Author Nancy Wood is the author of the week for March 25! Her mystery/thriller, Due Date, is a book I enjoyed reading and am looking forward to her sequel in the Shelby McDougall series. Look to purchase on Solstice Publishing’s website or amazon.

Due Date blurb-

Surrogate mother Shelby McDougall just fell for the biggest con of all—a scam that risks her life and the lives of her unborn twins.

Twenty-three year-old Shelby McDougall is facing a mountain of student debt and a memory she’d just as soon forget. A Rolling Stone ad for a surrogate mother offers her a way to erase the loans and right her karmic place in the cosmos. Within a month, she’s signed a contract, relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and started fertility treatments.

But intended parents Jackson and Diane Entwistle have their own agenda—one that has nothing to do with diapers and lullabies. With her due date looming, and the clues piling up, Shelby must save herself and her twins. As she uses her wits to survive, Shelby learns the real meaning of the word “family.”

Nancy Wood’s first ever book is showing signs of being a huge success! I had a chance to interview Nancy to find out a little more about the up and coming author.

What is your favorite book? Favorite author?

I have a lot of favorite books in different genres, so it’s hard to pick. But one of my all-time favorites that I read and re-read when I was trying to figure out how to write crime fiction is a debut novel by Cornelia Read called Field of Darkness. This book was nominated for an Edgar for first novel about five years ago, I’m sure because of the sparkling writing and Ms. Read’s hilarious, scathing social commentary. I have to add that I love all of Gillian Flynn’s books—her books kept me glued to my seat. I’ve also read and re-read her books to try to figure out how in the heck she does it.

Who or what is your inspiration?

Since Due Date was published by Solstice Publishing in May of 2012, I have met so many people online, both readers and writers. I am awed by book bloggers who love to read and blog about what they’ve read. And I’m truly inspired by all the authors I’ve met. Dedicated folks who write just for the love of it. It’s uplifting.

What else do you have in the works for the future?

I’m currently working on the second book in the Shelby McDougall series. I finished the first draft, and am now starting the revision process. I’m figuring out where the story should start and how all the plot points will fit together!

What is your idea of a great vacation?

A week or two with my family, a stack of books, and no computer!

What is something your fans might not know about you?

I’m a motorcyclist. Later this spring, my husband and I will take our motorcycles (we both have BMW dual-sport bikes) to Utah for a week of riding, camping, and hiking. And I love to travel: now that our children are older, it’s a bit easier to get away!

Author Bio

Nancy lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her family, where she’s been lucky enough to make writing her career. For many years she made her living as a technical writer, working in software documentation. About six years ago, she set up her own shop and is now a writing consultant and contractor, happy to spend every day grappling with words and sentences.

Due Date is Nancy’s first published book and she’s now hard at work on the second book in the Shelby McDougall series.

Connect with Nancy here:

Website: www.nancywood-books.com

Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/NancyWoodAuthor

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6452303.Nancy_W_Wood

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NancyWoodAuthor

Fellow Solstice author, Carl Brush, is the featured author this week in my running blog about up and coming authors. Carl has had a successful start with his novel, The Second Vendetta, and looks forward to producing a prequel sometime this year.

The Second Vendetta

Not again.

It’s taken Andy Maxwell two years—1908-1910—to help his family recover from the vendetta that nearly killed his mother, burned their Sierra Nevada ranch house, and exhumed some long-buried family secrets—including the fact that his father was black. At last, Andy thinks, he can return to University of California and pursue his history doctorate in peace. Not so.

First of all, it turns out they don’t want a miscegenated mongrel in the Ph.D. program. Just when he’s enlisted the eminent San Francisco journalist, Ambrose Bierce, to help him attack that problem, it turns out that marauder who started all the trouble in the first place didn’t stay Shanghaied. Michael Yellow Squirrel is back for another try at eliminating every last Maxwell on earth. So much for school.

And then there’s the election.

Reform gubernatorial candidate Hiram Johnson wants him to run for the California legislature and help foil the railroad barons.

And then there are the women.

The debutante beauty and the Arapaho princess.

So, how is Andy Maxwell, going to deal with all these quandaries? The Second Vendetta answers that question and many more with a tale-telling style that pulls readers into the book and doesn’t let them go till they’ve turned the last page, wishing there were more yet to turn.

I had a moment for some quick questions-

What is your favorite book?

Waay too many to make a single choice.  Three that leap to mind are Absalom! Absalom!, The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, The Hummingbird’s daughter.

Favorite author?

Faulkner, Shakespeare, Erdrich, (et al)

Who or what is your inspiration?

I gravitate toward history, social justice, and mystery, of which my current release, The 2nd Vendetta, is a perfect example.  History because it tells us where we’ve been; social justice because it tells us where we ought to be and because I write best when I have something to be pissed off about; mystery because life is a process of figuring stuff out, never succeeding, getting pissed at the failure, then starting the search all over again.

What else do you have in the works for the future?

I’m working on (of course) a historical novel set in 1840′s-50′s San Francisco. Bonita’s the name of a young girl who comes of age during the gold rush. At twelve, she discovers she’s not who she thought she was and spends most of the book searching first for her parents, then for her lost daughter, conceived when she was raped. It’s a happier book than I’ve made it sound here. Draft should be finished this summer. Beyond that? Who knows? Depends on what pisses me off.

