Blog Archives
Delaware’s Wonderful Cultural Contributions
Delaware Before the Railroads: A Diamond Among the States shares the rich and fascinating history of the little state of Delaware. What made you write a book about this topic? Anything pulled from your life experiences?
Because of Delaware’s diminutive size, a lot of non-Delawareans either have a very limited view of the state or draw a blank altogether. Some think of us first for tax-free shopping. Others for our fabulous beaches. Still, others think of Delaware as the place where corporations incorporate. All of which are true. And all of which are only a sliver of the whole picture. I wanted to tell a fuller story about Delaware. I think of the First State as the mustard seed in the eponymous Biblical parable. Though in the geographic scheme of things we are tiny, from our wee 3 counties have sprung a host of influential people (a president, actors, musicians, scientists, etc), inventions (nylon, ATMs), and influences on Americana (log cabins as we know them originated here, not in the Land of Lincoln). From my own experience: I worked in NYC for a number of years and was always startled by how uninformed New Yorkers often were about Delaware heritage. It was at such odds with what I knew about the place. So this book is an attempt to give the reader an “Oh! I didn’t realize that!” moment about Delaware’s wonderful cultural contributions.
History texts sometimes will overwhelm readers with too many facts, or they are told in a sterile manner. You have managed to create an entertaining and educational book. What were some goals you set for yourself as a writer in this book?
I love that you see in my book both entertainment and educational value. It’s tricky to balance the two audiences. On the one hand, I research my topics deeply, aiming to use primary sources and come up with fresh historic interpretations of those topics. My book’s been accepted into the permanent collections of both the Delaware Public Archives and the Delaware Historical Society. So I’ve succeeded with that demanding group of historians. On the other hand, I don’t want to get bogged down in endless footnotes and citations. I want to offer up a page-turner. Many of my readers are vacationers from other places who come to the beaches in the summer. They want to be entertained on their vacation.
What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?
My 8th-grade geography teacher, Mr. Jarboe. He intuitively knew that history would be a grinding chore to middle school students if it wasn’t presented in a funny, energetic, surprising way. He was one of those storytellers whose eyes lit up the room as he unfolded his tales. Being in his presence was magical. If I can capture a fraction of his essence in my books, I’ll have honored his memory.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
That history is full of surprises!
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Overcoming Adversity
Mangrove Sands–The Enchanted Sea World: The Epic Journey follows five children with challenges who are brought together to go on an undersea adventure together. What was the inspiration for your story?
My inspiration for The Epic Journey came to me when I discovered I was going to be a first-time grandma. I wrote this book for my beautiful Australian grandson who has a Swedish heritage.
All the characters in this magical story are engaging and interesting. What was your favorite character to write for and why? Was there a scene you felt captured the character’s essence?
Every new character added to each book is interesting in their own unique way. Saige is a Swedish girl who struggles accepting her leg was amputated. My favourite scene would be when Saige has built her confidence with support from the Enchanted Seaworld and friends and overcomes her fears and declares she no longer needs her magical leg.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
There were several important educational aspects in this book such as environment and overcoming adversity. However, the most important for me was for children to be open to learn and respect other cultures.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
I am currently at the tail end of writing my fourth book of the series taking the readers and characters to the origins of the Enchanted Seaworld, a world in a fourth dimension.
Author Links: Facebook | Amazon
A young Swedish girl has recently had her leg amputated. She struggles to accept the loss of her leg and has no interest in making new friends or attempting to walk until she meets her Enchanted Sea World friends and her life is changed forever. She starts doing things she never thought possible. She shows her friends how to make Dala horses, bake Swedish buns, and join in traditional Swedish celebrations.
Mangrove Sands–The Enchanted Sea World: The Epic Journey is full of magical adventures in the Enchanted Sea World including surviving a cyclone, a pandemic, and the realm of horrors. Magical spoons, a magical sea god, a wedding, and a death will keep young minds curious and captivated.
This book is full of fun, adventure, and many magical moments. It aims to provide hope and inspiration to children around the globe and encourages children to embrace, respect, and learn about other cultures and languages. It further encourages children to exercise humility, love, and understanding to all.
Scorn as a Shield
Wings of Death follows an embittered woman who, after being gifted a scarab beetle broach, is inflicted with the curse of the pharaoh and must find a cure. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I’ve always loved mythology and ancient legends.
It was in my teens I first read of Howard Carter’s expedition in 1923 to find King Tutankhamun’s tomb. Funded by Lord Carnarvon, many of the artifacts found are on display at the present Earl’s home, which many people will know as the magnificent house used in Downton Abbey.
