#standalone – Page 3 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Blade by Wendy Walker

Book Description

Ana Robbins was an Olympic star in the making—until tragedy forced her to leave that world behind. At the age of sixteen, she gave up her dream and never looked back. Fourteen years later, she’s a successful defense attorney, revered for her work with minors. But when her former coach turns up dead, Ana lands right back where it all began, and abruptly ended: The Palace, a world-renowned skating facility nestled high in the mountains of Colorado.

Ana returns to The Palace to defend the young skater accused of the brutal crime—Grace Montgomery. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace’s guilt, and she’s days away from facing charges of first-degree murder.

But Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained far from home as an “Orphan.” With a blizzard raging outside, and time running out for Grace, Ana is determined to uncover the truth—even if it means exposing her own secrets that she buried here long ago.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Blade by Wendy Walker takes readers into the world of figure skating intertwined with a murder mystery. Drawing on her own experience as a teenage figure skater, Wendy Walker vividly brings the rink to life showing readers how the figure skating competitions are toxic with the pursuit of perfection.

The plot has former Olympic figure skating hopeful Ana Robbins, now a successful defense attorney, returning to the Palace, an elite skater’s facility. She becomes the defense attorney for Grace Montgomery, who is accused of murdering the assistant coach, Emile Dresiér. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace’s guilt, and she’s days away from facing charges of first-degree murder.

The chapters alternate between the past, Ana’s time as a skater at The Palace, and the present as a defense attorney. Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained under coach Dawn Sumner. She and three others became known as “The Orphans,” because they didn’t have parental support to help with Dawn’s sometimes cruel fear training. Ana and the other “Orphans” were each driven to the breaking point in pursuit of being the best and earning the praise of their coach, Dawn. This is a relevant read since next month the winter Olympics begin. Readers who watch the Olympics will be able to understand what goes on behind the scenes. In this story, what evolves is a dark web of suspense, exploitation, abuse, and shock.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Wendy Walker: Years ago, I was a competitive figure skater. I tried to craft a thriller with this sport. The plot is completely fictional. There is a forward story and backward story of 14 years ago. The focus of the story is not skaters attacking other skating but the pressure of the competition and how coaches misused the girls.

EC: What is true in the story about figure skating?

WW: There are four girls who are orphans living in a dormitory. There is also the rink, the competitions, some aspects of the skater mother’s, the Bleacher Bees, the way it feels to do the jumps, the Triple Axel, the take offs and landings, and how much they train. I did do research and speak with those more current in the figure skating world because my experience was forty years ago.

EC: What about the Orphans?

WW: They have this shared experience, so they forged close friendships. There were also other relationships and other people who are not trustworthy and are super competitive a la the Tanya Harding story from years ago. They developed this family structure, similar to the story The Outsiders, because they were missing parents. Joleen is the advisor, the more nurturing maternal figure. Kayla is the tough one, the stronger parent. Indy is the older sibling to Ana and the one who can best succeed. Ana is the lonely one, the youngest, and the most naïve.

EC: The setting of The Palace?

WW: There are a lot of people coming and going that can be an isolating experience as it was for me. I trained for three years, when I was 13 to 16 years old. I lived in a dormitory and only went home for the holidays and a week for the summer. The weather became an issue for me since I rode my bike to school. I felt so helpless because I was too young to have a car and did not have the emotional maturity to navigate that world. It was a free for all for me.

EC: Are the Bleacher Bees stage moms?

WW: Yes. My parents were not like the Bleacher Bees but there were some that were definitely there. Some moms were moms who were helpful and kind to me and others who did not have a family there. I think Indy’s mom was a real stage mom obsessed with making nationals and the Olympics. Indy’s mom lived vicariously through Indy. She went to the Olympics but never won a medal. She put everything into their child’s skating. They start to have the dream of their child.

EC: How would you describe the coach, Dawn?

