About the Book

Title: To Complicate Matters

Author: Linda Widrick

Series: Ponder This

Blurb: 

Angelica Dunn, baker extraordinaire, is weary of living from one pie season to another. When she slips on the floor under a bucket of custard crème, a handsome stranger comes to her rescue. Instantly, she’s smitten. 

CIA agent, Thaddeus Wright, is drawn to the dimple-cheeked beauty. He adores Angelica’s spunk and the fact that she isn’t pushy like other women. But, how can he tell her he’s not the computer repairman that she assumes he is?

To complicate matters, Angelica mistakenly leaves a message on Thadd’s home phone. To what lengths will she go to intercept the embarrassing evidence that’s certain to squelch all hope of a future with Mr. Wright?

A comedy of errors and ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time catapults Angelica into a battle between right and wrong.

Will Angelica choose to do what’s right, even when things get complicated?

About the Author

Linda Widrick is a freelance writer and self-proclaimed pantser who works well under pressure and excels when she binge writes.  A graduate of Long Ridge Writer’s Group, Linda’s first novel Through a Shattered Image [Pelican Book Group] was released in 2017.    

Linda pulls her inspiration for stories from snippets of everyday life.  She enjoys kayaking, traveling, treasure hunting, and connecting with family and friends over a good, strong cup of coffee.  Linda is an active director on a mission board that reaches out to the needy and lost in third world countries.  She and her husband, Keith, enjoy vacationing on their property in the Tug Hill region of upstate New York, the setting for much of her first novel.   Linda lives in southwest Florida where she is an executive assistant by day and a writer by night.  For more info, you may visit her at www.LindaWidrick.com.

Author Interview

Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?

I am a part time writer.  My full time job takes precedent over my schedule.  Binge writing on the weekend works best for me. When I have a deadline, everything gets shifted.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?

In To Complicate Matters, my heroine’s character is based on a living, breathing person who is very dear to me. But the storyline is purely fictional.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?

Absolutely.  I write by the seat of my pants. As I sit down to write, a scene will unfold and I just let it happen.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Great question, and yes, I do.  Who doesn’t like a good cameo?  In my first book, Through a Shattered Image, my mother-in-law showed up in a scene. In To Complicate Matters, there are several secrets that I imagine a handful of people will pick up on.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Start early and dive in all the way. What do you have to lose?   Think it’s too late? It’s not. Start now!

Giveaway

Grand prize: Two people will receive a framed print of Philippians 4:8 designed by CreativeSteph13 Art, and framed in an acrylic freestanding frame. Size 5x7.

1st place: Five winners will receive the entire series—all eight stories—in the e-format of their choice.

https://promosimple.com/ps/fa94/ponder-this-series-scavenger-hunt

Taming the Captain by Beatrice Ballentine

Today’s interview is with certified truck driver and indie writer Beatrice Ballentine.

LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself. 

BB: I have been a writer for as long as I can remember. Still, I  spent a fair amount of my adult years raising a very young family, while supporting my husband in our small family businesses. (Fun fact: I was a certified tow truck driver when our daughter and her twin brother and sister were all under the age of four). We live in a pretty rural area, so we always joke you better be willing to do whatever is legally possible to provide for your family.

While I wrote during these years, I never really grasped the possibility of self-publishing, and I was too impatient (and probably too controlling), to entertain the notion of going the traditional route. As the years passed, and we paid off our home, etc., I felt it was my turn to focus not only on my passion of writing but to figure out the beast of self-publishing and marketing. It has been an incredible journey, and now that our youngest children are in their teens, I have large chunks of time to devote to this endeavor consistently.

LQ: What does your writing process look like?

BB: I am a pantser. I have a vague notion of the beginning, middle, and end when I begin writing, and a grasp of who I want my protagonist and who or what I want the antagonist to be. Other than that, I love seeing the story and character depth unfold late at night, or the wee hours of the morning. This method does, at times, lead me down dead ends, …but not usually.  

LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?

BB: I have a lot of unpublished works, mostly comedy, surprisingly. I do enjoy sharing a lot of that with family. Sometimes I will look back on material I wrote and, having forgotten I wrote it at all in the first place, get a little tickle from re-reading. I get a lot more enjoyment from writing romance. I would have to say my favorite, so far, is my WIP, which is book 2, behind Taming the Captain.

LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about? 

BB: I like the strong leading man. I like testing him, watching him grow as a person, and I love writing in little details that remove him from the typical “alphahole.” Leading men are enjoyable to write if they have a bit of a soft side.

LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?

BB: My favorites as an adult are Jane Austen, The Bronte Sisters, Winsten Graham, James F. Cooper, to name a few.

During the early 80’s, when I was a teen/pre-teen,  a lot of what was available to me at home, came in the form of jacking my aunt and mother’s bodice rippers. Looking back on some of the titles as an adult, I shudder to think now, of my 13ish something daughter, (or any age) reading book after book of forced sex, slave sex, etc., wrapped in the packaging of romance. To be fair to my mother, she did not know I was stealing and reading her books.

Basically, all I recall from those editions was the “fight like hell and then have hot sex, or a young, beautiful virgin is forced to have sex by the “hero,” and then falls in love with him and vice versa and later they get married.

Regardless, I was young, and the seed for romance novels, the beautiful covers, etc. was planted. Taming the Captain is ironically being reviewed positively as a “modern-day bodice ripper,” (Melissa, Probably at the Library, 2020), The storyline is based on a strong female who is not into taking shit from the charismatic captain. Still, there is also a lot of tenderness, depth of character, adventure, and a good, passionate burn that leads to steamy, consensual sex. Nothing will turn me off faster to a romance novel than a storyline where all the hero and heroine do is bicker and fight, and then have hot sex. So perhaps, inadvertently, my writing is partially influenced by all these authors? You would have to ask my readers. ; ) 

LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic? 

BB: I am an introvert by nature. I love being at home with my family, cooking, hiking, writing. I love people, but social situations can be a bit of a struggle for me, especially if there are a lot of people involved. I do have a few worries about some of our community members, family members, etc. who would struggle greatly if they caught COVID-19, but the social distancing aspect of the virus has not changed my life much.

LQ: What are you currently working on?

BB: I am putting the finishing touches on Even Captains Cry. It is the follow-up book to Taming the Captain which was released in February. “Even Captains Cry” has been a lot of fun to write. Without giving away any spoilers, we see the ever hot and ready Anthony completely out of his element and struggling in ways he never knew possible, but I promise a happy ending. ; ) The book is due for release mid to late June of this year.

LQ: Anything else you would like to share? 

BB: I love interacting with readers, writers, book bloggers, etc. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @BeatriceBallen3.

Escape from Ronwyn by Mary Eggert

Today’s interview is with physical therapist, mom, and writer, Mary Eggert

LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself. 

ME: I work part-time as a physical therapist in a community hospital. I’m currently off in this time of pandemics to care for my 2 kids, but I dearly love my job. I typically meet people on one of their worst days – because no one ends up in the hospital on a good day – and I get to come in and make a plan with them for how we’re going to do better. How do we get them moving again? How do we work around whatever limitation they have? What’s the next step to best get them back to their baseline? I’m sure while most people think of PTs as “Physical Terrorists,” I still view my role as filled with so much joy and the possibility for what can still be ahead for them. It’s great.

I’m married to an astoundingly wonderful and patient man, and we have two kids and two dogs together. It’s alarmingly ideal. He has been one of my biggest supporters to go from writing as a hobby to being a writer who now prioritizes time to write or edit regularly and now I actually have a published book! I could not have done it without the confidence and support from him. I’m sure other moms can appreciate it, it’s really hard to carve that time out when there’s always more laundry, someone needs a snack, they’ve lost their best-stuffed friend, or there’s an emergency art project that must be completed immediately!

LQ: What does your writing process look like?

ME: I am in the process of working on a series. I have the first book recently published, and drafts on the next five in various stages.

I start out with notes for where the story arc is going broadly, then I break that up into the details of what that means for the next 4-6 chapters I’m writing specifically. I have two kids 5 and under at home, so I find if I don’t write down my good inspirational ideas when they hit… well, there’s no telling when the time to write and the right ideas might actually meet face to face.

Best case scenario, I get my notes down for the next section I’m writing, then block off 4 hours or so and bang out as much of that as I can. If I hit writer’s block, sometimes I’ll take a week off if it’s really bad and honestly, doing a puzzle is my best cure to clear my head and solve the problem, but mostly I’ll just try and bludgeon through the section I’m stuck on and come back to it in edits.

