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Leaving Lukens – Laura Wharton

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Laura Wharton Read more about B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree authors at: www.layeredpages.com Stephanie: Hello Laura! Thank you for chatting with me today about your book and congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion. I noticed your story (Leaving Lukens) is set in 1942 and it's a mystery. Please tell me a little about it and who designed your book cover. Laura: Leaving Lukens is the story of 17-year-old Ella who faces leaving the only home she's ever known: Lukens, a small fishing village on an isolated peninsula across the river from Oriental, North Carolina. Impacted by the economy, the threat of war, and the loss of a school teacher who was rowed across the river daily to teach the few remaining children in Lukens, the townspeople are dismantling their homes and floating them across the river on barges to larger communities of Oriental and Beaufort – moving away to find work in New Bern with its growing shipyard which is hiring to build minesweepers in support of the war or to the nearby military base of Cherry Point. Ella's convinced she can stay on by herself, but spying a Nazi patrol raft surprises her one evening. She quickly learns that the war…

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Authors' Chat

Saving Halloween – Lisa Ard

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Lisa Ard Read more about B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree authors at: www.layeredpages.com Stephanie: Author Lisa Ard is a children's book author AND avid reader, stay-at-home mom, part-time business consultant, school volunteer, library board president, Sunday school teacher, book club member, chauffeur, volleyball coach, wife and mom, not necessarily in that order. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Lisa, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion. Please tell me about your book, "Saving Halloween." Lisa: "Saving Halloween" is a magical story about discovering one's true family. Anne Hudson meets a very unusual friend and through their friendship, she learns what she needs and she goes after it. Her journey is not without bumps in the road, and the path is not always clear – magic plays a part in that! I hope readers enjoy the deception within the story – in what characters say, do, even in their names. Book Blurb:When book-smart Anne Parson meets Halloween Spavento, she sees exactly what she wants to see — a friend. Halloween wave's away trouble, magically silences school bullies and offers Anne unfailing friendship. But, when the Spavento family's enchanting exploits are exposed, will Anne face her fears and save Halloween? A spellbinding tale of outcasts…

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Authors' Chat

Kiss Her, Kill Her – Lisa Dewar

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Lisa Dewar Read more about B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree authors at: www.layeredpages.com Stephanie: I would like to introduce Lisa Dewar, author and winner of the BRAG Medallion. Lisa has worked for over twenty years as a sales and marketing manager in the information technology sector.  She lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband, Wayne, and their two cats.  When not working or writing, Lisa seeks out animal adventures around the globe.  Lisa, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion. Please tell me about your book, "Kiss Her, Kill Her." Lisa: The novel is about a serial killer who is trying to kill more women than Ted Bundy to impress his Bundy-obsessed mother.  But when a young woman gets in his cab and confesses that she wants to commit suicide, he wants to bring her back from the brink of death to heighten the enjoyment of killing her. Stephanie:  What inspired you to write this story? Lisa: After watching too many hours of the news, I kept wondering if serial killers could be molded from birth or if they were simply born that way.  Kiss Her, Kill Her explores that idea. Stephanie:  Were there any challenges? Lisa: My biggest challenge is finding…

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Authors' Chat

No Other Love – Isabel Morin

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Isabel Morin I would like to introduce Isabel Morin author of the B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree No Other LoveRead the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Stephanie: Isabel, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion! Please tell me about your book, "No Other Love." Isabel: It's a historical romance set in 19th century Massachusetts (both in the country and in Boston) and revolves around a heroine (Rose) who's trying to find her father's killer. She's convinced his murder is connected with her family's refusal to allow a railroad line to be run through their farm in western Massachusetts, so she takes a job in the railroad president's home to find out more. The president happens to have a handsome son, and there are of course many reasons they can't act on their mutual attraction. I don't tend to read thrillers and wasn't inclined to write one, so the mystery aspect takes a back seat to the relationship. Stephanie: That sounds really interesting. What was the inspiration for your story? Isabel: I love reading a good historical because it's such an escape, and also you have clearer class distinctions, especially if you have a servant-master relationship. Then I saw the movie "Gosford Park," and I…

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Authors' Chat

The Triangle Murders – Lynne Kennedy

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Lynne Kennedy I would like to introduce Author Lynne Kennedy, winner of the BRAG Medallion for the book, "The Triangle Murders".Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Hello Lynne! Congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion. Please tell me about you book, "The Triangle Murders." Lynne: Like all of my books to date, "The Triangle Murders" is a historic mystery woven around events that actually happened. That mystery is solved today by modern technology. Quick Synopsis: When a young reporter is pushed from a ninth story window in Greenwich Village, NYPD Homicide Lieutenant Frank Mead soon connects the case to a murder that took place at the same site a hundred years earlier, during the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Stephanie: Is this your first mystery novel you have written? Lynne: I've written three. Besides "The Triangle Murders," "Time Exposure" is a mystery that revolves around Civil War photography- it's available online and in paperback. Coming within the next few months is "Deadly Provenance," which is about the Nazi confiscation of art and a missing Van Gogh painting. Stephanie: What is some of the recourse you used in your research? Lynne: I've written a lot about research in my blogs.…

