Leaving corpses where I used to have lunch....

Oh, that Susan at Win A Book! She's a piece of work. Hello to her wonderful fans. (where did she get half a billion readers?) Jenny, Susan *sneak* and I have our heads together today...with a devious plan....

Two words come quickly to mind when reading Madness and Murder...insanity, and homicide. Isn't that remarkable?...that rush of 'Oh, my God! I get this!". Such is the skill of J.F. Hilborne, or JennyFrank. There is a reason you recognize the obvious gift of direction with her prose. She is almost Shakespearean - because - she's from....England!

"Well!" you say, "I suspected that, but wasn't sure..."
I know! It just makes you go wobbly, huh!

Nineteen years ago, plus three, JennyFrank was handed to her parents, and they rushed to get a pram. Her nickname, for years, was Oops. They seemed better prepared in a few years; she was the baby sister no longer, and was a big sister to two other girls. Remember, this was England, the time of great ships, red coated armies who stood in such ordered lines as they marched. A family of six had to hide in the bleak countryside. She longed for years to be able to go to school, as normal, properly numbered siblings were allowed to do. As she tended sheep on the moors, she dreamed of America. Where the language was less strenuous.

"Someday, in 1997, I shall flee this woolen place! Leave the Henges, and the drizzle behind me. I shall be... a Californian!... and join a society of predatory dogs with verbal skills."

Oh, you've noticed that smile, haven't you. Ok. I'm lying.
But, I'm not going to tell you, in which parts.

Like most Britainfleeers. (itsa word! Britain flee-er. Just ask her.) Anyway, like most refugees, she came to Southern California, because she needed a few years out of the rain. Uneducated, unable to speak to the natives, JennyFrank struggled to fit in. But, tall and thin, in a land where no one was blonde, she almost returned to her homeland. It's a mystery why she stayed. None of her sisters will speak of it. They offered me a really nice, hand knitted sweater, to leave them alone, but, I can't wear wool.

She's just here; and, that, as they say, is...well, that. (God! That language! It'll wack your spell check fo shizz!)

So, she writes this book. (I think that's it.) And some publisher guy hears about it.

And now she's on a blog. America really has been the land of dreams for this lady.

But, we ordered a banker from the U.K. and they doubled our value, sending a fiend along with her. I've forgotten to mention, the wicked, evil, murderous JennyFred.
Yes, she was born a twin. It is that Jenny F. who penned Madness and Murder.

She, who tells me exactly what her serial killer does to his victims; in details to make a coroner wince. Two personalities must be the result of duel citizenship. Either that, or sheep shearing is practice for other means of torture. The second M in her book title gets a very good workout in her tale.

That brings me to the bridge. The little JennyFrank could boast of living near one of the most famous bridges in the world -  The London Bridge. (not the one we were sold.) I've lived near the other, more famous bridge - The Golden Gate, which is painted rust color, BTW. It is near my beloved Art Deco suspension marvel where JennyFred leaves her corpses in M&M. I worked downtown in San Francisco, and had lunch at the Embarcadero regularly; Boudin Cafe actually. All that time, she could have killed me. She has a second book, due for release on Tax Day this year. If it is set in the Rockies, I may need to move.

She came to California, in 1997 - remember? I was living in San Fran in 1998.
I could have been a statistic, or headline: CRAZED, BLONDE BRIT BATTERS BOJANGLES

I suggest extreme caution around her; here she comes.....

Have you tried to drive down Lombard Street? I lived there for a year and never got the courage.
Yes, I did drive it and it’s not as difficult as it looks, in a compact car anyway. I just got little dizzy.

You were raised in the U.K., but you are now a good-twin/evil-twin citizen. Have you lost your British accent?
Not at all. It gets a little diluted when I’m around Americans, but a trip home and a good dosing of Brits levels me out. I do get into trouble now and then for dropping Brit clangers when talking to Americans – you know, the phrases that don’t mean the same in both places.

Brits don’t seem as eager to learn a second language, as others on the continent. Do you speak a second language?
Yes, but not fluently. I learned foreign languages from the age of 11; German, French, and later Russian. I can speak a smattering of French and have a reasonable understanding of German. Oh, and I do know some swear words in other languages but I doubt if that will impress anyone. (This, my dear readers, is only due to Brits needing to phone over the Channel for decent food. The French deliver that week, or it's free.)

 Why murder mysteries? Aren’t you a banker, by profession? Those are mild folks – or should be.

I work in the banking industry but I’m not a banker. As for mild…well, I haven’t come across too many mild personalities in this industry. Quite the opposite. I write murder mysteries because I love them, I can craft them, and I can pull from a lot of real life influences when I plot. Plotting makes me look interesting when I’m not even really listening. Say no more, eh?!



