An Interview with Linda O. Johnston

AN INTERVIEW WITH LINDA O . JOHNSTON

BY: PAMELA JAMES

MM: Linda, give us the back story on your writing career?

          I've been a writer all my life, and each of my careers has added to it.  My first job was as a secretary at my father's advertising and public relations agency and it led me to get my undergraduate degree in journalism with an advertising emphasis.  Later, I attended law school where I wrote articles for the law review and also learned to write contracts.

          But I also started to write fiction, and my first published fiction, a short story in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for best first mystery short story of the year.  Then came novels, starting with time travel romance--and, by the way, I'm currently making some of those first stories available as e-books, including ONCE A CAVALIER, where Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (my loves!) help the heroine travel to the time of King Charles II of England when the spaniels who were the ancestors of Cavaliers first became popular.  And of course the heroine meets the hero there...

          Since then, I've written more romances, including paranormal and romantic suspense, as well as four cozy mystery series.

MM: What comes first the character, plot or setting?

          In general, I get a good sense of the protagonist before I start putting her into the situation where she'll wind up solving murders in my cozies, or finding her true love in my romances.  But plot comes in a strong second since I need to know quickly what's going to happen to her and how she's going to handle it.  Setting is generally fit in to work with the rest.

MM: Do you have a village of people who help you? Such as a writing group, people who read your manuscript as you go along to help catch the error before the editors see the book?

          I belonged to the same critique group for twenty years but it recently disbanded.  Now I have a couple of writer friends who read my manuscripts, tell me what errors they see, if any, and give me suggestions about the story.

MM: Is there a mentor or teacher you would like to thank?

Maybe one of my junior high English teachers, who, when my school year with her was over, told me I'd never be successful because I didn't participate in class enough.  That was because I was shy, not because I didn't know the answers.  But her criticism helped to convince me to work even harder and, yes, hopefully become successful!  So, in a backhanded way, I thank her.

MM: If you could sit down with five authors over a meal. Who would be authors be? What would you ask them? What meal would you have and what would you tell them?

          I suspect I'd choose a meal at one of the mystery writer and reader conferences I attend and I'd want to get together with my buddies who also write pet-related mysteries, such as Tracy Weber, Sparkle Abbey, Dean James, Krista Davis and Janet Cantrell.  Yes, I know that's six authors but the two wonderful people who are Sparkle Abbey write together.

          I'd ask them what's next in their writing, thank most of them for our great Facebook group Nose for Trouble Mysteries, and tell them what I hope to write next.  Not sure what meal we'd have.  It'd have to be something fun and quick!

MM: Give us the guided tour on where you live? Why do you like living there?

I live in Los Angeles in the Hollywood Hills.  L.A. is a fun place to live since it has so much going on, but that unfortunately includes ever-growing traffic. 

MM: What would your characters tell us about you that we don't know?

I can be a bit demanding of my characters at times, but they all seem to step up and do a good job following what I tell them to do.

MM: Do you have any television shows, snack or dessert that you binge on once in a while?

Well, I'm an admitted chocoholic...  And of course my favorite TV show is Castle, partly because it's about--what else?--a mystery writer!

MM: Now for fun questions. What is your favorite movie, songs, vacation place, do you ever reread your favorite books?

Movie: Maybe Mamma Mia, because I like Abba songs, but there are a lot of oldies I'd like to watch again.  And recently, I really enjoyed The Intern.

Songs: "I Was Born Under A Wandering Star" from Paint Your Wagon; "It's My Life" from Bon Jovi, "Lucky Ladybug" and, of course, "Linda."

Vacation Place: Cruises, particularly Alaskan.  Australia.  And especially London since I met my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on the Underground on my first trip there.

Rereading favorite books: Yes, when I have a chance.  And I do reread my own!  (Especially when I'm working on another in that series.)

MM: Tell us about your series? Your latest book and professionally what 2016 will hold for you?