WW: She wanted the ice skaters to be fearful of her and to have them strive for her acceptance. Winning becomes the entire self-identity of the skater, although it was not my training. Dawn has the philosophy that the skaters need to worship the coach and to please the coach. The fear of displeasing her is the greatest fear they have, more than falling or getting hurt. She was like an abusive spouse who gives love and affection at times while other times abuse.

EC: The philosophy was fear turns into rage, rage turns into action, and they should fight instead of fleeing or freezing. Did you get this from Yoda’s philosophy of fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering?

WW: No. I wanted to have a psychological phrase for the book. I thought about how much fear is involved in competitive skating where someone’s performance on that day is all that matters. If their brain is seized by the fear the jumps are hard to complete. They have to hurl themselves high into the air, pulling their legs in to get as many rotations as possible, and usually they will fall the first time they try. The fall hurts and skaters have to overcome that when practicing. They had to conquer the fear. There were girls that had huge bruises as Indy had in the story.

EC: How would you describe Grace, the one accused of killing?

WW: She can be impulsive, disturbed, rageful, with anti-social behavior. She has a high IQ. She is an enigma throughout most of the story.

EC: The victim Emile, can be described as?

WW: He is damaged, manipulative, a betrayer, a tattle-teller, and enjoys making the girls feel worthless. There is something sociopathic about him. He operates in the shadows. He suffered a knee injury as a skater because of Dawn’s training and became bitter. He has no empathy for these girls and finds enjoyment by interfering in their lives.

EC: Next book?

WW: It is set in wealthy suburbia. There is a love triangle that goes between the present and the past that involves a murder. The girl is part of a wealthy community and the boy is from the other side of the tracks. A little of West Side Story like. No title yet, and it will probably come out in 2027.

I am also writing another audible first novel next year. It is stand alone. It has a unique format, similar to The Room Next Door. It is a full-length novel with sound effects, music, and seamless narration with a full cast of characters that has a performer saying the lines.

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: Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart

Book Description

On a brisk February morning while walking to the diner where she works, 24 year-old Ruth Foster is stopped by the local sheriff. He insists she accompany him to a health clinic, threatening to arrest her if she doesn’t undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease.

Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some are there because they were reported for promiscuity by neighbors, husbands, strangers. Some were accused of prostitution. Others were just pretty and unmarried. Or poor and “suspicious.” One was eating dinner alone in a restaurant. Another spoke to a soldier.

Josephine’s sin was running a business as a single woman. Maude’s was trying to drown her sorrows. Frances had lost her mind. Opal married a man with a mean streak. Some, like 15-year-old Stella, are brought in because they’re victims of assault. She’s too naive and broken to understand how unjust this imprisonment is.

Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences—solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.

But some refuse to be cowed. Some find ways to fight back – at any cost…

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Elise’s Thoughts

Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart is a compelling and fascinating read. This historical fiction sheds light on a lesser-known subject of how women were wrongly imprisoned. There are vivid scenes and compelling characters who fought their injustice with determination.

The story was told from multiple points of view: two of the girls, Ruth Foster and Stella Temple, as well as the Superintendent Dorothy Baker. This allows readers to get an understanding of the situation of the girls.

Women were picked up, sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women, and subjected to involuntary medical treatment for venereal disease. One of those women was twenty-four-year-old Ruth Foster who was on her way to work and seized by the sheriff for looking suspicious. She was forced to remain in the custody of a reform colony where she underwent horrendous isolation and shots that made her sick. She witnessed group punishment that she refused to take part in and was then put in solitary confinement for disobedience.

Another girl, fifteen-year-old Stella Temple found herself at the colony after her parents realized she was pregnant. While there she was involuntarily sterilized. Even with all that she still sees the colony as a refuge and something better than she had while living with her parents since she has a bed, clothing, and food.

Dorothy Baker is the superintendent of the colony. Although she thinks she is doing the right thing in helping the girls, readers see how she never tolerates anyone who protests. If the girls break the rules, they face sadistic and cruel punishment. If they try to run away, they are sent to the meditation room where they are given only scraps of food, a bucket to dispose of their humanly waste, and are isolated.