Does your job require you to travel much? What is the most exotic country you’ve visited?
I used to travel in the job, but not any more. I don’t think I’ve been anywhere I’d call exotic, but the most interesting country I’ve visited is the former Yugoslavia. I went to furthest point before the Albanian border and it was fascinating.

Give us the moment, when you realized you were about to write a complete novel.
July 2007. Etched in my brain. I set about with unwavering determination after several years of fear-induced procrastination.

Was there any event in the plot, which arrived as a surprise – something which wanted to move off in its own direction?
Yes indeed. My villain came out of nowhere, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Hey, forget about that other guy. I’m way badder ‘n him!” I let him have his way and it totally altered the course of my novel. I’m far happier with the result.

Do you outline and plan your work in any way?
No, I’m a total panster. I sit down and write what comes to me at the time. I fix it all in the re-writes. I’m an eclectic personality; order on the outside, jumbled on the inside.

Describe your first visit to the U.S., what brought you here?
A Boeing 747 brought me here. ☺  I came to America quite unexpectedly. I wanted to visit Canada but couldn’t get a ticket because I left it too late to book. I thought everything was huge.  Enormous. The roads baffled me, couldn’t figure out how anyone knew when it was their turn to go. The people were so friendly I came back.☺

Any twins in your family?...your sisters, perhaps?
No twins. One of me is probably quite enough. I do have 3 wonderful sisters and there are only 5 years between all four of us so we’re close.

Your next novel is also set in San Francisco. What is the draw of that location? Why does it spark your creativity?
When I go to a place, it either calls to me or it doesn’t. Most places don’t. San Francisco does. Parts of it remind of England. I had to set my novels there so I could have an excuse to keep going back for the research .

I’ve come to think all British children are packed off to boarding school. Were you?
No, I went to a regular public school. Funny, how the stereotypes of British folk still exist. We’re not that reserved either, and we don’t have a stiff upper lip. We just sound snooty!

Were you a creepy kid? You don’t shy from striking descriptions of bodily injury in your text.
HAHA. Me, creepy? I was sweet and loving. Barf.  No, I wasn’t creepy at all. I was a wallflower. I still am. But definitely not creepy. Am I?

Which would you rather do, on your next long trip; sail or fly?
Fly. My biggest fear is drowning. The water is not for me, and I’m a Pisces. I think it’s a cruel twist of fate.

Have you ever seen the Queen?
Yes, but only in magazines and on book covers. I’ve been to Buck palace many a time, but she’s never been home. Has she read your book? You know what, I’ll bet she has, but I don’t think she’d admit it. Folk might think she’s creepy.☺

Tell us about Wolfwriters, if you are allowed, please. They aren’t some secret society of murder-mystery fans are they? You know, meeting in obscure places and play acting all sorts of crimes…
Wolfwriters  is a group of writers who meet several times a month in San Diego to read and critique each others work. I’m not currently active in the group due to my hectic commute and work schedule, but they are a great bunch of folk who share constructive criticism and a bunch of laughs with each other. (That commute she complains about, is about two hours each direction. She advertises her book on the rear window of her car!)

Which do you have the strongest passion for – writing, or reading?
Both. Writing probably has the edge.

Do you get nervous before book signings?
No. They’re just people. I’m delighted to meet them.

Have you ever encountered a ‘strange’ fan?
Probably, but I didn’t recognize them.

Give us the title of the book, which you might not otherwise admit to reading.
The Idiot's guide to Forensics. I’d rather do my own research but I don’t always have enough time.

Cooking at home, or dinner out?
Cooking at home, as long as I’m not doing the actual cooking.☺

Did you work in a record store for a while? Here in the U.S. or Britain?
I did. It was in the UK for about 4 years in total when I was in my 20’s. I absolutely loved it. What could be better back then than listening to my favorite tunes all day and getting paid for it?

Do you like bagpipes? Can you play them? What instrument can you play?
I do like them. Many would disagree with me here, but I don’t have enough wind to play them! I love listening to them. I can play (badly) the drums, the oboe and the violin. I learned all 3 when I was younger and sucked at all of them.

If you could have named yourself, what name would you chose?
I would be Alison. I have a sister named Alison and I think it’s an excellent name. Plus I’d be at the front of the alphabet, which was always an advantage at school. I do like my own name, however. I go by Jen or Jenny, but not Jennifer. I like Jennifer but find it too stuffy for me.

***

J.F. Thank you for the sweet use of your answers. I understood every word. But, I must admit. your sister said you would chatter like mad when given the chance.  Are you certain you said all you desired to say? Jut drop a note if you wish. I rarely believe interviews should have an ending....
Oh, and if you want to hear bagpipes done RIGHT! check out this guy...


