Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

- Henry Ford

R.T. Wolfe Writes From the Heart

The Write Way Café welcomes R.T. Wolfe, who follows her stars to write stories of her heart.

How did you become involved with the subject or theme of Island Secrets?
Oh! This is such a great story. I’m really glad you asked. I watched a random, yet fascinating, clip about sea turtles and thus started this game of ping-pong in my head.
     Ping: In the back of my mind an eccentric family who raises goats on their roof and grows herbs on their porch lives on a small island. Each devotes their life to sea turtle conservation.
     Pong: But, sea turtles? Really? I live in the Midwest. I’ve written about dogs, eagles, dogs, whooping cranes, and dogs. But, sea turtles? A few weeks later a box turtle crawls out of the pond behind my home, up my berm and digs a nest on the side. I about came out of my skin, videotaping and taking pictures for over an hour.
     Ping: The eldest brother of said family goes missing during an underwater treasure hunt causing the entire family to pour their lives into finding him.
     Pong: Okay, okay. Divine intervention seems to be taking place but still…I would need a conservation group willing to talk to me and place to stay and when would I go? How does Nora Roberts do this all the time and everywhere she goes?
     Ping: Raine, Willow and Zoe Clearwater. What perfect names. Each sister will have her own book. I could start with the youngest, Zoe. She, of course, carries the most guilt with the loss of their brother. It was she who was set to be his diving partner the day he went missing, except she was too busy building her scuba diving business and blew him off.
     Pong: A colleague of mine offered me her condo on Anna Maria Island off the west coast of Florida. I tried not to get my hopes up, but this was getting out of hand. The stars just kept lining up.
     Ping: Zoe sells her business to her childhood treasure hunting nemesis, spends her days with the island local turtle conservation organization, her evenings working as an employee for the nemesis, and her weekends diving in caverns searching for clues for her lost brother.
     Pong: Suzi Fox, the Primary Permit Holder of the Anna Maria Turtle Watch and Sea Bird Monitoring, offers me the opportunity to shadow her for the week this condo is available. I spent 7 days on the island and never put my swimsuit on once. Suzi took me under her wing and we were off. It was a non-stop week of chasing turtle watch volunteers, excavating nests, saving injured turtles, protecting nestlings and releasing several into the wild. It was a week that turned into several return trips and a great friendship I will cherish forever. Plus, a fantastic trilogy in the making.

Can you share some stories about people you met while researching Island Secrets?
Suzi Fox is the Primary Permit Holder for Anna Maria Island which, in my mind, basically means she runs the island. (Hi, Suzi! Sorry, but it’s true. ☺) Her along with her expert assistants, Glenn and Claudia Wiseman and so many, many others who volunteer their time for the incredible cause of saving these endangered species have changed my life forever. What amazing, selfless people who have dedicated their lives to helping sea turtles and assisting with an amazing story.

What are some of the references that you used while researching Island Secrets?
The turtle conservationists often wanted to educate me on the ins and outs of saving turtles. What they didn’t realize was that I was taking most of my notes on the conversations and scenarios between and around them.

For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of Island Secrets, where should they start?
With the book, of course. It is available in ebook form from all retailers and in print through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

What is the most important thing that people DON'T know about your subject/genre that they need to know?
Romantic suspense novels come in vast varieties of time periods, settings, range of violence as well as of heat level. R.T. Wolfe books are intelligent writing for today’s contemporary romantic suspense reader. They could be compared to a PG-13 rating in both violence and love scenes.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend?
I recommend using fans for naming characters. That’s what I do. Zoe, Willow, and Raine are all names suggested from followers on my Facebook Page. It’s all about the readers. ☺ So dang fun.

Are you a plotter or a pantster?
Both, if that makes any sense. I plot my outline, but the characters always seem to have minds of their own and cause me countless revisions to my outlines.

Is there a certain type of scene that's harder for you to write than others? Love? Action? Racy?
No way! If that were the case, I would stick with romance only or possibly the suspense genre. Authors write what we love to read for sure.

Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you have any advice on how to deal with the bad?
I do read my reviews and try to respond to each but have been overwhelmed with that as of late. The bad ones are killers for sure. Many are just plain hateful, but some are quite helpful. So, I force myself. --glutton for punishment--

What did you find most useful in learning to write?  What was least useful or most destructive? What is your best marketing tip?
Most useful? The never-ending path of learning to pull a reader into the head of the character. The least useful? All of the rules the powers that be say are set in stone that mean very little to the people who matter…the readers! Best marketing tip? I say leave that to the people who do that for a living. The best marketing for an author is to get out the next book.

What’s next for R.T.?
My current work-in-progress is Island Pursuit, Island Escape Series book 2, and then onto book 3. Life is good when I can get to Panera, warm up my coffee and power up my laptop.

Thank you for having me, ladies. Love, love, love your blog.



About R.T.:  R.T. was born and raised in the beautiful Midwest, the youngest of six ornery children. She married at a young age and began her family shortly after. With three amazing small boys, life was a whirlwind of flipping houses and working two jobs in between swim lessons and Candyland. Now that her boys are nearly grown, R.T. spends much of her time on the road traveling from one sporting event to another serving as mom and cheerleader. She works to assist the several non-profit organizations that have supported her books and promote the work they do for those who cannot help themselves.

Website          Amazon          Google Play 
Barnes and Noble          iTunes          Facebook 
Twitter          Pinterest

Bookshelf Revelations

I spent the weekend at my daughter’s place while she is recuperating from foot surgery. She is not, and never will be a model patient so I came prepared with my laptop, my Kindle, chocolate, and Pepsi. I had strict orders not to touch anything, but I was permitted to be chief cook and beverage provider. She had planned to kick me out in less than 24 hours but permitted me to stay almost 48. Given the level of independence my daughter aspires to, this was an honor!

So while she slept off the anesthetic, I prowled her house. It should be no surprise the space that held my attention the most was her bookshelves.

Stacked on bedside tables in her room were books of poetry and blank journals. Nestled among decorations and trinkets from the beach (her happy place), her living room bookshelves held books by Nicholas Sparks and Jimmy Buffet, along with some biographies and mysteries. But the vast majority of books in both locations revealed to me her daily struggle on an entirely different level.

My daughter suffers from anxiety and depression. We are going on two years now of trying different medicines to find one that helps her. So many of them have terrible side effects that affected her ability to function, so she was forced to quit taking them. Her life has been a rollercoaster of good days and bad, of emotions ranging from being deliriously happy to wanting to be six feet under. I’ve been riding the rollercoaster with her, carrying my share of fear and worry, trying to balance being supportive while giving her the space she needs to grow. It’s not been easy for this mama bear.

I opened the blinds to let in some light, as she prefers the darkness. My heart broke to read titles like Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls, Love Letters to the Dead, Purpose for the Pain, and By the Time You Read This, I’ll be Dead – all novels dealing with topics like suicide, self-harm, bullying, and depression – all things she has experienced.

Mixed in were books by John C. Maxwell: How Successful People Grow, How Successful People Lead, and How Successful People Think among others. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I'm not surprised to see these books, as they reflect her inner struggle to be successful. At 25, she is not where she expected to be.

Her books mirror the roller coaster of her life, filled with euphoric highs and gut-wrenching lows, interspersed with painful twists and encouraging turns.

But mixed in with those books, I also found hope: books of encouragement by Jamie Tworkowski, who founded To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) to help a friend. To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. His website says: It started with a story.

And isn’t STORY what speaks to all of us?

We each have our own story, as do our characters. Our stories are what makes each of us unique and interesting to others.

What story does your bookshelf tell? Have you ever been surprised by what books you found on the shelves of someone you know?  Please share.

The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.

- William Faulkner

An Interview with V.C. Buckley

The Write Way Café welcomes V.C. Buckley, who shares feeling around and stumbling a few times on her way to getting published.


When did you first have the thought you'd like to write a book? Was that first thought related to writing romance?
I got tired of reading romance stories where the female character was always weak and needed a man to make her life better. So I did something about it—I wrote my own book inspired by events happening around me.

