Interview with Heather Graham, New York Times Bestselling Author

 

This fourth Saturday of  June,  I had the pleasure of interviewing New York Times Bestselling Author, Heather Graham. Here is what the delightful Heather had to say.  

1/ So, tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey in one paragraph or less.

I was the typical reader-kid, always wanted a book, and my folks, my mom an Irish immigrant, the Graham clan from Scotland, had wonderful history books for me to read. But I majored in theater and worked in dinner theater and the occasional commercial for a few years before we had three of the five kids, and it just wasn't paying enough for me to keep going to work. Trial and error in writing, and then a book sold, and I remain grateful every day of my life that I have been privileged to do this for a living.

 

 2/ I’m intrigued by your heritage and your multi-cultural family. Can you share a bit about how you were brought up? Do you attribute such open mindedness to progressive parents?

 I'm sure. To this day, I remember special things about my folks. Two quotes from my dad are always with me--"Water has no color, neither does the human soul," and "There's nothing wrong with most religions, only the way that men have chosen to twist them." My mom was Google before Google--when she couldn't answer a question, she pointed to our encyclopedias and said, "Let's go find out!"  Her family regaled me a child with wonderful stories about leprechauns and banshees and the fairy folk and I loved being a kid and listening!

 3/What made you want to become a writer? 

I love books. They get us through the worst of times. They fascinate, and they teach. Maybe it's my way of continuing the oral tradition that was so much a part of my childhood!

 4/Who was your first sale with? 

Dell publishing. No! Ist was a short horror story to Twilight Zone magazine, now gone, in Canada. My proudest 15 dollars ever!

 5/ What have been some Highlights of your career? 

Being honored as a ThrillerMaster by ITW, definitely, and going on a USO tour with ITW and seeing our troops at the Kuwaiti border, and attending the Sharjah International Bookfair with ITW, too. I love my groups, ITW, MWA (Shout out to my incredible Florida Chapter!) HWA, and Sisters in Crime. People. Every conference is special. Fiction writers are the best, warm and generous. Just home from ITW. Also grateful for my Silver Bullet for giving endeavors, and my Distinguished Author Award from Southwest Florda Reading Festival and so many others. People are the biggest highlight--cons are places where you can meet your heroes. R.L. Stine isn't just amazing with all his wonderful story creations, he's an amazing, kind, and generous human being. Something true of so many of the "names" I've met, bigger and small!

6/ Tell us about what made you change genres? 

I always read anything out there. And still have ideas for different genres and, of course, today, we're mixing them, and I love it!

7/We’ve all been rejected at one point or another, any advice on how to handle rejection? 

Hm, either figure out how to fix a problem, swerve around . . . and keep going! Never, ever give up. Some people I know who struggled--even for years--are at the peak of the top now!

8/What’s your writing day like?

 I never know. I had kids, I watch grandkids sometimes . . . it's a bit like a Dr. Seuss novel. I will write on a plane, on a train, in a car, going far! Some writers have hours--I've always gone by a John Lennon quote--Life is what happens while we're busy making plans. So, no set schedule, just deadlines and discipline. 

9/ How did your conference Writers for New Orleans get started? Why do you continue to keep it in New Orleans?

Right after Katrina. I've been in love with New Orleans since I went with my dad on a business trip as a kid. I was in soon after Katrina and a friend owned one of the carriage companies at the time--she was worried sick, frustrated with government help, extremely grateful to the American people--but, like so many others in the city, desperate to get back to work, to give to charities again instead of trying to live on charity. She looked at me and said, "You can have a conference!" I explained that I wasn't at all sure how many people I could get into the city, and she told me, "Oh, please, get someone here, and it will be like a hair commercial, a friend will tell a friend will tell a friend . . ." So, with Connie Perry, we put it together at cost only so that people could go out and spend money in the city. It's still at cost only. Our first game and silent auction events gave to the NOLA libraries and now we'll sometimes do St. Judes, Shriners, or an animal rescue site. 