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Treadmarks in the cattle trails...

 There are many who will say the Wild West never truly died - it only upgraded transportation and weapons. I live out in the Four Corners, where the 'Old' wild west still exists, where it remains unchanged, if you drive away from the cities. Texas is a wonderful place to see that as well, and you don't have to drive far. In certain places, here in the West - along the great river - things only got wilder. The Mexican/American deserts can be wicked places, not only because of the snakes and cactus. There are treadmarks in the dust of the trails now. Outlaws rule vast, open expanses, just as they did in the 1800's.

The land cannot be tamed, and the outlaws are hardly more modern, but for those vehicles and weapons.  William T. Prince, a Texan, brings all this reality to life, far more eloquently than I just have. He does it with a single character, who, amazingly, embodies most of the gun slinging good guys you've grown up reading and watching on TV. Clint is as real as the Wild West gets. He attracts outlaws, almost as easily as he attracts women.

I wished, reading The Legend of Sasquatch - Clint's story - that I was born to grow about 76 inches tall. That is a perfect height to live a perfect life. I'm stuck at Tom Cruise. Not much to brag about. But I weigh 76 inches worth, so, there!

Mr. Prince must be 78 inches tall, because he writes it well. The way...birds can really explain how to fly; if you are it, you can tell it. But, that also means that William T. could drink me under the table. Someday, we might try that. Over a steak the size of our boots. See, the Wild West lives on, because we LOVE IT!

Clint - William - both - exist where extremes are permissible. Big land, big guns. Big people, big ideas. Big hearts - very big crimes. Guess what one thing brings Clint - William - me, for that matter - to tears and trembling? Wide open arms of forgiveness. That is about as extreme, in this West, as you can get. Boundless love, when it doesn't feel deserved. Boundless love, in a place where you may still die for being in the wrong place, near the wrong transportation, speaking to the wrong person. Clint could handle the bad guys, and does, but he was desperate for that love. I adored the chapter where he found it.

 Now, I've mixed a lot of elements into all this. So does William T. You can read how he did it, by reading his book. It is the best blending of modern crime and Old West that I've read. Here is my review of it. The story sweeps through its own pages like a twister, picking up every element possible and mixing them together. And it is perfectly written, perfectly - destructively told. William Prince seems to dare you to disbelieve a word of it. And, you won't. Because of Clint.

Watch the book trailer here.
Or visit William's website here.

William Prince writes his character, Clint Buchanan as though he lived that boy's life. He may have, his occupation away from writing is corporate security; he knows law enforcement. He has put Clint in a tailor-made environment, and it reads beautifully - every bigger-than-life moment of it. So, if this is not actually an autobiography hidden within a fiction...Mr. Prince's superhuman life condensed to quick-turning pages...then it must be a biography still. I'm convinced that 'Clint' was someone Prince knew. I'll just ask. The settings are real enough. I've been there. The author mentions so many familiar places, it only helps to cement his character in my mind, as a breathing human. I like that a lot. In a place so big, they like to say it's like a 'whole other country'...and it is all known to me. The whole damned State of Texas within those pages.

Yes, the whole thing is large enough, there will be a second book, sometime early this year. After meeting Clint, you will be waiting for his return: The Education of Clint Buchanan. Watch Mr. Prince's website for news about that. Well, he's reachable in lots of places. Here, here, and here.

Do steak joints really cook steaks, big as your boots? Hell yes! You don't get out much, do you? Not out West, that's for certain. And, stop thinking they are cooked. That's city talk. Damn! You need to read The Legend of Sasquatch. It's a travel guide for non-Texans, and will teach you at least enough that you won't look too silly when you come out. Leave the dorky clothes home when you come, too. We can tell you've never worn boots, by the way you talk.

I turn the space over to my guest:

I always begin fresh with an author, hardly reading other interviews until my questions are written. I’m very curious to hear how Clint became a character in your mind. What brought him to life?

Clint was rolling around in my head for many years.  I had some very basic ideas about the character and his story (and the opening line) as early as the 1980s, but I never really thought that I could write a novel.  In October 2007, I finally decided to give it a try, and I typed the first chapter in a single sitting that really didn’t take very long.  That gave me some confidence, so I just kept writing.  Once I really got rolling, Clint kind of brought himself to life.  His story had to be told, and I was thankful to be the messenger.

How long did you write in this book?

From start to finish, it took about five months, but I was actively writing for only about three of those months.  Frankly, I was surprised that I was able to do it so quickly.

You work in corporate security. Does that mean you get to chase bad guys?

