Interview with Amanda J. Conley, runner up in the WOW! Spring 2024 Flash Fiction Contest

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

 

Amanda J. Conley writes to survive the tangle of words that threaten to keep her up at night. She spent twenty-five years as a metalsmith, making a living fabricating gold and silver while wordsmithing on the side. Recently, she has devoted more time to the pen and is nearly finished writing her first novel, which will be completed as soon as she can tear herself away from her addiction to entering flash fiction contests. 

She is honored and excited to be published for the first time by WOW! Women on Writing. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, four children, and her two half-Maine Coon kitties.

If you haven't read her story, Merci, click here and take a few minutes to do so.  Then come learn about her writing process and inspiration. 

WOW: So many of the stories entered in the flash contest are about families, motherhood, and the roles of women. What was your inspiration for Merci? How did you decide to enter it in the contest? 

Amanda: I was practicing writing flash fiction just for fun when I wrote “Merci.” When a friend of mine suggested I write a historical fiction piece, I was inspired by my grandfather (also named Gene) who was in World War II. He was never injured, but once I did some research and chose my setting, the story kind-of just fell out of me as I wrote. Even though I don’t always write about women, although many times I do, I do tend to consistently have a central theme of hope that makes it’s appearance in my writing. As a cancer survivor and a woman and mother, my own soul thrives on little acts of goodness and hope. When I feel that a story showcases those things well, I want others to read it. 

WOW: And hope really does come through in this piece. Revision is such a big part of the writing process. Can you tell us how your story changed during revision? 

Amanda: Since I was practicing flash fiction, I had set for myself a 500 word limit in order to create an extra challenge. This is where the revision process comes in—and the growth! When using so few words to tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, each word really has to count. I landed on the French word for thank you—Merci—which had a sort of double entendre—Mercy—adding a layer of meaning into the story despite it being so short. Although the story line didn’t change much during editing, the poetry of the words became much more pronounced. I whittled it down to exactly 500 words. Goal!

WOW:  I love that one word, merci, added so much to the story.  And congratulations on writing your first novel. What can you share about it? 

Amanda:  My novel is really different from “Merci,” although writing flash fiction has made me a better writer. I am writing a rather humorous mystery set in a neighborhood with a pesky homeowner’s association. It’s fun, and cathartic for me to write, as much as it is a lesson in patience with myself and perseverance. To quote Glennon Doyle: “I can do hard things!” 

WOW: How does writing a novel-length work compare to writing flash? What should writers know about writing both? 

Amanda: I love writing longer works because I can play around with piecing together multiple story lines into a satisfying conclusion which is a facet of my puzzle-loving nature. I love getting to blossom the characters and the settings to an immersive level. The truncated version of story telling, as with flash fiction, doesn’t allow for as much detail, but I tend to write both similarly in that the first go is just getting the idea out without too much overthinking or else it will never get written! Then I can go back in and reshape and mold the story by cutting away, reworking and adding. 

I find that while I’m working on a bigger or longer project, like a book, it’s fun to take little hiatuses and write shorter pieces to break up the tediousness. I use flash fiction as an amuse-bouche, if you will. The only problem—it is habit-forming. Hello, my name is Amanda and I’m a Flashoholic. 

WOW: A writing habit is a good habit to have! Like many of our readers, I've never written flash fiction. What is the most important thing that I can do to set myself up for success when I try this form?

Amanda: Writing flash fiction has a similar process as most other forms of writing. The most important thing that I have found for my own writing success is to be process orientated rather than product orientated. I try not to get bogged down with my word count, or streamlining my beginning, middle and ending. Rather, I just begin with one tiny idea and start writing. After I get a good purge of words onto the page, I go back to organize and pare down. In the last flash fiction piece I wrote, my initial draft was nearly 300 words over the word limit. However, if I hadn’t just started writing and let the story come out, I never would have gotten my complete story. So don’t be afraid of the constraints. Get it out and then you can apply the word count afterwards.

WOW:  I know I've heard a lot of editors say that  you need to get the story down before you obsess about the word count.  Thank you so much for taking the time out of your writing schedule to spend time with us!

  
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July and Everything After by Allie Nava: Blog Tour & Giveaway

Monday, November 11, 2024
 
July and Everything After by Allie Nava

We're back with another awesome blog tour for an amazing book you don't want to miss. Allie Nava is launching a blog tour for her book July and Everything After. Fans of Paolo Coelho, Amy Tan, Vaddey Ratner, and Khaled Hosseini will be captivated by July and Everything After, a modern tale of resilience and transformation against extraordinary odds. Join us as we celebrate the launch of her book with a giveaway and an interview with the author.

But before we get to that, here's more about her book:

Maya’s journey from America to her birth country was meant to be a nostalgic visit. Instead, it became a fight for survival.

On the eve of Maya's 22nd birthday, civil war breaks out in Sri Lanka. During what will become known as “Black July,” Maya is targeted and attacked in the organized massacres and pogroms against minorities, and she barely escapes the genocidal chaos.

Haunted by the horrors she witnessed, Maya returns to the US and tries to rally a diverse group of allies to help expose the atrocities in her birth country, among them her Norwegian-American best friend, a magnanimous Catholic nun, and a gifted young man from her past.

