Month: November 2020

Today I’d like to introduce you all to a devoted historical fiction author. Please help me welcome D.W. Wilma to the interview seat!

David Wilma has been writing history books, history articles, and novels since 1999. For five years he was deputy director of www.HistoryLink.org, the free encyclopedia of Washington State History. For twelve years he was a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate representing foster children. In a first career he was a federal and state law enforcement officer. He writes from a home on an island in the Salish Sea region of the Pacific Northwest. He has authored and co-authored seven books on regional history and has published four historical novels.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

D.W.: I was a history major in college and spent my first career in law enforcement and both pursuits involved writing. When I neared the end of my first career, I explored options for the next chapter. I took night classes and received wonderful encouragement from instructors and fellow students.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

D.W. It was ten years before I published my first titles and the first three came out at once. My freelance work distracted me from the fiction.

Betty: What authors or stories do you feel influenced your writing style?

D.W. In high school and college, I enjoyed C.S. Forester’s Hornblower series and discovered Bernard Cornwell’s stories starting with his Richard Sharpe. George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman tells his story through the discovery of manuscripts that open each adventure. I used this device to present my protagonist, Phyllis in her books. Recently I have enjoyed Paulette Jiles in stories like Enemy Women and News of the World.

Betty: What prompted you to start writing?

D.W. I always enjoyed telling a story in my law enforcement work. I had to research events using primary evidence, analyze the information, come to conclusions, and related the story so the reader is engaged. It seemed natural to follow this passion in a second career.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

D.W.: I first wrote a mystery then got employment researching and writing articles on local history. Mysteries require a lot of suspension of disbelief and did not present the real world as I knew it. Historical fiction was a way to teach history as well as entertain.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

D.W.: I like relating a story the reader has not heard. I like to be first in that regard. I want to leave behind a sense of satisfaction, but also a desire to learn more. Many of my readers remark, “I did not know that.”

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

D.W.: I read and listen to the voices of other authors. In the 1990s, I took night classes. This exposed me to the nuts and bolts of writing fiction as well as other writers and the critique process. My critique group first met in a class in 1998 and the core and the newcomers still meet twenty-two years later. Those are my mentors. I have attended writers conferences mostly to learn about the business.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

D.W.: It is impossible to inventory everything I have learned in the past twenty-five years or longer. The biggest thing I wish I knew is the business of selling and marketing, but there was no way to predict the changes in the industry that have occurred in that time. What I learned ten years ago is no longer valid. Marketing in all the online permutations is still something I am trying to grasp.

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

D.W.: C.S. Forester, Bernard Cornwell, George MacDonald Fraser, Patrick O’Brian, Wallace Stegner, John Steinbeck, Paulette Jiles, and many more.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

D.W.: Down the River is based on a real story I uncovered in family history research. Two of my ancestors were murdered in 1813 in Kentucky in a disagreement over the ownership of some slaves. The bad news is there are few reliable details of the incident. The good news is there are few reliable details of the incident. I was free to fictionalize nearly everything and wanted to take the reader someplace where they might recognize the players. As an exercise for a class I started to tell the tale from the point of view of the only eyewitness, an unlettered slave woman (a real person) and used her in two other books.

Kentucky frontier, 1813. Greedy men struggle for power and wealth using the lives of their slaves as weapons and revenge. Phyllis is a young slave with blue eyes and tells the story of her life, her family, her community, their destruction, her survival, and her resurrection as an Abolitionist leader. She learns that good things can be bad and bad things can be good. 

Excerpt:  

“I can recite every detail from the afternoon the Morgans died. I can tell you the color of their horses, the smell of the trees, and the taste of the dust. I can describe every word spoken as clearly as if I heard it at breakfast this morning. I remember it all, not because of the screams and the blood, but because beginning that day, God chose me and tested me. Those dead men cost me my children, and they almost cost me my life. But their blood paid for my freedom, just as the blood of our Savior paid for our salvation. My freedom grew and blossomed into freedom for millions, but never for those whom I loved.”

Buy links: Amazon

That sounds very powerful, David. I think the POV is also an interesting choice and probably works wonderfully. Thanks for sharing your book with us!

I hope my fellow Americans had a safe yet happy Thanksgiving holiday yesterday! We won’t celebrate the holiday until Sunday this year, so I have a few more days of anticipation of turkey and homemade mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and apple pie… Then to put up the tree and prepare for Christmas. Then before long this very trying (yet productive) year will be over.

