A Word Please: Conversations With 24 Authors

by Darcia Helle

  I know nothing about Switzerland but your book made me want to visit. What is it about the country that you fell in love with?

  The peace and tranquility, the pristine beauty of the mountains and the lakes, and the sedate way of life. All these things were a big attraction initially. I believe it’s a great place for children to spend their younger years, as it’s generally a very safe place with little crime. I would certainly recommend it for a holiday, you’ll be blown away by the scenery!

  You’ve written a follow-up to Web of Lies, entitled Renaissance – A Journal of Recovery, which is currently available. You’ve also stepped into the fiction world with a psychological thriller called In the Shadow of an Angel. Can you tell us about that book? When will it be available?

  ‘Shadow’ will now actually be the fourth book, the second fictional title. I’m currently working on another book entitled ‘The Middle Aged Twist’, which is the story of two lifelong friends who meet at University against the back drop of the early nineties party scene. Their lives then take very different paths, but they both struggle with depression and addiction as they grow older. Their lives are intertwined, but both cope with their demons in very different ways. It’s a book about triumph and tragedy, which I hope a lot of people will find both interesting and moving. I’m about a third of the way through it, and plan to have a finished manuscript by late June.

  About the Author:

  Sarah Tate is a single mother living and working in Switzerland. She arrived in Switzerland ten years ago and apart from a brief stay in France, has remained ever since, as Switzerland has become her adopted homeland.

 

  Sarah has three young kids, who take up most of her time, but she still managed to find time to write her first book ‘Web of Lies – My life with a Narcissist’. The book is an auto-biographical novel which describes in graphic details, the ups and downs of life with a person who suffers from (amongst other things) Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

 

  Web of Lies takes the reader on an emotional journey and gives a deep insight into what it’s like to be sucked into the world of a disordered individual, and more importantly, how to escape with your sanity in tact.

 

  Her second book, with the title ‘Renaissance – A Journal of Discovery‘ was released in March 2011. It describes the road to recovery from narcissistic abuse, and charts the progress of Sarah and her children as they rebuild their lives following the break up of the family, and slowly come to terms with the devastation caused by Sarah’s ex.

  Sarah Tate on Amazon

  Author Website: https://www.sarahtateauthor.com

  Awareness Website: https://www.waking-you-up.com

  Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Tate-Author/358586909900

  Blog: https://singlemumsal.blogspot.com

  Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/SarahTateAuthor or @SarahTateAuthor

  King Trevor by Susan Helene Gottfried

  The aftermath of his onstage collapse has taken its toll on Trevor Wolff. He’s become a virtual shut-in, dependent on the people around him to help in his healing. To make matters worse, he might have hung up his bass for good.

 

  This is not the Trevor Wolff way.

  When Mitchell hatches a plan to turn Trevor into the official King of ShapeShifter, it sounds like bunk. However, when Mitchell finds the perfect building to repurpose, the Big Idiot hires the best architect around—the brother-in-law he’s never met. Trevor can’t help but smell secrets that awaken the person he used to be.

  After all, there’s nothing Trevor Wolff likes more than intrigue—except maybe a chance to square off against his arch-nemesis: Mitchell’s wife, Kerri.

  Our conversation:

  Let’s start with Trevor:

  Despite your status as King, much of this story revolves around Kerri. How do you feel about sharing your spotlight with her?

 

  I’ll never like sharing anything with her, especially books with my name on them. And Mitchell. And the fucking dining room table. Or the table in the kitchen. Or… well, anything. That covers it, doesn’t it?

  Your illness and recovery process have prevented you from touring. Do you miss it?

 

  Do you get paid to ask stupid questions? Of course I miss it; it was all I did for years. Now, there’s no one around to chase around with our rubber snake, or smack with one of those sticky hands, or … yeah. Go read the books. You can see the sort of fun I used to have. Wouldn’t you miss it?

  I’m sure you received lots of get well cards and gifts from fans. Do you have a favorite? Did anything stand out as funny or unusual?

  Mitchell wouldn’t let me see anything that made it past management. Talk to him about it.

  Leaving out your own music, what are the top 5 favorites on your playlist?

  Bands you’ve never heard of because Trevor Wolff lives in a parallel universe that exists simply so Susan can make shit up without anyone getting pissed that she fucked up the details.

  Susan…

 

  Each of the characters in both Trevor’s Song and King Trevor has a distinct personality. What is your approach to character development?

 

  I let them run around my brain and interact and come alive. Maybe I’m actually schizophrenic, but I doubt it. After all, the only thing I do that they tell me to is write down their activities.

  Seriously, that’s the approach. I take a real-life situation or experience and drop my characters into it and say, “Go. What do YOU do?” Instead of putting myself on the characters, I like to step back and watch them do their thing.

