Have a question to share in this column? Email me at: jmuHall@aol.com with "Ask the Word Doctor" as your subject line. If you want to remain anonymous, I’ll address you by whatever pseudonym you sign. To see previous issues, go to: http://joanuptonhall.com/books.htm. Scroll past the book covers and click "Ask Doc" Q&A’s.

On the Spotlight: Medical Thriller Author Beverly Bateman

Interview by Mayra Calvani

I understand you were an avid reader of Nancy Drew as a child. Did you start writing stories at an early age, too?

Yes. I think I’ve always been writing. In school I was always making up stories about people being killed in locked rooms and hunting down the killers. I kept writing down plots and ideas for books for years. I have a huge folder filled with ideas.

Please tell us a bit about your books--Fade to Black, Just Like You, and Death Comes in Red. What was your inspiration for these novels? In what way being an abuse investigator and public health nurse help you create these stories?

Well, let’s see, Fade to Black is a Romantic Suspense about Holly Devine, a wealthy socialite who wakes up with amnesia.

No one files a missing report on her and she has no idea who she is, no place to live and no money. An older woman with Alzheimer’s befriends her and hires her to be a companion on a Caribbean cruise.

Eric Petersen is an Interpol agent, on the trail of international jewel thieves. He’s posing as a cruise ship doctor and is beginning to suspect Holly and her companion are the jewel thieves.

Holly and Eric are attracted to each other but he’s struggling with the possibility of Holly being the jewel thief. When Holly finds out she’s a suspect she’s furious.

Holly struggles to regain her memory. It begins to return in glimpses and flashes. At the same time it appears that someone is out to kill her. There are several near miss attempts on her life.

Eric races against the clock to clear her name and prevent the killer from being successful.

Death Comes in Red is the second in the Holly Devine series. Holly has recovered her memory. She is an ex-socialite without any money. She has a house but no income so she finds work as an assistant to a private detective. He uses her when he needs someone to talk to the rich and famous. This time Holly finds herself involved in illegal arms dealing and murder. She’s working with the ATF to catch a man who murdered his wife and is bringing in a large shipment of illegal weapons. Eric is working on cracking an International group that steals expensive art works. When Holly is kidnapped by the arms dealer Eric rushes home to find her and prevent her death.

Just Like You is a Medical Thriller based on cloning. In this book they are doing cloning by design so people can order children to meet specifics in looks, athletics, brains, etc. To work closely with the sexy Dr. Adam Marsden, Evie Dalton accepts a contracted position in a hospital located in the middle of nowhere. The hospital supposedly provides privacy for the rich and famous who want to have plastic surgery or other procedures they don’t want the paparazzi to find out about. During surgery their cells and DNA is stolen and used to clone designer children. Body parts are also part of the dark side of the hospital. Employees are paid unbelievably high wages but cannot leave the hospital to spend any money, and when their contract is fulfilled the staff are killed for their DNA.

Now Evie and Adam are running for their lives.

I don’t know where the inspiration comes from. It must be my muse because I suddenly come up with a possible plot and then I work with the characters to see if it’s their story. For me the plotting is the most fun. And I guess that’s where my experience as an abuse investigator comes in. I learned to ask the right questions; listen and observe and hopefully, assess the situation accurately.

Some of your books have won awards. Do you think awards are necessary for building name recognition and boosting sales?

No. I doubt if most readers know whether a contest is a prestigious one or not. I think they may cause a reader to pick up the book to check it out. If they like the cover; the back cover blurb and maybe the first few pages – I think that’s why the reader will buy a book – which will build name recognition and sales. Word of mouth also helps.

Any upcoming books on the horizon?

Yes. I have one coming out in July of this year – Death Awaits. It’s another Romantic suspense.

In this one a single, mother witnesses a contract killing. Now she and her son are running for their lives. The police want her as a witness. The killer wants her dead.

Are there any famous romantic suspense authors who you think are overrated? If yes, in what way?

