Author Interview with E.F. WATKINS

E.F. Watkins, winner of the 2004 EPPIE for Best Horror novel, is the author of three paranormal thrillers, a suspense novel, and numerous short stories. A professional journalist for more than 30 years, Eileen has written about art, architecture, fine crafts and interior design for daily newspapers and local, national and international magazines.

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You claim that Ira Levin, Dean Koontz and Barbara Michaels influenced your writing. How and why?

I admire Ira Levin for writing some truly creepy, classic plots, such as ROSEMARY’S BABY and THE STEPFORD WIVES, that relied on almost no “onstage” violence or gore. I also like his recurring themes of people being betrayed by those close to them, and the fact that his characters tend to be sophisticated and intelligent.

In general, I prefer Dean Koontz’s characters to Stephen King’s. I find his “good guys” more sympathetic and I think he writes women well. Stephen King is an excellent writer, but I find his world view a little bleak. That may sound like an odd criticism for horror, but in Koontz there’s usually more of a catharsis and hope for humanity, I think.

I was delighted to discover Barbara Michaels (just about 10 years ago), because she was writing mysteries with actual ghosts in them before it was the thing to do. I guess you could call her books updated Gothics, with stronger female characters than the old kind.

It would take a lot of space to explain how these writers have influenced me, but I explore themes similar to Levin, I think my world view is more like Koontz, and I like to mix mystery with paranormal like Michaels.


You’ve written “straight” romantic mystery and paranormal thriller novels. Is the process different writing in different genres?

Yes and no. My mystery RIDE A DANCING HORSE is suspenseful and probably has a similar style and pacing to my thrillers. It’s much less violent—pretty PG, really—but it’s emotional. In addition to their feeling for each other, my hero and heroine are frequently worried about the welfare of their farm and horses. To me, that’s emotional turmoil! Also, as you know, in a mystery you generally don’t find out “who done it” until close to the end, so I couldn’t paint any one suspect as too villainous. I had to plant clues that seemed to lead in various directions. In my thrillers, I can cut loose and make the bad guy really nasty!


You were a professional journalist for many years. How did it prepare you for writing fiction?

I think it polished my nuts-and-bolts skills, because spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure are second nature to me. I proofread carefully, I know how to cut a passage without losing the sense of it and I know how to take criticism and make changes. I’m constantly working with editors who may ask me to do those things and will call me on any mistakes. Plus, I know how to put my butt in a chair and write something in whatever time I have available to me.


What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer?

Lack of time. I’ve written most of my books while holding down full-time writing jobs. It’s possible to write five novels by putting in an hour a night and a couple more on weekends, but it makes it hard to do much else. The most difficult part is finding time to get lost in the story, imagine a scene fully, noodle around and try different approaches. These days, I carry a microcassette recorder in my car and brainstorm aloud while I’m commuting. That way, when I sit down to write at night I already have a lot of the bugs worked out.


What is the title of your most recently published book? Briefly tell us what it’s about and let us know where we can buy it.

My latest is DANU’S CHILDREN, which came out this spring. A photojournalist returns to his small home town in Pennsylvania “coal country” for his cousin’s funeral, and begins to suspect the cousin was murdered. Digging deeper, he discovers an ongoing battle between the shady developer of a new mall/conference center and a grassroots group that’s against it. The hero’s cousin was reporting on the project for the local paper—did the developer have him killed? Or are the seemingly high-minded protesters more dangerous than they appear? Who’s responsible for the burned body that turns up in the woods, the road collapse that exposes barrels of toxic waste, and the dynamiting of the construction site? The hero feels drawn to the beautiful leader of the protesters, only to find she’s also a pagan priestess and believes a Celtic earth god will help them defeat the mall project…one way or the other. It’s available on Amazon and from my publisher at http://amberquill.com/DanusChildren.html.


What are you working on now and when/where do you expect it to be available?