What was your path to getting this book written and published? What type of research did you do?
It was a long and lonely path to get this book published. Lonely-because I didn’t know anyone who knew anything about publishing or writing a romance fiction book. I had to feel around in the dark and stumble a few times. I learned about querying and editing and everything else from days of research on the internet, but nothing led to anything and I was pretty sure my letters were not written well enough despite the numerous blogs of Dos and Don’ts I tried to follow online. And then my husband sat next to USA Today bestselling author Bronwen Evans in the plane coming from New York. She had just attended the RWA Annual Conference. She gave my husband some insight and advice about the publishing world and told my husband about RWA and how there are multiple workshops and seminars perfect for aspiring authors to educate themselves in this field, as well as a network of like-minded people who support each other in their writing journey. I got in touch with Ms. Evans and I became a member of RWA. I felt like a child in a candy store. I soon made friends, learned more about the industry and corrected the mistakes I made in my manuscript and learned about critique partners and beta-readers. I also tried my luck on a chapter contest and my book came in second place in the romantic suspense category of the BEACON contest of First Coast Romance Writers. I became more confident and grew so much as an author from all the classes and perspectives I had gained. And then I joined a pitch contest from Savvy Authors. My entry garnered multiple requests from different publishing houses and in less than a few weeks, I was offered a contract from Passion in Print Press.

Where did the idea for your story come from?
The idea came after seeing someone getting bullied. I imagined a different outcome where the bullies got what they deserved after realizing they picked on the wrong person.

Why did you pick the setting you did?
I’ve always been fascinated with Japanese culture, and in my story, the character comes from a notorious crime family, so I picked the Yakuza, an infamous organized crime group in Japan.

Are your main characters completely imaginary or do they have some basis in real people? Do they reflect aspects of yourself?
My main characters are imaginary, but their characteristics are based from real people that I know. Like the brooding and impatient aura of Kenjin is thanks to my husband, while the craziness of Sakura comes from my mom.

Did you face any blocks while writing the book, and if so, how did you handle them? If not, what's your secret?
Hanami was rewritten so many times upon the request of several publishers. It went through two major facelifts. I never faced any blocks until the second re-write. I had to fix some of the plot and change some characters around, and there were scenes that had to either be taken out or added, it was starting to get overwhelming until my brain refused to look at the story anymore and I started feeling depressed about it. So I took a step back and went on a writing hiatus for a few weeks. I went on vacation, read books and watched movies. I gave my brain a break and started refilling my inspiration tank. Solutions to some of the book scenes naturally came at random moments, and before you know it I was back to writing and finished the story.

What have been surprises you've encountered while writing the book and after?
Many times the characters would take on a life of their own. I’m a plotter, so I always know where the story is going and how the characters are supposed to behave, but I don’t have them on a tight leash though. I allow for certain changes that show themselves. Like in the first version of the book-there wasn’t really a love triangle, but in the final version it was brought front and center, and now I’m starting to like the secondary love interest more than the main guy and I’m planning to write a novella just about him because I want to give him a happily ever after as well.

What did you learn? For instance, what did you learn about yourself, your process, the writing world? How is Hanami important to your book?
I have grown so much during the entire process of Hanami. After this book, I came out a different person because now I know better. Although I still have so much to learn I can dare say that I have more knowledge now than when I started in terms of writing and publishing. I also learned how challenging it is to be a writer and it can really get lonely at times. I am in awe of those who have written more than five books, and those that have made it to the bestsellers list on their own with no agent or publisher backing them up.

Tell us about your writing space and how or why it works for you.
My husband loves the ocean and likes to travel, so I usually end up writing anywhere. Sometimes I get seasick writing on a boat or dizzy editing on a plane. Most days I find myself on the floor or on the roof writing away, or sometimes from a rickety tower watching my kids surf. I write with a pen and notebook, so it’s very versatile. And the ideas just flow better from my brain and through the pen rather than the keyboard. I started writing this way before laptops and computers became affordable, so I became accustomed to this manner.

What are some of your favorite books and why?
Franny Bilingsley’s Chime. The way the book was written was incredible. She has a way of painting an entire portrait with just a few brushstrokes, and her storytelling is compelling, which made Chime such an enjoyable read.

What are you working on now?
I am polishing up the sequel to my book Hanami, and I have a Fantasy Romance in the works as well as a young adult and adult contemporary romance in progress.

