A Word Please

Caraliza. The name alone beckoned me. The cover pulled me in and demanded I read it. And, today, you’ll have a chance to win this haunting tale! Have a look:

A seventy-five year old secret waits in a lovely old portrait studio, at the end of a street in New York City’s Lower East Side. It is a secret, that drove to madness, a renowned photographer, ‘Papa’ Menashe Reisman, and left him to waste and die in his own studio, but haunted by every photograph he tries to take.When his great-grand daughter, Shelly, begs to have the old building, for a new renovation, she awakens more than any secret that Papa kept. She also awakens something darker, more evil, just across the street. Across the street, under the stoop, down a foul stair, where Caraliza was kept prisoner for two years; until the horrid events of that summer, in 1919.
***

The talented Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick authored this haunting story. He’s a bit shy about looking at the camera but he doesn’t hold back a thing when he writes. Caraliza is just one of his four brilliant books. As part of Giveaway Month, Joel is offering a free ebook copy of Caraliza to one lucky winner! Details to come.

Joel puts up with my questions and agreed to answer a bunch for me. Here’s what he had to say:

What and/or who was your inspiration for Caraliza?

Her name. I had finished my first novel a few weeks earlier, and wondered if a ghost story would be fun to write. I love ghost stories, but didn’t know if I could write something frightening. One night, very late, her name suddenly came to mind. Just rolling it around in my mind seemed to bring her to life. Instantly, she was my ghost, but writing her, realizing her condition – I arrived at the point in the story when she had to die, and cried while I wrote that.

I cried then, too!

I loved the photography angle, with the old cameras. Did you have to do a lot of research on that?

I’m a photography buff, but honestly believe that plate images, and the process to make them, is really magic; I certainly cannot do it. It was very magical 120 years ago. For a time, the public could not believe such things could be real. But when it became popular, as smaller cameras became available to average people, photography exploded. My research was mostly into which types of cameras were being used at the turn of the century, to select one that would fit the story. I wanted an easily used camera, which was still quite beautiful as an item. The Waterbury fit that description nicely.

Do you believe in spirits and hauntings?

I may have to. My family certainly does. They believe this house to be haunted, but I cannot feel it. And, that’s funny, cause I don’t like dark places. This house is secluded and quite dark at night. While others hear and feel strange things, I don’t get to participate. I’ve never had an encounter of mine own. It might be fun.

There were times, while writing this story very late at night, when the house was just a bit too quiet. I would distract myself with music, and lights.

If you could come back and haunt one person, who would it be and why?

I have a list. Honestly. I know someone who is so cruel in life, they deserve to be haunted. I would haunt family, but only in a good way, only to let them know I was still lingering.

You’ve been told by someone who is apparently an idiot that you use too many words. I couldn’t find any that were in the way or had the feel of excess baggage. What do you think of the current trend of major publishers to require cookie cutter books with specific word count requirements?

It is a dead end trend; limiting authors just to satisfy marketing needs. We are seeing the whole industry wobbling – resisting change while they thrash about trying to sell books. I don’t purchase books because of size, why are they all as similar as eggs? I only look to see how many pages there are, because I love long stories. Keep me reading for two weeks in a book…please! What I find humorous, in the last twenty years the number of ‘how to write’ books has multiplied a thousand fold. Not a one of them solved the problems in the industry. So, I say, leave the writers alone. They didn’t make the mess that the Big Six find themselves in. Put all the templates in the trash. That’s what they’ve proven themselves to be.

I’m all for tossing the templates.

Mashed potatoes or French fries?

Mashers, loaded, gooey – with Tabasco sauce in them. Yum! We only do fries in the car.

Tabasco sauce? Seriously? My mouth is on fire just thinking about that!

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I won’t reveal that. But it’s been a lifelong passion. Gummy bears make a good answer, take that instead. No? Writing then. I set many things aside to write. I’m a bad boy about that.