My latest release is KNOCK ON WOOD, the second Superstition Mystery.  In the Superstition Mysteries, Rory Chasen is a superstition agnostic who first came to Destiny, California--which is all about superstitions--to learn if superstitions are real after her fiancé walked under a ladder and was killed shortly thereafter.  When she arrived in town, her lucky black-and-white dog Pluckie found an ill older lady in the back room of her store, the Lucky Dog Boutique.  Now, Rory runs that boutique.  That beginning is described in the first Superstition Mystery, LOST UNDER A LADDER.

In KNOCK ON WOOD, Rory's best friend Gemma comes for a visit and winds up staying to manage the Broken Mirror Bookstore--and run from her newly ex boyfriend.  She starts flirting with others in town, and when one of them, Lou Landorf, the town's Public Affairs Director, is found dead... well, you can guess who the main suspect is.  And there will be at least one more Superstition Mystery.

I'm also writing three other series.  My Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries began in May of this year with BITE THE BISCUIT, and the second one, TO CATCH A TREAT, will be published next year.  I also write romances for two Harlequin series.  My Alpha Force miniseries is part of the Harlequin Nocturne paranormal romance series, about a covert military unit of shapeshifters, and I also write for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. 

MM: Lastly, is there something you would like to say to your readers?

Anyone who's familiar with me and my writing knows that I'm a dog lover, and I try to include dogs in my work whenever possible.  In fact, all of my mystery series involve dogs.  I wanted to mention that here, since it's important to me and my work.

And I especially want to say to my readers, thanks for reading!

An Interview with Christine Wenger

INTERVIEW WITH COZY SERIES AUTHOR: CHRISTINE WENGER

By Pamela James

MM2: Christine, give us the backstory on you and your writing career?

I've worked in law enforcement as long as I remember.  I wrote at first for escapism, then for pure enjoyment, then to share my stories with others.

MM2: Start to finish take us thru your writing day?

I'm easily distracted!  Sometimes, I'd rather be playing with my golden retriever

(Blondie, who is featured in all of my mysteries!) and hanging out with my husband. Then when time is running out and I have a book due, I race to the finish like a maniac!

MM2: Where is your favorite place to write?

My back porch.  It's enclosed with a lot of windows, and I feel like I'm outside.

MM2: What comes first the plot, character or setting?

Hmmm....In my mysteries, it's the characters.  In my romances, it's the characters.  Then the setting.  Then the plot.

MM2: You have fun and unique characters. Tell us how you came up with them and start the names?

I wish I knew.  Sometimes, it all comes to me at once like a tidal wave and I have to sort it all out.  Names of places and people just pop into my head.  I hope it never stops!

MM2: What was the best writing advice you can give a mystery writer?

 

To read other books out there for flavor, but make your stories unique somehow.  

MM2: Dead or alive what five authors would you love to take to breakfast? What would you ask them and talk set the scene for us?

I know he's fictional, but I'd love to dine with Richard Castle (or really Nathan Fillion!).  But to be serious, I'd love to hang out with Nora Roberts and ask her about her writing day.  She's so prolific and writes great stories.  I'd ask her how she does it.  And John Jakes and James Mitchner because they are such great historical writers.  How do they know all that history?  And I love the historical westerns that Jodi Thomas writes-also her contemporary westerns are fabulous.  And the fabulous gothic mystery writers like Mary Stewart and Daphne DuMaurier.  I'd like to have breakfast with them in a gloomy castle somewhere in England....nice! 

 

MM2: Now for some fun questions. What is your favorite place to vacation, your favorite meal, your favorite song, tv series and movies?

I like to vacation somewhere on a beach or lake-someplace with water.  And as for my favorite meal....pierogies-fried with onions!  Favorite song is "My Way" by Frank Sinatra.  TV series would have to be Poldark and Downton Abbey and Castle.  As for favorite movie...I guess it's a tie between REBECCA and JAYNE EYRE. 

MM2: Do you re-read some of your favorite books?

I used to.  There's no time anymore.  

MM2: Is there a new author you would like for us to keep watch for her books or series?

 

Wow...there are a lot of wonderful cozy mystery authors around-some are new authors, but some have launched new series, so their new ideas are fresh and fun.  

