Today’s Friday Five focus is K.M. Hodge, author of women’s fiction, thriller and suspense, and crime novellas and novels.

K.M. Hodge grew up in Detroit, where she spent most of her free time weaving wild tales to spook her friends and family. These days, she lives in Texas with her husband and two energetic boys, and once again enjoys writing tales of suspense and intrigue that keep her readers up all night. Her stories, which focus on women’s issues, friendship, addiction, regrets and second chances, will stay with you long after you finish them. She also co-writes her Book Cellar Mystery Series with author and good friend Melissa Storm.

In her latest novel, book #1 of the Syndicate-Born Trilogy Red on the Run, agent Bailey and his partner uncover evidence against a major crime ring and is placed in the witness protection program. In what becomes the most dangerous investigation of his career, Alex must ask himself how far he is willing to go to stop the Syndicate and keep his partner safe?

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1. What was your attitude towards reading when you were a kid?

I was slow to get into reading. It took me a long time to learn how to read and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn’t until I was nine on a road trip from Ohio to Maine that I discovered the joy of reading. After that I couldn’t stop.

2. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?

I have a hard time writing action sequences. I have been working on making them more present. Editors are paramount for helping writers to over come whatever challenges they might be working on.

3. What are three things on your bucket list?

1) Go to Ireland

2) See my book in a brick and mortar store

3) Get a van. LOL

4. What’s your current writing project and what are your writing plans for the near future?

I am currently working on editing the three books in my Syndicate-Born Trilogy and am outlining book #2 of my Book Cellar Mystery Series. After my two series are finished I will be working on a letter writing novel and a cop serial.

5. What author has influenced your writing style/subject the most and why?

When I was younger I would read Nancy Drew. I then graduated on to Agatha Christie, John Saul and Robin Cook. I would pride myself on solving the mysteries as early as possible. It became almost a game for me. It should come as no surprise then that I chose to write the mystery and suspense genre. I will read almost any kind of genre, but my heart will always remain with my first love of mysteries.

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Red on the Run is currently available on Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Matthew Lovecraft, author of gothic short stories, novellas, novels, poetry, and flash fiction.

Matthew Lovecraft is an author and entertainer. His first book, Inside Out (a collection of poems), is available as an e-book on Smashwords and in paperback from lulu.com.

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1. What are some of your favorite words and why?

Swear words. Not in my writing, but in real life. lol. I have a filthy mouth and almost non-existent filter. In my writing I like words that rhyme.

2. What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that you think they need to know?

I have no formal training in poetry. I’m just slinging words at the page because it’s what I like to do and need to do. So what they don’t know won’t hurt me.

3. What author has influenced your writing style/subject the most and why?

I was a constant reader of Stephen King’s fiction from an early age. So I can’t deny the influence he’s had on my desire to be a writer. However, I would say that the writer who’s influenced my writing style and subject matter the most is Joyce Carol Oates. She has the ability to bring characters, time periods and locations to life in a way that is arguably prolific. She also has a narrative voice that allows her to create moments that are epic or emotional or sometimes both.

4. Why do you write in the genre(s) you listed above?

I just like mucking around in the shadows of the human psyche. I like to take a deep look at myself, others and the world around us and look at the cultural and global myths and how they define our actions, feelings and beliefs vs. what we say we believe in and have come to accept as a normal way of living.

5. What do you want your readers to take away from your works?

I want them to be entertained first and foremost, however, I also feel that good writing should open the door for discussion, be it an internal dialogue with oneself or ideas that get expressed in discussion with others due to the influence of what we read.

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Inside Out (a collection of poems) is currently available as an e-book on Smashwords.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Lanette Kauten, author of upmarket, literary fiction, and women’s fiction novels.

Lanette’s adult life started out more or less in the nursing field. She worked for many years in medical research before submitting to her true desire of writing stories. She’s married to a very supportive man and has two children, a dog, a cat, and a frog.

Her newest novel is Cassia. Living among artists doesn’t make Tanya one of them. Neither does her romance with an actress whose secret life could destroy her connection to the art community.

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1. Why do you write in the genre(s) you listed above?

