After all, given the title—It Was His House that Killed Him (with a subtitle: Stories with a Twist)—I wasn’t sure if this would be a gory, gruesome compilation of tales or some version of the scene from The Wizard of Oz when the house fell on the wicked witch.

After reading all nine stories, I can tell you that neither was the case. Instead, each one was a carefully thought-out and imaginative exploration of odd people and even odder circumstances, with the unexpected waiting around each corner to surprise the reader.

It Was His House that Killed Him takes the readers on a twisting turning road, from death to near-death to past death, from the opportunity to do the right thing (the way you were taught as a child) to the decision to do the wrong thing (albeit with a candy bar offering as an appeasement to the gods), and all the other recountings of things that could go wrong, did go wrong, and perhaps might not go wrong if the right choice is made.

If I may suggest a way to read this collection, I would say to choose a story whose title intrigues you, read it, and then sit with it after you are done. Then, in a little while, read another until you have finally finished all of them. Then, perhaps, go back and start afresh, looking for hints of what is to come and reasons why the characters do what they do. It Was His House that Killed Him will not disappoint you.

Captivating and compelling, enigmatic yet entertaining, these short stories will capture your attention and stay with you long after the book is closed.

For more about Silke and her books, visit her website, subscribe to her YouTube channel, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

The post My Thoughts on… It Was His House that Killed Him by Silke Chambers appeared first on Focus on Fiction.

I met Kathryn Barnett via Threads and welcomed having the chance to help support her as she shares her books both at home and across the world.

A bit about Kathryn… She lives in Hampshire, England and writes thought-provoking historical fiction concentrating at present on the twentieth century. She is a qualified homeopath and caregiver to her mum. When she is not writing, she enjoys long walks by the sea and in nature. Call of the Nightingale is available now, and she has a new novel, Cages of the Heart, a World War One fiction, that is being released this summer.

For anyone who would like to learn more about her book and future work, please do check out her website and the following links: Facebook, Instagram, Threads and TikTok.

Relating Historical Fiction to Current Events
by Kathryn Barnett

The similarities between the time periods of my historical fiction, The Call of the Nightingale, that is set between 1950s-1970s Iran, will be discussed in this blog and how my novel relates to current cultural issues in the country now.

Firstly, as a disclaimer, I would like to say my novel is a work of fiction and as such shouldn’t stand as an authoritative text on modern Iranian history or its culture. That being said, as I thought about the above question, a lot of similarities between the two time periods came to mind, making me wonder if history as a whole is very much a living force and not as set in stone as I first thought.

The first similarity that came to mind was around the issue of social justice and the economy. Many Iranians and expats alike struggled financially before the revolution due perhaps to the cost of rental properties, particularly in Tehran. What seems to stand out now is a reflection of the feelings of frustration amongst the citizens after living under forty-seven years of the Islamic Republic.

Women have always been at the heart of cultural life in Iran, playing an active role in the revolution by openly protesting about many issues affecting their daily lives, including compulsory veiling which is still ongoing. It was why I placed Alice and her daughters in my novel at the centre of the 1978 protests in Tehran, which I believe worked well for the escalating plot of my book.

The subject of government and rule in Iran is still ongoing now and includes the issue of faith and cultural identity that varies across the country. I kept Alice as a Christian in my novel, but her children openly explore the idea of faith and spirituality within my book that I felt was important to explore to bring to attention the multicultural aspect of the country.

American influence in the country was strong then and now with the current ongoing conflict in the Middle-East. Having Alice as a British woman, helped I believe for readers to see the outside point of view within the story and the natural confusion that arose as the revolution intensified and a decision about hers and her family’s future had to be made.

As always, truth and myth merge in history, and actual figures on the cost of life are hard to pin down even now in Iran with the advent of the internet. This only, I believe, fuels our curiosity about an often misunderstood country which made for interesting writing in the Call of the Nightingale that is available to buy in hardback, paperback and E-book on Amazon now.

My thanks to Nancy for inviting me to be her guest blogger.

The post Relating Historical Fiction to Current Events: Guest Post by Kathryn Barnett appeared first on Focus on Fiction.

To be accurate, they are not technically a series, with the same characters appearing in each one, primarily because I didn’t think I could write a series, and was afraid if I tried, I would get tired of the main characters fairly quickly.

I think of the Midlife Moxie Novel Series (because that’s what I call the novels collectively) more as a group or category, like when you go to the grocery store to purchase several kinds of flour for your pantry. Bread flour, white flour, cake flour, pastry flour, rice or almond flour—each one is different with elements unique to each and yet they all fall under that broad category of grain products.

Food as a Key Component

And this analogy brings up the first commonality (a not-surprising one to anyone who knows me well): the presence of food in each story. Not just as something the characters are eating but almost as a character in itself, or, at the very least, a hint as to the woman’s personality or weakness.

In REINVENTING RITA, baking was not only an activity that Rita enjoyed but as the story progressed, something that gave her the opportunity to become more than what she was.

