Recently, I was asked to be a guest on The Author Inside You podcast. I had a great time talking to hosts Leah and Matt Rafferty. We discussed everything from what inspired me to write my books to what my next projects are. Here is the link:
http://www.theauthorinsideyou.com/
My interview took place on June 21. The podcast is live on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play as well.
Excerpt
“Oh!” the Mom answered, but could not contain her curiosity with one hand holding the hyper toddler and the other on her hip she could not resist, “You two don’t look like brother-sister, hmmm. So, what is your relationship?” she inquired with a slight smile in a soft voice but without any inhibition. A handful of seniors sitting in the same room observed all the drama and nodded to each other while their fingers were moving on the Tulsi neck beads.
Neena rolled her eyes and thought to herself, “Jeez! We Indians are always darn inquisitive.”
Nikhil immediately got up and started walking towards the dining area. This was happening to them for the umpteenth time, and he was now tired of clarifying things. He had lived in this country for half a decade now and still he could never understand the fascination Indians had for marriage and children.
Neena was confused at first because it was unlike Nikhil to be so rude. On the contrary, sometimes Neena referred to him on lessons in patience but today it was different. But then she didn’t have a choice; she felt it was rude to walk away from the young mother leaving the conversation unanswered. Moreover given Indian mentality in all possibility, she might even follow them till she had a convincing answer to her question.
About the Book:
Neena Arya, a Delhi-born goes abroad for further studies and decides to settle down there. Determined to be a ‘somebody’ from a ‘nobody’ she blends with the Americans via the accent and their mannerisms while having a live-in relationship with her European boyfriend, Adan Somoza.
When illness hits home, Neena rushes to meet her ailing dad. Tragedy strikes and amidst the mingling with relatives and friends, she finds herself suffocated with the two different cultures that she has been breathing since she moved to the United States. How will she strike a balance between both the cultures as she continues to support her widowed mother? Will she be able to do justice to her personal and professional life after the loss?
Amidst the adjusting she bonds with an ally and learns about ties beyond blood. On what grounds will she be able to form an invisible thread that she has longed for since childhood?
Breathing Two Worlds ventures into cultures and ethnicity allowing Neena to ponder upon her foundation and priorities.
Available on Amazon
About the Author:
Ruchira Khanna, a biochemist turned writer, left her homeland of India to study in America, where she obtained her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from SJSU and a degree in Technical Writing from UC Berkeley.
After finishing her studies, Ruchira worked as a biochemist at a Silicon Valley startup for five years. After the birth of her son, Ruchira took a job as a technical writer, so that she could work from home. Soon, she began doing freelance writing work as well.
Her love of writing grew and she started working on her own books. After four years of freelancing, Ruchira published her first book, a fiction novel for adults called Choices.
Then came the children’s book The Adventures of Alex and Angelo: The Mystery of the Missing Iguana. She got a thumb’s up review from Kirkus Reviews.
In January 2016, she has published her second fictional novel Voyagers into the Unknown. It talks about the quest for happiness as the heavy hearted tourists travel miles from different parts of the world to Raj Touristry in Agra, India. Return to their respective home with a healed heart. This book talks about their journey!
In Breathing Two Worlds, Ruchira talks about ethnicity and cultures, and helps to strike a balance via a fiction-drama novel as her characters breathe two worlds.
In addition to writing books, she is a holistic healer associated with Stanford Healing Partners and also maintains a blog of daily mantras on Blogspot, called Abracabadra. Ruchira currently resides in California with her family.
BOOK & AUTHOR INFO:
THE DEVIL’S GIFT by best-selling author Laura Landon is one of twenty-five titles—all historical romance—that all carry the Union Jack Heart. Featured authors also include Christina McKnight, Ava Stone, Deb Marlowe, Meara Platt, Julie Johnstone, and more! Romance, deception, murder…happily ever afters you won’t want to miss. Look for titles that carry the Union Jack Heart.