Now you’ve only made me more curious about that first guilty pleasure!

Rock and roll or country music?

Almost never country, but I do like folk music, which is very individual. I hate current Pop. I loved the British invasion of punk and weird from the 80’s. You didn’t ask all that, did you? Too bad. I’m passionate about blues, Stevie Ray Vaughan…

Music does things to me; I can be very connected to it emotionally. My happy place is inside my headphones.

Headphones = happy place. Yup! For me, too! There’s something magical about crawling inside the music. I am a huge blues fan. Of course, that’s a conversation for another time.

When you write, do you require silence or do you prefer background noise?

Just answered that. I prefer to write with my headphones on. I lose any sense of time when I get to do that.

Getting back to Caraliza – this book is a mix of historical fiction and modern day. That might be a difficult mix for many authors but you pulled it off without a single glitch. What was the hardest part of blending these two worlds?

I’m an admitted amateur at the whole process. Nothing of it was planned or outlined. I just open my mind, close my eyes, and begin to see the world. I just dictate what comes to me visually. Every instant of the book plays for me, and I wander in and out of the settings, between and around the characters. I know what Yousep had in his pocket the first time he saw Caraliza. Admittedly, I might view a few photos of my setting, look into a bit of history of the place. I always turn to maps, to get a sense for where things are, but that is only to spark the visuals, which will come anyway.

Later, as the tale unfolds, the past mingles with the living, and you can hear that within the words. I don’t just tell you a spirit has appeared, I try to make you hear it.

And you did that beautifully.

What is the biggest challenge for you in being an indie author?

Time. Finding time. I wish this had all started for me years ago. I think I’m missing the books I might have created. The second? Finding readers. But, it is only natural I want more of them. We can never have too many readers, can we?

Nope, no such thing as too many readers!

Final words?

I have been terribly proud of one element in the book, which opened up so many wonderful things for me. The language. People cannot know, just looking at the cover, or reading the blurbs – Caraliza doesn’t speak a word of English in the entire text. All of her speech is Dutch, flawless Dutch, and her words are translated for the reader. I have a Dutch penpal, from The Netherlands, and she put so much love into correcting Caraliza’s voice. Her name is Irma van der Staal. That could have been the downfall of the story; to get all the Dutch dialogue wrong, or to just bore the reader with it. But, it becomes the key to the sweetness of the love that Yousep and Caraliza share. It was a barrier, which became a bond. I liked that a lot.

I read what you’d written about that at the back of Caraliza. You and Irma combined to do a beautiful job of showing us Caraliza’s native language. And I loved how her and Yousep’s bond grew, despite their language barrier.
***

Caraliza is one of those characters that will haunt me for a long time to come. Want to learn more about Joel and his work? You can find him on his website at www.BrownBrushBooks.com. You can also find him on his blog – The Tale’s the Thing – where he shows off his mad writing skills and his slightly off-kilter personality.

Here’s a look at Joel’s books on Amazon in both print and Kindle format:

I hope you’ll take the time to check out Joel’s books!

Now, I did promise the chance to win your own ebook copy of Caraliza. So here we go. All you need to do is leave a comment with a valid email adress. You must be 16 or older and you can live anywhere in the world – an igloo in Antarctica or a hut on a Hawaiian Island. Anywhere at all! Enter by midnight EST on Wednesday, February 9. I’ll post the winner’s name here. Be sure to keep an eye on your spam folder, as Joel will be contacting the winner with his/her prize information.

Good luck!

As promised, author Craig Lancaster joins me today. Yesterday, I talked about his new novel, The Summer Son. Craig has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I’m already waiting impatiently for his next book!

