Interrogating D.D. Chant

Meet the gorgeous DD who doesn't like to have favourites, she just loves everyone.

How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

I think that it’s really important for an author to write the sort of stories that they themselves would want to read. For me when I’m writing a story I’m excited to see were the plot is going to go, how the characters are going to grow and change throughout the story.

Hopefully anyone that reads my books can see my enthusiasm for my stories coming through and that it gives them extra enjoyment.

What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in.

King Soloman said that there was ‘nothing new under the sun’.

I think that’s the thing that I love most when I’m writing; the fact that, at its root, every problem and desire, every mistake, has been made a thousand times over. Nothing is new; the problems and dilemmas we face now are the same humans have always faced, they’re just wrapped differently. I find that intriguing.

Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

I tend to keep a lot of ideas on the ‘notes’ of my iphone! Often I’m not in the house, or I haven’t a pen to hand, when I have an idea. So it all gets written into my phone.

Sometimes I’ll have a scene, or a plot twist, for months before I find a book to use it in!

I also have word.docs on my computer with synopses of books as yet unwritten!

How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

I stick ‘em in a word.doc on my computer. A high percentage of them get used in other books or further along in the story.

How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with ?

It’s hard to answer this one.

Creating characters is difficult, your goodies have to be people that readers can respect but at the same time they have to challenge their idea of what ‘good’ is.

It’s one of the things that I really enjoy exploring when I’m writing the characters in my books: is this action by my hero only acceptable to me because he’s the hero? If the villain had done the same thing would I have condemned him as evil?

Tom in my Broken City series is very kind and gentle toward his family and the heroine, but at the same time he’s a soldier. He has killed people. He’s taken lives to protect the people he loves, regardless of the fact that the people that he has killed have loved ones too. Can he still be called a hero?

Kai in my Chronicles of Discord series has been brought up to put the good of the many over the good of the few. Yet is it always right to do so? He says that difficult decisions have to be made and he needs to be strong enough to make them. Yet isn’t that just an excuse for inhumane behaviour? Can he still be called a hero?

Leofric in my Lady Quill Chronicles series points out that he and his foster brothers are no different to the mercenaries they are chasing. They make war and plunder other peoples lands. Just because they are protecting their kingdom and their king, does that really make them any better? Can they still be called heroes?

I can’t really pick a favourite to be or be with.

I love Daegmund’s irreverence and the fact that he has his own moral code and doesn’t care if people agree with him.

I love Leofric’s determination to hide his own worries from his friends and not be a burden on them. He refuses to indulge in self-pity.

I love Shin’s fairness, his desire to do the right thing and his willingness to stand by his friends no matter what the cost.

I love Kai’s reasonableness, the fact that he can be calm and hold his temper in check no matter what the provocation.  His unwillingness to give in to his own loneliness.

I love Tom’s willingness to protect those who are weak and his love of his family.

I love Ryder’s loyalty to his brother.

I love Deeta’s innocence, Astra’s strength, Adele’s understanding and Esme’s open nature.

Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

I’m not married, in my case it’s my mum and sister. Apparently they haven’t seen me in two or three years…

They always know what kind of scene I’ve been writing because (so they say) I take on the mood of the bit I’m working on!!!

What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

I read anything with adventure and mystery to it, I also like a bit of romance but not a book that is *only* about romance. Thrillers, suspense, historical, dystopian… I’ll read everything but horror.

What lengths do you go to, to convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

I usually bribe prospective readers with brownies and fluffy pillows!

How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

Thankful!

I have my books professionally proofread, but errors always creep in.

What do you like most about visiting KUF/GR/forums?

I love finding new authors and talking about books, bacon and chocolate! The online community of readers has been very welcoming to me and I’m very grateful to them!

What is on your near horizon?

I’ve just released Claire and the Big Bad Bunny, book three in my Claire series of short stories.

And later on in the month I’ll be releasing the 2^nd book in my Chronicles of Discord series.

I’m also working on Broken City 3!

Where can we find you for more information?