Bent on justice, Maya isn’t prepared for the unexpected twists and turns and confrontations with a nemesis that will test her resolve. As the war and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka intensify, so does Maya’s disillusionment, but contact with a mysterious mentor whose wisdom she once ignored holds the key to her future.

Fans of Paolo Coelho, Amy Tan, Vaddey Ratner, and Khaled Hosseini will be captivated by July and Everything After, a modern tale of resilience and transformation against extraordinary odds and war.

Publisher: DartFrog Books (September 16, 2024)
ISBN: 1965253059
ISBN: 978-1965253052
AISN:  B0DHFWGP1P
Print length:  238 pages

Purchase your copy on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You'll also want to add it to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author, Allie Nava


Allie Nava is an American writer who survived the violent anti-minority massacres of 1970s Sri Lanka. A former executive and writing advisor, she’s been a board member or advocate for several mission-oriented organizations including Bellevue Literary Review and Golden Seeds. She has been an invited speaker at several ideas festivals, universities, and conferences, an expert panelist for WNYC (The Brian Lehrer Show), and has been recognized for her work  by several organizations including Amazon, Harvard, and Asia Society.  She is a member of The Authors Guild.


--- Interview by Jodi M. Webb

WOW: Congratulations on July and Everything After. Were you ever concerned that readers would be unfamiliar with the events of the Sri Lankan civil war featured in your book?

Allie: The story is as much an American story, as it is one with events that take place across both the US and South Asia. It is the story of human resilience and transcendence, based on an American citizen’s experience with oppression and terror in her birth country in 1983, and how she tries to grapple with the fallout while attempting to rally personal US allies. I wanted to introduce an overlooked chapter of human history as a vessel for telling this story of resilience against extraordinary odds, to underscore that the themes are universal. I hope readers get something meaningful out of the story, whether it be a view into human resilience, or the action-packed excitement of the story itself, or even a bit of romance.

WOW: Was it difficult writing a fictional account of a world event that you lived through?

Allie: While I wasn’t physically present in South Asia in 1983, I was attacked there during the events in 1977, and was fortunate to survive, while hundreds of others died. That experience did provide me with a unique lens through which to try to tell this story as authentically as possible through a fictional format, what a character might go through and feel moment to moment, before, during, and after such incidents, and the various personal issues that one might grapple with. The characters' experiences also include the triumphs in life, the friendships, the romances, the lighter moments, and a path that the journey of resilience might take. I did also conduct research and interviews to learn more, and I believe this was a powerful and important aspect of being able to develop and tell the story.

WOW: Sorry, I mixed up the events of 1977 and 1983. Just like Maya, and indeed yourself, it seems most people have some degree of trauma in their past. What have you found to be the best advice for moving past trauma?

Allie: My observation is that while many people learn to move past trauma through their own life experiences grappling with it, for those that continue to struggle, a mentor figure can play an important role in helping that person move past that trauma, whether that mentor figure be a friend, or therapist, or religious figure, or something else. Many people also have shared with me that their exposure to philosophies that focus on self-awareness, learning, truth-seeking, analysis, and personal responsibility, also can expedite this healing process.

WOW: July and Everything After has been a success. Can you tell us something surprising about being the author of a bestselling book?

Allie: I am in awe of the generosity of readers and friends who have supported the book or said they gained something meaningful from it. I’ve also been surprised by the amount of time it takes to move from a fully written manuscript through a revision process, especially the one I embarked on myself before I even showed it to an editor. I appreciate the process though, because I witnessed how a book can improve through those many revisions, as well as benefitted from perspectives of beta readers and an outside editor.

WOW: Can you tell us a little about your life beyond your writing?

Allie: When I’m not writing for my next book, I dedicate myself to work that moves opportunity forward for women in various ways. Through my prior career, my current projects, and my volunteer endeavors, I focus on working with organizations that advance economic, leadership, and creative arts opportunities for women. Outside of that, I enjoy discovering new restaurants, new walking trails, and new travel destinations, though there are many places I also enjoy returning. I love learning about the history of the places I visit. And yes, I appreciate reading new books and of course a great romance (be it film or book)!

WOW: Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today. Good luck with your next book!

July and Everything After by Allie Nava Blog Tour

-- Blog Tour Calendar

November 11th @ The Muffin
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Allie Nava's novel July and Everything After. Read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of her book.

November 13th @ Create Write Now 
In today's spotlight, learn more about July and Everything After by Allie Nava.

November 14th @ Pages and Paws
Stop by for a review of  July and Everything After.

November 17th @ Just Katherine
Novelist Allie Nava writes about Carving a Tunnel of Hope.

November 18th @ Tracey Lampley
"Expect to self-rescue. No help is coming.” Learn more in today's guest post by writer Allie Nava.

November 19th @ The Faerie Review
Need an addition to your TBR pile? Check out today's spotlight of July and Everything After by Allie Nava.

November 20th @ Pages and Paws
Author Allie Nava will also be sharing a guest post on kindness as the antidote to anger.

November 21st @ Some Thoughts - Everything Creativity
Novelist Allie Nava is writing about drawing your own conclusions.

November 23rd @ Words by Webb
Celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with a new author. Read a review of Allie Nava' July and Everything After.

November 25th @ Chapter Break
Julie interviews author Allie Nava. Learn more about her and her novel July and Everything After.

November 27th @ A Storybook World
Today's guest poster, Allie Nava, writes about The Choice to Heal.