Publication date: June 25th, 2017
Genre: Victorian Romance
ABOUT THE DEVIL’S GIFT:
Jackson Rafferty, second son of the eleventh Earl of Devlin, held his dying brother in his arms and swore he’d avenge his murder. That pact made in blood led him to the back halls of Kingston Manor and the woman who would stand between him and pursuing the man Jack knew had killed his brother. That man was her father.
Miss Jenevieve Kingston has a secret. Keeping it is the only thing keeping her father alive. When a rogue by the name of Jack Dawson comes dangerously close to spoiling everything, Jenna forces him from her home. But not before he has worked his way into her heart.
Now he’s back, proving he is not who she thought he was. But how can she trust him after weeks of deception?
THE DEVIL’S GIFT EXCERPTS & TEASERS:
“It’s rather funny, don’t you think?” the Earl of Devlin said as he continued to make his way down the street. “Father thought if you were gone, I would step in to take your place. He thought your absence would make me assume some responsibility in running Devlin Downs. Instead…”
“Instead, what?” Jack asked, feeling more uncomfortable by the second.
When Sheridan stopped on the sidewalk and turned, Jack felt a cold chill race down his spine. The color left his brother’s bronzed face and a haunted look filled his eyes.
“Refusing to marry Kingston’s daughter is probably the first selfless act I’ve ever committed.”
“How can you say that?”
Shad paused and Jack knew his brother was weighing how much he should reveal.
“How much do you know about Kingston?”
“Very little. I only know about the agreement he made with Father for you to marry his daughter.”
“A pact made in blood,” Shad said barely loud enough to be heard. “Marrying into that family would have condemned us all. Or worse.”
“What are you talking about? If there’s something we should go to the authorities with—“
Shad dropped his head back and laughed. “The authorities. Oh, that’s rich, Jack. You’ve been in government service too long. The authorities are the last ones you can trust.”
“That’s not true, Shad. I have connections that have nothing to do with the local authorities. Tell me what you know and I’ll figure out what to do.”
The Earl of Devlin smiled sadly at his brother. “You always could fix everything. I should have known to come to you right away.”
“Yes, you should have. Now, what do you know?”
Sheridan hesitated as if knowing what he was about to do was the same as stepping off a ledge. Once you took the first step, there was no going back.
“Promise you’ll be careful, Jack. I don’t know all the details. In fact, I’m confused on some of them, but somehow the Kingston name is behind it.”
“Behind what?”
“Behind—”
A nondescript carriage clattered noisily by on the far side of the street. A few yards further on a drunken trio assaulted a familiar tune. Shad’s words halted abruptly. At the same moment Jack saw the surprised look on Shad’s face he heard a muffled pop and knew instantly what was happening. In horror he saw Shad’s features sag as he crumpled to the ground in front of him.
Jack threw his body over Shad but no second shot came. Jack cautiously lifted his head and looked around. In the faint light he focused on the area from which he felt the shot had come. All was quiet. The street was empty.
Jack knew that even if he left his brother to race after the assassin, he wouldn’t find anyone. Whoever had shot Shad was long gone.
“Shad, how badly are you hit?” Jack asked, kneeling beside his brother. “Can you—”
Jack stopped. He was going to ask if he was able to stand, or if Jack should send for a doctor. But he knew the answer. Shad couldn’t stand. And it was already too late to send for a doctor.
Shad was dying.
“Hold on, Shad. I’ll take care of you.”
Shad lifted his trembling hand and pulled Jack down to whisper.
“Don’t let…”
Shad coughed through the rattle in his throat.
“…get you…
“…too.”
“How old were you when your father remarried?”
“Thirteen.”
“He married so soon after your mother died?”
Her expression changed—and the look on her face turned to marble. Whatever was to be read in the look on her face was significant.
“Are you always so inquisitive?” she finally said, her voice tinged with an icy clip.
“I am when I’m with someone about whom I’m curious.”
Jack wanted to take the words back the second he spoke them. What was wrong with him? He was behaving as if he were in a London ballroom and he’d just met a debutante he was interested in getting to know.