I write what’s considered to be upmarket or accessible literary novels. I love exploring life and the psyche of those who manage this day to day existence through whatever trauma I happen to throw at my characters.

2. If you could pick just one book to read for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Other than children’s literature or books that I’ve written or edited, I’ve never re-read a book. There’s something magical about seeing it all unfold the first time. If pressed to choose, I would have to say “The Door” by Magda Szabo because it is so rich and different from what I usually read. Although, if I read it several times, then what was once unique would become common, and that novel deserves better.

3. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever researched for your works or biggest/most out-of-the-ordinary thing you’ve done while researching?

I traveled to a foreign country by myself with limited knowledge of the language. The only thing I brought to help me was a phrase book. It was also one of the best experiences of my life, and I would do it again if I had another opportunity.

4. What literary character are you most like and why?

I’ve taken some of those on-line quizzes for the fun of it. “What Literary Character Are You?” “Which Jane Austen Character Are You?” (I think I got Mary Bennet). “Which Star Wars…” Which LOTR…” What’s funny is, with the exception of Mary Bennet, I keep getting compared to old, wise men– Yoda and Gandalf, etc. I don’t think I’m all that wise; I’m just good at taking quizzes.

5. How much of your published writing is based on personal experiences?

I’ve actually been to the places I’ve written about. Does that count?

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Cassia will be released on Saturday, March 26th, and is currently available through preorder on Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Robb Grindstaff, author of contemporary and Southern literary short stories and novels.

In addition to a career as a newspaper editor, publisher, and manager, Robb has written fiction most of his life. The newspaper biz has taken his family and him from Phoenix, Arizona, to small towns in North Carolina and Texas, and from seven years in Washington, D.C., to five years in Asia. Born and raised a small-town kid, he’s as comfortable in Tokyo or Tuna, Texas. He now resides in Wisconsin, where he manages a group of community newspapers. The variety of places he’s lived and visited serve as settings for the characters who invade his head.

In Carry me Away, Carrie Destin, a biracial military brat, learns the injuries she sustained in a car accident will prove fatal before she reaches adulthood. Facing an abbreviated life with a brash attitude and a morbid sense of humor, Carrie races to experience life before it ends, but spirals out of control, leading to a physical and emotional collapse.

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1. Why do you write in the genre(s) you listed above?

I grew up in the south, and have lived there most of my life (although I’m currently in Wisconsin), but also have lived overseas on a US military base. I’ve always been drawn to write contemporary, realistic situations, and I want to create characters who feel like someone you’ve known. Unique American subcultures — whether the rural south or military families — are what fascinate me, and I hope to open a window to readers who aren’t familiar with that subculture or who may have preconceived notions or misperceptions about a particular group of people. The biggest thing I’ve learned is whether I’m living in a small southern town or Washington D.C or a military base or in Tokyo, Japan, people are unique, different, fascinating, yet at the core, we’re all pretty much the same. Human nature is full of endless stories.

2. What genre do you currently read most and why?

I read a variety of contemporary literary to mainstream to magical realism to women’s fiction to some rather eclectic, weird little things. Favorite writers of the past few years include Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Amy Tan, Haruki Murakami, Ronlyn Domingue, and Sara Gruen.

3. If you could pick just one book to read for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Just one book for life – I’d have to choose the Bible. Never mind anyone’s religious faith or no faith, it’s full of great literature, characters and stories. Plus, it’s really long, so it might take me the rest of my life to read it all.

4. What literary character are you most like and why?

Probably Walter Mitty. I live in my head a lot and imagine myself to be a famous rock star, even though I have zero musical talent.

5. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had and why? What was the best thing about that job and why?

I’ve worked at a Dunkin Donuts, cleaned toilets, worked in a furniture store warehouse, picked up litter on the side of the road, and I’ve been in the newspaper business for 35+ years. I can’t say any of those jobs were the ‘worst.’ Obviously some jobs were much, much better, but I think I enjoyed every job I ever had as a kid or college student. Although I probably wouldn’t enjoy that same job if I had to go back to it today, I did at the time because of the people I worked with, not that cleaning toilets is a good time. And I had a great job I loved until some things changed and I was working for some people who were seriously dishonest and arrogant, so that was probably the lowest point in any job I’ve ever held. I put up with it for a bit, and then got out at the first opportunity.

