Category: Interviews

Book Brief: Murder She Typed

Murder She TypedMurder She Typed
by Sylvia Selfman
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Izzy Greene, a widow of a certain age, joins a writing group in an attempt to actually finish one of her stories. She gets more than she bargained for, however, when her nemesis, sexy blonde bombshell Sondra Sockerman, disappears under suspicious circumstances. Izzy soon realizes that she has a natural detecting ability as she and her friend, Flo, set out to find the killer…who is now after them.

Murder She Typed is available at Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Continue reading “Book Brief: Murder She Typed”

Book Brief: The Spider and the Stone

Spider and the Stone by Glen CraneyThe Spider and the Stone:
A Novel of Scotland’s Black Douglas
by Glen Craney
Genre: Historical Fiction
120.000 words

As the 14th century dawns, Scotland’s survival hangs by a spider’s thread. While the clans scrap over their empty throne, the brutal Edward Longshanks of England invades the weakened northern kingdom, scheming to annex it to his powerful realm.

But one frail lad stands in the Plantagenet monarch’s path.

The beleaguered Scots cherish James Douglas as their “Good Sir James.” Yet in England, his slashing raids deep into Yorkshire wreak such terror that he is branded the Black Douglas with a reward placed on his head.

As a boy, James falls in love with the ravishing Isabelle MacDuff, whose clan has long inaugurated Scottish monarchs on the hallowed Stone of Destiny. But James’s world is upturned when he befriends Robert Bruce, a bitter enemy of the MacDuffs. Forced to choose between love and clan loyalty, he and Isabelle must make fateful decisions that will draw the opposing armies to the bloody field of Bannockburn.

Here is the story of Scotland’s War of Independence and the remarkable events that followed the execution of William Wallace, whose legend was portrayed in the movie Braveheart. This thrilling epic leads the reader to the miraculous Stone of Destiny, to the famous Spider in the Cave, to the excommunicated Knights Templar, to the suppressed Culdee Church, and to the Declaration of Arbroath, the stirring oath document that inspired the American Declaration of Independence four hundred years later.

The Spider and the Stone: A Novel of Scotland’s Black Douglas is available at Amazon.com, Smashwords, Amazon UK, and most online booksellers.

Continue reading “Book Brief: The Spider and the Stone”

Book Brief: Deranged Seating

Deranged-Seating by Carole FowkesDeranged Seating
by Carole Fowkes
Genre: Science Fiction/Mystery
19,700 words

In James’s fantasy life, he’s a hard-boiled private detective whose internal monologue sounds like a Mickey Spillane movie. In the actual world, he is a bright young man, bored and stifled by his job as a society page reporter. That is, until his assignment at a high-society fitness party gets him involved with massage therapist Courtney, a good-looking dame with a tough problem. A healthy man dies in her massage chair and she can’t explain it. Despite warnings to leave it alone, James starts to investigate. This leads him to Lester, a wisecracking old-timer who recalls a friend who died in a similar way. Others die and the bodies are piling up. But there’s no explanation, at least not if you’re from this Earth.

Deranged Seating is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon UK.

Continue reading “Book Brief: Deranged Seating”

Book Brief: Feast of Fates

Feast of Fates by Christian A BrownFeast of Fates
by Christian A. Brown
Genre: Epic Fantasy
212,000 words

Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever. Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her—visions that show a devastating madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.

With Morigan growing more powerful each day, the leaders of the realm soon realize that this young woman could hold the key to their destruction. Suddenly, Morigan finds herself beset by enemies, and she must master her mysterious gifts if she is to survive.

Feast of Fates is available for Kindle and in print through Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Christian, how did you come up with the title for your book? Does it have any special meaning?
Feast of Fates, as a phrase, actually appears in the book. The moment it popped out of my keyboard, I scrapped the working title of the draft and just knew that FoF the name of my little darling. I’ll spoil the broth if I tell you anything more about the context in which it is used.

Who was your favorite character and why?
My children! I love them all! Even the wicked ones (sometimes, especially them). Morigan and the Wolf are simply epic, and they’d be the easy answer. Mouse, is a fan favorite: tough as nails and full of sass. I choose the mysterious quasi-villain, Elissandra: a woman who wears many masks.

Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
The highbrow answer: Love is what binds us in brotherhood, blinds us from hate, and makes us soar with desire.
The lowdown: Celtic werewolves, Immortal Kings, more magic, adventure, passion, intrigue, and plain old panache that you can shake a wand at (there are no wands in FoF).

What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
Compelling and engrossing characterization and world-building. Also, I delight in converting the: “I don’t read that” crowd. Fantasy can be an amazing window through which to view social and emotional commentary. The book has undertones of death, acceptance and love that I experienced during my mother’s illness (lymphoma) and passing.

Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
“Each character was so well written that I became very emotionally attached to them. I felt all of the emotions, fears and hopes of each of them while reading.”

Where can people learn more about your writing?
http://christianadrianbrown.com/