I’ll stop my usual rambling and step aside. Here’s Craig’s piece:

WHERE FACT MEETS FICTION
By Craig Lancaster

Literary fiction brims with characters and settings that draw heavily upon – if not outright reflect – real-life models. Think of the nurse Catherine Barkley in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms; she was built from Agnes von Kurowsky, a nurse Hemingway fell in love with while in Italy during World War I. F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jay Gatsby), Philip Roth (Nathan Zuckerman), Pat Conroy (Ben Meechum) and hundreds more – all of these writers use fictional characters imbued with their own experience as vehicles to explore the thoughts and societal mores of their time and place.

So rather than be coy about the two main characters in my new novel The Summer Son – Mitch Quillen and his estranged father, Jim – I’ll instead cop to the influences, and to the fictional extrapolations:

• Like Jim, my father was an exploratory well digger who spent his working days as an itinerant in the American West.
• Like Mitch, I was 3 when my parents divorced, and I went through much of my childhood separated from my father. Throughout my youth, I spent summers with him wherever he happened to be working at the time.
• Like Jim, my father grew up abused.
• Like Mitch, I spent the summer of 1979 in Milford, Utah. I was 9 years old; in the book, Mitch is 11.

For the most part, however, that’s where the similarities end. When I have an idea for a story, it’s often ignited by some real-world event – a memory, a news item, an anecdote I hear. I’m thankful for the initial spark, but really, that’s all it is. The meat on the bones comes in the days and weeks that follow, as I twist the idea around in my head and play “what-if” games: What if I change the setting or the circumstance? What if I put this character in extreme duress? What if the unthinkable happened? As those notions build, the idea takes on a critical mass that compels me to begin writing. That’s how I know I’m on to something. And by the time the “what ifs” are played out, my fictional idea often bears scant resemblance to the very real piece of inspiration that set it afire.

In writing “The Summer Son,” I was driven by two big “what ifs”:

What if a father and son had been separated for nearly 30 years by the fallout from a violent summer?

And what if one of them didn’t know the whole truth?

The novel begins this way:

The first call came on a Tuesday night. I yelled at Cindy from the garage to pick up. On the fourth ring, I dropped the armful of newspapers I was packing into the recycling bin and ran to the extension in the kitchen.

He was gone.

I hope you’ll give The Summer Son a whirl and see where the story – mostly but not entirely fictional – goes from there.

The Summer Son, which will be released tomorrow (January 25) by AmazonEncore, is Craig Lancaster’s second novel. His first, 600 Hours of Edward was a 2009 Montana Honor Book and the 2010 High Plains Book Award winner for best first book. His website is CraigLancaster.net.

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of The Summer Son.

Thanks for reading!

Books, books, and more books!

We had an amazing group of authors participating in the first of what I hope will be an annual event. Hundreds of print and ebooks were offered and nearly 1,000 people entered! The event is over and the winners have been picked. Are you one of them?

If you haven’t been contacted, don’t despair. I have not finished notifying all the winners and authors. It’s a daunting process but it’s also been fun! I hope to have everyone notified by mid day tomorrow.

The winners’ list-in-progress can be found on the page where the entry form used to be: www.QuietFuryBooks.com/evententryform.html

The event pages listed all the books will also remain for a couple of weeks. You can do a little browsing and perhaps some book shopping, if the mood strikes!

www.QuietFuryBooks.com/holidayevent.html

Thank you to all the indie authors for participating and making this event such a huge success! And thank you to all who took an interest in our books and entered our contest!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Happy New Year!

Today is the launch of the Indie Books Holiday Giveaway Event! A couple of months ago, this idea drifted through my mind. I wanted to showcase indie authors, thank our readers for hanging out with us, and introduce new readers to indie books. I sent my idea out to my networking world and received an incredible response. That passing thought quickly spiraled into a pretty huge event. Here’s what we have:

Hundreds of print and e-books, written by 47 indie authors, offering 76 unique titles! This is an international event. Regardless of where you live, you have a chance to win one of the prizes. All you need to do is fill out the entry form. But first, let’s take a look at the authors who are participating:

1. Darcia Helle
2. Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
3. Stacy Juba
4. Sylvia Massara
5. Jason McIntyre
6. Susan Helene Gottfried
7. Pendred Noyce
8. Judith Marshall
9. Cheryl Anne Gardner
10. Jenny Hilborne
11. Philip Nork
12. Roseanne Dingli
13. Sydney Tyler Thomas
14. Charlie Courtland
15. Ottilie Weber
16. Marty Beudet
17. Magdalena Ball
18. Carolyn Howard-Johnson
19. Jennifer Lane
20. Jaleta Cregg
21. Jane Kennedy Sutton
22. Adelle Laudan
23. Tonya Plank
24. Magnolia Belle
25. Patricia Rockwell
26. Diane Morlan
27. Christopher Dunbar & Heather Poinsett Dunbar
28. Maria Savva
29. Roy McConnell
30. Linda Gould
31. Theodore Odrach with translation by Erma Odrach
32. Ann Mauren
33. Sherrida Woodley
34. Jennifer DeLucy
35. Tricia L. McDonald
36. K. Michael Crawford
37. Apryl Skies
38. Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid
39. J.R. Lindermuth
40. Debra Purdy Kong
41. Scott L. Collins
42. Karen Vaughan
43. Doug Hiser
44. Karen Boutilier Kendall
45. Michael Dyet
46. Donna McDine
47. Gregg Seeley

This event runs throughout the month of December. Winners will be picked at random on January 1. I will announce the winners here on my blog, as well as on the entry form page for the event. There will be one winner for each prize, so you’ve got great odds of winning something!

Ready to see the books? You can browse through all the titles by visiting the holiday event page on my website. Each title is linked to Amazon, so that you can click for further details. Also, you’ll find each author’s website listed beside his/her name. After you’ve checked out the selection, click on the entry form link and fill out the form. That’s all you need to do! Oh, and don’t forget to tell your friends!

Happy holidays, everyone! And good luck!

www.QuietFuryBooks.com/holidayevent.html

I’m excited to have my good friend Stacy Juba here today to discuss her new children’s book The Flag Keeper! Stacy has also generously offered to provide a free e-book download of her mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today to one lucky commenter! Read on for the details!

Before we talk about Stacy’s new book, I should introduce you:

Award-winning writer Stacy Juba has published books for all ages, including the brand new patriotic children’s book The Flag Keeper. Her recent mystery novels for adults include Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and the upcoming Sink or Swim. Stacy has written more than 2,000 articles and won over a dozen writing awards. Her young adult novel Face-Off was published by Avon Books when she was 18 years old. After years of working as a reporter, Stacy now concentrates on writing fiction and freelancing.

Here’s a look at The Flag Keeper:

Elizabeth may be a little bear, but she treats the American flag with big respect. After Dad leaves for a trip, Elizabeth pledges to raise the flag all by herself and create her own Independence Day. This patriotic picture book is designed to teach children about U.S. flag etiquette through an educational fiction story. It includes discussion questions, flag facts, and an activity. The Flag Keeper is ideal for military families, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, classroom and library use, and for anyone who wishes to teach a special child about American flag etiquette. It is a perfect complement to patriotic holidays.
***

Stacy took time out of her crazy schedule to chat with me about The Flag Keeper and her foray into writing for children. Here’s what she had to say:

What prompted you to write this particular book?

I wrote this story about seven years ago and got the idea after seeing how patriotic my husband was. He has always loved flags, and after we moved into our house, I encouraged him to buy a flag pole. Once we had the pole installed, I was intrigued by how he always carried the flag outside every morning and brought it inside at night. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t just leave the flag outside in the dark. That would have been a lot easier. He explained to me about U.S. flag etiquette and how the American flag should be brought in at night unless it’s under a spotlight. I never realized that and asked him about other aspects of U.S. flag etiquette. I found out, for example, that if your flag gets worn out, you should give it a proper retirement and get a new one. Every couple years, my husband purchases a new flag and brings the worn one to the local VFW as the post properly retires worn-out flags in a special Flag Day ceremony. I remembered learning about Betsy Ross and the history of the flag in elementary school, but I’d never heard about any of these flag etiquette rules before. I don’t think this is something that’s taught in most schools and decided to fill a niche by writing a children’s book about it. The overall theme is that while you won’t go to jail for breaking these rules, following them displays your respect and makes us all better Americans.

