Blog Archives
The Given Trilogy
The Guardian follows Lilliana into the outside world where she must fight for justice to protect her loved ones. What was the inspiration for the setup to the trilogy finale?
The inspiration for the set up of the finale, was simply to create an explosive read! I wanted the readers of The Given Trilogy, to sit back, after that last page had been turned, and process the entire journey they had just taken.
Did you plan Lilliana’s character arc through the series, or did it develop in unexpected organic ways as you wrote?
My writing is organic, and my characters development throughout, is the same. Lilliana told me where she wanted to go, and I showed her how to get there. It was exciting seeing where the entire Trilogy went, and how the characters arrived at their final destination. I truly had too much fun writing these novels…and at one stage, sat throughout a nineteen hour writing stint, because I could not stop. That is joy.
What has been the most surprising reader reaction to your series so far?
A Ninety year old tell me… “That was the most exciting, thrilling trilogy I have ever read,” – Thank you Liz Hicklin. Xx)
A seventy year old tell me… “I almost reached for the Valium reading your Trilogy,” – Thank you Patricia Lovell. Xx)
A 40 year old tell me… “Best Trilogy I have ever read,” – Thank you Sally Taylor. Xx
Do you plan to continue this story in other novels, or are you working on something different?
The Given Trilogy’s characters were loved and celebrated by so many, and I have had some keen readers beg me to weave more of their adventures into additional novels. And, I love making my readers happy, so that is bound to happen down the track.
But, for the time being, I am working on the, Victoria Collection. A series of novels, set in my home state of Victoria, in the beautiful Land Down Under – Australia. In this collection I am celebrating some of my favourite towns.
Book one of the Victoria Collection is, Soul Keepers of Glenormiston South, and will be launching in November 2021.
This is my first attempt at a paranormal romance which has ecological messages as I advocate for Mother Earth.
Book two is set in Noorat. Title: Obsidian Souls.
Book three is set in Inglewood. Title: A Chilling Summer in Inglewood.
Book Four is set in Frankston. Title: Sweet Water Creek.
So, lots of exciting projects ahead, as I get ready to launch an upcoming Anthology, titled, The Colours of Me, with Co-author, Kez Wickham St George.
This anthology includes eighteen women around our globe, and will bring the reader on a soul-fuelled journey that will leave a comforting mark on their heart. I’m proud to say, 100% of profits go to the ‘The Carers Foundation’ – Australia. More projects churn in my head every day, as I’m halfway through completing my Cert IV in Mental Health, and juggle a family and life during the Covid Pandemic. Wishing all peaceful days ahead, and in those times of stress – reach for a book. It always helps to escape amongst the pages of someone else’s journey. Xx Mickey
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After spending a decade within the walls of her safe haven, The Given, Lilliana Night must flee her home at the facility and re-enter the outside world once again in her fight for justice and to protect the one she loves.
Lilliana has no choice but to leave behind all she knows-and the man she loves-in order to do her part to eradicate one of the world’s most vilest of criminals’.
Will her self-sacrifice for the greater good allow her to return home to her loved ones? Or will the evil that still walks the Earth be her ultimate undoing?
Decency dances on a dangerous stage with depravity and the results could be explosive.
Mickey has previously published The Given and Dark Angel, Books One and Two of The Given trilogy and is now launching The Guardian. The trilogy will be released in a box set, in the not too distant future.
Spinning Sordid ‘What If’ Scenarios
Crossover follows a woman who is haunted by a ghost and must find a way to exorcise the creature if she will ever have a chance at a happy life. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I have a shaded past, much like Karlee. I was adopted too. Unlike Karlee, I am still in the dark about my biological heritage. The scenarios in the book, CROSSOVER, stemmed from me asking questions and spinning sordid ‘what if’ scenarios.
Karlee is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Karlee’s character is all about leniency and tolerance. Initially, she perceives herself as well adjusted and stable, and when her life crumbles all around her, she rallies, picks herself up, and forges brand new connections.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The common theme that tends to run through every book is the importance of family. Karlee is on a journey of self-discovery; a quest that makes her realize family is not all about DNA.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The second book in the Cross Your Heart and Die series is DOUBLE CROSS released on August 2nd. The third book in the series, CROSSBONES, will be released this fall. CROSSOVER was set in present day and each subsequent book is a prequel and travels back in time.
