#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with VK Tritschler

I’d like to welcome author, VK Tritschler, to the blog for this edition of #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things:

I have an old moose-hide jacket from my Uncle which is one of my favorite things. He gave it to me many years ago, and I have traipsed it with me around the world. I love the delicate beading work, and the softness of the leather. But also, I love that this is a jacket that had stories. It’s so old I can almost feel them woven into the fabric. The other thing I have that I love is my little shelf of old books I have collected. These are mostly well-known collectables like Dickens and Austen, but I do have a couple random poetry collections. I got a special shelf just for them.

Things you need to throw out:

Most of my clothes! I am not a person who invests a lot of time on appearance, because I don’t see value in the exterior of anything outside of my book covers, but I do like comfortable easy to wear things which I then use to the point of no return.

Things you need for your writing sessions:

I don’t have anything specific that I need for a writing session except for my laptop. I have written in cafes, on beaches, in the car and at home. I don’t have any must-have requirements as I am fortunate to have a brain that can expel thoughts without prompting.

Things that hamper your writing:

A busy environment can be both a blessing and a hamper. On one side a busy coffee shop gives me amazing ideas and thoughts for characters and personality traits, but on the other side it can be distracting and drag away from the plotline taking the story on a whole new tangent. But the worst hamper for me is time! Ah, for that blessed moment that I can grab from an otherwise hectic schedule. That is what I dream of.

Things you love about writing:

Writing is for me what watching movies or listening to music is for others. It allows my mind to wander to places outside of the daily grind and gives me a chance to explore the potential that the world around me presents. I am never bored when I am writing, which is a wonderful feeling.

Things you hate about writing:

I hate that it can feel competitive and that it makes me doubt my own abilities. I can read or hear another author’s story and think to myself, gosh, that was wonderful I wish I could write like that. But I think all authors feel that way. In all of us there is an expectation of being better or doing better. I think that in itself is what drives us forward and makes us work at our craft.

Things you never want to run out of:

Coffee and imagination. I cannot imagine a world without either, and I hope I never have to experience that.

Things you wish you’d never bought:

I wish I had never brought a Smart watch because a) it constantly reminds me of things that I put into my diary but was deliberately trying to forget was coming up (i.e. major deadlines) and b) it’s always telling me to breath or move, both of which I think I do plenty of since I am actually still alive. Still, despite being the most item I have ever worn, it does keep me on track. Ugh.

Something you wish you could do:

Travel. I mean I know technically you can now, but who has the extra energy or time for all the subsidiary nonsense? I yearn for a day when you can buy a ticket that morning, jump on a plane that afternoon, and wake up in a foreign country without a single quarantine rule. Ah, the blissful memories.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do:

Be good at everything I do at my full-time job. Sometimes I wish I was a little less good, and a little more hopeless, because I feel like then I would get designated less and have more time to write!

Something you like to do:

I like to escape. Life, the world, my family occasionally. I love my own company and I have a craving for adventures. Together me, myself and I, get into all kinds of mischief. So, if I can’t do that in the real world, I will do it via my books.

Something you wish you’d never done:

Gotten older. The best part about being young is that you don’t understand what life is yet. You have all that potential to make mistakes, do things wrong, and generally be a mess, and you have no idea of what that means long-term. You live in the now! God, I miss that.

Things you always put in your books:

Romance, relationships, discovery, and renewed understanding. These are the things I find more relevant to life and living, and these are the things therefore that each of my books have. Regardless of the genre.

Things you never put in your books:

I was going to say violence, but that’s not entirely true. I do have some fight scenes which are quite dramatic. I guess rape, would be one I refuse to write. A person’s body in my humble opinion is their own temple and is sacred, and there is no storyline in which I can justify the violation of that.

Things to say to an author:

Hi, my name is…let’s just start with that. Authors are people, and like all people we like to get to know you. Don’t be shy, and if you have a question, ask! Chances are if we don’t know the answer, we will make one up, so you might be the only person in the world that finds that out.

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

Don’t introduce yourself. Troll them on social media about how rubbish their books are. And tell them that you will only like their work if they (insert random storyline you desire). There is nothing that will kill imagination faster than parameters.

Things that make you happy:

Driving in my car with music blaring and the sun shining. The start of a new book (either reading it or writing it). When I have time to be myself.