The artwork was done by your father. Is this the first picture book he has seen his work published in?

Yes. Initially, I submitted the story to children’s book publishers, just the text of the book, before he ever did illustrations. Publishers want to use their own illustrators for picture books. I was frustrated that all I got were form rejection letters on the story. With my young adult and adult manuscripts at that time, I had an agent and had some close calls. Even before that, I’d get some personal rejection letters from publishers on my novels, but with The Flag Keeper, it was 100 percent form letters. There was absolutely no interest in a fiction book about flag etiquette. Eventually, I gave up and it became a family project. I had envisioned Elizabeth as a young girl, but my father likes drawing animals and made her into a bear. I thought that added a dimension of sweetness and gentleness to the story. I never intended to independently publish the book, but then I found out how easy it was, especially because my husband is a talented graphic designer.

How do your children feel about being able to sit and read one of mom’s books?

They aren’t that curious about my adult books, but they thought the picture book was neat. I have a college friend with two children and they were fascinated when my first adult mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today was published. They were asking her questions about the cover and the book trailer video, but she didn’t want to give them much detail since it is a murder mystery. I recently sent them a copy of The Flag Keeper in the mail with a note that said “Here’s a book from Auntie Stacy that you don’t have to wait 10 years to read!” So, it’s nice to share a published book with young readers.

Any plans to write another children’s book?

My father and I did another children’s picture book for fun, but I’m not sure whether I will publish it or not. I don’t foresee myself writing more picture books as I want to focus on launching an adult mystery series. I initially wrote the picture book manuscripts around the time I discovered that I had hypothyroidism. I was absolutely exhausted and was in a brain fog much of the time, and couldn’t focus on writing a novel. Once I finally went on the medication, it took awhile to feel back to normal, but I missed writing. I decided to write a couple of picture book manuscripts as I had several friends who were children’s book authors and it seemed more manageable as I’d be focusing on a much shorter story. I shared the manuscripts with them in online critique groups and they worked with me to make the stories stronger.

I do have a young adult paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn which I expect to be published within the next couple of years, and within the next five years I plan to reissue an updated version of my 1992 young adult hockey novel Face-Off and possibly publish its never-before seen sequel Offsides. So, I will have future books coming out for a junior high and high school audience.

You typically write in the mystery genre. What did you enjoy most about breaking out of that mold and writing for kids? What did you find the hardest?

I enjoyed analyzing a lot of picture books to get a feel for the genre. It was fun sharing The Flag Keeper manuscript with my critique partners and using my journalistic skills to convey factual information about the flag code into a fiction story. I enjoyed doing the research and compiling the flag facts at the end of the book. My published children’s author friends believed the book was strong enough to be published, so even though I put it on the shelf for a few years, I never forgot about the manuscript. The most rewarding part for me was seeing it brought to life with illustrations, then seeing the terrific job my husband did with the graphic design. He used whimsical stars and stripes lettering and really dressed up the book with small touches here and there.

