#authorinterview – Page 3 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah by Jean Meltzer

Book Description

Evelyn Schwartz has the perfect Hanukkah planned: eight jam-packed days producing the live-action televised musical of A Christmas Carol. Who needs family when you’ve got long hours, impossible deadlines, and your dream job? That is, until an accident on set lands her in the medical bay with one of her chronic migraines, and she’s shocked to find her ex-husband, David Adler, filling in for the usual studio doctor.

It’s been two years since David walked away from Evelyn and their life in Manhattan, and his ex-wife is still the same workaholic who puts her career before everything else—especially her health. But when Evelyn begins hallucinating “ghosts” tied to her past heartbreaks, and every single one leads to David, he finds himself spending much more time with her than he anticipated. And denying the still-smoldering chemistry between them becomes impossible.

As Evelyn revisits her ghosts of Hanukkah past, she and David both begin to wonder if they can have a Hanukkah future. But with a high-stakes production ramping up the pressure on Evelyn, and troublesome spirits forcing them both to confront their most difficult shared memories, it might just take a Hanukkah miracle for these two exes to light the flame on their second-chance at love.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah by Jean Meltzer is a great holiday read. Hanukkah is known as the “Festival of Lights” and this novel shows how the characters were brought out of their darkness and illuminated with light as they take their journey to reconnect.

In the style of best-selling author Kristin Hannah, this novel is a heartfelt, sad, and heartbreaking story dealing with loss and trauma. But readers also will laugh with the characters as they learn about life lessons and reignite the light of their relationship that was once filled with hope, love, and togetherness. The story is about a second-chance romance during Hanukkah and there is a happily ever after.

It’s been two years since David walked away from Evelyn and their life in Manhattan, during the first night of Hanukkah. Eveyln fell back on her “go to” by leaning into work. Now, a successful television producer, she was chosen to produce the live action musical version of A Christmas Carol for network television.

While having one of her debilitating chronic migraines, she had an accident on the set. The show’s medic is called but unfortunately, he is Evelyn’s ex-husband David, who is substituting for the permanent medic. These migraines can cause Evelyn to blackout, but now something else is going on where she has visions, and hallucinations.

The author spins A Christmas Carol with Jewish twists as Evelyn’s “Ghosts of Hanukkah Past” visit her every night and make her flash back to certain difficult times in her life. Her past, present, and future are displayed to her, offering her to feel love, growth, change, and forgiveness. She is shown how instead of being married to David, she is married to her job with little time for anything but work.

Readers will laugh with Evelyn as she tries to deal with the comical Hanukkah ghosts but also cry with her as she remembers how David always tried to help her deal with parental neglect, chronic illness, infertility, pregnancy loss, and grief.

This is a great book because people will be able to connect with the characters and understand their journey through the lens of Judaism, although they do not have to be Jewish to enjoy the story. Readers will laugh at the humor, cry as they mourn the character’s loss, and cheer as they demonstrate strength and rekindle love, getting their happily ever after.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How does Hanukkah come up in your writings?

Jean Meltzer: My husband is an Army military veteran, having done two tours of duty during the Iraq war. The world, as my husband has seen, can appear so dark. By being bright ourselves, we can brighten other people and make the world a much lighter and better place. I try to write from the lens of Jewish authenticity of my Jewish experience. It is my mission and passion to tell Jewish stories. My first one, The Matzah Ball, was also a Hanukkah book. I like the idea of spreading light among Jewish stories.

EC: Does Dickens have an influence in this story?

JM: I thought of different ideas and loved the Hanukkah retelling of A Christmas Carol. My mother who is a psychologist often used A Christmas Carol in her therapy, marriage and family counseling. We talked and she commented that the people think the story is about looking at your past and changing. She said what the story is really about is seeing your experiences through another person’s lens. At that moment I thought this is what I want The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah to be about where the main female character, Evelyn, sees her heartbreaks through another person’s lens, David. I find it a privilege to tell other stories through a Jewish lens. Hopefully, lots of Jewish retellings in my future.

EC: Why the chronic illness?

JM: I have been sick with a chronic disability since I was 18/19 years old, chronic fatigue syndrome. Because I have lived with disease for so long, I have come to a process in my life as someone who has a chronic disability. From my first book, I have always written characters a little bit like me, either sick or anxious or struggling, but still get their happy ending. I can write all these stories with real life events, but in the end the characters deserve to have a happy ending.

EC: Does Evelyn’s chronic migraines define who she is?

JM: As someone with a chronic disability, I feel you cannot separate it from experiences. It is a part of my daily life. Does it define me totally? No, but it is a part of who I am. For Evelyn, that is the same sort of experience. She knows how to maneuver and deal with it. It is a part of the decisions she makes in her life. I also have experienced chronic migraines but not as disabling because medication has worked.

EC: Do you agree Evelyn does not appear to be very religious?

