Blog Archives
The Intersection Of Her Two Natures
Worldmaker of Yand – Yildun follows a spellcaster that must save her world from invaders while trying to build her family. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
In my previous book Queen of Highwings, one of my favorite characters is Snowfox, a yandar archer who, with his wife Asimia, left his homeworld Yand to a new planet seeking to make a new start after the ravages of the K’tul Wars. Gradually I worked up Snowfox’s back story, which became rich with new characters and magic. Prominently, his mother Yanara evolved as a powerful Celestial Wizard, a Worldmaker, the best defender against their enemy the k’tul.
To describe the devastations of the K’tul Wars, I drew on my personal experience. Many years ago my homeworld here on Terra was invaded and taken over, making half the population, including me and my family, war refugees.
Yanara is a very complex character with unique challenges in her life. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
With Yanara I wanted to reflect on contemporary issues about gender, women’s power, equality in love. Also the duality of nature that many women espouse. As a powerful wizard she is ruthless, devastating, terrifying. But as a wife and mother she is soft, loving, protective, with a huge heart. The intersection of her two natures is very interesting.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The biggest theme is the devastation of war on a world, a people, and a family.
Another is the breaking of gender stereotypes both professionally and in family relationships.
Another is that bonds of love can be as strong as bonds of blood.
A big theme I wanted to bring out in the subplot is that you love who you love, regardless of gender, or exclusivity. On Yand, marriage is whatever you put in your marriage contract.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I have recently completed Worldmaker of Yand-Polaris, and it is available on Amazon under books and my name. The hardcover has many colorful illustrations.
I have just completed a collection of short stories that flesh out events that happened offline in Yildun. Battles, but a few romances as well. Told with humor at times.
I am now writing the third installment in the Worldmaker of Yand series called Eltanin, after the star in the Draco constellation.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
A Universal Fantasy
Born for the Game follows a man that has worked hard for all he has in life, now he wants to create the perfect baseball player. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The original idea grew from a story I heard in the 1970’s about a blind man who tripped over his dog’s dish, hit the wall with his head and was able to see. I thought that there are tremendous possibilities within the brain. I played a lot of ball as a kid, so I originally thought of a baseball player who hits his head in a car accident and becomes the greatest ballplayer of all time, even though he was well past his prime. The story changed over the past 40 years, but the concept of being the greatest of all time and the challenges accompanying that lofty goal, remained the crux of the story. What does it take to be the greatest at anything? This is a universal question and dreaming about it is a universal fantasy. Someone has to be the best. Why not me? Why not you? The possibility of it, albeit slight, exists, and that’s what makes it so much fun to imagine.
Ryan Stone is the result of Phineas’s plan for the perfect player. What were some driving ideals behind her development?
When I was looking at a story with all-male characters, I thought it was in desperate need of a strong female presence, so I thought that the challenges facing a female to be the greatest baseball player adds so much more fuel to the story’s fire. Once I decided on that concept, I began thinking what a female would have to do to be better than men. Just because it’s never been done before doesn’t mean it cannot be done. Those who lived before the Wright brothers could have never imagined that a ton of steel and fuel could fly through the air to deliver people and goods all over the world or that picture and sound could be transmitted through airwaves into space and then shot down into your phone or TV. Just because it hasn’t been done, doesn’t mean it cannot be done. I had to build a story where this idea was feasible.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The pursuit of dreams, love, betrayal, gender roles, and how choices drive our life’s journey.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
It’s hard to say at this point because I decided to work on getting a literary agent this year. I’d like to see my books as films. First, I write the screenplay and then I write the novel. Writing one book for me is writing two. I have several ideas for other stories and none of them are in the sports genre. I’ve written four books and a short story in the sports genre… although I really do flip genres during my stories, so this next one will be a whole new platform. I have seven or eight ideas scribbled on a piece of paper, but I won’t even begin until at least a year from now.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Multi-award-winning author Mike DeLucia is back with new and exciting characters, and a story about the pursuit of dreams, love, betrayal, and how choices drive our life’s journey.
Phineas Stone’s life as a dwarf and a product of the foster-care system mold his dogged determination to rise above his meager circumstances and build a financial empire. But even his magnificent wealth and influence cannot buy his lifelong dream of playing baseball for his beloved Los Angeles Greyhounds.