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Carry me Away is currently available through Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Kira A. McFadden, author of fantasy short stories, novellas, and novels.

She began telling stories before she could put pencil to paper. For over the last decade, her concentration has been solely on the creation and completion of the Amüli Chronicles.

At the moment, she’s working on the sequel to The Soulbound Curse and the fourth of her middle grade fantasy series, Frendyl Krune and the Nightmare in the North. Plans for more tales from Inrugia are scattered across her desk.

She lives in Frederick, CO, with her beloved Micahl and two cats, Middii and Eva.

The Blood of the Sun is a magical gem that gives its wielder the might of the first Amüli king—the most powerful man in recorded history. While Frendyl Krune may have control of it now, someone is determined to take it away—no matter the cost.

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1. What are some of your favorite words and why?
I love disconsolate and contretemps. I discovered these words in junior high, and used them often. Something about how the sounds mesh make these words simply gorgeous to hear!

2. What do you want your tombstone to say?
Alas, my circuits shorted out.

3. What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that you think they need to know?
Fantasy should not ask you to suspend belief, but to believe that the events occurring abide by the laws of the world the story takes place in.

4. What author has influenced your writing style/subject the most and why?
Numerous authors have influence my writing style over the many years I’ve written. Perhaps the most impacting and long-lasting are Brandon Sanderson, George R. R. Martin, and Bruce Coville. Many of my books would not exist if not for these authors’ role in my life.

5. Where do your inspiration and ideas for your stories come from?
To be honest, I think constantly about my works; if there’s a problem that needs solving, I jot out different ways that a character might try to solve it, and go from there. I suppose my ideas just come from nowhere. I abide by the laws of Inrugia as I write, and the limitations of the character. These two major aspects of problem solving often help to create events and cause the ideas to unfold almost on their own.

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The Soulbound Curse and Frendyl Krune and the Blood of the Sun are currently available through Amazon and other retailers.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Mandy Webster, author of upper middle grade, medieval novels.

Mandy writes for a popular children’s website. She’s also edited an online parenting magazine and worked as an advertising copywriter. Young Marian: A Viper in the Forest is her first novel.

A prequel to the classic Robin Hood legend, Young Marian: A Viper in the Forest introduces Marian at age 13. Marian and her best friend Robin’s carefree childhood in Sherwood Forest takes a dark turn when the arrival of a sadistic new lord sets off a series of intrigues including robbery, kidnapping and murder.

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1. What was your attitude towards reading when you were a kid?
I read all the time when I was younger. I was lucky enough to have two older sisters so the house was already filled with books by the time I was old enough to read. I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on. It ran the gambit from Archie comics, to Nancy Drew, Enid, Blyton, Judy Blume. I think my favourite was The Trumpeter Swan by E. B. White – but then my favourites changed all the time! When I was a preteen my mother banned me from reading my sister’s Barbara Cartland romances, but I used to sneak them anyway.

2. What do you want your readers to take away from your works?
I’ve always loved the legend of Robin Hood, but it occurred to me that we usually hear the story from the male point of view, and the female characters are primarily the love interest. I wanted to turn the story on its head, and write a book that would encourage girls to look at it a new light. Marian stands strong in a medieval setting that is not necessarily friendly to women. I hope her courage inspires girls to reach for their own dreams.

3. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?
I prefer to write scenes between the kids, over scenes where they are interacting with the adults. For me, it’s the dynamic between Marian, Robin, Midge and Guy that is the most fun to explore. The adults are necessary, of course, but wherever possible I try to put the dialogue into the kids’ mouths, and base the majority of the action there.

4. How much of your published writing is based on personal experiences?
Well, I did not grow up in Nottingham in the 12th century. But I did move from Canada to England when I was just a little older than Marian. I lived in one of the most beautiful parts of the country (although to be honest, it’s ALL beautiful!) My home was right at the bottom of Cheddar Gorge, so I was surrounded by soaring cliff faces, rolling hills, dense forests, and best of all – the deepest underground caves in the UK were a five minute walk from my house. How cool is that? So whenever I’m writing about Marian and Robin, I am remembering that wonderful time exploring gorgeous Somerset.

5. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Maybe super-speed, so I could get through all the boring things I have to do – like housework – and spend more time writing!

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Young Marian: A Viper in the Forest is available now through Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is David Neilson, author of historical crime novels.

Having retired from teaching in further education in Glasgow, he lives on the Rhine growing runner beans, courgettes and kohlrabi.

His latest novel is The Prussian Dispatch. Vienna, 1772. Sophie Rathenau is desperate for work. Countess Wielopolska is desperate to hold her country together. Chancellor Granitz is desperate not to be found out. And the Prussians are desperate to get their dispatch back.

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1. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had and why? What was the best thing about that job and why?
I had a student job handing out flyers for a steamer on the Clyde Coast, near Glasgow, Scotland, advertising day trips. It got unpleasant when the Captain was dragged into court on a charge on interfering with chidlren.

2. What’s your current writing project and what are your writing plans for the near future?
The Prussian Dispatch, which I’ve just published, is the first in a series of seven about Sophie and her work as an early private detective in Mozart’s Vienna. (She will never, never be allowed to meet Mozart in the series, by the way.) The second, Lay Brothers, focuses on Sophie’s war with the Jesuit Order. I’m getting feedback on that at the moment, though unfortunately not from any Jesuits, and plan to start editing soon.

3. Thinking about the stuff you’ve written, who’s your favorite character and why?
It could only be my main character, Sophie Rathenau, whose voice is always resonating in my head. She knows she’s the star turn and she doesn’t tolerate rivals. I can catch her sometimes thinking whether she’s tough enough in one scene, or vulnerable enough, or self-righteous enough. I really love it when one of the other characters shows a bit of independence, but the best moments for me come when Sophie says or does something outrageous, for example getting to get into a ball for free by pretending that a non-existent husband will pay, or trying to con a Jesuit rector into believing she’s a rich patroness. She puts her whole heart into gambits like that, and I notice that readers take well to them, too.

4. Where do your inspiration and ideas for your stories come from?
I really like my world – eighteenth-century Vienna in terms of music, surroundings and costume really appeals to me. I’ve wandered about central Europe so much that writing stories featuring its palaces and rat-infested alleys seems quite natural.

5. What are three things on your bucket list?

• I need to learn a Slavic language. I can travel overland to Poland in a day if I want to, living as I do in Germany, but my Polish vocabulary is shockingly limited.
• Learn the clarinet and play a Mozart concerto.
• Travel to a continent outside Europe. There have to be good places elsewhere!

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The Prussian Dispatch is available now through Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Mickie Bolling-Burke, author of Horror/Thriller/Suspense short stories and novellas.

Growing up on the east coast, Mickie kept her wrist watch at California time. When she finally made it to the palm trees and Pacific Ocean of the west coast, she knew she’d come home. Working as an actor fed her creative soul, until her beloved Los Angeles grew too big for her. She and her family now live in a small corner of the southwest, where she finds the sky as majestic and blue as she did the ocean. Mickie spends her time writing, reading, hiking and watching The Three Stooges with her very adored rescue cat, Pal.

Her latest book is Blood Mask, two short stories of horror filled with fraud and murder. A woman has accomplished nothing until she writes a book that becomes a bestseller. When she can’t write her second book, she makes a desperate bargain to break her writer’s block. Another woman has run away from her horrible childhood. When ghosts from her past catch up to her, she tries to fight them so they can’t drag her back to hell.

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1. Where do your inspiration and ideas for your stories come from?
Everywhere. Anywhere. Something will click and there is a story demanding I write it down.

2. What genre do you currently read most and why?
I read a lot of different genres – literature, general fiction, suspense, mystery, because they are entertaining and compelling, but I do come back, often and always, to horror.

3. What do you want your tombstone to say?
She had love, she had laughter, she had cats, she had books.

4. What literary character are you most like and why?
When my husband wants me to do something, I’m like Bartleby the scrivener – “I prefer not.” When my Russian Blue cat is avoiding me, I’m like Captain Ahab – chasing the ‘great grey kitten’.