JM: Because Evelyn is more of a secular and cultural Jew, she does not spend much time with the lingo then someone who is super educated in Jewish culture and tradition. David’s family is a little more engaged in the Hanukkah traditions than Eveyln. I have lived in both experiences. I have the characters decide for themselves. The main message is there, that miracles can still happen and that God is involved in our affairs. I try to write from the lens of Jewish authenticity of my Jewish experience.

EC: How would you describe Evelyn?

JM: Stubborn, independent, gutsy, smart, funny, tough, workaholic, and used work to avoid relationships with friends, family, and David. She is deeply sensitive and fears her own vulnerability. I think she tries to thrive and survive. As she grows and changes throughout the story, Evelyn becomes likeable. I think she is misunderstood unlike Scrooge from A Christmas Carol.

EC: How would you describe David?

JM: He became more confident because Evelyn was a part of his life. She helped him stop being bullied and supported him financially while he went through medical school. He is also caring, introverted, sensitive, but withdrawn.

EC: How would you describe the relationship?

JM: She and he were complete partners. She was his anchor. She is the one if the dinner order was wrong, she would send it back, while he would not say anything. She is more assertive. They make each other better. They were childhood friends. They were equals and there for each other, until they started to splinter. Because of this huge traumatic loss in which she could not deal with, they fell apart. He still missed her, while Evelyn has displaced anger toward him. And feels betrayed by him. As a child of divorce, she was bitter to him for committing that unforgivable sin, leaving her in Eveyln’s worst moment, plus he did it on the first night of Hanukkah. One of the reasons she has blown off Hanukkah is she also has displaced anger towards God.

EC: Next book?

JM: I am taking a year off from writing because I am planning a big conference titled Jewish Joy Con, https://www.thejewishjoycon.com . It is a groundbreaking three-day event celebrating the best in pop-culture, storytelling, and creativity, scheduled for March 13-15th at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. There will be Jewish creators from every industry and is open to Jews and non-Jews alike. This is taking every second of my life right now. Readers should look for a book in 2027.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Queen Who Came In From the Cold by S.J. Bennett

Book Description

1961, England.
The Queen is spending a night on board the royal train with her entourage and her sister, Princess Margaret. But before they reach their destination, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from one of the carriages.

The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation. No one else saw the crime. If there is a victim, could he be the missing photographer friend of Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones?

This time, the Cold War threatens to undermine the Queen’s upcoming visit to Italy. She and Joan must tackle dark forces that follow them all the way, in a tale of spies, lies, and treachery.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Queen Who Came in From the Cold by S. J. Bennett features Queen Elizabeth II as the protagonist and her private secretary Joan McGraw. Fans of Peter James, who’s latest The Hawk Is Dead, involves the current Queen Camilla and King Charles might also like to read this story.

This plot has Queen Elizabeth II and her personal secretary Joan involved with spies, lies, and treachery involving the KGB. The Queen, Prince Philip, and Princess Margaret are planning on taking the royal yacht to Italy. But the temporary lady-in-waiting claims she saw through the train window a dead man being tossed into a lake. The Queen and Joan decide to investigate. They discover a plot to smuggle a Russian defector aboard the Britannia while the Queen and Prince Philip are visiting Italy.

This is a cozy mystery that has intrigue and humor along with historical figures that readers get to know better.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the series?

S. J. Bennett: I was shifting from writing children’s books to crime. My father was in the army and spent a lot of time with the Queen. I ended up thinking she would make a great detective because of her curiosity about people. She had access to any expert. I decided to write a series where Queen Elizabeth II is the detective behind the scenes and lets someone else take the credit, a man who is her nemesis.

EC: Idea for this book?

SJB: This is the fifth one in the series, all written to be read as a stand-alone. I went back in time to 1961, the height of the Cold War and the Space Race. It was all very dangerous and a great time to set a mystery novel. This book starts on the royal train. An unreliable witness thinks she saw something from the train window. Later, I move to the royal yacht, the Britannia. This one is a story of spies with the Queen caught up in international intrigue and takes on the KGB.

EC: Did the title come from the James Bond movie?

SJB: John le Carre wrote The Spy Who Came in From the Cold that came out in 1963. His first book came out in 1961 and in the final pages of this book I have Prince Philip reading the book by a new author. He cannot remember the name but indeed it was John le Carre. I also have some characters reading James Bond books. President Kennedy enjoyed reading Ian Fleming so I had Prince Philip keen to read Fleming so he can chat with him when he comes over.

EC: How would you describe Queen Elizabeth II?

SJB: She was intelligent, funny, witty, curious, very warm and self-contained. She was an empathetic person.

EC: How did you get the dialogue for the Queen?

SJB: She did not talk that much conversationally in public and did not give interviews. My parents did meet her but overall, I had to imagine it. There was a time period to get her voice right. What I did do is watch old videos of the family and saw the little asides, like when she made a joke to someone. In the early books of the series I imagined her and Philip as an older couple.