Together with Rollie Rollins, a former Major League knuckleballer with a penchant for mischief, and his longtime friend, Ito Hachi, Phineas effects a brilliant, yet unorthodox plan of creating an elite athlete under a veil of secrecy and pretense.
The characters in this story are driven by their dreams, but ultimately realize that chasing them brings with it the possibilities of both rapture or insufferable tragedy.
This Completely Unprecedented Mystery
Ghost Agents follows a young Bureau for Historical Preservation agent as she uncovers a dangerous plot that threatens everything she’s worked to protect. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The idea for Ghost Agents started one night after I had taken part in a ghost tour in Galveston. We didn’t experience any paranormal activity of any kind during the tour. On the way home, I turned to my friend and said, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if someone was in charge of deciding when and how often the ghost made appearances on these kinds of tours?” The idea for the Bureau grew from there.
Claire Abelard is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character’s development?
I really wanted Claire to be a strong female lead character, but also show a great deal of vulnerability as she faces this completely unprecedented mystery that threatens the world she loves so dearly. She doesn’t always make the best decisions, but her motivation is always grounded in fighting for what she believes is right and protecting the people (and ghosts) she loves. She’s strong (and as the trilogy progresses she gets stronger!), but she still needs others as she works to unravel the mysteries she faces.
Did you plan the mystery at the heart of this story or did it develop organically as you wrote?
I do a lot of brainstorming and outlining before I actually start putting words on the page, but even with all that planning, the mystery definitely took off in some surprising directions once the story began to unfold.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book is the 2nd book in the Ghost Agents trilogy – Ghost Agents: Revelations. In this book we continue the story of Claire and her fellow agents, though this time the action takes place in New Orleans and Boston. In the course of the story, Claire learns more about her unusual sensitive abilities while pursuing another, even more perilous mystery that threatens the Bureau and energy projections. Ghost Agents: Revelations is slated for release on March 18.
Author Interview: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
To the residents and tourists of Galveston Island, Claire Abelard is the friendly young woman who works at the local candy store by day and leads ghost tours of the island’s haunted locations by night. They don’t realize this persona is a cover for Claire’s real job as an agent of the Bureau for Historical Preservation, a clandestine organization that monitors and assists energy projections, or the entities more commonly known as “ghosts.”
When projections begin disappearing from around the island, Claire worries that history may be repeating itself. She launches a dangerous investigation and uncovers a sinister, arcane organization whose agenda threatens not only Galveston’s ghosts, but everything she has worked her whole life to protect.
The truth behind the disappearances rocks Claire’s world to its core and shows her that ghosts aren’t the only things that can come back to haunt you.
A War In A World Of Dreams
Whiplash follows a young man who’s taken to a bunker where he is forced to fight an relentless enemy in a dream world rife with danger. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Honestly, the biggest driver for the story was wanting a hapless hero to be plunged into a confusing, unjustified, and brutal experience. The whole idea began with “a knock at my front door at 3am” and from there it was just a matter of dragging the hero along on the journey.
The notion of the Bunker, training kids to fight in a war in a world of dreams etc., borrows from Ender’s Game and other stories where teenagers are forced into life and death situations surrounded by the backdrop of cosmic war. What I really wanted with this story though was for readers to experience Jack’s confusion, terror, and even indignation at the injustice of his situation.
Flint is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
I tried to make Jack an everyman type of teenage boy. He’s unsure of what direction he’s heading in. He loves games, pizza, lounging around and basically wasting time. When he’s suddenly thrust into this terrifying world he’s forced to “grow up” in a sense, but he never quite loses his boyish, smart-mouthed charm.
For basically the whole of Whiplash 1 (and most of Whiplash 2…spoiler alert), Jack is largely powerless to determine his own fate. He’s tossed around by circumstance and characters who are far more powerful and knowledgeable than he is, barely managing to survive even though his actions ultimately determine the fate of everyone around him.
I wanted to keep Jack in this state of feeling completely out of control for as long as possible, firstly, because I think it’s hilarious (sorry Jack!) and secondly, because it keeps him vulnerable and likable. Even as his character and abilities develop in further books, Jack isn’t the all powerful superhero who always acts decisively and with confidence. He’s a confused teenager, bumbling his way through extraordinary circumstances with no guidebook as to what he’s supposed to do.