MM2: Tell us about your series, your latest book and they say it takes a village to write and publish books. Who is in your village?

My latest book is MACARONI AND FREEZE and I have two critique groups who help me with ideas and they give me a nudge when I need it.  I couldn't write without these fabulous people! Well, I could, but it would be fun.  And I have two wonderful editors: one at Obsidian/Penguin and one at Harlequin Special Edition.  They are totally smart women who polish my books until they shine. 

MM2: My dog 'Pepper' loves your dog biscuits. The recipe is so easy to make. My question for you is...

"Do you love to cook?"

I am so glad that you tried my recipe for dog biscuits!!  Blondie (my golden retriever) loves them, too.  I love to cook and I love to eat!  I am Polish, so I do a lot of Polish family favorites.  And for Christmas, I make about 14 dozen pierogies for dinner and for gifts.  

MM2: Give us the guided tour on where you live and why you love living there?

 

I love in the suburbs of Syracuse.  I love my house, the woods behind me, the deer that I see sometimes and the birds!  The winters are waaay too long, however, but I love watching the snow fall.  About January 5th, I want the snow all gone and spring flowers blooming.  

MM2: lastly, is there something you would like to say to your readers? Also what would your character Trixie Matkowski, want us to know about you?

I'd like to think that when readers read my books, they enjoy a laugh or two.  I hope that they can escape for a while to another place and that they like Sandy Harbor and the people who live there.  I hope to challenge them to pick out the murderer, but mostly, I want them to laugh.  

Trixie Matkowski would probably hire me to cook at the SilverBullet Diner.  We'd laugh together and have fun with the people who dine there along with our co-workers.  We'd speak "dinerese" and work hard to serve fabulous comfort food to our patrons.  They come to the Silver Bullet for meals that they enjoyed when they were young!  

Best wishes to all my readers, bloggers, and kindred spirits like Pamela Jones and Terri Parsons who do an incredible job in passing the word about books that we writers labor over.  We send them out into the world, and we hold our breath with the hope that EVERYONE will love them as much as we do!

An Interview with Connie Shelton

INTERVIEW WITH CONNIE SHELTON:

By Pamela James

MM2: Connie, let's start with why and how you became an author?

Firstly, I was a reader from a very young age. Devoured everything I could (thanks to my mother taking me to the library every week). Favorite classes in school always revolved around literature and writing assignments. From there, it was probably inevitable that I would eventually want to give writing a try. Once I'd made up my mind to write a book, I truly didn't have a clue how to get started so I began loading up on writing how-to books and taking workshops until I started to read like a writer. I have to admit it took a long time for me to reach the point where I could really see what techniques it took to make an exciting story. After I had nine or ten published books, I was contacted by Long Ridge Writer's Group and went to work for them teaching writing classes, and from there I developed a novel writing course of my own to help writers with the stuff that had given me fits in the beginning.

MM2: Let's talk about your series?

I'm now writing two series'. The first one features Charlotte "Charlie" Parker, a 30-something partner in an Albuquerque private investigation firm with her brother. She's supposed to be the firm's accountant while he's the PI, but she keeps managing to get herself pulled into cases because she's such a sucker for the underdog. 
   My second series came to me when one of my writing students commented that he broke into houses for a living (legally, of course). I immediately saw how much trouble a fictional character could get into with that career, so I came up with Samantha Sweet, a woman in her fifties who had struggled to raise her daughter alone and since her talent for baking wonderful pastries wasn't quite paying the bills, she needed extra money. How and why she does this...well, you'll have to start reading the series. It gets complicated by a handsome deputy sheriff and a magical artifact.

MM2: Where is your favorite place to write?

I love to curl up in a comfy chair when I'm plotting or editing. Otherwise, I'm always at my desk.

MM2: Take us thru a typical writing day?

My day starts with a half hour or so of pure quiet just for myself, having a cup of tea and watching the sunrise, followed by a walk with dogs and hubby. Then after breakfast I'm at my computer. My fairly-strict goal is ten pages a day when I'm writing a first draft. On great days, I might reach that by noon. Other days it can be late afternoon. On truly fabulous days I might get on such a roll that I'll reach 20 pages or more and still have a little energy to spare.