Even though it was easier for me to focus on a short manuscript at that fatigued time of my life, writing a picture book manuscript was far from easy. The hard parts were using a vocabulary at a child’s level, making sure every paragraph or so gave enough visuals to inspire an illustration, and cutting, cutting, cutting so the story didn’t get too long. I love describing characters and scenery in novels, but in a picture book, it’s the illustrator’s job to convey those details. I had to cut most of my descriptions as they bogged down the story. It’s challenging to write tight, yet give the illustrator enough detail to create the pictures. I also wanted to make sure that the book would be a valuable teaching tool for teachers, school librarians and troop leaders, so that they could read the story to their group and then have a discussion about flag etiquette to help reinforce the information. An educator friend tested the pre-published version on an elementary school class and gave me input on the topics they discussed and a flag-folding activity that the class did. I used her feedback to create discussion questions and include a suggested activity in the book. So, a variety of people lent their feedback to The Flag Keeper to make it as strong as possible. I am excited to finally share the published book with young readers!
***

I’ve read The Flag Keeper and it is truly both fun and educational (for kids and adults)! You can check it out on Amazon:

Curious? Here’s a glimpse at both the print copy and Kindle version:

For twenty-five years, Diana Ferguson’s killer has gotten away with murder. When rookie obit writer and newsroom editorial assistant Kris Langley investigates the cold case of the artistic young cocktail waitress who was obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology, she must fight to stay off the obituary page herself.

Leave a comment here before midnight EST on Saturday, October 23. I’ll randomly pick the winner and announce it here. Be sure to use a valid email address and watch your spam folder. I’ll pass the winner’s email address on to Stacy and she’ll provide that lucky person with a free download code!

Now go ahead an leave a comment! Happy reading.

Building a fictional story around the life of a real person is a growing trend with historical fiction. Charlie Courtland, my guest today, does this beautifully. Her two-part series, Dandelions In The Garden and The Hidden Will of the Dragon take on the life of Elizabeth Bathory, who later became known as the Blood Countess. Want the chance to win a copy of Dandelions In The Garden? Read on for contest information!

I recently had the pleasure of reading the first in this series and look forward to reading the follow-up. Charlie has stopped by today to talk to us about her books. First, though, let’s get to know a bit about Charlie:

The author writes under the nom de plume, Charlie Courtland. She graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in English Literature with an emphasis on creative writing, and a minor in Criminology. She was born in Michigan and currently resides in the Seattle area with her husband and two children.

Now for a little tease to grab your interest:

Amara Borbala is certain she is the only living person in the sane world with intimate knowledge concerning the life and exploits of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory. After all, she was Elizabeth’s companion and confidant since her eleventh year. In 1573, after the death of her mother, Amara is sent by her cousin to serve as a lady-in-waiting at the castles of Sarvar, Varanno, and Cachtice.

Now it is years later, 1628, and Amara is aging, alone, and reduced to eavesdropping at her favorite café around the corner from her townhouse in Vienna. Befuddled by gossiping ladies, Amara determines perhaps it is time to finally put a stop to the rumors and once and for all, answer the question, ‘Is it true?’ Did Elizabeth Bathory, a descendant of Vlad Tepes really commit the horrible acts of torture, bathe in the blood of slaughtered virgins, and dabble in the dark magic that she was accused of during her trial?

One thing is certain, Amara knows the truth, but will it be enough to explain the habits of her friend?

Dandelions In The Garden is book one in a two-part series that begins with the journey of Amara, an impressionable girl who follows the Blood Countess through all the horrid events that lead to her rise and secure her place in history.
***

Here’s the conversation I had with Charlie:

What prompted you to write a fictional tale based on the life of Elizabeth Bathory?

My favorite genre to read is historical fiction. I’m interested in history and always browse that section when visiting bookstores. I came across a book about the most evil women in history. I was intrigued and bought the book. I was drawn to Elizabeth from that moment and started doing research. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much written about her, which prompted my idea. I began a timeline of events and connected the dots.

Why the title Dandelions in the Garden?

Every family has their prize members as well as those relatives they’d rather stash away forever and forget. I imagined that the nobility and Bathory family viewed Elizabeth much like a gardener does a weed. She was resilient, evolved, aggressive, beautiful, but also toxic and lethal to those around her. She was not fragile and was capable of surviving in the harshest environments. The title for the book came to me one day while I was sitting in a city park. There was a clump of dandelions thriving in a crack of concrete. Earlier, I’d been carefully tending my plants in my own garden. I was doing everything I could to keep them alive and hearty. I wondered why the desired breeds couldn’t be as strong and surviving as a weed. Then I thought about Elizabeth and Amara…

I love that analogy!