November 30th @ Nikki's Book Reviews
Stop by for Nikki's review of July and Everything After, a novel by Allie Nava. 

December 4th @ What Is That Book About
Start out a new month with a spotlight on a new book: July and Everything After.

December 7th @ A Wonderful World of Words
Allie Nava is visiting with a post about Positive Growth.

December 10th @ Choices
Author Allie Nava, author of July and Everything After, guest posts about Being Overlooked or Ignored.

December 15th @ Jill Sheets
Learn more about author Allie Nava and her novel July and Everything After in today's interview.

December 15th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Linda is chatting with Allie Nava about her novel July and Everything After.


***** BOOK GIVEAWAY *****

Enter to win a print copy of July and Everything After by Allie Nava! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below for a chance to win. The giveaway ends November 24 at 11:59 pm CT. We will randomly draw a winner the next day via Rafflecopter and follow up via email. Good luck!


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Interview with Elinor S. Laurier: Q4 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest Second Place Winner

Sunday, November 10, 2024
Elinor’s Bio: Elinor S. Laurier enjoys travel, hiking, and photography. Her work has appeared in Sweet, a Literary Confection and Five on the Fifth. Recently, Elinor placed as a Runner Up in WOW! Women on Writing’s 2023 Q3 CNF essay contest. Often, you can find her at her local bookstore, where she gobbles up carrot cake and books in equal measure. You can connect with her on Twitter @ElinorLaurier. 

If you haven't done so already, check out Elinor's award-winning essay "Our Mother Tells Us Boys Like Skinny Girls" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing second in the Q4 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest! How did you begin writing your essay and how did it and your writing processes evolve as you wrote? 

Elinor: My essay began last spring in a workshop led by the forever brilliant Kathy Fish, called “The Heart of the Matter: Creating Emotional Urgency in Flash.” The group was small, intimate, and felt emotionally safe, so with the encouragement of Kathy and the others, I found myself really letting go. I’d been bottling this story up for a very long time without knowing it. I just needed a path in, and Kathy provided the perfect prompt, suggesting we begin with the word “After.” From there, the story just flowed, like it had been waiting forever for this moment. So much unleashed with that single word! The emotional depth of what came forward surprised me. Some stories are a lot of work and take months and many drafts to develop, and some (very few) come easily, magically, which was the case for this essay. I did send it to a few trusted critique partners and made some small shifts, but by and large it didn’t change drastically. 

WOW: I’m glad you found a safe, supportive teacher and group that helped you to release this story! What did you learn about yourself or your writing by creating this essay? 

Elinor: I think that writing this essay, ultimately, was a reminder of how far I’ve come. I held on to the messages surrounding weight and body image for so many years—for a time it consumed me. Now, looking back, with age, life experience and daughters of my own, I realize my mother was a victim as well. She was teaching me what she’d been taught by her own mother. It’s what society dictated is required, if a woman is to be desired. To fit into the mold of “the perfect woman.” My mother thought she was doing me a favor, that my chances of landing a successful man would be much better if I were thin. So, in writing the essay, I was able to reflect upon that with more compassion than maybe I had in the past. At the same time, it reinforced my determination to continue to send a different message to my daughters, and hopefully, eventually, granddaughters. With each generation the message for women is shifting, which gives me a lot of hope. 

WOW: Yes, and that hope in future generations is strong in your story. You wrote in your bio that you have a few other loves, in addition to writing. In what ways do travel, hiking, and photography inspire your writing? 

Elinor: When I hike, my mind often wanders to story. It almost feels like a Zen state, at times, when I’m seemingly thinking about nothing but the weather, the landscape and the rhythm of my feet, when suddenly the opening of a story will pop up, or a rhythmic pattern of words, or the reasons behind a character’s motivation. It’s a great time to problem-solve without trying too hard. I prefer to hike alone for exactly that reason! In photography, you learn that to capture the perfect shot you need to take a photo from several different angles and perspectives, and to pay attention to the light and framing. Crafting a story can be the same—a writer has the choice of several POVs, and likewise, many different “containers” can be used to tell a story. So, as a writer, you ask yourself, which structure serves the story best? Who is telling this story, and why? Crafting a story is like taking a great photo—there are many choices, but which will make it shine? And travel is good for creativity, period. Getting outside your comfort zone, meeting new people, experiencing different cultures and landscapes. It all lends itself to a larger world view, to different perspectives, which is amazing fuel for artistic pursuits. 

WOW: Those are very thoughtful and inspiring connections. Which creative nonfiction essays or writers have inspired you most, and in what ways did they inspire you? 

Elinor: There are many essayists I admire, but there’s a single essay I come back to again and again because it absolutely blew me away the first time I read it. “The Ice Cave” was published at Tahoma Literary Review a couple of years ago and was written by Gabriela Denise Frank. The first time I read it, I was bawling by the end, and I sent it to both of my daughters, saying “Read this, especially that very last message about embracing life.” It’s brilliantly written, the form is unexpected, and the message is deep and universal. I won’t spoil it by telling more, but do yourself a favor and go read it, you won’t be sorry! 

WOW: That sounds like a must-read – thanks for the recommendation! If you could tell your younger self anything about writing, what would it be? 