In FINDING FRAN, chocolate and coffee (my two personal favorites) were Fran’s drugs of choice: what she relied on when she struggled with writing and life in general.

With MOVING MAGGIE, it was more subtle, since cooking and baking were not exactly tasks that she like doing, preferring takeout after a long day at work. But several key moments in the story—I’m thinking of the shared meals with both her former boyfriend from her college years and the man who became her landlord along with Thanksgiving dinner with her new “found family”—show how much her life has changed since her move to Eden.

Finally, in TRANSFORMING TESSA, Tessa’s inability to make nutritious meals for herself and instead settle for cold cereal after her husband’s death is a metaphor for the emotional nourishment she can’t provide for herself. And when she forms an unexpected friendship with Frankie and later spends an afternoon at Frankie’s condo enjoying one of her Jamaican family recipes, it’s less about learning about a new cuisine and more about being emotionally fed.

I’m not exactly sure where food will fit in my current WIP, INVESTING IN IRIS, except that her English heritage shows up in her preference for tea instead of coffee. But, since I’m only a little more than a third of the way through the first draft of the manuscript, there’s plenty of time for it to surface!

The “Found Family” Aspect

I hadn’t even realized this was a trope until I started researching keywords for TRANSFORMING TESSA to add to the ones I already had. But it describes exactly an important element in each novel.

In one way or another, each main character finds herself alone and isolated. With her college-aged son planning a new life, divorced Rita has to let go of her old one as a woman whose existence revolved around her son and figure out who she will be and what she can do in this next phase of her life.

Fran’s choice of career as a romance novelist means she spends vast quantities of time alone working on her next book while promoting the current one—something I can identify with! And her live-in lover spends more time away from her than with her. (The reason for his frequent absences becomes clear in the beginning of the book.)

Maggie has lost her job due to a company buyout—never a good thing for anyone and certainly not for a 60-year-old woman! And this is on the heels of her husband asking for a divorce because he has found a new lover. It doesn’t help that she has spent the majority of her adult life focusing on her career, which is now up in smoke.

As for Tessa, the death of her beloved husband and a subsequent conflict with her daughter leaves her grieving all the losses she is dealing with and unable to figure out what to do or what life has in store for her that doesn’t involve pain and sorrow.

And a year after her retirement from a teaching career she loved, Iris finds herself no longer feeling the sense of fulfillment she had from her profession. She still has the desire to make a difference in people’s lives but doesn’t know how to do it. And she also misses the camaraderie of her job and the interaction with her fellow educators.

Each woman is alone and lonely, and in each story, happenstance and chance occurrences introduce them to other women who support and encourage them.

The Change-of-Life Career

When I first started writing these novels, I knew I didn’t want the main character to be wealthy or even just financially secure. This choice was driven by talking to so many women in their 50s and older who either were still working or had to go back to work for a variety of reasons: divorce or death of their spouse, economic downturns, unexpected dependents showing up on their doorsteps.

But what I found most interesting were the ones who chose a career that, while it may be bringing in an income, was also something they found exciting and personally satisfying. For some, it was a return to a dream from long ago. For others, it was something completely new, using skills and gifts they didn’t realize they possessed.

Since that is a reality for so many women in that midlife stage, that’s what I needed to incorporate. But not in a desperate “What will I do? They’re shutting off the electricity!” fashion but more as the opportunity to explore new abilities and find fulfillment.

The “Age” Thing

In this video on my Midlife Moxie Novel Series YouTube channel, I address this question head-on: Why write about midlife women anyway?

Fair question, especially given how women of “a certain age” (i.e., middle-aged) are portrayed on shows and advertisements. It seems like once a woman crossed into Menopause Land, she was relegated to being the grandma/babysitter who suffered from incontinence or incompetence—sometimes both! I wanted to show what midlife (however you characterize it) is like or could be like.

Interestingly, when I wrote the first drafts of what would ultimately become FINDING FRAN and REINVENTING RITA 16 long years ago, I was 56. Both manuscripts were then put aside, and it was more than 10 years before I got back to them and ultimately released RITA in 2023 and FRAN in 2024.

Now I’m 72 and in my fourth year of being a published novelist, after decades of saying, “I can’t write novels! I’m a short story writer!” I had to overcome the fears that it was too late to explore a new writing identity and that no one cares to read stories about women who are 50. Or 60. Or even older.

Or novels where romance was not the driving force but, if it is in the story at all, it’s secondary to what else is happening. (Not that I think post-menopausal women can’t find love or enjoy a great sex life. We can and we do!)

So I suppose in many ways I was like one of my characters. I had to get past my self-imposed limitations and see what I could do.

All these common threads have woven what I hope will be a series that women will not only enjoy reading but will also give them the encouragement to pursue their own Midlife Moxie challenge—asking themselves who else can they be and what else can they do in this life they have.

Find out more about my latest novel, TRANSFORMING TESSA, here, and more about my Midlife Moxie Novel Series here.

And be sure to sign up for Nancy’s Book News for updates on deals and giveaways for all my novels!

The post The Common Threads that Link My Midlife Moxie novels appeared first on Focus on Fiction.