Oh, wow, that’s loaded question. I’m not sure it’s fair to answer because I may find that a certain style doesn’t appeal to me. You may read the same author or even the same book and think it’s fantastic. So I’m going to cheat here and say there are a couple of authors that may be under rated. Kay Hooper can spin a romantic suspense and wrap you up totally in her story. Karen Robards is another romantic suspense author who I love and always writes page turners. I’ve learned a lot from reading these two ladies.

I see you wrote a novel in 30 days during the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Would you like to share your experience with readers? In what way working under such stress unleashes your creativity?

NaN0WriMo was a great experience. I almost didn’t enter. I think I signed up the day before it started. I was really nervous that I wouldn’t be able to write every day and finish a book. I thought I might be setting myself up for failure. So I started off with a bang so I could get as many pages done before I slowed down. It was a great way to start because I got into a routine and actually finished the book, about 54,000 words, in just over three weeks.

It unleashes your creativity because you’re writing quickly and just putting words down on the page. You’re not editing your thoughts or your work. You’re just letting your muse take over and write. It’s very freeing and fun. However – after the writing and the month is over - then there are the revisions.

Do you have a website?

Yes I do. It’s http://www.beverleybateman.com. I offer Health Tips; Contests; Author Interviews and updates on how my work is progressing.

You usually offer monthly contests for your readers. Do you have any contests running this April?

As a matter of fact I do. I’ll be offering an autographed copy of my Medical Thriller, Just Like You.

What advice would you give to those romantic suspense authors who are trying to break into print?

I think the advice is much the same as other authors usually suggest.

Never give up. It may take years but eventually you’ll get there.

Write every day. It doesn’t matter what – just plant the butt and write.

Write down your goals for your writing career. Don’t say I have them in my head – write them down. Make them doable and make yourself accountable.

Most importantly – have fun with your writing.

If there were five books you’d recommend as absolute reads for aspiring romantic suspense authors, what would those be?

Now that’s a great question but I think it has to be individual, depending on what they’re writing and where they are at in their career. Also are you looking at technical how to books or some great reads?

I have three books where the authors wove a story I couldn’t put down. I’ve underlined those books and analyzed them. They are: Envy by /Sandra Brown; Out of the Shadows by Kay Hooper and Bait by Karen Robards. Any of Lisa Gardner’s books are excellent reads and a great study in how to write great romantic suspense. Allison Brennan is another romantic suspense author that manages to pull you in and surprise you at the end.

Mayra, this has been fun. Thanks for asking me to do the interview.

On the Spotlight: Romantic Suspense Author Lois Winston

Interview by Mayra Calvani

Do you consider yourself a born writer?

Some people know from when they’re very young that they want to grow up to write books. I wasn’t one of those people. I wanted to be an astronaut, but NASA wasn’t interested in wannabe astronauts who suffered from motion sickness. Although I always enjoyed creative writing when I was in school, I never considered it as a possible career back then.

How long have you been an author?
I’ve spent a good deal of my adult life authoring non-fiction articles, so I guess you could say that I’ve been an author all that time. If you mean an author of novels, I wrote my first manuscript 12 years ago. Was it worth the trees that sacrificed their lives for it? Definitely not.

You write in various genres--romance, mystery, romantic suspense, chick-lit. Which one is your favorite? Any themes which obsess you?
Remember the song lyric, "When you’re not with the one you love, love the one you’re with"? That sort of sums up the way I feel about the various genres I write. They’re all my favorites while I’m writing in them. But what I really like to do is write outside the box, so I often write in a combination of genres (which can drive marketing departments batty.) TALK GERTIE TO ME, my first published book, was a combination of romantic comedy, chick lit, and hen lit with a dollop of the paranormal, thanks to Gertie, the imaginary friend of one of the main characters.

As for themes, I’ve spent a good deal of my life as a designer, writer, and editor in the consumer crafts industry. So many of my books draw upon those experiences. However, I don’t know that I’m obsessed with any themes so much as I am with characters. I’ve met a lot of quirky people over the years, and they’ve become the inspiration for some of the characters in my books.