Things that drive you crazy:

People doing dumb stuff. Hatred for hatred’s sake. Having an amazing story idea and nothing to write it down on. Dreams – refer to the last!

About VK:

VK Tritschler is the definition of very busy. Having both a fulltime job, a growing family and a career as an author she has a lot going on both around her and in her imagination. She lives on the amazing Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, having moved there from her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. Her family consists of a very patient husband, two rampant boys, and too many pets to mention.

She has a wonderful set of amazing writers who support her in the form of Eyre Writers, and in return, she offers crowd control services for the Youth section who are the future best-selling Australian authors.

Her first book “The Secret Life of Sarah Meads” was released in 2018 and since then she has participated in the NYC Writing Challenge, the Clunes Booktown, and helped organize and run the Eyre Writers Festival.

Let’s Be Social:

www.vktritschler.com

www.facebook.com/vktritschler

www.twitter.com/vktritschler

www.goodreads.com/vktritschler

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with George Cramer

Please help me welcome author George Cramer to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: My handwriting, and yes, I still write in cursive, is so bad, I need a laptop. Add a flat service and comfortable straight-back chair, and I’m set. I can be at my desk, kitchen table, library, or even a coffee shop. Conversations don’t bother me.

Things that hamper your writing: Artificial sounds, music, radio, or television.

Things you love about writing: The ability, or in my case, the hope of using written words to paint a picture another person can experience in such a way as to place themselves in the setting and scene.

Things you hate about writing: Searching for the right colors (words) to paint that perfect scene.

The hardest thing about being a writer: Sitting down and writing that first word.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Being able to take on any project that allows me to avoid sitting down and writing that first word. My biggest escape from creating new material is to self-critique and edit my already written work.

Words that describe you: Easy to work with and open to new ideas and thoughts.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: According to my wife (and kids), I am the most hardheaded, stubborn human.

Favorite foods: Liver and Onions with bacon. Next favorite is an In-and-Out protein burger with cheese and onions only.

Things that make you want to gag: Mayonnaise.

Things you always put in your books: A variation of something I experienced in life.

Things you never put in your books: Incidents that would embarrass me or others.

Things to say to an author: I enjoyed your latest book and wrote a review.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I didn’t like your book, and I wrote several reviews.

Favorite places you’ve been: Glacier National Park and riding my Harley-Davidson up Going-To-The-Sun-Road. This side trip is often connected to the rides to and from Sturgis, South Dakota. I’ve made several detours through Ouray, Colorado, to ride the Million-Dollar-Highway on U.S. 550, a spur of U.S. 50.

Places you never want to go to again: Jamacia—Nuff said.

Favorite books (or genre): My favorite book is challenging. I like Bernard Cornwell’s immensely. But that is strictly for fun. Among my favorites for content and impact, I would have to include Hard Times: For These Times by Charles Dickens in 1854; and The Stranger the 1942 novella by Albert Camus. I was not a fan of his until I read a few of his works while studying for an MFA at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Books you wouldn’t buy Horror stories by authors like Stephen King. Fantastic craftsmanship, but no scary horror for this reader.

The most daring thing you’ve ever done: I suffer from fear of heights (acrophobia). I even suffer anxiety and fear while watching movies. The daring thing I’ve done is Zip Lining. I shake, going up the tower and on the platform. However, the second I clamp on, the fear evaporates, and I jump. I love it.

Something you chickened out from doing: My oldest son is a commercial diver. I wanted to share the experience with him, even though I don’t know how to swim. I signed up for scuba lessons and faked it until I got on a dive boat. When it came time for the first open water dive, I got in the water and froze. Getting back in the boat, I cursed myself for being such a ^^%$^ coward. When the other divers started their second dive, I went in and found it exhilarating.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Joel McRae. Mr. McRae was an American Actor who most of your readers have never heard of.

The celebrity who didn’t look like they did in pictures/video: Eve Arden. Ms. Arden was an actress who passed away in 1990. She was even more beautiful in real life than on the screen.

About George:

An enrolled descendant of the Karuk Tribe of California, George Cramer brings forty years of investigative experience to crime and historical fiction. He earned an MFA-Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

George conducted and managed thousands of successful investigations throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. An expert in Interviewing, he kept his skills honed by volunteering as a Missing Person’s investigator at the San Leandro, California, Police Department.

