I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Victory Witherkeigh. Today, Victory shares interesting details about her creative journey and new release, The Girl.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

I wanted to write a book for young brown girls like myself who felt they couldn’t identify with most of the female characters in the novels, especially if they were of the fantasy or dark fantasy genre. I wanted a heroine to help me add a layer to my question as a young girl — what does being “likable” have to do with being a hero? Can you do good if you come from something terrible where you’re told repeatedly that nothing “likable” can come from? Be Good? I wanted to help expose the dangers of the idea that “likeability” or even “popularity” means “goodness.” I want future readers who hear this story to have another voice added to those who have been “othered” or considered “unlikeable” and how those labels don’t always mean what we think they do.

What’s the best part of being an author? The worst?

The best part of being an author is that it has a targeted funnel for my creativity and a place to express myself. Writing was always my safe place. It was something I enjoyed doing, even simply for therapeutic purposes. Something is thrilling about putting the puzzle pieces together or feeling like your emotions are flowing out through your fingers at lightning speed when you’re in the zone, so to speak. Which is the double-edged sword of what I think can be the worst parts – mining and milking the most traumatic moments of your life, knowing that industry will then reject most of them while still struggling with diversity issues, can be very painful. As a writer, any scene that explores feelings of vulnerability or emotional struggles, especially in coming-of-age stories, is heart-wrenching to write, imagine, or empathize with. After the “bombshells” of the publishing industry for BIPOC authors came out in the past few years, the anxiety of getting into this business only increased. The last count I had in 2021 when I was querying the manuscript for The Girl, was something over three hundred agents or publishers had said no to it, so it’s definitely a process that is not for the faint of heart.

Describe your writing space.

I finally have a personal writing space that I can call my own, though it is pretty spartan. I keep a writing desk and a couple of bookcases to hold a few things that help spur my imagination or are key professional life mementos. These include some of the essential YA series or novels I remembered being inspired by as a kid and a small section of shelf for my author’s copies of various horror anthologies or horror and/or dark fantasy magazines I’ve been a part of previously. There is a shelf dedicated to more nonfiction works from my childhood hero, Kobe Bryant, and an entire series of books devoted to the pre-colonial era of the Pacific Island cultures. Interspersed through, there are some art pieces I’ve collected through the years, scented candles I love, and some crystals with older hula and Tahitian performance items from my previous dancing days. It is a work in progress, though, as my cat still does not approve of me not having a sitting area for anyone else, so she refuses to come into my office.

Which authors have inspired you?

I enjoyed reading R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike to Tolkien and C. S. Lewis as a kid. The first dark fantasy series I fell in love with was Garth Nix’s Abhorsen Series and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics. Once in high school, a friend recommended the Game of Thrones series as it felt the most realistic for a change. Once I was out of college, I had more time to pick up works by Leigh Bardugo and Erin Morgenstern. Books like I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez and The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke are other contemporary favorites I’ve discovered over the years.

What is your favorite quote?

“Everything -negative, pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”
Kobe Bryant

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I’m going to pick something utterly obscure that I don’t know if many people will get, but if I had a choice, I’d want the superpowers of Cloak and Dagger from Marvel Comics. They were a crime-fighting duo that became friends as runaway teens. One ended up with powers of intangibility and teleportation. He’d give people sensations of numbing cold and experiencing terrifying visions of their greatest fears and nightmares. If they were exposed for too long, they could be driven insane. He could also see the fears of certain people he touched. The other could create a multitude of light daggers that drain living beings of life, and she could see the hopes of certain people by touching them.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

Traveling! I love traveling because it is a great inspiration and, at times, a much-needed kick in the pants for my mental health and ego. Having fresh adventures and seeing/learning about older cultures just does something for me that gives me a feeling of inner peace, especially trying new foods.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

The first thing any aspiring writer should do is be honest with themselves about their writing journey goals. Do they want their work to be on shelves? Do they want awards? Do they want to interact with their readership, and how often? And maybe who do they see as their’ readership?’ The next step would be to write AND finish what they are writing – a short story, novella, script, or novel. Then, I would recommend learning all they can about the particular niche of the publishing industry they are trying to target. Joining writing or critique groups is a great way to get third-party feedback on your writing and some pros or cons about a particular genre. Various writers’ or authors’ guilds can help writers find groups or even offer courses on improvements that writers can do for their own skill set – world-building, editing, emotional scenes, etc. There are writing conferences that provide a variety of current industry topics, and even the streaming platforms of Masterclass or YouTube carry older material, like lectures from previous speakers, that are available for minimal cost.

What are you working on next?