Tell us about your latest release. What is it about? What inspired you to write such a story?
I think Dottie, one of the reviewers at RomanceJunkies, summed up LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION best when she described it as having "a bit of everything - wit, suspense, sensuality, romance, and warmth."

Life has delivered one sucker punch after another to Emma Wadsworth. As a matter of fact, you could say the poor little rich girl is the ultimate poster child for Money Can’t Buy Happiness--even if she is no longer a child.

Billionaire real estate stud Logan Crawford is as famous for his less-than-platinum reputation as he is his business empire. In thirty-eight years he’s never fallen in love, and that’s just fine with him--until he meets Emma.

But Emma’s not buying into Logan’s seductive ways. Well, maybe just a little, but she’s definitely going into the affair with her eyes wide open. She’s no fool. At least not any more. Her deceased husband saw to that. Besides, she knows Logan will catch the first jet out of Philadelphia once he learns her secrets.

Except things don’t go exactly as Emma has predicted, and when Philadelphia’s most beloved citizen become the city’s most notorious criminal, she needs to do a lot more than clear her name if she wants to save her budding romance with the billionaire hunk someone is willing to kill for.

Remember how I mentioned that my first manuscript wasn’t worth the trees that sacrificed their lives for it? That manuscript came about because 12 years ago I had a dream that wouldn’t leave me alone. Each night it unfolded like the chapters of a book. After several weeks I decided to write the dream down. The next thing I knew I’d given birth to Emma and Logan and a 50,000 word manuscript that spanned three and a half decades. Over the years as I grew as a writer, I’d drag Emma and Logan out from under the bed and tinker with them and their story. I liked them too much to assign them to spend eternity with the dust bunnies. Eventually that 50,000 word romance that spanned 35 years was rewritten as a 95,000 word romantic suspense that takes place over the course of a few months. And that’s how LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION came to be.

How many books have you written? Have they all been released by the same publisher? Tell us a bit about your other books.
I’ve written eight other books besides TALK GERTIE TO ME and LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION (which are both published by Dorchester Publishing), but so far those are the only two I’ve sold. The others, along with several proposals, are currently under consideration at several different houses.

In addition, I contributed a short story to a charity anthology that was released this past February by Freya’s Bower. All proceeds from the sales of DREAMS & DESIRES go to a shelter for battered women in Florida. I’ll have another short story in DREAMS & DESIRES, VOLUME 2 next year.

When working on a novel, what is your schedule like? How long does it usually take you to finish a full-length book? Do you edit as you write or do you cough up the first draft and leave the polishing for later?
My schedule varies because I still work as a designer, so my days are often dictated by whether or not I’m on a design deadline. Some days I don’t write at all; other days I write for 8 or 9 hours straight. It usually takes me around 6 months to write a book, but that can vary. As for editing, I both edit as I write and edit after the first draft is finished. I have two fantastic critique partners and an agent who’s great at offering editorial input. So my manuscripts might go through several rounds of revisions based on what they have to say about them.

Some writers listen to music or go for a walk when they feel particularly dry for ideas. Is there anything you do to spark your creativity?
I’m a news junkie. When I see a news article, human interest story, editorial, or even a letter to Dear Abby that I feel has plot or character potential, I cut it out and put it in my IDEAS file. When I get stuck, I read through the clippings in the file and usually find something that triggers my muse.

Technically speaking, what do you have to struggle the most when crafting a novel?

Usually, I have a pretty good idea who the main characters will be, the opening scene, and how I want the story to end. The struggle is getting from A to Z in a way that will make readers want to keep turning pages.

Fledgling writers often try to emulate their favorite author’s style. Did you experience this when you first started writing? If yes, who was your role model?There are authors I admire, but I don’t think I ever consciously tried to emulate their styles. Three of my favorite authors are Sandra Brown, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Janet Evanovich.

