#WriterWednesday Interview with Sue Minix

I’m so excited to welcome Sue Minix to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

A few of your favorite things: I love chocolate in all forms, puppies, old movies, and reading mysteries.

Things you need to throw out: I need to throw out my VCR, the exercise bike I never use, and all the expired stuff in my medicine cabinet.

Things you need for your writing sessions: I need my laptop, coffee or herbal tea depending on the time of day, and my dog Sadie by my side in order to write anything at all.

Things that hamper your writing: Not having any of the above, forgetting to turn my phone off, somebody working in the yard.

Things you love about writing: I love creating the story and characters, plotting, and editing.

Things you hate about writing: I hate writing!!! It can take me an hour to come up with one good sentence. And then my editor makes me take it out.

Things you never want to run out of: Honestly, I hate to run out of anything. I keep backups of my backups.

Things you wish you’d never bought: The exercise bike I need to get rid of!

Favorite music or song: I love light rock and anything from the 60s or 70s.

Music that drives you crazy: Heavy metal because I can never understand the words.

Favorite beverage: It’s a tie between coffee and Mountain Dew Code Red

Something that gives you a sour face: Ginger tea

Favorite smell: My dogs paws. They smell like corn chips.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Blue cheese and gin. I can’t get past the smell to try either one of them.

The last thing you ordered online: I ordered a selfie tripod so I can take my own author photos.

The last thing you regret buying: That stupid exercise bike!!!

Favorite books (or genre): I love mysteries of all kinds.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Super heavy literary novels

Favorite things to do: I love to go hiking. It doesn’t matter where.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Cleaning my house. I can always think of something better to do.

The funniest thing to happen to you: I drove my car into my empty driveway one day and thought, “Oh my God! My car’s been stolen!!!”

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: I once spent two hours searching a mall parking lot for the car I traded in the day before.

About Sue:

I'm a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and when I'm not writing, you can find me reading, watching old movies, or hiking the New Mexico desert with my furry best friend.

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Website: Home | Sue Minix Author

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#WriterWednesday Interview with Jenna Greene

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

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Well, I am a teacher, writer, mother, coach.... therefore, I love a good nap. (Honestly). But I also love a lot of creative endeavors. I dance. I sing. I color. I’m a horrible artist but I still like drawing. And coloring can’t be done wrong. Who doesn’t love to color.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Mostly all the chores. I’m so busy that there’s little time in the day and I am not going to waste it cleaning. As long as things are tidy, that’s good enough.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: I need to be surrounded by books, for inspiration and just a pleasant feeling. And I can’t write without a cup of tea nearby.

Things that distract you from writing: Pretty much everything. I love writing but it has its challenges. Writing is wondrously hard. So I have to make time to write and set my own goals to make sure I actually get to work.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Editing. It’s hard letting things go or making everything ‘just perfect’.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Creating places, people, cultures, lands, magical systems, conflicts, everything!

Favorite snacks: Every single flavor of potato chip. (Top three: regular, ketchup, sour cream n’ onion)

Things that make you want to gag:  Coffee, iced tea, and root beer. (I know, right?)

Something you’re really good at: Texting quickly with proper grammar and sentence structure.
Something you’re really bad at: Walking without falling.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: A figure skater.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Have an impact on the world in little ways each and every day.

Things to say to an author: I’m proud of you. Look what you accomplished.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Movies are better.

Favorite places you’ve been: London, England. What’s better than that? It has history and literature and really amazing people. I love visiting castles and manors and seeing the verdant countryside.

Places you never want to go to again: Chicago in the winter when my luggage doesn’t arrive, meaning I don’t have a coat. Brr. (But it’s probably a nice place if you’re dressed properly).

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks. I feel they have stories to tell.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Anyone if the supper is planned for after 9 p.m.

Favorite things to do: Nap.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Go skiing. (No, really. It’s cold. It’s too fast. Clumsy people should have to weave around trees).

Most embarrassing moment: Well, there are so many. It’s hard to choose just one. I fall down a lot. I walk into things. Sometimes I wear two different shoes to work.
Proudest moment: My daughter. Her existence and her growth each day.

About Jenna:

Jenna Greene is a YA/ Children’s author from Alberta, Canada. When she isn’t writing, she is dancing, coaching dragonboat paddlers, or taking a well-deserved nap. She is known for her award-winning Reborn Marks series. Follow her on social media at www.jennagreene.ca or @jgreenewrites

#WriterWednesday Interview with K. C. Grifant

I’d like to welcome author K. C. Grifant to the blog today!