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A severe storm brings Cole Maxwell, the commitment-challenged landlord living in the marina, off the water and inside. He and Karlee share their accommodation while repairs are completed on his boat. Cole’s interest in Karlee makes him hyper-vigilant, and it doesn’t take long before he discovers the ghost.
The more Karlee learns about the ghost’s background, the less certain she is of her own. She’ll have to trust her instincts to find everyone a peaceful ever after…if she can exorcise the dark creature manipulating them all.
Expressing My Extreme Disappointment
The Broken Promise of a Promised Land delivers scathing commentary on contemporary society. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I am 81 years of age: and I don’t want to depart from this woebegone world without at least expressing my extreme disappointment, if not utter disgust, with the hypocritical double standards of western nations — including the US and its ethnic cleansing Apartheid “overlord” Israel — who over the past five centuries have dominated world politics with realpolitik foreign policies — politics based on practical situations and needs, rather than on moral principles or ideas — so that they can exploit everything and violate basic principles of law to achieve their political and economic objectives. Western nations have repeatedly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity on every continent in order to achieve their mercenary and often xenophobic objectives.
What kind of research did you undertake to complete this book?
Apart from the personal experience of growing up in various African and Middle Eastern countries — due to my parents living and working overseas — and witnessing how the indigenous populations were regarded and treated by so-called civilised European settlers — I first began serious research at the Toronto Reference Library in 1970 while living in that city and wanting to learn about the role played by religion in the historic persecution of human beings in “God’s Name.”
What were some key ideas that were important for you to explore in this book?
All such ideas were based on the fact that that the concept of “human rights” cannot be either “conditional” or “selective” and will never become a universal reality unless applied to everyone, and by everyone, including those claiming to have been chosen by “God Himself.”
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
That the ideals and rights they demand for ourselves, will never materialise so long as they stand by and do nothing while others are being denied those same ideals and rights.
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– International Jewish anti-Zionist Network Charter
. . .Palestinian dispossession and occupation are by design. Zionism has meant profound trauma for generations, systematically separating Palestinians from their homes, land, and each other. Zionism, in practice, has resulted in massacres of Palestinian people, ancient villages and olive groves destroyed, families who live just a mile away from each other separated by checkpoints and walls, and children holding onto the keys of the homes from which their grandparents were forcibly exiled . . .
– Jewish Voice for Peace in its “Approach to Zionism”
What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints . . .
– Uri Avnery, former Zionist Irgun paramilitary member
An Explosive Read
Eli Pope Author Interview
The Glass House dives deeper into Billy’s psyche where vengeance now motivates his actions. What are some sources that informed this novels development?
With the basic layout of how I wanted this story to progress and layout, the sources were what I was hoping lay deep in the readers psyche also. We all usually want either the bad guy to redeem himself in some way that lets us know we weren’t fooled by him all along, we saw some qualities that may just turn him. I wanted the reader to keep diving back in and out of seeing him as a bobber floating at the waters surface, constantly pulled under against his will and then released for air and the possibility of losing the devil inside him. There comes a point though, when the line that is drawn in the sand becomes too muddled and stirred so much there is no way sort out what is good from what is mostly bad. Billy Jay’s façade had to break and break big. I think he even was coming to the point he hated himself and was realizing his judgment was really looking in the mirror at himself. He hated what he saw and lashed out.
What were some new aspects of Billy’s character that were important for you to explore in this book?
That there is a point of almost no return. When things begin collapsing around him, he starts to understand he has crossed lines he can never uncross. I wanted to show that yes, he is human, he had a horrible upbringing without love, but one cannot use even a background as such, to continue justifying manic and crazy fits of rage that lead to murder and torturous aspects. Ethan is showing signs of the same path but from opposites spectrums of social and economical backgrounds.
What scene in the book was the most fun to write?
Actually, there are a couple. I did really enjoy the scenes in lockup where Darrell and Jay were forced to share a close area. It was fun twisting the reader one more time into despising Jay for his taunting of Darrell. The other scene is Ethan in Springfield, MO. A man who has designed his path in life to enjoy his wants and desires to their fullest at even his best friend’s expense. He has everything now that he has craved and spent so much time building—and he is foolish enough to go for the easy thrill and lose everything. He thinks he is infallible.
This is book three in The Mason Jar Series. What can readers expect in book four?