I was fascinated by the events that followed. Many of the people in the expedition took ill and died after either entering the tombs or handling the artifacts. This caused many people to jump to the conclusion that King Tutankhamun’s tomb was cursed.
However, this wasn’t a new idea. Many ghost stories about a mummy’s curse had been written as far back as the 17th Century.
This was the inspiration for my story.
I enjoyed the depth of the main character, Cassandra Bain. What was your process to bring that character to life?
Cassandra Bain was the most challenging character I’ve written. My idea was for Leigh to give her the scarab to replace her heart, the same as the Ancient Egyptians did when mummifying a body. The story revolved around her heartlessness and her disdain for everyone. She had to be heartless, otherwise, the main theme of the story didn’t work. However, she actually used her scorn as a shield. Her character is complex. Self-assured and disdainful to the world but, in private, crumbling inside. Her miscarriages and her failing marriage had destroyed her more than she was willing to admit.
What kind of research did you do for this novel to ensure you captured the essence of the story’s theme?
This book involved quite a lot of varied research, firstly on Howard Carter’s expedition in 1923 to find King Tutankhamun’s tomb.
Also on various poisons, bacteria, and mold.
Scarab beetles held as much importance in Egyptian religion as the cross is in Christianity. Researching this subject was vital. It was believed the scarab was born spontaneously and so became the representation of the sun. At death, when a body was mummified, the internal organs had to be removed. They were stored separately in jars, as the heart, in particular, had to be weighed by Osiris, the verdict recorded by Thoth on the Day of Judgement. In place of the heart in the mummified body, they placed a scarab.
The scarab Leigh gives Cassandra was supposed to come from the tomb of Imhotep, who was a great doctor and magician and revered as the god of healing. In the 3rd Dynasty, Imhotep was a sage to King Djoser, and a god of healing in his own lifetime. Educated by the Sumerians, he was a man of great medical knowledge and was thought to be a great magician.
Cassandra is a fashion designer, and I enjoyed researching the fashions of the 1950s. I also bring music and other factors such as movies, books, and flowers into my stories.
Wings of Death travels from Melbourne, Australia to London, Paris, Rome, and Cairo. Research had to be done about those cities in the 1950s.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book to be released on 10th September 2023 is another cosy ghost story. In fact, although the story has two ghosts in it, it isn’t scary. One ghost is a main character. It’s more of a mystery and a second-chance love story. It’s set in Australia, in Queensland, in the outback town of Charters Towers. Its title is The Cook, the Ghost, and Her Sister.
Following this, my first three books in The Thornton Mysteries are being re-released this year, all with new covers. Books four and five will follow early next year.
I have started research for another thriller, following Wings of Death. It will hopefully be ready for release in the latter half of 2024.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Amazon | Linktree
Then Leigh introduces her to Peter Trembath, a professor of Egyptology, who tells her about a pharaoh’s curse. Cassandra wonders if her scarab beetle is cursed, given that it was found in the tomb of Imhotep, a revered doctor and magician, who became known as the god of healing.
Soon afterward, Cassandra reads a headline in a London newspaper announcing the death of an Egyptologist, claiming that the curse of the pharaohs has struck again. From this moment forward, Cassandra is led through a maze of betrayal and murder.
Compelling, Beautiful, And Purposeful
Things of Little Consequence is a collection of poetry that explores the human condition and guides the readers to a new way of looking at life. What was the inspiration for the original and fascinating idea at the center of the book?
Much like what I set out to do with Raw Thoughts and Meridian, my vision for Things was to author a compelling, beautiful, and purposeful work of art. And to redefine, or at least improve upon, the generally accepted concept of a poetry book. To create something that would be found in the Mindfulness and Meditation, or even the Philosophy section of a library or bookstore. I wanted the whole of Things to be much greater than the sum of its individual parts, and for it to be philosophically different than my earlier works. It was these areas of thought that led me to focus on the metaphysical questioning of complexity versus complicatedness, and how understanding the difference between those two can lead us to better understanding concepts like reality, existence, and the human condition.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this collection of poetry?
I felt it was valuable to infuse much of the content in Things with my own experiences related to various important aspects of life. Experiences that people might relate to, crafted in a way that would lead to an answer, or at least to a question that begs an answer of the reader. I believe most answers we seek are already known to us. However, they must be illuminated or catalyzed before they are recognized. Relatable poetry that evokes both emotion and cognition can often be the light or the mechanism for that. I saw it important as well to share outright conclusions I’ve come to over the years. Some of these are evident in the shorter, aphoristic musings scattered throughout the book.