And it did, in the best possible way.

I loved The Briar Club for so many reasons, but I’ll just list a few. The well-drawn characters who made me care about them, even when I didn’t particularly like their behavior or agree with their choices. The post-WWII setting, with all the drama of the McCarthy era that reminded me of present-day U.S.

And the choice to make Briarwood House one of the characters was an interesting one, bringing to mind Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. 

The novel brings up so many issues faced by women—racism, homophobia, domestic violence and misogyny, just to name a few—not just in the 1950s but even now. And since each woman has her own backstory and issues, it also delves deeply into the relationships and how friendships can form even when it appears that people involved have nothing in common. These friendships aren’t superficial or social in nature, but deep and intense, yet challenged by the disagreements that are part and parcel of any relationship.

Kate Quinn has done a masterful job of providing readers with fully developed characters, letting us into their minds and hearts. And while this is the first of her books I have read, it definitely won’t be the last.

The Briar Club is a story about love, empathy and encouragement triumphing over fear, self-doubt and social opposition. As each woman faces major life questions, her fellow boarders at Briarwood House serve as sounding boards, providing the kind of support most needed at that time. It’s a story of how friendships can grow and blossom even in the most unlikely circumstances.

For more about Kate Quinn and her work, visit her website.

The post My Thoughts on… The Briar Club by Kate Quinn appeared first on Focus on Fiction.

How It All Began is a kaleidoscope of a novel. As each character shares his or her thoughts in the book, the outer tube turns and a new image of events appears.

It starts with Charlotte, a woman in her late seventies recovering from a broken hip courtesy of a teenage mugger and then travels through the lives of the other characters who are impacted by that single event.

It’s the butterfly effect but told with sly humor that showcases each character’s strengths and failings: daughter Charlotte and husband Gerry, Anton, Jeremy and Stella, Marion and Nigel, Henry and the rest of the characters whose lives become intertwined by the opening event caused by the mugging.

Image from Penelope Lively’s website

One of Lively’s many skills is her ability to create three-dimensional characters with all their foibles and failings. And her technique in wrapping up the novel with a chapter that summarizes how it all ends—or at least, how it all ends for now, is masterful.

Perhaps what I enjoyed most about the novel was the attitude of Charlotte, who reminiscences on her mugger (I prefer to imagine my mugger as a refined soul…No—sod you, mugger, Why didn’t you just ask nicely?) and growing old in general (Old age is not for wimps…The twilight years—that delicate phrase. Twilight my foot—roaring dawn of a new life, more like, the one you didn’t know about.)

Admittedly, I find myself drawn to books about older women as I grow older, and Charlotte is the kind of person I’d like to be around—someone who doesn’t give up but fights every step of the way against the setbacks that are part of the aging process, determined to make the most of every minute.

While How It All Began may be the first of Lively’s books that I’ve read, it won’t be the last. And I look forward to making the acquaintance of each character created by her.

For more about Lively, visit her website.

The post My Thoughts on… How It All Began by Penelope Lively appeared first on Focus on Fiction.

Equally interesting to me was how she came to writing novels, since for years she had been an obstetrician-gynecologist, and how her previous career influenced her work.

Here’s a bit about her background. Rebecca had practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology for two decades before an accident abruptly changed her life. Too young to retire, she wandered around, wondering who she was now and where her life was heading—then she sat down at her typewriter and noticed that stories came to her out of the blue.

Knowing there was more to writing than putting down on paper things that might have happened to other people, she decided to make this her next career. As she did when she launched her life in Medicine, she started at the beginning, studying creative writing in the Stonecoast MFA program. She was fortunate to find mentorship under the many great faculty members, especially authors David Anthony Durham, Dolen Perkins Valdez, and Boman Desai, all of whom helped her understand what she was trying to do and how best to accomplish it.

Her 2014 Master’s thesis, The Book of Seasons, became (after many further drafts) Megge of Bury Down, and the Bury Down series was born: historical fiction steeped in medieval medicine and ancient mysticism.

For more about Rebecca, visit her websites: Rebecca Kightlinger and The Bury Down Chronicles, follow her on Facebook and visit her Amazon author page.

Now on to the interview!

Tell us a little about yourself.

Until April 2010, I could have answered this question with ease. I was an obstetrician-gynecologist who had gone from a generalist in private practice—delivering babies, caring for general OB/GYN issues, and performing pelvic surgery—to a specialist in menopause and midlife health on the clinical faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

I traveled to South America twice yearly with Remote Area Medical to help Guyana’s Ministry of Health develop a cervical cancer program for the indigenous women of the remote savannah and rainforest villages. The cancer rate was extremely high, and there was little treatment for these women, so I can say that this was the most rewarding work of my career. I wrote peer-reviewed studies and patient education materials, and on the side, I wrote fiction—for my eyes only!

All that changed when my wrist shattered in a fall and never regained sufficient use to resume medical practice.

Too young to retire, I turned to fiction writing. As I wanted to write as a professional, I earned an MFA in creative writing and was fortunate enough to have wonderful mentors at the university of Southern Maine who helped guide me into this writing life.

