Tag: #authorinterview

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Emily Dickinson Mystery Series Book 1 & 2 by Amanda Flower

Book Descriptions

Because I Could Not Stop for Death – Book #1

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she’d lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they’d be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing. 

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa’s beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother’s death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he’d found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress….

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I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died – Book #2

August 1856. The Dickinson family is comfortably settled in their homestead on Main Street. Emily’s brother, Austin Dickinson, and his new wife are delighted when famous thinker and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to Amherst to speak at a local literary society and decides he and his young secretary, Luther Howard, will stay with the newlyweds. Emily has been a longtime admirer of Emerson’s writing and is thrilled at the chance to meet her idol. She is determined to impress him with her quick wit, and if she can gather the courage, a poem. Willa Noble, the second maid in the Dickinson home and Emily’s friend, encourages her to speak to the famous but stern man. But his secretary, Luther, intrigues Willa more because of his clear fondness for the Dickinson sisters.

Willa does not know if Luther truly cares for one of the Dickinson girls or if he just sees marrying one of them as a way to raise himself up in society. After a few days in his company, Willa starts to believe it’s the latter. Miss Lavinia, Emily’s sister, appears to be enchanted by Luther; a fact that bothers Emily greatly. However, Emily’s fears are squashed when Luther turns up dead in the Dickinson’s garden. It seems that he was poisoned. Emerson, aghast at the death of his secretary, demands answers. Emily and Willa set out to find them in order to save the Dickinson family reputation and stop a cold-blooded fiend from killing again.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Because I Could Not Stop for Death and I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower has her venturing into historical mysteries.  These books have a unique portrayal of the famous American writer Emily Dickinson.  Emily along with her maid, Willa, become sleuths and help to solve murders. But a bonus is having readers getting glimpses of how Emily thinks and what the culture of mid-19th century was like.  

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea to use Emily Dickinson? 

Amanda Flower: Each book’s title will be the first line from one of her famous poems. In the first book, the poem was about a carriage ride with a horse.  In this novel, a horse is very central to the story. The second book has flies surrounding the found body, which is related to the poem I used. I pay tribute to the poems, but do not follow it verbatim. Her poems are imagery and vague with multiple meanings. She never wrote clearly.  

EC:  Why Emily Dickinson? 

AF:  Her poems are mysterious. I have been a huge Emily Dickinson fan since I was 15 years old.  I wanted to write a historical novel with another version, so I decided to write a mystery with her.  Last year it won the Agatha for best historical mystery and a final for one of the Edgar Awards. The real characters beside Emily were the maid Margaret O’ Brian. I added a maid assistant, Willa to tell the story in the same manner that Sherlock Holmes had Watson.  I also chose that period of her life, in 1855, where Emily and her sister came to Washington because her father was a member of the House of Representatives. This time was about six years before she went into hiding for the rest of her life as a recluse. She did not get any acclaims for her writing when she was alive. 

EC:  Why the reference to slavery? 

AF:  In the 1850s America was in turmoil over slavery. I knew I had to include this issue, or it would be a disservice.  It divided everyone. The Underground Railroad went through many small towns close to where I live in Ohio. One of my jobs was leading Underground Railroad tours through the town that I worked in. I spoke about the people who lived there and those who tried to escape.  

EC:  How would you describe Emily’s personality in your book? 

AF:  This is my best interpretation of the real Emily. She likes to investigate, a good judge of character, ignores societal class, and is loyal. She is also bold, caring, curious, confident, and blunt. She was probably her father’s favorite because he gave her special treatment.  She enjoyed wandering around and instead of not telling her to stop bought her a dog for protection. The dog is real and so his name Carlo, a character in Jane Eyre. He lived for seventeen years, which is unusual for a pure bred, Newfoundland.  One of the theories is that Emily became a recluse after he passed away. Her dad would buy contemporary fiction books and leave them around the house for her to just happen to find. The family gave her room to be different, a genius aspect. 

EC:  How would you describe the real maid, Margaret? 

AF:  Kind, protective, tough, and can be hard-nosed. I made her gruff with Willa. 

EC:  How would you describe Willa? 

AF:  Nervous for her brother’s safety, compassionate, strong, determined, loyal, and broken. In the first book she is more timid. She is determined to find out what happened to her brother, Henry.  As the series goes on, she is very protective and loyal to Emily. She understands more social standing than Emily. Willa is very aware of the class distinction and sees the servants as being invisible.  Emily tries to treat her as an equal. 

EC:  What is the difference between the sisters, Vinnie, and Emily? 

