Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Serpent's Disciple by Deborah Stevens



In The Serpent’s Disciple, an ancient evil threatens to take over the Catholic Church and use it to create a New World Order. Thirty years after Pope John Paul’s death, Peter Romanus, the Grand Master of Propaganda Due, sets in motion the plot to kill the pope and supersede him—and take control of major world governments through the Church.

While visiting their father’s birthplace of Pesaro, Italy, the lives of Anthony and Nelli Andruccioli become entwined with the Grand Master’s plot. A 600-year-old family secret and an ancient artifact could save humankind from this diabolical leader many fear is the Antichrist. Anthony and Nelli learn of their family’s deep and ancient connection to Saint Anthony, and they are called to protect the Church: Nelli as the Chosen One and Anthony as one of the Guardians sworn to protect her from the false prophet. Together they must navigate the labyrinth of ancient prophecy and Vatican politics to expose the truth before it is too late.

Deborah Stevens

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a book in my hand.  Over time my preference for a certain genre of literature we know as  “thriller fiction” was taking over my bookshelves.  Fortunately, my love for this kind of writing is shared by many and the publishing market has responded with the work of many fine writers offering a nearly endless array of quality choices.

I might have remained a reader rather than an author of thrillers, except that my mind began to dream up plots for novels as I listened to the news of events from around the world. At such times, I’d jot down ideas for stories and books, doing so hundreds of times before the fateful day when the idea for Serpent’s Disciple took up residency in my head and then took on a life of its own. 

Given my ancestry- Italian Catholic- the setting for Serpent’s Disciple was probably pre-determined. But as luck would have it, real life events handed me the outlines of a plot that begged to be written and turned into a page turning thriller.  While researching the facts and events that form the background of the book, the characters became living, breathing people taking on a life of their own. The more I researched, the further I found myself led on a journey revealing the next plot twist or the fate of the characters being revealed to me paragraph by paragraph.

The Serpent’s Disciple represents the culmination of yet another kind of journey. Born in Michigan, and a graduate of Michigan State University, I moved with my family to Minnesota.  It was during this period of my life I began to write, but found that as a single mother, I never had enough time to devote to it.  Both my daughters are adults pursuing their own dreams now. I am remarried and continue to live in the Twin Cities circumstances that, thankfully, afford me not only the time to write but also an environment alive with great writers whose work and success proved the incentive I needed to get back to my writing on a more intensive basis.

I hope you will enjoy the novel I’ve woven for your reading pleasure.  Meanwhile, I am already at work on my newest thriller, whose plot - as with The Serpent’s Disciple - is inspired by real life events. 
Deborah is giving away a paper copy of "The Serpent's Disciple" to one lucky person who leaves a comment. 
Congratulations to Leslie Diehl! Deborah will be contacting you for your mailing address. Happy Reading! 

 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Getting to know Betsy Ashton



Patricia: Betsy, welcome to my blog. Tell us, what are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?
Betsy: In the past seven years, I've become very active in local and state-writers groups as well as our arts council. I organize speaker events and book fairs to promote local writers. I attend writer conferences, often appearing as a speaker. I must be in a rut, because all I can think about is helping out writers, listening to the voices in my head ordering me back to the keyboard and crafting story lines and plot twists.
Outside of volunteering, I love long walks in the country, riding around the lake in our boat, visiting my two wonderful grandsons and dancing naked in the sunlight.
Patricia: What’s your favorite color? Why?
Betsy: My favorite color used to be green, especially the new green that emerges on trees in early spring. I love walking under that bright yellow-green of rebirth. Lately, however, red has taken over. Maybe it's because it was my mother's favorite color. I adopted it as my own after she passed over a decade ago. Maybe it's the color I turn if I don't use enough sun block on the boat. Maybe it’s the color of my favorite leather pants. Or, and most likely, it’s the color I turn dancing naked outdoors in winter. Yup. Has to be the latter.
Patricia: How would you describe yourself, personality wise?
Betsy: Irreverent. Snarky. Sassy. Willing to take most double-dog dares. Thick skinned. You have to be thick skinned to be a writer, or you lie bleeding in the grass when you read a less-than-flattering review of your latest book.
Patricia: Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go and/or what was your favorite vacation?
Betsy: I love to travel. My favorite places for vacation are Japan and Thailand. I’ve studied Zen Buddhism for decades, so returning to Japan, where I spent two years in graduate school, is like returning to a familiar place that has changed beyond recognition. And Thailand because it’s so incredibly beautiful.
Patricia: How would you complete this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would  ------
Betsy: Be horribly boring in my choices. Never tell anyone about the windfall. Set up college funds for the two grandsons. Splurge on a new car. I have my eye on a Tesla Roadster. Mostly, I’d continue as I am, writing and promoting books every day. Nothing like a dull answer to end a Getting To Know You post.