No, not really.  I don’t do a lot of chasing.  The goal of my job is to be proactive—to prevent.  If I never see a bad guy, it means I’ve done my job well, and it keeps the lawyers happy.

Do you carry a weapon? (At work; I meant.)

No, I worked briefly in law enforcement, but since then, I’ve never been required to carry a weapon as part of my job.  In fact, security directors are generally opposed to weapons of any kind in the workplace, and I practice what I preach.  If guns are required, that’s police work, and it’s time to call 9-1-1.

Do you ride a Harley?

I wish!  No, I don’t ride a motorcycle anymore, but if I did, it would definitely be a Harley.  If I sell a million copies of my novel as a result of this interview, that will probably be my first purchase.

What’s the longest you’ve lived in a tent?

Well, that was certainly off the wall!  Uh . . . I don’t know, probably not more than two or three days, and it’s been a very long time.

Are you a native Texan?

Yes, I was born and raised between the Red and Rio Grande.  (By the way, only someone who was both born and raised in Texas can claim to be a Texan.)

Remember the year the Houston Astros were in the League Championships with the Mets? (1986?) That damned final game went to nearly 17 innings. Do you watch baseball?

I remember that year, and I did watch some of that series.  As a rule, though, I don’t watch a lot of sports of any kind.  I follow sports.  I read box scores, standings, and the occasional recap.  I keep up with how my teams are doing, but I don’t have time to watch games.

The four C’s include cars, don’t they?...making that ‘five C’s’.

Joel, I’m 6-8 and about 375.  Cars don’t fit me.

How much time to do you spend at the gun range? What do you shoot?

This may surprise you, but I don’t shoot much.  When I was in graduate school, I bartered all of my guns to my roommate for rent, and for many years, I never felt the need to replace them.  I’ve purchased two firearms (a pistol and a shotgun) in the last year, and those are the first guns I’ve owned since 1990.  I’ve taken the pistol to the range three times, and all I can say is, “I’ve still got it!”

Was the competition between Clint and a few other officers based on a real event? (I know the steaks are.)

Yes, you could say that.  That particular episode in the story is a composite of real events—and, yes, I was eventually put in my place.  I was so brash during my firearms training in the police academy that my instructors gave me a baggy half-full of blanks during a night-firing exercise, and they didn’t come clean until three months later.  I spent those three months praying that I wouldn’t get into a shootout at night!  The lesson took.  My pride took such a beating that I dialed down the cockiness several notches after that.

Houston is the only place where I’ve driven 80 mph in bumper to bumper traffic. That was in the mid-80’s. Is it any better?

No, not really.  That’s just how things are in Texas.  In fact, I’d say that Dallas is even worse.

Galveston is my favorite spot to just stand and breathe. Where is yours?

I prefer the mountains, especially the Rockies.  If I could live anywhere, that would be it.  My favorite place is Rocky Mountain National Park.  It’s so beautiful that even this big Texan gets misty-eyed.

Has your wife nicknamed you Clint yet?

Only in the bedroom!  (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that!)  Seriously, no, she calls me “Will” just like everyone else—well, everyone aside from my blood relatives, who still use my full given name.

Was book two simmering in your mind before you finished ‘Sasquatch’ or did you begin to feel the need to write it, later?

It was always there.  I have a rough outline of a story in my head, and “Sasquatch” was only the first chapter.  I see this as a series of three to five books.

I have two boys, close in age; perfect monsters – filthy beasts. They actually leave a trail. You, have twin girls, same age as my boys. I cannot imagine the blessing. Please tell me...what is it like, to have sweet, neat, polite children?
I wish I knew! ;-) 

Where did Ruth Willis come from? She’s not just a creative bit of text, is she?

Actually, Ruth is entirely fiction.  She’s one of the few characters in the story who is a complete fabrication.

Have you been in a life or death situation before, in your line of work?

Yes

What led you into law enforcement?

I’ve always been interested in crime and criminals, and after about a minute-and-a-half in law enforcement, I realized that I was primarily interested in studying crime and criminals as an academic pursuit and not as a vocation.  Besides, police work is arguably the most complicated job in the world.  It requires multi-tasking, and I’m far too linear to be good at it.

Which is more difficult?...writing your book, or marketing your book?

Oh, that’s easy—marketing the book.  Marketing is not my bailiwick, and selling the book has been difficult.  Sales have picked up some since I started offering it as an e-book, but we’re still talking about a trickle.  I’m a long way from retiring from my day job.  I try to take inspiration from how Ron McLarty (The Memory of Running) was more or less accidentally discovered by Steven King, but it’s hard not to get discouraged.  I didn’t write the book to get rich, but I’d like to sell more copies.  I just can’t seem to get the word of mouth help that I need for it to go viral.