This book is riveting and will keep readers turning the pages. People will take the journey with the characters, cheering for Ruth as she exhibits courageous behavior and weeping for Stella as she is forced to confront what happened to herself. They will despise Mrs. Baker for her corporal punishment techniques. The twists and turns as well as the surprise ending add to the intensity of the story where readers will be on the edge of their seats.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Donna Everhart: I write southern historical fiction. This is about some sterilization but more importantly the mass incarceration of women. I have not thought of my books as historical fiction, but they do fall into that category. At first, I thought about writing on reform schools for girls in the state of North Carolina. When I landed on farm colonies and the mass incarceration of women the story unfolded. Even though the story is fictional most of what took place happened.

EC: Were Samarcand and the Colony true?

DE: They were each an hour from me in opposite directions. I read this book, Bad Girls at Samarcand: Sexuality and Sterilization in A Southern Juvenile Reformatory by Karin L. Zipf, which was a resource for me. The goal was to combat the spread of venereal disease. Any woman could by arrested within a five-mile radius of a military base. If the woman was found infected, they could be sentenced to a farm colony to be cured. After learning about the Chamberlain-Kahn Act, the American Plan, I discovered that some girls sent to these reform schools operated as very young prostitutes. Another resource was a non-fiction book by Scott W. Stern, The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Plan to Imprison Promiscuous Women.

EC: What was true?

DE: The meditation room where Ruth was placed was true: dingy, not enough food, had to pee in a bucket. They were able to run the colony through slave labor. I have four books that were actual biennial reports of that time that went to the North Carolina Governor. There was a board of directors, a superintendent, on site psychologists, a medical director, as in my book. The fires in the farm colonies dormitories are true.

EC: Was Ruth Foster based on Nina McCall?

DE: Yes, loosely based. Nina was walking to the post office and picked up, while in my book Ruth was walking to work and picked up. ‘Walking while beautiful’ was the thinking of the time to pick up a woman. Ruth Foster was beautiful. She was put in the Colony because she supposedly had a positive test for VD. But like Covid, there were a lot of false positives. She represented those women who had to have treatment for no reason and this treatment was debilitating. She also represented how the women were deprogrammed, structuring the way they thought and lived. They wanted to break Ruth down and then build her up in the name of reform. Nina McCall, as with Ruth, were shamed into subjecting themselves to get the physical exam and found to have VD and sent off. Ruth represents the innocent women who were surveilled, picked up, forced to undergo an evasive exam, and put into a facility, locked up, without due process.

EC: How would you describe Ruth?

DE: Ruth had a high IQ, independent, confident, stubborn, and a non-conformist. They tried to break her and make her docile. She was smart and savvy.

EC: How would you describe Stella?

DE: Stella had a very high IQ, with a photogenic mind. She was obedient, innocent, invincible-like, goes along to get along, and a tattletale. Stella had an abusive father and became submissive. She wanted to fit in but became elusive and stayed to herself. She contrasts with Ruth because Stella felt at the Colony she was saved. I hope readers ask given her circumstances was Stella better off at the Colony, was it a haven for her?

EC: What about Mrs. Baker?

DE: She was a strict disciplinarian, abrupt, calculating, manipulating, rigid, aloof, and abusive. She believed in what she was doing, helping these women. She wanted to teach them to learn to read and write, cook, can, and clean. Baker thought she was a savior to these women. I consider her a fascinating character. I think she is a product of her time. All the real superintendents of the farm colonies were like Baker. They wanted to break the girls’ spirits.

EC: You had this quote in the author’s notes: “This is the story of women held against their will without due process. But it is also the story of women who believed what they were doing was for the greater good.” Did you want readers to understand Mrs. Baker?

DE: Yes, I did. Some do and some don’t. Some thought she had no redeeming qualities and some readers sympathized with her. I wanted readers to be conflicted about her. I thought Baker had some redeeming qualities.

