#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Alison McBain

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I’d like to welcome Alison McBain to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Cats, chocolate, coffee, comedy… I guess pretty much everything that starts with the letter “C.”

Things you need to throw out: All those clothes I wore when I was half the age I am now and that I’ll probably never wear again. But I save them just in case…

Things you need for your writing sessions: Almost nothing. I can write with paper and pen or on my laptop or perhaps even lipstick on a cocktail napkin—any medium and any place will do.

Things that hamper your writing: Noise! If my kids are running around like a herd of stampeding elephants, I find it hard to concentrate. I have a huge box of earplugs to help.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Procrastination gets me every time. If it’s what I’m SUPPOSED to be doing, it’s the last thing I often want to do.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing. I love to write and could do it till the cows came home.

Favorite music or song: “I Feel Fine” by The Beatles is my absolute favorite, but anything of that era—Simon & Garfunkel, Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin… they’re fabulous.

Music that drives you crazy: I’m not a big fan of country. It doesn’t drive me crazy, and there are some individual songs that I enjoy, but overall it’s not my jam.

Favorite beverage: Coffee. Coffee. Oh, yeah, and coffee.

Something that gives you a sour face: It’ll sound crazy, but plain water. It always tastes bitter/minerally to me.

Things you’d walk a mile for: My kids. No matter what, I’m always there for them.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: My kids. And that contradiction, folks, is one of the many joys of parenting.

Things you always put in your books: Diversity. As a bi-racial author, I’m committed to expanding diverse books and voices, starting with my own.

Things you never put in your books: Poor research. I’m a stickler for details, so I always try to make sure everything I put into my writing (as far as I know) is accurate.

Things to say to an author: I just bought your new book and can’t wait to read it! I’ve loved everything else you’ve ever written.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Your newest book sucks and here are all the reasons why…

Favorite things to do: Play board games or do anything creative (draw, paint, sew, write, etc.).

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Eating bugs, actually. That’s a huge NO from me.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Have kids. It’s an adventure every day!

Something you chickened out from doing: Everything else. I’m pretty risk-adverse.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: That they were only going to read a couple chapters of my book but ended up staying up all night to finish it—they couldn’t put it down!

The craziest thing a reader said to you: That they didn’t like the genre that I wrote but decided to read my book anyway—and found out that they still didn’t like the genre after reading my book. It was baffling to me that they knew they hated a genre and then chose to read it anyway. No, my writing won’t make you love something you really hate. It would be nice if it did, but I don’t have that superpower.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I draw a webcomic occasionally called Toddler Times. It’s loosely based on the more ridiculous aspects of parenting I’ve discovered over the years.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: EVERY project, LOL. There’s always something that I don’t anticipate, no matter how well I plan for it.

About Alison:

Alison McBain’s novels are the recipients of over 13 awards, including the Foreword INDIES. Her latest novella Dual was longlisted for the 3-Day Novel Contest. When not writing for herself, she’s a ghostwriter who has penned over two dozen books for clients, as well as an award-winning editor who has worked with both celebrity and NY Times-bestselling authors. She’s currently pursuing a project called “Author Versus AI,” where she’s writing a book a week over the course of a year, using NO AI at all (52 books total). When not writing, Ms. McBain is associate editor for the magazine ScribesMICRO and draws all over the walls of her house with the enthusiastic help of her kids. She lives in Alberta, Canada.

Let’s Be Social:

Author Versus AI website: http://www.authorversusai.com/contact.html

Author website: https://www.alisonmcbain.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alison.mcbain.9

Twitter: https://x.com/AlisonMcBain

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-mcbain-0a026a266/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9PMu4p4urp_un0oy1vroQ

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@1authorversusai

Medium: https://medium.com/@amcbain

#WriterWednesday with Author Sue Minix

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

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

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

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

Things that hamper your writing: Distractions of any kind.

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

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

Favorite foods: ice cream and spaghetti

Things that make you want to gag: Brussels sprouts

Something you’re really good at: procrastinating

Something you’re really bad at: managing social media

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

Music that drives you crazy: heavy metal and hip hop

The last thing you ordered online: medicine for my dog

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

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

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

Favorite books (or genre): mysteries

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

Favorite things to do: hiking and watching old movies

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

About Sue:

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

Let’s Be Social:

Website: http://sueminixauthor.com

Website: www.sueminixauthor.com

Facebook: (2) Sue Minix Author | Facebook

Instagram: Sue Minix (@sueminixauthor) • Instagram photos and videos

Threads: (5) Sue Minix (@sueminixauthor) on Threads


How do You React to Feedback?