Elinor: I didn’t start writing until four years ago, in 2020. I was inspired by a friend and neighbor who’s a writer; she encouraged me to write my first personal essay during Covid lockdown. She became my mentor and without her I would never have written my first piece. I truly didn’t think I had a creative bone in my body! So, I guess I’d tell my younger self, “Guess what? You’ll find your true passion later in life and it will fulfill you more than you could possibly imagine. You’re going to be a writer! And by the way, you are creative. Surprise!” 

WOW: What and excellent surprise! Anything else you’d like to add? 

Elinor: Just that I’d like to say thank you to all of the amazing women at WOW! who dedicate themselves to promoting, uplifting, and cheering on writers like me. They are incredibly appreciated! 

WOW: Thank you for your thoughtful responses, and for trusting us with your essay. Happy writing! 


Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, founder and editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, which publishes sports books by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes. Engage on Twitter or Instagram @GreenMachine459.
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Why I'm Glad I Joined a Book Club

Thursday, November 07, 2024

October book club.


This past spring, I decided to join a neighborhood book club that had just started up. I haven’t been in a club like this one since my first attempt around 20 years ago, when my kids were still toddlers. I left that one disappointed because I had shown up alone, having read the book, only to find out it was more of a social event than a book club. It discouraged me from joining any others, and I decided to just read for pleasure on my own. 

Since I work from home, I’ve been trying to get out at least once a week for a social engagement so I don’t hermit too much. I attended the first book club meeting in March, and we read Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. The book was not on my radar, but I was happy to find it available on the Libby app so I could read it for free on my Kindle in plenty of time before the meeting. Our small group had a great discussion on the book , which is a modern-day family drama in the vein of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. One person at the meeting did not like the first few chapters, so she stopped reading it. In fact, at each of our meetings, there are one or two people who either give up on the book or can’t finish it. Attendees are welcome whether they finish the book or not, and it’s refreshing to hear all perspectives. 

The next book we read (we try to meet every other month) was None of This is True by Lisa Jewell, a suspense/thriller that drew a lively discussion. I offered to host the next meeting, and I happened to mention how much I liked the book The Guncle by Stephen Rowley. The group decided they wanted to read it, too, so I spent more time on refreshments since I'd already read the book. I set out a brunch theme and might have gotten a little too carried away with the mini quiches, muffins, fruit, and mimosas, but I saved the leftovers and had plenty to munch on the rest of that week. 

From there, we ventured into Weyward by Emilia Hart, and the strong themes of feminism inspired the group (we mostly have women and one man in the club). We decided to meet in September and October so we could do a spooky theme, and again the group selected a book I had already read so I got off easy! We met last week to discuss The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix which again had a strong feminist theme (and a lot of body horror!) 

Here are a few things I’ve noticed since joining this group:

1. I’ve read such a great variety of books, not only in our selections but in other ones that come up in conversation, such as The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Without being around other readers I probably wouldn’t have explored these other titles on my own. It’s been nice to broaden my horizons. 
2. There’s one book that keeps coming up as a possible choice, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, but there are a few members who are convinced it is some sort of octopus love story (it is literary fiction). I read it and loved it, but I still laugh every time someone brings it up and it gets shouted down. 
3. I think we may have scared a new member off this past month. It was her first time attending, and she tentatively asked if we often read titles like The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires or if it was selected specifically for Halloween. We assured her most of the books we read won’t cause you to have nightmares full of cockroaches, rats, and vampires. 
4. You can put out all the snacks, desserts, mixed drinks, and charcuterie boards in the world but nothing disappears faster than the bottles of red wine at book club. 
5. If you’re savvy, and in more than one book club like one of our members, you can double dip your titles and read the same book for both. This has happened to her twice and she felt like she hit the book jackpot.

Another added benefit of my book club is that I attracted some new listeners to my podcast! 

Do you belong to a book club? How do you select your titles? What do you like or not like about it? I'd love to hear your stories!

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and aspiring novelist who also produces the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas. 
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Interview with Haley Addison: 2024 Spring Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Tuesday, November 05, 2024
Haley’s Bio: Haley’s writing career started back in third grade when she used her classroom journal time to write about Greek myths and time travel adventures. Her first novel, White Picket Fence, was self-published in 2019 while she was working on her Applied Mathematics degree. Haley works in the data and consulting sphere, but her heart will always belong to storytelling. She lives wherever military service sends her husband, and currently resides in Albuquerque with their very fluffy cat. 

If you haven't done so already, check out Haley's award-winning story "Satellite" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the Spring 2024 Flash Fiction Contest! What excited you most about writing this story? 

Haley: The “lonely space” trope has always been a favorite of mine. I love the contrast between the infinity of space and the infinity of the human condition, the big and the small all wrapped up in each other. This idea of a global catastrophe wiping out all of humanity except for a few astronauts tucked away in the safety of space fascinated me. For a while, nothing would change for them because their space agencies sent them up with all the supplies they would need for the duration of their mission, but eventually those supplies would run out, and there would be no one left on Earth to help them. The tragedy of watching your home be destroyed without the ability to do anything about it, all under the ticking clock of your own demise – I couldn’t help but explore it! 

WOW: Your enthusiasm for it is palpable, and you’ve crafted an entertaining and thought-provoking story. What did you learn about yourself or your writing while crafting this piece? 