The look on her face told him he couldn’t have made a bigger blunder if he’d tried. The sharpness in her words told him the same.
“It would behoove you to learn your place, Mr. Hawkins. A servant—especially one who intends to achieve the exalted and trustworthy station of butler—is still nothing more than a servant. No servant, you will quickly discover, has the right to make inquiries of his master.”
“You are right, of course,” he said with a subservient nod of respect. “I overstepped my bounds.”
“Yes, you did.”
She walked away from him and made her way to the other side of the table. When she reached a place directly across from him, she stopped and motioned to the array of beautiful china and silver set out for his lessons. “You’d best learn the skills you’ll need to serve dinner before you’re expected to use them. You will find Benton a demanding overseer.”
Jack motioned to her from the other side of the table and listened with half an ear while she explained which fork was used for what. What he concentrated on more than anything though, was the husky tone of every word. Even though she remained very stern and proper, the timbre of her voice wrapped around him like the warm blanket he’d often wished for in countless battlefield trenches.
What impressed him even more was her strength and determination. In the beginning he may have mistakenly thought her to be naïve, and perhaps that would be the case in certain matters, but she sure as hell wasn’t weak. She was one of the strongest, most determined young ladies he’d chanced to meet.
And the battle he was most desperate to win, yet knew he was already losing, was his determination not to allow her to affect him.
In truth, she moved him in ways he’d not experienced before. If she thought his questions indicated he didn’t know his place, she’d be shocked at the place his thoughts were taking him.
She started to rush through the narrow crack as he held the door slightly ajar, but Jack stopped her and peeked through the opening to make sure the hallway was clear. It wasn’t.
A yawning footman slowly made his way toward them, his eyes not yet open wide.
Jack pushed Jenna back into the room and silently closed the door. To keep her from alerting the footman to their presence, Jack placed his finger over her lips and pulled her against him.
She stiffened as if afraid, then quieted when he whispered a warning in her ear. The second she realized their danger, she relaxed in his arms and let him hold her.
Jack waited for the footman to make his way past the door, wishing the lad would hurry so he could release her and end the torture, and at the same time praying the listless footman would take forever so the ecstasy of having her in his arms would never end.
They waited. At last the soft scuffing sounds of a sleepy servant faded as he walked away from them.
They were safe. It was a near call, but they hadn’t been discovered.
Jack looked down to whisper how fortunate they were that the footman hadn’t been completely awake or he might have noticed the faint light from the candle beneath the door, but any word he might have said escaped him the second he saw her face.
She looked up at him in wondered awe, as if she realized the same as he that something monumental had happened between them.
Perhaps she heard the thundering of his heart inside his chest. Perhaps she felt the desperation with which he held her. Whatever the reason, he knew she was equally as confused by their attraction to each other as was he.
She looked at him with a pleading in her eyes and opened her mouth as if intending to speak.
Jack didn’t want to talk. They’d talked enough already tonight.
Before any sound she made could break the charged atmosphere in the candlelit room, Jack lowered his head and kissed her.
Their kiss didn’t last long. In fact, it was a very short kiss in comparison to some of the others he’d shared with women he’d been known to favor. But he’d never experienced such an explosive kiss. He’d never experienced a kiss that had shaken him to his very core as this kiss did.
Bloody hell! What was happening to him?
Jack pulled away from Miss Kingston and warned himself not to look at her. He knew better than to look into her eyes, to see the expression on her face. But he did it anyway.
He absorbed her confused expression, studied the dazed look in her eyes. Was struck by an emotion that contained the power of a lightning bolt when he considered the ramifications of what he’d done.
The last thing he intended was to care for Jenna Kingston to the point that his feelings for her overshadowed his desire for justice. Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he allowed Shad’s killer to go unpunished because he’d come to care for the killer’s daughter.
A cloud skittered over the moon, casting the place where he’d been hiding in eerie shadows. Though he still had a few minutes, it was the perfect time to go. With the moon hidden behind the cloud cover, he would be hard to spot as he made his way across the open meadow.