My Blog  http://ddchant.blogspot.co.uk/

My Goodreads page  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5200308.D_D_Chant

My facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002546605234

My twitter page  https://twitter.com/DD_Chant

The Clout of Gen by Ahmad Ardalan

John Teddy, a newspaper reporter feels his life has no more meaning, but whilst contemplating ending things by jumping off a cliff, he spots a box, the contents of which will change his life forever.

It's hard to class this book as, even though the centre of it has a time traveller, it is about Teddy's new found life and his search for the figure on the video in the box and the consequences of it.

I found this story to be enthralling and I was quite moved at times.  The descriptions of the settings in Kyoto made me think I might like to visit it.  This is one of those gems I've discovered and feel glad that I have.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008J0BSZO/?tag=jookuf-21

Interrogating Barbara Silkstone

Here is Barbara Silkstone who lives in a slightly parallel universe

How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

I can only write what makes me happy. If I break out in giggles while writing, then I know I have hit a sweet spot that will make my fans laugh. For me writing is all about sharing my joy with others. I couldn’t bear the thought of causing my readers nightmares, suspense and thrills, yes. When I first started writing I took workshops with Stephen King and PD James. Back then I loved the idea of “putting worms down readers’ shirts” and watching them squirm in terror – not the worms, the readers. But as our world grew more hostile, I felt it would be kinder to spread giggles and not wiggles. I am, by nature, a kind person.

What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in.

I write comedy mysteries and comedy adventures. In my imagination I am always writing for John Cleese, Cameron Diaz, and Debra Messing. I love creating heroines who despite having the best of intentions, cannot help but become involved with the barmiest villains. I like to think my stories would amuse Oscar Wilde and Lewis Carroll. 

Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

I am forever jotting down ideas and throwing them into a large plastic box. I once dated a Brit with a very upper-crust accent, purely for his witticisms. I was forever jotting down his Pythonesque expressions. Once my little notebook was full I ended the relationship. Besides he turned out to be a notorious international conman.

Often my ideas come flying in the window much like Harry Potter’s owl. They swoop low and drop a plopping good idea on my head.

How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

Plot bunnies are the parents of sequels. What does not fit it Book One might make a dandy adventure in Book Four.

How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with ?

Alice in The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters is the closest to the real me. A terminal anglophile, she is gullible, good-hearted, and plots a wicked revenge.

Wendy Darlin - Tomb Raider and I often hang out together. She’s a Miami real estate broker who supplements her income by returning stolen antiquities. What she lacks in physical coordination, she makes up for in sheer determination.

Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

I am the opposite of a hoarder. I throw out anything I haven’t used in three months. That is what happened to my last husband. I now enjoy blessed peace and quiet as a singleton.

What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

I love British comedy mysteries. I’m a big fan of Helen Smith’s books. I adore Elmore Leonard’s novels for their terse dialogue. Any book where I can imagine John Cleese as a main character is great fun. I recently re-discovered Pride and Prejudice. Cleese is a bit long in the tooth to be Darcy, but Colin Firth is a perfect substitute.

What lengths do you go to convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

My humour either hits the reader straight off or goes over their heads. Humour is subjective. It’s like trying to convince someone to “get” Monty Python.  

How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

Typos are like fleas on a dog. They can happen to the best of hounds. I am blessed with a number of beta readers, a terrific scene editor, and a final editor. Admittedly crossing from Yank to Brit does cause some comments. My latest bug-a-boo is the word noddle. Noddle is not noodle. Noddle is a British word for head. Noodle is the American version.

What is on your near horizon?

I have happily entered the world of Pride and Prejudice variations. I love Jane Austen’s subtle humour and gentle sarcasm. I have just released my second book in my Mister Darcy series by Barbara Silkstone. I plan five books in the series, a contemporary spin on Austen’s timeless characters from Pride and Prejudice. Mister Darcy is a man of mystery. Dog psychologist Lizzie Bennet dreams of someday treating the corgis in Buckingham Palace.

I enjoy the delicious anticipation of the culmination of their relationship. It is the journey and not the destination that provides the fun.

Where can we find you for more information?