At the moment, I’m finishing a prequel to DANCE WITH THE DRAGON, which was my first published book. So far, I’m calling it ONE BLOOD. Yes, vampires—but I come by them honestly, because DD came out in 2003, before the latest wave! I’ve been told by readers and one reviewer that they were curious to know how the hero and heroine of DD got together, so I decided to polish up that story and put it out there. Ironically, even though I know they end up together, I’m having a devil of a time right now getting them to see eye to eye. They have every reason to battle each other to the death!


Writers, especially new writers, are always looking for tips and helpful information. What is the single most important “tip” you can give to a new writer?

Wow, just one? Write for the love of it, because there’s no knowing how long it will take you to get published. It took me decades.


You are not only a member of several writing organizations, you helped found the Garden State Horror Writers. How has membership in these organizations helped your career?

Membership in GSHW introduced me, in a roundabout way, to my publisher. I heard a guest speaker at one of the meetings talk about electronic and POD publishing, and long story short, she eventually became an editor with Amber Quill Press. I was one of the first authors they published shortly after they formed in 2002. I often learn helpful things from speakers at meetings of the organizations I belong to. I also join with other members to sell my books at conferences and even street fairs. In September, I sold my books alongside other local authors at two street fairs, and did pretty well! I also can’t say enough about the input I get from my biweekly critique group. Those folks are objective and honest and keep me on the right path. It’s like having my future readers sitting in front of me saying, “that works” and “that doesn’t.” By the time I send a book to my editors, I feel confident that I’ve gotten rid of the biggest goofs, anyway!


Do you have any upcoming book signings or appearances? If so, give us all the details.

On October 17th, I’m going to be at the Barnes & Noble (Arena Hub) in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., with some other authors, doing a Halloween Horror Signing. On October 24th, I’ve got a signing at 7 p.m. at the New Age store Practical Magick in Pompton Lakes, N.J., and on October 25th, I’m joining other local authors for a 1 p.m. panel on Villains at West Milford Town Hall in West Milford, N.J. I’ll also be helping to staff the Garden State Horror Writers table during Philcon 2009 in Cherry Hill, N.J., and with any luck I’ll be on a panel or two, as well.


Here’s your opportunity to tell us anything else you care to share.

I’m delighted to see the popularity today of so much paranormal fiction that isn’t necessarily hard-core “horror.” That’s the kind of thing I’ve been writing for decades, and whaddya know—suddenly it’s actually being sought by publishers!


What are the addresses of your website(s) and blog(s):

Web site: http://www.efwatkins.com/. My only blog right now is on my MySpace page, www.myspace.com/efwatkins. I am NOT much of a blogger. I write and edit all day at work, I write my fiction at night…I really don’t have much time or energy left to just shoot the breeze. But once in a while I do check in to bring the blog up to date.

Author Interview with JOHN WAYNE CARGILE

John has a varied and extensive background. He is a retired journalist and holds doctoral degrees in both religion and philosophy. In addition to writing mystery fiction, he writes two weekly newspaper columns in Alabama.

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You worked in newspaper for a very long time as both a writer and editor. What did you like best about it?

I love people articles and features. That was my strong suit in the newspaper and magazine industry. Every person has a story to tell, and if you listen to them long enough you’ll find out interesting things about them that is worthy of retelling their life story.


How did your newspaper background prepare you for writing a novel?

The newspaper and magazine industry prepared me for novel writing. Newspapers and magazines are what I call “literary writing” on the run. The short deadlines were always killers for me. Sometimes I wished I had more time to develop a story. With novel writing you have as much time as you need.


You hold doctoral degrees in religion and philosophy. How do they affect your writing?

In my first novel, the main character embodies some ideas of my religion and philosophy. He questions life and death, flirts with death, asks questions about Heaven and Hell. While it is subtle in thought, I believe you see a little of me in the main character. You might see a little Christian and Zen Buddhism in his thoughts.


What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer?