George’s debut novel, The Mona Lisa Sisters, was published in 2020. He contributes to several anthologies and the Veteran’s Writing Project.

He is a member of Crime Writers of Color, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, California Writers Club, and the Public Safety Writers Association.

Besides writing, his love is a long-distance motorcycle riding on his 2001 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic.

Let’s Be Social:

Email: gdcramer@msn.com

Website: https://gdcramer.com

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/george.cramer.56211/

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

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Diane Zinna

I’d like to welcome author Diane Zinna to #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things: Fresh notebooks, speckled paper clips, soft flannel pillowcases, the Schmigadoon! soundtrack, and hygge time at night reading with my daughter.

Things you need to throw out: Boxes I tend to save because they’re so sturdy and could be good for something, someday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My laptop, ice water, quiet time in my car. (I mostly write in the front seat of my car.)

Things that hamper your writing: Wi-Fi.

Things you love about writing: How it feels like the core of me.

Things you hate about writing: How sometimes I need reading glasses on top of reading glasses.

Things you never want to run out of: Seltzer, sharpened pencils, side doors into my hardest stories.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Those Tik-Tok leggings.

Something you’re really good at: Duolingo Korean lessons
Something you’re really bad at: Speaking in Korean

Something you wish you could do: Sing in something more than a lullaby voice.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Reject help from others and do everything myself.

Something you like to do: Ice skate. Why don’t I ice skate anymore?
Something you wish you’d never done: As a teenager, I threw away stacks of diaries from childhood. I can still remember the day I stupidly tossed them all in a dumpster and shouted, “I don’t need these! I’m a different person now!”

Best thing you’ve ever done: Left my last job.
Biggest mistake: Believing that a company was like a family.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Bungee jumped at Action Park (see harrowing documentary, “Class Action Park”).
Something you chickened out from doing: Speaking before the UN.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: The writer Grace Paley. We browsed the aisles of a Florida Walgreens together, picked out cheap earrings and lawn chairs, and drove around town.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: The lovely Catherine Keener, who I saw browsing a wood furniture store in the Smoky Mountains.

Things you always put in your books: Grief, travel, new love, sweet dogs, my soul.
Things you never put in your books: Sarcasm, cynicism, the word “anal” (until recently).

The craziest thing a reader said to you: After reading a fictional passage about sickly tigers that skulk away alone into the jungle forever, my mother-in-law said she finally understood me.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: That my acknowledgements felt like a letter in a bottle from one writer to another.

About Diane:

Diane Zinna received her MFA from the University of Florida and has taught creative writing for more than a decade. She leads her popular "Grief Writing Sundays" every week for writers of all levels of experience. The All-Night Sun, her first novel, was longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Cabell First Novelist Award. Originally from Long Island, Diane lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and doodle. 

Let’s Be Social:

Website: dianezinna.com

Twitter and Instagram: @dianezinna  

Book Title: The All-Night Sun (Random House, 2020) 

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with D. A. Andrews

I’d like to welcome author, D. A. Andrews to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: I like coffee, my cat Luna, and currently New Girl.

Things you need to throw out: I definitely need to throw out a lot of old clothes, but I am sort of a hoarder and attach too many memories to things.

Things you need for your writing sessions: coffee and that elusive inspiration fairy

Things that hamper your writing: depression

Things you love about writing: How cathartic it is

Things you hate about writing: Chasing inspiration

Things you never want to run out of: Coffee

Things you wish you’d never bought: my treadmill haha

Favorite foods: anything you can make from a potato!

Things that make you want to gag: liver!

Favorite beverage: coffee

Something that gives you a sour face: porridge!

Something you’re really good at: writing

Something you’re really bad at: painting! I wish I was so much better at it!

Favorite places you’ve been: Denver, CO, Portland, OR and Savannah, GA

Places you never want to go to again: Don’t hate me! But maybe New York!

Favorite books (or genre): YA!

Books you wouldn’t buy: Science fiction

Favorite things to do: lounge around, travel, listen to audio books

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: washing the dishes!