Jack stood, then took his first step away from Kingston Manor. His worn boots hadn’t touched down to take his second step when a muffled scream stopped him short.
The sound came from inside the house, and Jack knew he never would have heard it had he not been concentrating on every sound around him.
He spun around and listened. Another indistinct sound followed the first.
As he raced back to the manor, he was aware of only one fact.
The pain-filled cry was Jenna’s.
Buy now on Amazon! http://a.co/4XPaOjx
This book is free for Kindle Unlimited readers.
ENTER TO WIN:
www.aurorapublicity.com/thedevilsgift
ABOUT LAURA LANDON:
Laura Landon is a Prairie Muse Platinum, Kindle Press, and Amazon Montlake bestselling author. Laura enjoyed ten years as a high school teacher and nine years making sundaes and malts in her very own ice cream shop, but once she penned her first novel, she closed up shop to spend every free minute writing. Now she enjoys creating her very own heroes and heroines, and making sure they find their happily ever after.
A vital member of her rural community, Laura directed the town’s Quasquicentennial, organized funding for an exercise center for the town, and serves on the hospital board.
Laura lives in the Midwest, surrounded by her family and friends. She has written nearly two dozen Victorian historicals, thirteen of which have been published by Prairie Muse Publishing and are selling worldwide in English, one in Japanese, and several in German. Two are Scottish historicals.
In October 2012, Laura experienced an amazing day when Amazon’s Montlake Romance published not one but three of her newest novels. Two of these have been optioned for publication in Russia and Turkey. Several are also available in German. To date Montlake had published seven of Laura’s Victorian historicals and Kindle Press three.
Always beautifully set and with a mysterious twist or bit of suspense, Laura’s books average over a million and a half pages a month read by her loyal readers.
CONNECT WITH LAURA:
Website: http://www.lauralandon.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauralandonbooks
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-landon
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Laura-Landon/e/B004GANR1O
I found Dominick and the Dragon, by Anne K. Edwards, to be an enthralling, adventurous read. Little Dominick gets left out of the fun when his older brothers exclude him from their game in the woods. They warn Dominick there are dragons who live in the woods that might chase and eat him if they have the chance. The brothers race off into the forest, leaving Dominick to ponder the situation.
It isn’t long before a real dragon shows up, and introduces himself as Elvis. The boy and Elvis make friends, and Elvis gives Dominick the ride of his life. It isn’t until Dominick meets another dragon, Lena, that things take a turn for the worse. But Dominick’s quick thinking gets him out of a sticky situation.
This story kept me intrigued and had a satisfying ending. I was a little disappointed Dominick never had the opportunity to meet the wizard in the woods, though. And although Lewie Francisco’s artwork is noteworthy, I didn’t feel it accentuated the story as well as it could have.
Dominick and the Dragon, by Anne K. Edwards
Age level: 4-8
Price: $1.99
Pages: 42
Find on Amazon
Dominick and the Dragon. Dominick is a little boy fascinated by dragons. When he finally meets one named Elvis that wants to eat everything, including him, he has to find a way to outsmart him. His adventure proves a boy can be smarter than a dragon.
About the Author: Anne K. Edwards enjoys writing tales for children when she’s not focusing on a mystery. Some stories are ideas taken from little misadventures of her cat who actually did fall off the porch and land on a large blacksnake as it was sunning itself. Both were more than a little surprised.
I am so honored to announce that my novel, A Rebel Among Us, is the 2017 recipient of the John Esten Cooke Fiction Award. This award is given by the Military Order of the Stars and Bars. The MOSB was founded in 1938 to honor works of military literature concentrating on the Confederate perspective.
This is the second time I have won the prestigious award. From what I was told, I am the only person to have received the award twice. My novel, A Beautiful Glittering Lie, won the award in 2013.
Thank you so much for the honor, MOSB. I can’t tell you how humbled I am to have received this award twice.