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There is nothing like that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you receive critiques or edits on your work. All those mark-ups. That’s when self-doubt and loathing set in. Should I just give up and quit now? Maybe I’m not really cut out to do this.

It is very hard to offer your creation to someone and then to review their comments. When I started with my first critique group, I would have to wait a day or so after the discussion to go back through the written comments to be able to look at the comment without letting emotions take over. While many were positive, my brain tended to jump right to the criticisms and all the things that were wrong.

Receiving feedback became a lot easier when I changed how I thought about it. This is not personal, and it’s not an attack on me. Feedback is actually a gift to make you a better writer. You can learn so much and improve your craft.

I appreciate my beta readers, critique partners, agent, and editors. Writing is a business, and if you want to sell your writing, it needs to be the best it can be. Writing and revising are hard work.

My critiquers have provided ideas to make story lines better, they’ve explained what worked (and what didn’t work) in a story, and they helped me learn techniques and tricks of the trade.

One of the biggest things I learned was that you don’t have to list out every mundane thing that your character does. I come from a technical writing background where you detail every step in precise order. That’s necessary for software and process manuals, but not so much for fiction.

I read through the feedback and the notes from our discussion. I make the changes. If there’s something I don’t agree with (because it alters the character or story too much or it removes a vital clue to the mystery), I may choose not to make the edit.

Writing is a business, and you need to hone your skills and constantly make improvements. Critique groups, writing partners, and editors are the best way to do this. You learn more from doing than you do from reading craft books.

What has been your experience with receiving feedback on your work?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Emil Rem

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I’d like to welcome Emil Rem to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things I never want to run out of: Books and a radio.

Things I wish I’d never bought: Clay Greek urns that almost melted and discoloured when used as a vase.

A few of my favourite things: A type-written letter from my father- the only one I have.

A beige headband with black lettered message : Love from Baguio.

Things I need to throw away: All my accounting records.

Things I need for writing sessions: Peace and quiet.

Things that hamper my writing sessions: Too many ideas.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Believing in myself and believing I have something worthwhile to communicate.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing as a drug I cannot do without.

Words that describe me: Genius, funny, entertaining.

Words that describe me, but wish they didn’t: (as an accountant) Can’t add up. Talks too much. Maverick.

Something I’m good at: Captivating and charming people.

Something I’m really bad at: Accounting.

Things I always put in my books: Personal anecdotes and reflections.

Things I never put in my books: Boring stuff.

Favourite places I’ve been to: Cyprus, Zanzibar, Bahamas. (Notice, all islands in the sun.)

Places you never want to go again: New York in winter; Dar-es-Salaam,Tanzania.

Favourite books: The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie;

The Honourable Schoolboy - John Le Carre; Thank You Jeeves-P.G> Wodehouse.

Books I wouldn’t buy: Self-help books.

Best things I’ve ever done: Write. Travel.

Biggest mistake: Becoming an accountant.

The nicest thing a reader said to me: I like your book so much, I’m going to buy a 100 copies to give to my family and friends for Christmas (how I wish).

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Panning my book, telling me to retire before I published it. THEN, spending 30 minutes discussing a character in my book he didn’t like…SHEESH.

About Emil:

Emil Rem—an eccentric accountant, has become a writer of eccentric characters in exotic locales—using his stories to take us on a trip into his fascinating twisted world. Born to a close-knit, Muslim, East Indian family in Dar-es-Salam in the 50’s, he then moved to Maidenhead, England at the age of five. The next twenty years were spent shuttling between England and East Africa—attending Christian church wearing a St. Christopher’s Cross one minute, to wearing a green armband at Muslim religious classes in Africa the next. These days, Emil and his wife (originally from the Philippines) live in Calgary, Canada. They have two sons.

More information can be found at:  Meet Emil Rem | Author

#WriterWednesday with Korina Moss

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I’d like to welcome my friend, the fabulous Korina Moss, to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Dealing with the uncertainty of the business.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with ideas, as long as you don’t have to flesh them out.

Something you wish you could do: Travel more.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: I can’t think of anything I learned that I wish I hadn’t, but I wish I’d never discovered reality television. It’s such a waste of time because it’s mindless, but it’s also fun because it’s mindless!

Last best thing you ate: Raw oysters and lobster ravioli in Rhode Island.

Last thing you regret eating: Ice cream that I didn’t love. Not worth the calories!

Favorite places you’ve been: The list is long, because I used to be able to travel often – London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Hawaii, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Montreal, Disney World, Maine, New Hampshire, NYC at Christmas time, Niagara Falls.