Haley: For once, I wrote this story without an ending in mind. I’m a big outliner, so this was definitely a new approach for me. The ending lines are probably some of the best I’ve ever written, but it surprised me when I wrote it. I think that freedom to let my mind fully explore an idea without locking myself into a rigid story structure really elevated my writing, especially for this short story format. 

WOW: That’s exciting that you were able to approach this piece in a new way and get such quality results. In what ways do you see your work in data and consulting intersecting with your love of storytelling? 

Haley: My job is very left-brained, techy work, but I’ve learned that data tells stories too. Most of my job is pulling out the stories from the data and communicating them to our clients in a way that matters to them. Even though I’m not a fulltime author (yet), in a way, I’m already a storyteller fulltime! 

WOW: That’s an excellent and useful connection to data-driven work and storytelling. What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it? 

Haley: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. My mother-in-law is an avid reader and was very eager to share her latest find with me! 

WOW: If you could give your younger self one piece of writing advice, what would it be and why? 

Haley: As a young writer, I struggled with getting carried away with stories, so many of my early works went unfinished. I would want to tell myself that while it’s okay to abandon a story that’s not working, take it as a learning opportunity for next time. Evaluate what didn’t work and spend a little more time daydreaming about the middles and endings to your stories, not just the beginnings. 

WOW: Great advice, and relatable for many writers out there. Anything else you’d like to add? 

Haley: This was such a fun experience and a great break from the romantasy novel I’m working on right now. I look forward to entering again soon! 

WOW: We look forward to reading more of your work! Thank you for sharing your story and your inspiring responses with us. Happy writing! 


Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, founder and editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, which publishes sports books by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes and offers developmental editing and ghostwriting services to partially fund the press. Connect on Twitter @greenmachine459.
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A Hush at Midnight by Marlene M. Bell: Blog Tour & Tour-Wide Giveaway

Monday, November 04, 2024
A Hust at Midnight by Marlene Bell
Need a little mystery in your life? We're excited to announce the blog tour for A Hush at Midnight by Marlene Bell. Take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season with this Hallmark-style mystery - a little romance, a beautiful setting, a lovable Corgi, and a tricky puzzle to unravel.

Don’t miss the tour-wide giveaway! Marlene is giving away a Grand Prize Package of A Hush at Midnight, Wildflowers Across America by former First Lady, Ladybird Johnson, a bag of wildflower seed, and a $50 Amazon card. Second and Third prize winners will each receive an autographed copy of A Hush at Midnight. 

About the Book:

Celebrity chef Laura Harris dwells on the horror of finding her mentor’s body in the groundskeeper’s disheveled bed—pillow and bedding half covering her open eyes—purple bruising around her mouth. A grisly snapshot in time revealing the Texas woman’s last moments during her attack. The elderly matriarch from the small town of Stenburg has left the physical world, and Laura is shattered.

She is catapulted headlong into the pursuit of a casual executioner, one bold enough to come and go from the crime scene with ease, dropping bizarre crumb trails designed to mock the deceased. But Laura herself doesn’t go unnoticed. As she digs deeper, she is followed and bombarded by warnings to leave the state.

When the victim’s attorney informs Laura that she’s to inherit the entire Stenburg fortune, the last act of kindness has made Laura the main person of interest in the investigation. Message by message, Laura is methodically taunted by someone so deranged and driven they’ll do whatever it takes to dislodge Laura from Texas – permanently.

Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing (October 1, 2024)
ISBN: 979-8-9863409-6-8
ISBN: 979-8-9863409-5-1 
Print length: 350 pages

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon. Be sure to add it to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author, Marlene M. Bell:

Marlene M. Bell has never met a sheep she didn’t like. As a personal touch for her readers, they often find these wooly creatures visiting her international romantic mysteries and children’s books as characters or subject matter. 

Marlene is an accomplished artist and photographer who takes pride in entertaining fans on multiple levels with her creativity. Marlene’s award-winning Annalisse series boasts Best Mystery honors for all installments including these: IP Best Regional Australia/New Zealand, Global Award Best Mystery, and Chanticleer’s International Mystery and Mayhem shortlist for Copper Waters, the fourth mystery in the series. Her children's picture book, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team!, written primarily for younger kids, is based on true events from the Bell’s East Texas sheep ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of belonging and unconditional love between a little girl and her lamb.

You can find her online at: https://www.marlenembell.com/
X/Twitter: @ewephoric

--Interview by Jodi M. Webb

WOW: Congratulations on the publication of A Hush at Midnight, your first standalone mystery. What inspired you to write A Hush at Midnight?

Marlene: Writing a standalone brought me back to the beginning of my book journey—a reminder how I’d veered too far from my early characterization skills. A little history… 

The idea of an Annalisse standalone book originated in the romance genre fourteen years ago with a draft full of subplots suitable for multiple books. It wasn’t until the second draft and finding a savvy developmental editor, that I understood the entire novel required a severe restructuring and its many subplots made into separate installments for a book series. I had too many things going on in the story confusing the main plot. The genre too, needed direction. Sticking to one focus instead of thriller, mystery, and romance all rolled into one. What began as a single romantic novel, took eight long years to materialize as Stolen Obsession, the first book in the Annalisse series. I settled on Romantic Suspense as the main genre for the saga.

Research was the main task. How to write fiction in a way that readers would enjoy. It took a year of bootcamp classes and purchasing how-to books on what to expect for each genre before I could get back to finishing that first novel. 