5. What’s your current writing project and what are your writing plans for the near future?
I have a novella that I’m doing major edits on now, and writing a short story, and I have seventy-three stories in the queue waiting to be written. We’ll see what’s what after that.

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Blood Mask is available now through Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Five focus is Emma Woods, author of young adult novels.

Emma lives in a small town in the Midwest with her husband, daughter, and dog. She vaguely remembers winning a Young Authors award in the fourth grade, and has a bachelor’s degree in Language Arts Education. As a child, she played imagination games all the time and was certain that the neighbors were hiding a roller coaster in their backyard. As an adult, she tries to keep her imagination on the pages of her books, but fun make believe games still happen at her house.

Her novel, Beasts and Savages, is about Lea, who lives where girls hunt boys. When Lea’s prey becomes her captor, she learns more about their lives and herself. In the end, Lea must choose between two worlds, in which neither she belongs.

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1. Why do you write in the genre you listed above?
I got sucked in to the Young Adult realm in college. As an assignment, I had to read The Giver. I loved it and had a heated discussion with a college professor about the open ending. Since then, I read every YA novel I could get my hands on. When I began writing, I decided to write what I love.

2. If you could pick just one book to read for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
This is hard. Just one book? I’m not sure which series I’d pick, but I would definitely pick the end of a series book. Because I would already know the characters from the first books, I could relive the first stories and keep the ending fresh in my mind.

3. What are some of your favorite words and why?
My favorite word is scoot. Like “scoot over here and sit by me.” I have no idea why. I also like trousers, which isn’t used very often in the US. Maybe that’s why I like it.

4. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?
Any scene that isn’t dialogue or full of action is hard for me. Describing does not come natural to me and I feel cheesy doing it most of the time.

5. What are three things on your bucket list?
To ride in a hot air balloon. Someone near where I work has one and in the summer I watch them take off on my way in. I think it would be so fun.

Meet Jimmy Fallon or John Oliver. Both are smart, funny, and adorable men.

Watch my daughter grow up and become an illustrator/artist. There is nothing I could imagine better that watching your child fulfill her dream.

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Beasts and Savages is available through Amazon.

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Today’s Friday Focus is Jonathan Brookes, author of sci-fi, techno-thriller, and espionage novels and novellas.

Jonathan has been “on the run” for some time, after exposing a covert and ethically questionable military project to breed super soldiers.

The facts behind the fiction of this project are revealed in the first novella, Relic. Disturbingly close to the truth, Relic describes a world in which human soldiers are replaced with something much deadlier, and much more uncontrollable, with consequences that could spell the end of humanity as we know it.

Jonathan Brookes is known to have spent the last thirty years weaving his way through one high tech company after another, leaving a trail of cancelled projects, failed mergers and corporate bankruptcies. He was last seen on a wooded trail between the Melville Nauheim Shelter and The Greenwood Lodge and Campsite on Route 9, near Big Pond, Woodford, VT.

His current whereabouts are unknown….

His latest book, Relic II: Resurrection, is a twisted tale of lust, greed, psychosis, and delusion. A child is born, and its mother dies during childbirth. The race is on to claim guardianship of this orphan, whose genetics are a relic of a lost race. In a perverse twist of evolution, this one child could unravel 30,000 years of Homo sapiens dominance of the Earth. Fact and fiction collide in this high-tension, fast-paced sequel to Relic.

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1. What was your attitude towards reading when you were a kid?
Books! Couldn’t get enough of ’em!

2. What do you want your readers to take away from your works?
I want them to think. To consider other possibilities. To consider their own potential, and act upon that.

3. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever researched for your works or biggest/most out-of-the-ordinary thing you’ve done while researching?
Whether or not Neanderthals had a baculum (penile bone). All male primates except humans have one. It allows a male primate to instantly have an erection to get the deed done quickly and move on. None of that huggy-kissy foreplay required. Just in, out, then off to play with the boys.

4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
The ability to make up my mind when confronted with existential questions like “If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?”

5. Why should people read YOUR stuff? Who’s your target audience and why?
Convincing people to read my stuff is your job. That’s why I’m doing this interview.

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Relic and Relic II: Resurrection are both available through Amazon.

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