Interview with romance author Viviana MacKade

Romance novelist Viviana MacKade is chatting with me about her new contemporary with a dash of suspense, She Came with the Tide.

Bio:

Beach bum and country music addicted, Viviana lives in a small Floridian town with her husband and her son, her die-hard fans and personal cheer squad. She spends her days between typing on her beloved keyboard, playing in the pool with her boy, and eating whatever her husband puts on her plate (the guy is that good, and she really loves eating). Besides beaching, she enjoys long walks, horse-riding, hiking, and pretty much whatever she can do outside with her family.

Welcome, Viviana. Please tell us about your current release.

She Came with the Tide is a contemporary novella set in the town of Crescent Creek, FL.

It’s a sweet story based on endurance, love of life, hope and, ultimately, love.

Erik and Andrea are opposite in pretty much everything, but they complement each other perfectly.

Andrea

I stopped breathing a long time ago.

I was taken into a cult when I was ten, married to the leader's son at 20.

I learned to fear independence, so I stayed. 

Day after day after day.

Until I couldn't anymore.

So I started running and kept running because he's after me.

Afraid, alone, hungry, but free.

Until a stranger offered me breakfast. And I said yes.

Erik

The thing I can do best? Living. Hard and to the fullest.

The world had screamed my name, and I lived it all until I got tired of it.

Bought a surf board, a house in my sandy hometown, and started another great life.

Young, rich, and totally free had been working like a charm.

Until I saw that blue tent on the beach.

And my life changed again.

What inspired you to write this book?

I loved Erik since word one.

He bugged me to no end until I finally gave up and wrote the story he was screaming in my ear. And boy, is he loud!

Excerpt from She Came with the Tide:

Chapter 1

Crescent Creek, South Florida, May

"Well." Erik Axelsson wiped salty water from his face. “Look what the tide dragged in.”

Nestled in the dunes edging his property, the little blue tent sure hadn’t been there when he’d gone out surfing earlier that morning. With his board under his arm, he walked out of the ocean toward the uninvited guest.

Erik cringed, praying it wasn’t for one of those crappy TV shows like Where Did The Star Go or something. He had worked hard at building a normal life, and it had been years since the press had bothered him. Yet a nostalgic willing to stand the heat for a picture of Ax had shown up before.

“Knock knock,” Erik called out as he reached the tent.

When nothing happened, he drove the surfboard in the hot sand with a forceful swing and a chuckle. Whoever hid inside the camping igloo was too hung-over or too stoned to wake up. Each representing a better reason to be in such crappy shelter, on a Floridian beach, on a late May morning, than poking at his past glory. Must be at least three hundred degrees inside.

He grabbed a tent pole, shook it. The old thing shuddered like a leaf in a hurricane. “Rise and shine,” he sing-songed.

Someone moved. Then came the voice. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“A girl?” he mouthed before shaking his head.

The rock scene waved at him from far, so far behind him. But it had been his life, and back then a drunk–or stoned–chick within the boundaries of his home, wherever that was at the moment, was the norm. Damn, but he had a good run.

Erik brushed his palm over prickling shoulders as the angry sun hit, leaving only salt where ocean drops had been a few minutes before. He revered in that roasting pleasure, in the blues of the sky and water surrounding him. Entertained by his unplanned guest, he pulled his dripping, long hair into a messy bun. A good day for surfing, waves still crashed on the shoreline. The rumble must have hidden the croaky noise of the tent’s zipper because when he looked down at the entrance, he found two huge brown eyes staring at him. An echo of lifetimes ago, distant, feeble, poked at him. The feeling had dwelled into his heart after his parents had died and now lingered on her delicate features. Fear.

The girl took a breath, clenched her teeth, and crawled out. She rose on all of her five feet six or so. “Who–” she cleared her throat. “Who are you?”

Okay. He did not expect the question. The whole world knew Ax and the Hurricanes. He’d spent ten years of his life on everybody’s mouth, eyes and above all, ears. Newspapers. TV. Concerts. And the girl asked who he was. Surprise shadowed the male appreciation of the woman in front of him. For now. He’ll so be back at it.

“I think the question is, who are you?” he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“A camper.”

“Well, camper, your tent is on my property, in case you missed that,” he said, pointing at the Private Property notice on the berm not far from her den. The rusty, barely visible, Pisa-tower-bend sign. He should invest some money into a new one. “My house’s back there, anyway.”

She turned around, took those details in. “Oh.”

All right, calculus time. A girl, alone, in an old tent. Add a black bag he’d peeked to with clothes in it, plus that look in her eyes. The result? Trouble. “All right. You hungry?”

She nodded.

“Let’s go.”