Betty Bolte

Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories

Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.

Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!

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My guest today is a multi-talented man who enjoys writing historical and science fiction. Please help me welcome Michael Powell! Let’s take a gander at his bio and then move on to the fun stuff, shall we?

Michael Powell was a Choral Exhibitioner at Christ Church Oxford and intended to become a professional singer but became a computer programmer to pay the bills in the meantime. Over the years, he alternated between the two careers. He authored a number of successful software products and, at the same time, performed professionally as a soloist in concerts and operatic performances around the UK and abroad.

In the 1980s he was commissioned to write articles for the UK national and specialist press on software-related subjects and wrote two books about Contracting (one largely written during rehearsals for Britten’s “Rape of Lucretia” at the Aldeburgh Festival).

In 1993 he met his wife, Kerstin. They bought a boat in Greece and have visited most of the Greek islands and the Turkish Mediterranean coast.

During their travels, they discovered the island of Leros where they bought a house in 2014. He became fascinated with the wartime history of the island which inspired him to write his first novel, “Four’s Destiny” and the sequel “Cheese and Chalk”.

His eclectic lifestyle has enabled him to continue to pursue his various careers wherever he happens to be.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

Michael: During the 1980s.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Michael: Immediately as a journalist, but you never stop working on your skills (such as they are).

Betty: What authors or stories do you feel influenced your writing style?

Michael: Max Hastings, Iain Banks, Louis de Bernières

Betty: What prompted you to start writing?

Michael: I was temporarily unemployed when a company I had established was taken over and I was forced to step down. That prompted me to write a satirical piece for a computer magazine, which led to more regular commissions.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Michael: Journalism about IT-related subjects.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

Michael: Fiction – some historical, some science fiction. Because I am interested in people’s experiences in conflict and in where science and technology are leading.

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

Michael: I just did it. Press sub editors helped.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Michael: I’d still like to find out how to market my work!

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Michael: Initially a number of journalists with whom I was in contact during my work in software products companies.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Michael: I live much of the year in the Greek island of Leros, where each year there is a commemoration of a little-known World War II battle. That led me to think about the young men who fought on both sides who were brought together and destroyed by this cataclysm. English, Italians, Greeks and Germans fought and died here for very little benefit. I pictured one young man from each of these nations and wondered in what circumstances they could have met before the war and how their different lives would have been led until that fateful event.

“Four’s Destiny” melds real historical events in the period 1912-1943 with a fictional account of the short lives of four young men caught up in the maelstrom of war. At its core is the Greek Dodecanese island of Leros, the site of a largely unknown battle in World War II. The destinies of the four overlap tragically in that battle as the Italian nation overthrows Mussolini and casts in its lot with the Allies against the Nazis.

Excerpt:

Rolf Muller led his squadron of Ju88 dive bombers from the German controlled airfield in Megara on the Greek mainland towards the Dodecanese Islands. “A different target today, lads,” he told his crew. “We’re finished with Kos, now we’re going after Leros. It’s only a small island, but it’s bristling with guns and we’ve got to close it down.”

The twin-engined planes droned across the Aegean, passing areas already under German control. A further group of islands, laid out in a north-south line, materialised out of the haze on the eastern horizon, shimmering in the bright sunshine. Below them, the sea, gently ruffled by the mild winds which blew at that time of year, remained calm and peaceful.

“There it is!” said Rolf, indicating an island which looked as if it had been squeezed between a giant’s fingers to create two deep bays on each side, with narrow peninsulas in between. Dropping down to a lower height, he led the approach to the south-western bay, skimming tall, rugged hills until a deep inlet appeared below. “We’re in luck!” he cried as he spotted two warships at anchor, “two targets in sight.” 

He took his plane soaring up high above the bay and tilted it over to set it into a steep dive, aiming at one of the ships. As he did so, he saw puffs of smoke appear from the guns of the other vessel. His target was not yet responding and, coming closer, he saw men running to their stations, like panicking ants. “Too late, my friends” he thought grimly.

Buy links: Amazon US * Amazon IT

Sounds like a fascinating and haunting story, Michael. What a situation to find yourself in, too. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Thanks for reading! Happy Holidays!

Betty Bolte

Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories

Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.

Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!

Follow Me on Amazon / Facebook / Twitter 

My guest today is a fellow lover of the Outlander series, so please help me welcome Ruth Casie! Let’s take a gander at her bio and then find out more about her inspiration for writing her best-selling stories.