WOW: Sounds like quite the journey for your first book. So what made you put aside your series for A Hush at Midnight?

Marlene: By the time reviews began to trickle in with Copper Waters, the fourth book in my series, it exposed a weakness I’d developed unknowingly. Readers were noticing a complacency with details in familiar characters, so I created a challenge for myself to fix the problem. To write a single book unrelated to the series.

A Hush at Midnight was the mechanism to hone skills I had temporarily misplaced. Writing a standalone brought me back to the basics. A place where I could create different character quirks and circumstances in a locale unrelated to the Northeastern US and outside the country like the Annalisse series. I chose to write A Hush at Midnight in the state of Texas, where we reside.

WOW: What an amazing way to improve your writing! In addition to Texas, you’ve had books set in spots around the world. Are these all places you’ve lived or visited? 

Marlene: The areas I’ve written about, (with the exception of Texas and California,) are places I’d like to visit from my giant bucket list. The method used for researching and writing about other states and international countries always include coffee table and travel books for each location. Comparing notes and verifying the author’s information also plays a part. Photographers who have actually been to areas I plan to write about in each novel have given me the tools to offer accurate mind’s eye visuals and narrative to my books.

I decided long ago not to use general internet searches for locale information to keep my stories as accurate as possible. The internet is a maze and mixture of ideas and fact. A good example of a mine field is Wikipedia. I no longer use the tool because it is a collection of opinion and information from many perspectives. 

WOW: You contact so many people before you write word one. What about when your manuscript is complete, do you have beta readers or editors to help you refine your manuscripts?

Marlene: My first novel included tons of beta readers. Unfortunately, everyone held a different opinion regarding leading men and female protagonists. Too many bakers can spoil the dessert, I quickly found out. Between my beta readers and what literary agents were saying about my work in critique sessions, I endlessly changed my manuscript to suit comments—and made myself miserable. Professional editors, on the other hand, are vital to publishing a clean and enjoyable product.

There were a few trials with editors in the early books because every author’s style requires the right touch. Editor styles vary a great deal. My short and punchy style had suffered under the first copyeditor I chose from ten other editing samples. My already shortened prose became a jerky mess of stilted dialog and missing action between characters, and I never saw it, content to allow her vision for the story. All manuscript changes were made to her liking because I trusted her expertise and didn’t understand how to work with an editor. In 2022, I addressed areas in Stolen Obsession to smooth out the prose, vowing never again to allow my work to become someone else’s vision.   

Today, I hire many editors. A developmental-type from a literary agent I met at a writer’s retreat, various copyeditors depending upon the storyline, and proofreaders—at least two passes by different people. Hiring editors with experience in the genre is expensive, but worth every dollar. Oh, and I love my publicist, too! Writing for me is a team effort.

WOW: So many times writers are portrayed as locked away toiling alone on their manuscript. I love your idea that writing is a team effort. Your writing includes a suspense series, cozy mystery standalone, children’s picture book and memoir. Do you enjoy the challenge of trying new genres? 

Marlene: I do love genre hopping. 

I’m thankful to be blessed with natural abilities, but the written word has not come easy for me. Drawing, painting, general art projects, and sheep photography are as normal as breathing. Writing novels is the hardest task I’ve ever undertaken. Reader experiences are subjective based on an individual’s likes and dislikes. Most writers have no idea there are 8,200 new books published every day! The odds of being seen in the sea of authors takes time to grow and develop. With each new release, it’s my job to improve the entertainment value of my work and gain visibility in a saturated market. 

Art and photography are visual and much more forgiving to the creator. It wasn’t until our 4H club parents asked me to write a book on how to raise sheep, that becoming an author entered into the scheme of things. That single exercise has led me to the world of writing mysteries and the occasional children’s book. If the 4H club hadn’t asked me to write the little sheep book/journal, I doubt that I’d be in the publishing world beyond our sheep website. Sometimes events happen for a reason!

WOW: And it’s turned out wonderfully for you. So, what’s up next? 

Marlene: A Hush at Midnight gave me the break from the Annalisse series I needed and the opportunity to take my own refresher course on writing fiction and characterization. The fifth book in the Annalisse series has begun in outline form and I’m pondering another children’s book featuring our Horned Dorset ewe, Harley. Much farther down the road…

It might be time for the Annalisse series to turn more “thrilleresque” in the next installment. Readers are flocking to thrillers these days. Perhaps my extensive research on serial killers will come in handy for the new book!

WOW: On one hand a children’s book about a sheep named Harley. On the other hand a thriller that makes use of your research of serial killers.  Marlene, no one could ever call you predictable.

A Hust at Midnight by Marlene M. Bell Blog Tour

--Blog Tour Calendar

November 4th @ The Muffin
Join WOW as we celebrate the launch of Marlene Bell's blog tour of A Hush at Midnight. Read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the book

November 5th @ Boys' Mom Reads
Author Marlene Bell shares the beautiful blooms of Texas, several which appear in her latest mystery A Hush at Midnight.

November 6th @ Journalling Joy
Author Marlene Bell is sharing a guest post with her thoughts on being an independent author.

November 7th @ Book Reviews from an Avid Reader
A Hush at Midnight: come for the review, stay for the giveaway!

November 8th @ Michelle Cornish
Don't miss today's review of the Texas mystery A Hush at Midnight.