In terms of character, Jack’s a big one for loyalty with friends and family. Those few companions he manages to latch onto as chaos ensues become an anchor throughout the story, giving him something to hold on to. He’s also deeply suspicious of authority and more than willing to bend the rules and fight the system, but this tendency is tempered by fear and a tendency to try and act logically where he can. The result of this is a smart mouth and a great sense of humor; both ways that he can fight against authority without actually risking his neck.
This seemed like a fun book to write. What scene did you have the most fun writing?
I loved the scenes where Shadow and Jack bounce off each other. She’s one of my favorite characters to write dialogue for and when the two of them get together, the dynamic is fantastic. Probably the climax scene was the most enjoyable to write though, firstly because it signaled an end to the book (the feeling you get when you finally lock in a viable ending for a novel is wonderful!).
Secondly, it was a crisis moment for Jack and represented a kind of rewriting of everything that had come before. The whole purpose of Whiplash Book 1, for me as a writer, was to keep Jack off balance the whole time. At the close of the book, he’s finally starting to wrap his mind around his new reality, but the climax scene changes everything in just a few words. The gut punch Jack gets as his new “truth” is unraveled makes me feel for the guy so much and I loved writing it (again, sorry Jack!).
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m actually half way through Whiplash book 4 believe it or not. Books 2 and 3 will hopefully be released this year (2022), and I’ll look to finish book 4 this year as well.
At the moment though, I’m doing final edits on an adult adventure/horror novel called The Seven Hungers, which I aim to self-publish some time in the next few months. It’s a Dresden Files type story which focuses on a censured sorcerer named Ambrose Drake who is given a temporary reprieve from his punishment to investigate an emergence from one of the Seven Hungers (hell worlds) which exist beneath our own.
The Seven Hungers has a similar pace to Whiplash and includes similar worldbuilding aspects, with a sci-fi/horror bent. The primary distinction with “magic” used throughout the book is that (in the case of the book’s protagonist), power is obtained largely through bodily injury; every time he’s cut or bones are broken, power is released.
Basically, if you like Whiplash, you’ll love this book. Details are on my web site and I’ll be posting on social media when it launches.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Abducted in the dead of night by a mountainous thug and a ginger-haired dwarf, eighteen-year-old Jack Flint is taken to an underground bunker where he and a group of other teens are forced to fight an implacable enemy in a dream world rife with danger.
Whiplash is a fast-paced story set with a rich and intricately detailed fantasy world where nightmarish creatures from the world of dreams threaten the waking world and teens with the ability to lucid dream must fight in a war for humanity’s survival. Above the throng, powerful demigods vie for control while Jack and his companions struggle to find a path out of the madness.
Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent and Ender’s Game.
Inside My Hero’s Mind
Drone Child follows a young electronics genius as he’s forced to fight as a sniper, drone pilot and pirate to keep his family alive. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
A Golden Globe judge suggested I write a script about a child soldier. I myself added the drone pilot and pirate angles and many others. Yes, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a small coastline.
Drone Child isn’t just a commercial project. I’ve long been interested in human rights issues and even helped judge an international contest on that topic. My Jewish family lost distant relatives in the Holocaust, and in a blog post at dronechild.com, I’ve mentioned the similarities between Nazi war crimes and the atrocities in Africa. Not to mention the goals of certain neo-Nazis in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Along the way, with plenty of additional material to get inside my hero’s mind, the script also became a novel.
Lemba is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Lemba’s ideals reflect my own belief in freedom, opportunity, family, and community. He grew up in a poor but community-minded village where the elders viewed education as an escape from poverty.
That’s just one Congolese village. But it’s the worldview Lemba is familiar with, along with a belief in family. He sees his greedy, power-hungry captors as a threat to those ideals–which in turn makes him value and fight for the goals and philosophy of his fellow villagers all the more.
Two Congolese fact-checkers vetted and critiqued my book in manuscript, and I was pleased to see that they share Lemba’s worldview. They hope that local editions of the book will appear in French and Lingala.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Drone Child among other things explores the connection between war, family, technology, and morality.
Kidnapped for his brilliance, Lemba is forced to fly deadly drones and train other pilots to save his precious parents from a machete blade. But what will this mean for the victims of the violent thugs he must work for? Moral questions abound in Drone Child.
