#WriterWednesday with Luce Sutherland

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

Things you never want to run out of:

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

Things you wish you’d never bought:

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

Hardest thing about being a writer:

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

Easiest thing about being a writer:

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

Things you need for your writing sessions:

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

Things that hamper your writing:

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

Words that describe you:

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

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

That I am too nice or too soft.

Favorite foods:

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

Things that make you want to gag:

Anchovies, super spicy stuff and boiled Brussel sprouts.

Something you’re really good at:

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

Something you’re really bad at:

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

Favorite smell:

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

Something that makes you hold your nose:

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

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

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

Cockroaches, mice and all fast flying bugs.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Edinburgh, Tokyo, Rome

Places you never want to go to again:

China

Favorite books (or genre):

Dark or steamy or erotic romance, and romantic suspense.

Books you wouldn’t buy:

Horror or true crime.

Best thing you’ve ever done:

Finished a book!

Biggest mistake:

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

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

I don’t think I can say it here.

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

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

About Luce:

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s Be Social:

Website:  https://lucesutherland.com/   

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

(Luce Sutherland Writes)   

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

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

My Writing Music

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I am one of those people who cannot work in complete silence. My day gig has been in IT for many, many years, and it is never quiet. I always have some kind of music playing as I work. I have to have background music on to keep me company or to drown out the nearby chatter. I also can’t drive without music (or a murdery podcast) on in the car.

I listen to rock or country if I’m making edits or doing my marketing tasks. Sometimes, the louder, the better. I make playlists for certain eras or for my favorites. Right now, I’m writing a mystery that features Elvis impersonators, so I have a King playlist.

I like classical or relaxing stations for writing and serious copy editing.

I save my jazz or instrumental channels for days when I need to think and plot.

When you work, do you like complete silence or music? What type of music do you listen to?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Bjorn Leesson

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I’d like to welcome Bjorn Leesson back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you never want to run out of: Wonder at everything in the world. I always find something about everything that is interesting to me, and I would hate to stop finding things of interest. I’m pretty sure it won’t happen. Ha.

Things you wish you’d never bought: I can’t think of a single thing. I learn from the mistakes I make, to include bad purchases, and those “learning through pain” moments are also what makes each of us – us.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Just a functioning brain and an idea. And the functioning brain is maybe a little less reliable than it once was.

Things that hamper your writing: The self-imposed idea that “this isn’t any good” before I have given the story or character a chance to develop. I am getting better about this, but every once in a while, I have to resist the urge to purge what I have written en masse. I walk away from it for a while, and nearly always discover the spark needed for me to be happy with it.

A few of your favorite things: The forest, open desolate country roads, and the babbling of water features (water fountains, rocky streams, etc).

Things you need to throw out: Eventually, I need to shed all the material things that aren’t necessary. But, that is hard for us humans to do. One day, though.

Favorite music or song: I like a little bit of everything, but my favorites are ragtime, big band, classical, historical themed songs (such as Johnny Horton), and comedic (such as Ray Stevens and Spike Jones.)

Music that drives you crazy: Most rap. Sorry, it just isn’t music to me. It is only loud, unimaginative storytelling that rarely seems to have a positive message. Just one guy’s opinion.

The last thing you ordered online: Author copies of Runes of Revenge, the next release of the Outside the Thalsparr series. February 25, 2025, and I am very excited about it.

The last thing you regret buying: A hamburger from a local fast food chain that I already know is not very good, but I did it anyway – and paid the digestive price for it later. Ha.

Things you’d walk a mile for: The perfect field or forest to sit in and just enjoy the serenity, wildlife, and natural noises to be heard. It’s my idea of heaven on earth.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: People who want to dominate a room, force their opinions on others, and can not just agree to disagree and let it go at that. I don’t want to think for others, and I surely don’t want them to think for me. I don’t speak of healthy debate – I love healthy debate – but there is a point where an impasse is encountered. Some people just won’t stop until they have tried to beat someone else into the dirt.

