Questions We Love From Readers by Betsy Ashton

Don't you just love the various questions we get from our readers? Where do you get your ideas? What is your favorite book? What is your favorite character? Are you in any of your books?

I think we are all in every character we create, don't you? Not all of us in each one, but a bit of us, to be sure.

Take my Mad Max character. I don't look anything like her. She's short, athletic, blond. She's much younger than I am. She's ever so much richer that I am. But, she's snarky. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good snark at the appropriate or inappropriate time. We're both strong-willed, brook no nonsense, stand true to our beliefs, and will fight to the death for our friends and family. Maybe a bit of me is in Mad Max, but more of her is a composite for several women I know, and several I want to know.

I had an actress in mind when Max came into her full-throated self. A strong actress who also puts up with no stuff from anyone. I won't tell you who she is, but she's been on television and in the movies for many years. Care to guess?

My latest book will be formally released on Halloween. It's called Eyes Without A Face. I hope to goodness I'm not the main character. Why? Because this is a girl you don't want living next door. You first meet her when she introduces herself:  "No matter what anyone says, I wasn't born a serial killer. I don't carry a sociopath gene, a psychopath gene, or even a serial killer gene. No such thing."

She is a serial killer, a most unreliable narrator. Unnamed and relatively faceless, she tells her story in first person singular. Before you ask, it was darned creepy getting into the head of a psychopath, who lived in my head on and off for three years. Not content with revealing her narcissistic personality disorder, she had to display psychopathic tendencies, only to rip them away and deny she is indeed a psychopath. See what I mean about being an unreliable narrator.

Unnamed, That Thing, her childhood name, leads the reader along a series of different paths. Just when the reader thinks she has That Thing figured out, That Thing does something to upset all assumptions. She lives by her own code of ethics. Yes, serial killers can have codes of ethics. Warped, maybe, but codes nonetheless.

I don't think That Thing is me. I haven't killed anyone, although there are a few people who might make it onto a wish list. I killed them in the pages of Eyes. That Thing is a feminist; so am I. She wants equal acknowledgment that a woman could be a serial killer, even though most are men. Why not a woman, she asks more than once, only to be dismissed by the men she works with.

That Thing is loyal to herself. And she doesn't tolerate people who take advantage of weaker people, particularly women, children, and the elderly. If they fall into her sights, well, they might meet a particularly gruesome and satisfactory ends. I've met people I'd like to see done in and meet a particularly gruesome and satisfactory ends. I haven't acted on my impulses; I left that to That Thing.

So, am I in my characters? Yeah, kinda. Are you in your characters, even those that are unsavory?

Suspense Novels that Teach by Rolynn Anderson

My sister once said that she loved reading novels that teach her something new, which nails the vision for my stories.  Since I’ve researched the heck out of the subject of my newest novel, I’m hoping I’ve saved a little time and effort for my reader.  I am an instructor at my core, so the idea of teaching never leaves me.  But the stories that I write are often new territory for me, so by the time I’ve written the novel, I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge I can’t wait to pass on.  With my filter systems on open throttle, even as I write my new story, I’m being bombarded with articles with information I crave…and use in my book.

Example: FEAR LAND.  I’d developed an hypothesis about ways to keep certain Army recruits from combat assignments if their psychological profiles indicated they’d be traumatized by battle.  I learned that not only was my theory oversimplified, but years of analysis by experts in the field had left the Armed Services stymied about how to sort the combat-ready from the combat-distressed.  Since the Civil War, this question has been at the forefront: Can we figure out ahead of time which soldiers (male and female) will be able to handle combat?

Recently we’ve seen research showing that some children are born with high anxiety.  In psychological parlance, they are called high reactives.  Should these children, grown up, be barred from combat?

These and other questions come up as my characters deal with the many shades of anxiety in FEAR LAND.  My readers tell me the novel stretched their learning about trauma and they’re recommending my book to friends who have suffered high-stress events in their lives. 

That makes me smile.  An engaging suspense story with a touch of paranormal to let your imagination run free, a high concept, and a chance to learn something new…that’s what reading is all about!

This is FEAR LAND:

Tally hates to hear rants from people’s brains.  What does she do when those mind-screams threaten

the man she loves?

****

Tally Rosella, an acclaimed psychiatrist who helps children fraught with anxiety, avoids adults because their brains rant at her.  But the chance to start a second child study and connect her findings to PTSD, sets her squarely among devious colleagues at a big California university.

Army Major Cole Messer, Tally’s new neighbor, won’t admit that trauma from combat tours in Afghanistan, destroyed his marriage and hampered his ability to lead.  As a teacher of college ROTC and single parent, he’s focused on enrolling his highly anxious son in Tally’s study and getting back to active duty.

Someone is dead set against Tally’s presence at the university, and blowback from her battles with co-workers put Cole and his son in jeopardy.  Watch what happens when people struggling with shades of anxiety collide with corrupt, revengeful foes.

FEAR LAND on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012JE75ES

My website: http://www.rolynnanderson.com

Starbucks and Release of FEAR LAND, A Great Pairing by Rolynn Anderson

Life began for me when Starbucks was born.  Oh, wait, that’s a little too dramatic…but I got your attention, didn’t I?  Hear me out-you might agree.

I got my first teaching job over the phone.  Yup.  The Seattle School District hired me as a green education graduate - St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota-sight unseen, but after a successful practice teaching experience.

Seattle captured my heart: I taught high school and served as a high school principal there for the next thirty-three years.  But it’s that first job I want to tell you about as it connects to Starbucks.  I taught junior high English in the Central Area of Seattle, a rough neighborhood in those days.  My buddy was a history teacher, Zev Siegel.  My career path to teach high school separated me from him the following year…he went on to roast coffee beans with two of his friends, selling the first Starbucks to Howard Schultz in 1971. 

Cool story so far, huh?  Dang that Zev and I weren’t ‘closer,’ but, see, I’m 5’10 and he was about 5’6.  My husband is 6’5”.  You get the drift.  Zev sold Starbucks in 1971 and I married Steve in 1971.  There you go: A new life, beginning!

Steve and I go to coffee almost every day at one of three Starbucks in our CA neighborhood, where we read the local paper and New York Times.  I know all the barista’s well enough to have made friends among them, including the general manager of six local Starbucks. 

Now you understand why I’m having book signings at two Starbucks in August.  FEAR LAND releases TODAY, AUGUST 1!... and I can’t think of a better place to launch the book.  My friends tell me it isn’t easy to get permission for a book signing at Starbucks, but since I go way, way, back with Starbucks and those young baristas are now my friends, I think you can see why Starbucks and I are a fine pairing.  A good book and a delicious latte…what could be better?

This is FEAR LAND:

Tally hates to hear rants from people’s brains.  What does she do when those mind-screams threaten

the man she loves?

****

Tally Rosella, an acclaimed psychiatrist who helps children fraught with anxiety, avoids adults because their brains rant at her.  But the chance to start a second child study and connect her findings to PTSD, sets her squarely among devious colleagues at a big California university.

Army Major Cole Messer, Tally’s new neighbor, won’t admit that trauma from combat tours in Afghanistan, destroyed his marriage and hampered his ability to lead.  As a teacher of college ROTC and single parent, he’s focused on enrolling his highly anxious son in Tally’s study and getting back to active duty.

Someone is dead set against Tally’s presence at the university, and blowback from her battles with co-workers put Cole and his son in jeopardy.  Watch what happens when people struggling with shades of anxiety collide with corrupt, revengeful foes.

FEAR LAND on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012JE75ES
Find Rolynn Anderson on: http://www.rolynnanderson.com