Another theme is the power of love of family. It permeates most everything Lemba does. “Family,” by the way, includes his twin sister. Josiane and Lemba protect each other and reinforce each other’s ambitions despite formidable obstacles.
Simply put, Drone Child shows how a loving and functional family can at least help children survive and thrive even in a dysfunctional society. Some important caveats! Far too many families are dysfunctional, no matter what the country. The operative word is “can”–the odds will still be scary. I don’t see strong families as a replacement for effective social programs or a peaceful society.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Right now I’m more focused on marketing Drone Child and refining the related film script. I care more about quality than about producing X number of works in a certain time.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Earlier he worked as a self-taught Internet expert in the mega-city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while his songbird sister aspired to be a rumba star. But murderous gun-worshippers chloroformed him and whisked him away. Now he must fight for the wrong side.
The crazies know exactly where his parents and dog live. The leader of his captors, the thuggish Congolese Purification Army, is a seven-foot-tall whack-job handy with AK-47s and oversized machete blades.
Drone Child: A Novel of War, Family, and Survival offers a gripping, inspirational story for mature young adults and older readers. It’s told as Lemba Adula’s war memoir looking back on his life as a child soldier and pirate some 25 years earlier in the 2020s.
Lemba isn’t just smart–he’s witty and likable, and you’ll be rooting for him and his sister to overcome the scary odds.
Drone Child contains no explicit sex or explicit drug descriptions, and the violence is no different from what would be expected in a war novel.
This revised edition of the novel, originally published as No Taller than My Gun, includes a colorful new cover and discussion questions for book clubs, libraries, and schools–prepared with help from Karen Heilman, M.Ed., and the novel’s two Congolese fact-checks and critiquers.
One was Junior Boweya, a translator, software localization expert, and businessman. The other was Jean Felix Mwema Ngandu, a former Mandela Fellow and a leading civic activist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Meaningful Stories Live Further
Lullaby of the Valley follows a grandmother that wants to heal her world from the war that is ravaging it and tearing it apart. She uses the only tool she has, her voice. What was the inspiration for your story?
There are dramatic memories involved in writing this book some years ago. I was having breakfast in my own safe kitchen, reading a newspaper about events in the Middle East. The news talked about families with children in the middle of the horror of bombings. The contrast was huge!
I looked at the picture of the little girl in the middle of ruins and read the title “Only she is left.” Tears began to flow from my eyes. I simply had to do something. Writing a children’s book about war and peace was my only means.
The experiences of older people and their memories about wartime have also influenced my story. During significant challenges, individuals have often felt small and insecure.
On the other hand, a surprising force can be found in small people when we don’t even expect it. Even the most modest individuals have grown into people who make a difference. That is encouraging for us and makes us try and dare, even if the situation seems hopeless. I wanted to highlight that, too, in my story.
The lullaby that Kaina sings is beautiful. Is this inspired by a childhood lullaby of your own?
I love music and enjoy singing. I know many beautiful lullabies, and I have been singing them to my three children when they were small. Now the tradition continues as I have grandchildren, too.
But this song came straight from my heart and imagination. I even started hearing the melody in my ears. I could record it at any time in Finnish, but the English text should be adapted to suit the tune as it doesn’t have similar rhymes, just the idea.
It’s rather strange, but I have a feeling that I heard an ethnic melody from a place where I have been only in my fantasy. I love music from all over the world from different cultures. There is always something that touches my heart deeply when I listen to old ethnic melodies. That’s why I wanted to give credit to those who continue signing old songs and passing on the tunes to new generations. With the music, the meaningful stories live further, too!
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Above all, this is a book about war and peace. I want to encourage people to believe that building peaceful coexistence in all circumstances is possible. We all have our own ways of working toward that goal. Those in power have the most efficient means to influence, but even ordinary individuals have their ways. Some of us know how to write books, some can teach children compassion and empathy to meet other people, even outside your familiar territory.
Another important theme is respect for the older generations. I have had a special relationship with my grandparents, and I have spent so many hours together with them throughout the decades. They don’t live anymore, but their stories and memories live in me and my books.
In Lullaby of the Valley, the journey of brave grandmothers in the darkness of the night encourages us all to step up and make a difference. It shows how much mothers and grandmothers are willing to do for children, even when they have grown adults.