He picked up his surfboard and started off. “What?” he asked after he glanced behind his shoulder and saw she hadn't moved.

“I–I don’t know you.” Yeah, okay, back to that. She either had lived on the moon for the past fifteen years, or was bullshitting him. He would give her the benefit of the doubt because she was hot, and keep Sheriff Charlie on speed dial for a while. “I’m Erik Axelsson.”

He waited for his name to dawn on her. Nothing. For real?

“I’m Andrea Smith.”

“All right, Andrea. I’m hungry, covered in sand, and the sun is cooking my brain. I’m going in, you do as you please.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m writing Book #3 of the Crescent Creek Series, one I’m very excited about so stay tuned because more is coming from this sandy little town!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’ve always been one at heart, but I had the guts to refer to me as one (like, during parties or the likes conversations) after my first novel was published. I knew I was a writer, a novelist, but I needed the validation.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write half time. The other half I spend it with my son, Massimo. It’s the last year before PreK, when he’ll be away the whole day…

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I drink.

No, it’s not alcohol, but herbal tea. I write some, drink. Another sentence, sip. Delete that, rewrite it. Sip. I go through half gallon in a morning.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I went through different stages. I grew up on a farm and horse school, so my first choice was, of course, a vet.

Then a teacher, my mom being one.

I ended up graduating in law.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I hope they will give Crescent Creek and the people living in it a chance and read their stories!

Links:

Website | Facebook | Amazon

Thanks for stopping by today, Viviana!

Interview with veterinarian and memoirist Dr. Sarah Boston

Dr. Sarah Boston is an associate professor of surgical oncology, department of small animal clinical sciences, at the University of Florida. From age six, Boston knew she wanted to become a veterinarian. She has practiced veterinary medicine in various parts of Canada (including Guelph, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton), the U.S, and New Zealand. She is currently President of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, with her husband, who is a large animal veterinarian, and their dog Rumble and cat Romeow.

She’s here today to talk about her first book, Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved My Life.

Welcome, Sarah. Please tell us about your current release.

Lucky Dog is a memoir about my own treatment for thyroid cancer and about the animal cancer patients that I treat. This is not your average cancer memoir, it is a humorous and heartwarming look at human and veterinary health care in Canada and the States.

What inspired you to write this book?

I discovered a mass in my neck when I was getting ready for bed one night. Because I treat thyroid cancer in dogs, I knew that the mass was new, growing fast and in my thyroid gland. Because the Canadian health care system is slow, I was told that I would have to wait for over a week to get an ultrasound of my neck. I decided to take matters into my own hands and I ultrasounded my neck myself. Unfortunately, what I saw was consistent with a thyroid carcinoma. Although I was certain that I had thyroid cancer, my doctors all told me that the mass was most likely to be benign. This created long wait times and a good deal of frustration on my part and, ultimately, this is what inspired me to write. At the time, I didn’t know that I was writing a book, but over the course of my treatment for thyroid cancer, the book developed.

Excerpt from Lucky Dog:

Chapter 1

I wish I were a dog. The lack of opposable thumbs part would be hard, and I do like talking a lot. I am also pathologically attached to my iPhone, but maybe there is an app that would allow me to continue to stay connected as a dog. The iPaw? Canine fashion has come a long way in the past few years, but I would miss shopping and dressing myself. I wouldn’t miss the self-actualization and consciousness, but I would probably miss everyone recognizing my self-actualized consciousness. That would be hard. Even with having to give up the use of my hands, texting, the ability to speak, shopping, and the recognition of my full potential, I still wish that I were a dog today.

On Sunday night, six days ago, I was performing my nightly bedtime ritual, which involves washing my face with fantastically overpriced French cleanser and toner and then moisturizing with an equally overpriced French face cream. I believe this is worth it if the products can fulfill their promises of preventing the inescapable turkey neck that plagues women as they march into their late forties, the neck that seems to tarnish movie stars and human beings alike. No woman is immune and no amount of Botox or plastic surgery can erase the creping of the neck. It is the truth. Despite this, I am convinced that my routine is worth every penny and is working wonders. At thirty-seven and a half, I have the neck of a twenty-five-year-old. I alternate between extreme vanity and the suspicion that I may look like a cross between Ellen DeGeneres and Janice the Muppet. But back to vanity, I’m spreading on the cream, banishing forehead wrinkles, eye wrinkles, and smile lines. I move on to my the neck. Wait a second, what 

is that? I can feel a mass.