Things you always put in your books: A wide emotional range for each character. It is my goal to make the reader laugh, gasp, cry, and wonder. Essentially, I want it to feel like “life,” even if it is a fiction fantasy story.

Things you never put in your books: The “f” word. It is just a word, yes, and it is very popular these days. But just like pointless sex scenes, the “f” word is just gratuitous, overused, and unnecessary in my opinion. Its use would not stop me from reading a book, but I don’t put it into my own writing. (Having said that, the word is alluded to a few times in my books, but not used in its entirety.)

Favorite places you’ve been: I label my answer here as “best” in the sense that I have only been once, and it isn’t likely I will be able to go back anytime soon – Great Britain. I went on vacation there many years ago to visit friends with more friends, and I enjoyed pretty much every second. Fabulous place.

Places you never want to go to again: Anywhere that contains a large number of drunk people in a confined space. Some of them are entertaining, while others are more trouble than it’s worth. Ha.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Alive – Jeremy Clarkson, George RR Martin, and William Shatner. Dead – Einstein, J RR Tolkien, and my father.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Pretty much any of the internet, radio, or television rabble-rousers who just employ shock and awe for ratings with no regard to any ethical responsibility to society.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I drove a street stock car at the local race track for a season. It was very fun, but became a little too expensive for someone just out of high school.

Something you chickened out from doing: Not as much as chickening out as much as just refusing to do it outright. Ha. My friend (who got me into stock car racing to begin with) wanted me to go sky-diving with him. That was a hard “no.”

About Bjorn:

Bjorn was born in the Lowcountry of South Carolina a long, long time ago.  He has worked in manufacturing all his working life to feed himself but has nourished his mind with the study of many topics; history of all eras, the paranormal, astronomy, writing of different types, photography, archeology, genealogy, vexillology, some other -ologies, even stock car racing for a couple of years, and on and on.  Bjorn finds just about everything fascinating in some way and has been accused of being too easily entertained.  A blend of a few of his interests led to the creation of the Thalsparr Universe.  The first installment of the series will be “Runes of the Dokkrsdottir,” with a release date to be determined.  He currently lives in the Midlands of South Carolina with his wife of 25 years on their hobby farm.

Let’s Be Social:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPGJWXLY?binding=paperback&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1733701027&sr=8-1

Website: Thalsparr.com

Some Fun(ny) Holiday Memories...

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I love the holiday season. For me it starts with Halloween and runs right to New Year’s Day. I was thinking about all the fun we’ve had on Christmas through the years. I treasure all our traditions, memories, and adventures, even the ones that went a little sideways.

When I was little, it actually snowed in Virginia Beach on Christmas Eve (once). When we opened the front door to our little porch, there were reindeer tracks in the snow. I had proof (though no photographic evidence…it was the 70s) that Rudolph and Santa were real. Sadly, I found out later the tracks came from our next-door neighbor’s German shepherd.

One year when I was really small, my parents and I stood in line to see Santa for what felt like hours at Pembroke Mall. I got all the way to the front and had a panicked meltdown. When we left, I was horrified that I didn’t get to tell him what I wanted, and I just knew Christmas was doomed that year. To my surprise, Santa still came, and he brought me some amazing toys. But how did he know? I never told him. I remember running to the phone that morning to let all my grandparents know that Santa’s for real, and that he delivered even if I didn’t have my picture made with him.

I was an only child and an only grandchild on all sides for almost five years. I had a sweet gig. Then along came my sister and my cousin just weeks apart. And my sister came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. I wanted a puppy, and I got a sister, who was too wiggly to carry around. Talk about not getting what you asked for. It took a bit to adjust to a new baby in the house. She was loud and determined to do her own thing, but I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

My grandmother loved Christmas, and I would always spend the night after Thanksgiving with her, so we could put up her tree. I loved all her vintage decorations. She had a beautiful 1950s angel tree topper. When I came back later to visit the beautiful blond angel was bald. It fell off the tree, and her Boston terrier chewed the hair off.