With so many books published, how do you promote your work and still have time to write, or vice versa? Do you follow a planned writing/marketing schedule? Any tips you would like to share with other authors?
Since I felt my time was better spent writing, I made the decision to hire a publicist who specializes in promoting romance and mystery authors. I believe it was money well spent. She already had the connections. I would have had to reinvent the wheel. And given that I’m already currently juggling three careers (besides writing and designing, I work as an associate for a literary agency), I didn’t think it made sense to add a fourth career to my schedule. After all, there are just so many hours in the day, and a girl does need her beauty sleep, right?

What I do on my own is take road trips to do stock signings. Booksellers love to have authors drop by to sign stock because autographed copies of books sell better than non-autographed copies. And whether your publisher has paid co-op dollars for placement or not, most booksellers will move signed copies to a more prominent location in the bookstore.

Any upcoming books on the horizon?
In addition to DREAMS & DESIRES, VOLUME 2, I was invited to contribute to HOUSE UNAUTHORIZED from BenBella Books. It’s a series of essays about the TV show and will be out this coming November. As for more novels, I’m hoping to be able to announce a few more sales shortly.

What frustrates you the most about the publishing world?
Hmm…best to keep that to myself .

Do you have a website where readers may find more about you and your work? Readers can visit me at http://www.loiswinston.com where they’ll find excerpts of my books, a video for LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION, articles about writing, links to other interesting sites, contests, and more. I also have an e-newsletter they can sign up to receive.

Short Fiction:

Excerpt from LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION, by Lois Winston

"Home sweet hell," Emma muttered as she turned off the main road and guided the Mercedes down the tree-lined drive toward the house. Her estate. Not that she had any desire to return but what choice did she have? Drive around Philadelphia into the wee hours of the night? No, exhaustion precluded that option. She’d thought about checking into a hotel for the night, but she doubted the small Chestnut Hill hotel would have any available rooms this late, and she had no energy left to drive into Center City. Better to slip upstairs and hope Phillip had forgotten their earlier confrontation.

Better yet, if she were lucky, he was still passed out where she’d left him and wouldn’t wake until morning.

Right.

She spit out a bitter laugh. When had luck ever paid her a visit? Unless it was rotten luck. She had that in spades. And every decision she’d made in her adult life only compounded her problems. Phillip headed the list. First and foremost.

"Emma the Masochist, that’s me." She coasted to a stop on the cobblestone drive, set the parking brake, and turned her attention to the house she both loved and hated.

Only something wasn’t right in Satanville.

Darkness enveloped the stately colonial, and only the repetitive clicking and chirping of the cicadas and crickets broke the stillness of the late August night. Less than two hours earlier, when she’d first pulled into the driveway and slipped inside, the house had been ablaze with lights, the air filled with raucous partying. Phillip’s rowdy friends never called it a night this early.

Emma pushed open the unlocked front door and flipped on lights as she made her way down the central hallway toward the kitchen. Catering platters, still piled high with deli sandwiches, lined the kitchen counters. The back door stood ajar. Outside, half empty beer bottles and bowls of guacamole and salsa dotted the pool deck. Nacho chips and beer nuts littered the patio furniture and crunched beneath her feet. Still smoldering cigarette butts filled ashtrays. The sickeningly sweet aroma of pot hung in the air.

Where is everyone?

She stepped over a wet bikini bottom and noticed the suit’s bra dangling from the diving board. Several other garments floated in the calm water. Something had disrupted the al fresco festivities mid-debauch. But what? Who? Why? She’d like to think one of her civic-minded neighbors had ratted out her husband. Maybe at this very moment Phillip was cooling his Bruno Maglis in an eight by ten cell.

Wishful thinking. Phillip wielded too much power.

She headed back to the house and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Damp towels and an occasional swimsuit littered her path. A strip relay race? Nothing would surprise her.

As she entered the bedroom, she nearly tripped over a figure sprawled across the carpet. Phillip. Right where she’d left his sorry, passed-out-drunk ass. She cast a wary glance toward the bed. Empty. Maybe her luck was looking up for a change.