10/ You have a love for water, did I hear you’re a scuba diver? 

Yes, love, love, love the water! Soon enough, we'll be using our cell phones down under. But right now? Just you and a different world!

9/ If you weren’t a writer what would you be and why? 

I'm not at all sure! My other love was theater. Hm. LOL. Not sure I can do anything else now!

11/What are you working on currently? 

Ah, a couple of things in the fire! A crime novel on the use of AI to commit murders, a "Romantasy" using the Tuatha de Danann (from my Irish childhood!) and a sequel to a young adult series (The Rising, Blood Moon) with Jon Land. We also have another project going and I'm not even sure how to describe it, but also pushing the buttons of the times we're moving into.

12/ When it comes to publishing, what do you think is the next  big trend?

 I don't--figured out that if you're writing for the next big trend, there will probably be a new one by the time you finish your epic!

13/ How can we reach you?

 My web site! I love social media, but I can't guarantee I'm on it!

You can find out more about Heather here:  https://www.theoriginalheathergraham.com/

What To Do With Those Old Stories by Sue Ward Drake

What does a writer, do when faced with a closet full of printouts of old stories? Stories she’s slaved over but which failed to make the journey to published book?

There was something about the idea and characters that definitely needs to be explored. Should a writer hope to write another book with that aspect and gain some new readers?

French Quarter, New Orleans, LA

*Recycling situations and themes

Most people lean toward their comfort zones, and most authors have certain situations or themes which fascinate them. These usually appear on the page without conscious thought because they are principles the author finds important. I find myself consistently writing about characters who want to play fair and who aren’t given a chance to prove themselves. This just shows up on my pages without conscious intent.

And what about reading a second story about protective SEALs or soldiers in the same military unit? We love out Alpha heroes, right?

*Recycling characters

I don’t know about other authors, but I’ve recycled incidents from previous, non-selling manuscripts, and characters, too—or some aspect of them. As I’m hearing impaired, that disability is an easy issue to write. Well, not easy, but knowable, anyway. What makes the next hard-of-hearing or deaf character unique in my stories is their life situation and the threat they’re dealing with. And of course, they need a new name like people entering the witness protection program. LOL.

*Recycling tropes

I had a work friend who almost always ordered the same meal every time she dined at a certain restaurant. She knew exactly what she was getting and was never disappointed, unless the kitchen had hired a new chef. A secret baby plot, or a marriage of convenience can be comforting the same way a menu item can.

Stories by different writers featuring one of these traditional story setups have the same interpersonal conflict that are inherent in those situations. The fun is in discovering how the author found a unique spin.

But back to the original question. In my most recent Big Easy Brothers story (released July 12), the recycling is of my own experiences living in, and evacuating from, New Orleans. Fleeing the Storm takes place before, during, and after a Louisiana hurricane. This is Jack’s story. He’s the second oldest of the Guidry brothers, and the third to be featured in his own love story in my BIG EASY BROTHERS series.

FLEEING THE STORM

No matter what else he is, Jack Guidry, former undercover cop turned bounty hunter, is a stubborn cuss who never gives up. He works all the angles necessary to nab his fugitive—even if that means fishing for answers from lovely pastry chef Grace Comstock.

Grace isn’t talking, certainly not to the handsome rogue who suspiciously pops up everywhere she goes. All she wants is to keep her orphaned niece safe, so when a masked kidnapper ambushes them, she flees New Orleans—straight into the path of a dangerous hurricane.

She’s agreed to talk to Jack, not spend days riding out the storm with him. But that’s what happens once he saves her and the baby from drowning. Even though he denies his attraction, Jack can’t help feeling protective of this beautiful, frightened woman. When they wind up fighting for their lives, can Grace trust Jack enough to help him find his fugitive?

Sue Ward Drake

Award-winning author, Sue Ward Drake, loves using her experiences living in a farmhouse in Greece and her years in the French Quarter as fuel for her stories as often as possible. She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense and speaks at conferences on writing suspense and disabilities. For news of the next thrilling Big Easy Brothers romantic suspense and other romances visit her website or follow her on BookBub.