November 9th @ Silver's Reviews
Read an interview with Marlene Bell's latest sleuth. Plus, a chance to win books and prizes in A Hush at Midnight giveaway.

November 11th @ Reading Is My Remedy
Have fun with a taste of Texas compliments of author Marlene Bell

November 12th @ Author Anthony Avina
Need a helping hand? Marlene Bell shares her advice for new writers.

November 13th @ Finished Pages
Have you ever wondered about the challenges of writing a mystery series? Author Marlene Bell writes about her experience writing the Annalisse series.

November 14th @ Knotty Needle
Searching for a new mystery? Read Judy's review of A Hush at Midnight by Marlene Bell.

November 16th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Learn more about Marlene Bell in today's interview.

November 18th @  Life According to Jamie
Learn what Jamie thinks of the mystery A Hush at Midnight.

November 18th @ Lit World Reviews
Learn author Marlene Bell's tips on Building an Advanced Reader Team and read a review of her latest mystery: A Hush at Midnight.

November 20th @ Create Write Now
Writing journeys are often surprising. Marlene Bell traces her journey with From Mail Order Entrepreneur to Published Author.

November 21st @ Words by Webb
Jodi shares her thoughts on Marlene Bell's latest book: A Hush at Midnight.

November 22nd @ A Storybook World
Forget about staying in your lane. Author Marlene Bell tells the advantages of writing in multiple genres.

November 25th @ Chapter Break
Learn more about mystery author Marlene Bell and her latest book A Hush at Midnight.

November 26th @ What Is That Book About
Enter to win Marlene Bell's newest mystery: A Hush at Midnight.

November 29th @ Word Magic
Need some Thanksgiving fun? Relax with a good book: A Hush at Midnight by Marlene Bell.

November 30th @ A Wonderful World of Words
The spotlight's on A Hush at Midnight with author Marlene Bell posting Tales from her Sheep Ranch

December 3rd @ Writer Advice
Look behind the curtain at an author's life with mystery writer Marlene Bell.

December 5th @ Some Thoughts - Everything Creativity
Kaecey will be interviewing Marlene Bell, author of the cozy mystery A Hush at Midnight.

December 8th @ Some Thoughts - Everything Creativity
Kaecey will be reviewing A Hush at Midnight.

A Hush at Midnight Cozy Mystery and $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

***** COZY MYSTERY & GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY *****

Enter for a chance to win a copy of A Hush at Midnight by Marlene M. Bell and more! Don’t miss the tour-wide giveaway! 

The Grand Prize Package includes and autographed copy of A Hush at Midnight, Wildflowers Across America by former First Lady, Ladybird Johnson, a bag of wildflower seed and a $50 Amazon card. Two more winners will win a copy of the book. The giveaway ends December 15 at 11:59 pm CT. We will draw a winner the next day via Rafflecopter and follow up via email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Interview with Julie Clark: Q4 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest First Place Winner

Sunday, November 03, 2024
Julie Clark is an attorney and multi-media artist living in Springfield, Virginia. In May 2024, after four years of night classes filled with inspiration, joy, and amazing writers, she received her MFA in Creative Writing from Lenoir-Rhyne University. Julie’s poetry has been published in Literary Mama, Rue Scribe, and THEMA Literary Journal, and her short story “Sight Unseen” won Reedsy’s writing prompts contest in August 2023. “A Liturgy of Lechery,” first published in Barren Magazine in the fall of 2022, was her inaugural attempt at a hermit crab essay, a form she finds both challenging and lots of fun. Julie is currently working on several short stories and a memoir entitled Echoes of Mississippi. Weary of social media (and still tinkering with a website), you can reach her by email at jc.paperfusion[at]gmail[dot]com.

--interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on winning first place in our Q4 2024 Creative Nonfiction essay competition! What prompted you to enter the contest?

Julie: I’ve been in somewhat of a writing slump since finishing my MFA in May and this contest was the inspiration I needed to start writing and submitting my work again. I definitely did not expect to win – I was just happy I actually submitted something! While in the MFA program (at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s wonderful Thomas Wolfe Center for Narrative) I had constant input, feedback, and deadlines. Now I have to be self-motivated – no grades or professors setting due dates. WOW’s competition gave me an incentive to get back to it!

WOW:  “A Liturgy of Lechery” is a powerful and unnerving essay, and the hermit crab format worked well here. What inspired you to write this particular piece?

Julie: This piece is part of a collection of essays about the year I left college to volunteer at a prisoners’ rights group in Jackson, Mississippi. I was a young, white, naïve, small-town girl from the Midwest and the people I met and experiences I had in Mississippi challenged everything I’d learned up to that point about race, religion, and relationships. I was very trusting of anyone involved in the church and the experience I write about in "A Liturgy of Lechery" both shocked and embarrassed me – I felt so ashamed of how gullible I’d been. I never told anyone what had happened so writing this was very liberating. I hadn’t heard of hermit crab essays and thought that writing this in the form of a church service was particularly clever! Discovering that my “invention” wasn’t new did not diminish my enthusiasm for the hermit crab form. Since then, I’ve written both poetry and nonfiction in the form of recipes, magazine ads, checklists, and report cards and try to read as many hermit crab essays as I can. (Be sure to check out “Body Wash: Instructions on Surviving Homelessness” by Dorothy Bendel in the wonderful essay collection Harp in the Stars.) The form of an essay can contribute in surprising and meaningful ways – here I think a liturgy and the religious references conveys what happened to me both more appropriately and powerfully.

