a mystery about musicians and an older band that describes many facets of life as a musician in one of my novels. In it, all the musicians are modeled after some of my bandmates, but the keyboard player is not really about me.

About Jonni:

Jonni Jordyn, born in Oakland, Ca, started out playing music at age two, and moved on to singing and acting in grade school. High School introduced writing and film making followed by drawing and photography in college. In other words, she had a VERY LIBERAL arts education.

Jonni published some poetry and some india ink drawings in literary magazines while in college, won critical acclaim for her acting in a cabaret theater, but was faced with a decision to pick out the arts she wanted to pursue.

Of all the available opportunities, music and song writing won the first round when she found herself performing with legendary stars of the sixties and seventies.

Round two began years later, after leaving California for Arizona. It all started with a blank piece of paper and the question, "how can I possibly write more than eleven thousand words for a single story?" A valid question which was followed up a year later with, "How did I ever write 160,000 words?"

Now, the writing comes much easier, but still there are questions like, "How will I ever get all these ideas written down?" followed closely by, "How many times can I edit the same book?"

Jonni currently lives in Colorado with her bird.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: Books by internationally read author John Kovacich

#WriterWednesday with Mary Ann Miller

I’d like to welcome Mary Ann Miller to the blog for #WriterWednesdsay.

Things I never want to run out of: ice cream.

Things I wish I never bought: crappy luggage.

Hardest thing about being a writer: naming things. People, streets, restaurants, anything that requires a name. I will admit to using the internet to help me with restaurants. I google popular names, make a list, say them aloud, and pick one or change one to better reflect my novel.

Easiest thing about being a writer: writing the rough draft. At this stage of writing, it’s exciting to know the story can go anywhere. Thoughts come out of nowhere and some make it into the book.

Something I’m really good at: gardening. I lived in the Midwest my entire life except for the last five years and learning a new ecosystem has been a challenge, but I’m getting there. In March, I planted eighteen-inch elephant ears and by mid-August they were six feet tall. I had to dig them up and transplant them because they covered the front of the house.

Something I’m really bad at: cooking. I hate to cook and I’m terrible at it. Just ask my husband or my kids.

Last best thing/worst thing I ate: In December 2023, I got Covid for the fourth time and lost my sense of taste and smell. Both are coming back slowly and food either tastes disgusting, not so disgusting or has no taste at all. I have been surprised at what tastes awful. Chocolate, bananas, bread, bacon all taste the same and they’re terrible. I search for foods that have no taste and when I find them, I eat them until they too, taste terrible.

Last thing I ordered online: Ty Beanie Babies for my six grandchildren.

Last thing I regret buying: white cushions for the patio furniture. The mold and mildew in Florida is unbelievable.

Things to say to an author: I love your book.

Things not to say to an author: Your book was boring. I couldn’t finish it.

Favorite places: Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece

Places I never want to go again: China.

People I’d like to invite for dinner: Louise Penny. I’d like to pick her brain about creating fictional small towns. She has readers who ask where Three Pines is and can they visit. That’s a writer’s dream.

Cancel dinner: Sean Diddy.

The nicest thing a reader said to me: my brother, Ed is an introvert, but he has come to both book launches. After the Cracks Beneath the Surface book launch, he sent me a text “You should write more books. That was a fun party.”

Craziest thing a reader said to me: “I’m glad you don’t write stupid books.”

Real-life story that made it into a book: In Cracks Beneath the Surface, my main character, Sheriff Jhonni Laurent is in the kitchen of Aubrey Holmes, daughter of the victim and they’re talking about chocolate cake. Laurent says that her mother used to put mayo in her cake because it keeps the cake moist. I had a neighbor who did that, too.

Something readers think is about me, but it’s not: batting cages. In my youth and even later into my forties, I was active in sports. Either playing, coaching, or refereeing soccer, volleyball, softball. One of my characters, Stacy Simmons, is the softball homerun champion. I never hit a homerun. I wish I had.

About Mary Ann:

Mary Ann Miller currently lives in Florida with her husband, where she is working on the third novel in the Sheriff Jhonni Laurent series. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northern Illinois University and earned a paralegal certificate with Roosevelt University. Miller is a member of MWA, ITW, and Sisters in Crime and when not writing, can be found reading poolside or hosting family and friends fleeing the cold winters of the north.

Let’s Be Social:

Website:https://maryannmillerauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormaryann/

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/148508877-mary-ann-miller

Twitter/X: https://x.com/mary_mille12370

#WriterWednesday with E. J. Copperman

I’d like to welcome E. J. Copperman to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you never want to run out of: Raisinets. Diet Coke. My spouse. Not in that order.

Things you wish you’d never bought: A pressure cooker. A 1980 Mustang II. My last bicycle.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Promotion. Convincing people you tell a good story.

Easiest thing about being a writer: The commute is great.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My iMac. That’s about it.

Things that hamper your writing: Loudness from the street behind me. Running out of ideas.

A few of your favorite things: Sony noise-canceling headphones. My Takamine 12-string. Rubber Soul. A copy of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum signed by Larry Gelbart.

Things you need to throw out: My old desk chair. Half the stuff in the basement. 4-million cords to electronic devices I don’t use.

Words that describe you: Short, curly-haired, rarely serious.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Short, overweight, undisciplined.

Something you’re really good at: Listening

Something you’re really bad at: Playing the piano.