I now write full time and care for my many pets: dogs, cats, and a Bantam hen. When I’m not doing this, I bake bread, take care of my Victorian farmhouse, and swim. It has taken a full fifteen years and two published novels to be able to say this with confidence, but to answer your question, I am a novelist.

What type of writing do you do?

I write historical fiction novels which, because they are based on mystical practices and reincarnation, are shelved among fantasy literature even though they are set in the real world, in a real historical time, and feel very true to me.

Writing this series involves a great deal of research into the late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth century Cornwall; early medicine, including the care of general health and illnesses, midwifery, and the care of those afflicted with leprosy, which was quite common in those years.

Did your medical career influence your choice of writing, both in genre and focus?

I’m sure my life as a physician influenced my writing about women healers and midwives. I find early medicine fascinating, and I believe that what I learned about rural medicine in Guyana encouraged me to study the practices of the healers in medieval times.

My mom was steeped in the mystical, and she undoubtedly influenced me to follow my interest in all things magical and mystical. She also read us kids the stories of King Arthur and Cornwall, which I always found enchanting.

Why did you choose to write historical fantasy fiction?

I didn’t really choose it. I didn’t even know until I was well into Megge’s story that it involved mystical practices that would be considered fantasy. Megge just came to me out of the blue one day as I was completing another story and started telling me about her life and showing me where she lived. So, I guess you could say this is all Megge’s doing.

Did you ever think this is what you would be doing now or was it a surprise to you?

It was a total surprise. I never planned to retire from Medicine, and although I loved writing and would have loved to have the time to do all I was already doing and also write a book, I never expected to be able to do so.

You have three books to date in the Bury Down Chronicles: Megge of Bury Down, The Lady of the Cliffs and The Sisters of the Sorrows Cove. Is there an overarching message or theme that unites them?

These three books are one continuing story that will be the first trilogy of the series. The overarching themes are dedication to family and duty, service to others, and finding the courage to overcome such things as anger and the need for retribution against those who have done us wrong—even in previous lives—so that the best parts of our spirit can flourish, unconstrained by old wounds and weaknesses.

Can you give us a thumbnail description of each one of the books: when each was published and what the storyline is?

These books have multiple plots and subplots, but I can give you the major plotlines here.

Book One, Megge of Bury Down, introduces Megge and the women of Bury Down and builds Megge’s world from the ground up. The pace is leisurely in order to steep the reader in the real medieval world, the mystical world Megge is gradually discovering, and the world of the healer—whose roots go back to the dawn of time.

In this book, Megge must accept and vow to protect an ancient grimoire that scares her to death. Her mother and aunts are forbidden to give her any details about the book, so she relies on an elderly confidante to teach her about her family’s past so she can gradually come to understand why she must find the courage to accept this inheritance and take her place as a woman of Bury Down.

When an ancient foe comes to Bury Down demanding that grimoire and its companion book, Megge knows she must act.

Book Two, The Lady of the Cliffs, opens moments after the conclusion of Book One. Because the storyworld has already been built, the story moves faster as Megge and her cousin navigate life bereft of the women who raised and nurtured them. In this portion of the trilogy, Megge travels to the north coast of Cornwall with an elderly woman and a young orphan who has come to Bury Down alone. With their help, Megge faces the past she has been fleeing and learns not only who she once was but also what her spirit was meant to become.

Book Three, The Sisters of The Sorrows Cove, opens as Megge and her young charge, Amice, return from The Sorrows Cove. In the ship carrying them home is a man Megge detests, who is afflicted with leprosy. Amice has her own reasons for wanting Megge to help him, but can Megge put vengeance aside and offer mercy to that man who has caused her family untold anguish?

The novels are set in Cornwall, England. Why did you choose that locale?

I didn’t know where the story was set until Megge had told me a good bit of it. I don’t plan what I am going to write. I close my eyes and listen for the voice of whoever is going to tell me their story.

When Megge first came to me, I saw a little girl wearing heavy woolens and sturdy boots sitting on a boulder atop a grassy hill where sheep were grazing. As she told me her story, she showed me a circular castle near a river that flowed south into a larger body of water. I had to research castles to see if there was one that looked like this one in that century. There was. Restormel Castle, near the Fowey River in Cornwall. I went to Google Earth to see if the terrain was anything like what I was seeing as Megge spoke, and there was.

How many trips have you made to Cornwall to do your research? Do you go there for each of your books?

While I was writing Book One, I felt I had to go to Cornwall to see for myself what the terrain and the climate were like (although the climate now is vastly different than it was in Megge’s day). So, once again, I went to Google Earth to try to find the location of Megge’s home based on what she had revealed to me. I found the area—just outside Liskeard—that looked to me like what Megge was describing: lots of fields and pastureland and with hills that might be described as “slopes.” I booked a week at a B&B called Botelet and went there to explore.