EC: What about Baker’s assistant Mrs. Maynard?

DE: She was a sadist, mean, and hateful. I fashioned her after the nun in the ‘Yellowstone series.’ There was a nun who was perverse. Mrs. Maynard got off in whipping these girls.

EC: What about the letters the girls like Ruth were forced to write?

DE: In Mrs. Baker’s mind she wanted to coerce the board into giving more money to expand the colony. The letters showed what a successful program she was running. She wants to control Ruth, but Ruth was not going to lie, to write something to help Baker. This infuriated her. This is where Ruth’s strength, non-conformity, and independence come in. Baker saw Ruth as a troublemaker and was intimidated by Ruth who saw things were not right. Ruth and Baker butt heads. Ruth could not be persuaded to fold as a lawn chair.

EC: What do you want readers to get out of this book?

DE: Good entertainment. But also, an awareness that this really happened. I hope it creates discussions. This is such an important story.

EC: Next book?

DE: I am working on another book, no title yet. The plot has an elderly woman who gets displaced with eminent domain. This will probably come out in January 2028.

THANK YOU!!

***

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Assassins by Mike Bond

Hi, everyone!

Today I am featuring my Feature Post and Book Review for ASSASSINS by Mike Bond on this book amplifier tour.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and social media links. Enjoy!

Book Summary

In Assassins, Mike Bond introduces Jack, an intelligence operative whose career unfolds alongside some of the most volatile geopolitical shifts of the modern era. His work places him at the center of covert operations that blur the line between duty, loyalty, and accountability.

For CIA operative Jack, intelligence work is never confined to a single mission. Early assignments place him close to local communities, creating personal ties that complicate later operations driven by politics and fear. As global terrorism escalates, Jack is sent into increasingly volatile environments to gather intelligence and stop emerging threats.

Doctors, journalists, foreign officers, and militants move through the same conflicts, each shaped by decisions made far beyond their control. Jack’s relationship with Sophie Dassault, a doctor who once saved his life, becomes a rare human constant amid instability. As former training programs begin producing unintended consequences, Jack confronts a career defined by secrecy, responsibility, and outcomes no one fully controls.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33789163-assassins

Amazon: https://amzn.to/49oZhSM

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

ASSASSINS by Mike Bond is a thought-provoking spy thriller that took me through many memorable moments, not necessarily good, in recent history and reminded me of many political debates I have had with family and friends. There are several viewpoint characters throughout the novel, but the main protagonist is Jack, a CIA agent, and the story begins with his parachuting into the mountains of Afghanistan to assist the mujahideen in their fight again the Soviet Union.

This is a very suspense filled and political story that takes the readers over the years from the Soviet war in Afghanistan to the Bataclan theater attack in Paris. Jack is a complex character who is tortured by the people he loses on operations but is also strongly accepting of that cost to fight terrorists. The thriller plot moves at a fast pace and is very good at showing not only both sides of those in armed conflict, but also the political greed and interference that uses both sides as puppets.

I enjoyed this book, the intricate plot, and characters, but it is heavy on military and political issues, and it is not just a fast-paced thriller. It appeals to those of us who like those intricacies and may feel too heavy for others.

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Excerpt

An Evening in Paris

November 2015

IT WAS WARM for mid-November. They sat on the terrace of a little restaurant. Anyplace in France, she said, how wonderful the food, the delicious wine, the gentle harmony of others there for love, food, friendship, ideas, freedom, the joys of life.

They had been through the wars together, fallen in love amid the hail of bullets and thud of explosions in cities drenched with blood. Knowing, as the cliché put it, any moment could be their last.

It gave an intensity to love, that this person dearer to you than life itself could be extinguished at any instant. Someone you cherished so completely, composed of neurons, cells, muscles, bone, tissue and memories, could be blown apart, riddled with bullets, any second.

“I love you so much,” she said. “But I think I love you even more in Paris.”