Places you never want to go to again: It’s not that I wouldn’t want to go there again, because I enjoyed many things about it, but if I ever got to go to Scotland again, I’d skip Edinburgh and venture to the Highlands.

Favorite things to do: Jigsaw puzzles with a lively seasonal scene, watching The Great British Bake-off, going on trips with my son, going out for a meal with family or friends.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Cleaning my house, running for exercise. (So I guess I’d only run through fire if it’s a very short run, lol.)

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Decide to pursue a writing career after my divorce.

Something you chickened out from doing: Riding Everest at Disney World. I love Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and I’ve done Tower of Terror and Space Mountain, but I draw the line at going backward in a tunnel on a rollercoaster.

The funniest thing that happened to you on vacation: My family and I were having dinner at The Whispering Canyon Café at Disney World and after getting our meal, I asked for ketchup for my son, who was about six. Still standing at our table, the server yelled throughout the restaurant, “KETCHUUUUUP!” and one by one, the other diners at the restaurant started bringing their ketchup bottles to our table. We were all laughing hysterically (my son the most) by the time the tenth bottle arrived. Apparently, that’s the tradition at this restaurant and we had no idea. (Of course, we did the same with our ketchup bottles when the next KETCHUP announcement was made!)

The most embarrassing thing that happened to you on a vacation: Our first trip to London, my (then) husband and I saw a café that looked good, so we attempted to enter, but when he pulled on the door, it wouldn’t open. It was a completely glass-fronted café and there were tables all along the front windows with people in them, so we knew it was open. So, he pulled again and again, tugging harder. By this time, the entire front glass is kind of shaking and everyone in the café is looking at us. Finally, he pushed the door, and we practically fell into the café. That’s when we learned much of Europe is push not pull.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: Getting to meet readers and other authors.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Give myself permission to prioritize it sooner.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: That my books got them through a really hard time in their life. I’ve had several people say this for different circumstances and it really touches my heart.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: That I’m their favorite author. That blows my mind.

Best piece of advice you received from another writer: Writing is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: It’s something I heard from my agent and my editor many years later – You have good writing instincts. Trust them.

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: I think what most people call writer’s block is just a fear of putting those great images in your head on paper. Write through it. Write badly. Use a different medium (for example, use a notebook and write longhand). Give yourself a fifteen-minute time limit to put something on paper. However, what I consider to be writer’s block is when you feel creatively depleted. When this is the case, I do quiet things that allow my mind to wander, like walking in nature, driving without the radio on, or spending the day exploring a nearby town on my own—anything where I get out of my routine and also have plenty of quiet moments to myself away from distractions like my phone, books, or TV. I booked a cruise for myself once as a solo retreat. After seven days by myself at sea with no responsibilities and lots of downtime, my creative spark returned.

Things you do to avoid writing: Do my social media marketing, watch mindless television and live tweet it, chat with my sisters and friends.

About Korina:
KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Her books have been featured in USA Today, PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction. The 5th Cheese Shop Mystery, Fondue or Die, releases on October 22nd. To learn more, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.

Let’s Be Social:

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What's Your Author Brand?

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What is your author brand? A brand is something that is easily recognizable like a logo or packaging. It’s a way for readers to know what to expect from your writing. It’s your identity as an author.

Colors - The colors you choose for your logo, bookmarks, website, and social media sites create a feeling or a mood. Make sure your color palette matches your writing style. My first traditionally published work was a short story in an anthology series that had a black, white, and red cover. I used that color scheme for my first website and my graphics. Later, I was talking with a publicist, and she asked me why I chose those colors because my mysteries are lighter and often humorous. She recommended that I stick with brighter colors and pastels.

Fonts - Fonts also evoke a mood or style. Design applications like Canva will let you create a color and font palette with some of their packages. That way, you can be consistent with your designs. Some fonts are thicker and bolder, while others are loopier. Some fonts are more casual than others. Find one or two that match your style and your genre. If you’re using it for headlines or logos, make sure that it’s easily readable. I saw a tagline on the back of a tow truck recently. It looked like it read, “We Tow Less.” The words were on two lines and there was a squiggly something that I couldn’t read under the “We.” It was actually the word “for” in a loopy font. Their message of “We Tow for Less” got lost and twisted because of a font choice.

Things to Consider -

  • Make sure you have a professional headshot. Selfies aren’t the quality that you want to reproduce online or in print.

  • A logo helps link you and your brand. It’s a nice item that you can include on everything.