When I arrived, I was taken into a house that looked much like Megge’s, right down to the huge hearth and the drying rack hanging over the table. The hosts told me that Botelet manor was on the William the Conqueror’s Domesday Survey and that another house on the property was there at the time of Megge’s story. Nearby was a grassy slope on which sheep were grazing.

During that visit, I met with Church historian Carole Vivian, who provided me with invaluable information about the Church in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Before we talked about anything else, she said, “If you haven’t included the Church, you have missed the point of medieval life.” Needless to say, a great deal of subsequent research was into the Church and its role in daily life.

Local historian Mary Jones took me on a guided tour of Lostwithiel, where Restormel Castle is located, and many other sites, teaching me about the laws and mores of late-thirteenth century Cornwall. She also held my feet to the fire for accuracy in my early drafts of Megge of Bury Down.

For The Lady of the Cliffs, I went through the same process of finding the exact place I was seeing as Megge narrated. This time, my friends Nancy and Jacqui came along, and we scoured the north coast of Cornwall for a cliff with a cave that was located near a church that would have been there in the late 1200s. It took days, but we found the location at Daymer Bay. Mary Jones met us there, and we all met with the Church warden, who took us through the church, the adjacent tower, and the grounds while telling us the story of the church.

The first half of Book Three, The Sisters of The Sorrows Cove, takes place in that tower, that church, and the cave at the foot of the cliff. The second half takes place in Megge’s environs, so I did not have to travel to Cornwall for that book.

In addition to your on-site visits, where else did you turn to gain background information for your novels?

I turn again and again to scholarly books on Cornwall, the Church, medieval life, and medieval medicine, especially women’s issues and leprosy. Additionally, I scour peer-reviewed research on these topics and double-check everything I intend to include. Each book takes roughly five years to write, and much of that time is devoted to research.

A wonderful reference I now rely on for narrative and dialogue is the Oxford English Dictionary and the Dictionary of Middle English.

What would you say to people, particularly writers, who think it’s sufficient to just rely on Google or AI to get the facts? What are the risks in trying to shortcut research?

These can be a good starting point, but only when they refer the researcher to references that are reliable and that have a list of citations. The risk of relying on Google and AI extensively is that they sometimes make mistakes or are not grounded in scholarly research. You don’t want to get the details wrong—not only because you don’t want to make mistakes but also because one wrong detail can take your story down a track that never could have existed.

I would also advise finding experts in the areas you’re writing about to look over your work and point out inaccuracies and anachronisms, both of which I have inadvertently made despite my best efforts.

Were there surprises along the way when you were researching and writing the books? Any unexpected tidbits of knowledge that shifted the story or gave it additional depth?

Oh, yes. Every day, when I sit down to write, I wonder what’s going to happen or who is going to show up to take the story in a different direction. One thing that often surprises me is when a character talks about something I know little to nothing about, and when I write down what I’m seeing or what they’re saying, I wonder if anything about it is right. Then I research it, and there it is, just like they described it. And many times, their observations about it add additional depth to the scene.

Let’s talk about your writing process. Are you a plotter, a pantser or some combination of both?

I’m a pantser who later becomes a plotter.

When I sit down to write, I never know what is going to happen, so I just write the scene as it is narrated and as I see it come about. I file the scenes in a Word document in chronological order and in folders for each character that appears in it. Only when I’ve figured out what the story is about and who is narrating do I go back through all the scenes and figure out how to tell the story. That’s when I become a plotter.

Book Three was complicated because several of the characters thought it was their story. They each told it as they saw it, and they wanted to narrate it. I settled on Megge and Amice as narrators since they each had close ties to the two antagonists.

Where do you do most of your writing?

I have my mom’s old secretary desk in my library. It’s small and crowded, but it is cozy in there and my reference materials—and my pets—are close at hand.

Is writing your full-time career? Part-time career?  

This is my full-time work. I work at some aspect of it every day and invest in it as both a career and a business.

What stimulates your creativity or serves as a writing inspiration?

Thinking about the characters always inspires me to check in and see where the story is going.

Conversely, what creates a major writer’s block for you?

I never have writer’s block, but I get anxious when I think I have to rely on my own creativity to come up with the next scene. I think about what “should” happen next, and I try to figure it all out, but when I sit down to write it, I realize it’s all wrong.

So I go back to what I know works: closing my eyes and asking, “Who’s got the story?”

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most?

The story coming to me as I sit at my computer. All the characters step into the story fully formed, with likes, dislikes, quirks, and a story to tell. They almost always already have names. Tinker, for instance, just came into the story as Tinker, and I learned about him gradually. I can still see him, though, as he first appeared in the story: a pretty boy shrouded in menace.

The least?

Promoting the books. I grew up being told never to self-promote, even though that term didn’t yet exist. It was seen as bragging, and I never got the hang of it.

What triggers the story idea: a character, a setting, plot or dialogue?

As I mentioned above, the characters bring me their stories. I know that sounds weird, but that’s how it happens. If I had to sit down and make up a story, it would be pretty lame, I’m afraid.

Is your book traditionally published or did you choose to go the self-publish route? If the latter, why did you make that decision?

