Interview with novelist Ben Gartner

Today’s special guest is author Ben Gartner. We’re chatting about his new middle grade novel The Eye of RA. It has a mix of time travel, historical fiction, and action adventure.

During his virtual book tour, Ben will be giving away a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Ben Gartner is the author of adventure books for middle graders and thrillers for adults. His writing for both audiences shares an ability to grab readers by their neurons for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something in the meantime. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.

Please share a little bit about your current release.

The Eye of RA is a time travel adventure about a brother and sister who are transported to ancient Egypt. They must overcome many challenges and work together…or be stuck in time forever.

What inspired you to write this book?
The Eye of RA was a collaboration between my two sons and me, dreaming up an adventure novel akin to the Magic Tree House series but for a slightly older audience (one Goodreads reviewer said, “…feels like a mature and better-researched Magic Treehouse. It is more sophisticated than that series...”). Working together with my kids through the fun of concepting a novel was the motivation – together time. But it grew and grew and we shared it with people who loved it and encouraged us to put it into the world.

Excerpt from The Eye of RA:

“Sarah, where are we?” John asked, frozen in place despite the heat. In front of them was a vast ocean of sand as far as the eye could see. It rolled in carved waves, dunes that sparkled in the low-slanting rays of the sun.

Dunes? John thought.

Sarah staggered forward, shielding her eyes from the glare. “I—I—”

It was rare for her to be speechless. And it was kind of spooky, her not saying anything and stepping forward with the jerky movements of a zombie.

“Are you okay?” John followed his sister out into the sand, suddenly very afraid to be even a foot away from her.

“Woo-hoo!” she shouted, jumping into the air in her signature move, arms shooting up in a V shape.

“You’re excited about this?” John snapped. “Sarah, how are we in a desert all of a sudden? Where’s the mountain? The cave?” The incredible moment tickled at his brain, and he couldn’t put two and two together. “Am I dreaming?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “Dreaming. We must be dreaming. Together.” She knelt into the sand, picked up a handful, and let it drain out of her fist. “This feels pretty real to me.” She turned around to John as she said it, so he could see the roll of her eyes.

“How could we be in the mountains in one moment and then . . .” He trailed off, watching Sarah’s eyes go up and her head tilt back, taking in something very large behind him. John wasn’t sure he wanted to turn around.

Sarah laughed, her face turned toward the sky, her hand covering her mouth. “So.” She took a full breath. “Cool!”

The curiosity got the better of him. John held his breath and rotated on his heels in the sand. He’d been stunned by the vast golden dunes, but what he saw now made him squeak out a chortle of disbelief.

“What—? How—? Is that—?” John stammered. His finger reached out, pointing to the scene as if maybe he could poke it, like it was a postcard of a giant pyramid and not a real one.

What exciting story are you working on next?
Well, this novel kind of snuck its way into my life. I was nearing the end of a draft of a thriller for adults when I took a hiatus from that project to work on The Eye of RA. So for the sake of completion, I’d like to finish that one. But the reception to RA has been so flatteringly positive that we do have some ideas for a #2 brewing… ;)

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Around the same time I could read. The two went hand in hand for me then, and still do today. I can’t have only one. I have to read and I have to write.

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 wish! I have a day job, so I write on nights and weekends and occasionally I’ll use a vacation day to log some real word count. It’s definitely tough to find time and I’m sure I could pump out a lot more if I could focus on it. It can be tiring trying to fit it all in, but it’s one of those FUN invigorating exercises that I can’t imagine my life without.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I need absolute quiet. Some people listen to music or can write on the train. Not me. I need to completely immerse my brain into the world I’m crafting to watch it unfold. Just getting to that spot of total envelopment can take 30 minutes, so my preferred block of time to write is a minimum of two hours.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A creator. Several careers that touched on that general theme, but the one I got most serious about was to be a movie director. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were my heroes.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Third through fifth grade were such a pivotal time in my personal life. And I think, for many people, it’s the era for which we really first start to retain memories. It’s also a time of profound brain development and the perfect season of our lives for imagination to push our own boundaries of perception. I hope my books stir creativity in young minds.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Ebook buy page | Indiebound | BookBub | Amazon | Nook

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

Thank you for having me! The Eye of RA is on sale now wherever books are sold!

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Interview with sci-fi thriller author Raquel Rich

Novelist Raquel Rich joins me today to chat a bit about her time travel thriller, Hamartia.

