Author, speaker and humorist David L. Winters lives in the Washington, D.C., suburbs with a love bird named Birdie. After stints with Navy and Homeland Security, he retired in 2016 to write full time. His four books include the award-willing Sabbatical of the Mind: The Journey from Anxiety to Peace.
How do you connect with your characters? David: Most of my characters are amalgamations of people from my past: Teachers from back in the day, sports figures, beautiful ladies I’ve known. The difference is that I had no idea what went on their minds in real life. As a writer, it’s fun to ascribe motives to my characters.
How do you come up with titles for your books? David: Usually, the title is one of the first things that come to me. As I build out the story, the characters tend to drive me in one direction or another within the basic framework of my outline. I’m not a true pantser, but sometimes the tangents hold the gold of a tale well told.
How do you research ways to kill someone for your books? David: Just communicating with DiAnn Mills on Facebook provides more than enough ideas about how to end people. Since meeting her at Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference last year, she has become a major influence. Although a strong Christian, her mind seems plenty bent when comes to murder.
What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)?
David: As a child, I mainly wanted to be safe, but never felt that way. Due to some circumstances within our family, I wanted to capture the chaos and turn it into art. My first thought was to become a rock star. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. So, I’ve decided that being an author is another fine way to fix my universe.
Current Book: Stock Car Inferno (Brimstone Fiction) Fasten seatbelts as stock car driver Emalyn Martin takes you on wild ride as she confounds her competitors and stays one step ahead of a killer. Action heats up when her competitors start dying, and she ascends to the role of chief suspect.
An award-winning novelist, Julie B Cosgrove is a digital missionary for The Life Project, as well as the editor and recruiter of other writers for the organization’s websites. Julie also lectures to women’s and writers’ groups. Her blog, Where Did You Find God Today?, has readers around the world.
When do you find time to write? Julie: I am widowed and live alone, so I can find time to write fiction when my editing, devotional writing, lecturing and missionary work allows. I find the year is cyclical. There are times when things slow down, and I get the itch to write. So, my friends and family understand when I say I am in the mode and become reclusive for a while. I’ve never missed a publisher’s deadline though.
What is your favorite spot for reading or reflecting on your current work-in-progress? Julie: I have a spot on the couch where I curl up, usually with a cup of hot tea. My cat often joins me and perches on the top cushion, resting one paw on my arm.
How do you come up with titles for your books? Julie: For the Relatively Seeking Mysteries, I wanted them to all have “leaf” themes, since they are about family trees and secrets…and handsome bachelors who help the lady sleuths, of course. Fallen Leaf is indicative of both Jessica, who is put up for adoption, and her birth father, who is convicted of murder and thus disowned by his family.
What’s the weirdest way someone has died or been killed in your novels? Julie: I guess the mean old neighbor Edwin in Dumpster Dicing, the first book in the Bunco Biddies Mysteries Series. (Dumpster Dicing won Best Cozy Mystery 2017 by the Texas Association of Authors.) He was chopped up and placed in the community dumpster. Yes, it is a comedy, believe it or not.
How do you research ways to kill someone for your books? Julie: I go online a lot, and wonder when the police or FBI will knock on my door! I also have contacted a few retired police detectives who have been of assistance to me, and of course I love to watch and read mysteries. I belong to several suspense romance and mystery sites, and we sometimes bounce ideas off each other.
How do you pick the location/setting of your romantic suspense novels? Julie: All of my novels start off set in Texas, where I have lived most of my life. My characters are Texans. However, I do have them venture beyond its borders. For years, I freelanced for a popular travel website, and so I have learned ways to thoroughly explore other places digitally. Hush in the Storm, my first successful suspense romance, is partially set in New Mexico because it seemed logical for the plot. The award-winning sequel, Legitimate Lies, is set in Southern England, where I did have the blessed opportunity to travel in 2012. Much of this book, Fallen Leaf, is set in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area, and though I have never been there, I spent months “going there” online.
Current Book: Fallen Leaf Jessica’s birth father insists he was framed for murder. Can she trust the D.A., Brady, to help her? Or does Brady have a hidden agenda?