What type of research did you do for this book?

I did an incredible amount of research and because of this, it took nearly 3 years to complete. It took a great deal of time to sort through all the fact and fiction. Some of the details cannot be backed up by any documentation and therefore, remain folklore. I traced the Nadasdy, Bathory and Drugeth family lines. After doing so, I then tracked when certain members would have crossed paths. This was important because I wanted to know who might realistically be attending a party or visiting. I also did an extensive detailing of the region as it appeared during the time period. This was most difficult. I had to learn about the Ottoman Empire and the Hungarians. From there, I had to estimate how long it might take to get from one place to another. This lead to more research, what food would they eat, what clothes did they wear, what existed and what did not. So many people are familiar with the French and English history of this time, but an entirely different culture and trade influenced Elizabeth’s region. I read about the history of the time, what was happening both politically and territorially. I even looked into the weather of the region, building structures, peasant life and beliefs. Lastly, I actually flew to Venice. I toured the city and outer country. I wanted to physically roam the streets and canals. I wanted to step inside an actual castle and walk through a dungeon. I took notes about what buildings would have been there during that time, took pictures and actual made appointments to visit them. It was incredible.

All this attention to detail shows in your writing. I’m fascinated by that period in history and read a lot about that time period. Reading Dandelions In The Garden was like stepping into that era.

What was the most difficult part of writing a story set in the 16th and 17th century?

Keeping facts straight and as authentic as possible. Many details were not available in English so translating was time consuming and unreliable. The story might seem fantastical, but so much of it is truly based on historical events. Uncovering each piece required an enormous amount of time and stubbornness. It became an obsession.

While the story’s focus is on Elizabeth, it’s told from the perspective of Amara, Elizabeth’s lady in waiting. What made you choose Amara’s voice for the storytelling?

Since some of the claims couldn’t be backed up by actual documents, I decided it might be best to tell the story from a fictional character. During my journey I kept questioning what was reliable. I thought if I am thinking this, then my readers would also wonder. I decided to put the story in the hands of Amara because the reader has to take her word for it, much like the spotty history, we don’t know if she is truly reliable. I thought it added mystery to the story. I wanted a character that could present a different point of view and also contribute to the fictional tale as a conspiracy theory.

Despite performing some gruesome deeds, young Elizabeth is a character most readers would sympathize with. Was this your intent?

Yes, from the first moment I read the claims about Elizabeth I knew I wanted a sympathetic twist. Women of power are often villianized. After reading the background history, the very first idea that came to mind was what if the claims were not entirely true? Who would benefit from the accusations? Also, I questioned those who transcribed the history. I wanted to show what it was like to be Elizabeth, a woman in that particular moment and place in time. If put in a similar situation, how would someone survive? I believe contemporary woman can sympathize because certain aspects of oppression are still prevalent. Was she evil, or a survivor of circumstance? I think this is debatable.

I agree!

If you could, would you want to go back and experience a year of life during Elizabeth’s time? Why or why not?

No. Well, not as a female. Perhaps, I might consider if I could be born as a noble man. I could not handle being that powerless over my own life, circumstances and body. Likely, I’d get myself thrown in prison or my head chopped off.

You’ve written a sequel to Dandelions in the Garden. Can you tell us about that?

Originally, the manuscript was written as one novel, but after formatting I realized it was too long to publish. I had to split the book into two parts (a series). It was difficult to decide where the split should occur and to create an ending and introduction. The second half is a continuation of the original time line. Amara and Elizabeth age and events progress leading towards the final outcome. The adventure and journey continues and I hope the excitement escalates and sympathies build. I also included an author’s note after receiving emails from fans about what was really true. My goal was to create a historical conspiracy theory with some colorful figures. It all began with me asking, ‘Can we trust what is recorded in history?’