Ruth A. Casie, a USA Today bestselling author, writes historical swashbuckling action-adventures and contemporary romantic suspense with enough action to keep you turning pages. Her stories feature strong women and the men who deserve them, endearing flaws and all. She lives in New Jersey with her own hero, three empty bedrooms, and a growing number of incomplete counted cross-stitch projects. Before she found her “voice,” she was a speech therapist (pun intended), client liaison for a corrugated manufacturer, and vice president at an international bank where she was a product/ marketing manager. What is her favorite job? Without a doubt it’s writing romances. She hopes her stories become your favorite adventures.

5 Things About Ruth.

1.  She filled her passport up in one-year.

2.  She has three series.  Historical Romance: The Druid Knight Series (time travel), The Stelton Legacy (fantasy), and Contemporary Romantic Suspense: Havenport Romances (small town). She also writes stories in the Pirates of Britannia Connected World.

3.  She did a rap to “How Many Trucks Can a Tow Truck Tow If a Tow Truck Could Tow Trucks.”

4.  When she cooks she dances.

5.  Her Sudoku book is in the bathroom. She’s not saying anything else about that.

Website * BookBub * Instagram * Facebook

Betty: When did you become a writer?

Ruth: I grew up in a creative household. My Dad was a dentist. My Mom worked in his office. Their hobby, besides collecting silver and crystal at auctions, was oil painting.  My hobby was getting in their way. Mom painted brilliant still-lifes while Dad was wonderful with seascapes. I was bad even at stick figures. My forte was making up stories and coercing my older sister (not an easy task—she’s fifteen years older than me) to act them out with me.

The stories in my head never stopped. But writing them down… no. As a matter of fact, I’m sure my high school English teacher is spinning in his grave at the idea that I’m a published author of nearly twenty books. I started writing in the Fall of 2009.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Ruth: When I finished writing my manuscript I had no idea what to do with it. I looked for a support group for guidance and found two groups, Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Liberty State Fiction Writers. Published authors in both groups were helpful and encouraging. I also found my critique partner, Jen. We still run our stories by each other. But I digress… My manuscript was polished and ready for pitching within a year. (I had a lot to learn.) I finished my first draft Spring 2010. I was under contract with Carina Press right after the first of the year, 2011.

Betty: What authors or stories do you feel influenced your writing style?

Ruth: After I learned that I had to edit the draft before I could present it to anyone (yes, I was that naïve), I took a class in how to self-edit your story. It was given by Eliza Knight. She became my mentor. Her editing plan as well as sensual writing and story development techniques provided a good groundwork for my writing. While I do not write as “hot” as she does, the technique is still valuable.

Betty: What prompted you to start writing?

Ruth: I started writing when a good friend told me she wanted to write a romance story. I     offered to help, beta read, brainstorm, anything she needed. The idea of being involved in a story from inception fascinated me. I was an avid historical romance reader. At the time I was still working for the bank and flying overseas for business. I read to fill my time on flights and evenings.

My friend and I bounced around story ideas. We came across two themes that we liked. She challenged me to write my story. We could sell the two books as a set. The idea was intriguing. With only time to lose, I started sketching out my story that spring and four months later had a 100K word finished historical fantasy novel.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Ruth: I started writing historical fantasy. My first book was Knight of Runes, a time travel romance. I enjoy historical romances with lords, knights, Druids, and magic. You can make anything happen. That said, I got together with three other authors (we’re close writing friends) and decided to write an anthology, four standalone stories around one theme. I was the only historical author and needed to decide what I would do. I decided to write contemporary romantic suspense. We created a small Rhode Island coastal town, Havenport, and wrote our stories. We have since pulled the stories out of the anthology and published them on our own.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

Ruth: Creativity. After twenty-five years of working at an international bank as a product manager where you did not get high marks for creative writing, writing romantic fantasy, time travel in particular, was mind expanding and fun. As an empty nester, I came home each night and added to my story and worked on weekends. I was enthusiastic and excited about each plot twist and “great line” I wrote. I spoke to my characters, which drove my husband crazy as well as a state policeman when he stopped me for speeding. But that is another story entirely!