Bio:

Raquel Rich is a sci-fi author and occasional blogger. She loves to travel, suntan, walk her dog, and is obsessed with all things Beauty & the Beast. She despises cold weather, balloons, and writing about herself in the third person but noticed all the real authors do that. Born and raised in Canada to Brazilian parents, she lives in the Toronto area with her family. She’s married to the guy she’s been with since she was fifteen (her baby daddy), and her superpowers include being a mom to their two awesome grown-ass boys and one fur baby.

Raquel Rich is a proud member of Broad Universe: an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other speculative genres.

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

If you’re a hardcore sci-fi fan who loves spaceships and aliens, Hamartia is not for you. On the other hand, if you loved The Terminator and The Maze Runner, you’ll love Hamartia. There is a woman desperate to save her son, there is a disease plaguing the human race, and it’s a time travel thriller suitable for both adults and young adults. What price would you pay to save your child’s life? You’d die for your child, but would you kill? How many?

What inspired you to write this book?

My son and I were at the Science Museum in London, England. We got sucked into an exhibit that explored the science and popular beliefs behind fears and phobias. One belief was that phobias were the result of past life experiences. I used this to defend myself against my son’s jokes about my deep hatred for (fear of) turtlenecks and balloons. I argued that I’d been strangled to death at a party in a past life—obviously. This banter with my son led to a list of “what ifs” forming my head; what if you could travel to your past life? If a soul is reincarnated too many times, would it die? How far would you go to save your child’s life if his soul was dying? I decided to answer these questions through Grace, Hamartia’s main character.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m working on Hamartia’s sequel, Deus Ex Machina, but I can’t say more about it without ruining Hamartia.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

It took a good year to admit I was writing a book, never mind call myself a writer. When people used to ask me, “What do you do?” I’d answer in a shaky voice, “Um… I’m a writer?” I don’t think the doubt in my voice dissipated until after I published Hamartia.

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

I write full-time! I’m lucky to have a supportive hubby who thinks Hamartia will become a blockbuster movie so he can retire and play golf all day. Every morning until lunchtime-ish, I sit in my pyjamas and write. Afterwards, depending on the season, I clear my head by taking my dog for a walk or by going for a swim. However, when I’m in editing mode, wild horses couldn’t drag me away from the task. I edit and rewrite from sunup to sundown, ignoring the weather, my family, and my growling dog and stomach.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I write every morning from about 9 AM until 2 PM but only if I’m alone. I am immediately distracted when people are around or near me, even if they’re in another room of the house. It’s the knowledge of their presence that annoys me. I could be on a super writing rampage, words flowing and unstoppable like a raging rapid, but the second someone shows up, my ideas and words go cold and evaporate quicker than a cube of ice in an August heatwave.

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

When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a pilot and a writer. Then I threw-up on a flight to Brazil. I was heartbroken when I realized flying a plane doped up on anti-nausea meds wouldn’t pan out. As for my dream of being a writer, it went dormant for a couple of decades until that fateful trip to the Science Museum in London, England, where the idea of Hamartia was born.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Fun fact: I’m a writer of colour who is a little put off that protagonists never looks like me. For that reason, I never describe Grace’s race or skin colour. I want the reader to assume they look like her. I’m often asked who I would cast as Grace if Hamartia is ever made into a movie. This question stumps me every time. All I can say is that having to decide on Grace’s race or skin colour for a movie would be a great problem to have!

Links:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

Thanks for stopping by today!

Interview with YA paranormal author Christine Potter

Welcome, readers. Today’s guest is novelist Christine Potter. We’re chatting about her newest YA paranormal romance novel with a dash of time travel, Gracie’s Time.

During her virtual book tour, Christine will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Christine Potter lives in a very old, haunted house, not far from Sleepy Hollow. She’s the author of the time-traveling Bean Books series, on Evernight Teen: Time Runs Away With Her, In Her Own Time, What Time Is It There? and Gracie’s Time. She’s also a poet, with several books in print (the most recent is called Unforgetting). Christine loves all kinds of music, DJ’s, and plays dulcimer and guitar.

Welcome, Christine. Please share a little bit about your current release.