The same grandmother was known all over the neighborhood for her special Christmas treats. And she loved festive hard candy. She’d put it out in a glass dish with no cover. Every time, we’d try to get a piece of the candy, it was all stuck together. She blamed it on the humidity, and we just chipped away at it until a chunk broke off. One day, I came around the corner and caught her Boston terrier licking the candy in the dish. It wasn’t the humidity.

One of the first times we hosted the holidays at our house, I wanted everything to go off without a hitch. I put the turkey and the ham in the oven, and when I went to check on them, the handle on the oven door broke off completely. I couldn’t get it open, and the door was too hot to touch. It took my husband and brother-in-law with a clamp and a pry bar several tries to get the door open. They couldn’t repair it until the oven cooled down. Thankfully, the meal wasn’t ruined or trapped in the oven.

After spending one of our first married Christmases in Virginia Beach with our families, we packed my tiny Ford Escort and headed back to Central Virginia. For weeks into the new year, my car had this weird citrisy smell that was overpowering at times. I got queasy from the scent if I ran the car’s heater. I tore that car up looking for whatever was causing the unusual smell. Finally, I told my husband about it, and he pulled the cover over the wheel well up. A bag of potpourri had fallen behind the spare tire, and the heat in the car seemed to enhance the aroma. Mystery solved.

What are some of your fun, if not funny holiday moments?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jennifer Anne Gordon

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I’d like to welcome Jennifer Anne Gordon back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: This may sound ridiculous, but I never want to run out of books…It’s not something I fear in day-to-day life, but it’s the reason I travel with a couple books and a Kindle loaded with books, and my phone loaded with audio books!

Things you wish you’d never bought: Years ago, I bought a couple retro style “rockabilly” and “wiggle” dresses…they looked good, so I bought more, and more…and let’s be honest, where am I wearing these dresses?? They take up over half my closet space now.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Crippling imposter syndrome.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Being able to write the things you are too afraid to say out loud.

Things you need for your writing sessions: I am a beverage goblin. I need to get that out of the way. So…depending on the time of the writing session I will need coffee, a bubble water, and a regular water. If I am writing late at night I will need a bubble water, a regular water, whiskey, and if there is a deadline I need to meet—also coffee. These all need to be in easy reach, but also not close enough for me to flail around and spill on my computer.

Things that hamper your writing: Being talked to, my dog being so cute that I need to stop what I am doing, and ADHD.

A few of your favorite things: Travel, knickknacks that people think are strange (bones, rocks, old rusty keys, very tiny mirrors.

Things you need to throw out: For years I was a professional performer and dancer…I have a ridiculous number of costumes, and wigs, and dance shoes that I can’t even walk in anymore. I hate to get rid of these things because it feels like a door closing completely on a time I will never get back.

Something you’re really good at: Worrying…also I am very good at the waltz.

Something you’re really bad at: Hiking or walking when there is a cliff on one side of me…also going down escalators. Terrible at both of those.

Favorite music or song: “If you Could Read My Mind,” either the original Gordon Lightfoot or the Johnny Cash version.

Music that drives you crazy: after teaching ballroom dance for the last 14 years…It kills me every time I hear “Kokomo” (The Beach Boys), and have to scream “It’s a rumba.”

Last best thing you ate: I was in Latvia this fall and while there I had the best Indian food I had had in my life! We had it almost every night we were there, as traditional Latvian food was…NOT good.

Last thing you regret eating: Um…Latvian Onion Soup. It was a big bowl of brown sadness.

The last thing you ordered online: a giant eyeshadow palette.

The last thing you regret buying: Day of the Dead “temporary” face tattoos.

Things you’d walk a mile for: If there was a sign with an arrow that said “Baby Foxes to pet”

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: If someone is touching their eyeball or even talking about touching their eyeball.

Things you always put in your books: Twins, reflections that are not quite right, grief, ghosts that might not be ghosts.

Things you never put in your books: I can only say never for now…but I have never put in a steamy sex scene.

Favorite places you’ve been: Venice, Prague, Porto, Montenegro, Detroit, New Orleans, Budapest.