I do not say “bump” or “lump” or “swollen gland” because these fingers are trained fingers and I know instantly that it is a mass in my right thyroid gland. I know that it is new, and that it is not good. I’m away from home and staying with a dear friend in Calgary. I run into her bedroom and climb into bed with her. I ask her to feel my neck. She agrees that she can feel something and asks if it could be a swollen gland. She is not a doctor, but she plays one on TV (she is a health reporter). It is 11 p.m., and charged with this finding, but certain there is nothing that I can do about it right now, I retreat to my room. I try to reach my husband but I can’t— his cellphone is dead. So I just lie awake all night thinking about what to do next.

This excerpt is taken from Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved My Life, copyright © 2014 by Dr. Sarah Boston. Reproduced with permission from House of Anansi Press, Toronto. www.houseofanansi.com.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am hoping to work on another book with stories about some of the challenges that veterinarians face. I am also considering writing a book about cats because Lucky Dog is almost entirely about dogs.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I tried writing as a hobby a couple of years before I wrote this book. To be honest, it did not go very well and I thought that maybe this was going to be another of my hobbies that were fun, but that I wasn’t very good at (like playing the guitar and photography). I took a correspondence writing course where I was paired up with an author for guidance about my work. He was a young-adult author and we were not well-matched. He really did not understand my sense of humor and he thought that I should write a young-adult veterinary mystery novel, something I had no interest in. I dropped out of the course, but I kept writing. I was so happy to find a publisher and an editor that understood me and appreciated my writing. The House of Anansi is a wonderful publisher for a first-time author because they really work with their authors to produce the best books possible. I feel like Anansi has helped to bring out the best in my writing.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write in my spare time, as I continue to work full-time at the University of Florida. This means that I often write in spurts, when I feel inspired. I do try to take notes when I get ideas to save them for periods when I have time to write.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I wrote most of this book in the middle of the night on my cell phone. I would wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and I would jot down notes in my cell phone. It drove my husband crazy! Then when I had time, I would go back to these notes to flesh out the ideas. I wrote most of the book this way.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a veterinarian. Being a writer is a relatively new dream and I am so lucky that I have realized both of these dreams.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I have received incredible feedback about Lucky Dog so far. The most common comments that I am hearing by far are:

“This book made me laugh and cry” and

“I couldn’t put it down”

I am overwhelmed and honored by the response to Lucky Dog. Anyone who has struggled with the health care system and animal lovers will particularly enjoy this book, but it has something for everyone.

Publisher website | Twitter

Thanks for being here today, Sarah!

Interview with historical fiction author Gretchen Craig

I'm happy to welcome Gretchen Craig back to Reviews and Interviews to talk about her newest release
Theena's Landing.

Gretchen Craig is the critically acclaimed author of novels and short stories. Set in Louisiana among the Creoles, Cajuns, and African slaves, her ante-bellum historicals are lush with romance and complicated families. Always and Forever won the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence for Mainstream with Romantic Elements and was chosen as an Editor’s Pick in the Historical Novel Society reviews. Continuing the saga of the same extended families, Ever My Love won the Booksellers Best Award from the GDRWA. The last book of the trilogy, Crimson Sky, an e-book inspired by the pueblos, mountains, and deserts of northern New Mexico, evoke the lives of long-ago people living under a searing sun among the stark beauty of mesas and canyons. Gretchen’s latest novel, Theena’s Landing, evokes the blue sea, searing sun, and clear skies of the South Florida wilderness.

Gretchen was born in the Florida Panhandle and grew up in St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast. She and her husband have lived in South Florida, Germany, and Maine, and are now in Texas among the mesquite and sunflowers. Having lived in such diverse climates and terrains, Gretchen’s novels are notable for their strong sense of place. Readers swear they can smell the bayous of Louisiana and taste the gumbos of New Orleans.

Hi Gretchen, please tell us about your current release.
I worried I’d never get Theena’s Landing published. The heroine is in love with her sister’s husband, and my editor told me No! Your readers will hate you. But, I said, it’s not about a woman who betrays or cheats. It’s about a woman working very hard not to betray or cheat. It’s about a woman’s journey into independence and self worth. Didn’t matter. It was a no go. Same thing at another publisher. What was I to do? I believe in this book. Real people do love unwisely and have to deal with the consequences. Real people do have divided hearts. So I plunged into the new world of digital publishing. Theena’s Landing is an e-book at Amazon Kindle and at Barnes and Noble.

What inspired you to write this book?
Most of my writing begins with a strong attraction to a place. For the last book it was the pueblos of the upper Rio Grande in New Mexico. For Theena’s Landing, it was remembering the years I lived in South Florida on that narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades. I love conjuring up the heat, the smells, the sunlight, and all those critters of the swamp. And I especially am intrigued with lives lived before roads, strip malls, and air conditioning. I imagined living on the Miami River before there was a Miami. Who lived there? How would a young woman make a life for herself in that environment? What were her opportunities and handicaps?