Would you like to try your hand at writing a different genre?  Which one and why?
Yes, I would like to try my hand at regency romance and some middle-grade books someday. These are genres I would like to learn more about.

If you were not a writer, what would your dream job be?
That’s a hard one because being a writer is already my dream job. Anything after that would just be something for the means of survival, but if I could choose, I would like a job involving international and diplomatic affairs.

What aspect of writing gives you the most trouble?
The querying process is always the hardest. Everything else is a breeze, but for someone who doesn’t have an agent yet, getting the book published is a real challenge. I do hope to someday find an agent to grow and work with.

Who is your favorite hero/heroine?
Mulan. Because her story didn’t happen from waiting around to be rescued, instead she went and made her destiny… and she met the dashing young captain because of that.

SAKURA SHINTANI is the Dragon Clan heir—Japan’s most notorious crime dynasty. But can she keep this fact a secret from the prying brats of Oniyuri Academy?

She must try to master her demons and avoid hurting anybody, but having the face of an angel only puts her on everyone’s radar… including the arrogant heir to Asia’s most powerful tycoon, KENJIN KIYOHARA. He senses the danger, but Sakura is too interesting to be left alone.

Hanami will be available on September 16. Please check 
www.vcbuckley.com/ for more information!

V.C. Buckley was born in a top-secret military facility and shipped off to Southeast Asia. She grew up braving tropical thunderstorms and questionable characters. She jetted all over the world at age sixteen after being discovered by a model agent. Her stories come from gritty moments of her childhood to the glitz of her travels. She now lives in Manila with her husband, two kids and an herb garden that has hijacked her balcony.


Website        Twitter        Facebook

Tuesday Special: The Devil Orders Takeout with Bill Brier

BILL BRIER

www.billbrier.com

A tax attorney with integrity…a powerful mobster determined to bend his will…

Grayson Bolt isn’t about to compromise his integrity to help a notorious crime boss escape the cross-hairs of the IRS. But there’s a steep price to pay for defying The Man–Grayson’s beloved wife and older son.

There’s only one way for Grayson to prevent his younger son, Jim, an innocent golf prodigy, from also being taken out: play a dangerous game of cat and mouse. And what will Jim be forced to do when the woman he loves gets ensnarled in a web of betrayal and deceit?

Twenty- five cents for every print and ebook sold will be donated to the United States Blind Golf Association.

Buy the Book:      AMAZON       BARNES & NOBLE
INDIEBOUND       BOOKS-A-MILLION

Buy the eBook:    KINDLE       NOOK       IBOOKS
KOBO       GOOGLE PLAY


About Bill: 
     Bill grew up in California and went to Hollywood High School, then served as an Air Force combat cameraman. After hiring on at Disney Studios as a film loader, he soon advanced and moved on to other film studios. He earned a master’s degree in psychology. A big help when working with Trumpish Hollywood producers.
     During his more than twenty- five years in the movie business as a cameraman, film editor, and general manager, Bill worked on everything from the hilarious, The Love Bug, to the creepy, The Exorcist, to the far out, Star Trek and Battle Star Galactica.
     Eight years ago, Bill switched from reading scripts to writing mysteries and driving racecars. After completing three award- winning novels, he signed with Black Opal Books. His first novel, The Devil Orders Takeout, is a standalone thriller about a devoted father and husband who makes a deal with a real- life devil to protect his golf- prodigy son after his wife and older son are killed in a mysterious accident — and pays hell for it.
     Bill’s second novel, The Killer Who Hated Soup, is Book One in the 1950s The Killer Who mystery series. It launches October 21, 2017 and can be pre-ordered NOW! Book Two of the mystery series, The Killer Who Wasn’t There, is scheduled for release February 24, 2018!
     Bill writes everyday and golfs infrequently (that damn right knee!). His five children and eight grandchildren keep him busy going to birthday parties, and he never misses a one!
     The Brier Patch is Bill’s wildly entertaining blog about his shameless early days in Hollywood. It’s here on his website, along with a contest linked to The Killer Who Hated Soup, which will award the grand prizewinner $1,000.
     Bill is a member of Mystery Writers of America.

Facebook       Twitter      Goodreads       LinkedIn

Change your thoughts and you change your world. 

– Norman Vincent Peale