  • It’s also good to have a tagline that’s easily understood (and readable) that describes your style.

  • It’s helpful if you can get all of your social media handles to be the same. Sometimes, that’s not possible. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you. In Meta products (Facebook, Instagram, Threads), it is much easier to find Heather Weidner than it is Heather.Weidner.1234 or Mystery_Author _Heather Weidner.

Your brand helps readers know about you and your writing style. It creates a cohesive look for your online and in-person presence.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Steffanie Costigan

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I’d like to welcome Steffanie Costigan to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: For myself the hardest thing about being a writer is my struggle with my learning disability having dyslexia makes me take longer than the normal writer luckily, I have tools to help me work with my dyslexia.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with stories; I am really an outside of the box thinker and it helps me develop unique ideas and takes on stories.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My phone and other devices that help me write despite my dyslexia. Music is another thing I find helpful and for my own comfort a nice warm drink next to me.

Things that hamper your writing: Hehe well I am a mother of four kids ages ranging from eight to three months; so, as you can imagine at times it’s not easy.

Things you always put in your books: I enjoy writing mainly in first person perspective. You will notice that style in a lot of my books.

Things you never put in your books: Steamy romance hehe, not my style.

Things to say to an author: Tell me about your book, or how did you come up with such and such for your book?

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I have never heard of your book, just joking hehe. “There is not enough steamy romance in your book.” Not all books are steamy romance just a heads up to the steamy romance lovers. Just because characters fall in love doesn’t mean there has to be steamy romance.

Favorite places you’ve been: Australia Adelaide! Met my husband there.

Places you never want to go to again: Hehe Alberta Canada during a blizzard.

Favorite books (or genre): I like fantasy reads, history, murder mystery, utopian. But some books that I have read as a kid have still stayed close to my heart such as Where the Red Fern Grows, The Whipping Boy, Last Unicorn, Tuck Everlasting. I really liked the Phantom of the Opera as a teenager.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Mommy porn books hehe; not my jam.

Favorite things to do: Write Hehe, I enjoy painting, spending time with my family.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Hehe nothing, I would not run through a fire or eat bugs to avoid doing anything. I just simply wouldn’t do it. But somethings I don’t enjoy doing is the never ending dishes they are despicable.

Best thing you’ve ever done: I have accomplished a lot but for me the best thing I feel I did was marry my husband.

Biggest mistake: Not finishing high school. After high school education cost a lot of money, so I invested a lot for up grading in post-secondary. Wish I was able to finish in high school but unfortunately my circumstances made it difficult for me.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: When I was a young girl, I was such a risk taker. Being around 18 at the time I free climbed up this mountain with no climbing gear and one of the rocks I stepped off of collapsed just as I stepped off of it near the top. Definitely not recommended.

Something you chickened out from doing: It’s funny cause I was a crazy risk taker as a teen to young adult. After having my first child something just clicked in me, and I don’t know why but I became so scared and cautious. So going to this place full of rides I chickened out of going on this roller coaster with my husband, and I would not let him go on it either for fear the roller coaster would crash and everyone die. But in my defense that roller coaster does have a reputation, and it was shut down for years due to the roller coaster going off the track and everyone on it dying. I believe it happened in the 1970s or 80s and it was at West Edmonton Mall in Galaxy Land.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: Something that really touch me was a reader that was recovering from surgery in the hospital shared with me despite the pain they were in they found hope from reading my book Land of the Dragon. It really touched my heart.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Oh gosh, I can’t go into details fully because of how messed up the email was but basically a gross man making sexual comments towards me. He got blocked really fast.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I am an artist, so I really enjoy painting and drawing. I also am involved in theater mainly directing and play writing.

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

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: Well, this is a bit graphic but it’s from a true story. In my book Land of the Dragon there is a scene that my main protagonist female character Eleanor being in the setting of Nazi Germany 1940s comes across some children throwing pebbles into the open mouth of a corpse. This is a true story growing up my next-door neighbors were immigrant from Germany and lived in their youth during World War II in Germany and they told me how desensitized the kids were and how normal it was to see kids poking or throwing rocks into the open mouth of a dead corpse. So that was something I added into my book to really pain the scene of how awful that time was.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I don’t think I have had someone think a story was related to myself yet.

About Steffanie:

Steffanie Costigan holds a strong passion for writing despite her severe disability with dyslexia. She has previously released a historic fantasy Land of the Dragon an award-winning novel, and children’s book “A Stony Gaze,” and her new children’s book coming out in December Crazy Potatoes. She hopes to release many more books in the future.