I ask nearly everyone if they are actively seeking traditional publishing. Are you sending out queries?

No, I haven’t started doing that yet.  I would like to, but the traditional publishing industry is essentially closed.  The door is cracked ever so slightly, and it’s tough (nearly impossible) for a self-published author to sneak a foot in that crack.  I think I need to sell a lot more copies before I could even get an agent to notice me, much less a publisher.

Were you surprised, that you had an entire novel at your fingertips?

Truthfully, once I got that first chapter out of the way, I knew I could do it.  My only real question was where to end the first one and start the second.

***
When presented with a larger-than-life character, in a larger-than-anywhere else setting, it stands to reason there would be more to come. But, Mr. Prince sliced out a major piece of writing with book one. It brings a promise, the second book will be outstanding. You can expect little else from Clint Buchanan.
Actually, you can hardly expect less than excellence from any Texan. They are after all, as gentle as they are grand. Except in those deserts....

Thank you Mr. Prince.  It has been a pleasure. Watch in the comments for other questions. They sometimes crop up there.



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Encouraging authors out of their shells...

Charlie has given me the thumbs-up to proceed...my second victim has been pestering me for two months to give her some space. This might be what she meant.

So, I posted this on Facebook, just the other day:
Imagine that you have written a book, and market it as well as you might, for a very long time. Then - with just the right connection, just the right promotion - you end up #1 on an Amazon.com list, and your book gets downloaded 10,000 times. Bam!
Does your head spin? Do you cry with joy? Ask Darcia Helle she knows the... answer now. :)  'Enemies and Playmates' is well deserving of that notice.

She replied:
Thank you, Joel. The answer is, you sit and look dumbfounded at the screen, trying to figure out who could have made such a ridiculous error in calculations. :)  And now she's had nearly more than 30,000 hits!

See the end of the post for a rundown of the Kindle Boom that rocked Darcia last year.

Darcia Yvette Helle (pronounced HAY-LAY) ;)  is another someone a bit rare in self-publishing; she is an author who devotes most of her time just talking books with others. Eavesdrop her conversations on the web, and you will hear encouragement, humor, compassion, sympathy, and - most helpfully - honesty about what this game entails. Plus, she agonizes over reviewing books which are not particularly well written. (It is not easy to mentor authors, none of us have any flaws....) The generous Darcia is simply a hoot to know, and that is at odds with her writer's nature. That Darcia (which means 'dark' in French) would be wondering if your legs have to be chopped to put you in that box.

Her heart must match her hippie-chick smile, wide open and happy. One new place where all those good qualities come gushing from the screen, is BestsellerBound.com. - a haven in a confusing self-pub landscape - it's a product of her website QuietFury Books. While other bookish sites are slowing, or dying outright - just from too much junk on the pages, BsB is attracting members from all over. And those members are welcome to blurb and promote their books. Upon arriving, they seem to sigh with relief. The entire site is cool, smart, clean, easy, and the talk about books just comes naturally. Her success in this blog/forum arena is due to her great personality and web media savvy. I ask her about that below: she is one of three founding members, and she takes almost no credit for what is growing there (the demure Darcia). I'll let her remain humble. Sometimes, all it takes is a good seed.

There is no question that she can write; her characters are expertly defined. But, they are only themselves, and not much guided by her. When her characters speak - Darcia seems to just step aside. Skye Summers, her MC in 'The Cutting Edge' is a perfect narrator, and Darcia's natural talent with humor just shines.  Sometimes you can feel an author trying to be funny; not with Darcia.  [blatant theft of quote from her website] Here is how she describes the characters in her head: "The characters that float through my mind can be unrelenting and often lead me in too many directions at once. They become like children who lack discipline. And apparently I lack parenting skills."

That is a writer.


Did I mention that she is an accomplished murderer?

Read her. People DIE. And she giggles about it. I squealed at her, when she shattered my nerves with 'The Cutting Edge'. But, she defeated my wimp. I've read her twice now, and still squeal. She puts images in my mind that are too real. I need that - the riveting visuals that make the stories wonderful to read. Then she brought back some torments from my past, with 'Enemies and Playmates'. She made me wince, and keep reading. It is not easy to make people feel what you have written. There are hundreds of mass-pubs out there who still cannot do it.

Oh! Was stone-house publishing just mentioned in a derogatory manner?  It should be! Have a chat with Darcia about how little mass-pub does for authors. No conversation with Darcia strays very far from publishing, whatever the form. She champions self-publishing, for a simple reason; it is bringing very talented people out of the shadows so they can be read. Take a look at an open letter to Amazon, which she penned shortly after launching BsB.