A few of your favorite things: I love Back to the Future paraphernalia, new coffee beans, interesting stone pendants.

Things you need to throw out: My high heels – after becoming a parent and getting used to a work-from-home lifestyle, I hope to never wear them again.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Coffee, sugar, and music.

Things that hamper your writing: Leaf-blowers outside the window, doorbells.

Things you love about writing: The opportunity to create entirely new worlds and realities.

Things you hate about writing: How typos and errors are as persistent as cockroaches, even in final drafts.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Fighting off imposter syndrome.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Recommending books and authors.

Words that describe you: Creative and thoughtful

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

Favorite foods: Tacos

Things that make you want to gag: Licorice

Favorite beverage: A creative latte

Something that gives you a sour face: sour beer

Favorite smell: Amber, lilacs and jasmine

Something that makes you hold your nose: overpowering candles

Favorite books (or genre): Anything with a speculative and creative twist, so ideally something in the sci-fi, fantasy or horror genres.

Books you wouldn’t buy: A series that doesn’t have any speculative elements.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: The kindness and support of friends, family and strangers when my debut book came out.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: I wish I had learned how to ignore imposter syndrome much earlier.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Riding in a hot air balloon. It seems tranquil and peaceful until you think about how you’re floating hundreds of feet in the air in essentially a giant wicker basket beneath a huge flame and balloon.

Something you chickened out from doing: Sky diving. Growing up it always sounded like fun, but now I’ve hit an age where the thought is more terrifying than appealing.

About K. C.:

KC Grifant is an award-winning author based in Southern California who writes internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories for podcasts, anthologies and magazines. Her short stories have appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, Unnerving Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Dark Matter Magazine, the British SF Association’s Fission Magazine, Tales to Terrify, the Lovecraft eZine, and many others.

 In addition to a Weird West novel, MELINDA WEST: MONSTER GUNSLINGER (Brigids Gate Press, Feb 2023), she has also written for dozens of anthologies, including: Chromophobia; Musings of the Muse; Dancing in the Shadows—A Tribute to Anne Rice; Field Notes from a Nightmare; The One That Got Away; Six Guns Straight From Hell; Shadowy Natures; Beyond the Infinite - Tales from the Outer Reaches; and the Stoker-nominated Fright Mare: Women Write Horror.

 For details, please visit www.KCGrifant.com or @kcgrifant on the social sites.

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#WriterWednesday Interview with Francesca Maria

I’d like to welcome Francesca Maria to the blog for #WriterWednesday! It’s cold in parts of the world right now, and she’s bringing a bit of summer memories and warmth to our North American winter.

A few of your favorite summer traditions: Picnic lunch on the beach with a book and my hubby, swimming, BBQs, late night strolls

Something summer-related that you’ll never do again: Disneyland on a summer weekend, I love it but it’s too crowded and hot!

Something crazy you did on vacation: Cave tubing in Belize, it was so much fun and the water was incredible!

Something you’d never do again on vacation: Travel in the back of a pickup truck for three days without air conditioning or seatbelts. Ah, the 80s.

Favorite summer beverage: Orange Fanta – sometimes with an added scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A drink that gives you a pickle face: Maker’s Mark – don’t ask.

Best summer memory: Going to Great America Amusement Park with my girlfriends as a wee lass.

Something you’d rather forget: Crashing a boat into a pier – really, don’t ask, it has something to do with the Maker’s Mark above.

Funniest summer story: When I was young my family took a trip up to Yellowstone. My dad was an amateur photographer who got too close to a Buffalo that charged at him. My dad ran for his life laughing away while the rest of us screamed in bloody terror for him to get back into the car. It was funny – afterwards.

Something embarrassing that happened during the summer: Probably a pretty common story, the upper half of my swimsuit came undone and it was my guy friends that pointed it out.

Best thing you ever grilled in spring: Turkey burgers, hands down.

Your worst kitchen or grilling disaster: Same as above – though burnt.

Your favorite thing to get from the ice cream truck: Cherry Popsicle

Some dessert that you wish you’d never bought: Flan.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening: Go for long walks and check out the stars.

Least favorite thing about summer: The HEAT! I melt.

The thing you like most about being a writer: Creating something from nothing and having people enjoy it.