In my younger days I dreamed about being a best-selling novelist. I wanted to write to Great American novel, like most authors. I honed my skills as a journalist, hoping it would lead me eventually to dreamland. The biggest challenge is finding time to write the Great American novel. As most people know, writers are not the highest paid people in the world. We have to scratch and claw as freelance writers, which often doesn’t pay enough. The highest salary I ever made was $48,000 a year as a managing editor for several magazines. I hoped when I retired I would be able to find the time, but with mortgage payments, car payments, the cost of living, and being a first-time novelist, the money doesn’t come as easily as to those authors who have agents and big publishing companies behind them. I haven’t given up on writing the Great American novel, but time is really not on my side. So, the greatest challenge is to make enough money to be able to write, write, write.


Tell us about your book, The Cry of the Cuckoos, and let us know where we can buy it.

The cuckoo bird is a master of deception, fooling other species in their race to copy their chirping begging call. Donald Drummond and his wife, Anne, chase after the killer of his father, Henry Drummond, but find themselves up against a radical right wing supremacist organization called the Society of Southron Patriots and, like the cuckoo bird, deception is the Society’s mission. The couple unravels a terrorist plot aimed to kill Washington dignitaries at the Super Bowl and delegates at the United Nations. Donald, a retired news reporter, and Anne, a retired school teacher, unfold the mystery leading them on a wild chase from Alabama to Texas. And one of the many murder suspects is Donald’s biological mother, Betty Jo Duke, whom he only just met after his father’s death. Donald and Anne are hired as informants by the FBI to unravel the mysterious case and they get a lot more than they bargained for. The novel can be purchased online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, or www.eloquentbooks.com/TheCryOfTheCuckoos.html or www.thecryofthecuckoos.com


What are you working on now and when/where do you expect it to be available?

I am almost finished with a new mystery titled, Crooked Letter I. You’ll love Rob McRobbie and Maria Delgado and hate Carlos Caretti and Gang. The setting is Biloxi, Mississippi, and deals with the Southern Mafia. I hope it will be ready by the summer of 2010.


Writers, especially new writers, are always looking for tips and helpful information. What is the single most important “tip” you can give to a new writer?

Research the industry. Keep your name out there. Expose yourself. Keep writing.


What writers organizations claim you as a member? How has being a member affected your writing career?

I currently do not belong to any writer’s groups per se. I have belonged to many in the past and found them to be helpful. If I were a young writer, I would take every opportunity to join a group of like-minded writers, take notes, and listen. But this journey is all yours. You have to treat it like a business.


Do you have any upcoming book signings or appearances?

I am waiting until the holiday season to canvass for book signings. They are all local.


Here’s your opportunity to tell us anything else you care to share.

Writing is a passion. I guess when all is said and done, it offers me a way to express myself in ways that I cannot communicate orally. I fall flat on my face as a public speaker. That was the one reason I did not pursue a ministerial career. I am an INFJ, according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Trait Tests. INFJ formally is Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling & Judgmental. I prefer to call it Inner Nuances Fosters Journeys. I guess that just about sums me up.


What are the addresses of your website(s) and blog(s):
http://www.thecryofthecucko/os.com
http://www.johnwaynecargile.blogspot.com/

Book Review: LOOT THE MOON by Mark Arsenault

Loot the Moon is a gripping whodunit that reads like a roller coaster ride. Superior Court Judge Gilbert Harmony is shot dead in his home during a break-in and the killer/thief dies in a car wreck fleeing the scene of the crime. Although the police consider the case open and shut, the judge's friend and former law-partner, Martin Smothers, doesn't.

Why would the thief shoot the judge and dash away without stealing anything? And why did he kidnap the judge's son at gun-point during his exit and then promnptly carjack a passing vehicle?

Martin enlists the aid of Billy Povich, a former journalist with a gambling problem, to help him figure out who hired the two-bit shoplifter turned killer/carjacker to murder the judge. Billy, battling personal problems that include an ailing father and an eight-year old son recovering from his mother's death, uncovers a handful of suspects that include the judge's jealous brother, his widow, and his mistress' son.