What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?
I began writing later in life—it was not until I was 45 years old that I realized I found creative writing interesting, and that I might actually be good at it. I knew I could write well, but had always felt I had no time to create anything of substance or value. Though I do have three novels under my belt, poetry was how I got started. And it was one single poem I wrote, just for fun, titled Stupid that set me on an artistic path. The poem was supposed to be both fun, and funny. It is about how everyday challenges in life can lead us to be irritated or apathetic. I showed it to a few friends, and they laughed. That was all it took—the simple fact I was able to evoke an emotion in someone led me to write more, and then more… What I came to find was the incredible spectrum of people, places, and cultures I had experienced in life was a vast collection of possible content from which to create.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Things of Little Consequence?
We should continually endeavor to truly understand ourselves and the people and world around us. I believe this effort is not as difficult as we often perceive it to be. The key is, we do not need to understand everything in life; we need only understand those elements that truly matter. But we must begin with understanding ourselves—this is important, because how we perceive our own existence and condition is our personal measuring stick for understanding everyone, and every other little thing in life…
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For many, it somehow becomes easier to adhere to the mystical, to the cryptic and the Kafkaesque when confronted with a thousand disparate pieces of life because we sense it would be impossible to comprehend the grand sum of it all, or how those pieces even interconnect. Consequently, we feel we cannot come to understand the individual parts.
John Casey’s poetic philosophy of Things suggests that we can. That life is much simpler than most perceive. The human condition is not so confusing as it seems.
Dealing With A Broken Relationship
Sleeping with a Wall Street Banker follows a couple in New York whose relationship is threatened by the man’s ex-girlfriend. What was the initial idea behind this story, and how did that transform as you were writing the novel?
Foremost, the book is based on a true story. The catalyst for this book was my own experience dealing with a broken relationship and the search to understand why and how it happened. That said, I weave real people into my characters so….my husband and the life he led were an inspiration. From Main Street to Wall Street and London, as well as adventures in between coupled with the individuals he’s encountered – good, bad and really bad transformed this story.
Jake, Alice, and Jessica are all interesting characters in their own way. What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
Yes, Jake, Alice, and Jessica are all interesting characters in their own way. I enjoyed writing for Jessica. I found it more challenging because her character is afflicted with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). The writing challenge is due to the complexity and depth of the condition. DID, previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states, each with its unique pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self. It requires a nuanced understanding of psychology to accurately portray these switching identities, which can vary in age, gender, knowledge, behaviors, and even physical characteristics. Plus, any misrepresentation runs the risk of propagating harmful stereotypes or misinformation, adding another dimension of responsibility to the task. As such, writing a character with DID demands not only extensive research and sensitivity but also literary skill to convey the character’s experiences authentically and respectfully.
Do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two? Can you summarize your writing process?
As a writer of a psychological thriller my writing style combines logical detail with intuitive understanding of human emotions. This genre demands extensive plotting, neat narrative structures, and intricate detailing, all of which lean on my logical faculties. It’s crucial for me to build suspense, introduce unexpected twists, and maintain an eerie, tense atmosphere with a solid logical foundation, ensuring the story remains plausible to keep readers engrossed.
A psychological thriller delves into the depths of the human psyche, exploring motives, hidden fears, and quiet suspicions that drive their actions. This requires an intuitive understanding of human nature, emotions, and responses under stressful situations. Intuition becomes crucial when defining character motivations and reactions, painting vivid emotional panoramas, and creating moral dilemmas that add complexity to the story.
In essence, I employ both logic and intuition, a balanced blend of rigorous plot construction with insightful peeks into character minds. The writing style usually involves precise, evocative language, intended to create an immersive atmosphere and push readers to question and speculate until the mystery unravels.
Jake Logan is an extraordinary character that I think has more stories to tell. Where does the next book in the series take him?
Mired in grief over the recent murder of his girlfriend, Alice Francis, at the hands of his psychotic ex-lover, Jessica, former Navy SEAL turned Wall Street banker Jake Logan is suddenly called back into action. While his team’s primary target is internationally known terrorist financier Asyd Omar Batdadi, a.k.a. “the Bat,” the mission soon becomes personal for Jake when he learns that Jessica — a dangerous woman with dissociative identity disorder — is wrapped up in the plot. In fact, Jake’s connection to Jessica is the very reason he has been reactivated as a SEAL.