AF:  Vinnie acts like an older sister even though Emily is the older sister. At the end of their life, she took care of Emily. Vinnie is more into societal norms. She carries the weight on her shoulders. Vinnie is a cat person, while Emily is a dog person who hated cats. The cats probably annoyed her dog.  Emily did write about disliking cats.  

EC:  What about Henry? 

AF:  Henry is an idealist.  He wanted to take from the rich and give to the poor.  He had a happy and carefree personality. He knew Willa’s upmost goal was to protect him.  He is also kind, with a nose for trouble, and caring. 

EC:  The second book in the series, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I died, highlights Ralph Waldo Emerson-why? 

AF:  Through my research I found he stayed with Emily’s brother at their estate. Plus, I really like his works and wanted to include him in the series. He was the peak of American literature during that time. He encouraged young authors to write in an ‘American voice.’ After a lifetime of acclaim, he felt pretty good about himself. He is very aloof and is distant from others. 

EC:  Why the plagiarism angle? 
 
AF: It was harder back then to prove.  Many authors self-published back then and it was hard to prove that someone else wrote it so it would have been easy to plagiarize. It is still a problem today.  Writers would think about this problem. Although they do have a certain way of phrasing.  Emerson had a very strong voice, very authoritative and confident. He wrote essays and non-fiction. The victim in the story was a social climber who tried to put his name on other’s works.  

EC:  Louisa May Alcott and Emily contrasted each other as writers? 

AF:  I put her in the story because she was about the same age as Emily and lived nearby. It was possible they could have met although no evidence. I also wanted to contrast her with Emily.  Some authors like Emily did it for the sake of art and her own personal thoughts, while others like Alcott did it for the sake of supporting her family and was driven.  Emily feared fame and did not try to get published more. Personally, I write for both reasons. I put in the author’s notes how ‘Emily wrote for the expression of art; Louisa wrote for the money.’  

EC:  Louisa May Alcott was also in the story-what was her voice? 

AF: She is very confident, opinionated, with fun banter.  Anyone who read Little Women would recognize these qualities in her main character, Jo. She is blunt, straight forward, and wrote for the money because she is super pragmatic. Growing up her family did not have money because her dad believed in living simply. She broke barriers by being a female who used her own name and became popular. When she started writing she used pen names. But with Little Women she wrote under her own name and this book changed the life of herself and her family.  

EC:  Next books? 

AF:  The third one in the series might be the last one. It is titled I Died for Beauty and will come out in early 2025.  The plot setting has the 1857 blizzard with a deep freeze in New England. A young Irish couple die in a fire at their house. Emily and Willa try to figure out what really happened. 

The next book coming out in February is titled Crime and Cherry Pits, a cozy.  In March my first Katherine Wright mystery will be released titled To Slip the Bonds of Earth about a murder. 

The Candy Shop mystery will be out in October next year.  The Matchmaker mystery comes out the following year.  Each main character will have a book coming out every other year.  

THANK YOU!! 

***

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 Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan

Book Description

Paris, 1940

German tanks rumble through the streets of Paris, forcing frightened citizens to flee. But not everyone has the luxury to leave. Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the world-famous Hôtel Ritz, must stay to support her family back home in Brittany. Desperate to earn money, Camille also acts as a lady’s maid for longtime guest Vivian Miller, a glamorous American widow—and a Nazi sympathizer.

Despite her distrust of the woman, Camille turns to Vivian when her friend and fellow hotel maid Rachel Berman needs help getting out of Paris. It’s then that Camille discovers that Vivian is not what she seems… The American has been using her wealth and connections to secretly obtain travel papers for Jewish refugees.

While they’re hiding Rachel in an underground bunker under a Nazi’s nose, a daring escape plan is hatched. But as the net grows tighter, and the Germans more ruthless, Camille’s courage will be tested to the extreme…

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan is very relevant today. After the October 7th Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians that included the raping of women and children, burning babies alive, and brutal torture, readers will understand why people have dubbed this the Holocaust of the 21st Century. Ms. Ryan has a knack for getting into the minds and hearts of her readers.

In this story there are three main characters who become connected through the world-famous Hotel Ritz after the Nazis occupied Paris in 1940. It is a multi-narrative story where readers can see events from several different views. Three women from different socio-economic backgrounds are thrust together. Vivian Miller, a glamorous American socialite widow is chosen by the SS officer Gunther Von Bauer to be his mistress. Both she and he are residing at the Ritz. She appears to be a Nazi sympathizer but is working behind the scenes to help French Jews escape. Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the Ritz, becomes his household maid to support her family back home in Brittany, especially her sister Jacqueline who has emotional issues. Rachel Berman is Camille’s Jewish co-worker and needs her help to survive. Knowing that Vivian can help, Camille turns to her to help save Rachel and her mother.

