Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Wednesday Writer ~ Anna del C. Dye


Anna del C. Dye is the author of The Silent Warrior Trilogy, a high fantasy saga loved by many. She enjoys helping other authors with reviews and with tips of how to promote their work. A native of Chile, she doesn’t let the fact that English is her second language slow down her vivid imagination. She loves everything medieval, ruins, romantic music, live plays, sewing, and camping. Most of all she loves her beloved husband who is responsible for her becoming an author. Now enter the fantasy world of Anna del C. Dye…

CRW:  Welcome to Writers Mirror Anna.  What inspires you to write?

Anna:  What doesn’t? as my husband put it. My own life lessons and some amazing people I know.

CRW:  Do you try to write daily, and if so, do you set a goal of a certain number of words?

Anna:  No, since my first book was published I spend a minimum of 8 hours a day promoting my work. I write when I can.

CRW:  Wow! Eight hours a day promoting. That is amazing.  So I am afraid to ask my next question, but here goes anyway.  What gets in your way of writing?

Anna:  Promoting, it takes a lot of my time. It is a horrible monster but a very necessary one.

CRW:  How do you get past it?

Anna:  No quite there yet… if that’s possible? We do go camping and that helps with the writing. No internet, no door bell, no church meetings, no phone, no kids, you get the point.

CRW: Sounds like you are very dedicated and realize many of the sacrifices a writer makes. What makes you CRAZY about writing?

Anna:  Being interrupted by the phone or dinner when I am most inspired.

CRW:  How long does it take you to complete a book?

Anna:  Set it to the computer from beginning to end… about three months. To have it ready for publication take about two years. Except my last one, I started nine months ago and it’s not finished yet.

CRW:  Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Anna:  Many places. Tolkien inspired my YA Elf Series. My Princess Series, a YA medieval romance series, is inspired by many things.
          After I watched the musical Aida I wrote “A Kingdom by the Sea.” After I met a young elder who looked like he was made out of gold I wrote, “The Golden Princess.” I visited Disney World in Florida a couple of times and wrote “Princess Magnolia.” They have beautiful Magnolia trees there and I chose flower names for her ladies-in-waiting.

CRW:  Where do you get your character’s names?

Anna:  Invent them, mostly on the spur of the moment. Many come to me with the story. I have been complimented by my fans for the names of my characters many times.

CRW:  What is your favorite writing food?

Anna:  Grapes, they are easy to grab and pop into your mouth before is time for the next idea and have low calories.

CRW:  Why are you a writer?

Anna:  I have tooooo much imagination and my husband said I better use it in books before I drive him insane. Love the stories… and love him, too.

CRW:  Glad you added the last few words. Wise woman. Who do you hope reads your work?

Anna:  Teens in trouble, anyone who need a boost of self-esteem or a reason to believe in themselves.

CRW:  What would be the best complement you could receive from a fan?

Anna:  That my books have inspired them to change their lives for the better.

CRW:  What is the topic of the project you are currently working on?

Anna:  “Curse of the Elfs.” The first elf book after the trilogy is undergoing the last revisions right now. Its underlying theme is trust. It will be published next year.

CRW:  Please tell us more about it.

Anna:  The book starts with war threatening in the southlands and the elfs go to help mankind rid themselves of this menace. By the time they are done with the threat the elfs have lost many of their kind, including their beloved commander and his mankind wife. (It is a rare case in which an elf has chosen a mankind woman for his eternal companion.) It continues nineteen years later when the elfs discover a new threat to their race, this time more powerful than a war. They are under the spell of a dead wizard and have been dying slowly for the past twenty years. The elfs are baffled for they are great healers; notwithstanding this fact, they can’t figure out what is killing them. Once they identify the cause of the problem, they know what to do. Their only hope of a cure is in the form of a man whom they not only have to find but also know nothing about, except that he is a servant to royalties. To find him before their gentle and beautiful race disappears is their desperate quest.

CRW:  Sounds fabulous. Where can our readers go to buy your books?

Anna:  My website http://www.annadelc.com
           Amazon.com
           Barnes&noble.com

CRW:  Here are three of Anna's books now available.

"The Silent Warrior Trilogy"



CRW:  Thank you Anna for sharing this with us.