Their efforts to capture or kill Batdadi and his associates soon take Jake and his fellow SEALs to various locations in Europe and the United States, but the wily terrorist manages to elude them at every turn. In the midst of their hunt, they learn that, with Jessica’s help, Batdadi is plotting a bold terrorist strike on American soil.
For Batdadi, his terrorist act is a form of revenge for America’s interference in the lives of his Middle Eastern brethren, a chance to put himself in the “terrorist hall of fame” alongside names like Osama Bin Laden. For Jessica, her move to help Batdadi is the ultimate form of payback against the journalists whom she holds responsible for ruining her life and her future with Jake.
Battling a ticking clock, international criminal masterminds, and his own grief, Jake strives to transform his troubled relationship with Jessica from a liability into an asset, his only hope of saving thousands of innocent lives — not to mention his soul.
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I Freed Myself From Everything
Places We Left Behind shares your experiences of making a marriage work despite differences in culture and religion and even identifying where ‘home’ is. Why was this an important book for you to write?
When I was little, I remember my parents casting judgment on close friends after she left her husband and their two sons circa 1973. I remember my mother tsk, tsking that you never know what goes on behind closed doors.
Twenty-something years later, behind our doors, my husband and I flirted—and fought—about core issues: country and religion. For years, I thought our struggles were more intense and our issues more divisive than other marriages in my midst. Sure, I didn’t know what went on behind anyone else’s doors, but I envied friends who grew up in the same community/culture/country or who shared the same religious views/practices as their spouses.
While growing our family, we moved in search of home. Every time we met new people, I sensed an inability for them to digest our backstories: where we were born, how we met, why we had such a hard time planting roots. No matter how many times I shared the facts, I felt misunderstood or invisible, similar to how I felt in my family life.
Writing our story was my way of validating it—us—and why we stayed together despite our differences. It was also my way of trying to make sense of the choices we made, the deals we struck, the crossroads we reached. And in so doing, it reminded me of everything on my imaginary list of what I wanted in a life partner. Of love.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
How crucial it is to stay awake and not become complacent in a relationship. How important it is to understand the meaning of compromise in a couple/family. How imperative it is to be open to change.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
The lowest of our marital low points, the sleeping back-to-back in a bed of anger, the uttering of ugly thoughts, the acknowledgement of selfish and self-centered feelings. The chapters that made me teary not during the writing as much as while rereading and editing: 4 : 1, Truth or Lie? Heavy, Back in White Plains, Slay.
I understood that the only way to write this story was to turn the camera on myself, to reveal my underbelly. To stop pointing a finger at my husband and to accept the part I’d played in our marriage. And nothing about that was easy.
Writing in untraditional prose felt necessary; at times and ironically, the words did not suffice. By pushing conventional boundaries, I freed myself from everything that had encaged me, namely the role of Good Jewish Daughter/Wife/Mother (and Jewish Guilt). Long, long overdue.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your story?
The importance of following your heart while maintaining a sense of self in a relationship. When I agreed to practice my inherited religion Philippe’s way, I let go of and lost myself.
On the writing front, the importance of playing on the page, which is both freeing and cleansing.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Instagram
When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn’t perfect.
Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she’s a secular tourist, he’s an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home.
In Places We Left Behind, Jennifer puts her marriage under a microscope, examining commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines.
She Discovers A New Life
Taken follows a widow from the twenty-first century who is transported back in time to 1756 and held hostage while falling in love with a British soldier. What was the inspiration for your story?
The inspiration for my story began well over two decades ago when my sister and I had newly graduated from college. She and I had always had a strong affinity for history. While she loved British history, I loved American history, and we both fantasized about being time travelers to experience those histories because we loved learning about all that had taken place within those particular eras.
As children, our parents loved traveling with us throughout the country visiting historic locations, which inspired our imaginations growing up. And, while growing up loving period dramas depicted on TV and in movies, we read many classics written by authors from the American Transcendental Period and British Romantic Period. During the same time, she and I were also introduced to historical romance novels as teenagers, which I loved and devoured.
Being fond of the romance genre, it wasn’t until a few years later after college when I became inspired to write about a young widow who was transformed from her sorrowful experience after traveling through time, where she discovers a new life and embarks on a journey of new found love. I also chose New England as the setting for my story, because I’m familiar with the area and have a deep affection for it after having gone to school in western Massachusetts.
Was the character’s backstory something you always had, or did it develop as you were writing?