WOW:  Do you have any thoughts or advice for writing about difficult things?

Julie: Be patient with yourself (and your memory), take your time, and set aside the writing if and when it gets too painful. As I wrote this piece – and others about this period in my life – I had professors and classmates who encouraged me to be even more honest and willing to go where I initially didn’t have words or where embarrassment had shut me down. The first time I wrote about Mississippi all I could get down was a short, cryptic poem about one of the prisoners I worked with. I’d buried (or mentally edited) so much of what happened that year. But those stanzas led to longer essays and ultimately the memoir I’ve drafted. The more honest I was, the lighter I felt – with each essay and each rewrite, I release a little more shame and bestow a little more forgiveness upon myself. Two books in my MFA program were particularly helpful in this process – Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making by John Fox and Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma by Melanie Brooks.

WOW: You mentioned that you’re working on several other writing projects, including a memoir. Anything you can share about the writing process, or how the journey of writing this book is going for you?

Julie: Initially I resisted the idea of a memoir and tried to write a fictionalized version of my time in Mississippi. The truth was too hard, and I thought if I turned it into fiction I’d have control over the story and could create the outcome I wanted. Memoir has also sometimes felt like egotistical, navel gazing to me. But then I had the privilege of interviewing writer Sonja Livingston (read her book Ghostbread!) and watching episodes of The Memoir Café on her YouTube channel. She talks about how memoirs are a profound and unique way to connect us to each other. I thought of others young women in their late teens who are trying to sort the topics I focus on in my memoir, particularly sexuality, race, and religion, and decided I had something to say that might connect. It’s difficult. Every time I think I’m done with this book, I’m pushed to go deeper, to reflect more honestly.

WOW:  Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Julie. Before you go, can you share a favorite writing tip or piece of advice?

Julie: The best piece of writing advice I’ve ever read is Anne Lamott’s short and sweet “Stop not writing. Put your butt in the chair!” For years I wanted to write but felt like I had to wait for inspiration to descend upon me, or to produce a complete outline of the next great American novel. Another favorite tip of mine was from Octavia Butler who said “First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable.” Some days it’s hard to find the time and energy to write, and it’s frustrating to produce what first seems like a lousy draft – but those lumpy drafts are the clay I use to shape something lovely! I’ve also become comfortable with writing simply because I enjoy writing. Publication hasn’t been my primary goal, but it is energizing and exciting to have a piece published and I want to thank WOW for me with recognition and creative inspiration.

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Friday Speak Out!: A Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet—Or Would It?

Friday, November 01, 2024
By Charlotte Whitney

Names define us; often they thrust us into places and situations we desire, or conversely, find unpleasant or even despicable. I chose to name the main character in my upcoming book A Tiny Piece of Blue, an unusual name. The reader is introduced to a thirteen-year-old girl as “Silly” at the beginning of the book, but we soon find out it’s a nickname for “Silstice.” When Silly was born on the winter solstice, December 21, Silly’s mother misunderstood the midwife and thought her baby was born on the winter “silstice,” and she believed it would be a good omen to name her Silstice.

After Silly faces a “dark night of the soul” experience, one that tests her limits, she chooses to be called her given name Silstice and let go of the immature implications of “Silly.” This is a breakpoint, a time when Silstice recognizes she is in charge of her own life. She can no longer expect to wait for others to take care of her. Silstice gains a sense of agency, taking control of her actions, recognizing her sense of self, and with that takes on the more mature name.

When in grad school, one of my roommates told me a story of the previous year when she was teaching in a poor neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. One of her female students was named Syphilis, pronounced sa-fi-lis with the accent on the middle syllable. After a few weeks my roommate asked the student how she came to receive her first name. The student answered seriously, “My mother saw the name on a brochure when she was pregnant in the waiting room of a doctor’s office.”

While we may crack a smile at the mother’s naivete, this example does exemplify how well-intentioned names can provoke the opposite effect. My husband, a clinical psychologist, has had clients who have chosen to change names for powerful emotional reasons. Perhaps the name conveyed a wrong impression. Perhaps as a child they were bullied because of the name. Perhaps they didn’t want to bear the burden of a family name.

When I was working with student leaders at the University of Michigan I devised a particular exercise in team building where we all wrote down our complete names and told each other about any association with the name, any connection with family members, any numbers or juniors connected with our names and any other relevant items. Then we talked about what we liked and didn’t like about our names. The exercise opened up discussion and connected us to each other in ways never expected.

So when you read about Silly/Silstice in A Tiny Piece of Blue, think about your own name. Has it served you well? Would you consider changing it? Like Silstice you may be asking others to call you by a different name, one that holds different nuances, different connotations. It could provide a whole new self-definition, a new world view.

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CHARLOTTE WHITNEY grew up on a Michigan farm and often heard stories about the difficult years of the Great Depression. Her widely acclaimed debut historical novel, Threads: A Depression Era Tale was followed by the historical mystery The Unveiling of Polly Forrest, which won multiple awards. She is also the author of two nonfiction books and a romance novel. Her new novel, A Tiny Piece of Blue, comes out in February 2025. https://www.charlottewhitney.com

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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