  You’re also a super talented professional editor. I know from experience that you keep all your suggestions true to the specific characters and storyline. I’m not an editor, but occasionally when I’m reading a story I find myself saying things like, I wouldn’t have gone that route. Do you find it difficult not to interject your own thoughts on where a story should go or how a character should react?

 

  No, not really – I’ve been hired to do a specific job, so I focus on doing that job. However, I also work as a paid book reviewer for one of the big, long-time media outlets such as Kirkus or Publisher’s Weekly. When I read those books, I often yell at them. Not that it’s the book’s fault, but sometimes, all you can do is shoot the messenger.

  You know I have to ask: Do you foresee a third book for Trevor?

 

  Not at the present moment, although you’re not the first or last to have asked that question!

  I think it will depend on how sales go. Right now, the books aren’t selling enough to justify the time spent on more Trevor instead of new characters, who will pull fresh people into my world.

  If you could spend the day with any one rock star, who would you pick and why?

 

  Okay, steel yourself for this answer. Most people automatically assume I am going to answer this by picking James Hetfield, the lead singer/rhythm guitarist of Metallica. After all, the Mighty Metallica is, far and above all else, my favorite band. Ever. I may even like them more than my own fictional creation, ShapeShifter. Maybe.

 

  But to spend a day with someone? Dude. Gotta be Axl Rose.

 

  Why? Because he’s effing nuts and equally as brilliant (I think). Because I want to know if the reality matches the version of W. Axl Rose that, over the years, I’ve created for myself.

  About the Author:

  Susan Helene Gottfried is the author of ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 1, ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 2, Trevor’s Song, ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 3, and King Trevor.

  A tone-deaf rocker-at-heart, Susan worked in retail record stores, in radio stations, as stage crew, and as a promoter while earning two college degrees in creative writing.

  Susan Helen Gottfried on Amazon

  Website: https://westofmars.c
om

  Blog: https://westofmars.com/blog

  Twitter: www.Twitter.com/WestofMars or @WestofMars

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/WestofMarsFans

  Crashing Eden by Michael Sussman

  For one boy and his friends, the path to Paradise comes at a cost—one they may not be prepared to pay.

 

  When a biking accident leaves 17-year-old Joss Kazdan with the ability to hear things others can’t, reality as he knows it begins to unravel.

 

  A world of legends exists beyond the ordinary life he’s always known, and he is transported to the same Paradise he’s studying in World Mythology. But the strange gets even stranger when his new friends build a device that delivers people through the gates of the Garden of Eden.

 

  Now Samael, the Creator God, is furious. As Samael rains down his apocalyptic devastation on the ecstasy-seeking teens, Joss and his companions must find a way to appease Samael—or the world.

  Our conversation:

  What was the inspiration for this story?

 

  First, I’d like to thank you, Darcia, for inviting me to discuss Crashing Eden.

 

  About ten years ago I began playing around with the question: What if the widespread myths of a past golden age had some validity? Then I began imagining a story in which people could somehow recover what has been called Edenic consciousness: a blissful state of feeling at one with the universe. At first, the transformation was going to involve brain surgery based on fossils of early hominid brain anatomy. But how would you convince large numbers of people to undergo brain surgery? Luckily, my mother suggested altering the brain with a sound instead, and that idea sparked the story that became Crashing Eden.

 

  This book’s theme revolves around Gnosticism, Christianity, and mythology. (And I should stress that this is not Christian fiction.) Some of the places your plot takes us will no doubt spark controversy. Does this concern you?

 

  I didn’t set out to write a controversial novel, it just came out that way! But I welcome spirited discussions.

 

  The story certainly contains elements that could be considered blasphemous to Jewish and Christian fundamentalists. Gnosticism is provocative in that it turns our conventional theological notions on their heads. I incorporated Gnostic cosmology into the novel simply because it fit very nicely with the plot, and because it aims toward a personal experience of transcendence, much like Buddhism and the Jewish mysticism of the Kabala. This is a strong theme of the story, that it might be possible to personally experience some form of cosmic consciousness.

  You did an excellent job with the family dynamics. Relationships have many layers, particularly within families, and you captured that beautifully. How did you go about creating your characters?

 

  Thank you! I think the greatest challenge in writing fiction is in developing believable characters. I start with brief character sketches and then try to fill them out as the drafts progress. Writers inevitably draw upon aspects of themselves and people they’ve known. But it’s always surprising how characters take on lives of their own, saying and doing unexpected things.

  You’ve also written a children’s book called Otto Grows Down. Tell us a bit about it.

  My debut picture book was published by Sterling in 2009, with illustrations by Scott Magoon. It tells the story about a boy who is jealous of all the attention his newborn sister is getting. When Otto makes a birthday wish that Anna was never born, time reverses and his wish comes true! Otto is rid of his bothersome sister, but becomes trapped in backward time. Soon, he’s just one year old himself and in danger of disappearing like his sister. The book has suspense, humor, and fabulous illustrations by Scott, who writes: “I like how Otto grew up when he grew down.”