MM2: What comes first the plot, setting or characters?

When starting a new series, the characters and their personal situation comes first. Setting follows closely behind, and then I work out what plot I will entangle them in. With my two existing series' I already know the main characters so well, that I'm just on the lookout for a plot that will get them into trouble.

MM2: If you can sit down with any author, living or one that has passed on who would it be? What would you like to know?

The business side of me would love to chat with James Patterson. The man is a veritable idea-machine and I'd love to know how he does it, not to mention his organizational skills. The creative side of me wishes to know Charles Dickens. I once stayed in the hotel (see photo attached) where he wrote The Pickwick Papers and I got to see the room where he wrote. It was a cozy space and I could really see myself writing there. I'd love to know his thoughts as he worked in that little room.

MM2: What is the best writing advice given to you?

Park yourself in the chair and just write! Whenever I don't feel my daily ten pages happening, I remind myself that they'll never get done if I make excuses. Someone once said, you can fix a bad page but you can't fix a blank page. You've got to get that first draft done. No matter how shaky it is, at least you've got something to work with.

MM2: When you think of strong fictional women characters. What characters come to mind?

My first female hero was Nancy Drew. Look how ahead of her time she was and what an inspiration to girls of my generation.

MM2: Let's talk about your latest book and future writing plans?

My newest book is the tenth in my Samantha Sweet series and it's coming out in August. Readers who have been with Sam from the start know that she sometimes breaks into houses, sometimes bakes fabulous cakes and pastries, and occasionally calls upon the powers from a mysterious wooden box that came into her possession in the first book in the series. In this new one, called Sweets Forgotten, a woman wanders into Sam's pastry shop claiming she can't remember who she is or how she got there.
   As far as future plans, I have many! I've already done plot outlines for a series of five books involving a group of women who operate a little outside the law--a sort of caper mystery/chick lit/suspense concept. I'm hoping to find the time to get them underway in the coming year. I'm also currently working with an illustrator on a set of children's books for early readers, ages 3-7. I truly believe that kids who love to read from a young age have so many advantages throughout life. I would love to see every child develop the same craving for books that I had. If I can help even a few of them by writing my stories, I will be super grateful.

MM2: What was the most fun you have had doing research?

Ah--travel! I got to go to Alaska twice for the setting I used in Legends Can Be Murder, which is my most recent Charlie

Parker mystery. Competition Can Be Murder took me (and Charlie) to Scotland, and Phantoms Can Be Murder gave me two trips to Bury St. Edmunds in England (home of the above-mentioned hotel where Charles Dickens stayed). Charlie and her husband are helicopter pilots, so they can take jobs nearly anywhere in the world. Samantha doesn't travel nearly as much--most of her stories take place closer to her home in Taos, New Mexico--but I did send Sam to Ireland when she learned of an inheritance from an uncle. Of course, the actual trip for me is the tip of the research iceberg. I do a lot of reading, videos and online fact-checking once I get home.

MM2: Now for some fun questions: What is your favorite movie/s? What television series do you like to keep up with? What is your favorite song, meal, dessert and place to vacation?

Movies--Harry Potter (of course, the books came first!), and I love all the old Hitchcock films, especially those with Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight--ooh!!).  TV--I'm a Downton Abbey junkie--could watch it over and over. Song--Maria Elena, played by my husband Dan on guitar. Meal/Dessert--Can't beat a good steak with a nice red wine and anything dark chocolate after.  Place to vacation--England, Scotland, Germany, Alaska.... everywhere I go seems to turn into a book.

MM2: Do you have a favorite day? Time of day and what is the best way to relax after a long writing day?

I love quiet Sundays, which is usually the only day of the week I take off work. Sunrise and sunset are favorite times of day--we have fabulous ones here in the Southwest. Relaxing? What's that?? When I'm not writing, I am usually editing, updating my website, answering fan letters, corresponding with other writers, or getting my next newsletter ready to go out. For fun, I love to paint, play with the dogs, tinker at the piano (although I'm not very good), and get together with friends.