Website: www.SueWardDrake.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@SueWardDrake

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SueWardDrakeBooks

Instagram: www.instagram.com/suedrakeauthor/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sue-ward-drake

Dari LaRoche on "Inspiration"

 PRESERVING AND TAKING INSPIRATION FROM OUR NATURAL WORLD 

Earth needs us. Gaia needs us. It is critical that we all work together to preserve our planet and our natural world. 

Politics and political rhetoric come and go—fostering discussions, arguments, unity or breaks in families, changing alliances, wars, and ultimately—when all is said and done—rebuilding. 

Our planet, however, will be a one and done if we are not the caretakers that our Mother Nature needs us to be. There will be nothing left to rebuild. 

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a negative attitude. Quite the contrary, in fact. I am positive, hopeful, appreciative, and I always try to do my part to preserve the beauty of nature and our natural world. We are all conscious of donating to causes, large and small, whether with our money, our time, or both. So many need our help, in whatever way we can assist.  

My choices include a couple of favorite organizations that foster the growth of writers in their craft (Wordcrafters, https://wordcrafters.org/ in Eugene, OR and Willamette Writers  https://willamettewriters.org/ in Portland, OR). For aiding the environment, I favor the Nature Conservancy in Washington State at https://www.washingtonnature.org/ , the National Parks Conservation Association at https://www.npca.org/ , and the Washington Trails Association at https://www.wta.org/ . Yours may be these or something else. But they all need us. And we need them, the work they do, and the critical services they provide. Consider volunteering if you can. 

Spring Brings Renewal 

Spring is edging out winter here in the Pacific Northwest where it is possible to see and appreciate the outdoors every day. I can’t drive anywhere without seeing rivers, mountains, greenery, blooming cherry and apple trees, birds, deer—even in my own back yard. Spring is rejuvenating, bringing renewed growth and life. If one is still and watches, our sensory awareness expands to such a point that we can feel as one with the budding life around us. 

My Current Writing Project

At present, I am editing my second book in my Rescue Series. Spring’s rebirth is similar to a writer picking up a manuscript that has been resting for a while. This one rested while I finished and published my first book, A Sailor’s Perfect Christmas https://books2read.com/u/4DxvoO. As I pass through my words, checking all the many things a writer checks in the editing process, I occasionally come across nuggets I have written that I forgot about. For the most part, they have been phrases that bring about emotions and visuals related to nature that stop me for a moment. I roll them around in my mind and enjoy the feelings and beauty the mental slideshow creates in my heart. 

Each day and each hour spent editing brings about new thoughts and increases my awareness and joy in the writing process. Some writer friends have said they much prefer the first draft discovery time and that their least favorite part of writing is editing. For me, it’s all good and stimulates my creative brain. I look forward to that continuing well into the future.   

Nature threads through my stories and the conservation of our planet is one of my passions. From the simple beauty of raindrops on leaves to the sea turtles on the sandy beaches in Hawaii, it all brings me a joy that I am eager to share with my readers.   

What brings you joy these days? 

My Writing and Contacts

I write contemporary romance and romantic suspense. My Rescue Series launched last November with A Sailor’s Perfect Christmas, and I plan to finish the second book, When the Night Comes, which takes place on the island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, in the next couple months or so. A broken right hand has slowed me down and I am halfway through the healing and strengthening process now. I feel like I am in sloth-mode these days.  

I would love to hear from you, either below in the comments, or on my website. https://darilaroche.com 

Many Thanks to Authors Who Pay It Forward by Dari LaRoche

I have kept a gratitude journal for years. It is full of so many wonderful things that bring a smile when I reread them—family, friends, butterflies, the doe that brings her twin fawns to my pond, hummingbirds, good food, good books, my health—so very much.

But the thing that keeps popping up in one way or another is all the writing groups that I am a part of and the author friends I treasure who have been willing to share their time and knowledge with those of us just starting out—me being one. 

