Deception of a Highlander - An Interview with Madeline Martin

Recently I had the chance to interview author Madeline Martin about her book Deception of a Highlander.

Madeline, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I recently read Deception of a Highlander. I want you to know first off that I lost sleep over your book. It was a willing sacrifice on my part because I just couldn't put it away to go to bed. High praise? Perhaps, but deserved. Mariel Brandon is a spy for a shady man named Aaron who sends her to Scotland with the hero Kieran MacDonald. For once the heroine is the more damaged of the two characters. What inspired this book? Why Scotland and why a female spy?

Madeline Martin: That is high praise! Thank you so much, Amberly - I'm so glad you enjoyed Deception of a Highlander! When this book idea first came to me, it was Mariel who burned the thought into my mind. I wanted to know what would go through the mind of a female spy/assassin - a woman who could externally demonstrate considerable strength and skill, but whose subconscious was mired in constricting desperation at her own situation. 

Why Scotland? When I was on maternity leave with my first minion, I let myself fall into Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series and I was in love! I had Scotland not only on the brain, but on the heart - and it's never faded.

Me: Oh that sounds lovely. The reader finds out early on about Mariel's mission from Aaron. Plenty of pages to speculate yet I was just as surprised as Mariel to find out the truth. (trying to avoid too many spoilers) The book deals with physical and emotional abuse. What do you think makes those topics so easy to relate to for readers?

While you work out that tough question, let me ask you an easier one. I love books with kick ass women. One of my favorites is by Jackie Ivie called Lady of the Knight. In Deception, Mariel is skilled in hand to hand and with knifes. If you could be superskilled, what would be your area of expertise be and why?

Madeline: If I could have any area of expertise, I'd love to be super badass skilled at hand-to-hand combat. I'd never need to worry about having a weapon on hand, and I'd probably be in such great shape, I wouldn't feel so guilty about having a handful (or two!) of M&M's.

The other question is a tough one!! With physical and emotional abuse, both leave one feeling beaten down, worthless, and helpless. While all of us may not have been subjected to abuse, we all know what it's like to feel those emotions and can relate to how debilitating they can be. Great questions, BTW!

Me Plain or peanut? I'm a firm believer that the protein level in peanut M&Ms make them a healthy snack. I agree that it's not whether or not we had the same experience but if we have felt the same emotions. You have other books based in Scotland; are they in the same series? Do any of the books contain characters from this first book?

Madeline: Peanut butter M&M's, actually. Those things are addicting!!

The other two books are part of the first in that they are the other men's stories. Possession of a Highlander is Colin's story and Enchantment of a Highlander (coming out January 19th) is Alec's story. They can all be read independently. 

Me:  I really like Alec as a character and can't wait to read more about his past. Enchantment is going on my Christmas list. You mentioned earlier that you have minions. My daughters are 14 and 12. What do your kids think about you being a published author? If they grow up to write, what do you want them to learn from you?

Madeline: Thank you. Aw, I bet your girls are so sweet! I have two daughters too! Mine are 6 and 9. They are my biggest fans. Every time we meet someone new, YoungestMinion digs a bookmark out of my purse and asks the person to please buy my book (I swear I didn't put her up to that!!!). LOL

Every time I get a new book out, they ask for bookmarks to pass out to the staff at school - it's so sweet. Once I was apologizing for my release day being busy and YoungestMinion said, "Don't feel bad, feel proud! We're proud of you!" Melt my heart.

If they grow up to be writers (OldestMinion is already treading the path!) and it makes them happy, I'd fully support them. My biggest piece of advice would be for them to always appreciate what others do for them. Writing is almost a community effort these days - not just with an editor and an agent, but also fellow authors and, of course, readers.

Me:  That is amazing! Best minions ever. As one of your readers, I'm glad to be part of your community. In fact you acknowledge quite a few people at the end of the book for their help in making all this possible. One name that jumped out at me was Margie Lawson. She came to Boise in 2008 (I think) for a Master Class. Brilliant. With community increasing and interaction with your readers a greater possibility, do you think that brings more pressure to the writing life?