MM2: They say it take a village to write and publish a book. Who is in your village?

Dan and our dogs are my immediate village--with me all the time. Extended family, my parents are both very supportive of my writing, as are my grown children. Of course when it comes to the practicalities of publishing, I have three editors who work closely with me to fine tune and hone each book.

MM2: Is there an up and coming author you would like to give kudos to and make sure we read their book?

I don't know about up-and-coming...she actually has several published books...but I really recommend the Dan Mahoney mystery series by Susan Slater. They are fresh and engrossing. She has a real talent for finding a little known fact about something and building a complete mystery around it.

MM2: Lastly, what would you like to say to your readers?

Mainly, to everyone who follows my work, I want to say a huge and heartfelt Thank You!! You keep me enthused and energetic. I love my readers!!
   I already mentioned my newest Samantha Sweet book, Sweets Forgotten, coming out in August. I've also been invited to include a book in a bundled set of pet-themed mysteries with bestselling authors Carole Nelson Douglas, Joanne Pence, Denise Dietz, Carolyn Haines, Leighann Dobbs, Pamela Dumond and Harper Lin. Charlie and her helpful pooch, Rusty, are on the case together in Killer Tails: 8 Pawsome Cozy Cat and Dog Mysteries. It was lots of fun to get together with this group and work out the details for the set, publication date is August 18.

   Anyone who wants to keep up with what's new in my series and my writing life is welcome to come to my website at connieshelton.com. I have a newsletter, free books, contests for Kindle giveaways, recipes and all sorts of stuff you might want to check out. Again, thank you so much!

NEW! Watch the video trailer for my newest book, The Woodcarver's Secret, available now!
For all Samantha Sweet fans, it answers the question--where did that
magic box come from?

Amazon #1 and Kobo Top 10 international bestselling mystery author. Get my free
email newsletter by signing up at connieshelton.com

An Interview with Sue Owens Wright

MM2: Sue, take us through your typical writing day.

Photo by Aniko Kiezel

I have two senior basset hounds who demand a lot of my time and attention these days, but I write for a few hours every afternoon while my hounds are getting their beauty sleep (bassets are great sofa warmers; they sleep a lot no matter what age they are). Sometimes I write late at night after the house is quiet.

MM2: How many genres and how many books have you written? 

I’ve written both fiction and nonfiction.  Besides the Beanie and Cruiser Mysteries, five in all now, I’ve also written a paranormal romance novel set in England. I wrote it after being inspired by a magnificent Tudor estate we visited during our travels. I have also written books on pet care: What’s Your Dog’s IQ? and 150 Activities for Bored Dogs.  In addition, I wrote chapters in People’s Guide to Dogs for Borders Books.  Several of my dog stories have been published in anthologies, one most recently in PEN Oakland’s Fightin’ Words, where I’m proud to share the pages with such literary icons as Norman Mailer.  I was thrilled to learn that my mysteries are on the American Kennel Club list of Best Dog Books (http://www.akc.org/akc-dog-lovers/looking-for-a-good-dog-book).  I was especially honored to be included because many of the classic dog books I grew up reading are also on that list. 

MM2: Where is your favorite place to write? If it is your office, describe your office.

I have a home office with a large-screen Apple desktop computer, but I don’t work there much because there are usually too many distractions and interruptions at home.  If I need a big screen for editing or other projects, I will work there on occasion.  Most of the time, I prefer working on my laptop at cafés. I find I can focus better while writing there and sipping tea, so that’s what I do every afternoon. My favorite café is Peet’s Coffee & Tea. They usually play classical music there, which boosts my creativity. Mozart and mystery, a perfect blend.

   

MM2: Tell us about your latest book. 