EC: How would you describe Joan, the Queen’s Assistant Private Secretary?

SJB: She is an outsider who is not part of the Royal machine and has not grown up within the Royal family. She is a working-class person. She grew up in the 1930s and enjoyed working crossword puzzles with her father. She was recruited to Bletchley Park to be a code breaker. She gave a lot and was hugely instrumental in helping us win WWII. When it was over the code breaking effort was ignored and her contribution to it was also ignored. She found herself in the typing pool at Buckingham Palace. The Queen found her there. Joan has a great memory, is a linguist, and keeps a secret. She is curious, no nonsense, analytical, and courageous.

EC: Was she based on anyone?

SJB: My grandmother. She was clever, hardworking, and multitalented. She was largely underestimated growing up in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

EC: Since the story is based on historical figures what do you want readers to get out of the story?

SJB: Of course, entertainment. But also, a sense of reassurance. The world we live in is stressful. My books allow readers to retreat for a bit. I write in the Golden Age tradition where the Queen sets the tone of being moral, serious, with a sense of justice. I like to live in a world where the people in charge are like that.

EC: The next book?

SJB: The next book is set in 1966. It is titled Deck on The Royal Yacht and will be published in October 2026. It was a big year for Britian. We had the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and was popular. The Queen has set off on a five-week tour of the Caribbean. The plot has somebody who has helped Joan out in the private office found dead of a drug overdose. Joan is a suspect because she does not like this woman very much.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: A Hidden Hope by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Book Description

Supervising two newly minted medical residents might be the toughest challenge Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus has ever faced. Wren Baker, sharp and ambitious, graduated at the top of medical school with a hidden agenda in tow. Charlie King, at the bottom of the class, is determined to succeed–though Dok isn’t convinced he’s got what it takes. Then there’s traveling nurse Evie Miller, whose quiet love for Charlie doesn’t go unnoticed, especially by Wren.

Boarding at Windmill Farm, the trio struggles to balance modern medicine with Plain living. Between medical emergencies, cultural misunderstandings, and brewing romantic tensions, Dok finds herself juggling far more than she bargained for. Soon the stage is set in the small Amish community of Stoney Ridge for plenty of professional and personal complications.

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Elise’s Thoughts

A Hidden Hope by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a fantastic read blending romance, hope, faith, intriguing medical facts, and doctors/nurses learning their craft under the supervision of a very wise doctor. Readers can revisit characters from the previous book and get to know some interesting new ones.

The plot has Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus deciding to lessen her medical workload by taking into the practice two newly minted medical residents, Wren Baker and Charlie King, as well as traveling nurse Evie Miller. Wren is sharp, ambitious, and graduated at the top of her medical school, while Charlie King is at the bottom of the class and determined to succeed. The trio struggles to balance modern medicine with Plain living. Between medical emergencies, cultural misunderstandings, and brewing romantic tensions, Dok finds herself juggling far more than she bargained for. A second main thread continued from the last book is about Annie, Dok’s Amish receptionist, who desperately wants to join her love interest, Gus, in the EMT field. But medical issues complicate the matter and makes her wonder if her dreams and future will blow up in smoke.

What makes these books stand out is how the author highlights some medical issues such as postpartum depression, reading disabilities, family dysfunction, drug trials with pharmaceutical companies, and severe motion sickness. Readers will take the journey with the characters as they struggle with these issues and try to overcome them. In addition, there is subtle commentary on the attitude of doctors. A great quote that exemplifies this is by Dok, ““You have all the tools to be a good doctor, but to be a great one, you need to treat the person, not just the illness.”

This book was very hard to put down. Readers will become entwined with the characters. There are tender moments, heart wrenching scenes, and humorous dialogue.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why did “Dok” decide to have doctoral residents?

Suzanne Woods Fisher: I was not setting out to do a series but have written a third book. It picks up where the last book, A Healing Touch, left off. Dok had a local TV station do a feature on her and her practice blew up with a waiting list out the door. She ends up with two brand new medical doctors. They decided to go to this rural local community to get their medical school bills paid off. It is a story where the outsiders are looking in, about observation and noticing.

EC: How did you find out about the medical practice to write about?

SWF: I have several friends who have children that became doctors. My own daughter- in-law has a residency in clinical psychology. I interviewed two of my friends’ children who did not match to where they went. I have written into the story medical issues that either I know about personally or knew of people that experienced it. Most of “Doks” work is not specialty but common, basic, and true anecdotal medical issues.

EC: Why did you write this powerful book quote about looking at the individual or animal by doctors and vets?

SWF: My experience with the medical community is that it is all about statistics. Doctors and vets today do not individualize. They need to look at the person or dogs care, commitment, devotion, and budget. Dok said to the resident that she must see the whole person. Her quote, “What truly matters to me is that you start seeing your patients as a whole people not just a collection of symptoms…You need to treat the person, not just the illness. Your patients aren’t mere tasks on a to-do-list. You need to be attentive to them as human beings.” Dok is the doctor we all wish we had.