The plot is very powerful and moving. There is suspense and tension as readers take the journeys with the characters. Some of them are brave, resilient, courageous, while others are self-absorbed and cruel. The twists and turns enhance this very captivating read.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Just as with the characters in this book many people, after October 7th, feel helpless, scared, and angry. They can find solace in some of the characters’ quotes. The first quote by the Jewish character, Rachel, “This enemy, these new Germans are hardened, angrier, and more ruthless. Hate lives in their heart. Hate for people like us.” Her father says, “We are French citizens.” Rachel responds “No papa. We are Jews.”

Renee Ryan: For me, that quote summed up the Holocaust with the evil of how people looked the other way and rationalized and pretended that nothing was happening. I thought when I wrote that quote about the 1940s, ‘what is wrong with these people. How are you missing this.’ Even though I am not Jewish I wondered why did so many just look away. Today it is happening all over again, where people just turn and look the other way. History is repeating itself. People are saying it is a two-sided conversation and this is so untrue. It is a one-sided conversation. Everyone should be supporting our Jewish allies and our Jewish people in this country. We should not allow genocide to happen again. We should not be looking away. It is about people who are our friends, colleagues, and I wonder why we are not standing next to them shoulder to shoulder.

EC: Can you explain the other quote, people are “clinging to a lie and calling it hope.”?

RR: I wanted to show in the book how people thought it will not happen to me. It will only happen to those who are not French born, or it will only happen to the poor, not the wealthy, or it will only happen to people without connections, not us. The goalpost kept moving. Laws in France kept changing during the occupation. It was not the Germans, but the French that were doing the roundups of the Jews and passed the harsh laws towards them.

EC: Do you also agree that these quotes are very relevant today?

RR: Yes. I wrote this book a year ago. I thought I was writing these quotes about what happened fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty years ago during the Nazi reign. I cannot comprehend that these quotes can be applied to October 7th. It is so heartbreaking. Have we not learned anything. It is very similar to what happened. It is the same rhetoric, the exact same things said in the 1930s, 1940s. It led to all the antisemitism and for people to look away. People do not want to educate themselves. They only listen to the propaganda about the Jews. I have a quote in the book, “Good people should stop looking the other way and stand up to evil.” People should stand up with Israel. Nothing can be justified.

EC: Where did you get the idea for this story?

RR: There was a news article about Irene Gut. She had a tragic life. She became a housekeeper for a Nazi official in Poland. She hid nine Jews in his basement, and they all survived two years of hiding. This was the jumping off point. What would it be like for someone working in a home and hiding Jews right under the nose of someone trying to wipe them out.

EC: How would you describe Camille?

RR: Trustworthy, loyal, decent, guilty, and courageous. She was relieved to be in Paris away from the stress of her family. She felt guilty of being relieved that she was not guilty. She struggled with it. She was conflicted and eventually decided to take a stand.

EC: What was the role of Jacqueline, Camille’s sister?

RR: She represented the mentally ill. There is a scene in the book where Camille discovers the German euthanasia program with the mentally ill. It was refined and then applied to the Jews. The sister represented that part of the German history.

EC: How would you describe the Jewish character, Rachel?

RR: Innocent, helpless, sweet, not a complainer, has a sense of powerlessness because she is scared and bitter. She also feels humiliated, angry, and is being persecuted. Her anger is her saving grace because without it she would not have survived. The anger is what drove her. While she was fearful and felt helpless, she was also very angry that had her trying to figure out how to escape.

EC: Was Vivian a complex character?

RR: She is responsible, direct, lonely, and at an earlier age suffered mental and physical abuse. She was also confident and passionate yet could be very selfish and self-centered. In some ways she was the villain yet at the same time she was an anti-hero. I would not call her a hero. She represents those people today who say if I do a little bit then I am still good. She justifies rotten behavior by a few good acts. She wanted to believe ‘if I do a few good things that erases all the bad.’ Although deep down she knows that is not true. She also makes a really bad decision.

EC: How would describe Nazi SS officer Von Bauer?

RR: He is controlling, an opportunist, ambitious, driven, and possessive. Regarding Vivian he is obsessed with her, likes to steal her dignity, cruel, and demanding. He represents the abusers of woman. He was to Vivian the ‘devil you know.’ At times she saw in him comfort and familiarity. He was bad because he was a Nazi.

EC: Why did Vivian get the nickname The Snow Queen versus Von Bauer’s the Raven?

RR: It comes from the Nordic folklore fairy tale. They were always in battle. I think it was a perfect metaphor for their relationship. They were going to battle until one survived. Both characters in the fairy tale are evil. Their relationship was based on a tug of war, like a weird chess game.

EC: Did the American government really freeze accounts of Americans overseas?