Book four carries a different tone from the onset. There is a new character who will either be involved in this series through it’s continued run, or, possibly a series of their own that runs parallel to The Mason Jar. There is of course far more twists and turns as things become revealed more and more in the main characters and side character plots. I hate to give anything away, but I do hope some readers find enjoyment in some danglers for books I call, 4.5 (a novella) that is a surprise book that appears to be written and published by the new character. It’s from the outside looking in prospective of Billy Jay Cader, and book 5 which promises to bring things closer to a close. I can’t say I’m done with the series at that point, because my head is still spinning developments I think the reader will enjoy and be shocked. I however, do not want this series to fizzle away from repeat twists or things that leave a reader unprovoked. I want to end this with the reader feeling their time was well spent and maybe still hungry for more at some point later on. Please stay tuned for now, though. The ride isn’t over just yet!
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Real Magic Isn’t That Simple
A Spell of Rowans follows a family who must deal with the dangerous aftermath of their mother’s death while carrying the scars of their childhood. What were some sources that informed this novel’s development?
Unfortunately, I grew up in a home where physical abuse of my brothers by my father was the norm. While none of my experiences are to the extreme seen in this story, I think the scenes in the book feel very real because of drawing upon that background. I also come from a large family with three brothers and a sister, so writing about sibling experiences, the guilt and shame (“survivor guilt”) is something I know firsthand.
The character of Liam, who presents as learning disabled in the story, is from my experiences of having two grown sons, both with ADHD. My oldest had many problems in public school because of the administration not understanding how to handle his learning disability. I’ve worked with doctors, teachers, principals, and counselors to get my kids’ help, and have experienced the frustration of trying to navigate a system that is simply out-of-date with what we know now about how kids learn.
I’ve also donated my time to several non-profits that are about early childhood development and working towards child abuse prevention.
On a completely different note, I’ve worked as a reporter covering government meetings, schools, and crime, so have lived in a lot of small towns, exactly like Grimsby. The streets, the police force, and the history of Grimsby are pulled from these life experiences.
What were some ideas that were important for you to personify in your characters?
It was really important to me for the sibling connection between Phillipa (the oldest), Victoria (our protagonist), and Liam (the youngest “baby” of the family) to feel real. I wanted their interaction to be something the reader would go “oh yeah, that’s exactly how my siblings would act.” Their connection to each other, almost knowing what the other needs, but also being defensive about past events, was really important to me to get right.
Phillipa, as the oldest, was the one who broke away first, and is successful, but at what cost to herself? Victoria, perhaps has the most realistic perspective of both parents. She is caught between guilt for leaving, but also knowing that she had no other choice but to save herself. Liam, the one left behind, is the least functional adult (as we classify it), and has his lack of self-worth and self-destructive traits to deal with.
Despite all of their differences, all three still feel a strong family bond.
How did you balance magic and its use throughout the story to keep it believable?
A Spell of Rowans is in a contemporary setting and I knew I wanted the magic to be something they could use every day, but not be a cure-all, miracle worker.
I did not want the magic to be something you would see in a television series like Charmed or Sabrina. As I keep telling my husband, there will be no “wave the magic wand and the cupcakes dance.” Magic was going to be gritty and problematic, but for the characters who had it and the ones who loved them.
Phillipa has a talent for making people immediately like her – charisma. Something you see in some television and movie star actors. She has leveraged this to make a successful career as a realtor.
Meanwhile, Victoria, as an empath, can sense other people’s emotions. As a character, I wanted to showcase someone who could know another person from the inside-out, but was also rather oblivious to her own emotions. I wanted to write about an empath that, maybe because of her knowledge, had to fight against getting involved with people in order to save her own sanity.
Liam’s psychometry, the ability to read objects, not only makes him appear strange to outsiders, but was the talent most twisted to evil purposes by his mother.
I wanted the magic to be something that was used every day and was an essential part of the personality of each character.
Magic also had to have strict limits and not be something that solved the character’s problems or revealed the mystery.
This is a pet peeve of mine, when magic acts as the deux de machina. I also call this issue the K-9 problem from the robotic dog in Doctor Who that always came in at the last minute to save everyone from the corner the writer had painted them into.
At one point in the story (no spoiler!), a spell to reveal their mother’s killer doesn’t go as expected. Real magic isn’t that simple and never will be.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I’ve got several projects in the works right now. One is the last book in my College Fae series called Storm of Songs. This will wrap up the story about my fae dryad attending an European university alongside human students. I hope to have that out in 2022, but it is still very much in the first draft stage.
I’m also working on a new series about a lady detective where the heroine is a Ghost-Talker, someone who can speak with the dead. It will be high fantasy, set in a mythical land similar to the early 1900’s Europe.