EC: Did Dok practice differently than other doctors?

SWF: Rural doctors like Dok practice differently than those in an urban setting. They are much more on the front line of a family practice. Dok has this philosophy that she can learn more about a person in a home than in an office call. Dok is now so connected to the people’s well-being and whole health. She believes in alternative options, and is a quick thinker, and adapts to the moment. At first, she thinks how much Wren is like her when she was a young doctor, but Charlie is like Doc now as an experienced doctor.

EC: How would you describe the resident Wren?

SWF: Wren Baker graduated at the top of her class, brilliant, quick, decisive, gutsy, bold, audacious, competitive, and ambitious. She is also territorial, snobbish, impatient, used to luxuries, not culturally sensitive, cunning, determined, and tenacious. Wren had life a little too easy including in school that applauded her high successful IQ but that does not necessarily make a successful person with relationships, especially working with others.

EC: How about the other resident, Charlie?

SWF: He was at the bottom of his medical class. He is curious, steady, can connect with the patients. Wren was the reason he got through medical school. He had an appreciation and tolerance for her that others did not see. He is also kindhearted, patient, goofy, likes to fix things, and is all heart. He thinks outside the box and comes at things from a different angle.

EC: What about the nicknames given to Charlie by Evie, the nurse practitioner studying under Dok?

SWF: Clueless Charlie, Charitable Charlie, Correctable Charlie, Coachable Charlie, and Conniving Charlie. Evie was crazy in love with him. She feels neglected by him. These represent her emotions. Her feelings zig zag. Evie felt it was unrequited love all the time.

EC: How would you describe Evie?

SWF: She had a Mennonite upbringing. She does not have self-confidence and does not stand up for herself. She underestimates herself. She feels displaced and does not belong until her grandparents raised her during her high school years as her parents ran off on different missions. She never understood the gift she had with a sense of calmness and confidence.

EC: How would you describe Clara who has postpartum depression?

SWF: She suffered alone, is struggling, broken, withdrawn, and became disoriented. She slipped through the cracks with a lot of people to blame. Motherhood is highly revered in the Amish community. Clara was not thriving and feels judged for struggling. She has a husband who is super patriarchal. She finds it hard to except help and has painted herself into a corner of loneliness and isolation.

EC: How about Dok’s office assistant, Annie?

SWF: She is shy, not confident, and considers EMT Gus like a soul mate. She is a quick thinker but panics when she thinks she cannot achieve her professional dreams. Annie is the youngest in a big family with all brothers. Her mother is a flaming hypochondriac. At the end of the book, she has become her own person where she makes her own decisions.

EC: Next books?

SWF: There will be a book 3, a wonderful conclusion. It picks up a bit where this leaves off. It will be published next October 2026 but no title yet.

In May another book comes out, the second in the National Park Series titled Chasing the Light. This will have the ocean and buried treasure, with a lot of history of New England.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview #2 with Elise Cooper: Only Cry for the Living and Afghanistan by Hollie S. McKay

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Hollie S. McKay is an investigative and international affairs/war journalist who has written two non-fiction books, Only Cry for The Living and Afghanistan and a novel, Dictator’s Wife. She has put her life on the line as she worked on the frontlines of several major war zones including in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Her books cover terrorism, and crimes against humanity.

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Book Description

Only once in a lifetime does a war so brutal erupt. A war that becomes an official genocide, causes millions to run from their homes, compels the slaughtering of thousands in the most horrific of ways, and inspires terrorist attacks to transpire across the world.

That is the chilling legacy of the ISIS onslaught, and Only Cry for the Living takes a profoundly personal, unprecedented dive into one of the most brutal terrorist organizations in the world.

Journalist Hollie S. McKay offers a raw, on-the-ground journey chronicling the rise of ISIS in Iraq—exposing the group’s vast impact and how and why it sought to wage terror on civilians in a desperate attempt to create an antiquated “caliphate.”

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Elise’s Thoughts

Only Cry for The Living takes readers on a journey of ISIS as it commits torture, rape, murder, and genocide. McKay provides a profoundly personal insight into the rise of ISIS in Iraq, exposing the desperate pursuit of a barbaric “caliphate” at the expense of innocent lives.

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Book Description

Overnight, Afghanistan dramatically transformed. One chapter – a twenty-year epoch heralded by the attacks of September 11, the U.S. invasion and propping up an ailing government – shuttered on August 15, 2021. Another entirely new – albeit old – chapter flipped open under the stringent ruling of the Taliban.

Officially termed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it’s a government that triggers immense fear among the population, having reigned with an iron fist pre-9/11 and waged a brutal insurgency from the mountaintops that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Afghans and foreigners.