Barbara Silkstone is the best-selling author of the Wendy Darlin Tomb Raider series that includes: Wendy and the Lost Boys, London Broil, Cairo Caper, Miami Mummies, Vulgarian Vamp, Wendy Darlin Tomb Raider Boxed Set. Her Romantic Suspense Fairy Tales series includes: The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters; Wendy and the Lost Boys; Zo White and the Seven Morphs. For a squirt of paranormal comedy try: Cold Case Morphs. True fiction fan? Try: The Adventures of a Love Investigator.

Pride and Prejudice contemporary variations:

Mister Darcy’s Dogs

amazon.com  :  amazon.co.uk

Mister Darcy’s Christmas

amazon.com  :  amazon.co.uk

Silkstone’s writing has been described as “perfectly paced and pitched – shades of Janet Evanovich and Carl Hiaasen – without seeming remotely derivative. Fast moving action that shoots from the hip with bullet-proof characterization.”

All books are available on Audible.com

Barbara Silkstone’s Amazon Author’s page

http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Silkstone/e/B0047L8A8W

Blog:

http://barbswire-ebooksandmore.blogspot.com

Like London Buses by Louise Warman

Cally (who was first and last seen in Follow Me) is back in England.  Living in a shared house in Oxford, life is not as exciting as it was when she was a chalet girl on the piste.  That is until she meets a man on the street and falls in lust.

At the beginning of this book, I didn't care for Cally as I did in the first book.  She seemed a bit snotty about having what could be a dream job for a lot of people.  As the story went on and I got to read about the two men in her life I was keen that she made the right choice.  But what is the right choice?

I warmed to this as it went along.  It possibly helped as I am going skiing in a month's time and I'm feeling the urge to be in the snow just as much as Cally wants to go back.  I look forward to reading the next bit of Cally's life and I hope there's a bit more snow in it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NHJRMXO/?tag=jookuf-21

Interrogating Jodi Taylor

My chair and lamp have been dusted off and the time travelling Jodi Taylor is first up.

How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

I consider myself to be very fortunate. When I wrote my first book – Just One Damned Thing After Another – I had no idea what I was doing. They always say, ‘Write the book you would like to read yourself,’ so I did, and fortunately, everyone else wanted to read it too.

I do get the occasional note from my excellent editor, saying ‘More (or less) description here,’ or ‘Can you insert an explanatory word or two here,’ but otherwise there’s not a great deal of conflict between what I want to write and what people want to read. As I said, I’m very fortunate.

What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre you write in?

It’s having the opportunity to imagine. To create new worlds – and I’m not talking about creating new planets, but dreaming of different worlds, where different rules apply. Where there are different pasts and the possibilities are endless. Worlds over which I, as an author, have complete control.

Reading through that last bit, I do sound rather like some power-crazed despot, although I assure you, I am quite nice, actually.

Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc. where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters, - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

I was so hoping never to be asked his. I’m sure that proper writers have neat files, or a card index, or even a special box where they store their ideas for the future.

My system is slightly more chaotic. I have discovered through bitter experience  that inspiration can (an often does) strike at the most inconvenient moments and I have learned to have a notebook always to hand so I can scribble something immediately. I have to do this because, sadly, I have the concentration span of a sock.

My best ideas come to me in the bath, so there are several much wrinkled shorthand pads in the bathroom, full of blurry scribbles, which I can barely read.

Any visitor to my home would find many, many scraps of paper, exercise books, and paper napkins from cafes – all covered in cryptic notes and scatted around everywhere. About once a week, I collect them up, squint at them in dismay, and try to work out what on earth I was thinking at the time.

Are you sure you want to continue with this interview? It’s not too late to get in a proper writer if you want to do something spectacular for your 80^th!

How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like…er…bunnies)?

Plot bunnies! So that’s what they’re called. I welcome them. It’s a wonderful opportunity to sit, staring into space, weaving ideas, characters, and conversations into something new and wonderful. And if they can’t be used now I might still be able to use them another day.

I don’t think any writer should ever let an idea slip by – no matter how bizarre it may seem at the time.