The best way to know about my projects is to join my newsletter https://byrdnash.com/wp_quiz/what-reader/ (you also get a free book!). Or join the private Fan group I have on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/261465228565349/ as I announce a lot of projects under development and time schedules there. Also, those followers get the first chance to be a Beta readers or ARCS of my books.
Free books, behind-the-scenes, and new reads at ByrdNash.com
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Victoria, whose empathic talent reads hidden feelings. Phillipa, with a glamour that bewitches. Liam, who can touch an object to reveal its past.
All are in danger.
Their narcissistic mother, Rachel Rowan, sniffed out secrets and she used her antique shop, Rosemary Thyme, to torment the residents of Grimsby.
But with her death and the murder of her assistant, Vic must discover the truth before the past destroys what remains of her family.
And that hometown boy she dumped way back? He’s in Grimsby and knows the truth about her.
With their magical talents twisted by a traumatic past, the Rowan siblings must face the deadly fallout of blackmail, murder, and magic in this emotional page-turner.
NOTE Trigger warnings for discussion of child abuse and trauma, with one assault scene, and some cursing.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
An Important Message For Children
A Stranger in the Clearing follows a golden retriever that discovers a unique deer hiding in the woods and they both realize there is more to the deer than meets the eye. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
My inspiration came while I was driving down the road one evening, I saw what I thought was a goat playing in the field with a group of deer. I almost ran off the road watching it. I quickly looked it up when I got home and found that it was a piebald deer. I wondered what it must be like to be a spotted white deer out in the woods, being so different and visible. I had started writing stories for my students to help them understand science terminology, and knew that writing about Pi, in terms of mutation and adaptation, would help them remember the vocabulary. The surprise was the natural moral lesson that came out in the writing process. The lesson that it’s not the color of your skin that makes you special, but your actions to do something for others that makes you the most prized animal in your community.
The art in the book is vivid and colorful. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Marcela Werkema?
Marcela is AMAZING. She lives in Brazil, and considering the language and environmental differences, it’s simply incredible what she has done with my illustration suggestions. The idea behind the book was to draw the reader in with 3-D like illustrations that popped off the page. As an animator she realized that my request was also important because books now compete with technology, and today’s children what fast moving literature.
She is so talented, learning what all the animals looked like from photos I sent and suggestions I made. Parents quickly buy the book once they turn the pages and see the stunning artwork.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
There is not doubt that the main theme focuses on “loving yourself” and “doing something good for others.” I believe this is an important message for children to learn at an early age so that it gets embedded into their psyche. In this volatile world where parents are not able to guide their child throughout their day to make good choices, it helps the child to be reminded through good literature what to do. This book couldn’t have come out at a better time in this tumultuous world.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Thank you for asking! My next book is currently at the publisher and it’s called A New Home For Grayce. The story is about Grayce the Groundhog who keeps getting displaced by humans as they develop roads, homes and golf courses. Like so many children today, especially foster children and military children, they must move to new homes more than most. So I wanted to show these children that even though they may have to move a lot, they will always find friends if they put themselves out there. And one day, they just might find their forever home. What is so exciting about this new book is the illustrator. Chad Thompson worked as an animator for Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios in the movies Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. He graciously stepped in for Mercela Werkema when Covid hit Brazil so hard. It is amazing how he has captured Mercela’s style of illustrations while incorporating his own to make A New Home for Grayce just as special as the first two books in the In the Woods Series. The book will be out this holiday season.
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Reflect On The Traumas
Nothing to Get Nostalgic About follows a man whos haunted past catches up to him and threatens his family. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
My father passed away in 2014 after being diagnosed a year prior with esophageal cancer. We had a VERY contentious and toxic relationship. He was a very abusive person. Our last phone call the evening before he died, instead of telling him how much he hurt me and how angry I was I started sobbing and told him I loved him. He called me the f-word and told me to call my mother. 2017 my oldest son was born, and when I realized I was going to be both a father and a father to a son…I couldn’t help but reflect on the traumas of my childhood and the abuse I endured from my father. There was one day when I was showering and I had my oldest in a high chair in the bathroom. When I exited the shower he had this look on his face like he had just seen a ghost or some kind of spectral tormentor. At the time I had become VERY superstitious and overzealous about protecting my son from both the physical and spiritual dangers in life. I feared that maybe what my son saw was my father…it scared the crap out of me and strangely I started writing the crib scene based on this vulnerability I felt wanting to protect my future from my past.