Book One, Megge of Bury Down, was originally traditionally published. But when Book Two was ready, I was not comfortable going that route for several reasons, and I don’t want to sound critical or unappreciative of my former publisher, so I’ll just say traditional publishing wasn’t a good fit for me.

So, I paid for reversion of my rights and opened a publishing house called Rowan Moon LLC. I did this because I saw publishing a book as a professional endeavor and didn’t want to just upload a manuscript somewhere.

I found remarkable professionals to work with: Vinnie Kinsella, an editor who knows exactly what questions will enable me to see where a scene is going astray; Tamian Wood, a cover artist/book designer who, remarkably, shares my vision for each book and for the series; Kim Hitchins, an ebook formatter who is a consummate pro; and Jan Cramer. an award-wining British voiceover artist to produce the audiobook.

Tamian won an award for the cover of MEGGE, and Jan Cramer won the IBPA Book Award for Best Audiobook for MEGGE.

It is a great team, and they have been with me through all three books.

What is the next project you have in the works?

Book Four, the start of the next trilogy, is already going pretty well. Megge started it a little earlier than I expected, but I’ll just keep going and see where she’s headed with it.

The series is leading toward a couple of huge historical events that Megge will help the people of her village navigate, so we’ll see how she leads up to them.

What marketing strategies have you used to promote your book?

I’ve hired a publicity company, used social media (The Bury Down Chronicles has its own Facebook page), attended book signings, and entered the books in writing competitions. They have done very well (that’s bragging, I know), winning awards including Best Supernatural Paranormal Fiction (Chanticleer International Book Awards, for MEGGE and LADY), the CIBA Chaucer award for LADY, the IBPA Best Fiction Audiobook Award (for MEGGE), Best Cover Design (MEGGE) and second place in the IBPA Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book for MEGGE.

Are there aspects of the writing or publishing business that you have found particularly challenging or difficult? What do you find the hardest part about the “writing business”?

I still haven’t found the right approach to getting the books in front of the readers who would most enjoy them.

Conversely, have there been aspects or experiences that surprised or touched you or that you thoroughly enjoyed?

In publishing the books, I love the creative aspects: knowing that these are my books and no one is going to force me to take out a character or a scene that I know will be pivotal down the road; being able to imagine the book covers and work with a true artist who can bring them to life; and knowing that these books will be part of my legacy.

Do you belong to any writing organizations or groups? Yes. I belong to Pennwriters and to IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association. I also keep the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program on my radar.

If so, what have you found most beneficial about having those relationships?

I learn from all the writers and publishers who are part of each group.

What’s the worst advice anyone gave you about being a writer?

That you have to write a certain number of words every day.

It sounds good and probably works for the people who want to produce a book in a certain amount of time, but I find that these stories need to steep, and that I need time to dream.

I don’t wait for inspiration to come from some muse—I have more than enough inspiration—but I do think that the pressure to produce, for example, 1000 words a day can sometimes be detrimental to my process. I work every day at some aspect of writing or publishing, but I bristle against the gun-to-my-head dictum to write n number of words every day.

What’s the best?

That you have to work every day. This is a profession, and a profession requires nurturing all aspects of the work. Research and study consume a lot of time as does designing the books themselves and running the business.

How do you define success as a writer?

“Becoming a bestselling author” would be a good definition, but it’s not mine because I don’t know how that would feel or if it would be as satisfying as it seems it might.

These books are not thrillers or loaded with the big events most bestsellers offer. They are contemplative, sensory, and intended to be immersive. Readers won’t be on the edge of their seats during a lot of the story, so I think becoming a bestselling author is a longshot. But if someone comes to love the characters and sees something of their own plight in these tales, then I will have succeeded.

What makes you feel successful as a writer?  

The satisfaction of watching Megge’s story come to life beneath my fingertips.

The post Author Interview with Rebecca Kightlinger appeared first on Focus on Fiction.

And in An Unlikely Friendship: Finding Carl, author and U.S. Army veteran John A. Trotogott does just that—only his story is for grownups.

Part fact, part fiction, An Unlikely Friendship begins in 1966, when the Vietnam War was raging and Project 100,000 supplied, as he puts it, “cannon fodder for the military by offering a one-way ticket to Vietnam.”

Photo Credit: Melissa Channell

While attending the U.S. Army Maintenance School at Fort Eustis, VA, Trotogott met Carl, a young poorly-educated man. A bond between the two was formed, and Trotogott took it upon himself to help improve Carl’s literacy skills while enjoying listening to his student’s tales of growing up in the hills of Kentucky.

But as so often happens in life, the two men gradually lost touch when Trotogott was posted to Germany. And for the rest of the book, fact is left behind and fiction takes its place, with Trotogott writing a story about what could have happened, what might have happened, had he and Carl reunited.

While the longed-for reunion never took place in real life, An Unlikely Story serves as a reminder of the unexpected impact we can have on people who cross our path, even if only for a short while, as well as the importance of expressing our gratitude for what we received from those chance encounters.

An Unlikely Story is a journey into the “what-if” space, where possibilities exist and hope is kept alive throughout the years.