“France does that to us all. What was it Hemingway said –”

“Paris is a moveable feast.”

“Yes, and we will happily feast, in whatever life brings us.”

“As you’ve said, to follow the path with heart?”

“Yes.” He caressed the back of her hand. “For us, the wars are over.”

“For us the wars will never be over. You know that.”

He looked out on the quiet street. “Let’s take time out. Then we decide.”

“Decide what?”

“Whether we keep fighting or run for cover.” He smiled at the thought. Not once in all these years had he ever run for cover. Nor had she.

“Your buddy Owen said that people like us, once we’re in, we can never get out.”

“Look where it got him. You want that?” Again he checked the street. It was automatic, this watchfulness. On the edge of consciousness.

He scanned the passing pedestrians – happy couples hand in hand, an old man with a wispy beard, a little girl walking a black poodle, an ancient limping Chinese woman, a kid on a skateboard.

But it worried him, this something; he wished he’d brought a sidearm, but Home Office didn’t want you carrying one here. And everything seemed so peaceful. He sipped his wine, the raw ancient roots of Provence…

A black Seat slowed as it came down the street. A grinning face full of hatred, an AK barrel aiming at them out its window, a blasting muzzle as he leaped across the table knocking her to the sidewalk and covered her with his body amid the hideous twanging hammer of bullets and smashing glass and screams and clatter of chairs and tables crashing and the howl of the Kalashnikov and awful whap of bullets into flesh as people tumbled crying.

It couldn’t be, this horror, he’d left it all behind.

***

About the Author

Mike Bond is the author of nearly a dozen bestselling novels and an ecologist, war and human rights journalist, award-winning poet, and international energy expert. His work spans more than thirty countries across seven continents, often drawn from firsthand experiences in remote, dangerous, and war-torn regions. His novels are praised worldwide for their intricate plots, vivid settings, and explosive pacing. His reporting has covered wars, revolutions, terrorism, and major environmental crises.

Social Media Links

Website: https://mikebondbooks.com/

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/assassins-by-mike-bond-2021-01-21

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: The Secret Courtesan by Kerry Chaput

Book Description

Art historian Mia is running out of time to prove her theory that the sculptor of an unearthed erotic statue was a courtesan erased from history—a scandal no one will believe. Chasing through Venice, she tracks down hidden details of Sofia, a powerful courtesan who seems to have left a trail of sex-fueled art buried across the city, but Mia’s now being followed, and even her boss might be in on the lie.

Meanwhile, in 1609, Sofia defies Venice’s unfair laws to create illicit art that could ruin her future. Her aspirations to become a great artist go up in flames when her patron’s wife steals her work and threatens her lover.

Four hundred years later, it’s up to Mia to discover the truth, but now she’s uncovered a world of art theft that could leave her ousted—or, worse, right in the crosshairs of the most powerful crime family in Italy, who will stop at nothing to force her to authenticate the famous statue. Mia’s only hope is to prove Sofia’s existence before everyone involved silences them both forever.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236283506-the-secret-courtesan?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=im2bJwLwUb&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

THE SECRET COURTESAN by Kerry Chaput is a dual timeline historical fiction novel with an interesting and somewhat unique historical timeline set in Renaissance Italy. I found the historical timeline emotional and fascinating as it pulled me into Sofia’s life, and while the present-day timeline with Mia is interesting regarding her art research, I found the suspense plotline not as compelling or believable.

Dr. Mia Harding is an art historian hired to authenticate a sculpture which she believes is not sculpted by the famous male Renaissance artist it is accredited to, but by a female artist erased by history. The historical timeline has a courtesan named Sofia Rossi, traded to an artist while she has longed her entire life to be an artist, which is not allowed in Renaissance Italy. While both women faced discrimination of a kind in their own timelines, I sincerely felt Sofia’s anguish of not being able to be recognized for what she was born to do and her fight to break the rules; while Mia did face professional discrimination, I never felt she moved forward on her own, but kept feeling sorry for the situation she put herself in. Also, Mia’s romance and run in with people trying to stop her from proving her belief in a female sculptor never hit me as emotionally as Sophia’s story.