Mark Arsenault's writing is crisp, fast-paced, and peppered with insights that will make you laugh--and seriously consider your own relationships. The plot, with its twists and turns, is clever and suspenseful and ends on an unexpected and satisfying conclusion. The characters are quirky, endearing, and all too realistic. I literally couldn't put this book down once I started reading.

My rating: (5 Star) Read it in one sitting, staying up ‘til the wee hours even though I had to work the next day. You’ve GOTTA read it!

Loot the Moon will be released in hardcover on October 13, 2009 by Minotaur Books - ISBN 978-0-312-55576-4. Visit the author's website at: http://www.markarsenault.net/ or contact Anne Gardner, St. Martin's/Minotaur at (646) 307-5553 or anne.gardner@stmartins.com.

Article by ROB WALKER: Perils of Pauline

CREATING COMPELLING HEROINES or Making the Perils of Pauline Routine

The voice of one’s female lead-detective or PI in crime fiction--above all elements--must be consistent, just as your choice of words, control of weak qualifiers, adverbs, and adjectives, down to your grammatical skill all impact voice and the final product. Your lead character’s voice controls the novel and reassures the reader, even as it lulls him or her into “becoming” the leading lady.

The sound of the bell your narration and dialogue rings in the reader’s head must be unique, believable, likeable--even loveable and if you cannot make it sing then at least make it clear. The difference between confusing readers, and/or sounding wishy-washy, or sounding like ‘unto one who is awash in political mish-mash’ (like someone who cannot commit) as opposed to an assured, authentic, absolute voice (like someone who is committed) is in one’s authorial voice. This compelling voice relies on absolutes over qualifiers in the narrative. This is even truer of the feminine lead written by a male author!

To pull off the so-called impossible--getting into the head of the opposite sex and understanding from this point of view--surprisingly enough, surrounds elemental, fundamental reliance on a “woman of substance” in the voice. If you are a female author struggling with getting into the psyche and mindset of a male lead, just reverse what I say here.

Voice in dramatic, commercial fiction, in particular, relies heavily on strong active voice over weak passive voice. These basic grammatical decisions (word choice, exorcising qualifiers for absolutes, using active verbs over passives and cripplingly slow helping verbs, and exorcising the verb to be) are the crucibles about which E.B. White wrote in The Elements of Style and supported by the fine book Writing Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern. Style comes from extremely small elements you choose to make work for you--or items you fail to utilize.

As small as the choice difference between the words before and ago, maybe and perhaps, this is “shaping” voice. This becomes you--BECOMES your style. If you choose a folksy or shoddy or simplistic or complex or formal or informal voice, your reader will know it from the outset and is normally willing to follow it so long as this voice remains consistent and consistently believable. So is voice the single most important element of your story? Absolutely, and yet it is created of all the other elements and choices you choose to make from setting to dialect to no dialect to the difference between between and betwixt, leaped and leapt.

All good writing relies on the reader ‘falling for’ your narrative voice, the point-of-view (POV) speaker, the mind you set your reader down into comfortably or awkwardly. If it is an ill fit, little wonder: an author is a trick cyclist on the unicycle, juggling twenty-four plates in the air, spinning each choice, decision, and element at the ends of long sticks. Each plate, each stick, each prop is an important element, but they all culminate in the overall effect your story has on the reader’s ear and mind’s eye. If I had said the writer is LIKE a trick cyclist rather than stating it as a fact, it rings a different bell, sends a different and less powerful impact.

The use of like and as is terribly overdone in some voices in female-lead crime fiction.The use of passives, especially the was verb—a major killer of action and visualization—also riddles most fiction, especially in the first person narrative along with the personal pronoun references to the narrator: I, me, my, mine, myself, often using the personal pronoun three and four times in a given sentence. What a reader hears and pictures comes about as result of our giving him a believable sound in his head—the author’s voice, or the narrative voice (not always the same), or the character’s voice--along with providing Kodak moments in the reader’s head that look, feel, taste, smell, and sound like images.