RR: Yes. Laura Mae Corrigan was a real person they did it to. It was very much justified. She was very much a Vivian type character, an ex-Patriot living in the Ritz. She left the Ritz because they took her money. But Vivian stayed at the Ritz because she had a plan. The Ritz was not shut down because they remained neutral.

EC: Was there an interconnection between the relationship of Vivian, Rachel, and Camille?

RR: The Ritz brought them together as three people trying to survive the war. They are not really friends. Rachel and Camille are more friendly. They need each other. Camille and Rachel see their families as number one, while Vivian has no family. Vivian is number one to herself. They help each other but always will consider their family first.

EC: Next book?

RR: It is titled The Last Fashion House in Paris and will be out this time next year. The setting is occupied Paris. The character from my first book, The Widows of Champagne, Paulette, has her story on what happened to her during the banishment to Paris, the final two years of WWII. She must redeem herself.

THANK YOU!!

***

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 Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

Book Description

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.

But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.

Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.

As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends—and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau—Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen has her venturing out from a traditional mystery to a spy thriller. In this story she expertly mixes spy drama with romance while adding some humor. Not only is this a riveting tale but the main character is very engaging as she tackles the ghosts of her past.

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement. Her final assignment left her very disillusioned. Out of the blue, she finds a young woman calling herself Bianca at her home looking for Diana Ward, another old CIA colleague of Maggie’s. Diana had a talent for making enemies, and Maggie blames her for the debacle in Malta that tore her life apart.

When Bianca’s body is dumped in her driveway and someone takes a few shots at her from across a field, Maggie connects the dots to the tragic case that led her to retire from the CIA. She enlists the help of her baby boomer drinking buddies, four ex-agents with a full assortment of tradecraft skills. The Martini Club, as the retired spies are called, realize that someone is seeking revenge on Maggie. They work together to identify and locate those people and are forced to revisit her role in a mission designed to flush out a Russian informant. It was the mission, Operation Cyrano, that changed Maggie’s life and the last one before she resigned. The story bounces between 18 years ago, 16 years ago, and the present, with locations across the globe.

The Martini Club also must match wits with Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau who is investigating the murder and shooting. Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information and wonders how they seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn. She realizes there is more to this bunch than meets the eye and is frustrated at being outmaneuvered by them at every turn.

Readers will not want to put the book down as they search for answers along with Maggie and her retired CIA buddies. The book is refreshing and an entertaining departure from spy thrillers because the protagonists are senior citizens. The story is amusing, suspenseful, and at times intense.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for The Spy Coast?

Tess Gerritsen: I moved here thirty-three years ago and found out that the town has many retired spies. My husband, who is a medical doctor, had patients who used to work for the government but could not talk about what they did. We found out they were retired CIA including two who lived on my street.

EC: Did you think of the movie “Red?”

TG: I thought a lot of the Helen Mirren character. I did not want to deal with assassinations. What I wanted to write about is the tragedy of the last operation that has haunted the main

character, a spy, Maggie Bird. Maggie is made up. Yet, all the spies in the Martini Club are like those retired spies who live in Maine. They are smart and very educated.

EC: The setting in Maine-why?

TG: It is a beautiful setting. This location has many safe houses. We have an International Conference in this little town of 5,000 people. They bring in every year leaders, politicians, and foreign policy experts from around the world. They come and speak here every winter. The town has residents with a lot of international experience.

EC: How would you describe the two spies, Diana Ward versus Maggie Bird?

TG: Diana is a bit of a sociopath. She does what needs to be done and does not care about the consequences or morality. She is the equivalent of the assassins in so many spy novels. She is very efficient. Diana is not someone who could be trusted, not loyal, and self-centered. Everything is all about her. She might be a good spy but is a bad person. On the other hand, Maggie is a spy with a conscience. She is in it to help her country. She was forced to cross a line she did not want to cross. It moved into her personal life, which had everything fall apart for her. Maggie is loyal, calm, friendly, accomplished with a strong sense of morality.

EC: How would you compare the two teenage girls, Callie versus Bella?

TG: Callie is the ultimate innocent. She is a farm girl who is hungry for a mother. She likes to lean on Maggie. Callie is a very vulnerable character. Bella starts off as a vulnerable character but ends up as a nightmare in training. She is being groomed for a bad role because her father is a powerful Russian oligarch, Phillip Hardwicke. Her father sees her as a tool. Her mother is much more of a traditional mom who cares about her daughter. Yet, her mother is disappointed Bella is not more like her. Bella is disrespected by both parents.

EC: Why make Danny, Maggie’s husband, a doctor?

TG: I started off making him a professional chef. But I needed someone who had close contact with the bad guy. It did not feel right so I made him a doctor who would know Phillip’s most intimate secrets. He traveled with him. I gave Hardwicke a lifelong history of seizures.