She resides in Canada, where she was born and raised with her husband and four children. Steffanie is a journalist and hopes to continue her passion for writing books and her dream of continuing as a journalist. Steffanie studied creative writing and took her program in digital communications and media at Lethbridge Polytechnic.

She hopes her writing will resonate with people and inspire those that read her writings. Her passion for writing started at the young age of three years old; She has written a couple of plays. Steffanie also wrote “A Stony Gaze” in a play format and had the opportunity to direct it in 2021.

#WriterWednesday with Jonni Jordyn

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I’d like to welcome author Jonni Jordyn to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you need for your writing sessions:

I work in peace and quiet. I know some writers like music in the background, but it’s too distracting for me, possibly because I am a musician. I have not yet learned the discipline of turning off my ringer.

Things that hamper your writing:

Interruptions, whether the phone, or my granddaughter, or worse, my addiction to TikTok can really break my thought process.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Getting it into people's hands. That’s why I finally hired a promotional team to help me get my books out there. I’ve always had good reviews, but just not enough readers.

Easiest thing about being a writer:

For me, writing is actually easy. I like to twist multiple sub plots around the main plot, giving readers many avenues to guess the outcome with the full belief that I’ll completely surprise most of them (and some reviews have confirmed that).

Favorite foods:

Most anything Asian, but especially Thai.

Things that make you want to gag:

I don’t know if I’ll ever get over my mental block that prevents me from trying escargo.

Something you’re really good at:

Playing Jazz and Latin piano. It’s one of my gifts. (Actually, creativity and artistry in general, which is why I was able to leave music to write.)

Something you’re really bad at:

Reading music. I played naturally by ear and nobody ever knew it. That’s also why, when the horn player's music stands fell over like dominoes, I was able to cover their parts.

Things you’d walk a mile for:

I actually walked a mile to an urgent care facility because a large blood blister was under my now disconnected toe nail. They refused to take my insurance, and I walked back.

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

I’m autistic and have auditory processing disorder. I struggle to stay composed if there are a lot of conversations going on at the same time. I also struggle to hear any conversation with music in the background.

Things to say to an author:

I loved your book! Please tell me there will be a sequel!

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

I’m a writer too, well maybe not like you, of course, but I have a book. Here’s where you can find it on Amazon. Apologies and exceptions to actual authors. I even offer slack to fellow autistic persons who maybe can’t help it, but when I’m sitting at a table selling or signing books, that’s where the focus belongs.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Tahoe, California. I love that lake for camping, bicycling, and in the winter, skiing. I have taken part in a ride all the way around the lake twice.

Places you never want to go to again:

I don’t want to get into any trouble with my readers there, but I won’t be returning to Florida until their government finds their humanity again. Sorry for getting political, but they started it.

Favorite books (or genre):

If I look at my library, I have mostly science fiction, and a lot of really old stuff too, like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury and, on the top of my list, Aurthur Clarke.

Books you wouldn’t buy:

I will not be purchasing any more books or merchandise related to Jo Rowling.

Best thing you’ve ever done:

Living my best life. The process of rebranding my entire catalog afforded me the opportunity to re-edit all of my books, and in doing so, I have re-confirmed that I have made the correct decision.

Biggest mistake:

Marrying the wrong person for the wrong reason and getting trapped in a nightmare at the hands of a narcissist.

The coolest person you’ve ever met:

I did an open air concert in Los Angeles. We went on before the Blues Brothers, and I have to say that Jim Belushi was an absolute blast. We sat back stage enjoying the catering and laughed and laughed.

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

I did a show that was mostly Motown stars from the past. The Marvelettes were there, and they were classy ladies around us, but it had been at least four decades since their album covers were printed, so it’s not their fault that time and age had changed them.

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

I was a professional musician. I played keyboards in a popular Latin band. We did tours with names like “Legends of Latin” and we usually headlined the shows.

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

I did a show with Santana’s late brother and gave the venue the backline (the equipment I required) so I only had to bring backup diskettes to load my sounds into the keyboards. One of my diskettes was bad, and the diskette reader on the other keyboard was broken. I had to reprogram them while the rest of the band was doing our sound check. I definitely compromised some of my sounds.

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

I wrote my baby brother into one of my books. He was a musician, and I included his act in a scene where the antagonists ran though the theater trying to escape. He’s also the only person to get two dedications.

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

OMG. My therapist read one of my books and kept saying that she saw me in about half a dozen of the characters. If I was in them, it wasn’t intentional, but may have been subconsciously placed there.

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.