Things that make you happy: cats, books, me, my boyfriend

Things that drive you crazy: I have really bad road rage, so driving definitely drives me crazy.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I want you all to know, that I hate this style of writing verse. I will say that every time I read a book that writes verse this way, because it bothers me. Sometimes so much, that it destroys the enjoyment. Especially if the poems themselves aren't anything special.

After I read the first poem I feared, that this collection would share the same fate. But I was wrong. Yes, the style still bothered me, but the words and themes reached my heart. Especially since I'm picky when it comes to love poems. In theory, I'm a romantic. But most love poems are just too sugar sunshine rainbow for me. These ones felt more real. Like something a normal human being would feel, something I could relate to. They were really nice. The ones about loss too.

I was not on board with every poem, but I can't deny that they are all nicely written.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Probably the same thing haha

About D. A.:

D. A. Andrews was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Throughout the years, she has developed wide interests in various aspects of life, such as coffee, weddings, books, and psychology. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus with a BSc. in Marine Biology and Psychology (Honours) and is currently pursuing her MBA. She considers herself a nomad at heart and has changed cities and apartments quite as often as she changes her clothes. She is currently resting her head in Brunswick, Georgia, with her black cat (and familiar), Luna.

Let’s Be Social:

https://www.goodreads.com/dayandrews_

twitter.com/daandrews_

https://www.tiktok.com/@daandrews_?

instagram.com/daandrews_

facebook.com/authordaandrews

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with M. J. Preston

I’d like to welcome author M. J. Preston to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things:

I’m a dog owner, I have two beagles, Milo, and Jake, they are my favorite two things. Oh wait? Pizza and nachos are edging toward being my even more favorite two things.

Things you need to throw out:

You know, Jake and Milo aren’t as good as pizza and nachos, and they’re tearing around the house. I better throw them out before an incident occurs.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Finding time. Time is the something all writers need. How much we can dedicate to our craft is dependent on its availability, so it’s paramount. The march toward the great big morgue slab waits for no one.

Easiest thing about being a writer:

The first draft of anything! Novel, short story It’s that first incoherent drunken half-pitched stumble to the finish line! There is nothing more euphoric than the buzz I get when a story unfolds, it’s like pain free birthing. There is something that happens when I set my mind to writing, I am overtaken by a muse, who is a whispering miserable bastard, but he’s the best in the business for me. I transform when I write, going from “me” to a key-tapping-zombie falling headlong down the rabbit hole. Once I’m there, I have the keys, until the story is told. Then it’s yours.

Words that describe you:

Given my background in the military, I’ve been called a lot of things, but those that are genuine would be: Fun, friendly, supportive, dependable.

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

Too trusting, and wears heart on sleeve. Not my heart, mind you. I’d be dead. I generally get a human heart off the black market, also known as Amazon, they’re relatively affordable and they don’t start to decompose for about a week.

Favorite foods:

I love all sorts of food. I think spaghetti has always been my-go-to. I love Italian cuisine, but I really dig a wide variety of foods from Mexican to Chinese. I cook a traditional-bastardized Chicken Chow Mein. It’s a hit around these digs.

Things that make you want to gag:

Mushrooms, I cannot stomach them. Mushrooms literally make me gag. From the first time I tried one in 1972, I rolled that alien gizzard around in my mouth until I could distract the cook and spit it in the garbage. Since that day, I have moved woefully through the culinary world avoiding the fungus that grows in sh!t. Think about the last five words of the sentence you just read. Why would you put that in your mouth?

Favorite music or song:

I’m all over the place in my music these days, in that I could be listening to All them Witches, belting out Alabaster or grooving to the rhythmic beat of Eminem rapping a story about an obsessed fan in, Stan. Music is a very big part of the creation process for me, it is the soundtrack to the story I’m telling. Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Black Angels, Johnny Cash, Metallica… I could keep going.

Music that drives you crazy:

Techno music. I’d rather gargle with mule pee laced with light bulb glass, than have that stuff rolling around in my head.

Favorite beverage:

Beer.

Something that gives you a sour face:

Politicians, even after many beers.

Favorite smell:

Cedar.

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Sauerkraut farts, they are the worst. [No more questions about that.]

Something you wish you could do:

Play guitar.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do:

Operating an interstellar, dimensional and time shifting, universe jumper. If I had a nickel for every time, I get a call from this secret society or that, and at all hours of the night, wanting to do a fundraising brunch in the corner of hell. It really interrupts my schedule, but it does pay the bills.