The thing you like least about being a writer: The pressure of meeting deadlines is both a blessing and a curse. I write my best stuff under pressure but I could do without the stress of it.

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

Things you never put on your shopping list: Milk, it just doesn’t like me.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: The joy I feel when I’ve finished something that I’m proud of.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: I wish that I started writing professionally earlier in life. But I learned that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I played drums for a punk band for the first time, with no rehearsal at a club in front of a live crowd.

Something you chickened out from doing: Hiking high up on a precarious cliff. I had to turn back down, no thank you.

About Francesca:

Francesca Maria writes dark fiction surrounded by cats near the Pacific Ocean. She is the creator of the Black Cat Chronicles, a true horror comic book series narrated by a mystical black cat. And her short story collection; They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark will be out in April 2023 from Brigid’s Gate Press. Her short stories and essays can be found in Crystal Lake Publishing's Shallow Waters series and anthologies and Death’s Garden Revisited. You can find her at francescamaria.com and on Twitter @Writer_of_Weird.

#WriterWednesday Interview with James Hill

I’d like to welcome author and publisher, James Hill to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: hot tea, music on my iPod when I need to find the right mood.

Things that distract you from writing: the dog.

Hardest thing about being a writer: making money. Selling books is the most difficult part.

Easiest thing about being a writer: finding ideas to write about. There are dozens of interesting things that happen in the world each day and every one of them can be turned into a story.

Things you will run to the store for at midnight: toilet paper, beer, donuts, not necessarily in that order.

Things you never put on your shopping list: milk

Favorite snacks: Devil Dogs

Things that make you want to gag: rice pudding

Something you’re really good at: writing

Something you’re really bad at: spelling

Something you wish you could do: play the guitar.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: being a database administrator.

Things to say to an author: I left you a great review, I bought your whole series, I told all my friends to read your book.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I thought the story was great, but you know what would have been even better…

Favorite places you’ve been: Mauna Loa, Egypt, California, the top of the Empire State Building.

Places you never want to go to again: I don’t think there is any place I been to that I wouldn’t go back. There are places I never planned to go to like Antarctica, it is just too cold.

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

People you’d cancel dinner on: Donald Trump

Favorite things to do: fishing, writing (naturally), and the obvious.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: being the on-call person on the overnight shift. It was a horrible time and I’d never take a job where I had to do that again.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I read the first book and I can’t wait to read this one.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Did you ever kill anybody and is it in the book?

About James Hill:

James L Hill, a.k.a. J L Hill, is a native New Yorker from the South Bronx, Fort Apache, of the turbulent 60’s.

He earned a degree in computer programming, his other love. A multi-genre author, his experiences seasoned his novels and the worlds he imagined.

James started RockHill Publishing LLC to publish his own work and give others access to the literary world.

The four-part adult urban crime series, The Killer Series, is complete. Killer With A Heart, Killer With Three Heads, Killer With Black Blood have all received five-star reviews. Killer With Ice Eyes, the final chapter of the boys from the Bronx, is available now.

He is currently working on a three-part historical fantasy Gemstone Series; The Emerald Lady is in publication to rave reviews. The Ruby Cradle and the third book, The Diamond Warrior, is coming soon.

Then there’s the psychological dystopian science fiction thriller, Pegasus: A Journey To New Eden for your reading pleasure.

Let’s Be Social:

Readers and Writers Podcast:

https://anchor.fm/rockhillpublishing

YouTube channel:

https://bit.ly/RockHillYouTube

RockHill Publishing Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockhillpublishing

Author J L Hill Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/jlhill57

#WriterWednesday Interview with Eric Raglin

I’d like to welcome Eric Raglin to the blog for #WriterWednesday holiday edition!

Favorite treat: Ginger cookies, especially this time of year. Such a cozy treat!

A treat that makes you gag: Even before I became a vegetarian, I was grossed out by pork rinds.

Something crazy you did on vacation: Climbed a fourteener in Colorado. It was brutal but 100% worth it.

Something you’d never do again on vacation: The first time I visited Sweden, I forgot to book a place to stay for my last night in Stockholm. I scrambled to find a new one as the sun was going down. I’d like to never do that again.

Best vacation memory: Jumping into the waves at Secret Beach in Hawaii. Absolute magic.

A vacation disaster that you’d rather forget: Getting sick on a cruise ship from Sweden to Finland with an annoying cabinmate. It was awful.