When I first took up creative writing seriously in December 2015, my instructor introduced us to The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. We all actively wrote our “Morning Pages” between class sessions and met each other for Artists’ Dates that expanded our creative minds. I joined the local romance chapter in Florida where I lived and Romance Writers of America (RWA) and even managed to take a writing workshop on a three-day cruise to the Bahamas. My first book, which I plan to publish late this fall, had its beginnings in that initial creative writing class.

I took a break of several months to pack up and sell my home on the west coast of Florida and move back to southwest Washington state, where I returned to writing in February 2017. Trust me, that was an endeavor and will make it into a book one of these years.

Finding My Writing Tribe

Here, I found my writing home and the generous friends and authors who have helped me along the
way. I joined Rose City Romance Writers https://rosecityromancewriters.com/ in Portland, OR when I first got here. The following year, I joined Willamette Writers  https://willamettewriters.org/, also in Portland, and most recently, Wordcrafters  https://wordcrafters.org/ in Eugene, OR. Each of these groups has helped me along my journey and, for that, I am humbly grateful.

Author friends have shared their contacts for cover artists, editors, great classes that are offered, writing craft books that are “must haves.” They have invited me onto email loops focused on encouraging us all to complete projects and to set and track our writing goals. One special group is a professional writers’ workshop called WORDOS http://www.wordos.com/. WORDOS is a short-story sci-fi/fantasy/horror group, that began over thirty years ago and continues today with a goal of helping members produce fiction that sells. We critique each other’s work and discuss the craft and business of writing.

Instructors with Major Impact on Me

There are three current instructors in my life for whom I am especially grateful. The first is Eric 
Witchey https://wordcrafters.org/fiction-fluency-master-seminar-series/, an award-winning author, who teaches a year-long course based out of Wordcrafters. It is called Fiction Fluency, which is exactly what it sounds like. Learning and practice until the doing becomes subconscious and the results are a product that affects the readers emotions, like all good writing should. This is my second year to take it, and I am absorbing more this year than I did the first year, when it was all new to me. His classes have truly changed what I do and how I do it—for the better, I hasten to say.

The second teacher is Nina Kiriki Hoffman who has given me the gift of a newfound love of writing short fiction—from flash to novellas. She teaches out of Wordcrafters and Fairfield County Writers’ Studio http://fcwritersstudio.com/2021/02/28/writing-fantasy-science-fiction-and-horror/. Nina is an award-winning author who is willing to share her time, knowledge, and resources to teach writing Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. Her classes are small, fun, interactive workshops. Her feedback critiques, as well as those of other class members, are infinitely valuable.

The third is Maggie Lynch of POV Author Services https://povauthorservices.com/. She teaches courses in Foundations necessary for running a writing business, SEO for writers, Social Media for writers, and Building an Email List, along with other classes. Maggie is a talented writer, very knowledgeable, and always willing to share.

All three are gems in my writing world. This blog, Romancing the Genres, is another. So many authors, instructors, and groups that have become a regular part of my life have enriched it and helped me grow to the point that this is the year I will publish my first book and perhaps even the second. The drafts are written and are in the editing process as I write this. Someday I hope to be one of the authors who will be paying it forward to other writers coming up behind me. That will truly be a joyous day.

Last, but not least, I am thankful for my sister, Kat, who always encourages me in all things creative, and is a writer herself. She urged me to explore creative outlets in Florida in an effort to help me recover from a traumatic loss in my life. Kat always believes I can do anything that I commit to, and I intend to prove her right!

My Writing and Contacts

I write contemporary romance and romantic suspense. My Rescue Series will launch this fall with the first book, When the Night Comes, which takes place on the island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean. I have been diving in the crystalline waters there and have walked the cobblestone streets up to Fort Oranje. From the ramparts, one can look up at The Quill, a dormant volcano with a rainforest in the crater at the bottom, or down to the harbor below Oranjestad, the only town on the island. St. Eustatius played an important part in our own history on November 16, 1776, a fact I suspect very few Americans know. If you are curious, check out https://www.statiagovernment.com/about-st.-eustatius/first-salute

For writers: What little known facts have you come across in your research that provided glowing nuggets in your own writing?