Gracie's Time is Bean Four, the fourth book in the Bean series. Gracie Ingraham is a high school sophomore during the Cuban Missile Crisis and her parents believe the world is on the edge of nuclear war. Fortunately, they have something planned to keep their daughter safe. The Ingrahams are Travelers—time travelers--and Gracie shares their gift. So they decide to send Grace to the 1890s and a wealthy uncle in Victorian-era Manhattan. Problem is, she's never traveled in time before. She goes forward instead of back—and lands in 2018. Gracie has gone from transistor radios to iPhones, from duck-and-cover drills to active shooter drills. Because this is indeed a Bean book, characters from the original series have good-sized roles—but maybe not how you'd think. Gracie's Time makes a perfectly good stand-alone read, by the way, but I bet you'll want to read the first three books when you've finished this one!


What inspired you to write this book?

I was originally thinking of a story separate from the Bean characters, maybe one that would be short story length for an anthology. I wanted to write it in first person, from Gracie's point of view. And then, not so many words into my first draft, the Parkland shooting happened. I already had Gracie in 2018 by then. I knew I had to deal with the threat of gun violence in schools. So I did.

Excerpt from Gracie’s Time:

I heard a snoring sound in the sky then, but it was only a plane. For a moment I thought about how terrible it would be if a nuclear war started right that minute, before I could escape to the past. Then I thought about Mom and Dad. I hoped they’d come get me from the 1890s if there weren’t a war. I didn’t want them to die. I didn’t want anyone to die. I really wanted there to be a future.

Mr. Mahoney and I walked past the train station and out onto the empty platform. He looked over his shoulder to be sure no one was around. “Are you ready?” He took my hands, squeezed them, and then he let go. “It’s the right time and place! Go on back, Gracie!”

At first, I thought nothing had happened, except then it wasn’t evening anymore. It was morning—and certainly not the 1890s. Nobody named Augustus introduced himself to me.

Dad always told me that if you get confused when you Travel, you should always look at what kind of lights there are in buildings and what clothing people have on to help place yourself. But what I saw only confused me more.

A freezing wind came off the river and cut right through my corduroy jacket. People in puffy grey and brown overcoats stood in clumps, staring at what I first thought were really tiny transistor radios. I learned that same day those things are called smart phones. I’d missed the 1890s by over a hundred years—and in the wrong direction.

A sleek, silvery train roared into the station from the north and everyone got on it but me. Bingo, the future! I’d just broken one of the biggest Rules there is.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I also write poetry, and I've been busy submitting a lot of new work. I'm trying to decide what's next for Gracie. There's a real ending on this story, but there are plenty of places my new (and old) characters could go next.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I can't remember a time in my life when I couldn't read—I taught myself before kindergarten—and so I can't really remember a time when I wasn't making up stories and poems. I actually wrote some (bad) time travel stories and ghost stories when I was in junior high. I think I started calling myself a writer confidently when the first book in the Bean series came out a few years ago, even though I had published a whole lot of poetry by then. Somehow or other having a novel in print gave me the right to own the word.

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 a retired high school English teacher. I guess that's why I never had fiction in print until I got out of the classroom: not enough hours in the day. I write every day now, either poetry or fiction. I get up, read the news, update my social media, and head for my office. I take an exercise break midday and then go back to writing until my musician husband gets home from practicing. He's a church organist, so he does an awful lot of that outside the house. He has a practice organ at home that is NOT a friend of my writing!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I love both pop and classical music. All of my books have a lot of music in them—and characters who are musicians and DJs. Bean Four, Gracie's Time, has everything from "Over the Rainbow" to the soundtrack to Hamilton.

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

I wanted to be a writer pretty early on. I had a brief flirtation with wanting to be an archeologist, but then I realized I'd probably be excavating graves and that freaked me out.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I am the world's oldest young adult. As a retired teacher, I believe you become the age of the kids you teach. I taught high schoolers. A large part of me has been sixteen years old—for decades!

Buy Links:

Evernight Teen | Amazon – Kindle | Amazon – Paperback | Smashwords | Amazon Author Page

Social Links:

Blog | Facebook

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

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Interview with novelist Rachel Dacus

Romance author Rachel Dacus joins the blog today. She’s chatting with me about her new time travel, The Renaissance Club.

During her virtual book tour, Rachel will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Rachel Dacus is a poet, essayist, and novelist who writes about love and relationships, with a touch of the supernatural. Love and history are the themes of her debut novel, The Renaissance Club, a tale of romance between a young art historian and her hero, the fiery 17th century Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. Praise for her novel — “enchanting, rich, and romantic” — describes the kinds of love and adventure stories Rachel enjoys, preferably set in exotic places. She has traveled to Italy and India and plans to expand her journeys beyond countries that start with the letter “I”.