Charlie is an interesting and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Charlie is me. Charlie was a character that manifested from my childhood memories and traumas. I wanted to write a book about the abuse I endured and the abuse a lot of my friends endured as children. In the 90s, we didn’t have smartphones or social media and most of our parents worked multiple jobs to keep the electricity on. If we came home off the bus or walked home from school, a lot of us walked into empty homes with nothing but a television and a full liquor cabinet that many abused. I wanted to explore the world I grew up in and how it cultivated a generation of latchkey kids who were discovering life vicariously through what was on television or through their parents’ behavior and neglect. If any of these characters resonate with readers, it’s because they were intended to be reflections of ourselves, friends we had, our people we knew. Misfits, and very scared young people trying to make sense of a world that made no damn sense.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I really wanted to remove the rose colored lenses of the 90s in the sense that people get really obsessed with the pop culture of that era and deify a lot of the most prominent figures of that time period. The 90s I remember (while very fun, I was a kid) was very confusing and disturbing. Divorce rates reached staggering heights, and it wasn’t uncommon to hear macabre tales about kids being sent to gay conversion camps or winding up as fodder in custody trials. There are a staggering number of people who think that’s Kurt Cobain’s ubiquity in his fleeting four years as a generation’s spokesperson define that entire decade…but I grew up in the post 90s right after this man committed suicide and ending with Columbine and Woodstock 99. There was this very decadent, contentious, and polarizing feeling and it didn’t reflect the wistful ideologies that nostalgia projects onto younger generations.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
At the beginning of the summer I finished a manuscript for a novel that I’m very excited about, but haven’t found representation for it yet. While enduring the tedium of trying to find an agent or a publisher with any interest I also finished my first poetry manuscript which I’m very proud of. I’ve mostly been trying to enter those into contests and querying agents about those projects. Recently I’ve started prepping for another novel and another poetry manuscript. I submit my poems a lot. So, I’m trying to come up with as much material as I can to hopefully catch the right pair of eyes.
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What She Wanted Out of Life
Rose Through Time follows a woman who is transported back to the Regency era where she is at the mercy of the handsome owner of the Hawthorne estate. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I’ve always loved time-travel novels like Outlander, and I grew up reading the books by Jane Austen or other classics like Jane Eyre. Rose Through Time and its ongoing world was my chance to combine the two.
Rose is an intriguing character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
I wanted a character that was both strong and sensitive. In the beginning of the novel I wanted her to really question who she was and what she wanted out of life; questions that came up because of her break-up and the loss of her grandmother. My goal throughout the story was to see her buck against change when it first arrives but have her grow along the way until she isn’t afraid any longer to accept what she wants and deserves.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
One of the major themes in Rose Through Time is Loss; From Rose losing her grandmother to the loss of her relationship. This same theme also plays a role with the other characters. John and Beth have lost their parent’s and William deals with the loss of his lover. Other themes that also come up are friendship and love.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
William Through Time, a semi-stand alone in the A Magical Bookshop Novel series, is coming out early 2022. William Through Time follows William Chambers, a recurring character in Rose Through Time, as he deals with the loss of his lover James during the Napoleonic wars. Spurred by a letter from his friend John, William returns to Hawthorne. There he meets Austin, a man who just like his friend’s wife Rose has traveled from the future. William wrestles with feelings of guilt, nightmares about his military service, and strict Regency Era society rules as he becomes more and more intrigued by the strange and modern young man. Will love slip through his hands once more or can he hold on to it?
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Still grieving, Rose Hart takes on the difficult task of packing up her grandmother’s home. There she stumbles upon a mysterious book with her late grandmother’s name which proves to be the first key in an unraveling mystery that leads her to a strange bookshop and catapults her from her modern day life in the Southwest of the U.S.A to a small town called Westbridge in Regency Era England.
Suddenly Rose finds herself a stranger in a foreign time and place. A guest at the mercy of the handsome John Easton, the wealthy owner of the Hawthorne estate, and his sister Beth. She meets the scheming Mrs. Ashbrook and befriends John’s friend William, a troubled but charming military man just returned from the war in France. Rose finds herself living the life of adventure she always dreamed of filled with intrigue, danger, and perhaps love. Just one question remains; will she stay or will she go?
Perfect for fans of time-travel and enemies to lovers romance.
LITERARY TITAN 