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

Ruth: Eliza Knight was my mentor when I wrote Knight of Runes, and we still catch up when we can. I have taken classes with Donald Maass, Michael Hauge, and Damon Suede to name a few. Up until the recent pandemic, I attended the RWA National Conference and even served as Workshop Chair. I also attend the New Jersey Chapter conferences. While I attend some workshops, I get the recorded workshops and spend time networking and catching up with people I only see once a year.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Ruth: Knight of Runes was published by Carina Press. I remember asking Angela James, the acquiring editor, what I should do to market the book. She said write the next story. Her answer frustrated me. How was I going to sell books if no one knew who I was? I didn’t take her advice, instead I spent a lot of time and money (that I didn’t have) on marketing the book.

Sales were good, but I had nothing else to sell. Fans I had taken so much time to cultivate were asking for more stories but I didn’t have any. Looking back, I wish I had listened to Angela and written more stories sooner.

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Ruth: All the authors whose books I read on those international flights and who kept me company at dinner and afterwards are the authors who inspired me: Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood, Julia Quinn, Diana Gabaldon, Judith McKnight, Johanna Lindsey, Eliza Knight, Kathryn LeVeque. But it’s not only about romance. There is this action-adventure side that excites me inspired by Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, and Tom Clancy.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Ruth: I read Outlander and loved the story. The concept was as intriguing as Jude Devereaux’s Knight in Shining Armor. When my friend asked me to write my own story, I found myself creating a time travel romance. The result was Knight of Runes, a story about a woman, Rebeka, who falls back in time to 1605 and meets her soulmate, Lord Arik. I followed it with Knight of Rapture. In this story, Rebeka is tricked back into the 21st century and Arik must go through time to rescue her.

She was his witch, his warrior, and his wife. He was her greatest love.
Four centuries couldn’t keep them apart.

When Lord Arik, a druid knight, finds Rebeka Tyler wandering his lands without protection, he swears to keep her safe. But Rebeka can take care of herself. When Arik sees her clash with a group of attackers using a strange fighting style, he’s intrigued.

Rebeka is no ordinary seventeenth-century woman—she’s travelled back from the year 2011, and she desperately wants to return to her own time. She poses as a scholar sent by the king to find out what’s killing Arik’s land. But as she works to decode the ancient runes that are the key to solving this mystery and sending her home, she finds herself drawn to the charismatic and powerful Arik.

As Arik and Rebeka fall in love, someone in Arik’s household schemes to keep them apart, and a dark druid with a grudge prepares his revenge. Soon Rebeka will have to decide whether to return to the future or trust Arik with the secret of her time travel and her heart.

Excerpt:

Rebeka stood taller, planted her staff on the ground in a quiet emphatic fashion and stared squarely into his eyes. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

Arik shifted his attention to her, taking her in fully. He was used to facing men eye-to-eye. Most were intimidated and unable to hold his stare. He gave her his fiercest look, expecting her to look away, and was stunned when she stared back at him in the same manner. Arrogant. There was also a spark of something he couldn’t pinpoint. An instant chemistry of recognition and challenge. He quickly hid his feelings, a practiced talent.

She wasn’t as adept. He saw the recognition in her eyes before she won control of her reaction. She registered confusion, a sense of disbelief and white-hot anger.

She probably came up to his shoulder. He marveled at how the gold and copper flecks in her mahogany hair reflected in the sun. Although her hair was bound, wisps fell in gentle waves, framing her oval face. Her skin looked soft to touch and was vibrant and healthy even through the bruises. Her mouth was full and inviting, her white teeth perfectly straight. Her deep-set eyes, an extraordinary shade of violet shot through with flecks of silver, held his attention. He saw intelligence in them and passion. The intelligence was a surprise. The passion, well, he stirred that in many women.

Buy links: Amazon

I love a good time travel romance! That’s why I enjoy Outlander so much. This one sounds really intriguing, too. Thanks for sharing, Ruth!

Happy reading!

Betty Bolte

Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love   Stories

Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.

Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!

Follow Me on Amazon / Facebook / Twitter

Please help me welcome a natural storyteller turned author, Lynda Rees! She’s a woman with a mission but I’ll let her fill you in on the details. Right after we take a look at her bio, that is!

Lynda Rees is an award-winning story teller from Kentucky. Born in the Appalachian Mountains the daughter of a coal miner and part-Cherokee Indian, Lynda grew up in Northern Kentucky when Newport prospered under the Cleveland Mob as a gambling, prostitution and sin mecca. Fascination with history’s effect on today works its way into her written pages.