Although I outlined my story, my story also began developing organically as I was writing the character and scenes. As a result, the character’s backstory emerged like many other scenes in the story which took on a life of their own.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
One theme that I felt was important to explore was the idea of overcoming loss in life and discovering new hope in choosing to experience what life has to offer after all. Another theme that I felt equally important to explore was that love heals and when it’s mutually found and accepted, love cannot be broken and transcends all that was ever known as it brings forth the true sense of happiness.
Can you tell us more about where the story and characters go after book one?
This is a fun question! And, while I hope not to spoil what comes next after book one, I will start by saying that book one establishes the foundation of the characters’ relationship as they encounter each other under trying circumstances. After book one, the characters continue to grow as they learn more deeply about each other. They continue to experience trying circumstances which will threaten their security and the love that they share for each other as the French and Indian War progresses within their midst. Their new trials will determine the strength of their bond to each other as they also confront their differences as it relates to their unique life experiences. As it is a romance, despite their tribulations, the love they share for each other triumphs against all odds as the saga continues.
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Matt was my husband. I was supposed to be with him for the rest of my life when the accident happened and took him away from me. I wouldn’t love anyone else. I believed.
Until, I meet Leif. He tells me to trust him and to take my chance with him.
Except, I’m his hostage. Not only am I his hostage, but time is holding me captive too, and I’m suddenly trapped in a world that is not mine. The year is 1756, and I am strangely in Massachusetts Bay Colony. War between Great Britain and France explodes across New England, and terrorizes the territory.
I don’t know how I got here, and all I want to do is find a way home. But, the more time I’m stranded here, the more I spend time with Leif, and I am compelled toward him.
Our lives are becoming inextricably entwined, and I’m afraid of losing everything that I once knew and loved.
I begin questioning where I truly belong as I think of the life I left behind.
I wonder if I’m going to withstand this, because all I know for certain is he is bound to my survival… and to the truth of why I’m here.
*If you enjoyed the suspense and mystery in books like Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, you will love this thrilling historical romance!
*The first book in the Taken series by E. C. Roderick featuring a rich, romantic adventure of a strange twist of fate that binds a British soldier fighting in the French and Indian War and a young American woman from the twenty-first century.
Gamble Their Lives
The detailed world-building in ‘Down Below Beyond’ is one of its standout features. Can you share your process or techniques for creating such an intricate and immersive setting?
Down Below Beyond was a new playground for me to explore. I wanted to give myself more room to be creative, so instead of staying locked to one planet like in the Song of Kamaria, I conjured up Lodespace, a network of unique planets connected by the Fessenog Fleet’s trade empire. To get ideas for each planet, I looked at a lot of unique geological formations and biomes here on Earth, and amplified what I thought was interesting about them. From there, I thought about what sort of lifeform would live in such a place, and my alien races were all born. So a planet like Dintupp was a high gravity world with sharp peaked mountains. The kind of creatures that would live there would need to be tough and fit into various crag-shaped dwellings, and immediately I thought of crabs. The Dintuppans are crab-like and gorilla like, tough, huge, and perfectly suited for their environment. Just for one example.
Levort Aatra is a compelling character. How did you go about developing his persona and what or who were your influences in crafting his character?
Levort was born out of the needs for the plot at first. I knew I wanted to make a story about two friends who get their hands on a device that can take them anywhere, so Levort became the character who would need that the most. He was a scrap kid used by the Fessenog Fleet to sort through junk picked up on Tayoxe for anything useful. He’s locked to Tayoxe and the Fleet, unable to move through the giant portals that exist there. His parents had sold him to the sorting facility, and I pictured them as sort of mean people. Levort’s name comes from that, his name is a little ugly in it’s full display, but it can be shortened into something sweet like Lev (or uglier, like “Vort”, as Floem teases him often.) The idea of making him a prospector was heavily influenced by Gateway by Frederick Pohl. I had read that book recently and loved it, and the idea of having characters gamble their lives for a good score inspired me, although I took it in a very different direction.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
At the moment, I am focusing entirely on publishing Down Below Beyond, so nothing in the pipeline yet! I have a few ideas for spin-offs or other one-offs in Lodespace. I want to use this playground I built more. I always wait for the right idea to find me before I go full force into it. I need my books to be very different from each other because I don’t like to retread ground. So all I can say is, stay tuned!
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DOWN BELOW BEYOND is a stand-alone sprawling sci-fi fantasy adventure filled with aliens, planets, and portals set in a universe crafted by T. A. Bruno, author of the award-winning Song of Kamaria trilogy.
LITERARY TITAN 