Veteran war reporters – writer Hollie McKay and photographer Jake Simkin – walk you through the fall of the U.S. and the rise of the Taliban, drawing you into the minds of the new regime and into the hearts of the Afghanistan people.

“Afghanistan: The End of the U.S. Footprint and the Rise of the Taliban Rule” is a chilling bloody, yet beautiful visual expedition through one of the most magical yet wounded parcels of the planet. It is a place where poppies grow wild and men in the mountains cradle guns like children. It’s a place where kites fly high, and everyone has a war story, even though most never chose to go to war.

Welcome to Afghanistan after the cataclysmic fall. The band-aid over the bullet wound has been ripped off, and “Afghanistan” will guide you into the maze of dust, debris and delicacy the way no journalistic endeavor has done before.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Afghanistan, written by McKay with the photographs of Jake Simkin, delves into the fall of the U.S. and the rise of the Taliban, including how women lost any rights gained while the Americans were there.

Both books interviewed those who have been the perpetrators and the victims that describe the true horrors of what happened. The best summary is from Jocko Willink, a retired Navy SEAL, “She gives us all a better understanding of war and human nature.”

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Can you explain your quote about how the rule of law is lost in a war zone?

Hollie S. McKay: In the book on Afghanistan, I have this quote. “The budding and innocent always bear the brunt of war in its height and aftermath.” In the book on ISIS I have this quote, “If only the victims could tell the world what was happening to them, somehow it would all change the world.” These quotes emphasized how those in these situations feel incredibly powerless with a sense of injustice. Unfortunately, the perpetrators never have any accountability. I think telling the victims stories offers a sense of justice that they will never receive from the courts. I am hoping that people might understand on a microlevel what happened and maybe it will spur action.

EC: I wonder where the feminists are with all three brutal attacks on women by Hamas on October 7^th, what the Taliban has done in Afghanistan, or ISIS in Iraq. Please comment.

HSM: Women were raped, tortured, and had their freedoms taken away. There is an overarching narrative where people do not want to be perceived of being derogatory to a different culture. There are situations in life, these being one of them, where people need to culturally offend for any change to a happen. Women should not be MIA but should speak out about any cultural practices that are inherently wrong. More than 150 years ago there was a practice in Hinduism that was called SAATI. Basically, if the men did something wrong or died for whatever reason, they would burn the wives under the belief her life was meaningless without a husband. When the Brits came into India, they said they would kill anyone who practiced this and put a stop to it. My point being that people must step up. Another example, in Afghanistan, had little boys taken, dressed up as girls, and raped. It was a real mistake that the US did not clamp down on this practice. In fact, in 2014/15 a Green Beret was court martialed because he beat up an Afghan police commander he found doing it. He went through a trial and was discharged. That never should have happened. Eventually the charges were dropped and the decision reversed after public outcry. People need to speak out when they know something is inherently wrong, and that is just what he did.

EC: Why do you think the Taliban and ISIS allowed you to interview people and observe?

HSM: I was not treated like ‘their women.’ They recognize I was a western woman that has a different lifestyle and beliefs. Obviously, I was not a man. It was an arbitrary middle ground, which is quite advantageous in these places. I could go and sit with the men but also could sit with the women, which my male colleagues cannot do. In a way I had access others did not because of the middle ground.

EC: What about the Kurd fighters who are women?

HSM: It is a fascinating story. The PKK fought against Turkey but also ISIS. They have a Marxist point of view. They feel women and men are equal in the way that they fight. There are others like the Sun Ladies in Iraq where thousands were taken and used as sex slaves or killed. A number managed to escape but there are still a number still missing. A lot of those women joined the fight because they felt they could not rely on anyone else for their protection. Their motivation was to protect themselves. Generally, the Kurds have more of an open mind then other Sunni Muslims in that region. Another motivation was that these women knew that the extremists believed if they were killed by a woman they would not go to paradise. This put an extra layer of fear to the ISIS terrorists.

EC: What about the US pull out in Afghanistan?

HSM: In Afghanistan a lot of women cannot be educated anymore. A large amount of the poverty level is represented by women. Currently, women have no rights to do anything. Women who want freedom and education, feel a sense of abandonment. At some point there was needed a significant draw down by the American forces. What was frustrating was to see the Afghan Army throw down the weapons and give up the fight considering the training they had. During the evacuation there were able bodied muscular strength men filling the planes because they pushed through that gate above women and children. The evacuation did not need to happen the way it happened.

EC: Does Hamas, ISIS and the Taliban have the same goals?

HSM: Hamas relies on Iran for funding. The Taliban are a little more on their own without the global funding that Hamas has. Their objectives are different. The Taliban is focused on their own border while Hamas wants to eliminate Israel. In terms of extremism both have a Sharia Law system that is brutal. ISIS has the objective to broaden their Caliphate.

EC: What do you want readers to get out of the books?