 

  Describe your writing environment. Neat or messy? Silence or noise?

 

  Messy! Notebooks and folders and scraps of paper all over the place. I prefer silence, but I’m next door to a daycare center!

  I read that you once lived in a commune. This fascinates me, so I’m going to ask a self-indulgent question here. What drew you to the commune, and what were the pros and cons of the lifestyle for you?

 

  First, I wanted to be way out in the countryside, so I chose a commune in rural Nova Scotia, where a friend’s sister lived. I also wanted to be in a community that was as self-sufficient as possible.

 

  The pros were living in such natural beauty, the companionship of friends, and having the time and space to think and get to know one’s self. The cons were having no modern conveniences, being far away from family and friends, and only having a handful of people to interact with.

  You have to live with a sitcom family for 3 months. Who will it be (which TV show) and why?

 

  Well, it’s not exactly a family, but I’d say Seinfeld. I love the humor, the nutty characters, and the sense of never knowing what might happen next.

 

  Give us one word or phrase that describes your current mood.

 

  Given that this is my first published novel, I’d say a combination of dread and exuberance.

  About the Author:

  Michael Sussman is the author of Crashing Eden, a YA fantasy/paranormal novel, and Otto Grows Down, a children’s picture book featuring illustrations by Scott Magoon.

 

  Dr. Sussman is a clinical psychologist and has also published two books for mental health professionals. He’s the author of A Curious Calling: Unconscious Motivations for Practicing Psychotherapy and the editor of A Perilous Calling: The Hazards of Psychotherapy Practice.

  Dr. Sussman resides in the Boston area with his son, Ollie.

  Michael Sussman on Amazon

  Website: https://www.MichaelSussmanBooks.com

  Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/MichaelBSussman or @MichaelBSussman

  Eerie by Blake and Jordan Crouch

  TRAPPED INSIDE A HOUSE

 

  On a crisp autumn evening in 1980, seven-year-old Grant Moreton and his five-year-old sister Paige were nearly killed in a mysterious accident in the Cascade Mountains that left them orphans.

 

  WITH A FRIGHTENING POWER

 

  It’s been thirty years since that night. Grant is now a detective with the Seattle Police Department and long estranged from his sister. But his investigation into the bloody past of a high-class prostitute has led right to Paige’s door, and what awaits inside is beyond his wildest imagining.

 

  OVER ANYONE WHO ENTERS

 

  His only hope of survival and saving his sister will be to confront the terror that inhabits its walls, but he is completely unprepared to face the truth of what haunts his sister’s brownstone.

  Our conversation:

  A conversation/interview with the two of you is included at the end of Eerie. I was fascinated to learn that you wrote much of the book in real time using Google Docs, and that neither of you had specific parts or character viewpoints to write. Your writing styles blends seamlessly. Was this a difficult achievement? Did one of you have to bend your style or compromise more than the other did?

  *Blake*: Our styles are pretty similar to begin with so there wasn’t much adjusting.*

  Jordan*: Yeah, we’ve both been inspired by a lot of the same writers, and conveniently enough, one of those writers for me is Blake. I’ve read his stuff for years so I’m sure he’s rubbed off on me in ways I don’t even realize. There was a brief settling period in the beginning while we were learning how to write with each other on the same page, but we fell into a rhythm after the first few scenes.*

  Blake*: I inspire myself too.*

  Jordan*: I find your humility inspiring.*

  Blake*: Thank you. We also edited each other which evened things out a bit. And thi
s kind of story is helped best by terse writing which doesn’t really allow for excessive prose. That was a natural boundary that kept things within a certain range. I never felt like I compromised my style to achieve that consistency. We both brought different things to table, and they ended up augmenting each other.*

  Jordan*: No compromises here either. I will say that the element of Blake’s style I adjusted for the most came out of the way he writes character action. When the suspense ramps up he uses quick, punchy sentences separated by line breaks to create a sense of urgency. It works great because your reading momentum speeds up with the action. It’s a signature Blake thing that I definitely didn’t want to lose.

  The story revolves around two siblings and, while their situation is unique, it bears all the hallmark battle scars of sibling relationships. Did you learn anything about your own relationship while writing Eerie?

  *Jordan*: I recovered some memories about some of the ways he used to torment me when we were kids, but I’m working on repressing them again. In all seriousness, the best thing is that we learned that we can write together. That’s pretty huge. I mentioned it in the interview at the end of EEIRE, but collaborating was like sharing a bedroom again. There’s not always enough space, but finding creative ways around obstacles that naturally arise from having two minds aimed at the same problem is incredibly rewarding.*

  Blake*: What he said. Writing is a personal exercise, and you never know if including someone else is going to be worth the cost of entry. It’s great to be able to share that experience someone else. It’s awesome to be able to share it with your brother.