For more about Trotogott, visit his Amazon Author Page.

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The writer must capture the reader’s attention with relevant facts, emotional nuances, character descriptions and setting details while always keeping in mind that space and time are limited.

When I received a copy of Crosscurrents by Gerry Wilson, I expected to read them over a period of a few days. After all, how long could it take to finish this slim volume of eleven stories?

Longer than I anticipated, as it turned out. Each story required me to take a pause, consider and reflect on the experiences and emotions of the character. For example, “Sparrow, Sparrow” is about three women—a mother and two daughters—and the havoc love, or its illusion, can wreak on a person. “The Taste of Salt” is a journey through illness and what it does to a body, a spirit, a relationship, and how healing can come, in spite of it all.

If I had a favorite—and really, how can one choose among so many heartbreakingly hopeful pieces?—it would be “Mating.” Just when I was certain that I knew how the story would end, the author surprised me. Even better, the character surprised me. The choice Gail made was not the one I expected and yet, when it came, it was so exactly the only one that it could have been that I was more than satisfied with the outcome.

Read Crosscurrents and determine for yourself which story speaks to you, breaks your heart, fills your spirit with joy, undoes your tightly tied preconceptions about life and love and forces you to reassess your expectations and reexamine your own prejudices.

The stories in this collection illustrate that the ship of life rarely travels smoothly. Instead, events occur that run counter to the flow, taking every bit of energy and determination to keep afloat.

Sometimes the shore can be reached, sometimes not. Sometimes, the boat can be steered in the right direction, sometimes it capsizes. The outcome depends on the strength of the captain, the integrity of the vessel and the power of the crosscurrent.

For more about Wilson, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram. Listen to her interview on Living the Writing Life here.

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The truth is, I fell into the novel. I was absorbed by the novel. I was inexorably drawn into the lives of sisters Mattie and Nora, and Mattie’s daughter Beanie as they dealt with the reality of the death of Ingrid Olssen—the world-renowned painter and mother and grandmother of the three—and all the memories of their past that influenced their present, for good or ill.

And when I reached the conclusion—one, I might add, that was perfect and fitting—I found myself unable to let go of Mattie, Nora and Beanie, as though they were real people. I cared about them—a testament to the ability of Capes to create complete and whole characters.

The novel is told in first person from the perspective of Mattie, the elder of the two daughters. Woven into the story are excerpts from interviews for a book about Olssen being written by another character, Richard, who is also the love interest of Mattie.

One of the many conundrums in the story is Mattie’s feelings for Richard and her feelings for Gus, Beanie’s father. Whom does Mattie really love? The man who will be sharing with the public those details from her mother’s past, including aspects of Olssen’s relationships with her daughters and the impact she had on them?

Or Gus, the father of Mattie’s beloved teenage daughter and a man who is still very much a part of Mattie and Beanie’s lives, even though Mattie has done her best to keep their relationship on a platonic, co-parenting level?

As for Nora, an artist in her own right, she is struggling with her own addiction and self-destructive tendencies. Her desire to make a name for herself separate from her mother is at odds with her fear that, with her mother’s death, her own creativity might be lost as well.

As I read the novel and followed the choices Mattie and Nora made, and the outcome of those choices, I was struck by the honesty yet tenderness with which Capes depicts their actions as well as reactions to each other. Family relationships can be complicated, and as the two sisters grew into adulthood, the differences in their two personalities became apparent. Yet both are equally shaped by their mother’s eccentricities and addictions.

The dynamics between the two sisters are influenced by their past. Mattie is unable to forgive herself for leaving her younger sister behind years earlier to protect her infant daughter from the emotional wreckage that was their family home. Nora resents Mattie’s choice but perhaps also has the sense that, had she been more loveable, more worthy, Mattie wouldn’t have left her.

As for Beanie, who is loved by both women, she is struggling with her own sense of identity and the emotions she feels for her mother and aunt. While Beanie may have been the reason for Mattie leaving her sister behind, she may now play a pivotal role in bringing them together as the three embark on a journey to satisfy the final command of the late yet still very much present Ingrid Olssen.

Daughters is about a journey—the literal trip that Mattie, Nora and Beanie take from England to the United States, bearing with them Ingrid Olssen’s ashes. But it’s also about the emotional expedition Mattie and Nora take into their past, and how they evaluate and extrapolate those events as a way of making sense of who they are and what choices they can make for the road ahead.

Daughters is a marvelous, heartbreaking story of childhood trauma, mental health issues, love, loss and longing. And it’s a novel of joy and happiness and familial connections that can bind people together even when life events threaten that link.

Daughters isn’t just a novel about three women: Mattie, Nora and Beanie. It’s also a way for us to think about the people we love, to understand the way our recollections of childhood experiences have informed our adulthood, and the power of love to heal old wounds and strengthen damaged hearts.

For more about Capes, follow her on X and Instagram.

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That’s how short story and poet Doug Stoiber and I got connected. Although we both went to the same high school, Ursuline High of green-and-gold fame, we didn’t know each other.

