#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Matthew Hughes

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Liza Groen Trombi, Locus Magazine,

I’d like to welcome author Matthew Hughes to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time:

Play the piano, when I have a piano.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list:

Shave.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave:

A laptop and a wireless keyboard. I started out in a daily newspaper newsroom, full of reporters clattering away on manual typewriters, talking on the phone, and shouting for copy boys to come and collect their takes. After that I can write anywhere.

Things that distract you from writing:

Not much. Sometimes, I get bored with what I’m doing and spend some time watching YouTube shorts. Then I put myself back to work. Habit of a lifetime spent writing to feed my family.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

Self-promotion. It doesn’t come naturally to me.

Easiest thing about being a writer:

Writing. I’ve done it for a living for more than fifty years and have written (and be paid for) just about everything except cookbooks and poetry.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid:

A paleontologist. I was dino-crazy from about the age of seven to eleven.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do:

Travel the world as an itinerant housesitter. I always thought in conventional terms of settling down somewhere, probably because I was constantly being uprooted when I was a kid. I went to fifteen schools between kindergarten and Grade Twelve, and I skipped Grade Four.

Last best thing you ate:

Cabbage in a Dijon cream sauce. Part of the national dish of Ireland. I learned how to make it from a chef in a restaurant in Tipperary.

Last thing you regret eating:

Korean ramen noodles. Even though the package said “mild,” I spent a night devoted to belching and Tums

Favorite places you’ve been:

Wangerai, in the North Island of New Zealand. Beautiful setting, lovely people. Vieste in Italy. The food, the scenery, the sense of ancientness.

Places you never want to go to again:

Sequim, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Another beautiful setting, but too much culture-shock for a Canadian.

Best thing you’ve ever done:

My award-winning historical novel What the Wind Brings, that I waited forty years to write.

Biggest mistake: signing with a novice indie movie producer to handle a deal with a pay-tv network that had picked my story idea out of more than a hundred submissions. He couldn’t raise the budget in time, and the project died. It could have been my entry into the world of screenplay writing.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

An autistic person said that my description of the way the world looks to an autistic person was the first time he’d seen it accurately described.

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

“Too many big words.”

The most exciting thing about your writing life:

All the first times: first front-page headline, first short story sale, first novel advance, first award nomination, first award win, first recognition from authors I’d read and admired.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life:

The failed movie deal mentioned above. I would have liked a career, or at least a sideline, in screenwriting.

About Matthew:

Matthew Hughes writes fantasy, space opera, and crime fiction. He has sold 24 novels to publishers large and small in the UK, US, and Canada, as well as more than 100 works of short fiction to professional markets. His latest novels are:  Margolyam and A God in Hiding, both set in his ongoing extrapolation of Jack Vance's Dying Earth, and his 2023 Dying Earth novel, The Ghost-Wrangler, recently won the Global Book Award in the dark fantasy category.

He has also won the Endeavour and Arthur Ellis Awards, and has been shortlisted for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Endeavour (twice), A.E. Van Vogt, Neffy, Derringer, and High Plains Book Awards. In 2020 he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame. 

Let’s Be Social:

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

 Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Hughes_(writer)

#WriterWednesday with Belinda Betker

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I’d like to welcome Belinda Betker to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: I’m a life-long voracious reader, and I often read up to five or six books at a time. I particularly read poetry, memoirs, and novels that have been recommended by friends. I also love word puzzle magazines, especially when I need to think things through about my own writing. I love walking with my wife and dog in a 300-acre forest close to city limits. I love spending time with friends, family, and the groups I volunteer with.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Washing floors and walls.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: I keep a good supply on hand of my favourite style of journal – 6”x8”, soft cover, with ruled lines and built-in ribbon page marker. My favourite pen is a Uni-ball JetStream, blue ink. Beyond that, I need my PC, good lighting, and good music when I write and edit.

Things that distract you from writing: Necessary housework; or an invitation out for tea, a meal, a good movie, or a great concert.

Favorite snacks: Flavoured potato chips, especially dill pickle, or sour cream & onion.

Things that make you want to gag: Bananas – the texture is horrible, but I can tolerate them when they’re baked into cakes or a loaf.

Something you’re really good at: I excel at procrastination!

Something you’re really bad at: Tackling tasks and chores that should be done that I really don’t want to do.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: I thought I’d be an early-grades elementary school teacher.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: I never dreamed I’d have a proverbial ‘room of one’s own’ to write in, and that I’d become a published poet.

Something you wish you could do: Sky diving, parasailing, ziplining, etc. – anything where I could safely experience free-falling or moving quicky through the air.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Housework – I really dislike housework!