When Love Won’t Wait by Roger E. Bruner — Laugh at Pastor Dan’s impulsive efforts to get out of the ministry and marry a woman of his own choosing by going against his domineering widowed mother’s wishes. (Contemporary Romance, Independently Published)
A Perfect Amish Match by Vannetta Chapman — After three failed relationships, Amish bachelor Noah Graber would rather disappoint his parents than try again. But when matchmaker Olivia Mae Miller agrees to provide courting lessons, Noah’s perfect match becomes clear—it’s Olivia Mae herself! With ailing grandparents at home, she hadn’t planned on love or marriage. Might a future with Noah be everything she’s been missing? (Contemporary Romance from Love Inspired [Harlequin])
Sing a New Song by Candee Fick — Songbird Gloria Houghton has always needed to be the center of attention, but the spotlight has shifted. Seeking fame and a fresh start, she finds a new stage in Branson, Missouri…only to risk being replaced by a manipulative rival. If Gloria can’t be the star, who is she? Jack-of-all-trades Nick Sherwood is just one leaf on a vast family tree that includes a restaurant chef, hotel owners, and even the headline act at a family-owned theater. He’s seen how fame can blind a person with jealousy and is more than content to stay in the background thank you very much. If only he wasn’t so fascinated–and irritated–by the newest addition to the staff. After a disaster of a first impression and financial difficulties land Gloria in the humblest of jobs—with Nick as her boss—it might be time for her to learn to sing a new song. (Contemporary Romance from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas)
Pigtails and a Tool Belt by Janetta Fudge-Messmer — The Christian Romance where circumstances seem impossible. But with God – all things are possible. (Contemporary Romance from Winged Publications)
Wooing Cadie McCaffrey by Bethany Turner — After four years of dating Will, Cadie questions his love for her and sends him packing. Their breakup only makes Will more determined to become the man Cadie wants him to be. With the help of his work buddies and tactics drawn from Cadie’s favorite romantic comedies, he devises a “foolproof” plan. What could possibly go wrong? (Contemporary Romance from Revell – A Division of Baker Publishing)
General Contemporary:
Over the Waters by Deborah Raney — As “Dr. Botox” to the bored rich women of Chicago, plastic surgeon Max Jordan was shocked by the decision of his son, Joshua, to focus his medical talent on Haitian orphans. Embittered by Joshua’s death, Max searches for resolution in the very place his son called home. The selfless labor of Joshua’s coworkers stuns Max. He is particularly taken by American volunteer Valerie Austin, whose dream of a honeymoon on a tropical beach were crushed, replaced by a stint working in the impoverished orphanage. But Valerie’s view of Joshua’s sacrifice challenges everything Max has lived for. Now Max wonders if he can ever return to his “Max-a-Million” lifestyle, or if the doors to his gilded cage have finally opened. (General Contemporary from Raney Day Press)
Historical:
True Freedom by Carol Ashby — When a Roman slave rescues his master’s daughter from the kidnapping arranged by her own brother, will his sacrificial service earn the freedom and love he never dreamed possible, or will it only end in death? (Historical from Cerrillo Press)
Historical Romance:
The Daughter’s Predicament by Mary Eileen Davis — Can a patient love win her heart? As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. While making a quilt for her own hope chest, Isabelle’s half-sister becomes pregnant out of wedlock and Isabelle–always the unfavored daughter–becomes the family sacrifice to save face. Isabelle loves her sister, but with three suitors interested, will she really allow herself to be manipulated into a marriage without love? Or will the man leaving her secret love poems sweep her off her feet? (Historical Romance from Mountain Brook Ink)