HSM: I want people to care about everything happening. But human nature has a limit to deal with all the tragedy in the world and the Middle East region. People also get jaded. I wanted to find the micro stories that can tell a micro picture that people can relate to on a personal level. Statistics and numbers can be very desensitizing. People can understand the conflict in a broader way. I wanted to put the human face to the number. It is impossible for Americans to live in a bubble. It is important to understand the way the enemy thinks and the way they see the world.

EC: Are you writing another book?

HSM: I have a book with my agent delving into mothers in war, in crisis, and in conflict. It expanded twelve different countries from Yemen, El Salvador, Taiwan, Syria, North Korea, and Israel.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Midnight Flyboys by Bruce Henderson

Book Description

The untold history of a top-secret operation in the run-up to D-Day in which American flyers and Allied spies carried out some of the most daring cloak-and-dagger operations of World War II.

In 1943, the OSS—precursor to the CIA—came up with a plan to increase its support to the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. To start, the OSS recruited some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield twenty miles west of London and briefed them on the intended mission. Given a choice to stay or leave, every airman volunteered for what became known as Operation Carpetbagger.

Their dangerous plan called for a new kind of flying: taking their B-24 Liberator bombers in the middle of the night across the English Channel and down to extremely low altitudes in Nazi-occupied France to find drop zones in dark fields. On the ground, resistance members waited to receive steel containers filled with everything from rifles and hand grenades to medicine and bicycle tires. Some nights, the flyers also dropped Allied secret agents by parachute to assist the French partisans.

Though their story remained classified for more than fifty years, the Carpetbaggers ultimately received a Presidential Unit Citation from the US military, which declared: “it is safe to say that no group of this size has made a greater contribution to the war effort.” Along with other members of the wartime OSS, they were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Based on exclusive research and interviews, the definitive story of these heroic flyers—and of the brave secret agents and resistance leaders they aided—can now be told. Written in Bruce Henderson’s “spellbinding” (USA TODAY) prose, Midnight Flyboys is an astonishing tale of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Veteran’s Day is a holiday to honor US veterans and victims of all wars. Bruce Henderson wrote about real life heroes of WWII.

Midnight Flyboys by Bruce Henderson details how the American bomber crews dropped Allied secret agents behind the Nazi lines to aid the French resistance. The mission, known as Operation Carpetbagger, had American aircrews flying B-24 Liberators to secret Resistance drop zones. Through their planes’ bomb hanger doors, containers of guns, explosives, grenades, radios, and food were dropped along with agents. On this Veterans Day, Americans should think about the incredible heroism displayed by these men and women.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What do you want to say about Veteran’s Day?

Bruce Henderson: It is a day that Americans should remember. I am a veteran. I choose this day to honor the greatest generation for their duty, commitment, and mission. When darkness was descending on the world they answered the call. They tried to preserve our democracy and personal freedom. I hope today we do not let their sacrifices be in vain.

EC: Why did you write this story?

BH: I have always had a personal interest for airmen. The uncle I never knew had been lost in WWII over the North Sea. I have never written a book about pilots before. After I was approached by a carpetbagger pilot’s granddaughter, I decided to investigate it and found it to be a really good story about a specific period, about ten months before the liberation of France and the preparation for the Allied invasion over the coast of France.

EC: One of the most interesting parts of the book was the story of Nancy Wake, described as “the most feminine woman I know, until the fighting starts. Then she is like five men.” Please explain

BH: Her story is amazing. She was a British agent sent into France to organize, arm, and train the resistance forces. Interestingly, she was afraid of heights and needed a push from a crewman to parachute out of the plane. Nancy was a free spirit, capable, resourceful, instinctive, tough, hardened, and improvised. She was born an Aussie, married a Frenchman, and was a loyal British subject. She was highly motivated personally and patriotically because of her love for her adoptive country France and the love for her husband she left behind there. The Germans put a substantial bounty on her and labeled her “The White Mouse.”

EC: How would you describe the 400-mile bike ride she made?

BH: She herself said after the war that she was most proud of that event. She made that trip in 72 hours to get an urgent message to London. This was an incredible accomplishment. She felt she had to do it and after she did it, she was on her back for a week, unable to walk. Nancy succeeded and the message got to London.

EC: How would you describe the carpetbagger airmen?

BH: They were American pilots. Operation Carpetbaggers was a joint secretive operation between the American OSS and their British counterparts the SOE who trained most of the agents that were dropped. Eisenhower felt that about 9 months from the invasion there had to be a bigger effort to get the munitions into occupied France. He ordered some squadrons of the B-24s to be available. They had a high casualty rate, 230 were killed in action and about 33 planes went down.

EC: Did the Carpetbaggers have to be retrained?

BH: The B-24 Bomber were designed to fly at a high altitude in formation. Instead, they have been asked to fly solo at night to find a dark field in France. They had to fly the plane slower and lower than it was meant to fly. This could cause stalling. If they were at 1500 feet of altitude they could recover but they were 600 to 800 feet off the ground and would probably crash.

