Interview with Award-winning Author Cathi Stoler

Holiday Greetings! I’m interviewing Cathi Stoler, a prolific, award-winning author. She is a three-time finalist & winner of the Derringer for Best Short Story, “The Kaluki Kings of Queens”. Cathi is a board member of Sisters in Crime NY, and a member of Mystery Writers of America & International Thriller Writers.

Question: What is the title and genre of your novel?  Why did you select them?

Answer: OUT OF TIME A Nick Donahue Adventure is a mystery/suspense novel and is the sequel to NICK OF TIME. From the very beginning, I wanted to write a story featuring a male as the main protagonist. Like most writers, I wanted there to be something unique about this character; something that would make him stand out in the crowded mystery/suspense genre.

Question:   What inspired this novel? How did it come about?

Answer: As I thought about who the character would be, I had the idea of creating an interesting and exciting professional gambler who becomes involved in solving crimes that are somehow related to his profession. I recalled being in a casino in Venice, Italy and watching all the well-dressed men and women playing high-stakes Blackjack, and knew that was the game for Nick. As a Blackjack player, he needs to get into the heads his opponents to stay ahead of the game and win. It’s the same for solving a crime.

The first book actually started with a short story in which Nick Donahue meets a mysterious woman, Marina DiPietro, who is being pursued by an International gang of jewel thieves. The story evolved into the novella, NICK OF TIME. By the end of the book, Nick discovers Marina is working for MI6 and they are living and working together.

Question:  Could you tell us a little bit about the heroine and/or hero of your novel?

Answer:  Nick is a character I really enjoy writing, Suave, sophisticated and smart, as a professional gambler, he’s also a risk taker—it’s what makes him a successful gambler, and he understands the odds are not always in his favor. He tends to figure things out in the long run and wants to be part of helping Marina solve the cases she now works on as a private investigator. As you’ll see in OUT OF TIME, this can lead to perilous situations in which he needs all the cunning, skill and subterfuge he possesses as a gambler to win.

Question:   Can you tell us about some of your other published novels or work?

Answer:  My first series includes the three-volume Laurel and Helen New York Mysteries featuring magazine editor Laurel Imperiole and private detective, Helen McCorkendale, in KEEPING SECRETS, TELLING LIES and THE HARD WAY. I’ve also written several short stories and am a three-time finalist & winner of the Derringer for Best Short Story.

Question:   What are you working on now?

Answer:  I’m working on an Urban Thriller Murder On The Rocks series. The first book is BAR NONE, with Lower East Side Corner Lounge bar owner, Jude Dillane who investigates murder and fraud at the Big City Food Bank. The next two books in the series, LAST CALL and STRAIGHT UP will be published next year.

Question:   What made you start writing?

Answer:  I was an advertising copywriter for many years and finally decided to try writing a novel, which I’d been thinking about doing for some time. Of course, I chose to write a mystery, the genre I loved to read since I was a child. If I couldn’t be a detective, at least I could write about one. So far, it’s been a great experience and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon.

Question:   What advice would you offer to those who are currently writing novels?

Answer:  Be totally committed. Talent aside, writing and finishing a book is an enormous amount of work. But that’s just the beginning. Most of us spend months, if not years, searching for an agent, then an editor and a publisher who will to take a chance on you. It can be a very long process and not always financially rewarding. So, I’d say look deep inside and make sure you want to do this.

Question:  Where and when will readers be able to obtain your novel?

Answer:  OUT OF TIME, is available in paperback and eBook editions on Amazon. Here are the links:

Paper back:  https://amzn.to/2rBt4Fz  

eBook: https://amzn.to/2LaS8tX.

I hope you will enjoy reading OUT OF TIME.

Cathi welcomes your comments and/or questions. So don’t be shy!

Sharing Reading Suggestions for the Holidays 2019

The winter holidays are a great time to gift friends, family or  yourself with books to read. With people going on vacation, many individuals enjoy relaxing with a good book. And there certainly are a lot of them being published! You can find books to suit every age and taste whether fiction or nonfiction. Let’s share recommendations, whether it be your own work or that of others. The only requirement for this blog is that the book was published in 2019.