I found the research and beautiful emotional writing of Sofia’s story kept me reading this novel to the end and I wish Mia’s present-day story made me feel more. Overall, this is worth the read for the atmosphere, emotion, and history of Sophia’s story, while Mia’s story is not bad, I was hoping for more than an average romantic suspense plot.

***

About the Author

Kerry Chaput is a multi-award-winning author inspired by badass women in history. Born in California, she now calls the Pacific Northwest home, where she spends her days hitting the trails, chasing historical rabbit holes, and feeding her addiction to espresso and doggy cuddles.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.kerrywrites.com/

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-secret-courtesan-by-kerry-chaput

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Courtesan-Novel-Kerry-Chaput-ebook/dp/B0FCYT3TR5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UURL92STNKSH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1RT1Au5

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum

Book Description

Simone “Sam” Vetiver is a mid-career novelist finishing a lukewarm publicity tour while facing a deadline for a new book on which she’s totally blocked. Recently divorced, Sam is worrying where her life is going when she receives glowing fan mail from stratospherically successful author William Corwyn, renowned for his female-centric novels. When William and Sam meet and his literary sympathy is as intense as their chemistry, both writers think they’ve found The One.

But as in their own novels, things between Sam and William are not what they seem. William has multiple stalkers, including a scarily persistent one named The Rabbit. He lives on a remote Maine island, where his writer life resembles The Shining. And when writers turn up dead, including from The Darlings support group William runs, Sam has to ask: Is it The Rabbit—William’s #1 Stalker? Another woman scorned? Can William be everything he seems?

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum has the author venturing into the thriller genre. Formerly known for her historical novels, she still maintains some semblance by making her female lead, Simone “Sam” Vetiver, a historical novelist. This suspenseful novel had love, grief, and revenge.

Readers meet Sam who is finishing up a book tour while searching for some ideas for her next plot. She then receives a fan letter from best-selling author William Corwyn who shares the same publisher. She is appreciative of his offer to help her write the next novel but refuses. Instead, she decides to give up everything for the right man. And it appears William is that man. They start out as friends, but it moves quickly to a steamy relationship. Yet, something does not appear as it seems. Although William at first seems like a dream come true, as time goes by the relationship becomes less promising and sentimental.

To add to their woes William has an obsessive stalker who he dubbed the Rabbit. She appears to have Sam in her cross hairs. Through some investigation Sam is wondering if her loneliness led to trusting the wrong people.

Readers take the journey with Sam as she tries to navigate her different emotions and wonders who really has a dangerous obsession. Told in the perspective of the three characters: Sam, William, and the Rabbit, people begin to realize things are not as they seem, wondering who the good guys are and who are the bad guys.

The plot is riveting and will have readers not wanting to put the book down.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Is it true you interviewed Holocaust survivors?

Jenna Blum: Yes, for many years for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, I interviewed about sixty survivors starting at the age of 23. Because I was so young they asked I interview couples, survivors who met each other in the concentration camps, displacement camps, overseas, or when they got to this country. What really struck me is that they did not talk about it much with each other, keeping that part of their life under wraps. I am grateful to be a part of the project. The skills that I got from this would lend itself well to interview survivors of any trauma. I learned how to extract dramatic stories with the least amount of damage possible. In fact, I would be honored to interview Israeli survivors of October 7^th.

EC: Turning to your current book why a thriller?

JB: This is my first thriller. I am known for historical fiction. I had this story about murderous writers in my head, pushing the ideas for the historical novel away.

EC: Was there a difference between writing thrillers and historical novels?

JB: It was a such a joy to write a thriller because I did not have to do any historical research. In writing thrillers, I felt like I was putting together a puzzle. All I had to do is unpack my life since I have been a career writer since I was sixteen. I married my own experience with the publishing world and a mid-life women writer at the crossroads. It was so much fun to write.