Anna:  It was my pleasure.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Wednesday Writer ~ Heather Justesen

Heather Justesen is an Award Winning LDS Writer and Author of
"The Ball's in Her Court" coming out October 2009
Heather Justesen is an LDS author, business owner, volunteer-EMT, puppy mama, (not to mention the cats, fish, chickens and other assorted poultry), whose much-neglected hobbies number almost as many as her pets. Her love of books started long before she could read, so she was the only one surprised when she started to write stories of her own. Once she started writing, she found she could no longer let the stories stay in her head--she had to get them on paper. Her second book is slated for publication summer of 2010.

CRW:  Welcome to Writers Wednesday on Writers Mirror. What inspires you to write Heather?

Heather:  Different things. Sometimes I hear something in the news, sometimes I have an odd idea in a dream--though that's never led to a salable idea yet, the idea was fun to play with anyway. Sometime I overhear things down town or at the mall. Someone says something and my brain begins to whirl. A few times I've heard a sentence and then run home to write a scene around it for one of my many, many partially finished books.

CRW:  What gets in your way of writing?

Heather:  The Internet, and my voracious need to read everything in sight. Oh, and real-life things like dishes and laundry, and keeping the house sort-of presentable so when unexpected computer clients stop to drop off their machines, I don't have to keep the door opened only to a crack. Thank goodness you can't see much of the kitchen from the front room.

CRW:  How do you get past it?

Heather:  I've actually had my husband disable the wireless signal to my laptop a couple of times so I don't get tempted to check out someone's blog or see who has updated their Facebook status. Otherwise deadlines seem to help--my critique group is excellent for that (and so many other things) because I *have* to have a new chapter to bring each week, so I can't get too distracted. As for the housework--I just try and avoid it as much as possible. It may not go away, but hey, if I sweep the kitchen floor today, it's going to need it again soon anyway, and waiting is more efficient--right?

CRW:  I like your ideas on house cleaning. I have my morning routine of everyday chores, then I do three to seven loads of wash and one extra chore or project each day. I am able to pretty much stay on top of the house, but I like your way better.  Now, back to writing.  Do you try to write daily, and if so, do you set a goal of a certain number of words?

Heather:  My schedule is really irregular so I just try and work around the edges. Some days I don't have time to do more than glance at my email and others I have six hours straight to work on whatever's eating at me the most. I'm an EMT so I've learned when I take a long patient transfer I bring my laptop so I can work on the way home. The back of an empty ambulance is actually a pretty good place for me to work since there aren't any distractions.

CRW:  Wow!  I have to say, you take the award for the most unusual place to write.  What makes you CRAZY about writing?

Heather:  Editing. Getting almost to the end of the book and realizing that I dropped a storyline or that I've put too much emphasis on one angle and not enough on another and so the emphasis is off. I also HATE getting critiques back from my trusted writing friends because they always find the holes in what I thought was a well-crafted story.And, they're almost always right.
     I also hate when I'm working on book A and storyline E starts picking at me--I know I can't do more than make a few notes on storyline E, I have deadlines now, and I actually do have to finish mostly-written books A, B, C, and D before I can focus on E. I mean, honestly, can't they wait? The answer to that is, of course, no, so I find myself writing a scene here and there on C, D, or E when I really need to get back and finish up A.

CRW:  I do the same thing. A character in one book nags at me until I write just enough to get he/she/it off my back, then get back to my  main project.  Heather, how long does it take you to complete a book?

Heather:  That varies significantly. The very first book I ever finished only took five weeks for the first draft. Of course, it has since undergone about four major rewrites and may still never see the light of day again, but it felt good to know I could do that. I was living in a hotel while we waited for our house to finish getting built, though, so there were very few distractions. I've had some take me literally years of rewrites, but mostly now I look about five months for the first draft and two to three months of edits, interspersed with long periods between versions while others critique and I put off editing. =) Of course, if I could get the other stories to leave me alone, I could probably do that a lot faster!

CRW:  Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Heather:  Some from life experiences, the news, talking to friends. A lot of times I start with a general plot idea, and then after I write a bit I start to try and figure out more about the main players and their lives. I call my friend Danyelle and we brain storm for hours. She comes up with primo complications later in the books when mine all start to run out.

CRW:  Where do you get your character’s names?

Heather:  Most of the time I go to babynames.com and scan names until I find a few I like, but I have some characters I've named after friends and family. I find I tend to use the same names over and over. A couple of years ago I was going through several nearly-finished manuscripts and realized I'd used one particular name like six times--and never was that character a particularly well-loved one. I'm really not sure how that happened since I know several people by that name, and they're all pretty nice.

CRW:  What is your favorite writing food?

