Joe A. Bowden Ph.D. a former biochemistry professor, technical
writer, a
member of the SCBWI and ACFW. He is published in both secular and
Christian fields, and has taught at national
and regional writer’s conferences. An Eagle Scout born and raised in Dolores,
Colorado, Joe currently lives in Corvallis, Montana.
Why did you start
writing romantic suspense novels? Joe: I started writing a forensic
murder mystery trilogy with two strong characters, one male and one female. As
the story progressed it became evident that they should start to “fall” for
each other. This rough and tumble romance will continue in the second book and
if all goes well they will marry in the third book of the trilogy.
How do you come up with
titles for your books? Joe: I select a title that
spells out or suggests the method of killing but does not even hint as to how
that method plays out in the story.
What’s the weirdest
way someone has died or been killed in your novels? Joe: The key to my novels is the
unique ways that characters are killed off. I use a bit of chemistry, some
physics and a strong measure of evil. In Murder
by Stem Cells one of the deaths is from a DNA modified stem cell that is
introduced into the victim and does not react as the bad guys predicted. The
balance of the story spins around this death
Where do you get the inspiration
for your plots? Joe: All plots come from the
cutting edge of science and medicine. I take a new development and try to
project how evil can turn it against those it was designed to help.
Have you ever
regretted killing off a character? Why? Joe: Yes,I hate to kill an
innocent by-stander or someone who just happens to stumble into the plot and
has no useful knowledge, just that they MAY impact the evil plot.
How do you pick the
location/setting of your romantic suspense novels? Joe: Since my stories are set
within the scientific community, by definition they must have settings at or
near scientific hubs or have contact with one of these hubs.
Current book:Murder
by Stem Cells
Biotech developed adult stem cells to
cure disease and extend life, however greed and misuse by corrupted scientists,
threatens control of the western economic system.
Connect with Joe Website: joebowden.comFacebook: Joe A. BowdenTwitter: JoeBowd43343177Google Plus: papajoephd@gmail.com
For more than 40 years, Deb Brammer has written for Christian publication and served as a full-time missionary in Taiwan and New Zealand. In her books, you’ll find realistic characters who deal with cross-cultural experiences and care about ministry. Her most recent series is the Art Spotlight Mysteries.
How do you come up with titles for your books? Deb: I often like to find a play on words. The title for Broken Windows, book one in the Art Spotlight Mysteries, comes from a police theory about crime. It states that visual evidence of crime, like broken windows and graffiti, encourages more crime. When a graffiti artist cleverly uses a broken window as his canvas, Jordan tries to find and expose him while Jordan also examines broken windows in his own faith. Deja Who?, book two, deals with art forgery as well as identity crisis. An unsolved art mystery makes Jordan ask “Who am I?” all over again. In book three, I Scream, Destiny Champion is a child art prodigy who challenges the validity of contemporary art. She reveals her inner anxiety from a too-rapid rise to fame by copying ideas from Edvard Munch’s painting, “The Scream.” In her painting, however, the scream face is eating ice cream. I launched this book with an “I Scream Social.”
How do you connect with your characters? Deb: I understand Jordan because, though he has a different personality to mine, he grew up as a missionary kid in Taiwan and has a hard time understanding certain aspects of American culture. I’ve had to adapt to different cultures, so I get that. Zophie has the heart of my daughter. Each book has some minor characters, flawed and gentle, who pull at the heart strings and ask tough questions that can’t be passed over. I have to love these characters and hurt with them before I can write their stories.
What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)? Deb: From the time I was an early teen, I determined to follow God’s will for my life. Along with that, I always wanted to be in ministry (like a pastor’s wife) and I’ve always wanted to write. God has given me 40 years of ministry as a missionary pastor’s wife in which I continue to minister to people from many different cultural backgrounds. I’ve also been able to author nine books, more than 125 published articles, and many resources for people in ministry. I used the various Christmas and Mum-Daughter programs, puppet scripts, ESL Bible studies, blogs, and other resources in my own ministry first. From there these resources have reached out to ministries around the world. God truly “gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him.”
Current Book: I Scream A child’s simple painting enters the world of contemporary art, challenging Jordan to re-examine his principles and market art he can’t understand.