Madeline: Thank you - I definitely think my minions are pretty special and I totally agree with your assessment of Margie - brilliant! I did one of her immersions last year and it was amazing. I already want to do another one! I recommend her to every new author who asks me for advice.

The reader interaction brings more pressure, but it's not a social pressure as much as it is a time-limiting one. I love my readers and interacting with them daily makes me smile. They are a wealth of knowledge and humor and suggestions. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know so many wonderful people because of it. But it does take time and that starts to cramp sometimes when things get busy. Fortunately, everyone is also very understanding and I've never had anyone seem offended when I am running late on replying to a post or I say I need some time off for a while.

Me: Before I ask my last question, I just want you to know it's been a pleasure to interview you. I think if we met in person we would totally get along. You have an epilogue of sorts and the book has a happy ending, all good romances do. What was the hardest part of the book to write and why?

Madeline: I totally agree! If you go to San Diego this year, we need to meet up for a cocktail.  
The hardest part to write was the travel from England to Scotland. Probably not what you expected. Long travel scenes are so hard to write. They can be tedious if not done right or too "what the heck just happened?!" if too quick. But in a historical, it's a constant necessity since everything was by horseback. I wrote and rewrote that trek to Scotland and deleted TONS of unnecessary words to keep it trimmed up. It was a total pain to deal with. LOL

Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me. I enjoyed your questions and have had fun chatting with you. Hopefully you'll be in San Diego and we can meet in person. Have a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous new year. 

You can get your own copy of Deception of a Highlander here. Also, follow Madeline on Facebook or visit her website.

If you'd like to be interviewed, it's tots fun, drop me and email with a link to your kickass book.

Sailing for Trouble - An Interview with Brenda Hammond

Recently I had the chance to interview author Brenda Hammond about her book Sailing for Trouble.

Brenda, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I recently read Sailing for Trouble. Alexa Lloyd has just arrived in South Africa for the first time and has plans to find her father's treasure and care for her loved ones back home in Canada. The whole book has wonderful, rich descriptions of the country and it's people. Yet the opening scene especially draws a vivid view of the docks, boats, and streets of Cape Town. Have you been? Or do you've got an affinity for google maps?

Brenda Hammond:  Hi Amberly, So happy that you asked me, and thanks for the kind words about Sailing for Trouble... and for reading the novel! Yes, I lived in Cape Town for fourteen years, and spent many Christmas holidays (summer in the Southern hemisphere!) in a cottage on Leisure Isle. So I became familiar with the lagoon, its tides and treasures. I got to visit again last February and it's still one of my favorite places. As to google maps, I have a story to tell. On our way back to Canada from the States one summer, we stopped at a small town for gas. Waiting to pay inside, we stood behind the Google guy -- his special car was parked outside -- who asked 'Can you please tell me where I am?' His cell phone battery was dead, so he had no means of knowing!!

Me: What a great story! You spotted the mythical creature, a man that will ask for directions. It sounds like you've traveled extensively and have been exposed to many different cultures and racial issues. As a firm advocate of diversity and accurately representing people in fiction, I was pleased to see your story handle these issues intelligently without getting too preachy. So, Alexa is a strong independent woman, who will chase after muggers and save herself from boating accidents. Without giving too much away, she has to be plucky to stop the 'bad guys' and help her long lost brother. What do you think makes Alexa so driven and so likable as a character?

Brenda:  I'd say it's her adventurous and indomitable spirit, but also that, underneath it all, she has a kind heart. Also, her curiosity and longing to deepen her understanding of her late dad, his roots and background, so foreign to her, is like an insatiable need. This plays into her eagerness to experience as much as she possibly can during her short time in the Cape, South Africa. Plus, of course, who wouldn't want to find a long-lost and never-met half-brother??

Me:  Yes, her love for her father drives her forward. I noticed you've written for Harlequin. What was that like? Why did you switch to Indie Publishing?