The best thing of all is that I can sit staring into space, while my mind soars all over the place, and because I’m a writer everyone gets excited about it. Especially if I have a pen in my hand at the time! Gone are the days of parents/employers/teachers/whoever yelling at me for daydreaming. Daydreaming is allowed! So I make my plot bunnies welcome. Maybe I could offer them a plot carrot…or plot lettuce…

Sorry, back to the interview...

How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with?

I think there might be a little bit of me in all of them. Not the same little bit, obviously, but just like all of us, I’m a little bit nice, a little bit naughty, a little bit bad-tempered and so on. I simply take the little bit that I want and inject it into that particular character.

For instance, my heroine and her antagonist had a face-to-face confrontation and I really wanted it to be nasty. Fortunately, because I am a little bit nasty, I found I was easily able to put myself in the antagonist’s position. I myself felt all the jealousy and resentment and hatred of someone who was convinced that she should be the heroine, and all her dislike and spite just flowed out of my pen and onto the page. It was a bit scary, actually.

I think, of all the characters I’ve created, I’d most like to be Mrs Partridge. She moves unobtrusively behind the scenes. Nothing is beyond her and she always looks elegant. Oh, if only …

The one I’d like to be with is Peterson. I know Leon is the hero, but Peterson holds a special place in my heart. If not Peterson then Russell from The Nothing Girl. He’s so chaotic and over the top and such fun to write.

Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they’re married to you or one of your characters?

Fortunately, I’m not married so that doesn’t arise.

What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

I used to read anything and everything. Now I find I don’t often have the time, which is a little bit ironic. I do a lot of research reading and then reward myself by picking up anything that takes my fancy. I read for pleasure at night in bed, and on Sunday afternoons.

Actually, I just put that last bit in to impress you. I fall asleep in front of the TV on Sunday afternoons.

What lengths do you go to convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

This is a tricky one. I’m really not sure what the X factor is. I didn’t set out to write a best seller, partly because I didn’t think I could, and partly because everyone – absolutely everyone – is always saying how difficult it is to become a successful writer. I assumed my book would simply disappear into some literary black hole somewhere and that would be the end. I would continue to write and self-publish and my family would loyally buy a copy each, but that would be it.

Whatever the X factor is, someone somewhere recognised it and offered me a publishing deal, but I’m still none the wiser.

Sorry!

How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

I’m a bit of a perfectionist – I go over and over my book until I’m nearly blind. Or insane. Or both. My editor does the same so it’s intensely annoying to find that despite our best efforts, we’ve still missed something.

There was some comment, I think from readers in the US, who queried some of my spelling, but it’s a British book by a British author about British people, so obviously the spelling is British too.

I pass all comments on to my publishers and they do put them right so I am actually quite grateful that people take the trouble.

What is on my near horizon?

Well – I have two short stories going live on Kindle on the 13^th November. The fourth in the St Mary’s series, A Trail Through Time is issued by Audible on 11^th November. I’m finishing off Book Five, working on an historical novel, blocking out another short story concerning the origins of St Mary’s and trying – somehow – to research a novel I’ve been wanting to write for ages concerning a family labouring under not just one but two family curses.

Where can we find you for more information?

There’s my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/AuthorJodiTaylor or you can email me at authorjoditaylor@gmail.com. I do make every effort to respond.

I have an author page on Amazon, which I must update, so thanks for the reminder, and I’m on Goodreads, too.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jodi-Taylor/e/B00DOSKIHU/?tag=jookuf-21

Many thanks for the opportunity to contribute to your blog. I’ve enjoyed answering your questions and I hope you find them reasonably entertaining.

Below is a list of my books if you can find the room to post them!

The Chronicles of St Mary’s series (in order).

Just One Damned Thing After Another

A Symphony of Echoes

A Second Chance

A Trail Through Time

When a Child is Born (Christmas short story)

Christmas Present (Christmas short story)

Romance Novels

The Nothing Girl

Little Donkey (Christmas short story)

A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor

This is the second in the Chronicles of St Mary's series.  The first book set up the concept of St Mary's - a centre for historical exploration.  The members use time travel to chronicle what happened in the past.  Obviously there are bad guys out for their own gain.