Most favorite place to write/edit: I love writing in a cozy coffee shop.

The worst place to try to write because of all the distractions: I hate writing when someone has a TV on loud. It’s impossible to focus.

The thing you like most about being a writer: Making friends and sharing stories with other morbid, creative weirdos.

The thing you like least about being a writer: Marketing. I’ve never enjoyed selling things.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: As cheesy as it sounds, the friends I met along the way. Truly lovely people!

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: I wish I had never worked with presses that don’t pay.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Quit my job with no other job lined up. That might sound basic, but it was terrifying.

Something you chickened out from doing: I chickened out of snorkeling the second I saw a shark. Didn’t feel like getting eaten that day!

The funniest thing to happen to you: I have a thousand hilarious stories from when I was a teacher. One that sticks out is the time a ninth grader (yes, ninth grader) attempted to shotgun an energy drink in my class and wound up spraying half of it on my face. Annoying in the moment, but so funny in retrospect. I hope that kid is doing okay now.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: When I was a high school senior, I read a super raunchy poem I’d written out loud to the class, and I still look back on it with horror. What was I thinking?!

The nicest thing a reader said to you: A reader told me she’d never look at ticks the same after reading my story “A Most Bulbous Congregation.” I’m proud of that one.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: I don’t tend to read reviews, but I’m sure some wild comment is lurking out there somewhere. I’ll try my best not to discover it.

The best job you ever had: Teaching high school English. I got to work with so many great students. Plus, I got to teach Horror Lit and Creative Writing—an absolute dream.

The worst job you ever had: Detasseling corn. Most Nebraskan teenagers do it at some point. Waking up at 4 a.m., walking through wet fields, and getting corn rash, all for a minimum wage paycheck.

About Eric:

Here is my author bio: Eric Raglin (he/him) is a Nebraskan horror/Weird fiction writer and the editor for Cursed Morsels Press. He frequently writes about queer issues, the terrors of capitalism, and body horror. His debut short story collection is Nightmare Yearnings and his second collection Extinction Hymns will come out December 2022 through Brigids Gate Press. He is the editor of Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology and Antifa Splatterpunk.

Let’s Be Social:

Find him at ericraglin.com or on Twitter @ericraglin1992.

#WriterWednesday Interview with Joyce Woollcott

I’d like to welcome Joyce Woollcott to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

A few of your favorite traditions: I usually like to make a Christmas Eve supper with special treats. Smoked salmon, nice cheeses and tasty hors d'oeuvres, and champagne of course!

Something holiday-related that you’ll never do again: Shop at Ikea on Christmas Eve.

Favorite holiday song: I love Silent Night, sung by King’s College Chapel choir.

Holiday song that always gets stuck in your head for the wrong reason: Feliz Navidad.

Favorite holiday treat: (Not traditional) but Banoffee Pie and Sticky Toffee Pudding.

A holiday treat that makes you gag: Royal icing and Christmas cake in general, always too sweet and dense for me.…

Favorite holiday show or movie: A Christmas Story.

A holiday show or movie that you’ve seen too much: Wizard of Oz.

Favorite holiday beverage: Wine 

A drink that gives you a sour face: I don’t like sweet colas, Dr. Pepper, and pop like that. And sherry is too sweet for me.

Favorite holiday smell: Oh, roast beef! And Turkey of course. Although I find turkey can be dry sometimes.

Something that makes you hold your nose: The smell of burning just before Christmas dinner––and we won’t go into that!

Favorite holiday candy: Always chocolate, I know it’s sweet…

A holiday candy that gives you a pickle face: Those holiday tray bakes with cherries and icing and marshmallows and cool whip.

Best holiday memory: Waking up to a winter wonderland of snow on Christmas morning. It had snowed late on Christmas Eve.

Something you’d rather forget: Going to a friend’s house for Christmas long ago. When we arrived, there was no smell of cooking. We sat and chatted and finally her mum disappeared to the kitchen. Half an hour later she served dinner. She had cooked the turkey the night before to save time and all the veggies too. And had reheated everything… Oh dear.

Best holiday gift ever: When I was a young girl in the N. Ireland my parents always bought me lots of books for Christmas, I loved Enid Blyton. The Famous Five and the Secret Seven. When I was very young, I used to get the Rupert The Bear Annual, and the Judy and the Bunty! Girl’s annuals. I loved them.

Something you wished for but never received: A dog!