I’ll start things going. I have short stories in five new publications which I recommend. They are: SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE #27, THE BLEND INTERNATIONAL, ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, RE-HAUNT, and last but not least, A MURDER OF CROWS. This last anthology is a large collection of cozy mystery stories connected by a common theme.

I also humbly suggest my just published historical romance SINFUL SEDUCTION which is receiving excellent reviews:

https://luminositypublishing.com/book/sinful-seduction/

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1999306635 

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-seduction-jacqueline-seewald/1132774631?ean=9781999306632

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-seduction-jacqueline-seewald/1132774631?ean=9781999306625 

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/sinful-seduction-13 

Okay, now it’s your turn. Please share the books and publications you think will make for good holiday reading. Feel free to talk about work you’ve recently had published if you’re an author. Readers, please mention books you have on your wish list and/or recently read and enjoyed.

New Novel Reveal

Today is the publication date of my latest novel, an historical romance from Luminosity Publishing. I would like to introduce SINFUL SEDUCTION to you.

Brief Synopsis:

They met and loved passionately in a time of revolution.

Anne McIntyre, a schoolmistress in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey at the outset of the American Revolution, is serious-minded, intelligent, and patriotic. Anne supports her sister in her marital problems and helps the ironmaster’s widow manage a difficult situation with her daughter.
Peter Kensington should have been an earl, but thanks to the duplicity of his younger brother and his own reckless nature, he has ended up an officer in the colonial war. Spying is alien to his gentlemanly code. Yet he must do exactly that. Anne is suspicious of him from the first but as passionately attracted to him as he is to her.

SINFUL SEDUCTION has received an excellent review from the Historical Novel Society:

“Sinful Seduction sets a romantic domestic drama against the backdrop of the American Revolution in an innovative way… an enjoyable read.”

You can check out the complete review here:

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/sinful-seduction/

Excerpt:

New Jersey, 1776

AT FIRST, the trip to Princeton was not frightening. There were no armies of soldiers on the road. Yet the smell of fear was in the air. Anne McIntyre had been told the Continental Army was retreating across New Jersey with the British army in hot pursuit. The coach pressed on. She grimly kept her skinning knife at one side and the spare pistol at the other — just in case. Visions of red-coated soldiers pillaging and raping marched through her mind.

A few miles outside of Princeton, old Jacob sped up the coach. Anne could hear horses racing and drawing near. Soon there was the sound of voices yelling at Jacob to halt.

“Is it soldiers?” Delia Baincroft asked in a small, frightened voice that made her sound more childish than her sixteen years.

Anne turned her head toward the window at the rear of the coach and peered out. There were four armed men on horses chasing after them, but they were in civilian dress.

“It looks like highwaymen, although I cannot be certain.”

The coach could not outrun the men on horseback, and they were forced to pull over. Anne’s heartbeat increased as she gripped the pistol beside her.

“Where are you goin’, driver? And who are the folk within this fine coach?”

“Who wants to know?” she heard Jacob return sharply.

“Do not be rude to your betters, old man, or I’ll slice out your tongue.”

Fanny Baincroft slightly opened the coach door and peered her head outside. “Step away, man. My daughter is ill, and we are on our way to seek a physician.”

“Then surely you fine ladies have money with you to pay a fat fee. Get out of the coach and hand over your valuables.”

“How dare they!” Delia sputtered indignantly.

“Stand and deliver.”

There was the sound of a pistol fired and then another in exchange. Anne brushed past Fanny to see what was happening. Jacob had obviously tried to shoot one of the robbers, but his aim wasn’t good enough. The old man gasped, holding his chest where blood spurted forth. While the men had their eyes turned on Jacob, Anne took up her weapon and aimed it at the leader of the group.

“I’ll shoot you if you don’t get out of here,” she said, cocking the mechanism.

The highwayman laughed at her in a crude, menacing way. “And what does a young woman like yourself know of weapons?” He started moving toward her. “I think you need to be taught a lesson in how to yield right and proper.”