Changing Places by Anne K. Edwards is a delightful children’s book with a classic storyline. The artwork by Dasguptarts is wonderful as well, and adds dimension to the book.
Whiskers the Cat sees a strange creature one day, and decides to investigate. Learning that the creature is a snake, Whiskers communicates with it and discovers they have some things in common. I thought it was cute how Whiskers “owns” his people.
“My people are obedient. They feed me canned food and sit down when I want to be held and they play with me too. They like silly games. But I play with them anyway. It doesn’t take much to keep them happy.”
Whiskers wonders if the snake would like to trade places with him for a day, and the snake agrees. After an adventure with numerous outdoor animals, Whiskers decides he’s got it much better inside the warm, cozy, safe house with his people. The snake agrees that he likes being outside better, so he finds a new home near the barn.
This story was well told, and even though it is short, it held my interest. I think kids of all ages will enjoy this book.
Changing Places, by Anne K. Edwards
Age level: 4-8
Price: $1.99
Pages: 14
Find on Amazon
Changing Places. A black cat named Whiskers encounters a snake that has lost his home when he goes outside to see the world.
About the Author: Anne K. Edwards enjoys writing tales for children when she’s not focusing on a mystery. Some stories are ideas taken from little misadventures of her cat who actually did fall off the porch and land on a large blacksnake as it was sunning itself. Both were more than a little surprised.
The New Orleans Police Department misappropriated more than 200 officers and 8,600 man-hours to “keep the peace” at the Confederate monuments as the city removed them last month, city records show.
The cash-strapped city spent more than $173,000 on paying officers deployed to removal operations at the Jefferson Davis, P.G.T. Beauregard and Robert E. Lee monuments, including $112,000 in time-and-a-half overtime pay that went to 178 officers.
The city overtime data and expenses were provided to WWL-TV in response to the station’s public records request for police overtime dedicated to the removal of four monuments starting with the Battle of Liberty Place monument on April 24.
But the records only go back to April 30 and do not include police hours or overtime costs associated with the Liberty Place monument.
Donovan Livaccari, attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police, noted the NOPD has a serious manpower problem as it tries to address mounting violent crime. He said he heard from officers who complained that the monument duty was taking them away from their regular work. Livaccari said the NOPD has a budgeted amount of overtime for the year, and dedicating 3,000 hours to the monument removal and protests is sure to make a serious dent in that allocation.
WWL-TV and its partners at The New Orleans Advocate have requested all the expense information for the monument removal. So has Stacy Head, the only member of the City Council who voted against removing the monuments. She said she requested this information weeks ago as the chair of the Budget Committee and has not received anything except what WWL-TV provided her.
“I appreciate that the administration is providing this information in a piecemeal fashion to the media, but I requested a comprehensive accounting and am still waiting for it,” Head said.
Federal court affirms that New Orleans can remove Confederate monuments. including Robert E. Lee statue.
The city has twice pushed back deadlines under the state Public Records Law to provide those records to WWL-TV. Also, the city has not yet responded to the station’s request from early May for overtime and deployment information for the New Orleans Fire Department, which assigned several firefighters to the monument removal efforts.
(Courtesy Dixie Heritage Newsletter, June 9, 2017 ed.)
I was recently featured in an interview with Stephanie Hopkins of Indiebrag and Layered Pages. My novel, A Beautiful Glittering Lie, is the recipient of the B.R.A.G. Medallion. Here is the interview:
Writing a story is an art in itself. Creating the right setting, the perfect characters, plot, believable dialogue and conflict. With those blended ingredients are what makes a story impact the reader’s imagination, mind and heart. The most important aspect of story-telling is to draw the reader in your character’s world. How are the stories written to do this and how does one make it work? Today, award winning B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree J.D.R. Hawkins shares with us her expertise on this.
Stephanie: What are the steps in creating a setting for your story?