Brenda:  I enjoyed writing for Harlequin because I love writing humor... different from my South African set stories. At Your Service, Jack did well for me. A second romcom was in the works when the Temptation line ended. She's the Boss is now published under my pseudonym, Alice Bramley (amongst a couple others), which already kind of explains my decision to go indie. It was my editor at Harlequin who suggested I try a submission to the new Bombshell line, although that too was nixed fairly soon. However, this was what brought Alexa into my life! She was my Bombshell heroine and she hung around persistently until I eventually gave her my full attention.

Me:  Pesky characters, always wanting their stories told. I'm glad your blazing the Indie path. It gives us so much choice and responsibility. Which intentionally leads me to my next question. What is up with this cover? It isn't bad but I almost didn't read it because of the cover. Thank goodness I did or I would have missed a terrific story. And yes, sorry if you or your second cousin's niece made the cover, but it reminds me of teen romance novels in the early 90s. There is so much going on here than romance.

Brenda: Well, I'm chuckling here re your remarks about the cover. No need to apologize, though. One of the great benefits of being a writer is that you have to learn to take criticism. Anyhow, it was supposed to appeal to the new adult market, so in a way you're right. My budget at the time was minimal. And even now I'm struggling to find a suitable cover for my novel Cape Town, published here in Canada, but I retain rest-of-the-world rights. I hope to put it up soon as Dance to Freedom. Also, talking of covers, I have to confide that, as pretty much a feminist, I freaked when I saw mine for At Your Service, Jack. So there we have the dilemma. For me as a mid-list author, trad publishing has its advantages and disadvantages and so does Indie. Simply writing, on the other hand, brings me great pleasure and keeps me interested in people, the world, and life in general.

Me:  Yes, seeing the world through our writerly eyes...I love that thought. Now that you mention it, Sailing for Trouble would appeal to the New Adult market. Early twenty somethings on grand adventures, still figuring out a few hard truths about life. For my last question, what are you working on now? What's next book wise for you?

Brenda:  I'm actually working on two manuscripts. This week has been final revisions on a women's fiction all about what happens to three different couples when they attend a wedding in Vermont. Next week it's back to South Africa for my companion novel to Cape Town. Many readers asked for a sequel. My response? 'Sequel? There's no sequel.' But then an idea took hold (you'll know what that's all about, I'm sure) and I began to explore what was happening in the life of one of the other dance students. The first draft is about two thirds done, and I'm loving the way the story is revealing itself to me. But the process will take another few months before I reach the end and achieve a draft that's as good as I can make it.... So that's it from me. Many thanks again, Amberly, and especially for the thought-provoking questions and insightful responses.❤

Me:  It's truly been a pleasure! Thank you for answering my questions.

You can get your own copy of Sailing for Trouble here. Also, follow Brenda on Facebook or Twitter.

Hero Status - An Interview with Kristen Brand

Recently I had the chance to interview author Kristen Brand about her book Hero Status.

The White Knight & Black Valentine Series Book 1   

Hi Kristen, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I first came across your latest book Villainous and was intrigued by the cover and premise. Once I saw it was a sequel I jumped over to Hero Status to read it first. I truly enjoyed reading it. You've written a book with a solid balance of humor and action and tied a who-done-it bow around the whole thing. The story is based in Florida, specifically Miami and takes place during a Superhero convention. One of my favorite things about the story is the diverse backgrounds and ethnicity of the characters. Dave, aka the White Knight, is at least half Cuban. What inspired this cast of characters and do you feel diversity in fiction is important? Why?

Kristen Brand: Hi Amberly. Thank you so much for inviting me to do an interview!

I’m a fan of the advice “write the book you want to read,” so that’s what Hero Status was for me. I’d say the characters were inspired by the state of superhero comics at the time I wrote the novel. Spider-Man had sold his marriage to the devil (No, really.), and the DC universe had rebooted and erased Superman and Lois Lane’s marriage along with many others. Everybody was young and single again, and I wanted to read about a superhero who was allowed to grow old and be in a committed, drama-free relationship. Plus, I’ve always been a fan of the Dating Catwoman trope, so that’s how I ended up with Dave, a retired superhero happily married to his former nemesis. 