EC: How effective were they?

BH: I use the quote from Eisenhower who estimated that the French resistance forces were equal to five army divisions. They were a huge help when the Allied forces hit the beach at Normandy. They took out bridges to stop the German reinforcements coming from the South and blowing out German trains. Eisenhower thought that the organized resistance forces in the German occupied territories helped to shorten the war by six months. It was like a domino effect because the resistance would not have been effective. SOE Agents like Wake were dropped down to organize and the Carpetbaggers were the ones who dropped them. She was a leader to the resistance and was dependent on the Carpetbaggers who resupplied them.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Hawk Is Dead by Peter James

Book Description

Roy Grace never dreamed a murder investigation would take him deep into Buckingham Palace . . .

Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, is aboard the Royal Train heading to a charity event in Sussex when disaster strikes – the train is derailed.

A tragic accident or a planned attack?

When, minutes later, a trusted aide is shot dead by a sniper, the police have their answer.

Despite all the evidence, Roy Grace is not convinced The Queen was the intended target. But he finds himself alone in his suspicions.

Fighting against the scepticism of his colleagues and the Palace itself, Grace pursues his own investigation. But when there is a second murder, the stakes rise even higher, and Grace is at risk of being embroiled in a very public catastrophe – and in mortal danger.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Hawk Is Dead by Peter James, blends fiction with reality. The story features the real King and Queen of England within a suspenseful mystery.

Queen Camilla is traveling on a train that is derailed in a tunnel on the way to Brighton. Determined to find safety, they rest for a bit which is where the action begins. One of her trusted aides is murdered by a sniper and another bullet whizzes by the Queen’s head. Detective Roy Grace from the Sussex police questions if Camilla was the target or did the sniper aim for the person he shot. The inquiry moves to Buckingham Palace where another person is murdered. The investigation becomes intense as Grace tries to figure out who was the target, and why these murders are happening, knowing if he gets those answers he will find the murderer.

A bonus is how the author created a behind the scenes vision of life in Buckingham Palace. Readers learn about the royal palace’s staff, traditions, artwork, and how the Royals interact.

The story is very plausible and has riveting scenes that will have people turning the pages.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Did you start with writing crime novels?

Peter James: No – back in 1977 my then wife asked when I was going to write a novel, as I’d always talked about it. I read an article that there was a shortage of spy thrillers. So, I wrote one and to my amazement I got a two-book deal. Unfortunately, neither sold well.

EC: You seem to be known for crime novels, how did they come about?

PJ: We were robbed and a detective came to fingerprint our house. He saw my two spy thrillers and said if ever I needed research help with the police to call him. We became friends along with his wife who is also a detective. They invited me to a barbeque where I met twelve of their friends, all in the police force. After speaking with them I realized no one sees more of human life and death than a cop. Long story short, they started inviting me on-ride outs. Increasingly I was putting police characters into my books. I tried to show the human side of being a police officer and that it was not just a job for them. I was smuggled into crime scenes as well.

EC: Did any of them give advice for the Roy Grace Series?

PJ: In 1997 I met homicide detective Gaylor and we really clicked. He had been tasked with reopening all the unsolved murders in Sussex England. He said he was the last chance each victim would have for justice and the family for closure. I liked that human image about him. We started talking about the novel I was writing then and he started making suggestions. I thought how he has a real creative streak to him. He helped me on the next two books I wrote. In 2002 he was promoted to the head of homicide for Sussex police. I was offered to write a crime detective as a central character. I phoned Gaylor and asked how he would like to be a fictional cop. He loved it. We have worked together ever since on all Roy Grace books. He tells me how Roy would think and act under different circumstances and has opened doors to the police in the world.

EC: Do you think your Roy Grace novels are typical detective stories?

PJ: I wanted to do something different than the cop with a drinking problem and/or a broken marriage. No cop in the UK would last 24 hours with a drinking problem. I decided to create a detective who had a personal puzzle of his own he could not solve. In the first book, readers learn that Roy’s wife Sandy who he loved and adored had vanished off the face of the earth nine years earlier, on his 30^th birthday. All his down time has been taken up with his hunting for her. He wonders if she took off with a lover, had an accident, took her own life, or got kidnapped. In the second book in the series, he starts dating Cleo, which blossoms into a love affair.

EC: What happens with Sandy?

PJ: Roy has always idolized her. Part of the difficulty of moving on is the constant fear that she will come back. In his eyes she is the perfect wife, yet readers will see another side to her. I published THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD a couple of years ago, which is Sandy’s story.

EC: How would you describe Roy?

PJ: If ever I was unlucky enough to have a member of my family murdered, Roy is the detective I would want to investigate. Over the years he has changed. He has moved on with his personal life, becoming a father. He becomes smarter and tougher. When I have asked police detectives I know if they have changed, they all answered yes and that they have become more cynical. They do face real danger all the time.