EC: How would you describe Hardwicke?

TG: He wants power, money, and prestige. He likes to get his way and does not care who gets hurt. He is a control freak, obsessive, intense, cruel, and very smart.

EC: How would you describe the spies in The Martini Club reacting with the police chief Jo Thibodeau?

TG: They simultaneously are cooperative but also antagonistic. At the beginning Jo does not know who these people are, but later realize they are retired spooks. As time goes on in this book and the next, she realizes they are a big help to her.

EC: Did you get any movie deals?

TG: It has been optioned by Amazon for a television series. This is one of the reasons I went with this publisher. They attached a TV deal. There is already a screenwriter, and they are talking about who will play Maggie Bird.

EC: Next book?

TG: I am working on the sequel now. The second book will take place entirely in the town of Purity Maine. It will be titled The Summer Guests and is scheduled for the spring of 2025. It will still have the five retirees and the police chief. The plot has a family visiting in the summer whose teenage girl disappears, plus there is a cold case mystery. The sequel will be more of a classic mystery. If I do a third book that is when I will probably go back to the international setting again.

THANK YOU!!

***

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 Whole Time by Catherine Bybee

Book Description

Salena Barone has broken free of her family and moved into an apartment above the D’Angelos’ restaurant, where she works as a manager—without a husband, thank you very much. But even on a restaurant salary, she soon finds herself strapped for cash. Salena’s never been afraid of living on the wild side, though, so she takes on a side hustle that’ll raise big bucks…and eyebrows, if anyone finds out.

Tattooed biker Ryan is the youngest of the wealthy Rutledge wine family and has never dreamed of rings, forever, or continuing the family business. He’s perfectly happy living his own life and helping out hardworking folks in his own way.

When these two independent singles spot each other at a Rutledge-D’Angelo wedding, the attraction is instant. But as their friendship with benefits evolves into something more, the secrets Salena’s keeping—from family, friends, and Ryan—threaten the happily ever after she never knew she wanted.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Whole Time by Catherine Bybee is a fun read.  Per usual, readers will love her stories that have engrossing characters, with touching and heartwarming plots.

The story is about two independent people, Selena Barone, and Ryan Rutledge. Since they have been in other books of the series, readers got to know them.  Yet, this installment shows both willing to stand up to their parents to gain their independence. Selena decides to move into an apartment owned by the D’Angelo family and work as their restaurant’s manager.  Ryan has decided to veer from the family wine business and does commercial realty.

After they meet at Gio and Emma’s wedding, sparks begin to fly.  Both are a bit on the wild side and decide to become friends with benefits.  But when cupid strikes, they seem to become involved in a relationship neither would have predicted. The problem is Selena is keeping secrets from Ryan, her family, and her “wanna be” family, the D’Angelo’s.

The story has humor, relatable real-people, and a hero/heroine who balance each other beautifully.  A bonus is that there is plenty of pages with the rest of the D’Angelo’s which makes the story even more enjoyable.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Catherine Bybee: I wanted to write a different setting with the surrounding areas, outside of San Diego. This is Selena’s book and when I first wrote about her everyone thought she and Gio were going to have the relationship. It felt like she deserved her own book.  In this climate, with a lot of young women growing up, she represents what others are dealing with, life decisions that are not the norm. I wanted to capture the fact that she had to break away from her controlling family.

EC:  How would you describe Selena?

CB:  Fiercely independent. She has a real side that everyone can identify with.  My two best friends just read the book and they both said Selena is me because although I want to be independent there is this other side of me. She is stubborn, confident, flirty, and self-assured. She is very comfortable in her own skin. She finds out that she is responsible after she takes on the job of managing the D’Angelo’s’ restaurant. She is growing up in this book.

EC:  How would you describe Ryan?

CB:  He will stand up to his powerful father. He does love his mother and sister and tolerates his father. He is a lot like Selena.  He is very self-assured. He is not cocky but confident. Not humble. He is clever. He knows when to show his cards and when to hold them.

EC:  What about the relationship between Selena and Ryan?

CB:  I think both have a lot more in common than most of my other heroes and heroines. In the beginning they both are not looking for forever. Ryan wants someone who understands him. He knows how to push Selena’s buttons. She wanted to find someone she could trust enough to open to.  She is taken back when she does find it with Ryan. She has no doubts about her sexuality and how to use it to get what she wants.  She gets her needs met. She is the male version of someone who plays the field, doing what they want with whoever they want. They challenge each other.

EC:  What about pole dancing?