The human brain sorts its mail via images, so it behooves us to use verbs that carry the weight of an image. We call this simile and metaphor and extended metaphor, but the absolute is even more powerful than these. Absolute detail, as in a name is a photo in the mind, as a number is an instamatic shot in the mind. Metaphorical language and verb choice create style and voice; and if we choose verbs that fire off shots of photographic moments as in slam, divorced, cuddled, crammed, leapt, jarred, frightened over the weak helping verbs as in the door was slamming, they were thinking about maybe getting a divorce, had been cuddled, was cramming, was about to leap, was feeling a bit frightened, we REDUCE the photo or blur it considerably. We clip ourselves at the knees when we overuse ly words and qualifiers.

Most assuredly, helping and passive voice verbs, such as was, slow the action and the firing of the photo in the brain of the reader--if it gets there at all. Strong female voice carries the day in crime fiction with female leads. The secret to creating strong voice--male or female--is the same!

There is/was/has been no more insidious word in the English language to insinuate itself on sentences like a parasitic leech than the verb to be, and, in particular, the word was. Take a moment and picture a was in your head; next, define the word was in the manner you might define any action/active verb. You cannot. Picture was in your mind and tell me what you see? Do the same for throw/threw/thrown or torch/torched. Jessica bolted from her seat RATHER THAN Jessica was about to maybe stand up as she was sipping her coffee. Meredyth torqued up her language whenever Lucas Stonecoat entered her office. The man enraged her.

These examples fire off mental imagery and are far more photographic and strong in voice than is this: Meredyth was thinking (in the process of) about perhaps torching up her language whenever she was confronted by Lucas’s presence in her office. Lucas, by the same token, was nervously thinking about maybe entering the room. If you wish to write passively, write speeches for politicians and Supreme Court justices.

A storyteller who peppers his tales with qualifiers and passives cuts his own throat and is easily the example to point to in an exercise about what not to do in fiction and dramatic writing.

Robert’s website is chock full with advice and examples. Visit for the fun of it or for the lessons to be had. He’s also on Facebook, twitter, MySpace, and www.acmeauthorslink.blogsppot.com.

Author Interview with ROBERT WALKER

Rob Walker has published over 40 books--in a variety of genres, including YA historical, mystery, horror, suspense, and police procedurals. He also teaches as an Adjunct Professor at West Virginia State University and owns The Knife Editing Services.

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Your writing career goes way back and includes a great number of published books—in a variety of genres. Which genre is your favorite to write, and why?

1979 was my breakthrough…or fizzle, if you will, with a slim volume with the now defunct Tower Books entitled SubZero. It was written as a semi-angry spoof on commercial and genre fiction and mixed all the categories but no one at the publishing house “got the joke” as they just saw it as a mixed genre commercial piece that would fill a quota for the month. I just reissued it as a Kindle eBook with the proviso it is a BAD book and a spoof. However, I began writing in junior high most seriously doing short stories to impress friends, family, and mostly teachers. School was a haven for me and a “safe place” in those days until 1967 when I saw on a high school black board the words Kennedy has been shot. Back to the point, I tried my hand at various categories and learned from the masters in each, and I try still to take my cues from those who have written before me. I started out with Mark Twain, writing YA historical, moved on to mysteries and horror with Dean Koontz and Stephen King leading the way, and from there have done police procedurals, suspense, and what I call HYsteries—mysteries set in time like my current eBook original, Children of Salem, and my three-book Alastair Ransom series begun with City for Ransom. I refuse to be categorized. Wreaks havoc with my agents over the years, my publishers, editors, and my bank account.


You’ve penned a number of different series in addition to single titles. Tell us about the differences between writing a series and a single title.