That same love and responsibility apply to men having children as well, but they often have different ways and means of showing it. The gentle way of influencing is characteristic of me. It is often undervalued in society, but I believe in the power of the diplomacy of heart. With it, we can always do more than we could even imagine.
Instead of differences and contradictions, I always want to emphasize what we people have in common. And that’s plenty! That is also one of the main themes of the story. I always want to talk about similarities under the surface and the importance of cooperation.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
After reading this story and listening to the lullaby of the valley in their mind, I really hope that my readers will feel warmth in their hearts.
Just as the grandmothers of the story relied on the power of their own lullaby and love, I hope we all can trust that there is enough love for us to understand and respect the people beyond our own countries, towns, and valleys. It’s crucial to understand the world is full of children and families in very different circumstances, but they still have a lot in common and are sharing the same globe.
By feeling and showing love without narrow boundaries, we can make life warmer and safer for all of us – both adults and children. Respecting others despite differences in nationality, gender, culture, religion, or any other respect, is needed for peaceful coexistence.
War is one of the most challenging subjects for a children’s book, but I think we need to have the courage to talk about it even with the little ones. They will face these complex issues anyway, so it’s better to do it with some gentle guidance that helps them.
Lullaby of the Valley has been an important book for many people, and it has been accepted well in many countries. Even people working with children’s education find it useful as they must face these issues with the smallest ones, too. They need tools to help children to grow into responsible and balanced people.
I often say that we must dare to deal with even the most difficult things, but that requires an empathetic approach and a soft touch. My book is meant to be both comforting and encouraging. Even children need them both in this complex world that surrounds us. I have intended this book, Lullaby of the Valley, to sing a memorable song of love and hope to their ears.
Now, I’m singing to children of today, and they will pass the message on as they grow – I hope!
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Grandma Kaina, a wise and courageous woman, sets out on a dangerous journey to a spring located between the villages. The only thing that will calm down the outbreak of hate is the gentle weapon of grandmothers.
Education Should Come First
How to Educate Your Children in the 21st Century is a reference book for parents and educators on the challenges of raising children in today’s modern world. Why did you think this was an important book to write?
I Think, My book, ” HOW TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY” was a great book to write because of the demand that society puts on our children to have the greatest education that is possible. First So parents need to have everything in order pertaining to the birth of their child. Parents need to be responsible for food , clothing and shelter. Parents need to know if the mom will be a stay at home Mom and keep her child or put the child in a great daycare.
“HOW TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY,” is a reference book that I thought would be of great importance for parents and educators on the challenges of raising children in today’s modern society, because of changes in our home life as well as changes in our school system. Children need to grow up in a home where education is prioritized. Education should come first in our homes with children. Children should be taught basic rules and regulations at home as well as at school. Parents should see that their children are placed in the best daycares and schools. Early childhood development education is also stressed as a great educational tool for parents to get and have when raising their children.
How much research did you undertake for this book and how much time did it take to put it all together?
First, my career as an educator, which was a public school teacher supplied me with years of experience and knowledge of my book, “HOW TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY”. I had years and years of book materials that I saved to use for my book. I did use some outside material which took me about a year to do research on. Then, it took me about a year to put the book in literary form with the help of a hired publishing company. So, my answer to this question would be two years.
What is one thing that you hope reader take away from How to Educate Your Children in the 21St Century?
One thing that I hope readers take away from this book “HOWTO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY,” is that this book can serve as an educational guide for all parents with children, educators, and individual adults that want children in the future.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book that I am working on is an extension of my first book, ” HOW TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY.” This book will review the importance of education and the importance of pursuing a higher education by going to a great college or trade school. This book will explain how students’ great education in Elementary, Middle and High school will guide them through a higher education such as College or Trade School, hopefully for all students. This book will also guide students and their parents, teachers and counselors to choose the best College or Trade School for their children and students. Also the best kind of degree that a student can and will pursue will be discussed. I will also write about the preparation of getting loans and grants and the necessary steps and arrangements that have to be taken before enrollment can take place in a College or Trade School.