She’s the daughter of a bipolar rocket engineer who worked on missiles during the race-to-space 1950’s. He was also an accomplished painter.


Her interest in Italy was ignited by a course in Renaissance art history that culminated in tour of northern Italy. She’s been hooked on Italy ever since. Her essay on Italy, motherhood, and infertility was anthologized in Italy, a Love Story: Women Write About the Italian Experience.

Dacus shows off her versatility in four poetry collections. Her newest is Arabesque. Three other collections are: Gods of Water and Air, Femme au Chapeau, and Earth Lessons. She raises funds for arts, human service, and healthcare organizations and takes walks with her way-too-smart Silky Terrier.

Welcome, Rachel, please share a little bit about your current release.
Would you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul mate? That’s what young art historian and teacher May Gold must decide when she slips through time’s folds to meet the man of her dreams and the subject of her master’s thesis — fiery 17th century genius artist Gianlorenzo Bernini. In her fantasies May is in his arms, the wildly adored partner of the man who steered Renaissance art into the Baroque. In reality, she has just landed in Rome with her stodgy boyfriend and teaching colleagues for a tour of Italy. She yearns to unleash her passion and creative spirit.

What inspired you to write this book?

An art history tour of northern Italy, much like the one depicted in my story, kindled a wish to meet some of the great artistic geniuses behind the Renaissance. Though I know in real life, time-travel isn’t possible, I found a way to meet one of the most spectacular artistic geniuses who ever lived—by recreating him as my hero!

Excerpt from The Renaissance Club:

A distant clang. The Swiss Guards were closing the outer doors and tourists were scurrying. Where was The Renaissance Club? In a panic, May dashed toward the Baldacchino and nearly collided with a man who stepped out from behind a pillar. 

            “Sorry!” she said, backing up.

            “Signorina, watch where you’re going!”

The young man in black frowned and didn’t apologize. With his long, dark hair and white sleeves rolled up on muscular forearms, he looked like an art restorer. A black jacket was draped over his shoulders. He held a long wooden measuring rod, the kind used by architects centuries ago. Maybe he was rehearsing for some sort of pageant.

“Ladies are not allowed here while I’m working,” he said stiffly. He aimed the rod at the nearest column and sighted up along it.

“I know you!” she exclaimed. She knew him well.

He straightened his jacket and bowed. “Everyone in Rome knows Cavaliere Bernini. But you may not be here. I need silence. I have a very big work to complete.”

His finger pointed up at the four twisted bronze columns, where May was astonished to see no bronze canopy on top. Tons of bronze had simply vanished. She looked back at him. Bernini lifted the instrument and peered up at the nearest column. Her living, breathing idol moved to one side to get a better angle. Lean and strong, he was even more handsome than in his self-portrait.

Now he was so intent on his investigation that he seemed unaware of her and the fact that her pulse was pounding. How had she come here, and where exactly was she?

He lowered the measuring rod, framed the air with his hands, and used his fingers to make rapid computations. He stared at her so intensely that she shivered. She remembered that searing gaze in his self-portrait.

“You’re disturbing me, signorina.” He turned away, clearly expecting her to leave.

How could she possibly move? Here was her genius, his hair curled with wiry energy, materializing the restless mind under it. His prominent cheekbones gave him the Neapolitan look that had embarrassed him and made him fabricate a Florentine heritage. He made a few quick calculations and looked at her again, eyes narrowed.

“I won’t say a word,” she promised.

What exciting story are you working on next?
My new novel is a contemporary fantasy. In The Invisibles, two half-sisters try to restore their damaged sisterhood while clashing over their inheritance of a cottage on the coast of Italy, along with its resident ghost, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I wrote my first novel at the age of eleven. It was called The Secret of the Locked Room, and it was all of 100 pages. I was very proud of its length!

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 do my creative writing for one to two hours every morning, first thing if possible. Longer if possible. My longest writing stint is probably about six hours. And then I begin my work day. I’m a self-employed grant writer and fundraising consultant, so one form of writing flows into the next. I give my creative writing the best hours of the day – for me, that’s first thing in the morning.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I do my best writing in the shower or walking, memorizing long passages until I can get to the keyboard. I also dictate on my phone, and considered getting a waterproof phone – but the memorization is more fun, and challenging.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a writer. As they say, be careful what you wish for!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’m the daughter of a bipolar rocket scientist and I grew up in the race-to-space Cold War 1950s, and then found myself in counterculture San Francisco in the 1960s. That’s a story I’m working on. My favorite writing spot is my couch, with my tiny Silky Terrier perched on a cushion near me. I should have named her The Muse.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

Thanks for having me! I really enjoyed this interview.