Something you like to do:

Psst. I like writing. 😉

Something you wish you’d never done:

I wish the hell I’d stayed off that grassy knoll. People just won’t let that go.

The last thing you ordered online:

Sanding discs for a drywall sander. [No, the basement isn’t finished yet.]

The last thing you regret buying:

We bought a patio set. I wanted to buy a t-shirt gun, but oh, no. “Mrs. Preston kept mentioning what happened to Ned Flanders wife on The Simpson’s so patio set it was. Ned’s wife was killed by a t-shirt gun. Practicality trumps coolness. Not cool at all.

Things you always put in your books:

I usually include a soldier or a trucker as a character somewhere in my books. I did not realize I did this until I revisited my work years later. This was unconscious, until now, thanks for ruining that by the way.

Things you never put in your books:

Now, this is sort of embarrassing, but I will never put a piece of smoked salmon in a book ever again. After a while it, roughly five minutes, the book begins smell fishy. Also, it leaves an oily stain on the pages which if you’re shipping internationally causes all sorts of grief. Because of the fish, the FDA must be involved, and let me tell you those goose steppers have zero sense of humor. Worst marketing idea I ever had.

Things to say to an author:

Anything pertaining to their stories. MJ you’re awesome. Your last story. Total fricken genius!

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

You know Stephen King wrote a story that was way better than this. [Guaranteed death by dismemberment.]

Favorite places you’ve been:

The Northwest Territories and the east coast of North America from New Brunswick to Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. I have met and know so many cool people in all these places.

Places you never want to go to again:

New Jersey. The cops there are way too serious.

Favorite books (or genre):

Everything except…

Books you wouldn’t buy:

Nothing personal, but romance ain’t my thing.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):

Joe R. Lansdale, Robert R. McCammon, Jonathan Mayberry, Gene O’Neill, Bill Burr, and Bob Barker. Bob would get a free meal, but it would be a working dinner as he would be required to call the guests down to podiums where they’d make bids on their dinner.

People you’d cancel dinner on:

I know this will be devastating for Stephen King, but not because I don’t like him. Sometimes you gotta knock people down a couple pegs. And let’s face it, even the King of Horror needs a little humbling every now and again. Imagine his angst standing at my door, a bottle of cheap Maine wine in his hand, while me and the boys are ignoring him and playing Perogy Plinko for real money. Sorry Steve O, you just aren’t cool enough for us cats today!

Favorite things to do:

Hugging my grandkids.

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

I run through fires and eat bugs all day long, it’s a thing now. Can you rephrase the question? Perhaps, insert gargling with Mushroom extract infused with the stuff that comes out of an infected anal gland? Never mind, I forgot the question.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

It was a librarian. She said, “I like how you put words together.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again. Thank you, FBI Swat.

About M. J.:

M.J. Preston’s debut novel: THE EQUINOX, published in 2012, was a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Awards and rated a solid straight horror novel by a reviewer at Publisher’s Weekly.

His second novel: ACADIA EVENT, published in 2015, was inspired by his time running the world longest ice road, as an ice road trucker, in the Canada’s Northwest Territories. It is set to be re-released with his publisher, WildBlue Press.

His third novel: HIGHWAYMAN, a thriller, was published July 02, 2019 with WildBlue Press. He has also published scores of short stories in anthologies around the world. In addition to writing, MJ is an artist and an amateur photographer.

The sequel to Highwayman, titled: FOUR, became available for purchase on the 25th of February 2020.

He resides in Alberta, Canada with his wife, Stormy and beagles, Jake and Milo.

Let's Be Social:

Visit him online:

His website: http://mjpreston.net

His Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mj.preston.9/

His Twitter: https://twitter.com/MJPreston1

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Allie Marie

I’d like to welcome author, Allie Marie, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: My imagination, a cup of hot tea or glass of iced tea (depending on the weather), and access to the internet to research every five minutes

Things that hamper your writing: Playing Candy Crush, getting writer refusal (as opposed to writer’s block! It’s those days that I just refuse to write the unexciting but crucial scene until I’m ready.)

Things you love about writing: The chance to put my imagination into words that people enjoy reading

Things you hate about writing: The slow process of editing and publishing the book once written.