Bio: Betsy Ashton, born in Washington, DC, was raised in Southern California where she ran wild with coyotes in the hills above Malibu. She protested the war in Vietnam, burned her bra for feminism, and is a steadfast Independent, before she entered the military-industrial complex after her academic career as a student and teacher. She is the president of the state-wide Virginia Writers Club and is the author of the boomer novel Mad Max Unintended Consequences. She also loves riding behind her husband on his motorcycle. You'll have to decide for yourself if and where she has a tattoo.


Links:Amazon: Amazon: http://amzn.to/16wZr4d
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mad-max-betsy-ashton/1113472616?ean=9781938467400

Betsy is giving away a paper copy of "Mad Max Unintended Consequences" to someone who leaves a comment on her post.
And the winner is John M. Daniel. Congratulations, John! 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Mystery Author of the Month: Jacqueline Seewald

Patricia: Welcome, Jacqueline! Tell us, where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer?
Jacqueline: I was born and raised in New Jersey and am a lifelong resident. My childhood did contribute to my desire to be a writer. My mother was a reader. She loved to read novels. Going to the library with her was always a wonderful adventure. Early on, I became an avid reader as well. It wasn’t long before I was making up my own stories and writing them down as soon as I was able. My mother bought me my first Smith Corona portable typewriter when I was eleven years old and taught me how to touch type. I started typing my stories and never stopped—although for many years now I’ve worked on a computer.
Patricia: Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?
Jacqueline: I still live in New Jersey, although we moved from the Central to the Northern part of the state a few years ago. The main setting for my Kim Reynolds novels is a town in Central Jersey very similar to the one I lived in for forty years. The Inferno Collection, The Drowning Pool, and The Truth Sleuth are all set in Central NJ.
Patricia: What inspired you to write your most recent novel?
Jacqueline: The Third Eye: A Pine Barrens Mystery is different from any of my other novels. I’ll explain what inspired this book. I’ve always loved the Pine Barrens of NJ. They are quite unique in many ways. When I worked as a librarian in a children’s elementary school for several years, a fourth grade project was to do something related to the Jersey Devil and the Pine Barrens. I discovered that there were very few books for young children on this topic. So to help with the project, I wrote my own. It was very well received in the school. At a NJ conference of educational media specialists, I spoke with a NJ publisher and discussed the lack of materials. I told them I had written a book on the subject. Afton Publishing was receptive and eventually published A Devil in the Pines. Not long ago, I got the idea for a mystery novel for adults and suitable for teenagers also set in the Pine Barrens. My son Andrew who is an attorney in New Brunswick, NJ, collaborated on the book with me. A teenage boy and his mother, in alternating chapters from their different viewpoints and perspectives, both move toward the solution of several murders. Five Star/Gale, my publisher for five previous novels, recently published the book.
Patricia: When did you “know” that you wanted to be a writer?
Jacqueline: I was an imaginative child. Early on I wanted to write. English was my favorite subject in school and I excelled at it.  It seems as though I always wanted to be a writer. I loved reading and wanted to write my own stories from a very young age.
Patricia: Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery/suspense genre. What makes them your favorites?
Jacqueline: Now that’s a very difficult question to answer because there are so many! I suppose at the top of my list would have to be Sara Paretsky. Her tough female P.I. novels started a trend. She was the founder of Sisters in Crime as well. I was honored when she endorsed my first mystery novel for Five Star/Gale The Inferno Collection. She provided a wonderful blurb for the cover which drew reviewers to the novel. It was the first of the Kim Reynolds librarian sleuth mysteries that I wrote. It was followed by The Drowning Pool and The Inferno Collection. All three novels received good reviews and have recently been brought out in paperback by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery. Perfect Crime Books will be bringing out the four Kim Reynolds mystery, The Bad Wife. I’m excited about that. Jayne Ann Krentz who writes romantic suspense is an outstanding, versatile author. She too was very generous to me personally, reading and endorsing my historical romantic suspense novel Tea Leaves and Tarot Cards.
For male authors, I’m very fond of John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers series.  I love the humor he instills in violent and gruesome novels that are as much police procedural/thrillers as mysteries.  John Grisham is a favorite of mine as well. I consider The Rainmaker one of his best books in a quality sense. Michael Connelly is another mystery/thriller writer whose books I enjoy reading. He’s a very talented author. His main characters are well-rounded and realistic.

Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at Rutgers University as well as high school English. She also worked as both an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Fifteen of her books of fiction have been published to critical praise including The Inferno Collection, The Drowning Pool, The Truth Sleuth and Death Legacy. Newly released in hardcover is her co-authored mystery The Third Eye. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications and numerous anthologies. You can check out her two most recently published mysteries on Amazon, Barnes and Noble Online, or Goodreads:
 THE THIRD EYE
 and
 DEATH LEGACY
 at




Jacqueline is offering a copy of the Harlequin Worldwide Mystery paperback edition of Death Legacy to someone who leaves a comment, limited to U.S. residents.
The winner is M.M. Gornell. Congratulations, Madeline!