Dave interacts with a lot of characters throughout the novel, and I think it would be boring and unrealistic if they weren’t diverse. The world is a diverse place, and fiction should reflect that. Everyone deserves to be able to see themselves in the characters they read about, and I’ll take this chance to point to the awesome people at http://weneeddiversebooks.org , who do an excellent job of showing why this is so important.

Me: Spider-Man's One More Day! My husband has ranted about that story line. I can see the appeal of a drama-free relationship, as long as external factors keep them in the action. One of the scariest scenes in your book involves two suspects in a sex club using mind control. To be that vulnerable and manipulated, and worse, to forget later what had been done. I think I would feel like my body had been broken into and ransacked. What is your worse fear and how do you use that in your story or writing?

Kristen: I don’t know if I should put my worst fear out on the internet. I feel like that could backfire on me someday, haha. I’m afraid of bugs, so if one of my characters ever fights a giant bug monster, that would be why. In all seriousness, though, I think my worst fear isn’t something bad happening to me, but something bad happening to someone I care about, and I definitely use that in my writing. Dave isn’t afraid of any of the villains he fights in the novel. He’s afraid he won’t be able to save his wife, and that his daughter will lose her mother. Keeping his family safe is his driving motivation throughout the story, which I think is relatable to a lot of people. (And he hasn’t had to fight any giant bugs. Yet.)

Me: Good point about being vulnerable on the internet, your nemesis would find it. Yes, great! Fictional characters, whether they have superpowers or are extraordinary in some other way, are best when they have relatable issues. I can't lift a car but I will always make sure my family is safe. Next question. It's obvious that your a fan of comics, why tell your story in a novel instead of a graphic novel or comic?

Kristen: That’s a really good question. I don’t think I ever considered going the comic book route with this story. Both comics and novels have their own advantages when it comes to storytelling. Comics definitely win when it comes to visuals, but I think prose can more easily put the reader into the main character’s head. For Hero Status, I wanted the reader to connect with Dave and see his thought process. Plus, I like being able to describe not just visuals, but what he’s hearing, feeling, smelling, etc. Details like the way Dave’s old superhero costume made him sweat in the summer or the citrus smell of his wife’s shampoo help ground the story in reality a little bit—which is important when your story is about people with fantastic superpowers.

Me: Good point. Everyday elements to offset the supernatural ones.

At different time Dave seeks out safe-houses his wife has set up around Miami. They have clothes and ID and money and weapons. He is appropriately grateful for his wife's paranoia because it makes hiding and regrouping easier. If you had a secret lair, where would it be and what would you have in it?

Kristen: I would have to go with a private island for my secret lair. It would be somewhere tropical and have a submarine for quick escapes. Having money and weapons there would be smart, but I’d settle for a well-stocked kitchen and a room to write in—something with a nice big desk and an ocean view. And since this is sounding less like a secret lair and more like a dream vacation home, I’ll throw in some trained guard sharks to keep out my nemesis.

Me: With laser vision! Okay, this has been a lot of fun but lets wrap things up with my last question. Tell us about the sequel to Hero Status and what you are working on now. *considers rewording to make it an actual question instead of a command* *decides to leave it*

Kristen: Yeah, I don’t think sharks with laser vision are too much to ask for.

The White Knight & Black Valentine Series Book 2

For Villainous, the sequel to Hero Status, I’ve switched to Val as the narrator. Basically, Dave’s in a bit of trouble after all the laws he broke to rescue her in Hero Status, so she makes a deal with the government to keep them from pressing charges against him. In exchange, she has to bring them enough evidence to arrest a certain supervillain she has a history with. It was fun writing from Val’s point of view, because while violence is a last resort for Dave, she’s much more willing to maim, murder, or mind-control people who get in her way. 

Right now, I’m working on a prequel serial from Dave and Val’s pre-retirement days which will hopefully go up on my website early next year. Then it’s back to Dave’s point of view for book three in the series, Almost Invincible.

Me: I hope both Villainous and Almost Invincible have more of Dave and Val's daughter, lots of potential for emotional and humor moments there. Well, thank you so much for doing this interview with me.

Kristen: Thank you so much for having me!

You can get your own copy of Hero Status here. Also, follow Kristen on Twitter or her website.