Hardest thing about being a writer: For me, it’s the dry spells of writing while tending to the aspects of everyday life.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Having an overactive imagination from which there is a never-ending flow of ideas. I should live long enough to write all the stories begging to be told!

Something you’re really good at: Word games, spelling

Something you’re really bad at: Any advanced math. Don’t like it, never will, which is why I am a writer.

Something you wish you could do: Travel more. And more!

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Get on social media

Things you’d walk a mile for: Family

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: TV commercials. They get more annoying or downright gross every day.

Favorite places you’ve been: I’ve been lucky to travel extensively in the US and overseas. Favorite places were Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Prague

Places you never want to go to again: The hospital.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marrying my husband

Biggest mistake: Loaning money that was never paid back ☹

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Flown solo in an airplane (and landed safely!!!)

Something you chickened out from doing: I haven’t really chickened out of anything yet, but the one thing I would chicken out of is bungee-jumping.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I loved your books and felt like I was right there in the scene with the characters.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Are the ghosts in your stories real?”

About Allie:

Award-winning author Allie Marie grew up in Virginia, where her favorite childhood pastime was reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries. She never expected to grow up to be a real-life police officer herself. Eventually work her way up through the ranks, Allie retired - four times - as her experiences kept leading her to other law enforcement adventures in the US as well as overseas.

After her final “retirement,” Allie soon embarked on a quest to fulfill a long-time dream—to write mysteries and crime thrillers. She was derailed from those mystery plans, however, when she began researching her family tree. Inspired by ancestors she discovered, she began The True Colors Series, a paranormal mystery series with modern local settings and colonial history, which has garnered multiple awards and leads to a spinoff collection, The True Spirits Trilogy. The first book in the trilogy is Barley and Lace, scheduled to release in January 2022, which recently placed second in the FILNE Founders Contest.

Her standalone historical, Return to Afton Square, again with modern local settings, but this time involves a WW1 mystery. Not only does this story introduce the central character of the True Spirits Trilogy, it includes familiar characters from the original series.

She has contributed short stories to the ’Tis the Season Sweet Romance Novelettes and the bestselling Feisty Heroines Romance Collection of Short Stories. She has contributed her first murder mystery to the anthology Murder by the Glass Cocktail Mysteries.

Those other mystery stories? They still patiently wait for their turn.

Besides family, her passions are travel anywhere, and camping with her husband Jack.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Allie-Marie/e/B017MXZSUO/

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Zachary Hagen

I’d like to welcome author, Zachary Hagen to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: My computer and a good playlist.

Things that hamper your writing: I love her, but my wife. She can be very distracting because she loves to talk while I’m concentrating on my books sometimes.

Things you love about writing: I love the freedoms to create and discover new things or put fresh takes on old ones.

Things you hate about writing: I hate that it’s not faster. I want to find out more about my world and characters as much as my readers do, but I’m only human and have to go at a human pace when I write my books.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Hearing what other people want you to do in your books or hearing fan theories because some really work and others would throw the story off a cliff.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Solitude in the moment of creation. When a stroke of inspiration hits me, it’s like I’m alone in the world.

Things you never want to run out of: After COVID, I never want to face a day without toilet paper.

Things you wish you’d never bought: I had a Kinect for Xbox 360 when I was younger. It was the most frustrating thing to use.

Words that describe you: Brave, kind, tenacious.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Impatient, anxious, arrogant (at times)

Favorite smell: The sea breeze.

Something that makes you hold your nose: The fish section in Asian markets.

Something you’re really good at: I am a really great singer.

Something you’re really bad at: Sports. I have not found one I have any natural talent in.

Something you like to do: I’d love to go on a Mediterranean or Alaskan cruise.

Something you wish you’d never done: I wish I’d never taken jobs just to be employed.

Last best thing you ate: I just got back from a Disney cruise. There was a fantastic red snapper in one of the onboard restaurants, and I would go on another cruise just to eat it again.

Last thing you regret eating: Chicken wings from Dominoes. Blech!

Things you’d walk a mile for: a great experience with friends and/or family.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Bad singing and bad food.

Things you always put in your books: Distinct acts for structure.

Things you never put in your books: Diverse characters that I can’t faithfully and fairly represent. If I include them, they are researched so that I don’t offend or hurt anyone carelessly.