Heather:  I actually don't eat much when I write. I like popcorn (totally plain right from the air popper), jordan almonds, crackers, well, almost any kind of finger food. It's hard, though, to have two hands on the keyboard if you're trying to eat. Of course, if I ate a whole lot more plain popcorn, and a whole lot less of that cake I baked just so I'd have an excuse to decorate it, I'd probably be a lot better off--and so would my hips.

CRW:  Why are you a writer?

Heather:  How can I not write? Since I was a little girl my imagination has been one of my best friends. I read like a demon, which of course, made me a backward, socially inept youth, which led to more reading and more living in my head. About ten years ago I finally decided to put one of those stories from my brain onto paper. From there on out there was no quitting. I've taken breaks to read voraciously for months, or in some cases even watch movies like crazy while I worked on my much-neglected hobbies, but I've never been able to excise storytelling from my blood.

CRW:  Who do you hope reads your work?

Heather:  This first book"The Ball's in Her Court," is about a woman's journey to find her birth family, and to find herself and her own self worth in some ways. I hope that anyone who struggles with those kinds of issues will read it, or friends and family of adoptees who want to search will consider that there are many sides to every story. I seem to have a lot of themes of family and family relationships because there's nothing more important out there. And of course I love a sweet, clean romance, so I really try to deliver that as well.

CRW:  What would be the best complement you could receive from a fan?

Heather:  "I stayed up until 2 AM to finish it because I couldn't put it down!" That would be high praise indeed. Though, actually, I hope someday to get a compliment that will blow even that one out of contention.

CRW:  Heather please tell us about your book that is coming out soon.

Heather:  My first book is about a woman who was abused and neglected as a child, then put into the foster care system. Several years, and various placements later she was adopted by a family when she was twelve. The book is about her as an adult and the journey toward reunion with the birth family she never knew in order to put to rest the memories that still haunt her. And, of course, she falls in love, because it wouldn't be much of a romance without that very important angle.

CRW:  Do you have another project you are currently working on?

Heather:  Which one? =) Aside from "Rebound" which is being released next summer, I have third one I'm working on final edits, and a fourth one that I'm just writing the ending for--and they're all different.
     I'm just finishing up a story of a woman who marries her best friend so he will be able to gain custody of his recently-orphaned niece and nephew. When his unit gets called up by the marines, she's left trying to juggle single parenthood, her career--in which strange things start to happen--and her growing love for her friend.

CRW:  Sounds interesting. Please tell us more about it.

Heather:  Rena is a thirty-one-year-old single woman who is past ready to settle down, but her only real option is the very pleasant man she's been dating all summer. Her non-option is her close friend Tucker--who is completely delicious (the female members of my critique group agree with me on that, so it must be true). Though Tucker is, in many ways, her ideal, their assorted romances with other people have always managed to keep them apart. Until now--when two children obliterate the careful protection they've formed around their friendship.

CRW:  Great story. I look forward to it and your other books.  May I list your website or blog site?

Heather:  Of course! My website: http://www.heatherjustesen.com/. My catch-all blog http://www.heatherjustesen.blogspot.com/ then I recently started a new blog that I post to daily called Clean Books for LDS Families http://www.cleanbooksforldsfamilies.blogspot.com/ It has a Facebook fan page I post the blog up to also. In a world where even childrens' books are getting questionable, I thought it would be great to have a list people could trust. I've had lots of support from other writers already and look forward to seeing what it can become.

CRW:  Great goals Heather.  My motto is the world needs more wholesome voices.  I appreciate you taking your time to visit with us here on Writers Mirror.  Good luck, and keep at it!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Wednesday Writer ~ Joan Sowards

Joan Sowards is more than a writer of stories,
she is also a writer of music.
Please enjoy reading about this very talented lady.


CRW:  What book do you have coming out soon?

Joan: "Haunts Haven", an LDS Ghost Story (Walnut Springs Press) is my first published novel. It is a romance about a young woman who inherits a hacienda inn that has been boarded up for over fifty years and the ghost who guards it. "Haunts Haven" will soon make its debut in a store near you.

CRW:  Very exciting Joan!  Please tell us about some of your other published works.

Joan:  My short story “The Last Gift of Christmas” appeared in Covenant Communications’ 1996 book, "A Merry Little Christmas". Spring Creek published LDS Word Puzzles.

CRW:  I understand you write music and offer it FREE to anyone. Is that right?

Joan:  Yes, I have maintained a free LDS sheet music website for many years at:
 http://joansowards.com/ that offers music for all church occasions, especially Young Women, including a song for the yearly theme.