I find if I get stuck in one spot too long, I’m more annoyed because I’m delayed from getting the really cool part that comes next. (The next part is ALWAYS really cool. It’s a writing fact.) so I just do what I can to get through, then enjoy what I’m writing again, and fix it in the edits. Usually moving on helps me to look back and see what’s missing.

LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?

ME: Book 4 of the series is my favorite. That seems like a cruel thing to say when only book 1 is out, but you’ve had a chance to really see some character growth and get invested in the choices they’re making – a lot of really fun things happen in the plot, and a couple of the characters are pushed outside their comfort zone to great effect.

I feel like as an author, it’s a very proud mama moment, and as a reader, it’s very satisfying to see the character arcs. There’s a new character introduced in this book also who is just so fun and fascinating.  

LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?

 ME: It’s like asking which child I prefer more!

That said, I do think I prefer to write about Cedric. He has a rough past, and his character is a lot of bravado and humor on the surface. There is no situation where he won’t be making a joke about the circumstances. He keeps things light when they’re not, and it’s fun to write that in. It’s also satisfying to see him grow and make peace with events from his past and learn to find forgiveness, whether that’s from another or from himself. He’s probably my favorite because he has so much depth, but he’s also such a force for levity.

LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?

ME: I love Madeleine L’Engle. I’ve read her books as a child, a teenager, and an adult and I find different pieces in them at different ages. It’s positively witchcraft the way she packs so much meaning and so many layers into what is happening in her works without reaching some war and peace type page count.

Anne Bishop is another favorite. The Black Jewels trilogy remains a favorite of mine. It’s unafraid to be dark, it is not hiding anything in the shadows – it really takes you in and gives identity to so many emotions and traumas and offers both permission for some aspects and redemption for others. Her worlds are rich and full-throated and completely draw me in that by the time I’m done, I feel as if I’ve lived there for a time.

I love authors that can pull me in so deeply, I’ve forgotten I’m reading, that I’ve forgotten I’m not one of these characters. I want to think back on their crucial moments as formative moments of my own because they are! I think that’s what stands out about both of these authors – while wildly different, their characters are so fully formed, with vulnerabilities and strengths – no one is purely good and infallible, and even the villains have sympathetic strains, and the worlds their novels exist within are fully built.

They’ve invested in figuring out the background. I don’t have to know every detail of the history, but they put enough in the novels that the author clearly does, which means there is a timeframe, a history, and a cohesive background to help support the world the characters are inhabiting.

How are you doing during the current pandemic? We are very fortunate that we’re all still healthy, we have access to any food or supplies we need, and all of my complaints are a complete privilege. That said – I miss school and daycare. I’ve had to take a sabbatical from work to be home with the kids. Having my 2 and 5-year-old at home 24/7 now has been an adjustment for us all. My daughter can tell you that I’m not quite as good a teacher as hers normally is. My writing time is significantly diminished, which makes me cranky. However, a cranky momma is far less bad than an unsupervised 2-year-old. (He’s tall. It’s a problem. His reach exceeds his wisdom in a very literal way.) 

Mary Eggert

LQ: What are you currently working on?

ME: I am doing a final edit on Book 2 of my series, the Queen Reborn. I just published my first novel at the end of March – Escape from Ronwyn, the first book in the series, and am hoping to have the second one, Hands Over Hearts, out shortly.

I will admit, my editing has been slower than I hoped [see children at home] but it’s coming along. Once that’s done, I’ve been percolating on some ideas for where I left off my book 6 draft. Then it’ll be a final edit on book 3. Jumping between them gives me the distance I need to have fresh eyes again when I look at one for an edit. 

LQ: Anything else you would like to share?

 ME: Writing has been such a gift to me. Each character gives me a new way to process the world. They each see the world in such a different way, so seeing how they all react to circumstances, and for better or for worse figure it out and move forward – it helps me to reflect on my own situation.

In this crazy time of pandemics when the self-isolation exacerbates our own internal doubts and fears, as well as some very real external ones at times, I think how lucky I am to have an outlet to work through my own emotions and escape into someone else’s adventure for a time.

Escape from Ronwyn – Book 1 of the Queen Rebown Series is available on Amazon now – please check it out, join me on this journey with these lovely characters. Book 2 won’t be far behind. And is now officially brought to you by Nap Time.