CB:  I did one time.  I got it as a birthday present.  It is super hard.  The workout alone is worth it. She sells videos on the Internet. Well behaved women rarely make history.  My point is that she was not doing it naked.  She tried to balance what she wanted to do, to be successful, but not to disappoint those she cares about in her life.

EC:  What is the role of the sets of parents?

CB:  Mari D’Angelo is the mother Selena wants. Mari is like the second mom and does treat Selena like a daughter. Mari knows when to accept things and hold back the reins. I had a second mom.  Selena goes to her to ask for advice. Selena’s parents are not in tuned with what is going on.  They will not bend. Selena’s real parents are more old- fashioned. She feels she must toe the line with her parents.  Yet Ryan, does not feel he must toe the line at all.

EC:  Next book?

CB:  Mari lost her husband at an early age.  She is a single parent. I am setting readers up for a Mari book about an over fifty-five-year-old. My next, next book is titled All Our Tomorrows. It will be a part of a series. It has an unexpected death of a monarch who has a lot of money.  He has been absentee with his children. After he died the children were thrust into a world of high stakes business and money.  They do not necessarily have the stakes to do the job and at the same time are searching for a brother they just found out about. It will come out next spring.

THANK YOU!!

***

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: War Machine by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson

Book Description

After a shootout in Dubai left Hamza al Saud dead and elevated brilliant aeronautical engineer Qasim Nadar to hero status in England, everyone assumes the terrorist threat from al Qadar has been eliminated. Everyone except JSOC counter-terrorism analyst Whitney Watts. But when she decides to help MI6 penetrate Nadar’s secret network, Watts she gets a little too close to the truth and finds herself in a deadly situation not even her teammates from Tier One can save her from.

As Lieutenant Commander Keith “Chunk” Redman and the rest of Tier One fan out across London in search of Watts, Nadar prepares to unleash his most dangerous weapon yet—an advanced drone with artificial intelligence and stealth technology. To stop a horrifying attack on London, Chunk and his Navy SEAL brethren must seek help from an unexpected ally and find a way to stop a war machine that was designed to be unstoppable.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Sons of Valor, War Machine, the third book in the series, by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson finishes the overarching story of terrorist Qasim Nadar. They use their vast experience to write engrossing thrillers.  Andrews worked as a nuclear engineer on naval submarines, while Wilson was a trauma surgeon embedded with the East Coast Navy SEALS.

In the stories, Nadar fools everyone and is considered a hero in England.  Everyone that is except counter-terrorism analyst Whitney Watts.  After getting a call from her MI6 counterpart Lucy Kim she flies to England to work with Lucy to try to out Nadar as a terrorist.  Unfortunately, their investigation turns upside down and they are kidnapped by the terrorists. As Lieutenant Commander Keith “Chunk” Redman and the rest of Tier One travel across London in search of Watts, Nadar prepares to unleash his most dangerous weapon yet, an advanced drone with artificial intelligence and stealth technology.

The authors know how to keep the tension high with the suspense growing on each page.  Readers will not want to put this epilogue down.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?

Jeffrey Wilson: We hope to continue the series as long as people continue to read them.  This is a spin-off, a shared universe with the “Tier One Series.” The eighth book comes out next year. There was a minor character in the previous series, Chuck Redman, who was widely popular with the readers.

EC:  What is the premise of the “Tier One Series?”

JW:  The entire SEAL team gets wiped out because of leaked intelligence.  The sole survivor gets a new identity, John Dempsey, and now is part of a covert operation task force.

Brian Andrews: The first book of that series came out in 2016. John Dempsey, the main character of that series, is not in the “Sons of Valor Series.”  Although in the second book there are a lot of references. But there are other cross-over characters.

Elise Cooper:  Did you base Chuck Redman on the real retired SEAL Jay Redman?

JW:  He is a good friend of ours and we wanted to honor him.  We do it a lot where we put those who we had a professional and personal relationship in our books. Chuck does not represent Jay, but we did it to honor our friendship.

EC:  How did you get the idea for the current book, Sons of Valor III: War Machine?

BA:  We tend to write our military thrillers as trilogies. The Qasim Nadar thread wraps up in this book. In the real world we like to give the antagonist characters some leeway to flush out their motives and organization. There is a great line, “Every villain is the hero of their own story.” We embrace this in our writing. It is not our point of view, but the character’s thoughts and actions.. 

JW: We do not like our bad guys to be two-dimensional cookie cutters unlike Dr. Evil.  The risk is do readers have sympathy for a terrorist. We wanted to explore will Qasim do the right thing or take the path of evil. People will see his evolution through the books on becoming a Jihadi.  In book 2 there was a clear path for him to take, but the one he takes should cause someone to hate him.