CRW:  What inspires you to write?

Joan:  Any little idea. Each of my novels were sparked by one idea that someone presented—and each idea kept working on me until I had a plot. Jeni Grossman taught an ANWA writer's workshop about using newspaper photos and articles to get writing ideas, which led me to write "Haunts Haven".

CRW:  What gets in your way of writing?

Joan: Life. There’s always something going on in the family, but now that my children are grown, I have a little more free time and I spend a lot of it writing. So often, I settle into writing and the grandkids come over, and who can resist grandkids? Not me.

CRW: How do you get past it?

Joan:  Write when no one is wanting my attention.

CRW:  Do you try to write daily, and if so, do you set a goal of a certain number of words?

Joan:  I write daily, and sometimes I will set a word number goal if I’m trying to get something done. Writing isn’t number one, though. My family and husband get first priority.

CRW:  Good for you.  What makes you CRAZY about writing?

Joan:  Plots. I love developing plots and subplots. I stick with it until it’s done, and usually will finish one novel before beginning the next.

CRW:  Wow, that is impressive. I have so many voices, oops, I mean characters in my head that I have to write about them or I can't move on with my current main project. I have at least fifteen works in progress going on right now. Joan, how long does it take you to complete a book?

Joan:  It varies. "Haunts Haven" was written in a few months. One of my favorite novels, "We Have Seen His Star," took three months, and that was writing all day, every day. I started "Chocolate Roses" a year and a half ago and had to set it aside (an exception to sticking with it till it’s finished) because I didn’t have the story to connect the beginning with the end. After a lot of pondering, brainstorming with hubby, and prayer, I picked it up again, and it all fell together.

CRW:  Where did you get your idea for "Haunts Haven"?

Joan:  In Jeni Grossman’s class, she handed me an article about ghosts that haunted old southern Arizona inns. She told us to ask, “What if?” So, I wondered what would happen if an unsuspecting young woman inherited one of those haunted inns, ghost and all. Haunts Haven blossomed from there.

CRW:  Where do you get your character’s names?

Joan:  I choose names that I feel the character wants—and they are sometimes quirky. After Walnut Springs Press decided to publish "Haunts Haven", they asked me to change three main characters’ names. They thought they were old fashioned or too odd. So, "Haunts Haven" is now the same cast, but new names.
          I recently met a woman whose name is Cricket. I asked her if her parents had given her that name, and she told me that in high school there were five other girls with her real name, and that the principle told them to each pick a nickname. That night, I went home and changed the name of a supporting character in Chocolate Roses (she had a hiccupping problem) to Cricket, and also gave her the woman’s name-change story.

CRW:  Cricket, what a fun name. What is your favorite writing food?

Joan:  Sorry, I don’t eat while writing. I look at taking snack breaks as the way of getting my blood moving from sitting so long. I can sit and write all day, so I have to force myself to get up and move. Food is the motivator.

CRW:  Why are you a writer?

Joan:  Only because I love it. I’m not a master at the English language like some of my favorite authors, but I love to tell a story, work out subplots, weave it all together in a tapestry. It is very fulfilling.

CRW:  Who do you hope reads your work?

Joan:  Everybody! Everyone who loves an adventure. "Haunts Haven" is set in a tiny town in southern Arizona where everybody’s business is everybody’s business, small town politics prevail, and romance still happens. I think everyone—young and old—can find something to relate to in "Haunts Haven". A reader who dreams of restoring old houses can relate to Callie inheriting an old hotel and fixing it up. Along with the inn, she inherits a ghost—and everyone loves a ghost story. And for the romantic, Callie falls for a local cowboy and is also befriended by a unmarried, attractive rancher who is willing to stand with her against the ghost.

CRW:  I am going to love it. I love scheming and fixing up houses, especially old ones. And who can pass up a good clean romance?  What would be the best complement you could receive from a fan?

Joan:  “I can’t wait for the sequel!” or “Your stories are so fun!” How about “Please send me 30 copies to send to my friends and relatives for Christmas—I loved it that much.”

CRW:  Agreed! What is the topic of the project you are currently working on?

Joan:  I just finished Chocolate Roses, an LDS Jane Eyre parody.

CRW:  Please tell us more about it.

Joan:  Rose Whitaker co-owns a chocolate stop in Tempe, Arizona and has developed a crush on a customer who comes into her store every Tuesday morning. He never pays attention to her, but unwittingly moves into her housing complex, bringing with him his four year old daughter. Rose is pulled into their complicated lives and the story goes from there.