But she didn’t dare leave Phillip on the floor. Reluctantly, she bent to rouse him; he refused to budge. Then she noticed his face. Halfway buried in the thick pile, his features were contorted into a grotesque waxy mask, his lips pale, his one exposed eye staring blankly up at her.

If she didn’t feel guilty as hell, she’d celebrate.

The Ghost Mirror
By Jamieson Wolf
eTreasures Publishing
http://www.etreasurespublishing.com
Copyright 2007
Ebook/Paperback
YA/Dark Fantasy

Thirteen-year old Mave is no ordinary girl. For one thing, she happens to be a black-eyed, redheaded powerful witch, so much so that even her own parents fear her. Not understanding her powers, her mom and dad have chosen to ignore and neglect her to the point of emotional cruelty.

The only person in the world who seems to love and understand Mave is her grandmother, and when she takes Mave to live with her in her big mansion, the young girl couldn’t be happier. Soon, however, Mave discovers a strange and mysterious old mirror in the attic. Grandmother warns her to stay away from it, but sometimes curiosity can be more powerful than reason. Mave touches the mirror, with dangerous consequences. She’s transported into a dark and magical world and faced with a grand mission: she’s to destroy the evil Lavender Man… or die.

Talented author Jamieson Wolf has penned a dark, sometimes macabre, beautifully written novel for young adults and adults alike. His lyrical prose flows like the magic in his story and has an old-fashioned tone to it which perfectly complements the plot. Some of the vivid images in the book are quite haunting, like the Tree Lady of the forest and the Lavender Man sucking the spirit from his victims. Above all, the beauty of the language stands out, as well as the author’s obvious love for storytelling. I was drawn from start to finish into Wolf’s darkly magical world and look forward to reading the sequel soon.

Reading Like A Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
By Francine Prose
Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-077704-3
Copyright 2006
Hardcover, 273 pages, $23.95
Non-Fiction/Writing

Why was it okay for Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write a book-long paragraph but not okay for the average writer today? Why is there so much ‘telling’ and not ‘showing’ in classic novels when editors keep telling writers that just the opposite is the correct form? What is it about authors like Chekhov, Tolstoy, Nabokov or Woolf that either makes the average writer wince with terror or sigh with longing--and envy! Can a fledgling writer learn from these and other great masters… and still enjoy the road in the process?

Distinguished novelist, critic and essayist Francine Prose answers these questions and more in this fascinating study of how paying particular attention to the sentences and techniques of great classic authors can enrich the mind and actually improve a person’s writing style. Prose warns the novice writer against only reading works of today’s commercial, bestselling authors and advices to "slow down and read every word" in the case of classic novels. She uses an eloquent analogy to demonstrate her point: "It’s something like the way you experience a master painting, a Rembrandt or a Velazquez, by viewing it not only far away but also up close, in order to see the brushstrokes."

Using key examples taken from various masterpieces, Prose demonstrates in separate chapters how to pay special attention to words, sentences, paragraphs, narration, character, dialogue, and details, and gesture. Which masterpieces should a writer read? A list of titles "to be read immediately" is included at the end of the book.

A sophisticated, smart, must read for writers who love language and the classics and who are serious about their own writing.

*This review originally appeared in Armchair Interviews, http://www.armchairinterviews.com

Resources

http://www.gather.com This is like MySpace.com but much better if you’re into writing and books. The atmosphere here is calmer but more intellectual. You can register for free then join as many groups as you like in dozens of categories. You may also post your writing and photographs here for feedback from fellow writers. I joined a couple of weeks ago and love it. You may find my page there at http://www.mcalvani.gather.com. Hope to see you there!

Hot new blogs for authors and book lovers:

http://authoralley.blogspot.com/

http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/

http://plugyourbook.blogspot.com/

http://www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/

http://www.thebookpedler.wordpress.com/

http://www.writing.com Writing community. Post your short fiction, poetry and articles for feedback from fellow writers.

Contests

*Romance author Charlotte Dillon is having a contest. The prize ? A copy of SPEAK NO EVIL by bestselling author Allison Brennan. Drawing date : June 12th. For details, go to http://www.charlottedillon.com/