The greatest thing about doing a series, other than you realize with successive books you HAVE NOT exhausted all the challenges you can make to your main character and her or his bedrock character, is that there are many more curve balls you can throw at a Dr. Jessica Coran. You also know you have a steadier income with a series; that is, if you have a three or four book contract, you have work and income down the road, although a $100,000 advance for four books is quite frankly minimum wage at $25,000 a book a year, and this is doled out in increments of four pay periods over the year, so that it amounts to $25,000 a year. Some can live off that if married to a wealthy spouse.

Standalones, for me, have been far less lucrative and they represent, for me, failed books. Failed because your editor didn’t press you for another book with this ensemble of characters, or failed simply because the numbers were not there and bottom line kills any desire to pursue a second book in that line. I have written book number two in anticipation of the next contract which has not materialized. With eBook publication now available I can publish a book #2 myself--and have! Deja Blue, for example, with Rae Hiyakawa. It is the character that pulls you back to want to do more books. However, some of my earliest sold novels like Aftershock, Brain Watch, and Salem’s Child did not lend themselves to series and were early learning ground and meant as standalones. You might miss a character or an ensemble but you are not so compelled to pursue them as with a series. Dr. Jessica Coran, for instance, DEMANDED from the beginning three books and went to eleven.


You’ve been teaching writing for a long time. How did that come about and why do you do it?

Miss Evelyn Page, my wise high school homeroom teacher and mentor, insisted I DO write but also insisted I find another passion and pursue it for a JOB. She was an actress and singer who taught speech and, in her group, Karl Malden made it while she put food on the table for her aging parents and brother. I dedicated City for Ransom to her. At any rate, she urged me to go into teaching to support the “habit” of the creative spirit within. She was so right. Teaching feeds my creativity and it provided over the years a steady income so that I could still pursue my writing. I also get as much as I give in teaching language, grammar, writing, creative writing, all of it as when you dare to teach any subject matter, you have to learn it inside and out, and each time you teach it, you are relearning it; in a sense teaching is stomping out ignorance, yes, but also your own slippage. I love teaching and it loves me. My weekly Friday blogs at acme authors and on my MySpace are largely “tutorials” on every aspect of writing and the biz.


What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer?

Overcoming at a young age the depression that comes with the growing, gnawing feeling that you will never break into the business; that the stout wooden door—not a curtain—will always be closed to you, and that your writing will never find an audience. It was a dark, deep depression that I had to overcome and I did it by answering the question: Will you write anyway even if you never see publication? My answer was a resounding yes. I had no choice in the matter, really, but once I confronted this fear and answered that seemingly simple question, I became far more relaxed with the word play, far less horribly serious, and my work began to sell…admittedly by spoofing the industry and no one getting the joke but me, but even that taught me the true definition of “commercial” fiction.


What is the title of your most recently published book? Briefly tell us what it’s about and let us know where we can buy it.

Dead On takes a suicidal former cop turned disgraceful PI and opens with him about to “eat” his gun when his sense of duty is aroused. He is pulled off his suicide attempt, only to again be pulled away from killing himself by a sexy, dirty blonde who asks him out for drinks. Why not? Soon the two are plotting that which will be his redemption and her revenge—the capture, torture, and murder of a fiendish, ghoulish, terrible monster who has harmed them both and has brought them both to this point. They go after a psycho who has the bush skills of a Rambo, and they had better be careful as this maniac has no qualms about killing them first. It takes place in Atlanta and moves out of the city to the darkest woods you can imagine. It is available for Kindle and Iphone and Ipod download as an eBook from Amazon and a hardcover original from award-winning Five Star Books also on Amazon or in a store or library near you. Published July to rave reviews; Tess Gerritsen, Ken Bruen, and JA Konrath all loved it, as well.


What are you working on now and when/where do you expect it to be available?