Connect w/Deb
Website: http://www.DebBrammer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebBrammerAuthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.nz/debbrammer/
Pinterest for I Scream: https://www.pinterest.nz/debbrammer/art-spotlight-mystery-3-i-scream/
The Art of Rivers by Janet Ferguson — Can a woman whose life has been damaged by addiction trust her heart to a man in recovery? (Contemporary Romance, Independently Published)
Cross My Heart by Robin Lee Hatcher — Horse rescue farmer Ashley helps Ben start an equine therapy barn on his great-great grandfather’s farm. When they consider a relationship together, her bitter experience with her opioid addict brother reins in any hope for a future with Ben, who is five years in recovery from alcoholism. Ben knows that with God, all things are possible—but will Ashley find it within herself to give love a chance? (Contemporary Romance from HarperCollins Christian Publishing)
Risking Love by Toni Shiloh — Nikki lives with a perfect trifecta of noes. No guys. No dates. No way. After years of keeping men at bay, Nikki Gordon has it down to a science. No one, not even sweet, hunky Shorty Smalls can change her mind. Period. So if she’s got it all figured out, why does her heart sink to her toes when she sees Shorty with another woman? (Contemporary Romance from Celebrate Lit)
General:
Uncharted Destiny by Keely Brooke Keith — When Bailey sets out to rescue her lost friend in the Land’s dangerous mountain terrain, she discovers more about the Land—and herself—than she bargained for. (General from Edenbrooke Press)
Six Houses Down by Kari Rimbey — Two days after Sharon Webster’s distant husband returns for a surprise visit, their autistic son slips out of the house and is lost in historic Washington D. C. As they search for their boy, Sharon is forced to rely on the husband she believes no longer loves her. An elderly black couple down the street seems to understand her unspoken hurts. Has God sent them to help her find trust again? (General Contemporary, Independently Published)
Historical:
In the Shadow of the King by Melissa Rosenberger — Beset by doubts and jealousy about prophecies spoken over her brother Yeshua, Hannah struggles to see the truth before her eyes until it is too late…or is it? (Historical from Carpenter’s Son Publishing)
Historical Romance:
This Healing Journey by Misty M. Beller — An adventure-seeking wilderness girl and an ex-cavalryman looking to settle down fall in love while caring for a wounded Indian child that shows up in his barn. Will their differences keep them apart or become their greatest strengths? (Historical Romance, Independently Published)
Cameo Courtships by Susanne Dietze, Debra E. Marvin, Jennifer Uhlarik, and Kathleen Y’Barbo — In 1851, a special cameo is gifted by Queen Victoria to Letitia Newton, who though considered an old maid, meets the perfect gentleman minutes after donning. Told by the Queen the cameo is to be shared, Letitia gifts the “Victoria Cameo” to a woman in her family, hoping adventure and romance will follow each of its subsequent wearers. Adventure indeed follows two competing journalists, one of whom carries the cameo while looking to expose a smuggler, a trouser-wearing frontierswoman and a reverend who are on a mission to ransom the cameo from a manipulative brothel owner, two Pinkertons who are charged with the care of the cameo but must rely on one another when the cameo is once again stolen, and a young woman who doubts the cameo can help her when a handsome Scottish library administrator ruins her dream of overseeing the new Carnegie Library children’s department and keeps a social chasm between himself and her father. (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)
Mail-Order Refuge by Cindy Regnier — Carly Blair from Baltimore buys a train ticket to Kansas where she will become the wife of a man she’s never met. She must leave Baltimore to escape the evil plans her ex-fiance has for using her artistic talents for a counterfeit operation. Rand Stafford, Kansas cattle rancher is looking after his two orphaned nieces, but knows they need a mother. He’s not interested in love since being left at the altar so he advertises for a mail-order bride, willing to do whatever it takes to give Mary Jo and Jenna a proper home and upbringing. Can Carly and Rand find love where they least expect it, or will the shadows of the past dash their hopes for the future? (Historical Romance from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas)
No Ocean Too Wide by Carrie Turansky — Between the years of 1869 to 1939 more than 100,000 poor British children were sent across the ocean to Canada with the promise of a better life. Those who took them in to work as farm laborers or household servants were told they were orphans—but was that the truth? (Historical Romance from Waterbrook/Multnomah [Random House])
Romantic Suspense:
Darkwater Truth by Robin Caroll — Adelaide Fountaine, general manager, is enthusiastically renovating parts of the Darkwater Inn. Her intentions come to a screeching halt when a skeleton is found behind a makeshift wall—an axe beside it. As Adelaide works alongside owner Dimitri Pampalon and Detective Beau Savoie, the two men who have been pursuing her heart, she learns the eerie death has tentacles that reach deep into the seedy past of both the Darkwater Inn and the evil underground of New Orleans. The past and the present collide as the stakes are upped—not only for Adelaide’s heart, but for her very life and her father’s life as well. The threats are deadly, the coils of evil are tightening around everyone involved, and they are more powerful than anyone could have ever imagined. (Romantic Suspense, Independently Published)
Over the Line by Kelly Irvin — Gabriela’s brother is missing, he’s a suspect in a murder, and she’s in the cross hairs of a criminal organization. The only person who can help her is the one man she can’t trust. Will Gabby & Eli find her brother before it’s too late? (Romantic Suspense from HarperCollins Christian Publishing)
Long Walk Home by DiAnn Mills — As an Arab Christian pilot for a relief organization, Paul Farid feels called to bring supplies to his war-torn countrymen in southern Sudan. But with constant attacks from Khartoum’s Islamic government, the villagers have plenty of reasons to distrust Paul, and he wonders if the risks he’s taking are really worth his mission. American doctor Larson Kerr started working with the Sudanese people out of a sense of duty and has grown to love them all, especially Rachel Alier, her young assistant. But despite the years she’s spent caring for them, her life feels unfulfilled. It’s a void noticed both by Paul and by Rachel’s older brother, Colonel Ben Alier of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. When Rachel is abducted, Paul, Ben, and Larson agree to set aside their differences to form an unlikely alliance and execute a daring rescue. Their faith and beliefs tested, each must find the strength to walk the path God has laid before them, to find their way home. (Romantic Suspense from Tyndale House)
The Last Chaplain by Carl M. White — At the request of Pastor John Grant, the last chaplain of the United States Senate, Lisa Smithy embarks on the adventure of a lifetime: find a former Senate staff member and convince him to reveal to a DC reporter the plot that led to Dr. Grant’s removal and the discrediting of his best friend, a United States Senator. From the South, to the West, to the Midwest, evil men are desperate to stop her, and romance surprisingly finds her. Can she bring together the former Senate staffer who knows all and the Washington reporter who can tell all, while eluding the men who would end it all? (Romantic Suspense from Austin Brothers Publishers)
Donna Fletcher Crow’s
novels of romance, mystery and history include three crime series: Lord Danvers
Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard literary suspense
series; and The Monastery Murders. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho.
They have four adult children and 14 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic
gardener.
Why did you start
writing romantic suspense novels? Donna: For years I wrote
historical novels—some romance and some including a crime—but I began to feel I
needed more to keep the pages turning, so since 2010 I have specialized in
mysteries, both contemporary and historical. I have kept the romance element
because love is such an important aspect of life and it can raise the stakes
when life is threatened.
In addition, I love working with contrasts—images of light
and dark, good and evil, joy and sorrow—romance and suspense add just those
elements to a story.
What’s the hardest
part of writing romantic suspense? Donna: For me the hardest part
of any writing is writing the first draft. I love the research phase. Rewriting
is such fun—I feel like a potter molding my clay. And polishing under the
direction of a good editor is a delight. But, oh, the rough draft can be painful.
Romantic suspense has the added challenge of trying to keep things in
balance—not to let the romance over-ride the suspense, but rather using it to
heighten the tension.
How do you research
ways to kill someone for your books? Donna: I mentioned above that I
love research. Because almost all of my books are set in Britain I form all of
my plots around places I have been or can manage to explore on my next research
trip. I try to let the setting dictate much of the plot—including the murder.
It’s an exciting moment for me when I’m standing in some remote, atmospheric location
and I realize how the crime was done. Of course, it’s best of all when my
research turns up a killing that actually happened there.
What’s the weirdest
way someone has died or been killed in your novels? Donna: An example of an historic
killing I discovered in my research was for A
Most Singular Venture where I use my experiences speaking at the Queens of
Crime Conference at London University. I learned of a dumpster hurtling from a
tower under construction and killing a university inspector…
Current book: The Shadow of Reality A mystery week high in the Rockies—perfect. And with the perfect man. Until
murder blurs the lines between reality and fiction.
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.