Having traveled the world working with heads of industry, foreign governments and business managers during a corporate marketing and global transportation career, this free spirited adventurer with workaholic tendencies, followed her passion for writing.

Both debut novels are award winners.Gold Lust Conspiracy is her historical novel debut and a RITA Finalist. Lynda’s debut romantic suspense, Parsley, Sage, Rose, Mary & Wine of The Bloodline Series; is set in Kentucky horse country. The Bloodline Series now consists of 10 books. Lynda’s Middle-Grade Children’s Mysteries, Freckle Face & Blondieand The Thinking Tree, are co-authored with twelve-year-old granddaughter Harley Nelson of California, Kentucky.

Lynda hopes you enjoy her stories and you become life-long friends.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?  

Lynda: I’ve been writing since I could spell and put pen to paper. I had a 36-year corporate career with P&G in Marketing and Global Transportation. I wrote everything from business proposals, system design, employee classes, advertising copy and training manuals. I’ve been published for the last six years and have twenty-one books in publication in ebook, print and audio. Many of them are published in six languages.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Lynda: Once I determined to publish my work, it took three years to understand the industry, learn the business of publishing and what publishers want in a manuscript. I studied craft and the industry. At the same time, I researched for my first book, a romantic historical novel about a woman’s struggle to survive during the 1890s Alaskan Gold Rush. Then I started selling the book, until I made connection with a publisher, and Gold Lust Conspiracy was born.

Betty: What authors or stories do you feel influenced your writing style?

Lynda: I write a mix of Janet Evanovich’s comedy with a dash of Robyn Carr’s small town appeal, a tad of Adelaide Forrest’s mobster mystery and a bit of Lucy Score’s billionaires. Most of my books are set in Sweetwater, Kentucky, a melting pot of souls of all kinds.  The community is loaded with billionaire racing moguls, political influence, FBI agents, U.S. Marshals, a silver-haired sheriff, gay attorneys, professional and amateur females determined to protect their own. If the reader likes fresh-start stories, mobster history, enemies-to-lovers, quirky characters, female sleuths, a hint of comedy with suspense and romance, they’ll want to read my books.

Betty: What prompted you to start writing?

Lynda: An internal need to tell stories—I can’t shut the voices in my head up. They’re screaming to get out.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Lynda: My first novel was Award-Winning Historical Novel Gold Lust Conspiracy. My second launch was Award-Winning Contemporary Mystery Parsley, Sage, Rose, Mary & Wine, Book 1 of The Bloodline Series, set in horse country of Kentucky.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

Lynda: I can’t get through the day without putting words onto the screen. It’s part of who I am.

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

Lynda: I joined Romance Writers of America, Kiss of Death, Mystery Writers of America, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Sisters In Crime. These professional organizations are the lifeblood of authors.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Lynda: Writing for publication is more than simply telling a story. There’s magic in drawing a reader into the lives, minds, and hearts of characters, into a world outside of their daily existence.

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Lynda: Louisa May Alcott wrote my favorite children’s book, Eight Cousins. I learned to read with my grandfather and the Bible. Danielle Steele is an all-time favorite, as are Debbie Macomber and Janet Evanovich.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Lynda: Hart’s Girls is my attempt to use entertainment to bring awareness to the public about a despicable, growing trend. Human trafficking is a highly profitable, major industry of epidemic proportions, and it happens right under our noses. Many don’t realize their young ones are being preyed upon. Awareness is the key to combatting the frightening, growing trend. Hart’s Girls is in ebook, print and soon to be in audio format.

Human trafficking puts innocent children at risk in all neighborhoods. FBI Special Agent Reggie Casse and U. S. Marshal Shae Montgomery resent each other’s intrusion, when they must join forces to stop abductions around Sweetwater, Kentucky. Antagonism turns to attraction they can’t act on without putting lives in danger. Shae thinks Reggie is planning her wedding with another. Shae’s ex wants her man back. Investigation leads to powerful players. Shots are fired. Will they get past their differences and have each other’s backs?

Buy links: Amazon

I think you’re right about bringing awareness to the human trafficking. I admire your willingness to take on this important subject, Lynda! I once wrote a novel with white slavery/human trafficking as a theme but that story will never see the light of day because it was written a long, long time ago… I hope many people will read your book and perhaps learn more about the reality in our country.

As the holidays quickly approach, I hope and pray you’ll be safe and well! Happy reading!

Betty Bolte

Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories

Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.

Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!

Follow Me on Amazon / Facebook / Twitter