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Authors' Chat

Bloody Mary – The Dack Brothers

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: The Dack Brothers I would like to introduce Authors Christopher & Michael Dack (The Dack Brothers), winners of the BRAG Medallion for the book, "Bloody Mary."Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Stephanie: Christopher and Michael, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion! Please tell me about your book, "Bloody Mary." Michael: The story centers around Carakas, an alcoholic vampire. He's constantly in search of heavy drinkers to bite in order to maintain his pickled state. He falls in with Rudt, a corrupt and opportunistic police officer who wishes to rise through the ranks by eliminating those who stand in his way and who sees Carakas as the perfect, if unwitting, accomplice to help him. Despite his best intentions to simply have a good time, Carakas constantly makes trouble for himself and his friends. His antics bring unwanted attention from Mantis, a beautiful but vicious fellow vampire who carries a special loathing for Carakas and from Vanessa, a mysterious hunter who comes to town suddenly and who has motives all her own. Stephanie: What an interesting premise for your story. What inspired you to write this story? Michael: What we find interesting is to click together disparate elements to come up…

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Authors' Chat

Letters from Wishing Rock – Pam Stucky

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Pam Stucky I would like to introduce Author Pam Stucky, winner of the BRAG Medallion.  Pam, congrats on winning the Medallion! What an honor! Please tell me about your book; Letters from Wishing Rock.Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Pam: Thank you! I'm so delighted and honored. In self-publishing we don't have the nod of approval one gets automatically by being one of the 'chosen ones'. It's so affirming to hear that someone else thinks my books are great, too! Letters from Wishing Rock (a novel with recipes) ("LfWR") is the first in the Wishing Rock series. (I just published the third and final book in the series in March 2013!) These books are about the happenings in the small made-up town of Wishing Rock, Washington, an island town where everyone lives in the same building. I was inspired by the format of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to write my own books (this first series, anyway) in e-mail format. Letters amongst the characters and their friends and families chronicle the twists and turns of the characters' daily lives. The first story mostly focuses on Ruby Parker, a 35-year-old woman who at the beginning of…

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Authors' Chat

Line by Line – Barbara Hacha

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Barbara Hacha I would like to introduce Authors Barbara Hacha, winners of the BRAG Medallion for the book, "Line by Line."Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Barbara, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion! I've heard wonderful things about, "Line by Line." Please tell me about your book and what inspired you to write this story. Barbara: Thank you! I feel very honored that my book was awarded the BRAG Medallion. Line by Line is a story of Maddy Skobel, a young woman growing up in central Ohio during the Great Depression.  Her family is disintegrating right along with the economy, and when her home life becomes impossible, she decides to leave town–by freight train–and try to survive on her own terms. She becomes a hobo, and as she faces hardship, danger, and violence, she must discover her own resourcefulness and strengths. My inspiration actually came out of a garage sale find!  I picked up a copy of a video called Riding the Rails at a sale and brought it home, thinking it might be like a PBS Great Train Trips adventure. But it turned out to be a documentary about people who rode the rails in the Great Depression, and much to my…

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Authors' Chat

Quail Fried Rice – Jill Carroll

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Jill Carroll I am a freelance writer and scholar who lives with my partner, Nishta Mehra, and our son in a suburb of Houston, Texas.  I hold a Ph.D. from Rice University in philosophy of religion and spent much of the last 25 years as a university professor and scholar.  I left academe 4 years ago and now work as a freelance journalist for the Houston Chronicle, as a program consultant for the American Leadership Forum-Houston/Gulf Coast, and as a speaker/expert on topics of religious diversity in America.  I also write fiction–Quail Fried Rice is my first novel.Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Please tell me about your book, "Quail Fried Rice." Quail Fried Rice is a love story featuring two middle-aged, professional women who end up in the same small West Texas town due to varying life circumstances.  The novel explores the themes of life transition, dealing with change and death, living a life of meaning, and finding true love.  Although it's a love story between two women, its written is such a way that it appeals to a broad audience.  Many of my readers are heterosexuals (both women and men) and they have given it positive…

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Authors' Chat

Throwing Clay Shadows – Thea Atkinson

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Thea Atkinson Thea Atkinson is a writer of character driven fiction; call it what you will: she prefers to describe her work as something akin to the left of mainstream. Her characters often find themselves in the darker edges of their own spirits but ultimately manage to find the light they seek. She has been an editor, a freelancer, and a teacher, but fiction is her passion. She now blogs and writes and twitters. Not necessarily in that order. Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Thea, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion for your book, Throwing Clay Shadows. Please tell me a little about your book. TCS began as part of a larger 3 time framed novel. Because it had reincarnation theories as its base, it explored the lives of five characters over three lifetimes and how they connected. It was really way too large a project to be considered a single novel. When I began to self publish through ebooks, I broke the book into pieces because I realized they could stand alone and not be connected to each other. TCS became a single novel about a girl who loses her mother in 1800s Scotland. Maggie comes…

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