A sequel to Dead On that is tentatively being called Dead End--but it is a long way from being concluded. In the meantime, I have been placing not one or two but TEN eBooks up at the Kindle Store at Amazon, acting as my own publisher for many out-of-print titles and three never before seen in print original to Kindle titles: Deja Blue, a paranormal suspense, Cuba Blue, a suspense set in Cuba with a female Cuban lead, and Children of Salem, a hystery-mystery-romance in the time of the Salem Witch Trials. I’m scanning, converting, and it takes time and patience but am hoping to place all my out of print titles onto Kindle.


Writers, especially new writers, are always looking for tips and helpful information. What is the single most important “tip” you can give to a new writer?

Do not fear emulation or imitation of the style of other authors but rather try your hand at a page of Evanovich or Dumas or Dickens or Conan Doyle etc. Flex your stylistic muscles with a page of E.B. White or E.L. Doctorow. These finger exercises prepare you for the moment when in your story you need that device that Dean R. Koontz once used in Phantoms or Twain used in Huck Finn. Another tip—everyone must try his or her hand at writing a mystery, be it a child’s story with a missing broach or an adult murder mystery with the body on page one. Why? Because mystery teaches plotting faster and more efficiently than any other category, so if it is science fiction or horror or even romance you are after writing, start it rolling with a What If? premise that involves a mystery be it on another planet or in Cabo San Loveville. A good romance should have an element of mystery and a good mystery an element of romance.


Are you a member of any writer’s organizations? Do you believe membership in writers’ organizations helps advance a writer’s career?

I have been a member in the past of The Horror Writers of America and Mystery Writers of America but I gave up both memberships, like Dean R. Koontz, when I saw the organizations going in directions I objected to, and I felt they were no longer serving my needs. Did the same with the Writers Guild East. In your early years, I would say these organization can be a great help to keep you in the game, to share the slings and arrows of a hard business, etc., but at my age I don’t feel I would be getting my money’s worth.


Your wife is also a writer. Give us the scoop about how what it’s like to live with a writer—when you’re a writer yourself!

Miranda has “mirandized” me so that is out of the way. Actually, we have a great mutual respect for one another and it is what drew me to her to begin with, her admiration for what I have accomplished and what all I still want to accomplish. She is a little younger than I am, so she has some time to get onto her writing career, but like myself, she works another job. Most writers do! She is an ER nurse and has been an RN for some seventeen years. We met in her hospital when I took my mom in for observation and I was observing the red-headed nurse. Miranda managed to write her first novel after we married, and I like to think I had a hand in helping to the extent I fended off her four children so she could have serious writing time as it was a novel she had always wanted to write but hadn’t found the time. No longer having an excuse, she got it done and The Well Meaning Killer, an FBI serial killer chase with Megan McKenna, is a great ride and can be found on Amazon.com and at the Kindle Store as well as an eBook.


Here’s your opportunity to share whatever you’d like.

Never take one editor’s or one teacher’s opinion of your work. As a college freshman, I was told that I would NEVER publish a book. This by my creative writing instructor. I put him in a scene in Killer Instinct, making him a small town, useless pimp. Forty-five books later, I can safely say he was a pimp to begin with. I am a real teacher, a good editor, and a fine speaker at heart, and I love sharing all the hard-won knowledge of the business and the craft of writing. Miranda and I are speaking at the West Virginia Book Festival on Octobert 11th at the Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, WV at 2:30PM on how to get happily published without any “title” or “content” fights and it is a library sponsored program and free to the public. I also operate The Knife Editing Services wherein your book goes through a complete autopsy on my literary slab. I also have ghost written books and helped develop books into the healthiest books they can be. More info on The Knife--aka me, myself, and I--can be found below. I am also teaching as Adjunct Professor at West Virginia State University at present. All this while writing the next novel and most likely editing someone else’s as well as grading English 101 and 102 comp papers! Meanwhile, I have never seen a book with Professor Pimp’s name on the cover. Moral of the story – well, you figure it out.


What are the addresses of your website(s) and blog(s):
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
http://www.acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/
http://www.mirandawalkerbooks.com/
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