EC: Did you have any interaction with the Queen and King?

PJ: About ten years ago in the Daily Mail Newspaper there was a photo of the then Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, in her office, with two of my Roy Grace books right behind her head. In the article she said I was one of her two favorite authors; the other one was Jane Austen. I wrote to thank her and received a handwritten two-page letter from her telling me she is a genuine fan who has read all the Roy Grace books and some of my stand-alones too. We continued to correspond and she suggested I write a Roy Grace story set in London. I thought, hey, people who have disobeyed past Queens of England did not have things end well for them! She also wanted to see some of the filming of the TV show Grace.

EC: Where can you view the Roy Grace TV series, which is based on the novels?

PJ: It can be viewed on BritBox and is titled “Grace.” They just finished filming season 6 that will be out next spring. In April they will start filming season 7. Each season follows a book per episode although some episodes are new and not from the books. They have covered 18 of the 22 books so far.

EC: Did the Queen watch the filming of a Roy Grace episode?

PJ: We were filming an episode on the harbor waterfront near Brighton, which was a good spot because it could be easily made secure. In a warehouse, she interviewed me for her book club – and I was astonished that she knew more about Roy Grace than I do!!!! She met John Simm and the rest of the cast. I jokingly suggested she might like to be an extra and she replied, ‘Perhaps I could be a dead body???’ She has a wicked sense of humor – and fun! Then she invited me to join her for lunch back in the warehouse. Her private secretary opened her handbag and pulled out a banana, a thermos of soup, and a ham and cheese sandwich! A few months later one of her senior members of the Royal Household said to me that she really would like me to set a Roy Grace novel in Buckingham Palace – with a murder or two – or possibly three.

EC: Did the idea for the story come out of the suggestion?

PJ: I realized that the Palace is in disarray because of the renovations. The Palace is filled with over one million objects of artwork. I was given two three and a half hour tours of the Palace, literally everywhere – down in the basement, along all the floors and up on the rooftop! This is where I came up with this story of how these crooks in the Royal household stole and sold some on the dark web. I discovered it happened, but the thief put the stolen goods on eBay. I did take a tour of the Palace and had my tracker on and found out I had walked 3.5 miles. I want to make all my books as authentic as possible. Everything written in the story is true except the names of members of the Royal Household – although King Charles and Queen Camilla appear as themselves.

EC: Did you ever meet King Charles?

PJ: I met him and the Queen several times. He told me he loved how I kept his wife so entertained with my books! He is warm and charming.

EC: How would you describe Queen Camilla in the story compared to the real Queen?

PJ: I did put a lot of words into the King and Queen’s mouth – they appear extensively throughout the book. Then early in the editing, I asked her to read a draft, as now was the opportunity to change anything she was not happy with. My publishers bound a special copy for her, and I had it hand delivered to her – and then followed the most nervous week of my life!!! I was invited to Clarence house a few days later. She strode towards me with a big smile and said, ‘I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!” I asked her if there was anything she wanted changing and she replied, emphatically, ‘NOT ONE WORD!”

She is quite heroic in the book and I’ve made her appear as very well rounded. She is caring, intellectual, strong, diligent, composed, dutiful, sarcastic, and determined – all of which is true to life.

EC: Many in the US do not see the Queen with these characteristics.

PJ: She is portrayed as the wicked woman, which is really not fair. Charles and she were in love. The late Queen Mother insisted Charles had to marry a virgin and could not therefore marry the woman he truly loved and the whole tragedy of Diana began from there. Camilla was his first love. She was vilified by a lot of people, but certainly in the UK and in many other parts of the world, she has now won admiration and love. People do not realize that no one in the Royal family has made such an impact on reading. Her Instagram book club, The Queen’s Reading Room is in almost every country in the world. I think she is reading’s biggest ambassador. I love that she is not a literary snob but reads across the whole spectrum – everything from literary fiction – historical and present – right down to humble mystery writers like me!

EC: What was said about the train, is that true?

PJ: Yes. She prefers to go on a train and not going on a helicopter. The Royal train has been used for decades, like a hotel on wheels. It is very old inside: Formica tabletops, avocado bathroom, and a bullet hole in the floor of the dining room – from an over-zealous guard one night!!!!

EC: Would you ever send Roy to investigate a crime in the US?

PJ: I have often thought about Roy coming to the US on some kind of exchange. It may well happen.

EC: Next book?

PJ: One of the books I loved was Arthur Hailey’s Hotel. It is set in a hotel in New Orleans, full of characters. Ever since reading this I have always wanted to set a novel in a hotel. I have Roy investigating a big murder in a hotel in Brighton. It will be out around the same time next year.

I will also have a book coming out about writing for those who want to learn about this craft and a little bit about my life.

THANK YOU!!

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