EC:  Book 1 has this quote, “It is a shame that it takes personal losses and suffering for most men to find their courage.” This seems so relevant for those families that brutally lost loved ones in Israel on October 7th.  Do you want to comment?

JW:  This is a timely quote referencing how someone’s tragedy is tested under fire. It would be great if no one had to discover this about themselves. Think about the stories that came out of 9/11 and how heroic actions were displayed. I read amazing stories of how people were so incredibly brave on October 7th. A young female army officer went out in her PJs with her gun, joined up with someone else, and held off the terrorists, protecting their little village.  There is such inspiration in these stories.

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

JW:  This is why we write these books, hoping people will have a new appreciation for the toll it takes on the operator: the relationship with one another and their families. We feel there is a higher reason we wrote the books, to honor the men/women we served with and to share that world.

EC:  How would you describe Qasim?

BA: Qasim is cold-hearted, diabolical, and evil. He cares about his cause. He cemented himself as a person of significance in the local culture. In book 3, he has drunk the Kool-Aid, taking a leadership role in a terrorist organization. He must deal with personal problems, money, motivation, logistics, and must keep secrets. He wants a Caliphate where there must be a shift of power and take control.

JW: We want to show how the technology and information is different now.  There is an information war going on the same time as a covert war.  The operators are new but also the terrorists are more sophisticated. This is a different dynamic post 9/11.  We wanted to explore what a new generation of terrorists looks like. They are multi-educated, bi-lingual, and tech savvy. It is also an infiltration of culture and society that is no longer just in the Middle East. This is a change in the real world which we wanted to write about. These are the battlefields of the 21st century.

EC:  How would you describe Chuck Redman?

JW:  Highly intelligent, tenacious, intuitive, mission and team before self.

EC:  How would you describe Lucy?

BA: Whitney saw her as sad, intense, brave, focused, loyal, and cared about others concerns. When she faces mortal danger, she stands her ground.

EC:  How would you describe Whitney?

BA: She takes initiative in this book. She found a lot of strength from Lucy. Her goal is to be part of the team.

JW:  Both Lucy and Whitney are tenacious. We did not want to write Whitney as a one-woman killing machine taking out the bad guys single handedly or a mousey analyst who fades in the background. We pushed her out of her comfort zone, which she hated, but realized it made her tougher. She is someone who never quits. She is one of my favorite characters.

EC:  What about the relationship between Whitney and Redman?

BA:  They are both mirrors of the other. They recognize in the other characteristics they admire.  Both are confident. There is a scene in the book where she is on the verge of physical collapse and starts to think about who the person would be she could rely on to get her out of this situation.  Her subconscious understands it is Chuck because she does not realize her own inner strength.  Over the first two books she grasps how much she admires and respects him. Chuck also tries to think what she would do when trying to rescue her.  They both try to do what the other person would do when the other person is not there.

EC:  Is the piece of equipment, Valkyrie, true?

JW:  It is a drone and manned from the ground. There is technology in development that has the capability. We wanted to explore how much autonomy should AI have:  should it include a kill decision?

BA: There are drones that can fly along fighter jets that augment pilots on missions.  It is a stealth drone, with a vertical takeoff from anywhere. We had in the book what safeguards would the military program?

EC:  Next books?

JW and BA: 

         The next Sons of Valor book does not have a date yet but there will be one.

         There is a techno-thriller coming out in April, titled Four Minutes. A task force collects  

         Intelligence from the future to stop attacks in the present.  They use this information to

         try to stop the bad guys.

         We will be writing the next Tom Clancy book titled Act of Defiance, coming out on the 40th 

         anniversary of the book Red October. A Russian super weapon is deployed at sea

        and it’s up to Jack Ryan to find a countermove.

         The next Tier 1 book comes out in July titled Ember, the name of the taskforce. The

          taskforce does covert operations.

          The fourth book in the Shepherds series comes out next fall. We explore combat and faith 

          with a speculative element.  There is a supernatural spiritual warfare element that

          blended into a covert ops’ thriller. This includes using scriptures of the Bible. It has  

          demons possess bad guys.

THANK YOU!!

***

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 Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend

Book Description

The dangers of Alaska aren’t limited to storms, starvation, and grizzly bears. Sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person you love.

It’s summer in Alaska and the light surrounding the shipping-container-turned-storage shed where Liv Russo is being held prisoner is fuzzy and gray. Around her is thick forest and jagged mountains. In front of her, across a clearing, is a low-slung cabin with a single window that spills a wash of yellow light onto bare ground. Illuminated in that light is the father of her child, a man she once loved. A man who is now her jailor. Liv vows to do anything to escape.  