Anne let loose her shot and caught the man in the head. She saw the look of astonishment as he fell from his horse, blood trickling down his temple. She hoped that without a leader, the others would turn and ride away, but that was not the case. Three men charged toward her, and she could only think to remove her knife from its hide casing in readiness. She would not die without a fight.

But suddenly she heard a pistol discharging and then another. A tall man on a great horse dispersed the robbers, another of whom fell from his horse, bleeding profusely while the other two rode away.

“Are you all right?” The man’s black horse reared up.

Anne found herself trembling. She had been fine in the moment that required her greatest effort, but now she felt weak. It was as if her legs could no longer support her. Their savior seemed to sense this. He climbed down from the spirited stallion and put his arms around her, holding her close as if she were a child. Normally, she would have been shocked and offended by such behavior from a stranger, but these were not usual circumstances. She felt his gesture of comfort suffuse her flesh with an unfamiliar but pleasant sensation of warmth.

“They won’t be back,” he said reassuringly.

He ran his hands over her back and continued to press her close against the hard length of his masculine body. Her reaction to him was peculiar. She felt herself begin to tremble as if in the grip of a raging fever. It took all the strength she could summon to pull free of him.

Anne looked up into the handsomest face she had ever seen. The man removed his hat and bowed to her. His eyes were of a deep, dark blue, hair completely blond on top and sandy beneath. He was well-dressed in a great, black cape and fully armed with a sword and brace of pistols. When he returned his hat to his head, he cocked it jauntily like a military man.

This book is available in print and all e-book formats.

Some Book Links: 

https://luminositypublishing.com/book/sinful-seduction/

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47544229-sinful-seduction  

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1999306635 

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-seduction-jacqueline-seewald/1132774631?ean=9781999306632

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-seduction-jacqueline-seewald/1132774631?ean=9781999306625 

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/sinful-seduction-13 

I hope you decide to read this novel.

Publicity and Promotion

Many people in the public eye believe that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Publicity, positive or negative, promotes a career because it puts that person in the limelight. Of course, writers would like to be recognized for the quality of their work. Bad reviews hurt a writer’s sales and recognition as a serious author. Nevertheless, being ignored by reviewers is not something that authors appreciate either. Readers aren’t going to buy books they’ve never heard of. No reviews? No publicity? No sales.

So how do authors go about reaching readers, building a following among those who buy books? After all, it’s not just the small independent publishers who do little to promote their authors. These days even the major publishers do not put much effort and money into book promotion either. Writers have to think proactive.

How should writers go about reaching and building a readership? I’m going to offer a few suggestions that won’t break your bank account.

l. Use the internet:

a. Create a website. Every professional writer should have one.

b. Do social media networking such as blogging. Create your own blog and also guest blog on other sites. Interview other authors. Offer to do interviews on other sites, not those only for writers. Reach out to a more general, larger audience.  Create a presence on such popular internet sites as: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Bookbub, Booktown, etc.

d. Join internet writer groups of authors with common interests. Be an active reader and comment often in group and on their blogs. Not everyone can be an “influencer” but it helps to connect.

e. Be willing to read and review the work of other writers.

f. Ask other authors in your genre to read and review your books as well. You want as many reviews as possible on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, Kobo, etc.

g. Send out advance review copies to internet reviewers who read in your genre. Reviews are important and we can’t always get them from the major review publications.

h. Possibly offer ARCs as giveaways both on your site, other sites. Is giving away free books a good method of increasing overall sales and getting publicity for an author’s brand? It appears to do so for ebooks. Many writers are offering free ebooks on Amazon. Usually this creates awareness of an author who has numerous books to offer. I don’t have the statistics on how well this is working out. If you do, please comment.

2. Bookstore signings and events are great. However, unless you are a famous author, these opportunities have diminished. My advice is to see if there are any independent bookstores locally that you can contact. Be prepared to advertise your “event”/signing on your own.