CRW:  Sounds like another great story to look forward to. Joan, I thank you for taking the time to be interviewed and wish you great success in all your writing.

For more information on Joan please check out:
http://www.joansowards.blogspot.com/
(music) http://www.joansowards.com/

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday Writer ~ Joyce DiPastena

Writers Mirror interviewed Joyce DiPastena
Writer of mystery, adventure and
 "sweet" romance in the Middle Ages


(CRW is Cindy R. Williams)

CRW:  Thanks Joyce for being with us here on Writers Mirror.
How many books have you written?

Joyce:  Well, I've written 5 and am working on a 6th, but only two of my books are published so far.

CRW: I just happen to have cover pictures of those two published books.

CRW:  What inspires you to write?

Joyce:  Reading, both fiction or medieval history books, will often get me in the mood to write.

CRW:  What gets in your way of writing?

Joyce:  Time restraints, but I think mostly my own insecurities and self-doubts. It's so much easier to do ANYTHING else than sit down at the computer and confront the little voice in my head that says, "You, a writer? I dare you to think of something to write today!" And the fear that it's right...I won't be able to think of something, which in my head translates into "failure!"

CRW: How do you get past it?

Joyce:  The only way to get past it is to sit down and write anyway. Even if I only type out a handful of words and I hate every one of them. I just have to keep telling myself while I'm fighting through a tough writing session today, "Tomorrow will be better", and usually (not always, but usually), tomorrow is.

CRW:  Do you try to write daily, and if so, do you set a goal of a certain number of words?

Joyce:  No, I don't use word goals, I use time goals to keep me on track instead. I set a timer for, let's say, an hour and tell myself I can't do anything else but sit at the computer and work on my writing until the timer goes off. I can't play any computer games, I can't play on the internet (I bought a laptop that's not connected to the internet so I can do this in a completely different room of the house where email and the internet can't tempt me), I can't go get a snack, I basically can't even get out of my chair until the timer goes off. My only two choices are to stare at the computer screen for an hour or write something on my novel. Actually, that kind of takes the pressure off me a little. If I'm really struggling to write, I can tell myself, "You don't have to write, you just have to sit here in front of your computer for an hour. If you don't want to write you don't have to, but you do have to sit here and stare at this screen until the timer goes off." Usually, simple boredom will eventually drive me to write SOMETHING. It's very, very rare that I don't end up typing at least a handful of words, which is always better than no words at all!

CRW:  What makes you CRAZY about writing?

Joyce:  Do you mean what drives me CRAZY or what makes me CRAZY to write! I just picked up a plaque at Target yesterday (which won't be yesterday by the time you post this, but you get the point) that says: "I live in my own little world, but it's OK. They know me here." I guess that kind of sums up how I feel about my writing. When my writing is really going well, it's like losing myself inside a world where I'm spending time with friends. And what can be a better feeling than spending time with friends?

CRW:  How long does it take you to complete a book?

Joyce:  Oh, don't ask me that! My first two (non-published) books took me 6 years each...and that was just for the rough draft! Loyalty's Web took me maybe three, and Illuminations of the Heart might have taken me two, but again, that was for a first draft. Because it took me so long to find a publisher for Loyalty's Web and Illuminations, both of the books ultimately went through many, many revisions and polishings before Leatherwood/Walnut Springs Press finally picked them up. So judging from my past track record, how long it'll take me to write my next book is anyone's guess!

CRW:  Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Joyce:  My first book (the one I wrote way back in college) kind of came in reaction to some romances I had been reading back then. It seemed like I'd read several romances where the hero appeared to be of a lower social class than the heroine, but in the end, he turned out to be a prince or a duke or something. I thought to myself, "So what would happen if the hero turned out to be exactly what he appeared to be all through the book? Someone of a lower social strata than the heroine? How would they resolve that without resorting to 'I'm really a prince in disguise'?" Also, I'd read several romances where the hero just infuriated me. He would be totally cold and abusive (verbally, not physically) to the heroine all through the book, until the last few pages when he finally almost literally fell down at her feet in worship without any serious groundwork for the change that I could see. That hero-type made me so mad, I took him and turned him into the villain for my first book. And I made the hero a medieval minstrel, because at that age, I couldn't think of anything that could be more romantic than a medieval minstrel. :-) So I guess you could say that many of my original ideas came from trying to turn current romance themes on their heads at the time. After that, it became like Marsha described in your interview with her. I ended up creating a sort of medieval universe of characters in that first book that I've basically been playing off of ever since.