For readers: Do you find that these morsels of knowledge in whatever books you read, if not overdone, enrich your reading pleasure? They certainly do for me.

I would love to hear from you, either below in the comments, or on Facebook or Instagram.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dari-LaRoche-Author-100106852361696 

Instagram: Instagram.com/darilarocheauthor

Website (live first week of September):  https://darilaroche.com

Newsletter Signup if you would like to hear more from me:
Will be on my website.

 

Cool Days, Hot Nights in the Arctic

by Madelle Morgan

It's July at a fly-in only diamond mine in the land of the midnight sun. An RCMP murder investigation locks down the facility. No one is allowed to leave. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
And they're coming for her...

Diamond Hunter was my first published novel. It was a book of my heart. I worked as a project engineer in Canada's Northwest Territories from 1980 to 1985, and was lucky to travel extensively throughout the Arctic. In writing this novel I tried to convey my love of this vast, spectacular, but dangerous and unforgiving land. It is truly the last (barely) habitable frontier on Earth. 

My years in the Arctic changed me, and now the Arctic is changing more rapidly than I could ever have imagined.

The far north was the first part of the world to experience the effects of climate change. Many might think rising temperatures are a good thing. However, as permafrost melts, building foundations and roads collapse. Lakes drain and disappear into thawed ground that had been frozen for thousands of years. Severe weather events are more frequent and extreme (and they were pretty bad before). It's more difficult and expensive for ice road truckers to resupply the communities and mines without year-round road access.

The Sea Ice Is Melting

Diminishing Arctic sea ice means, yes, the Northwest passage is opening to shipping and cruise ships. However seals are drowning (no ice floes on which to perch to rest with their young) and polar bears are starving.

"You Don't Know What You've Got Till it's Gone"

Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell made that line famous. It's from her song Big Yellow Taxi.

Catherine McKenna, Canada’s federal minister of environment and climate change, says in the article How Climate Change is Affecting Canada:

“On a visit last summer to Tallurutiup Imanga – also known as Lancaster Sound – I met a 14-year-old Inuk boy. He sat down beside me and showed me a list of things he observed in his community related to climate change. He told of polar bears that were skinnier. Of his foot getting stuck while hunting in melting permafrost like quicksand, where the ground was once frozen. Of caribou – country food for the Inuit – disappearing. He spoke of his friends’ fathers disappearing, falling through the ice while hunting. These are hunters who for millennia have been able to use traditional knowledge to tell the thickness of the ice.”

Bridge Over Troubled Water

When I returned to Yellowknife on business in the early 2000s, 20 years after living up north, I was shocked that the temperature in mid February was only 5 F (-15 C) instead of the usual -22 F (-30 C). I was doubly shocked to learn that there was no ice road across the Mackenzie River. For more than 50 years, trucks drove over the frozen river from December to April to resupply Yellowknife and its gold mines, and to connect to ice roads to other communities.  Going by the weather forecasts on television, the daily temperatures have continued to rise since my last visit in person 15 years ago. 

Given that climate warming is irreversible, and subarctic winters will never again be cold enough to create ice of sufficient thickness for an ice road across the mighty Mackenzie River, 2012 marked the completion of a 0.7 mile (1 km) long $200 million bridge.

It's called adapting to climate change. Expensive, eh?

Land of the Midnight Sun – That Won't Change

On the high Arctic coast in the dead of winter the sun barely rises above the horizon. To compensate, the northern lights dazzle. During the short summer the sun never sets: it just moves clockwise around the sky. At midnight it's broad daylight.

Diamond Hunter is set in July, and the sun is a special feature in this novel. Seth, a cop with the RCMP Diamond Protection Unit undercover as a pilot, always has his eye on the weather.