Things to say to an author: I absolutely love your book, & this is why (& then be specific.)

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I don’t like your writing style or what you write about.

Favorite places you’ve been: Australia – everywhere there I’ve already been to, and I’d go anywhere there I haven’t been yet. I’ve also enjoyed all the major Canadian cities I’ve visited, as well as numerous smaller cities, towns, and national/provincial/regional parks.

Places you never want to go to again: Anywhere I’ve been has been interesting enough to be worth the experience.

Favorite things to do: Write and read haiku, poems, and memoirs; people-watch anywhere and anytime; spend time with my favourite people; walk and play with our dog; attend literary events, concerts, and non-mainstream films; travel; spend time in nature; eat great food; and find some joy in every day.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: I don’t like doing housework, but I do it because I really like a clean home.

Most embarrassing moment: Realizing that someone I thought liked me really didn’t.

Proudest moment: My first book launch, and seeing all the people that attended from all different areas and times of my life.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I love your book, and I especially love your poem Why a Parade.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “What did you eat for breakfast today, and why?”

The most exciting thing about your writing life: How much fun it is to write, edit and get published.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Start writing seriously much earlier in life.

About Belinda:

Belinda's poetry and award-winning haiku are in various anthologies, literary journals, and chapbooks. Her poetry collection, Phases, was a 2020 finalist for two Saskatchewan Book Awards. The second edition, published in 2022, contains thirty-one additional new poems.

Belinda is a founding member of two long-running Saskatoon writing groups, Sisters' Ink, and The Obsessors. Beyond writing, she is a Board member of both Spark Your Pride, and Queer Seniors of Saskatchewan.

When she’s not writing, editing, mentoring, or volunteering, Belinda reads voraciously, especially poetry and memoirs. She lives in Saskatoon with her Australian wife and their rescue dog, a springer-spaniel/terrier cross.

Let’s Be Social:

http://belindabetker.com

Proofread, And Then Do It Again

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I can read a manuscript ten times and still miss some pesky typos. Here are some tips that have helped me with proofreading.

READ RIGHT TO LEFT

Start at the bottom of the page and read each word right to left. This takes the word out of context and allows you to focus. This is tedious, especially for a whole book, but help you see each word and not the sentences and paragraphs around it.

WHERE AND WHEN

Try to find a quiet place away from distractions. Try not to proofread for more than two hours at a time. Get up and walk around or take a stretch break.

HOW MUCH

You are going to read and revise your manuscript multiple times. Try to schedule some down time between revisions. Work on other projects. The time away helps you focus when you return

PAPER VS. ELECTRONIC

Proofread a paper version of the text. It is difficult to catch mistakes on a computer screen.

TOOLS

Do not rely solely on the spelling or grammar checker. These help, but they’re not always correct. Many word processing applications have a “read aloud” feature. This helps you to hear misused words that a spell checker wouldn’t catch.

FIND A PARTNER

Find a partner or a critique group to read your manuscript and provide feedback. Another set of eyes can always spot typos and mistakes that the writer misses.

What else would you add to my list?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Paula Charles

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I’d like to welcome my friend, Paula Charles, back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Reading. I devour books like their sustenance!

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Dusting. When I was growing up, my sisters and I had to dust the house every weekend. Now I do it so rarely it’s embarrassing.

Things you will run to the store for at midnight: Coffee, cottage cheese, and ice cream!

Things you never put on your shopping list: Mangos! I know that’s strange, but I can’t stand the taste of them!

The coolest thing you’ve bought online: Probably my personal neck fan. It’s literally cooling and perfect for me since I don’t tolerate heat well.

The thing you wished you’d never bought: I once ordered a pair of shoes online that we’re supposed to be Earth brand shoes. They took MONTHS to come and when I finally got them, they were definitely not Earth brand, and smelled like chemicals so badly that I took them right out to the garbage.

Something you’re really good at: Really good might be a stretch, but I’m a decent baker. Being gluten-free with a ton of food allergies makes it a bit more challenging, but most people are shocked my stuff is gluten-free when they try it.

Something you’re really bad at: Singing. Believe me, you don’t want me joining your local choir.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: I loved books about horses when I was a kid—fiction, nonfiction. It didn’t matter. I always dreamed that I was going to have a ranch in Kentucky raising racehorses. All the fields would be surrounded in white fencing.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Write books! I’ve always been a voracious reader, but never thought I would actually be someone writing the books!

Last best thing you ate: Those yummy twice baked potatoes my husband made on New Year’s Eve.

Last thing you regret eating: That delicious prime rib he made, as well. It was really good but my stomach is still rebelling at the red meat!