CRW:  Where do you get your characters names?

Joyce:  I started compiling a list of medieval names way back in college, jotting them down from medieval novels I was reading or medieval history books I was reading for my history degree in college. Then I found this WONDERFUL book called The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, by E.G. Withycombe. It's out of print now, so I was very lucky to pick up a copy when I did. This book traces the historical evolution of "English Christian names", and when each name came into usage in England, and where the names came from, such as France or Germany. From the information in this book, I was able to gather names that were "pre-Norman Conquest", "came over to England with the Norman Conquest", were listed in various medieval records that gave me actual dates for how early certain names were being used, etc. I typed up a list of Medieval Male and Medieval Female names from this book (and the names I'd collected previously) and this is the list I still use today for selecting names for my characters. If you're writing historical fiction and want to be sure you're using authentic names for your time period, THIS IS A FANTASTIC BOOK TO HAVE IN YOUR RESEARCH COLLECTION!!!

CRW:  Maybe it is available on line.
CRW:  What is your favorite writing food?

Joyce:  I don't usually eat while I'm writing. It's one of those "you can't leave this computer until the timer goes off, even to get a snack" rules of mine. But if I'm finding myself excessively low on energy or unbearably sleepy, I'll sometimes grab a handful of Hershey Kisses to suck on. (I never chew my chocolate, so I can make them last quite awhile. ;-) )

CRW:  What is your viewpoint of self publishing verses being published by a publishing house?

Joyce:  Self-publishing gives you the greatest degree of control over your book, but I'll be honest, I know I've sold more books by having a publisher who got my titles into a brick and mortar bookstore than I ever would through purely online selling methods. Or at least, I've sold more, faster this way. Maybe over the long run, sales might have balanced out, I can't really say. For that reason, and because I've been blessed to have an editor who is truly enthused about my books and hence is able to give a big boost to my confidence when it's sagging, finding a traditional publisher has truly been a blessing for me. But I wouldn't rule out self-publishing again, if that were the only way to publish "the story I wanted to tell".

CRW: What is the topic of your next book that has you excited?

Joyce: I'm hoping to explore the world of the medieval troubadour a bit. But as usual, I have to admit that it's the characters in a new book that excite me more than a particular topic.

CRW:  Please tell us about your next book.

Joyce:  It doesn't have a title yet, because I'm terrible at coming up with titles. (Except for Illuminations of the Heart. That one just kind of came to me in a flash.) Right now, I'm just calling it "my troubadour book". It's still in the very early stages, and since I don't outline, it's hard to tell you where it's going to end up right now. But it's set a year after Illuminations of the Heart, and while Illuminations and Loyalty's Web both "played" a little with the historical character of Duke Richard of Aquitaine, the second son of Henry II, I'm hoping to use this book to "play" with the character of Duke Richard's brother, Henry the Younger, Henry II's eldest son and heir to the throne. Gunthar and Hel鮥 from Loyalty's Web have already made appearances and will have important parts to play in my new book (though the book isn't "about them" directly). My hero is a character from Illuminations of the Heart, and the heroine has ties to Loyalty's Web, although she wasn't actually in that book, but I'm not giving away how she's linked to it. ;-) Somebody has a grudge and is using a secret talent of my heroine's to achieve some vengeance. My heroine isn't completely ignorant of this and actually has some sympathy for her manipulator's cause. But when the "act of vengeance" comes, everything goes horribly wrong. (After all, what kind of story would it be if everything didn't go horribly wrong?) Can my hero sort everything out in time to save my heroine from herself? Or that's kind of the hazy plot I have in my head just now. There's no telling, though, how the story will actually play out in the end. You know, just recently I came across my original "outline" for Illuminations of the Heart. It's the only book I ever tried to outline before I wrote it. It bears absolutely no resemblance to the way Illuminations actually turned out. Someday I'm going to post that outline on my blog, just to give everyone who's read Illuminations of the Heart a really good laugh!

CRW:  Thanks, Joyce, for sharing this information about yourself and your writing. I have read both of your published books and highly recommend them. I look forward to your next book.
To read more about Joyce, here is her contact information. 
http://www.joyce-dipastena.com/
http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/
http://medievalresearch.blogspot.com/
http://medievalvignettes.blogspot.com/
http://anwafounder.blogspot.com/