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New interview with YA author K.C. Tansley

YA author K.C. Tansley is back! This time we’re chatting about her new YA time travel mystery, The Girl Who Saved Ghosts.

K.C.’s first interview was in 2015 about her YA murder mystery The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts.

Bio:

K.C Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, and two quirky golden retrievers on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables—spells, ghosts, time travel—and writes about them.

Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days. The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts is her award-winning and bestselling first novel in The Unbelievables series.

As Kourtney Heintz, she also writes award winning cross-genre fiction for adults.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews.

Thanks for having me back!

Please tell us about your newest release.

Like the first book in The Unbelievables series, The Girl Who Saved Ghosts is a fast-paced time-travel murder mystery novel that combines paranormal and gothic elements to create a story full of ancestral legacies, powerful spells, unexpected connections, and inherited destinies.

If I had to boil it down to a single sentence: When an ancestor’s ghost begs her for help, Kat risks herself—and the friend who’s sworn to protect her—by traveling in time to nineteenth-century Vienna.

What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always been fascinated by ghosts and curious about the afterlife. This series was created around all the things I loved in a book when I was a teen—ghosts, spells, murder mystery, time travel, family heirlooms, legacies, and curses. When I first started writing Book 1, I envisioned 6-7 books in the series. I even took notes on them.

After Book 1 was published, I was immediately at work on Book 2. I knew that Kat and Evan had a much bigger journey ahead of them. In this book, I wanted to show Kat growing into her new role as the Langley heir and protector of the Radcliffes. I also wanted to delve into her Langley family—the side she never knew. At its heart, this book is about family: those we pick and those we are given.

What’s the next writing project?

The third book in this series! I’ve got to get a first draft done by January. It will involve a search for the Mallory heirloom and even higher stakes for Kat and Evan.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)

With the sequel, there is an entire book that came before, so I have to do a delicate dance between gently reminding readers of what came before and beating them over the head with Book 1 recaps. My editor really helped me pull back in certain areas and succinctly slip in reminders to readers as needed. This book wouldn’t be what it is without her guiding hand!

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of research where I learned so much that never made in into the story. Instead, I tend to make notes in the first draft as I’m writing and remind myself to research specific things like if a hotel in 1831 would have a private bathroom or room service. I actually bought a book on the earliest hotels that I could refer to as needed. For the clothing, I have several books on fashion from across the centuries. It’s very helpful when describing what my characters are wearing. The biggest headache was the streets of Vienna in 1831. Paving stones or dirt? Well, it depends on where you were. I did a lot of research, but ended up relying on paintings of key places from that era.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

I have a very comfortable high-backed burgundy chair with those cool buttons in the back that belongs in a law office and a black secretary desk with my Mac on it. I tend to do all my writing at my desk. I have a to-do list to my right and a cabinet full of signed books and mementos from my travels above me. I also have my Moonbeam Children’s Book Award hanging above my screen for moments of doubt. It really helps to remember someone thought my book should win an award. I taped a copy of “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley to the cabinet above my desk. Two lines of it have helped me through the worst moments: “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”

I have two buckets of pens, pencils, and markers to the left of my computer. I prefer to edit on paper and in my bed. I get epiphanies at random and tend to jot down things when I’m doing laundry or on the treadmill. My muse tends to be rather sneaky like that.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

I tend to read what I am working on so this year has been all about the YA paranormals. Right now I’m obsessed with Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampires series. I devoured 5 in a week and am seriously considering reading all 15 this year. They are so intense and end with cliffhangers that make it impossible not to pick up the next book. I like a fast paced, action packed, intense YA with layers of history and family lore like Paige McKenzie’s The Haunting of Sunshine Girl trilogy. I am a fan of Dawn Metcalf’s Twixt limited series. I love intricate world building and gray characters. Oh, and Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series—they are so well done on so many levels.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

If anyone would like to receive author updates, they can sign up on my website and I’ll immediately send them an unpublished short story, And Then There Were Three, and give them the inside scoop on my books—new releases, sale days, free book deals, giveaways, and behind the scenes info they can’t find anywhere else!

http://kourtneyheintz.com/contact

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