I recently saw an anthology calling for fiction stories based on songs by David Bowie that sounded interesting to me, so I may pull something together for that. I still try to monitor short fiction calls even though I may only have time to do some of the ones that interest me. I’m an overthinker, so I have to have some other ideas on the back burner all the time. A couple of my scary short stories are coming out in December 2022. One will be in a magazine called A Coup of Owls. Diet Milk Magazine will release another on Christmas Day as part of a theme called “In Bleak Midwinter.”

Blurb

The parents knew it had been a mistake to have a girl. At birth, the girl’s long, elegant fingers wriggled and grasped forward, motioning to strangle the very air from her mother’s lungs. As she grew older, she grew more like her father, whose ancestors would dream of those soon to die. She walked and talked in her sleep, and her parents warded themselves, telling the girl that she was evil, unlovable, their burden to bear only until her eighteenth birthday released them.

The average person on the streets of Los Angeles would look at the girl and see a young woman with dark chocolate eyes, curly long hair, and tanned skin of her Filipina heritage. Her teachers praised her for her scholarly achievements and extracurricular activities, from academic decathlon to cheer.

The girl knew she was different, especially as she grew to accept that the other children’s parents didn’t despise them. Her parents whispered about their pact as odd and disturbing occurrences continued to happen around her. The girl thought being an evil demon should require the skies to bleed, the ground to tremble, an animal sacrifice to seal the bargain, or at least cause some general mayhem. Did other demons work so hard to find friends, do well on their homework, and protect their spoiled younger brother?

The demon was patient. It could afford to wait, to remind the girl when she was hurt that power was hers to take. She needed only embrace it. It could wait. The girl’s parents were doing much of its work already.

Excerpt

She smoothed the wrinkles down on her black Hermès slacks and shirt before turning the crystal hotel doorknob.

“You bring nothing good into this world,” her mother said, baring her teeth. “You just corrupt and destroy everything. You’re a catalyst, a demonic catalyst. You’re only fit to annihilate. One day you’ll understand the destructive nature of your power. You’ll see the damage you’ll bring to those around you when it’s too late. All those people who tell us you’re amazing, they’ll figure it out. You’ve fooled them for now, but they’ll learn.”

The mother slammed the door as she walked out with that last statement. The tears flowed from the girl’s face as she looked at the door. Her breathing sped up as her stomach roiled, sending her sprinting to the toilet. Her hands were shaking, clammy, as she collapsed to the floor, chills running through her body as she looked up at the ceiling. The orange and bergamot scents of the soaps mixed with the stark, white porcelain tile floor were the only anchors she could focus on to stop herself from throwing up again. Deep in her gut, at the core of her being, there was only one thought she could grasp: she’s right.

“I don’t want to be evil,” she said, whimpering to herself. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“But you aren’t alone, pretty girl,” a voice said with a throaty laugh.

Author Bio and Links

Victory Witherkeigh is a female Filipino author originally from Los Angeles, CA, currently living in the Las Vegas area. Victory was a finalist for Wingless Dreamer’s 2020 Overcoming Fear Short Story award and a 2021 winner of the Two Sisters Writing and Publishing Short Story Contest.

She has print publications in the horror anthologies Supernatural Drabbles of Dread through Macabre Ladies Publishing, Bodies Full of Burning through Sliced Up Press, and In Filth It Shall Be Found through OutCast Press.

Her first novel, set to debut in Spring 2024 with Cinnabar Moth Publishing, has been a finalist for Killer Nashville’s 2020 Claymore Award, a 2020 Cinnamon Press Literature Award Honoree, and long-listed in the 2021 Voyage YA Book Pitch Contest.

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Giveaway

Victory Witherkeigh will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Victory on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Charlene Bell Dietz. Today, Charlene shares her new release, The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor.

Blurb

Move over Susan B. Anthony. There’s an unsung woman asking for the vote 224 years before you. In 1638-1648 Margaret Brent, fighting for justice became a voice in court for others, educated an Indian princess, built a fort and saved pre-colonial Maryland from destruction. The American Bar Association each year honors select women attorneys, such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor with their Margaret Brent Award.

Excerpt

The Wells girl covered her eyes with both hands. Margaret, ignoring the buzzing of flies and the damp heat of the morning sun, worked to untangle the girl’s words in her mind.

“If the river doesn’t take me, then I shall have my baby alone and will have to live with Master Cole, and I shall never see my dear Tom again.” With that, she burst into tears.

“You do not look like you are about to have a baby. Why do you say your time is up?”

“Master Cole brought me here four years ago. He said after I had worked for him for four years, I wouldn’t owe him a tad more, and now he says I can’t leave, and so I might as well marry him. Lady Brent. I worked hard from early morning until after dark every day, and my time is up. Even the devil would say this isn’t right.” She sniffed and looked away.

Margaret set her jaw. “Heaven help us if other masters here in Maryland treat their servants in this manner.”

“There’s nothing I can do.” She bit her lip. “I thought maybe the next time you talked with Governor Calvert you might say something on my behalf, and I pray my request is not one of cheekiness.”