What exciting story are you working on next?
I’m polishing Evermore, a novel that extends my first two historicals. The same extended family with ties to the Creoles, the Cajuns, and the African slaves of Louisiana loved and struggled through the 1830s and 1850s. In Evermore, the next generation now lives through the Yankee occupation of New Orleans, each character building a life during and after the upheaval of the Civil War.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
The day after I retired from teaching I got up Saturday morning, turned on the computer, and opened a new file. I’ve written steadily since that day, and even though I was not published for the first two years, I was writing and learning and improving. I was a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I’m fortunate enough that I do write full time. I generally write all morning, have lunch, and then write another couple of hours until I’m too bleary eyed to go on.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I get hung up on research. I can be typing along smoothly, and then suddenly wonder did they indeed have ether right then. I have to stop, look it up, and verify before I can go on.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a woman with many lovely hats, high heels in every color, and matching handbags, of course. Other than that, I wanted to be a ballerina, mostly because of the satin shoes. A fighter pilot, because my brother had those Black Hawk comic books where the jets were sleek and blue-black. And a doctor. I was wrong about all those ambitions, though. What I really am cut out for is writing.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’m passionate about my characters and their lives. They live and breath for me. I hope you’ll find them as real and vivid as I do.

Thanks for visiting again, Gretchen.

Gretchen's first interview, where she talks about Crimson Sky, can be found here.

Interview with author J. Q. Rose/Janet Glaser

Today I'm welcoming J. Q. Rose to Reviews and Interviews. J. Q.'s first book released yesterday (3/1) and I thought I'd catch her while she's in promotion mode.

Welcome, J. Q.

Please start us off with a bit about yourself.
I am an avid reader of diverse genres and photographer of family, (especially grandkids), friends, nature, and food that I prepare from our garden. I like to try new recipes and share them on my blog The Garden for Eatin.

My husband and I are snowbirds leaving our Northern home every fall and migrating to sunny Florida for the winter. I prefer to be called a sunbird because we are flying toward sunshine. Summer allows us fun family time camping with our grandsons (and our granddaughter when she gets out of diapers). We enjoy campfires and fishing and especially hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with the boys.

Please tell us about your new release.
Sunshine Boulevard is a mystery/light horror novella. The story is pure escape reading. The main characters are Jim and Gloria Hart. They are snowbirds who annually migrate to Florida for warm sunshine, fun, and golf with friends in snow-free winters.

However, this season, Jim Hart, a volunteer First Responder in his retirement community of Citrus Ridge, is drawn into the investigation of the mysterious deaths of friends and neighbors. Even in the midst of the unfortunate demise of the residents on Sunshine Boulevard, the Harts try to get together with friends. They don't realize that their friends are getting together for their own kinds of affairs with each other. The neighbors are in a dither over the deaths, but perhaps more intrigued by the gossip about the affairs and why the naked lady was found lying in the geranium bed.

What inspired you to write this book?
My husband and I have traveled around the Sunshine State meeting new people and being part of the boomer and senior lifestyle. Florida had to be the setting for the story because this state is known for unusual, quirky crime stories and events. It was so much fun to make up the characters and place them in a retirement community similar to the ones located all around Florida.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I am currently working on several projects—a romance/mystery, a non-fiction story for girls, and another boomer mystery is brewing in my brain, but not on paper…yet.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I asked the editor of the regional newspaper if I could contribute some articles. To my delight, he actually printed my first one and placed my name as the “reporter.” A byline. I still have that article in my files.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t write 8-5 every day like a job. Several hours throughout the day are devoted to blogging, marketing, writing, and researching. I enjoy the freedom semi-retirement gives us. I can spend my day reading, writing, cooking, eating, camping, playing Pegs and Jokers with friends, and volunteering, playing with the grandchildren, and getting together with the family.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I think my only quirk (remember you are asking me) is I can only write at home. I wish I could go to the coffee shop or the library to write, but I can’t. I guess I am too easily distracted. When I need a different location to discover my Muse, I grab my laptop desk and move to the living room or bedroom. The dining room table or the kitchen counter also works for me. When we were full-time RV’ers my entire office was the camper’s kitchen table.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I really admired Carol Burnett so I wanted to be just like her…a real entertainer and comedian. The closest I got to that was to be a hobo in the community theater production of Annie. Loved that!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you for hosting me today and the opportunity to share my quick, fun read with your readers. To find me and my ebook on the web, please check my author website and my blog as well as my author page at MuseItUp Publishing.