But when the information about my latest novel appeared in our alumni magazine, he reached out via email and told me about his work. One thing led to another, and voila! He is here on the blog answering my interview questions.

But before we get into the Q&A part, here’s a bit about Doug. Doug writes poetry and short fiction and is a member of the Mossy Creek Writers in East Tennessee. Ten of his short stories and sixteen of his poems have been selected for publication in literary journals, poetry and fiction anthologies, and on literary websites. And while he doesn’t have a website yet, he assures me he’s working on it!

Now on to the interview!

How long have you been writing fiction?  

Though I have enjoyed writing my whole life, I began writing with purpose two and a half years ago.

Why do you like to write fiction, and short fiction in particular—what does writing fiction bring into your life?

The idea that I can give my imagination free rein is energizing to me. Creativity in identifying characters and their conflicts, unrestricted by facts about actual people and events, makes me feel like I am creating something that has never existed before.

What type of short fiction do you write: micro fiction (under 100), flash fiction (under 1000), short story (1000 to 7500), novellas?

Most of my fiction – short stories and vignettes – clocks in at between 1000 – 3000 words. I have written stories as short as 300 words.

Do you have a specific genre that you prefer?

Believe it or not, although my fiction and poetry often tend toward the dark side, I take special pleasure in writing humorous pieces.

Where have you been published?

My published short fiction includes:

• “The Friends of Daniel Cabot” in The Rabbit Hole Volume VII: Not From Here anthology
• “Woowo” at The Literary Heist June 21, 2024
• “Sustenance and Verse” in Bewildering Stories January, issue 1074
• “Racist” appears at CafeLit January 13 2025
• “Brotherhood of Cool” in Down in the Dirt Magazine’ Sisyphus anthology in March 2025 
• “You Really Like Me” May 2025 in Jokes Review Magazine Metamodern 
• “The Tale of the Peddler’s Exchange”, The Wise Owl June 2025 
• “A Day is the Life” in Infinity Wanderers Issue #13 June 2025
• “Mother’s Day” in Cafe Lit June 2, 2025 

Upcoming works include “Book Deal” that will appear in Fine Lines in July 2025 and ‘Interior Monologue of a Former Adult” that will appear in Life in Limbo Issue II, Summer 2025.

I have also had sixteen of my poems published online and in print at several magazines and journals.

Do you have a theme you return to time and again?

As I am retired and entering into the autumn years of life, many of my pieces examine aging, often from a darker point of view.

What are you working on now?

Every month, I have a short story prompt and a poetry prompt from my two writing groups, Deadlines for Writers and Mossy Creek Writers. I have had amazing success getting many of these monthly stories published.

In addition, I have a full-length novel, an epic poem, and a nonfiction book on golf on my desktop, yammering at me for more attention and – someday – completion.

What triggers your story ideas: a character, a setting, plot or dialogue?

A surprising number of my stories that have earned publication sprung from prompts in my two writing groups. Not every prompt strikes a spark for me, but I am very proud of some of the stories and poems that have resulted. I greatly enjoy writing dialogue. Three or four of my pieces contain nothing but dialog.

You also write poetry. Is your process different when writing a poem versus a short story?

Absolutely. And I’m glad you asked me this question. Writing poems for me is like figuring out how to put together a puzzle. I’m a bit of a traditionalist and most of my poems are built around meter and rhyme. But I just finished a free verse poem of which I am quite proud.

Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?

“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.”- Henry van Dyke

Do you have a favorite writing space or a place you go to for inspiration?

My writing/music room upstairs in my house has a lovely view of The Great Smokies through a south-facing window. When I get stuck in my writing, I can pick up a guitar or ukulele and take a musical break.

Do you have a personal favorite among short story writers? Is there a specific short story that made such an impression on you that you have never forgotten it?

“Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry are just such stories. I enjoy Shirley Jackson; “The Lottery” hit me with a wallop the first time I read it.

Who are three of your favorite short story writers, living or dead?

Henry, P.G. Wodehouse, and Anton Chekov. If you let me name four, I’ll include Joyce Carol Oates.

What is the worst advice you have received about writing? The best?

Worst: “Maybe you could just dumb down this story a little for our readers”.

Best: Begin with the end in mind.

What advice do you have for those who are struggling to find a home for their fiction or who receive far more rejections than acceptances?

Submit, submit, submit. I spend at least as much time each month sending out my work to editors as I do actually writing. Keep concise records of your submissions and the responses they receive. And get used to rejections. Actually, some of the “no’s I have received have been quite valuable.

In sales, you have to hear “no” twenty times before you hear a “yes”. So, you’re getting closer to success with every rejection letter. Check out literary magazines and journals and identify the ones that publish work in your sweet spot.

Do you belong to any writing organizations or writing groups? If so, how has that helped you creatively?

As mentioned above, I submit a story and a poem each month addressing the prompts from Deadlines for Writers. I also meet live with Mossy Creek Writers each month, where we take on prompts in session as well as a themed prompt according to month and season. Both groups have helped me craft stories of which I am very proud.

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