Carrying her own secrets and a fierce need to protect her young son, Liv must navigate a new world where extreme weather, starvation, and dangerous wildlife are not the only threats she faces. With winter’s arrival imminent, she knows she must reckon with her past and the choices that brought her to the unforgiving Alaskan landscape if she is ever going to make it out alive.

A story of survival in the wilds of Alaska, The Beautiful and the Wild explores the question of whether we can ever truly know the person we love—or ourselves.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend is a riveting suspenseful mystery. There are secrets, the haunting terrain of Alaska, as well as hope.  It is a fight for survival by a mother who dearly loves her son.

Liv Russo thought she was happily married until one day she became a hero.  This opened knowledge of her past where she was shunned by all.  Then her husband leaves to supposedly go on an outing and never returns.  A detective informs Liv that her husband committed suicide.  But this was also not true when she finds clues that he was alive and living in Alaska. She travels to a compound there with her developmentally disabled seven-year-old son Xander. 

But her return is not a happy reunion.  Mark has been shacking up with a young woman, Angela, and another woman, Diana who had a son with him, Rudy, ten years ago. Liv feels betrayed and angry and threatens to leave and go to the police to tell them he faked his death.  Mark, her husband, locks her in a shipping container for weeks until she appears to acquiesce and agree to his lifestyle of an open relationship. But in truth she is biding her time until she can escape with her son. She must learn how to survive and navigate the Alaskan wilderness of extreme weather, possible starvation, and dangerous wildlife. 

This is an exciting book that might remind readers of a “lock room” story that takes place in the Alaskan wild. There are some twists and turns with each character having secrets revealed as the story progresses.

Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the story?

Peggy Townsend: I am a journalist and have written about secrets:  those who tried to conceal and those who tried to reveal. I was in our cabin and listening to a podcast about a guy who was a former Marine who stopped the assassination of Gerald Ford, someone in the “closet.” He was outted by the media with the result that his family shunned him. I thought how secrets can be so damaging.  It spurred me to think what if someone did something heroic and it caused the darkest secrets to be revealed.

EC: Why the Alaska setting?

PT:  I love Alaska.  My husband and I spent seven weeks in our van traveling in Alaska.  I was thinking how Alaska is the perfect place because it is so remote.  If someone was to hide secrets that is where they would go. Having spent a lot of time in the wilderness and the back country.  What I learned it to be in tune with nature and be aware of the surroundings. As the main character, Liv, develops she became more attuned with nature.

EC:  How would you describe Liv?

PT:  She is wounded and flawed.  Liv is determined, resourceful, and gritty.  All of this comes from her tough childhood. At times she felt humiliated, trapped, isolated, anxious, and yet was able to find her strength. Hardship was good for her because she discovered her true self. I was like that. 

EC:  How would you describe Mark?

PT:  He is based on someone I once met. Someone I did not like very much.  He was super handsome, charismatic, but had a hubris that brought him down.  Mark is very manipulative and has the women bend to his will. He is aggressive, dark, obsessed, a loner, selfish, uncaring, chauvinistic, cocky, paranoid, and conceited. Yet, he was such a good dad and very creative.

EC:  How would you describe the relationship between Liv and Mark?

PT:  She felt betrayal, anger, and thought of him as a liar and cheater. He berated her. He liked to make her jealous.  When they were first married, she was a follower.  She did love him. Although he was flawed, he did have some good qualities. She made excuses for him at first.  Later she saw how wrong she was. 

EC: Role of the fox?

PT:  I liked the idea that a vixen is used to describe a woman in unflattering terms, hard to manage.  A fox is a beautiful creature.  After Liv sees this fox, it gives her hope and inspiration.

EC:  Role of the prison?

PT: I wanted her to have been in prison because of what happened to her mom, inspired by a true story.  I wanted her to be able to survive being imprisoned in a container.  Having been in prison she learned the terrible lesson, but this enabled her to find ways to cope, make a routine, avoid confrontations, and to figure out how to escape.

EC:  Diana versus Angela?

PT: These two women and Liv are very different in how they approached the world. Angela is naïve, needy, young, and insecure.  Diana is very independent.  Liv is a caring mom. These women never became a sisterhood. I did a lot of research regarding open relationships. There was always a tension and jealousy underneath because of the open relationship.  Diana did not care, Liv felt betrayal and would not go along, and Angela would do anything to get Mark’s approval and love.

EC:  What about the book Mind, Self, Love by Kai Huang?

PT:  I made this book up but did do research and reading on self-help books. Mark manipulated the women to seek his pleasure.  He enjoyed having the power.

EC:  Next book?

PT:  It is also set in the wilderness.  A young runaway meets a female recluse in the woods.  Both are being hunted for different reasons. They are both trying to survive.  My working title is Nobody is Missing. It will be released next year some time.

THANK YOU!!

***

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.