A fifth book in the series is complete but not yet released.  I don’t want to give away too much, but here’s a peek: 

Trouble crops up in Native American Elsie “Beanie” MacBean’s neck of the woods at South Lake Tahoe one Indian summer during Tahoe’s worst drought of the century. Beanie already has her hands full dog-sitting Calamity, her daughter Nona’s rescued basset hound. She’s feeling overwhelmed dealing with her crazy new boarder’s behavioral problems and chronic ear infections while juggling writing deadlines, including one on ear cropping in certain dog breeds, but things are about to get deadly. She becomes involved in a murder investigation while on a woodland hike when Cruiser and Calamity sniff out the body of Chuck Sweet, one of Buzz Baxter’s ax men who harvested lumber in the area until he was cut down. Beanie hates that Baxter Lumber has begun clear-cutting pine trees near her tranquil mountain cabin to make way for an upscale alpine resort, but someone is dead set on putting an end to the project.

MM2: What are your words of wisdom when writing a series?

Don’t be too eager to jump at the first offer of publication. Be patient. Shop around.  Once you sell the first book in a series, it’s hard to place subsequent books with another publisher. Most want to get in on the ground floor of a series, so hold out for the best contract.  It’s also good if each book can stand alone so readers don’t necessarily have to start with the first one in the series to get to know your characters.

MM2: Do you belong to a critique group or writers’ group?

I’ve tried joining a few critique groups over the years, but I never seemed to have much luck finding the perfect one.  There’s usually too much idle chit-chat, and it can even get a little weird sometimes, like the group where a guy only wrote stories about collecting human body parts in Mason jars in his basement.  He was starting to creep me out, so I dropped out of that group pretty fast.

Truthfully, I think you can learn more about the writing craft from books and classes on writing, but mostly by actually writing. I’ve always felt like the time spent in groups talking about writing was time I could have better spent writing.

I’m a member of the Dog Writers Association of America, based in New York, too far away for me to attend workshops.  I do occasionally participate in a local writer’s social group called Writers Who Wine.  I find it’s most useful for networking, and wining, of course.  It’s nice to chat with your own kind now and then, because writing is a lonely profession.

MM2: Now for fun, what is your favorite movie or television show?

My favorite movie?  Gosh, it’s hard to choose just one; there are so many I could name because I have always loved going to the movies. Dances with Wolves, Braveheart and Titanic stand out.  The musical scores are amazing. My TV favorite is Law & Order SVU, especially the older episodes with hunky Chris Meloni.

Your favorite meal, dessert?

My mom, who will be 92 this August, used to cook her famous Swiss steak and mushy white rice for my birthday every year.  Also, her banana pudding and chocolate cake were the best.  Anything chocolate for dessert is a winner for me.

Your favorite place to vacation?

Besides beautiful Lake Tahoe, where my mystery series is set, or at the coast, I’d love to go back to Ireland.  I was there in 1998 for five weeks while studying writing at Trinity College in Dublin.  Best vacation ever!

MM2: Do you have a favorite book you like to reread?

James Herriot’s stories of a country vet are still my all time favorites.  In the early 90s, when I visited the charming Yorkshire village of Thirsk, on which his fictional Darrowby was based, I discovered a lovely little bookstore, just a few doors down from his real-life surgery; we also toured the TV set for “All Creatures Great and Small.”  There on the shelf were autographed copies of his books.  I bought his latest books at that time, “Every Living Thing” and a collection of children’s stories. While in Yorkshire, my husband and I stayed at a charming bed & breakfast owned by a family friend of Alf Wight, which is James Herriot’s real name.  We were told he walked past there every day on the way up to Sutton Bank, a craggy promontory that affords a spectacular panorama of the Vale of Pickering.  This landscape must have provided great inspiration to the author for writing those unforgettable tales of his life in the Yorkshire Dales.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Mr. Wight.  Sadly, he passed away not long after our visit to Yorkshire. 

MM2: In closing, what would you like to say to your readers?

Thank you for reading and rereading my books.  I love writing them, and it pleases me greatly to know that people continue to enjoy them.  I always like to close with a little Cruiser wisdom, which applies to sniffing out crime, writing books, or life in general: “Stay on track, and follow where the path leads you.  Stop to smell the roses, and leave your mark along the way.”