Remember now, she just had 21,000+ people chose her book - on Amazon - all she needed was visibility in the marketplace. But, traditional publishing is looking at the Indie phenomenon, using the same twisted logic the music industry tried to apply - if the product does not fit their marketing outlines, it must therefore be inferior. Everyone in this game knows now, traditional publishing refuses to embrace anything 'Indie' as a good product. When you begin reading Indie works, you quickly realize how blatantly stupid the publishing world has become. They are ignoring the biggest change in publishing in our lifetimes, and self-published authors are finding alternate ways into the market, with a very good product.

Darcia writes a damned fine product. EVERY TIME SHE WRITES. Some whimpering agent should improve their stats next week, lighten their workload, by picking up a copy of Darcia's work. 21,000 people understood what they were doing when they clicked to download 'Enemies and Playmates'. I'm so thrilled for her I can't express it properly.

Here are the links to my reviews of 'Cutting Edge' and 'Enemies'.
Here is a link to her website store: look to the bottom, to the cool carousel widget.

And Charlie was kind to remind me of something I can't do. (I love it when women do that to me) : "Joel, don't forget to mention that people have the chance to win "Hit List" by Darcia Helle at the Gratitude Giveaway (begins this Wednesday) Nov. 17th at Bitsy Bling Books." What I can't do, is give you that URL today. Keep watching - it will post here in a couple of days.

Darcia was very sweet to allow me a few questions, but, as I have said, she enjoys a dangerous streak. It suits her, quite nicely:

Forgive the teasing about your name. I want to call you Miss Hell, and you've known that a good while; your books and posts all reveal a bit of a feisty personality. Spell your name phonetically so I can ignore the proper way to say it.
I like being called feisty. Thank you! My name (both first and last) is mangled more often than not. I find it rather comical now. I’m typically called Darsha Hell. Here is the phonetic pronunciation:
Dar-SEE-ah HELL-ee. In French, the ‘e’ on Helle would be silent. I kind of like it that way. :D

When did you realize, "Oh my! I'm going to write a book!"?
That happened about 15 years ago, when I was a few chapters into my first book (which I have not published). I always wrote. At that time, I’d written a lot of dark and probably horrible poetry and a few short stories. I’d run scenes through my mind each night. Honestly, sometimes I’d lie awake for hours, “writing” this entire story in my head. I couldn’t tell you now what prompted that first book. A character stepped into my head and wouldn’t go away. I sat down and wrote a scene. That scene turned into a chapter and I haven’t stopped since. Click to see her latest bit; a free short story.

Your readers know well that you love dogs, and are a vegetarian; those elements are prominent in your books. What have you likewise revealed, that readers might not pick up so easily?
I think we writers sprinkle bits of ourselves in all of our work. A running theme an astute reader might notice is that I am a wee bit obsessed with the why behind human behavior. I’m not content to write about a vicious killer, unless I can explore what caused him or her to become that way. The majority of murderers are not born sociopaths. Something made them that way. I need to look inside and see what that was, then show it to my readers.

I recognized your desire to explain Kyle in ‘The Cutting Edge’.  His near-conversations with his mother gave me chills, as Norman did in Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. But, I don’t recall any effort to define Alex’s madness in ‘Enemies and Playmates’. Did I miss it, or did you really not go there with him? (Alex is piercingly accurate, BTW. I’ve seen the self-love, and its fallout, first hand.)

Alex was a bit harder to portray, since he wasn't a POV character. I tried to give hints of his decline, through brief memories and observations by his family members. His obsession with power and control as he rose in stature within his profession and his community was his ultimate downfall, though, for me, Alex was one of those people who was born with a missing link. Kara overlooked those signs early in their relationship. She was searching for that American dream, with a successful husband allowing her to stay at home, comfortable, to raise her children. Kara reacted as many young women do. She didn't see (or perhaps chose to ignore) those early signs of Alex's controlling nature. Often, we see what we choose to see in our relationships.

I'm thrilled that you think Alex's character is accurate, though I'm sorry to hear that you've had personal experience with someone like him. I don't think the general public realizes how easy it is for a woman to fall into that kind of relationship. It happens for a variety of reasons and rarely does it begin at a full level of abuse. As I'm sure know, given your own experience, men like these can be remarkably kind when they choose to be. They show the world a different face.
Now I want to go back and kill Alex all over again! :))

Your books embrace a lot of physical danger for your characters. Can you sit and watch movies like 'Saw: Parts I-XXVII' ?
No! I’ve never watched any of those 'Saw' movies. However, I can watch psychological suspense or even thrillers with lots of violence, providing the violence is interspersed with a good story. For me, movies like 'Saw' feed on the graphic gore and don’t offer enough substance.