Things you always put in your books: Jokes

Things you never put in your books: Dogs in danger.

Things to say to an author: I have a question about a book of yours I read. This thing in your book made me laugh. I really enjoy your work. Or… anything you want to say. Except…

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: You know what you should write next?

Favorite places you’ve been: Rome. Paris. California.

Places you never want to go to again: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Mel Brooks. Michelle Obama. Ringo Starr.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Must we get political?

Best thing you’ve ever done: Josh and Eve

Biggest mistake: Spending 20 years on unsold screenplays.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “My husband escaped the Twin Towers on 9/11 and years later, yours was the first book he could read all the way through.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Are you a man or a woman?”

About E. J.:

E.J. Copperman is a figment of someone’s imagination. Writing the Jersey Girl Legal Mystery series and the Fran and Ken Stein (say the names fast) series, E.J. also has been responsible for the Haunted Guesthouse mysteries, the Agent to the Paws mysteries, the Asperger’s mysteries (with Jeff Cohen) and the Mysterious Detective mysteries, among others. The books are meant to be funny and engaging, and if they’re not for you, feel free to blame E.J., who lives and works in New Jersey because someone has to.

#WriterWednesday with Russell Little

I’d like to welcome Russell Little to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: In Murder for Me, the story of Larry Lamb is real, as insane as that answer sounds. The character goes through a book long struggle trying to determine what is real, struggling to maintain a sense of reality. I cannot reveal any more, you’ll just have to read it yourself.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: O.C. Simms, the detective in Murder By Storm that is chasing Marilyn through the hurricane, readers assume that’s a character that I base on myself, but it’s not. This created character was inspired by a close friend that has all of the features that I write in the book, I just exaggerate to make the humorous point. By the way, he doesn’t understand what’s funny about the character I write about him.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Mountain climbing. I know that doesn’t sound ‘creative’, but for me it was. I am afraid of heights, so I forced myself to face my fears. And sitting on a ledge of a mountain, having a sandwich as you watch the sun rise, was one of the most beautiful things in my life.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Learning to weld. I’d planned on becoming a sculpture welder and when I started lessons, I quickly learned that I wasn’t tough enough to do what I’d planned. It’s incredibly difficult. But it is also magnificent to weld. Anyway, I’m not a sculpture welder.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “Why’d you have to do that to the lawyer?” I was at a Bar function for lunch one day and an elderly attorney walked up to me upset. He’d read Murder For Me, and he wanted an answer to why I’d written what I had. I considered it an incredible compliment. I had made him think about what I had written. Feel it. Think about it long enough that when he saw me, he grabbed my arm and asked what he did. I’ll never forget that.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Why’d you make the street thug curse so much?” I was shocked. He’s a street thug. As characters develop multi-dimensionally, their language tracks who they are. He’s a street thug.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Travelers. I’ve traveled around the world, and I truly love having dinner with brave travelers. I get to hear tales of places I haven’t been and things I hadn’t thought to try. A conversation with one of these people years ago inspired me to start my traveling, and I’ll always be grateful.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Judgers. Can’t stand them. I’m not talking about the way we all are to some extent. I’m talking about those that put judging in overdrive. We all know those people. They’re not my people.

Favorite books: Proust. He wrote seven books, and they are all my favorite. Before I travel to a new country, I read the literature from there that won the Nobel Prize, or other awards. Like before I traveled through Japan, I read Snow Country.

Books I wouldn’t buy: Anything written according to a form, like much of the popular multi-series authors do now. They have a whole group of writers spitting out books according to a formula and they put their name on it. Not interested.

Favorite places you’ve been: The Amalfi Coast. It really is as beautiful as you could dream of. And the food, I had a pizza that made me sad because I had lived my life up to that point without knowing what a great piece of pizza really tasted like.

Places you never want to go to again: The Ganges River at Varanasi, India. Being there, floating on the river, seeing 500,000 people on the banks chanting, and fires cremating corpses, changed my life. I couldn’t believe that I got to see it and be a part of it before I died. I won’t do it a second time.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A great Old Fashioned. There’s not many bartenders that can actually make a great one, and I’ll go across town to one if I know about them.

Things that make you want to run screaming from a room: Hallmark movies. When Christmas gets near, my wife starts watching them. And, by the way, my running screaming from the room does not please her.

The last thing you ordered online: Ton Brady’s Vegan protein powder. I’m a vegetarian now at the orders of my cardiologist, so that’s how I get daily protein.

The last thing you regret buying. I just bought a leather backpack that looked great online. It’s not even here yet, and I already regret buying it. So, not so good.

Last thing you ate: At a great Atlanta restaurant I had a Thai salad that I dipped in Tabasco sauce. It was great, but I had to use sauce to kick the spice level up.

The last thing you regret eating: The same salad. That sauce gave me heart burn all night.

Something you’re really good at: Reading people. I spent my career reading people. I practiced trial law for 41 years, so you can imagine.

Something you’re really bad at: Assembling something that comes in pieces from the store. I also can’t seem to assemble or sit up tents. Ask my wife. She does it, and she’s good at it. I just hold the tools!

About Russell:

Russell G. Little is a writer and practicing divorce attorney. Murder for Me is a fictionalized compilation of the many people he’s encountered over his lifetime and thirty-two-year career.

He lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife of thirty-two years, Melinda.

Let’s Be Social:

http://russelllittleauthor.com

#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.

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