MM2: Last, do you have a pet project? 

Besides exploring my artistic side with pastel painting (dogs are frequent subjects), I’m currently working on a memoir and short story collections about what else? Dogs!

An Interview with Donna Ball

An Interview with Donna Ball 

by Pamela James

MM2: Donna how many books have you written?

DB:  I have written close to 100 books (or perhaps slightly more than that by now!) The first 50 or so were contemporary romance for Harlequin/Silhouette, which I’ve been told by more than one agent don’t count.  But I love those books, and I learned more about writing from them than I’ve done from all the rest of my books put together.

MM2: What comes first, the characters, setting or plot?

DB: The characters always come first.  They’re the ones who tell the story!  I’ve always said that unless you have a set of characters about whom the reader cares and in whom the reader is passionately invested, your story doesn’t matter, because no one is going to read it!

MM2: What would you like to say to your readers?

DB:The first thing I always want to say is that I have the classiest readers in the world.  They are amazing, and they are the only reason I do what I do.  The second thing I’d like to say is that your opinion matters!  If you like a book, write a review, e-mail me, let me know.  You’d be surprised at how often something that simple can make the difference between a series that goes on to be a success, and a series that is canceled after three books.

   

MM2: What has been the best writing advice you received?

DB: I know I am a product of all the advice I’ve ever received from everyone who’s ever given it, but the best advice probably came from the friend who shoved a paperback novel into my hand thirty years ago and said, “You can do better than this.”  Turns out I could.

  

MM2: Do you ever reread any of your favorite author's books?

DB: One day, I hope to have time to sit down and do just that. 

MM2: After a hard day at the computer. How do you de-stress?

DB:  My daily ritual is to watch the sunset from my porch or deck with a glass of wine.  This is sacred quiet time for me, and I am so obsessive about it that I’ve been known to wrap up in multiple layers with gloves and a knit hat to go out to watch the sun set when it’s 10 degrees outside.

MM2: Tell us about where you live? Your favorite vacation, your favorite meal and movie?

DB: I am so fortunate to be able to live in two of the most beautiful places in the world: the Blue Ridge mountains of northeastern Georgia, and the Atlantic beaches of Florida. As for my favorite vacation, well I’ve been a lot of places and had some amazing times, but my favorite?  Disney World! My favorite meal is Sunday brunch, the kind with mimosas and eggs benedict.  My favorite movie?  I can’t pick just one!  Love Actually is my favorite Christmas-time movie.  I have a July Fourth tradition that includes Independence Day, Apollo Thirteen and The American President.  Love those stirring speeches!  My favorite musical is probably Mama Mia, mostly because of the amazing shots of Greece.  And I can’t wait to see Jurassic World because Jurassic Park is one of my all-time favorites, a true classic.

MM2: What would your characters tell us about you?

DB:My characters would probably say I’m pretty easy to work with.  I let them tell their stories and hardly ever censor their thoughts.  I can get a little stern with those who ramble on and on, and I’m sure a few of them would have something to say about how free I am with the “delete” button, but for the most part, I think they’d give me a pretty good report.

MM2: Leave us with some writing words of wisdom.

DB: Okay.  Here’s something you don’t hear very often: If there are 105 things you need in order to become a writer, talent is number 103. I can’t tell you how many talented writers I’ve met who have nothing but that, and who will never, ever succeed.  Do the work. Do the work. Do the work. Those are my words of wisdom.

MM2: Be sure to lead us to your website and any blogs you might like us to know about.

DB: Learn more about me at http:\\www.donnaball.net.  

Check out the Raine Stockton Dog Mystery series at www.rainestocktondogmysteries.blogspot.com 

and don’t forget my latest release, FLASH at http:\\www.doglegislanddogmysteries.blogspot.com.  

If you are a fan of women’s fiction, check out the Ladybug Farm series and THE HUMMINGBIRD HOUSE  at www.ladybugfarmcharms.blogspot.com.

Here’s an amazon.com link to Flash, the first book in my newest mystery series: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V3KTHT6