EC: Being a writer did you worry about writing about writers?

JB: Yes, I thought am a cheating and cannibalizing my life. Then I read this plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz and called her. I asked her if she got any pushback when she started writing thrillers. She told me to write it, and this is the result. Sam’s life is exactly mine. She is so me in terms of her writing experience and existence, including putting my apartment in the novel.

EC: How would you describe Sam?

JB: She is sweet and hopeful. In the beginning of the book, she is despondent because her career has not gone as she hoped. She is trying hard to be optimistic. Sam is a survivor of a traumatic background, so she does not trust her own instincts, which makes her wildly co-dependent. She is vulnerable, desperate, and is looking to do something different. I think Sam is also charming, reserved, paranoid, funny, and tenacious. She is nuts in the way a lot of writers are nuts, spending most of her time with imaginary characters.

EC: How would you describe William?

JB: I think he is hilarious. He is a malignant narcissist. The only research I did for the book is looking up what is a malignant narcissist. I find narcissist characters have a view of themselves that is ironclad and is not the way the rest of the world sees them. It makes William amusing and frightening to watch. He is a terrible cad. He is chauvinistic, charming, unreasonable, egotistical, moody, arrogant, ambitious, lonely, and a bully.

EC: What is the role of the “Darlings?”

JB: William sees himself as the “giver.” It is a support group for other writers. He helps people by bringing them together in the community. People can see through them what writer’s obstacles are like. This shows him as having an altruistic and philanthropic side. I am hoping this helps to build a nuance portrait of him.

EC: What about the relationship between Sam and William?

JB: He manipulates her so much and she allows that to happen. Readers might want to say to her, ‘snap out of it.’ She is totally co-dependent. I am also in recovery for co-dependency. I am hoping through Sam’s actions readers who are co-dependent do not feel alone and see there are ways around it. Other readers might want to shake her and to say to her, ‘can you not see this guy is terrible for you.’ Through Sam I wanted to shine a light on this issue. The relationship is 100% dysfunctional, following a traditional narcissism cycle of love bonding, disappointment, the person being dumped, and then that person being pulled back in. Narcissistic and co-dependent people often complement each other.

EC: Why name the stalker Rabbit?

JB: William uses that name because the person has a terrible over-bite and does not have very many lovers. This is a moment when his misogyny is completely on display, being so judgmental. My favorite line is when the Rabbit reveals her real name.

EC: What do you want to say about the Rabbit?

JB: I love the Rabbit. I had the most fun writing her and William. She is gritty, determined, loves books (her saving grace), she has determination, and speaks truth to power.

EC: Next book?

JB: I want to stay in the thriller lane with three ideas rolling around in my head. I realized that when I wrote historical novels I always wrote about sex, death, and catastrophic events.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview #2 with Elise Cooper: Yumi: Keepers of the Garden of Peace by Tess Cacciatore

Book Description

When Yumi travels the world with her wise Grandmother “Obachan” she discovers how many cultures celebrate peace, one tea ceremony at a time.

From India to China, Africa to Australia, Yumi and her new animal friends learn that kindness and respect can unite us all.

A beautifully illustrated story of compassion, friendship & peace.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Yumi’s Universe was born from the imagination of Tess Cacciatore, an award-winning writer, director and global peace advocate. After decades of empowering youth across continents, Tess envisioned a world where children could learn values of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. The emphasis is to inspire children everywhere to grow with kindness, imagination, and peace through magical stories, music, and art from around the world. People can go to her website and explore Yumi’s Universe. (www.YumisUniverse.com)

There are currently two books out with the story written by Tess Cacciatore and illustrated by the former Disney animator Joel Christopher Payne. Keepers of the Garden of Peace is for younger peacekeepers (ages 4-8). It has Yumi traveling the world with her wise Grandmother “Obachan” as she discovers how many cultures celebrate peace, one tea ceremony at a time.