3. Library Events. Offer to do a program at your local library. You can have a book signing and selling afterward if the library approves.

4. Don’t forget to advertise every program you do. Contact the local newspapers and offer a “news release.”

5. Your college probably has a graduate publication, magazine or newsletter. The publication of your book is certainly a newsworthy item.

6. Consider selling books at various unexpected places. Book fairs sponsored by local libraries are great and so are craft shows, however, you might think of a more creative venue. Try to think outside the box. For example, suppose your novel is about a baker. Is there a local bakery that might display and sell your books on consignment?  Is your novel set in a beauty parlor? Would a beauty shop owner allow your books selling space for a cut of the profits?

7. Attending conferences. Many writers swear by them. It’s a great place for networking and connecting. You can meet editors, agents and other authors. At the very least, you can interact and get interesting feedback and share ideas. Since our work is solitary, this is a good way to know you are not alone.

8. Some writers publish their own newsletters which advertise the release of their new books as they come out.

9. You might also keep friends and relatives in the loop through e-mail announcements.

10. Send out announcements to acquisition librarians, especially if your book has had good reviews which you can quote. This can be done inexpensively via e-mail.

11. Podcasts are popular as are Youtube videos. If you have a talent for creating either one, it might benefit sales.

Have I left out anything that I should be mentioning? As a writer, what promotion and or publicity ideas have worked well for you and might work well for other authors?

Readers, what determines the books you select? I would love to share ideas in this forum.

Creating the Right Book Cover

Every publisher and every author wants a book cover that will draw reviewers and readers. “A cover only has seconds to make an impact,” says Becky Rodriguez-Smith, Design Services Manager at BookBaby. “Our purpose is to create visuals that will grab a potential reader’s attention so that they click on the book to read more about it. To that end, the bolder the better.”

As readers, do you initially judge a book by its cover? It stands to reason that writers want to create an appealing cover that draws the eye. Cover art can make or break a book especially if the author isn’t well-known. What kind of front cover will grab the reader’s attention? What kind of cover art should a book display?  A lot depends on the genre of the book itself. The cover should be appropriate to the type of book. A basic question to ask: is the book going to be sold on the shelf of a bookstore or is it going to be available only online? Is the novel going to be a hardcover, trade, paperback, e-book or audio—possibly all of these?

With hardcover fiction books, as with all others, the cover needs to fit the genre, be attractive, while the title should be easy to read and intriguing. Cover art needs to play fair with readers so that they don’t feel cheated when they select a book.

Paperbacks need simplicity in covers. The artwork should also support the title and the genre. E-book covers shouldn’t be too fussy or busy either. The old saying “less is more” works best for a book cover that’s displayed online. A short title with a large, easily readable font and bright contrasting colors shows up well on the computer screen. Publishers want to avoid covers that are complicated and hard to read. Plain, simple graphics are preferable.

What are the qualities of a good cover?

We are able to read the title and author and all subheadings with ease.

The image that doesn't interfere with the written information.

The book cover is memorable: simple yet vivid and pleasing to the eye.

The theme is expressed by the image and in keeping with the genre of the book.

The bottom line for good book covers is that they make you want to read what's inside.

Here is the cover for my latest novel, an historical romance set during the American Revolution, which just received an excellent review from the Historical Novel Society:

The hero and heroine appear as if they are about to kiss, which fits this novel. The background setting evokes the Pine Barrens of NJ where much of the novel takes place.

Book Links: 

https://luminositypublishing.com/book/sinful-seduction/

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47544229-sinful-seduction  

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1999306635 

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-seduction-jacqueline-seewald/1132774631?ean=9781999306632

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-seduction-jacqueline-seewald/1132774631?ean=9781999306625 

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/sinful-seduction-13

What are your feelings regarding cover art? What draws or attracts you to a novel? What do you dislike or prefer not to see?

Interview with Anthology Editor Kelly A. Harmon

Kelly A. Harmon is the editor of Pole to Pole Publishing which is putting out several anthologies. The current one is a perfect Halloween read. So this is my holiday treat to fellow authors and readers.