Seth scanned the filmy clouds threaded across the sky. Ten o’clock on an early July evening in Yellowknife and it was as bright as late afternoon in his hometown on the US-Canada border between Washington State and British Columbia. This time of year, the sun merely dipped to paint the horizon a glorious mess of reds and oranges for an hour or two before rising again.

Can't fly up north to see for yourself? Diamond Hunter lets you experience it vicariously!

Madelle

DiamondHunter is a free read in Kindle Unlimited.

Buy Links

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.UK | Amazon.com.au

Follow Madelle 

Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Wattpad.

For giveaways and new releases, subscribe to Madelle’s blog at www.MadelleMorgan.com.

DARKNESS AND LIGHT by Michelle Somers

In the Somers household, the month of July has been a month of reflection. Of sadness and joy. Celebration and commiseration.

So much positivity and laughter, so much love, all lurking beneath a dense, dark cloud.

After years of thinking our time would never come, of financial stresses that saw weeks where grocery shopping was a luxury, we bought a house. My husband’s business is booming. My oldest son finally celebrated his Barmitzvah, my youngest gained a black belt in taekwondo. For the first time in many years, after a horrible spout of bullying, my middle son is happy and thriving at school. 

As we celebrated all these wonderful occurrences, clouds closed in. We attended a funeral for one family member whilst being told there’d be another not too far down the track.

How to feel?

Life is such an emotional rollercoaster. Such wonderful highs. But when the lows come, they slash the wind from your sails and roil the deep, dark waters into turmoil. 

I have a tendency to ride those waters, the ones that drag you down. I wouldn’t dare to label these emotions. Depression, some might say. Who knows? I only know the darkness. Yet over the past few years, I’ve taught myself to see the light.

I don’t want to focus on the doom and gloom here. Life will always throw us curveballs. There’ll always be sadness and loss and a time when we must say goodbye to the ones we love. Yet, there’ll always be time to make every day, every moment count. To gather up the experiences, the memories, the little things that will cast a light on our darkest moments.

I count myself lucky. I have an incredible husband, three incredible boys, and an extended family that for the most part is warm and open and loving. I have friends who know I am there for them, as I know they are there for me.

Every day I build memories, and am grateful that I was able to do so. I hug my kids, sometimes a little tighter than they’d like. I kiss my husband and tell him I appreciate him. I text or call a friend, see how they’re going. Speak to my mum every day. Thank the universe for being alive.

I’m also thankful I have an outlet for these emotions – my writing.

Writing has been my savior and my solace. In times when emotions have threatened to get the better of me, I’ve poured my soul onto the page. When anger or frustration hit, I’ve written the anger and frustration onto paper, ripped it to shreds and tossed it into the trash. And with that action, I mentally toss the darkness that would otherwise follow.

It doesn’t always work, but there are times it does.

It doesn’t stop the darkness from lurking, or people being stripped from my life. I still feel a deep sadness, a helplessness, knowing what is waiting around the corner and knowing there’s not a thing I can do to stop it.

The temptation is to say ‘what a waste’. Yet if we live life to the fullest, make the most of the days we have, are they really a waste? And are we doing ourselves and others an injustice to think this way?

It’s really for the individual to decide. Me? I want to make every day count. For most of us, we don’t know when our last day will be, but it’s so important not to let that last day sneak up and leave us with regrets. I don’t want regrets. Or missed opportunities. I want to make the most of people and opportunities while they are here, and celebrate them and what we shared when they are gone. I want to make a life worth living, and not squander or take for granted what can be snatched so easily from me in the blink of an eye.

So, what’s the message behind this month’s blog?

Life is short. Life is special. Life should never be taken for granted.

Make the most of your time on earth, and make the most of time with the ones you love. Hug those who are dear to you a little bit harder. Don’t let ‘busy’ get in the way of living and making memories.

Don’t let the sun set on your anger. And don’t let life’s opportunities pass you by.