Favorite places you’ve been: Cozumel and Tuscany

Places you never want to go to again: There’s a little resort outside Manila in the Philippines that has no hot water. I’m never going back there.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I had a reader tell me that they are anxious to read the next book because they loved the characters so much.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: One reviewer said they’d rather read “something more fulfilling, like the Hunger Games.” I don’t even understand how you compare the two genres?

About Zachary:

Zachary Hagen is an Albuquerque based author and teacher. Writing has always been a passion for him since he was little kid when he put together little books from scrap paper. The earliest story he remembers writing was about a dragon who gave flowers to children. He also teaches creative writing to his students and loves to see their talents flourish. When he isn’t working hard at his two passions, he enjoys spending time with his wife and dog and making music any way he can. 

 Let’s Be Social:

TikTok- https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdjYKbf5/

Facebook- Zachary Hagen Writes

Website- zacharyhagenwrites.com

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Jennifer Lieberman

I’d like to welcome the talented Jennifer Lieberman to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Some of my favourite things are Elton John, Tennessee Williams plays, my scrapbook of photos and programs from all my theatre productions.

Things you need to throw out: I need to toss some Old Concert T Shirts, Old Lip Gloss

Things you need for your writing sessions: My essentials for writing are as follows: A Pen, A Notebook, A Laptop, Sunshine

Things that hamper your writing: The two major things I don’t like to deal with when writing are Clutter, Darkness or a dark space.

Things you love about writing: I love writing about Relationships, Romance, Comedy

Things you hate about writing: Politics and Horror are not my thing.

Hardest thing about being a writer: The hardest thing about being a writer sometimes ins keeping all with all the ideas.

Easiest thing about being a writer: The easiest thing about being a writer is all the ideas!

Things you never want to run out of: I would be so pleased with an unlimited supply of Coconut Water, Family Time, Pomegranates and Lip Gloss.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Purchase regrets are The Facia Blaster, the regret over this purchase overshadows the memory of any other previous regret.

Words that describe you: I’m totally wacky, mildly cooky, sometimes aggressive, always upfront.

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

Favorite foods: Anything my Tunisian grandmother made was my favourite from couscous, to stews to sweets, I’m also a pastry snob since I grew up in my family bakery.

Things that make you want to gag: Animals, as I’ve explained to my niece and nephew, I don’t eat my friends.

Favorite music or song: Rock ’n Roll! I’m a total rocker chick and love live shows. I’d say Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You’d Look Good On The Dance Floor” is one of my fav songs, but that’s like an impossible question.

Music that drives you crazy: Most pop music isn’t my thing, I’m stuck between the 1970s-1990’s where music is concerned.

Something you’re really good at: I’m really good at being in charge, delegating and leading a team.

Something you’re really bad at: I’m a terrible singer, like absolutely awful.

The last thing you ordered online: The last thing I ordered online was my friend Paul Bahou’s book “Sunset Distortion: The Pyramid at the End of the World.”

The last thing you regret buying: The last purchase I regret was buying a compact mirror, I found the one I thought I lost so I returned the new one.

Things you’d walk a mile for: I’d walk quite far for a really good Vegan cappuccino.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Cats, I’m super allergic to cats.

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Lieberman is from Maple, Ontario, Canada and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from York University in Toronto. Jennifer has appeared in over thirty stage productions in Toronto, New York City, Los Angeles, Europe and Australia; including her Award- Winning Solo Show "Year of the Slut", which her novel “Year Of The What?" was adapted from. In addition to her performance career, she has penned a number of screen and stage plays including the wacky web-series "Dumpwater Divas" and the short films “Leash" and “Details" which both screened at the Festival De Cannes’ Court Métrage among other international film festivals. "Year of the What?" is Lieberman’s first novel and is a #1 Amazon Best Seller.  Other books by Jennifer include “Make Your Own Break: How To Master Your Virtual Meeting in Seven Simple Steps” and “Make Your Own Break: How To Record & Publish Your Audiobook In Seven Simple Steps.”

Let’s Be Social:

WEBSITE: www.JenniferLiebermanActor.com 

BOOK: www.YearOfTheWhat.com 

www.facebook.com/iamjenlieberman

www.instagram.com/iamjenlieberman

www.twitter.com/iamjenlieberman