I hope that this information will answer most of your important questions about my next book, and that you will be patiently waiting for my next book to come out. It’s a great pleasure to help as many children, parents and students that I can help.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Straight-up Revenge
Vindictive follows a woman that discovers her past is all a lie, when she sets out to get revenge on those that used her she also becomes the hunted. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The origins of Vindictive date back to high school, when I was bullied a lot for being gay. I often fantasized about enacting elaborate revenge schemes to get back at my antagonists, but nothing ever physically materialized from those thoughts and daydreams. Still, it stoked the fire of creativity, building inside of me a desire to get my feelings of wanting payback down on paper. Writing, the path of storytelling, could be my scheme of revenge, my therapeutic way of dealing with feeling powerless. I wrote a thirty-plus-page melodrama about people getting revenge on other people for transgressions against them.
Decades later, during a house move, I discovered my hand-typed manuscript in a box and decided to finish the story. Having much more life experience, knowing myself, and possessing confidence, I was able to create a revenge story far beyond what I could have thought up at seventeen.
Jules goes through major changes in her personality the more she discovers. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
In Vindictive, I wanted to show that even an intensely unlikable character such as Jules had her reasons for why she invested so much of herself in acting cruel, vicious, and manipulative towards others, especially those who appear weaker and innocent of transgressions. Jules was not born this way; she is a creation of circumstances outside her control. Jules is intelligent, capable, ambitious, maybe more than a little self-centred, but she is not inherently cold or mean-spirited. I wanted to show how an act, or acts, of violence against someone with this kind of capability and fortitude, could push them towards a level of vindictiveness that only straight-up revenge could satiate.
Jules’s hidden depths of loyalty, friendship, and love emerge as her secrets begin to be known to others. The reader starts to understand Jules, maybe even empathize with her, and it is at this moment—a moment that will come at different times for different readers—when Jules’s humanity, her heart will be knowable. I hope that the reader will commence rooting for Jules to succeed in her quest for revenge!
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Of course, the theme that I wanted to explore predominantly in Vindictive was revenge. How far is someone willing to go to get it? What lines would they cross? Is it necessary to make someone suffer in the process of getting even, and how severe should their methods be? If innocent people get in the way, should someone alter or reassess their revenge scheme or plow through these obstacles. Is revenge at any cost valid or cruel? Does it depend on the severity of the betrayal, of the crime? Well, as it says in my book, “No form of revenge is petty; all revenge is reasonable,” but I will leave the reader to determine for themselves if it was all worth it.
Another theme that was important for me to explore was forgiveness. Can lesser evils be forgiven? And what does it take to gain access to one’s forgiveness? Are some people exempt from paying a high price for their transgressions due to feelings of love, of loyalty, or is it simply a matter of hypocrisy, unfairness or being selectively judgmental? Relationships are complex, and there are never easy answers.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next novel is tentatively titled Vengeful. It is not a sequel but a companion book to Vindictive. The storylines of both books take place over the same three days, and by the end of Vengeful, the two books will have converged into a cohesive storyline leading into my third, currently untitled novel. Many characters that take centre stage in Vindictive take a back seat in Vengeful, allowing the story to focus significantly more on the Bergé family, Stella Cartell, the mysterious bearded man, and several new and compelling characters. I am excited to include even more LGBTQ representation. I am tentatively looking at a late fall date of release for Vengeful, but nothing is concrete yet.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website
Jules Cartell has it all: wealth; beauty; a handsome, loving husband; a partnership in her father’s law firm; and the top executive position at one of Canada’s leading corporations, Cartell Worldwide. Aside from her secret, problematic desire for the married owner of the internationally renowned Château Bergé, Jules believes she and her life are pretty perfect. But the discovery of an unforgivable crime perpetrated against her family by her husband, Phillip, years before the two met sets Jules down the path of revenge. There is no option for forgiveness. Phillip has to pay. An eye for an eye.
It is said that when seeking revenge, you should dig two graves. Someone from Jules’s past, someone aggrieved by her actions, seeks vengeance for themselves. This is an enemy without compassion, without morality, without mercy. An enemy who will accept no restitution short of Jules’s death.
In the city of Fairporte, ON, secrets, lies, and betrayal can be found everywhere. As adversaries close in, will Jules get revenge before her past catches up with her? Unexpected allies may be instrumental to her success. They may also be the key to her very survival.
LITERARY TITAN 