This book has a few threads but builds up to an expedition to not just find out what happened then, but to head off the bad guys.  It's a fair chunk of a book and at about 3/4 of the way through I was thinking there might have been one too many "side trips", but everything did lead to where things were going.

In the first book Max, the protagonist was a bit unsure of things but this time round, she's hardened up and at time shocked me with her behaviour.

In the main, this is a fairly light read, but gets serious at times.  I really enjoyed it and like this author and the world she's created.  I was thinking of this when I wasn't reading it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00G0TOXFS/?tag=jookuf-21

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

A few forumites mentioned this book, saying how wonderful it was, so I had to have a peek, I downloaded the sample and was immediately hooked.

Ove is a grumpy old man, who has his routines and gets very, very annoyed when other people don't do things properly.  This was originally a blog by a Swedish author, so the chapters are mini stories in themselves alternating between Ove's present life and his past history of growing up and meeting his wife.  Reviewers have compared this to "The 100 Year Old Man Who Jumped Out Of A Window" and is similar in the jumping back and forth in time and being Scandanavian, but I thought the 100 Year Old man was tedious, long winded and uninteresting.  This is snappier and so much better.

Looking back on my feelings reading this, my over-whelming memory is of the love Ove had for his wife.  She was so unlike him, but was his whole reason for being.

As the stories unfolded and I realised facts about the characters, I often had a lump in my throat.  By the time I got to the end, I could hardly see.  But it was happy tears as well as some sad ones.

This book is definitely taking its place in my top 3 books of the year.  I think it is special and I enjoyed it so much.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IORP664/?tag=jookuf-21

Married by Midnight by Talli Roland

Kate is due to get married just before Christmas to a guy she's only know for less than a year.  Whilst looking for the perfect wedding dress, she finds it and a note to the future wearer.  To prove that she's marrying the right man, she just has to track down the writer of the note, even though the note may have been written 50 years previously.

For me as a major Talli fan girl, I thought this story was particularly delightful.  I read this in one sitting and might have sniffled.  Some people might dismiss chick-lit as being unsubstantial fluff, but there's always been a place in my world for fluff and long may there always be.  

In summary, a lovely Christmas(ish) tale.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O4DR8CC/?tag=jookuf-21

Guardian of the Underworld by Rachel Tetley

Jake thinks he's just an ordinary 11 year old boy.  But on his grandfather's death he finds out that his future is not going to be as ordinary as he expected.  With his new friends Arianna and Noggin he travels to a new world to fulfil 5 challenges and his destiny.

Even though this is a children's book, I thought it was well written and at times quite scary and grown up.  I was enveloped into the story from the start.

I much preferred the start of the book to the end.  It's not that there was anything wrong with the end, it's just that to me, that was the bit that would have appealed most to the intended audience.  I liked reading about Jake's "journey" rather than his destination.

I took a gamble on this book and I was well rewarded for it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LA1HGWS/?tag=jookuf-21

The Lost Empress by Steve Robinson

This is the fourth in the Jefferson Tayte series of genealogical mysteries and it is back to the dual timeline that the first two books utilised.

This time JT is tracking down Alice who may or may not have gone down when the Empress of Ireland sank in 1914.  Was Alice really a traitor to her country on the eve of war, or just a wife and mother caught up in events beyond her control?

I did enjoy this story.  The set-up of these books whereby you are taken back and forth in time, with the story unfolding concurrently is a pleasure to read.  But I must admit I preferred the previous book where there was more action and it was set in current times.  As a series of books, the stories are well thought out and I look forward to JT's next mystery.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K5HU3IC/?tag=jookuf-21

Designs on Daisy by Jennifer Hanning

This story is the follow up to What Happened to Polly and is the next phase of the Hamilton sisters' lives.  The aftermath of the end of that story unfolds.

It had been some time since I'd read Polly and I thoroughly enjoyed that story.  I think I preferred the first book, but not at the expense of my enjoyment of this one.  At times I struggled to remember bits and bobs of the first one, but it wasn't too important to this story.

I felt this one was a bit more "chick-lit" than the first in that it was more about Daisy and her suitors.

As a whole this was a very good read and I'm looking forward to reading the concluding part.  

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HY6R5J2/?tag=jookuf-21