“Mary.” Margaret called sharply across to the soap making group. “Would you please come here?”

When Mary finished saying something, she trotted over to the garden. “Hello, Carrie. Are you not feeling well—your face seems flushed?”

“So, you are acquainted with Carrie Wells?” Margaret studied her sister, slipped the basket from Carrie, and moved it into Mary’s hands. “She brought these for us and herbs to scent your soap.”

“Sometimes on Sundays after church Carrie walks with me in the woods and shows me barks, roots, and herbs that heal.” She glanced at the basket. “Why, these are lovely.” She glanced at the young woman, then put her hand on Carrie’s arm. “Are you still having trouble with Jacob Cole?”

“Jacob Cole is about to have troubles with her. Has Giles returned from Kent for Assembly today? Will both our brothers be at the meeting?” Margaret’s frogs roiled inside her.

How dare these men take advantage of their servants?

“I saw him and Fulke along with some other men heading to Lewger’s home earlier.”

“Come, Carrie Wells. We shall also attend Assembly.”

“But—Margaret,” Mary grabbed her arm. “Certainly, women would not be allowed—”

Margaret shrugged Mary away, snatched Carrie Wells by her hand, and stomped off down the path.

“Sister,” Mary called after her, “you must take off that filthy apron. You’re covered in soil.”

Margaret jerked it untied and slung it. “There is a difference between God’s soil and men’s dirt. Carrie Wells and I are about to sort this very thing out with all those fine gentlemen of Assembly.”

Author Bio and Links

Charlene Bell Dietz writes science and historical-suspense, award-winning mystery novels and short stories. Her award-winning short stories have been published in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2016 Anthology and SouthWest Writers 2019 Anthology. The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur combines family saga with corporate espionage. The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker propels readers back into 1923 frenetic Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. Both these novels were named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, and each won the coveted Kirkus Starred Review. Her latest novel, The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut, gives readers a frightening Caribbean vacation. Her current work in progress, a biographical historical novel, starts in England in 1638 and ends in precolonial Maryland. Charlene, a retired educator, traveled the United States as a consultant for Houghton Mifflin Publishers after a career of teaching little ones, older ones, and college graduates. Surrounded by forests and meadows, she currently lives in the foothills of the mountains in central NM several miles from the small village of Torreon. Charlene is the current president of Croak & Dagger, New Mexico Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She belongs to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and SouthWest Writers.

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Giveaway

Charlene Bell Dietz will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Charlene on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome back author Bentley Turner. Today, Bentley shares details about his writing journey and his new release, The Agency

Here’s Bentley!

What was your inspiration for this book?

“The Agency” is a historical and suspenseful thriller featuring Mason Cunningham, a well-educated former agent and now director of a small department at the CIA. Cunningham and his staff investigate sightings of UFOs. Later, however, Cunningham learns from one of his staff members that a retired agent who reportedly passed away has been seen. Cunningham investigates and uncovers information that can put his department and the CIA in jeopardy.

I was inspired by my interest in the government’s investigation of UFOs and whether I could write a historical thriller about a well-educated agent turned director.

What’s the best part of being an author?

The best part is reading what readers think about what you write.

The worst?

Once in a while a writer may have to cut or change a character or cut or change a scene. Such consumes time. I know this from experience. Although I have not written that many novels, I remember my first. I changed more than one character and changed the plot several times over a long period. In fact, the final version that was published took several years to write and edit.

Describe your writing space.

I have a large office with several desks and bookshelves. Although I have a few reference books, I do most of my research using my computer.

Which authors have inspired you?

When I was much younger, I read novels by Erle Stanley Gardner, John D. MacDonald, Erskine Caldwell, John O’Hara, Ernest Hemingway, Jame M. Cain, and a number of others. Later, I read novels written by Harold Robbins and Sidney Sheldon, among others. I prefer the earlier novels and writers. However, I do read novels by Linwood Barclay, Stuart Woods, and others from time to time. Overall, I would say the earlier writers have inspired me the most.

What is your favorite quote?

My favorite is from the “Holy Bible.” I do not have one from another source.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

To heal people.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

My hobbies include walking and hiking in state and national parks–that is, until Covid hit.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

An aspiring writer must write or edit something almost every day–that is, if s/he is serious about becoming a writer. I try to do this regularly. Sometimes I’m satisfied with what I write, sometimes I’m not. Consequently, a writer must enjoy editing what s/he writes, too.

What are you working on next?

I just sent another mystery to the publisher that publishes my mysteries and thrillers. A different publisher has a nonfiction manuscript. I expect to receive reviews from this publisher in January or so.