Don’t waste a single day, and live each one as if it was your last.

I hope your July was a good one, and that August brings you nothing but special memories and sunshine. If you’ve had some good, some joys and laughter and triumphs, I’d love to hear them. Please share J

Thanks for stopping by, and once again, thanks for your love and support. I look forward to connecting with you again next month.

I’d like to share one more high from the month of July. My website is finally up and running and beautiful, thanks to my gorgeous web designer, Lana Pecherczyk. If you have time, click here, pop on over and take a look. I’d love to know what you think J

Michelle Somers is a bookworm from way back. An ex-Kiwi who now calls Australia home, she's a professional killer and matchmaker, a storyteller and a romantic. Words are her power and her passion. Her heroes and heroines always get their happy ever after, but she'll put them through one hell of a journey to get there.

Michelle lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her real life hero and three little heroes in the making. And Emmie, her furry black feline who thinks she’s a dog. Her debut novel, Lethal in Love won the Romance Writers of Australia's 2016 Romantic Book of the Year (RuBY) and the 2013 Valerie Parv Award.

Her second novel, Murder Most Unusual is available in ebook and paperback now. And the first in her Simply Writing Series - Simply Synopsis - is out on 8 August 2017.

The bumpy, long and winding road of a new author.

By A.K. Smith

“I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” It’s true for so many things in life, AND I still don’t know all the things I am about to experience on this new journey. My debut fiction novel, A Deep Thing by A. K. Smith just released, and I’m trying to follow the road signs---which there are many—and figure out my destination. It’s the journey that matters, right?

Up until my debut book being published, my writing expedition consisted of journaling, half-finished novels, and travel writing. My insatiable desire to see the world and touch every continent on Planet Earth led to querying travel magazines, newspaper and travel blogs.

I’ve published over 100 travel articles in various forms: magazines, on-line blogs and currently write a monthly column for an English newspaper published in Mexico and a blog www.wordstravelfilm.com. Sharing travel secrets with the world and exposing off the beaten path destinations excites me; but, the completion of my first novel has been a bucket list voyage I’ve dreamed of beginning. Now that I can hold the printed book in my hand and share it with the world, I wonder where’s the next layover.

What I believe is this: my first book is just a stop to fill up my tank. I learn by doing, and if I hadn't started this journey, I would never have learned (the little I know) about writing, publishing and promoting. My advice to those who are traveling down this road is to understand every trip has bumps along the way and lessons to be discovered. Ask questions, study the craft, learn from others but whatever you do, start the journey. If you’re not sure where to begin, join a writers group, attend a writers conference and follow a writing blog. Surround yourself with like-minded people and ask questions; don’t be afraid to plan the trip, make mistakes, and walk down the road.

If you would like to join in my journey, follow my blog at www.aksmithauthor.com.

A Deep Thing, published by The Wild Rose Press is a contemporary suspense novel with a love story woven throughout the pages. According to Marilyn Baron, author of Stumble Stones: A Novel, “A Deep Thing by A.K. Smith grabs you from the beginning and doesn’t let go. A roller coaster ride of romance, suspense, mystery and intrigue, this page turner surprises at every turn and offers a stunning ending you’ll never suspect.”

Amazonlink: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Thing-K-Smith-ebook/dp/B01MG3FOXS

TheWildRosePresslink: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/1372_ak-smith

A.K. Smith is the author of debut fiction novel, "A Deep Thing" (12-19-2016 from the Wild Rose Press). A.K has lived in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona and abroad in London and Mexico.

She loves all things jungly, beachy and mysterious. Her mission is to write thrillers, suspense, and romance that have the power to make you stay up late.

A.K. loves seeing the world. Her goal is to step foot on every continent on Planet Earth (maybe even the moon)—she’s slowly getting there.  She treasures her family, friends, and kindness.

Email: aksmithbook@gmail.com

Website: http://www.wordstravelfilm.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aksmithbook
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aksmithbook
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aksmith/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVkF60bSFzA
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