What is your idea of a great vacation?

We travel all over the place. We like to avoid tours and invent our own itinerary. It makes for unpredictability of events and people, just like writing a novel. There’s no adventure in having everything figured out before you start. We’re generally no good at parking our butts on a beach for extended periods.

What is something your fans might not know about you?

My fans? Oh, yeah both of them. They keep asking me about that one time … but since I swore I’d never tell what really happened, I’ll have to go with the fact that I once sang with Pavarotti at a recital. An Aria from La Traviata. (Please don’t reveal that the other thousand people in the theater were singing as well. Kind of pulls the rug out, if you know what I mean.)

Carl Brush has been writing since he could write, which is quite a long time now. His historical thriller, The Second Vendetta, has just been released by Solstice Publishing, and a prequel, The Maxwell Vendetta,is scheduled for release by Solstice in early 2013.

Journals in which his work has appeared include, The Summerset Review, Right Hand POinting, Blazevox, Storyglossia, Feathertale, and The Kiss Machine. He has participated in the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Tin House Writers’ Workshop.

Carl lives with his wife in Oakland, California, where he enjoys the blessings of nearby children and grandchildren.

Michael Thal and I have visited many times back and forth, sharing our love of YA books and children of all ages. Here are a few snippets of Michael’s books and some more information about this new author!

The Legend of Koolura

The Legend of Koolura shows the metamorphosis of a pre-teen girl with extraordinary psychic powers overcoming a stalker bent on her destruction.

It’s a middle grade novel about a sixth grade Armenian girl and how she obtained the cool powers.  She has the ability to dematerialize at will and reappear where she chooses. She can move objects with her mind and she can even defy gravity! But will these powers be of any use in stopping a stalker intent on her destruction? This degenerate is determined to retrieve Koolura’s unrealized cool powers and hurt any of her friends who get into his way.

As the hour approaches for Koolura’s final confrontation with her nemesis, she may finally find vengeance to the man who killed her mother.

Goodbye Tchaikovsky- (Won honorable mention for his publisher)

A violin virtuoso is plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to a new culture and language in order to survive.

David Rothman is an overnight success. He performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with rave reviews attracting the attention of the Queen of England. His future is laid out for him like a well-lit freeway. Then, on his twelfth birthday, David suffers from an irreparable hearing loss, plunging him into a silent world.

How will David communicate with his friends? What about school? Where does his future lie? The novel shows how an adolescent boy copes with deafness.

Author Bio

Michael L. Thal, an accomplished freelancer, is the author of The Legend of Koolura and Goodbye Tchaikovsky. He has written and published over eighty articles for magazines and newspapers including Highlights for Children, The Los Angeles Times, and San Diego Family Magazine. You can learn more about him at www.michaelthal.com.

Michael lives in Sherman Oaks, CA. He’s the proud father of two adult daughters, Channie and Koren, and the grandfather of Arielle. You can reach him at michaelthal@sbcglobal.net.

 What are you working on right now?

Currently, I’m working on the third installment of the Koolura series. Last fall Solstice Publishing accepted Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback for publication. It is set in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara, CA. the summer after The Legend of Koolura ended. Here Koolura makes friends with a rock star, a deaf girl, and almost gets herself killed by a jealous admirer. The third installment, Koolura and the Mayans, was just started a few months ago, so I am not sure where it will finally go.

What do you love best about writing? 

I love the freedom writing gives me. I taught public school for 28 years. I had to be at work before 8:00 AM and usually stayed preparing lessons and grading papers until 5:00. Now I can wake up when I choose and work the hours I want.  Though the writing process can be grueling, once a chapter or article is written the feeling of accomplishment is unparalleled.

Who is your favorite author and what is your favorite book? 

My favorite author is Stuart Woods who writes a series of books about a lawyer named Stone Barrington. I think I’ve read most of those novels and gobble up the new ones as soon as they are published.

Who or what inspires you? 

Inspiration comes from many different corners of my life. For example, my novel, Goodbye Tchaikovsky, was inspired by the ordeal I lived through after I awoke one morning deaf. Doctors diagnosed my hearing loss was caused by a virus. Years after, I wrote the story of David Rothman, a violin prodigy who lost all of his hearing. My daughter, Channie, inspired The Legend of Koolura. When she was in sixth grade she decided she didn’t like to read. I asked her, “If I write about a super cool girl your age, would you read that book?” She agreed. The book was finally published 15 years later when my little girl had a daughter of her own. And guess what? Channie read the book.

What genre is your favorite to write? 

I enjoy writing middle grade novels and YA books probably because I taught that age group for so many years and understand what they like in a good book.

What is one thing your readers might not know about you?

I’m fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). After my doctor told me my hearing loss was progressive, I enrolled in ASL classes. Knowledge of the language of the deaf makes me feel in control of my hearing loss. Also, at parties, since I rarely know what people are talking about, some will ask me to show them a few signs. That’s always a lot of fun and helps me to get to meet new people.

Visit Michael Thal @ http://www.michaelthal.com