A fascinating concept and a question I often ponder.

Here’s a look at the second book, The Hidden Will of the Dragon:

The year is 1628, Vienna, and the aging Lady Amara Borbala has collapsed before fulfilling her promise to Count Drugeth to record the historical truth about the infamous Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory. In her last entry, Amara writes, “It’d been nearly 130 years since Vlad Tepes, known as the Dragon, arranged the secret agreement.” Was it truly possible that the kin of his ancient advisor would honor the contract? And if so, how would it change history?

In the sequel to “Dandelions in the Garden,” the journey of history’s most intriguing noble female murderer continues. Come following Elizabeth and Amara through the canals of Venice and high into the Carpathian Mountains to discover the inevitable. How the story of the Blood Countess really ends!
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You can find Charlie in the following places:

Websites:
A Writer’s Corner: http://ccourtland.blogspot.com
Bitsy Bling Books: http://www.bitsyblingbooks.com
What’s Charlie Talking About: http://www.charliecourtland.com

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/charliecourtland

Twitter: @bitsyblingbooks or http://twitter.com/bitsyblingbooks

Charlie’s books are available in the following places:

Join the fun, leave a comment and good luck!

Free stuff always gets attention, doesn’t it?

I am currently giving away downloads of my romantic suspense novel Enemies and Playmates! You can download the e-book free on Smashwords and on Scribd. This is temporary giveaway. I haven’t decided how long I’ll let it run, so download Enemies and Playmates soon!

I’ve also uploaded my other five novels onto Scribd and they are now available as e-book purchases on that site!

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DarciaHelle

http://www.scribd.com/darciah

I drop things all the time. My fingers and my brain don’t always speak to each other and, poof, stuff falls to the floor. A while back, we bought dishes that are pretty but also heavy and extremely breakable. Do I need say that they haven’t lasted long? You know what solves the problem? Corelle! Yeah, I know, this is an odd discussion for a book blog, right?

Good luck!

Win a signed copy of my new release The Cutting Edge!

I just listed a new 48-Hour Book Giveaway! Enter between noon EST on Saturday, July 24 and noon EST on Monday, July 26 for a chance to win! Sadly, shipping costs limit this contest to those in the U.S. and Canada. To enter, fill out the form on the contest page of my website. Be sure to fill out the correct form for the contest you want to enter. (You can enter each contest once per person!)
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Blurb From Back Cover:

My name is Skye Summers. I’m a hairstylist and I can’t stop fantasizing about killing my clients. Not all of them, of course. I only want to kill the ones who irritate me, which, if I’m being honest, is most of them. My occasional fantasies have turned into chronic daydreams. They’re bloody and vivid, like watching a slice-and-dice movie on IMAX.

I also want to kill my husband’s ex-girlfriend. She’s not a client but she tops my list. Eighteen years ago, she gave birth to his daughter and she has tormented him ever since. I should be troubled by this growing desire to use my surgically sharpened shears for more than a haircut. Instead, I wonder how I can get away with it.
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If you’ve ever had a job you’re sick of, an ex that makes you crazy and/or family members that try your patience, you’ll be able to relate to Skye and her growing desire to do damage to those that irritate her!

Contest Form: www.QuietFuryBooks.com/contests.html

Good luck!

Win a copy of my brand new release, The Cutting Edge!

Enter my 48-Hour Book Giveaway between noon EST on Sunday, July 11 and noon EST on Tuesday, July 13. This contest is open to everyone 16 and older in the U.S. and Canada. (Sorry I can’t do International. The postage kills me!) One entry per person. Just fill out the form on my contest page!

www.QuietFuryBooks.com/contests.html

I also have a July Book Giveaway listed. For that contest, I’m giving away a copy of my novel Miami Snow, along with a new mousepad! Be sure to enter the contest you want – or both!