J.D.R. Hawkins: Since I write about the Civil War, the settings are historically accurate. In my first book of the Renegade Series, A Beautiful Glittering Lie, the setting starts in Montgomery, Alabama, the first capital of the Confederacy, and moves with the story to various battlefields. I also chose an area in north Alabama as my protagonist’s hometown, so the story goes back and forth between north Alabama and Virginia battlefields.
Stephanie: There is a fine line between creating a visible backstory and a hidden backstory of your characters. What are the steps in balancing it out? What should you not do?
J.D.R. Hawkins: Because I have written a series, backstories become very complicated and intricately woven. Small details later resurface. One example is a buckeye that is given to the main character, David Summers, by his best friend’s father for good luck. This happens in the second book of the Renegade Series. Later on, the buckeye reappears, but this doesn’t occur until the fourth book. Another example is a peach pit that is introduced in the third book, and resurfaces in book four of the series. Visible backstories include David’s running from the law and how he deals with it after the war ends. I would avoid using too many backstories, because then it gets confusing. Some of my backstories are so subtle that it doesn’t matter if the reader doesn’t see them the first time through. They might see the backstories later on, which adds to the complexity of the story-line.
Stephanie: How much is too much conflict? And what do you do about it when it’s not working in the plot?
J.D. R. Hawkins: I think there is too much conflict when it muddies the plot and creates too much of a distraction from the story-line. I have read numerous books that get bogged down with too much conflict, and after a while, I just lose interest. Conflict is good, but it has to augment the story, not detract from it.
Stephanie: What are the steps in creating believable characters and dialogue?
J.D.R. Hawkins: For me, living in the South gave me the opportunity to learn the dialect and metaphors. I’m originally from Iowa, and lived most of my life in Colorado, so there was definitely a learning curve! I also studied speech patterns used during the 1860’s. Generally speaking, people back then spoke more eloquently than we do today.
Stephanie: What is the advice you would give to a writer when they get stuck on a specific scene or comes across a road block in their plot?
J.D.R. Hawkins: Leave it up to your characters! If you give them a chance, they will take on personalities and assist with the plot. On numerous occasions, my characters rewrote the story to fit their personas. I also try to envision different scenarios for the plot, and usually come up with three or four different ideas. Then I chose the one that fits the story most accurately, and also complies with historical accuracy.
About Author:
J.D.R. Hawkins is an award-winning author who has written for newspapers, magazines, newsletters, e-zines, and blogs. She is one of a few female Civil War authors, uniquely describing the front lines from a Confederate perspective. Her Renegade Series includes A Beautiful Glittering Lie, winner of the John Esten Cooke Fiction Award and the B.R.A.G. Medallion, and A Beckoning Hellfire, which is also an award winner. Both books tell the story of a family from north Alabama who experience immeasurable pain when their lives are dramatically changed by the war.
Ms. Hawkins is a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the International Women’s Writing Guild, the Mississippi Writers Guild, Pikes Peak Writers, and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She is also an artist and singer/songwriter. Recently, she completed a nonfiction book about the War Between the States, as well as two more sequels for the Renegade Series. Learn more about her at www.jdrhawkins.com.
The debacle over removing four Confederate monuments in New Orleans hasn’t been enough ridiculousness lately. It seems some groups just can’t have enough political correctness or they will never be happy. Not only are several other areas sporting the idea of removing their monuments (Florida, Maryland), but street names and other landmarks are also under attack. Personally, I find it all disgusting and disrespectful, not to mention idiotic, and a true indicator of certain groups being misinformed and uneducated.
Now a student petition is circulating Louisiana State University to change the “Tigers” mascot. The petition claims that the mascot is “the most prevalent Confederate symbol in the United States.” How stupid is this!
The petition concludes with a quote by Dr. Charles Coates, who was an LSU administrator from 1893-1939. He explained how the Tigers mascot originated in a 1937 alumni newsletter. LSU began its college football program in 1895. According to Dr. Coates, the team name was chosen because of Louisiana’s heritage, and he found it appropriate because the Louisiana Fighting Tigers were known for “getting into the hardest part of the fighting and staying there, most of them permanently.”
J.D.R. Hawkins 