BLOGWORDS – Monday 31 October 2022 –BOOK LAUNCH EVENT – MEET THE AUTHOR
BOOK LAUNCH EVENT – MEET THE AUTHOR
FAST FAVES
Cake or Cookies: Actually, ice cream but of those two, cookies, chocolate chip mint
Call or Text: Depends on the situation
Dogs or Cats: Cats of course
Eggs or Pancakes: Eggs
Facebook or Twitter: Facebook
Paperback or Kindle: Paperback, but Kindle is so much easier and convenient
Thornton or Darcy: Darcy, preferably Darcy played by Colin Firth #swoon
Yoga Pants or Jeans: Jeans – I can’t STAND tight / snug fitting clothes
First, I have to give a tremendous shout-out to my niece, Briana Mason, for being my cover model. She’s so gorgeous and photogenic, and I’m so grateful she agreed to pose for me!
Now for
MEET THE AUTHOR
- The idea for a story of twins originated years ago when I knew a mother and daughter named Elizabeth and Meredith. The series came from the notion of them both marrying twins, and the thought that, no, that’s been done. But, I thought, what if the guys aren’t twins to each other. Which left two lonely dangling brothers without their brides. Of course, they had to be twins also!
Mere marries Jere
Jere’s twin is Jordan
Jordan marries Paige
Paiges’s twin is Claire
Claire marries Alex
Alex’ twin is Zach
Zach marries Bethy
and Bethy’s twin is Mere..
FourSquare. Four stories of four couples who also happen to be four sets of twins.
- There is much of me in both Bethy and Mere. My degree is Interior Design, but I love architecture, too. I am a word person like Bethy, but can be spontaneous sometimes, like Meredith.
- Being the first book in a new series, it takes me millions of hours (okay, maybe not quite a million) to create my story world. I’ve a map of Covington, and the names and locations (there’s a map key) of the setting of each scene, plus the typical businesses in most cities.
I also have an extensive list of who’s who—not only the main and secondary characters, but the cousins and spouses and kids. Same for all the friends. There are characters who will never get written into the story but if I need to know how old Gigi (the hippie gramma) I’ve got that into. Or if I need to know when Cousin April (there are actually two cousins named April) got married, it’s there.
Beyond that even, is a spreadsheet with every detail I could think of—favorite beverage, what car they drive, physical attributes… you get the idea.
- I’ve been fascinated with twins and multiples for as long as I can remember. Wished I was a twin. Alas, I am not—and that’s just one thing ya don’t get a do-over! LOL I wanted to have twins, but alas, that didn’t happen either.
BUT, I can write twins and multiples all day long!
- “I’ve been thrown in the deep end. Of a deep ocean. In a tidal wave. And all I want to do is write my stories. (Well, and get people to read ‘em… ) Write a bio, they say. What do you want to know? I write, that’s what I do. (Well, ok, there’s more too, I’ll get to that later.)” * excerpted from one of my first blog posts, https://robinsnest212.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/drowning/
I truly had no clue. I wrote stories, released them from my brain. That part I had—in spades. Marketing? Not even an inkling. A friend suggested I self-publish (watch out for vanity published!) He formatted my first manuscript for me.
Since then I’ve learned the tremendous value of networking. Connect with other authors. Listen to other authors. Support other authors. Find your sweet spot in social media and engage with other authors, and with readers. Find your tribe; my Facebook author page is
https://www.facebook.com/Author.Robin.E.Mason/ and of course, my blog https://robinsnest212.wordpress.com/ but you’re here—and I’m so glad!
So I reckon now I’m sort of getting a handle on things. I dove right back in, only the waters are so turbulent; they are familiar now. And I’m swimming with some really good friends.
- I like to mix-n-match, otherwise known as a mashup. For instance, in One for Two, there are not only two characters from my previous stories (Clara Bess Caldwell and Herman Wisely) but one character is from author friend, Monique Bucheger’s Ginnie West Adventure series!
- I nest. My house is small and I don’t have a “proper” office. But I do have a dedicated writing space, a convenient niche in the living room. Even as I write this, I am positioned directly in front of the door, which stays open almost ALL the time. My laptop rests next to me on a displaced shelf. (except, of course, when it’s in my lap) I’ve a binder with notes and details situated to my right, along with other languishing projects.
- In addition to writing and painting, I’m an actress, and I do accents. Two, British and Irish, come naturally. (When I was a sophomore in high school, my accent earned me the role as Dr. Armstrong in Dame Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians.)
Australian, though, did not come so easily—so similar yet so different to British. But after watching shows set in or with Aussie actors, I’m getting the hang of it.
AND, after watching my Aussie shows, I’ve got some great Aussie jargon to use in the next book in the series, Double, Double, Who’s in Trouble. Co-main character, Jeremy’s best friend, Drew is Australian, and I can’t wait to write dialogue with him.
- I am 100% a cat person! (even though I am, ahem, a bird… (robin #winkwink chirp chirp chirp) I don’t DISlike dogs; I’ve just always had (a) cat(s) for as long as I can remember.
Currently I had the three remaining siblings, Jasper, Juniper, and Jake, of a five kitten litter. They are, in order, The Beast aka Sweetie Boy, June Berry aka Baby Girl, and Jakable aka Lovey Boy. All black and white, ten years old, and their mama, Shadow, adopted me when she was tiny.