Places you never want to go to again: Tampa, Atlantic City, Madrid, Las Vegas (still had a great time in all of those places but for me…the vibes were off).

Favorite books (or genre): horror is my genre of choice…that said my current fave books are- Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman, Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi, The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste, The All-Night Sun by Diane Zinna

Books you wouldn’t buy: Roman-tasy is NOT my thing.

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning author and podcast host. Her debut novel Beautiful, Frightening and Silent won the Kindle Book Award for Best Horror/Suspense for 2020, as well as the Best Horror Novel of the Year from Authors on The Air and was a finalist for American Book Fest’s Best Book Award- Horror, 2020, and a Finalist for the Shelley Award from Chanticleer International Book Awards for Best Supernatural Novel for 2023. Her novel Pretty/Ugly won the Helicon Award for Best Horror for 2022, and the Kindle Book Award for Best Novel of the Year (Reader’s Choice). Her collection The Japanese Box: And Other Stories was an instant Amazon Bestseller and her story The Japanese Box won the Lit Nastie Award for 2023 for Best Short Story.

Her personal essays have been featured on Horror Tree, Nerd Daily, Ladies of Horror Fiction, Miniskirt Magazine, Tangled Locks Journal, and Quail Bell Magazine, and are featured in the collections Such a Loss, Not Ghosts, But Spirits Vol V, and Letting Grief Speak: Writing Portals for Life After Loss.

Jennifer is the creator and co-host of the popular comedic literary podcast Vox Vomitus, as well as a co-host of House of Mystery on NBC Radio.

For benevolent stalking please visit www.JenniferAnneGordon.com

#WriterWednesday with Jonni Jordyn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Jonni:

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

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

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

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

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

Jonni currently lives in Colorado with her bird.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: Books by internationally read author John Kovacich


Tips for Writing Faster

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It took me close to five years to complete my first book and another two to three years to get it published. I decided that if I wanted to write professionally, I needed to find ways to speed up my timeline. There is no one right way to write a book. Here is what worked for me.

Planning and Organizing:

I write mysteries, so I like to have the story outline and the crimes plotted out before I start writing. This also helps me later when I need to write the book’s synopsis. I also find that if I have enough of an outline, then I don’t end up writing myself into a corner that I can’t get out of or ending up in a spot where I am not sure what happens next. My outlines aren’t usually very formal. There are several paragraph of what happens in each chapter. I color code the romance, clues, and humor in each section to make sure that they are spread throughout the book.

Establishing a Daily Word Count

I like to have a daily word count that I track to keep myself on schedule. I still have a day gig, so I try to write 1,000 a day on workdays and 3,000 on weekends or holidays. If I know I have a scheduling conflict, I try to write extra to compensate for a skip day. I have found that if I stick to this, I can have a rough first draft in two to three months. When determining a word count, you need to keep in mind your writing style and life schedule.

Writing the First Draft

When I start writing, I just write. I don’t spend time rewriting paragraphs or chapters. My goal is to complete the first, rough draft. If I hit a spot that needs some research, I make a note and highlight it. I’ll go back and do all the research at one time.

Mary Burton calls this her “sloppy copy.” She’s right. It’s not ready for others to read, but by the time you finish, you have a completed first draft. Then I start the revising. To me, revising is harder than actually writing the book.

Revising and Reworking

This stage takes me another 2-3 months. I print out a copy of the manuscript and read it through, making any edits. I check for inconsistencies, plot holes, and story lines that aren’t wrapped up by the end. I will do this five to seven times. I’m looking for different items such as over-used words, typos, consistencies in spelling, continuity issues in the story, etc.

When I think it’s ready, I send it to my critique partners and my critique group for their feedback. Then I make the edits and do one last read through to check for those pesky typos. Then it’s ready for my agent. (More revisions come after my agent and editors review it.)

This is the process that works for me, and I’m able to complete multiple books in a year. Try out my tips. If they don’t work for you, try another technique. You need to find what works for your style and schedule.