Best holiday gift you gave to someone: A lovely, dove grey linen dressing gown.

A gift that needs regifting: A wine cork remover the size of an engine block.

A tradition you share with others: On Christmas Eve, the whole family listen to Dylan Thomas read a Child’s Christmas in Wales.

A tradition that can be retired: Cooking Christmas dinner for the whole family by myself.

Best thing you ever cooked/baked for the holidays: A big prime rib with all the trimmings, gravy, Yorkshires, roast potatoes, gravy–– and a breast of turkey, with everything, cranberry sauce, gravy, sprouts and stuffing.

Your worst holiday kitchen disaster: The kitchen after that meal…

Favorite place you spent the holidays: At home.

The worst place to spend the holidays: On holiday.

About Joyce:

J. WOOLLCOTT

J. Woollcott is a Canadian writer born in Northern Ireland. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers in Toronto. A Nice Place to Die won the RWA Unpublished Mystery/Suspense Daphne du Maurier Award in 2019 in New York, was long-listed in 2019 and 2020 in the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence and was short-listed in 2021. A Nice Place To Die is published by Level Best Books.

She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Suncoast Writer’s Guild.

Let’s Be Social:

Website

Twitter: @JoyceWoollcott

A NICE PLACE TO DIE

The body of a young woman is found by a river outside Belfast and Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride makes a heart-wrenching discovery at the scene, a discovery he chooses to hide even though it could cost him the investigation – and his career.

The victim was a loner but well-liked. Why would someone want to harm her? And is her murder connected to a rapist who’s stalking the local pubs? As Ryan untangles a web of deception and lies, his suspects die one by one, leading him to a dangerous family secret and a murderer who will stop at nothing to keep it.

And still he harbors his secret ...

Book and Ebook available on Amazon and to order from most major booksellers and sites.

See my website for quick links.

BLOOD RELATIONS

Due for release August 2023

Retired Chief Inspector Patrick Mullan is found brutally murdered in his bed. Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride and his partner DS Billy Lamont are called to his desolate country home to investigate. In their inquiry, they discover a man whose career was overshadowed by violence and corruption. Is the killer someone from Mullan’s past, or his present? And who hated the man enough to kill him twice?

#WriterWednesday Interview with Freddy Cruz

I’d like to welcome Freddy Cruz to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

A few of your favorite things: Good running shoes, books, and soap that smells like eucalyptus.

Things you need to throw out: Junk mail, mismatched socks, the nearly empty milk carton in the back of the fridge.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Me, a pen, and a notebook.

Things that hamper your writing: Imposter syndrome, the doorbell, and my dog’s incessant barking at whoever rings the doorbell.

Things you love about writing: Playing with imaginary friends and enemies.

Things you hate about writing: Imposter syndrome.

Favorite foods: Cranberry-orange scones, Power Crunch bars, stinky cheese.

Things that make you want to gag: Halitosis, tofu, complaining.

Favorite music or song: Anything by Lana del Rey (aka Lana del SLAY, aka The QUEEN)

Music that drives you crazy: Good crazy? Lana del Rey. Bad crazy? Death metal.

Favorite beverage: Coffee.

Something that gives you a sour face: Pickles, but I love them.

Something you wish you could do: Write 10,000 words a day.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Deep fry chicken.

Things you always put in your books: Complicated people, unsavory people who think they’re doing the right thing.

Things you never put in your books: Invincible protagonists who do nothing wrong.

Favorite places you’ve been: Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, San Diego, California, DC, NYC.

Places you never want to go to again: New Orleans. But I’d go again if you were to give me a large sum of money and armed security (yes, I had a bad experience).

Favorite books (or genre): Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo, The Gulag Archipelago by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Anything romance.

Favorite things to do: Talking to people, running, reading.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Laundry, kettle bell swings.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Former Navy SEAL/author Jack Carr.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: JLo (pics don’t do her justice). And yes, she was nice.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: A reader said one of my books was “like 1984 on steroids.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Quite a few seem to think my second book is an autobiography. It’s not. But it IS based on actual events.

About Freddy:

The Greater Houston area has heard Freddy Cruz’s voice for more than seventeen thousand hours across three decades.

In 2022, he launched his own media company, Freddy Cruz Creative Works, and is the host of Freddy’s Huge ASK Podcast.

When he's not in the lab writing or creating auditory satisfaction, you can find him nose deep in a book or snuggling with his dog Sparrow.

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