The other book, for young adults (ages 9-13), is Yumi: An Enchanted Tale of Compassion, Friendship & Peace. This travel adventure storybook takes the readers on a global exploration to meet the friends of Yumi and to explore other cultures for compassion, friendship, and peace.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What was it like working with the Disney artist Joel Christopher Payne?

Tess Cacciatore: It started with the story and the creation of the characters. I gave Joel, the illustrator, a description of who the characters were, what their outfits were like, and where they were from. He, as a brilliant illustrator, brought them to life. It was a collaboration where I am the author of the book, and he is the talent behind the actual art creation.

EC: How did you get the idea for the story?

TC: Jay, a friend of mine was diagnosed in 2024 with stage 4 cancer. In the middle of August, he posted that his friend came to his hospital room to serve a Japanese formal tea ceremony. It instantly reminded me of what a lot of little children do, putting together a tea party with their stuffed animals. In the process of writing the book Jay passed, however, his character is alive and well as Jay is the inventor of the mystical-magical orbship that the characters use to travel the world. The way that the orb-ship is fueled is by pure intention of compassion. I keep my friend alive in memory, full of respect and love.

EC: Is this a series of books?

TC: There is the book Yumi Keepers of the Garden of Peace for younger peacekeepers (ages 4-8) and the Yumi: An Enchanted Tale of Compassion, Friendship & Peace (ages 9-13). The second book has at least two more parts coming. A trilogy released over the next year or so. In the second book they travel to North and South America, while in the third book they travel to Europe.

EC: What are the various locations the characters travel to?

TC: They travel from Japan to South Africa, India, China, and Australia. The characters plant “peace poles” from the GOI Peace Foundation everywhere they go, spreading the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth.”

EC: What is the role of the animal characters?

TC: Respect, harmony, purity, and tranquility represent the formal Japanese tea ceremony and the four characters of the book. Ravi, the elephant from India, represents respect; Zuri, the Giraffe from South Africa represents purity; Seren, the Panda Bear from China represents tranquility; and Holly, from Australia represents harmony. We hope through the animal characters we teach children to respect one another.

EC: What about the specific places they travel?

TC: Just as military families have traveled a lot including going to different countries so do the characters in the story. Ravi is the character that comes from India at the Konark Sun Temple. Ravi means the sun. Zuri comes from South Africa. Long ago, there was an animal conservation project where elephants and giraffes were sent from Kenya to South Africa. Her grandmother was born in Kenya. Through her storyline readers learn about purity. Holly finally finds the courage to sing, as she stands up to sing “Mother Nature.” Davy Nathan (award-winning composer) and I co-wrote most of the songs. The theme is that Holly finds the courage to have her voice be heard. Seren is quite shy. He carries around this little stuffed brown bear like a security blanket. Through his storyline I wanted to express that no one should be made fun of for having certain quirks.

EC: Do you think these quotes can apply to what happened in Australia with the massacre at the Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration?

TC: You are referring to this quote from Holly who is from Australia and believes in harmony, “Everything in nature and in life can change in a moment.” We want to do something with Australia as well as Brown University. Everything we do and everything I have done in my career is about giving back and promoting social impact. There is another quote in the book, “Your quiet light makes the world brighter.” Hanukkah is known as the “Festival of Lights.”

EC: What is the role of the teas?

TC: We are launching in January our Garden of Peace teas that have seven different flavors, 100% organic. Each character has their own flavor of tea. Wa, Kei, Sei, Jaku are the four names of the formal tea ceremony that represent harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. The Garden of Peace teas are a way for schools, organizations, synagogues, and churches to sell the teas as a fundraiser, while also giving back.

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

TC: People need to be accepted for who they are. They need to agree to disagree at times and to be understanding of each other’s cultures. We are in the process of creating Yumi’s University K-12 curriculum. This app can be delivered to even the most remote places to bring education to children all over the world.

THANK YOU!!

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