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: We used to white water raft all the time. Had our own rafts and floated rivers in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Idaho. Super fun and what makes it daring for me is that I can’t swim!

Something you chickened out from doing: Jumping off the cliff into the river when everyone else was doing it.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: There’s a whole lot of exciting about this writing gig, but one of the best things is seeing and hearing readers talking and posting about how much they enjoyed my books. It just seems so crazy to me that people willing spend some of their precious time reading my books!

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: Just get started sooner and not spend so many years thinking about it but not doing it.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I loved your book so much that I bought a copy for my sister for Christmas!”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “I really enjoyed your books, and I usually don’t like women writers.” (I think I said this the last time I visited, but it still remains the craziest thing a reader has said to me – and it was my father-in-law! LOL)

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Get up from your desk and go for a walk. Just get outside or go somewhere you can people watch and get a new perspective. Once I put the book out of my mind, the solution to whatever is blocking the flow of words usually presents itself.

Things you do to avoid writing: House chores – sweep, vacuum, laundry, dishes, etc. And of course, get distracted scrolling through social media!

About Paula:

When Paula Charles isn’t writing, you can find her reading and contemplating murder under the towering trees of the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of the Hometown Hardware Mysteries, as well as the Zen Goat Mysteries written as Janna Rollins. Paula is a member of Sisters in Crime, the national chapter, the Guppies, and the Columbia River chapter. Her debut novel, Hammers and Homicide, was featured in Woman’s World. She lives in Washington state with her extremely patient husband and a gaggle of furry and feathered creatures.

Let’s Be Social:

Website – www.paulacharles.com

Facebook - Facebook

Instagram - Instagram

BookBub - Paula Charles Books - BookBub



#WriterWednesday with Jacquie Wilvers

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I’d like to welcome Jacquie Wilvers to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: A cup of tea and chewing gum.

Things that hamper your writing: My cell phone, when it’s in the room with me.

Something you’re really good at: Delegating.

Something you’re really bad at: Decluttering my desk.

The last thing you ordered online: Slippers

The last thing you regret buying: Itchy wool sweater.

Favorite places you’ve been: Venice, Pompeii, Jerusalem, Petra, Cairo.

Places you never want to go to again: The city of Edfu.

Favorite books (or genre): Mysteries.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Horror.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Fly in an open cockpit biplane.

Something you chickened out from doing: Flying upside down in the open cockpit biplane.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: May I have your autograph?

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “You’re not the person I thought you were” after reading my gritty crime fiction short story, Underbelly.

The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: Hotel California.

A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: Rap.

My favorite book as a child: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

A book I’ve read more than once: The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama.

Your favorite movie as a child: Mary Poppins.

A movie that kept you awake at night as a kid: Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte.

About Jacquie:

Jacquie’s debut short story, “Underbelly,” appears in Angel City Beat, a Los Angeles mystery anthology. This gritty fictional story takes the reader on a journey of betrayal and murder inside the Hollywood film industry. In the niche world of screenwriting, the players are known and the competition fierce. When a talented newcomer appears seeking fortune, the plot turns murderous. Anything goes to get a hit film made.

The Angel City Beat anthology includes stories about life in Los Angeles. Hidden beneath its shiny surface are misdeeds, miscreants, and murderers. Angel City Beat shows life behind the plastic smiles of the rich and famous, the desperate pleas of the overlooked, and the promises of dreams forgotten. Angel City Beat is the beat of a city told by those who love her and can be found on Amazon.

Jacquie also recently finished writing her first book-length cozy mystery, A Venetian Moonlight Murder, which was inspired by a visit to the City of Lovers, Venice, Italy. She is currently polishing the manuscript for submission later in 2025.

A long-time resident of Long Beach, CA, Jacquie became an early mystery fan when she discovered Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, and the Hardy Boys. She is a member of Sisters in Crime – Los Angeles, Orange County, and Guppy chapters. She is also a member of California Writer’s Club Orange County and the Author’s Guild.

Let’s Be Social:

Website/Newsletter Sign-up: http://jacquiewilvers.com

She earned a BA in newspaper journalism, an MA in theater arts management, and an MPA in Public Policy and Administration. Jacquie worked as a newspaper reporter, aerospace publication editor, and public education grant writer. She likes to create characters who misbehave and delights in reading other writers who do the same. She enjoys traveling, reading mysteries and historical novels, and spending time with friends and family.

The SinC Los Angeles Chapter has arranged for an official book launch of Angel City Beat. It will be at Vroman’s bookstore in Pasadena on Monday, February 24, at 7 p.m.

https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-02-24/sisters-crime-la-host-discussion-angel-city-beat-sisters-crime-los-angeles

All the Stuff I Didn't Know Writers Had to Do...