Mail-Order Mishaps by Susan Page Davis, Linda Ford, Vickie McDonough, and Erica Vetsch — In The Bride’s Dilemma by Susan Page Davis, Eve Martin arrives in Cheyenne to learn that man she came to marry is in jail, accused of a violent murder. But has God brought her here to help save Caleb Blair’s life? In Romancing the Rancher by Linda Ford, Amelia expects a safe home for herself and her niece in Montana as mail-order bride to Zach Taggerty. Only Zach has never heard of her. In The Marriage Sham by Vickie McDonough, Texas mail-order bride Zola Bryant is a widowed newlywed. Worse, they were never truly wed because the officiant was an outlaw not a preacher. What will she do now that her life and reputation are in tatters? In The Galway Girl by Erica Vetsch, a mail-order mix-up sends Irish lass Maeve O’Reilly to the Swedish community of Lindsborg, Kansas. Will Kaspar Sandberg consider it a happy accident or a disaster to be rectified as soon as possible? (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)
Lord of Her Heart by Sherrinda Ketchersid — Lady Jocelyn Ashburne suspects something is amiss at her family’s castle because her father ceases to write to her. When she overhears a plot to force her into vows—either to the church or a husband—she disguises herself and flees the convent in desperation to discover the truth. Malcolm Castillon of Berkham is determined to win the next tournament and be granted a manor of his own. After years of proving his worth on the jousting field, he yearns for a life of peace. Rescuing a scrawny lad who turns out to be a beautiful woman is not what he bargained for. Still, he cannot deny that she stirs his heart like no other, in spite of her conniving ways. Chaos, deception, and treachery threaten their goals, but both are determined to succeed. Learning to trust each other might be the only way either of them survives. (Historical Romance from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas)
Love’s Belief by Linda Shenton Matchett — When the Third Reich implements mandates that require Jewish babies and other “undesirables” to be killed as part of The Final Solution, is midewife Pia Hertz’s new faith in Christ strong enough to defy the laws of man? Dieter Fertig is relieved he’s no longer part of Hitler’s army, despite the reason–a battle that cost his arm. After he returns to Berlin, only to discover the Nuremburg Laws require his best friend’s baby girl to be killed, he must find a way to spirit the child out of Germany before the Nazis discover her existence. (Historical Romance from Shortwave Press)
Shelter Bay by Pamela S. Meyers — Adventurous bicyclist Maureen Quinn and her best friend, Preston Stevens, a member of the U.S. Life Saving Service, find love and face life-altering events on the shores of Lake Michigan. (Historical Romance from Mantle Rock Publishing)
Mystery:
Fallen Leaf by Julie B. Cosgrove — When a DNA kit reveals blond, blue-eyed Jessica Warren is half Cherokee, she confronts her adoptive parents and learns her birth father is in prison…for murder! Now he wants her help in exonerating him. Can Jessica trust the handsome, young Tulsa district attorney to help, or does he have an agenda of his own? (Cozy Mystery from Write Integrity Press)
Bitter Pill by Richard L. Mabry, MD — Things were going along just fine until the miracle fouled them up. (Medical Mystery, Independently Published)
Latter-day Cipher by Latayne C. Scott — Kirsten Young, a well-known and rebellious Utah heiress, is found murdered in Provo Canyon. The strange markings carved into her flesh and the note written in 19th century code seem to cast a shadow on ancient Mormon laws. Journalist Selonnah Zee is assigned to cover the story– and it quickly grows out of control. (Historical Mystery from Moody)
Romantic Suspense:
Running Target by Elizabeth Goddard — A routine patrol turns deadly when marine deputy Bree Carrington’s boat is sunk by men carrying illegal weapons. Fleeing a barrage of bullets, she’s suddenly rescued by DEA agent Quinn Strand—her ex-boyfriend. Quinn’s return threatens more than Bree’s heart…because he’s the one the men are really after. As criminals hunt her to get to him, can Quinn and Bree take down a drug ring? (Romantic Suspense from Love Inspired [Harlequin])
Speculative:
The Pages of Her Life by James L. Rubart — Allison Moore’s dad was living a secret life and left her mom in massive debt. As she scrambles to help her mom find a way out, she’s given a journal, anonymously, during a visit to her favorite coffee shop. The pressure to rescue her mom mounts, and Allison pours her fears and heartache into the journal. But then the unexplainable happens. The words in the journal, her words, begin to disappear. And new ones fill the empty spaces—words that force her to look at everything she knows about herself in a new light. Ignoring those words could cost her everything…but so could embracing them. (Speculative from HarperCollins Christian Publishing)