Blurb

This historical suspenseful thriller features Mason Cunningham, a well-educated former Navy pilot turned CIA agent who becomes the director of the department that investigates UFOs. His job is not only to determine sighting locations but also determine the health of those who reported the sightings and experienced exposure to bright lights. When Cunningham learns that a recently retired agent, who reportedly died, has been seen by one of his staff members, his job comes to a crashing halt and an investigation begins. What he discovers just might put his department – and the CIA – in jeopardy.

Purchase Links

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

I’m happy to welcome bestselling author Patricia Leavy. Today, Patricia shares her new release, Film Blue.

Blurb

Reminiscent of Sex and the City meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Patricia Leavy’s Film Blue is a captivating and inspiring story about the pursuit of dreams and what it truly means to live a “big” life.

A couple of years after finishing college, Tash Daniels has put her love of filmmaking on the back burner. She’s working retail, club-hopping, and scraping by to pay the rent. Usually attracted to the wrong guy, she’s at a loss when she finally falls for the right one. Sexy deejay Aidan is living his life authentically as an artist and encourages her to do the same. Will she open her heart? Will she bet on herself and her dreams? Is a girl with a dream truly on her own in the world? Tash’s friends are along for the journey: Jason Woo, lighthearted model on the rise; Penelope Waters, earnest graduate student with a secret no one suspects; Lu K, fiercely independent hot-girl deejay; and Monroe Preston, the glamorous wife of a Hollywood studio head. Frequently bathed in the glow of the silver screen, the characters show us how the arts can reignite the light within, pushing us to confront our fears so we can choose how to live in the present. Film Blue is a novel about following our passions, the hidden side of our dreams, the power of art, what it means to truly live a “big” life, and finding the people to go with us on our journey. A tribute to 1980s pop culture set against the backdrop of contemporary New York and Los Angeles, Film Blue celebrates how the art we experience and make can shape our stories, frame by frame.

Excerpt

Monroe slipped on her favorite gray silk nightgown and matching robe, and tied the sash around her waist. She opened her nightstand drawer and retrieved the unopened prescription bottle. Sitting on the edge of her bed and rolling the bottle in her hand, it occurred to her that she felt no emotion whatsoever. No sadness, or despair, or grief held her hand. Exhaustion was her only companion. She was done. After moving the bottle from one hand to the other, over and over again, she tucked it into her pocket. She got up and wandered through her house until she found Bill in his office, hunched over the desk.

“It’s so late, darling. Why don’t you come to bed?” she asked.

“I’ll be there soon enough. I have to get through these papers first,” he replied, gesturing to the stack on his desk.

“Good night, Bill. I love you. Truly, I do,” Monroe said, before gently shutting the door behind her.

She bumped into Henry on her way back to her bedroom.

“Good night, Henry,” she said softly.

“Good night, Mrs. Preston. Oh, I forgot to tell you that Miss Daniels left her short film here yesterday. She said you had asked to see it.”

“Oh, that’s right. I did promise her,” she mumbled to herself. Then she refocused on Henry. “Maybe I’ll watch it now. I know it’s late, but would you mind putting it on for me in the screening room?”

“Certainly, ma’am,” he replied.

Monroe settled into one of the raspberry-colored velvet seats in their lavish private screening room. Henry switched the lights off as the film began. Light from the screen flickered on Monroe’s face as the opening credits rolled. Shot in black and white, the camera zoomed in on two young people on a city rooftop in the middle of the night. They were laughing and running across the roof, bits of paper swept up in the breeze. A burst of hot pink leapt off the screen, followed by eruptions of turquoise and purple. Monroe leaned closer. The corners of her mouth trembled and a smile began to crawl across her face. She leaned closer and let the glow from the screen wash over her. Her smile morphed into laughter and tears flooded her eyes. As her smile grew and her laughter became louder, the tears flowed harder. Her face was drenched by the time the closing credits rolled. She sat, soaking in a feeling she couldn’t quite name, a feeling she knew was connected to life itself.

Henry returned and flipped the lights on. “Shall I close the room for you before I retire to bed?” he asked.

She wiped her face with her palms and turned to face him. “No. Henry, please get Bill right away. Tell him there’s something he must see.”

Author Bio and Links

Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is a bestselling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of Sociology and Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. She has published over forty books, earning commercial and critical success in both fiction and nonfiction, and her work has been translated into many languages. Patricia has received dozens of accolades for her books. Recently, her romance collection Celestial Bodies: The Tess Lee and Jack Miller Novels was the 2022 Firebird Awards first-place winner for Romance. The book also received 2022 International Impact Book Awards for Women’s Fiction and Romance, a 2022 NYC Big Book Award for Distinguished Favorite Anthology, and a 2022 Literary Titan Gold Book Award for Fiction. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an “Influencer.” In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” She lives in Maine with her husband, daughter (when she’s not away at college), and her dog. Patricia loves writing, reading, watching films, and traveling.

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Giveaway

Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Patricia on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.