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When I dreamed of being a published writer, I had no idea how much work was going to be involved. I was going to write books, do book signings, and spend my royalties. It wasn’t until that first contract arrived that I realized I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Even if you have a publisher with a team to support you, there are still marketing and other tasks that you’re expected to do to promote your work.

Here are some of the things that turned my little hobby into a second job. What would you add to my list?

  • Be prepared. You will read your manuscript more times than you’ll ever want to count to look for plotholes, typos, inconsistencies and areas to improve.

  • Find a critique group or partner to give you feedback on your manuscript.

  • Build and maintain a website and your social media presence.

  • Schedule events.

  • Organize your writing and promotional calendars.

  • Network with booksellers, librarians, book clubs, reviewers, and podcasters.

  • Network with other writers.

  • Learn how to ask for blurbs. Write blurbs for others.

  • Create a newsletter.

  • Build a newsletter list of followers.

  • Write a blog. Write content for your socials. Write content for your newsletter.

  • Write guest blogs and do interviews.

  • Prepare for interviews and speaking engagements.

  • Create a street team of super fans.

  • Learn how to use a variety of different software for book stuff.

  • Be social on multiple social media sites and build your following.

  • Get all the tax, sales tax, and business stuff straightened out.

  • Add information to your will to take care of the business of your books.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Diane Kelly

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I’d like to welcome the fabulous Diane Kelly to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Having to live a real life when all I want to do is disappear into my stories 24/7.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with story ideas. I have more than I’ll ever be able to write! I seem to find inspiration everywhere.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Cats to keep me company.

Things that hamper your writing: Cats keeping me company.

Words that describe you: Creative. Open-minded. Animal lover. Caring/compassionate. Organized (even if it doesn’t look like it). Hardworking.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Impatient. Overextended. Easily distracted.

Favorite music or song: My all-time favorite song is “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray. I love 70’s and 80’s music – the songs of my formative years.

Music that drives you crazy: Jazz. To me, it’s too random and nerve-wracking.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A stray animal that needs help.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: The sound of someone chewing, especially crunchy foods.

Things you always put in your books: Pets.

Things you never put in your books: Sexual violence.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: In a review for Death, Taxes, and Sweet Potato Fries, which involves human smuggling/illegal immigration and young women escaping a desperate and violent situation, a reader said I handled the sensitive subject well. I appreciated that a lot.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: When I still had a day job, a coworker read my first book and later came into my office, closed the door, and told me she didn’t like it. She didn’t have a sense of humor and was definitely not my target audience. I was surprised she was so blunt, especially since she knew I’d been working hard for years to get published, but I know no book will be everyone’s cup of tea and I appreciate her keeping me humble.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Being a mother. Parenthood puts a person in all kinds of situations where they have to think on their feet and come up with creative solutions to problems they never could have anticipated.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: My children. Ha-ha! They are definitely their own people which, truthfully, is exactly who I want them to be.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: When my son was a baby, I fed him too many orange baby foods and his skin turned orange. I used this in Death, Taxes, and Sweet Potato Fries, where I had my main character eat too many sweet potato fries and turn orange.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: The sex scenes in my Death and Taxes series. My sister told me she pictured me and my husband when she read the scenes. I was horrified! My main characters might share some of my traits or values (or not), but they are NOT me.

Your favorite movie as a child: Tie between Pippi Longstocking and Charlotte’s Web. The first because the thought of being independent and self-sufficient seemed fun, and the latter because it was about compassion for animals.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): “The Blair Witch Project.” That movie scared me to death! It felt so realistic.

About Diane:

Diane Kelly writes funny mysteries featuring feisty female lead characters and their furry, four-footed sidekicks. Diane is the author of over three dozen novels and novellas, including the Death and Taxes white-collar crime series, the Paw Enforcement K-9 series, the House Flipper mystery series, the Busted female motorcycle cop series, the Southern Homebrew moonshine series, and the Mountain Lodge Mysteries series. When not writing, Diane enjoys volunteering at her local animal shelter, playing with her cats, or hiking with her dog in the beautiful woods of her home state of North Carolina. Learn more about Diane and her books at DianeKelly.com.

Let’s Be Social:

website: https://www.dianekelly.com/

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

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

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DianeKellyBooks

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dianekellybooks

#WriterWednesday Interview with Ann Charles

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

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

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

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

Easiest thing about being a writer: Signing an autograph

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

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

Favorite smell: Baking bread

Something that makes you hold your nose: Red Onions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Ann:

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