 

You have six books; an impressive bit of work. Which took the least time to complete?
The Cutting Edge, my last one, was the quickest to write. That was also the closest to anything autobiographic in content. Skye Summers, the main character, is a hairstylist suffering from serious job burn-out. I was a stylist for 15 years in a salon in the very same small town I set the book in. One reviewer recently said that I had created the most obnoxious (and I’m paraphrasing here) clients ever to walk into a salon. That comment made me laugh out loud, since every single one of those clients was closely based on a real client in that real salon.
I should take a signed copy of that to my stylist's shop. The ladies there would love it.

Which of your books is actually your favorite?
That’s like asking me which of my children is my favorite. It depends on the day!  :D

Do you ever open them again, and twitch to make some edits?
I have not actually read any of my books since publishing but, yes, I do twitch to do some editing. Once the book is published, I don’t think about editing in the sense of reconstructing sentences, etc. At some point, you have to let go and be satisfied with the word choices. That, for me, comes at publishing time. However, I did all my own editing at first and that is not something I recommend. I read my own work so many times that I was regurgitating the words in my sleep. Still, I missed things. My mind was seeing what it was supposed to say, not what it truly said.
I now have an awesome editor! His name is Bob Helle and he is, oddly enough, not a relative. Or, if he is, those ties are distant somewhere in my husband’s ancestry. He edited 'The Cutting Edge' for me and has just finished 'Hit List'. I’ll be making the corrections and releasing the revised edition soon. I hope to have 'No Justice' done next.

What other book have you read more than twice?
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book more than twice, particularly fiction. There are millions – billions? – of books on the market at any given time. About half of those are on my to-read list. (Seriously, you should see it!) I don’t have time for all the new ones I’d love to read, much less time to re-read the old ones.

What other author have you read completely?
Wow, that’s a tough question. I read a diverse amount of genres and topics, both fiction and nonfiction. When I was younger, I faithfully followed a handful of my favorites, which included Tami Hoag and John Sanford. But different authors and different genres soon distracted me. Now I’ve been veering off into the Indie world and exploring a lot of new authors. Aside from authors who only have one or two books out at this point, I can’t name any offhand whose complete backlog I’ve read. Though there are many whose work I do want to read every bit of.

Have those books and people influenced you?  What did?
Yes and yes. Each book, good or bad, influences me somehow. As writers, we read differently. Or I do, at any rate! I pay attention to sentence structure, word choice, characterization, etc. Even when I’m lost in a book, somewhere in my subconscious I’m aware of what that author is doing or not doing to keep me turning pages.
As for people, all of them absolutely influence my writing. The people close to me who support me and the readers who take a moment to send me a note and/or write a review for one of my books encourage me, whether knowingly or not, to keep writing. People that I meet, even briefly, influence a trait I give a character. An exchange between people that I overhear in a store might spark an idea for a scene or a complete novel.
Life, with its great moments and its misery, are strong influences in everything I write.

Do you get to write as much as you would like?
No! The balance between marketing, promoting, networking, working on various projects and writing is incredibly difficult to maintain. To make matters worse, I am absolutely not a morning person. I’m not a late sleeper but my brain cells continually misfire until around 11 a.m.


Indie marketing is a complex activity, (duh!). How much of your day is spent with your online connections?

A very good example of letting your books have
the loudest voice on your webpage.

I was going to say ‘too much’ but that wouldn’t be accurate. Over the past few months, I’ve developed an amazing network of fellow authors/friends and I do spend some time each day interacting with them via email and on our message board. But a lot of my marketing time is a more solitary activity, in which I organize projects, write interview questions, seek out promotion ideas, etc. It’s still too much time, time that I’d like to use to write.

We've discussed query letters on BsB, you say you've given them up. Were you ever obsessed with sending out query letters?
The mere mention of query letters causes me to shudder. Yes, I was obsessed. Then disappointed. Then dejected. Then obsessed again. A ridiculous cycle. When I first set out to become published, the Indie world wasn’t even a fantasy. Self-publishing options consisted of those horrible vanity presses that will publish anything for money. I was a neophyte and had no idea how difficult the publishing world was to break into. All those form rejection letters were disheartening, to say the least. Agents based their opinions on a one-page query letter. How do you judge creativity based on one formal query?

You are at the helm (approaching 1,000 posts) of the explosively popular BestsellerBound.com. Has that success surprised you?