Question: What is the title and genre of your anthology?  Why were they selected?

Answer: Re-Haunt: Chilling Stories of Ghosts and Other Haunts. The book contains dark, creepy stories of “ghosts and other haunts—”  While all of the stories are “dark,” and a few are tense enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck, I wouldn’t categorize the anthology completely as “horror,” because there are a few lighter stories in the bunch as well.

Question:   What inspired this book? How did it come about?

Answer: Who doesn’t love a good ghost story?  Pole to Pole Publishing (link: http://poletopolepublishing.com/)  publishes dark stories of all kinds.  After doing some brain-storming, my co-editor Vonnie Winslow Crist and I went with “ghosts and hauntings” because we liked those the best. Among the top considered were military stories, mysteries, outer space and dark stories about “wine and spirits.” Some of those are on the publishing agenda for 2020 and 2021.

Question:   What are you working on now?

Answer:  We are finishing up our “Not Far from Roswell” anthology, which is a collection of alien and cow stories, all related to Roswell, New Mexico.  That should be available before the end of November. 

And, we’re ramping up to open submissions for a tribute volume to Jules Verne, tentatively titled Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered. Steven R. Southard (link: https://stevenrsouthard.com/) and I will be editing that.  It’s scheduled to be published in June 2020, on the sesquicentennial of Jules Verne’s work.

Question:   What made you start working as an editor?

Answer:  I initially started as a newspaper editor. Some years into it, I was asked by a friend to edit the grammar and punctuation for some fiction. That little bit of experience got my foot in the door. Because of my love of science fiction, fantasy and horror, transitioning to fiction editing when I stopped reporting was a natural fit.

Question:   What advice would you offer to those who are currently writing?

Answer: Figure out your “why.”  In other words, sit down and decide the number-one reason you’re writing. Once you know what why you’re writing, you can take the steps necessary to reach your goal. Every writer needs to hone his craft, but the career path of a writer who yearns for critical acclaim (a Pulitzer, the Booker Prize, a Bram Stoker Award, a Pushcart) will look different than the writer who wants (and deserves!) to be paid for his writing. Sometimes, those paths will intersect—especially if you plan for it. And that’s the heart of my advice:  determine your goal, and then plan how you’ll get there. Say “no” to any writing “opportunity” that doesn’t align with your goal. (It will only slow you down.)

And also, write: put words on paper, type them into word processors or dictate. Scribble on napkins.  Finish what you start.

Question:  Where and when will readers be able to obtain your anthology?

Answer:  Re-Haunt is currently available in paperback and ebook on Amazon, free for Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YTD8D3R?pf_rd_p=183f5289-9dc0-416f-942e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=9F2KX9EM92E5N8BNECJ8

Comments or questions for Kelly are welcome here.

Halloween Treat: Why Do Ghost Stories Persist?

An essay by Parul Sehgal was previously published in THE NEW YORK TIMES Book Review. The topic was appropriate for Halloween: Why the ghost story persists.

Sehgal observed: “Literature — the top-shelf, award-winning stuff — is positively ectoplasmic these days, crawling with hauntings, haints and wraiths of every stripe and disposition.” I myself have found much more of a demand for stories with a supernatural edge than those set in the verisimilitude of reality. Maybe people are looking for psychological escapes from the real world more than ever.

Many of the classics of literature such as Henry James’ “Turn of the Screw” or Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” provide us with eerie ghost stories. Today’s ghost stories vary. They may be written in the classic mold or entirely unique. They may reflect our modern society or hearken back to the past. Sehgal observed: “ghost stories are never just reflections. They are social critiques…” 

In my novel DARK MOON RISING, there are two ghosts, women from two different centuries who haunt the family home of the men who wronged them. These ghosts seek justice via revenge.

Sehgal commented that ghost stories are often drenched in sex and violence. But obviously that is not the only thing that makes them appealing to readers. I think that one strong appeal of ghost stories is the suggestion that there is life after death.

What is your opinion? Also, are there any ghost stories that particularly have appeal to you or you found memorable?