I’d love to strap on my ego and say that I expected it to be a success. But, in all honesty, I am surprised. I created the message board on a whim. I’d been trying to find ways to network and had joined a variety of reader and writer forums. The reader forums were, for the most part, unfriendly. I often felt like some sort of pariah. Writers were forbidden from discussing their writing on any level. If you crossed that line even slightly, you were publicly berated. I understand limiting self-promotion or even banning self-promotion. However, writing is what I do. It goes hand-in-hand with reading. Other members discussed their hobbies and their jobs but I was not allowed to discuss either. Where did that leave me, as far as how to interact? The writers’ forums were all about self-promotion. That’s all they did. No one discussed books they read or authors they enjoyed. Members would pop in, talk about their books, and leave. There was little support or interaction and no discussion of books other than their own.
I’m sure this is not the case for every forum but it’s what I ran into. I wanted a place where readers and writers could hang out and discuss the things we love without fear of persecution. Since I couldn’t find that place, I decided to create it. But I need to be clear in stating that all I did was create that spot. The members are the ones who make that place special.

What do you single out as the most pleasing feature of that site, for you?
The absolute unwavering support each member offers the others, regardless of background.
I need to point out that Stacy Juba and Maria Savva are her partners in the BestsellerBound creation. Both are accomplished and acclaimed authors as well.

If you could put your book in a certain person's hands, who would that be, and what book do you wish they would read?
Such a great question! With each of my books, I take on a subject that I would like all of society to think about, perhaps on a different level and/or from a different perspective. If I had to choose one book for one person, I think I’d pick Enemies and Playmates. I’d put it in the hands of one woman who is making excuses or blaming her own behavior for the husband or boyfriend who has raised a hand to her.

What's the next D.H. book?
I’m working on the third book in my Michael Sykora series. No title, yet.

If you are going to curl up with a book, what are you snacking on?
I don’t often eat when I read. Usually, I’m too absorbed in the world unfolding with the words. Plus, I don’t want to risk getting my books or my eReader smudged. But my favorite snack is ice cream from Marble Slab, Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen Dazs.

Audio books. They are becoming popular! Could you read your own book for a recording?
No. An emphatic no. For one thing, I don’t think I have the right tone of voice. To make a good audio book, you need to have the type of speaking voice that is strong and soothing, like a radio announcer or actor. That would not be me. Also, I have difficulty with speaking aloud and maintaining that type of concentration for any length of time, due to neurological complications from chronic, late-stage Lyme disease. I’d be tripping over my own words and stuttering. That might make for a comical break but I doubt it would be a big selling point.

Thank you, DeeCee. This has been a fun chat. Don't be surprised to get a new question before the week is out.

Feel free to pull bits of me from wherever you find me!

***

Cannibalizing text? That would be just like her....

Darcia loves arcane facts, bizarre subjects, (one of them linked above) and loves to post articles about the stuff she digs up, like here; here; here; here; and...here. She posts like an insomniac on BsB, which, BTW, is an outstanding readers site - anyone who loves books is welcome to join. Just register and introduce yourself. Hers will be one of the first welcoming posts you get. She Twitters, too, but those are mostly tweets about dogs and cats...or her shrunken head collection... @DarciaHelle

THE KINDLE BOOM

What exactly DID happen between Kindle and Darcia? Somehow, they decided her title 'Enemies and Playmates' was worthy of placement on their Free Download list. She is also available in e-book on Smashwords, and was offering that book free there. Amazon prefers to be the lowest Kindle e-book price available, and state they will match lower prices. Apparently, they keep tabs of pricing on titles in the Kindle format, and Darcia somehow became visible to them. They have yet to communicate with her about any of this - so, it just happened. Boom.

Suddenly, with the featured status, and the free price, Darcia's book was flying out in downloads. But, remember, it was a free book. She did not earn a dime on all the action. Neither did Amazon. What the entire whirlwind of notice brought, was only that. Kindle had a massively attractive author on their list, and Darcia found herself in so many hands she couldn't believe it. She is being read on nearly 30, 000 Kindles by now. Way more than that...remember, this is an old post.

There is a huge debate over the way pricing is structured, and the way commissions are paid. At first glances, it is difficult to understand. Darcia could have earned on those downloads, but was unable to see the event shaping up. Amazon might have overlooked her, if she had been structured to actually receive commission on any downloads...it is now a case of could have, should have, but isn't the whole thing wonderful!

Yes, it truly is. We all dream of being read in such numbers. Darcia is no longer free on Amazon, and is selling so well that her book is now on the opposite top 100 list. Her other titles are enjoying an upswing as well. She's had her picture on the Amazon Kindle front page, so to speak. Darcia is an author whom TENS OF THOUSANDS can read. I bet she would squeal to have the whole thing happen all over again.

It could. Read one of her books. You will come back for more. So will almost 30,000 other readers. 50-60K by now?
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