- My favorite genre is Historical Fiction, especially Biblical Historical Fiction. I read a wide variety (no dark writing (i.e. witchcraft) and no explicit sex scenes.) Not a great fan of Amish fiction (I’ve no idea why) – don’t disown me!
I’mma do a dangerous thing here and name a few of my favorite authors—
Dame Agatha Christie has long been a favorite, as have Madeleine L’Engle and Maeve Binchy. I just finished a story, Invisible, by new-to-me author, Ginny L. Yttrup. AMAZING story, AMAZING writing. List T. Bergren, Michelle Griep, Heather Gilbert, Julie Carobini, Jane Ann McLachlan, Chautona Havig, Connie Cossette, C. Hope Clark, J’nell Ciesielski, Jaime Jo Wright, Keely Brooke Keith… There are dozens of authors whose writing I love, and I couldn’t possibly name all of them!!
- The very first story I wrote was Pinky the Pink Elephant when I was in first grade. I am a keeper of precious things (NOT hoarding LOL) and have it tucked away. I’m going to pass it to Cora and let her “read it” in her Daddy’s story, Double Double, Who’s in Trouble, the next book in the series.
- To be fair, this isn’t directly related to this story. Then again, there’s a reason it has taken me four years to get here.
My first two series, seven stories, veritably poured from me. One for Two, though, felt like pulling teeth. The story, at least the basics, have been simmering in the back of my mind for years, only to be pre-empted by the first two series.
My writing journey, a brief history. Though I’ve always had stories in my head, it wasn’t until 2013 that I started my first novel, Tessa—after I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design (a career I sadly couldn’t jump into.) As I mentioned before, the story flowed from me. Then Clara Bess and Cissy. Right on the heels of that series, Seasons wouldn’t leave me alone.
I assumed, of course, that FourSquare would follow suit. It did not. I reckon my creativity needed a bit of a rest. Then again, immediately after the final book in Seasons, I had my second knee replacement; recovery was slower than the first time (in 2016.)
I spent three years making a valiant effort to get Bethy and Mere’s story out to the world. And I struggled with it, something that had not happened before when writing. It was very discouraging. Then last summer (2021) I realized the story needed to be told in first person. So I backpedaled and barged in to make the changes; it was a massive project. Having two main characters didn’t make it any easier. But it does make the story richer.
EXCERPT – BETHY IS ABDUCTED
I pulled my phone from my pocket to send B a quick text. I knew she was itching for me to respond to her bazillion text messages.
“Oh my God!” Panic edged the euphoria right out the door.
“Babe, what is it?”
“I…. I…” I couldn’t speak. I was hyperventilating. The words were there but they were all jumbled and they wouldn’t come out of my mouth. Of the dozen texts and phone calls I had missed, the one from Zachary—an hour ago—was the one I showed Jeremy.
BETHY IS MISSING!!!!!
Then,
CALL ME!!!!!
Jeremy massaged my shoulders and Jocelyn poured me a glass of cold water. I took several deep breaths, then tapped Zach’s name in my contacts.
“Meredith.” A scratchy version of Zach’s voice cried out.
“I’m putting you on speaker.” I tapped the icon. “What happened? Did you find her?”
“I was hoping you had heard from her…”
“Zach.” Jeremy took the phone. “What happened, man?”
“Dude.” Zach’s voice infused with a sliver of courage. “We were gonna meet at the park before dinner but she never showed. I waited, called, texted. No response.”
“That’s not like her…” I slithered onto a deck chaise.
“Called Rai, but she left there at two. Rai said she was heading home to change and meet me at the park. Said she thought Bethy had some errands to run…”
“Zach?”
“I spotted her car outside Freshly’s so I ran in, but they hadn’t seen her. Not at Tattered Tales, either…”
“ZACHARY!”
“Her purse was on the ground by her car…” A sob came through the speaker.
“Where are you now, man?” Jeremy took the phone, offered a pleading look to his mother, and led me back around front to his bike. “We’re on the way.”
He handed my phone back to me. “He’s at the police station with your parents.”
Criss-crossing through Merida, Zach was on Covington Road within minutes, and back in Covington in record time.
“You go in.” He idled in front of the station. “I’ll park and meet you inside.”
¨¨¨
Detective LeBlanc, a seasoned officer with salt and pepper hair and moustache, was a towering man. Serious in his work, and compassionate with victims and families in his cases, he had grilled Zachary, and Bethy’s parents. He had called Rai, who had joined them at the station, and Claire, who had neither seen nor talked to Bethy since she left Claire and Paige’s apartment at three. Moe had joined them as well, and now paced the small space.
Jeremy barreled into the squad room within minutes and wrapped his arms around Meredith.
Detective LeBlanc had called both the produce market and the bookstore, and sent two uniformed officers to interview potential witnesses.
“Got a lead for you, boss.” A young officer led a silver haired woman to the detective’s desk.
“Frida!” Beverly went to her friend. “Did you see her? Did you see our Bethy?”
Detective LeBlanc raised his hand. “Let me handle this, Mrs. Elliott.” For the giant of a man that he was, his voice was a soothing balm in an otherwise tense situation.
He got the woman’s name, Frida Callais, and confirmed that she was the owner of the bookshop Bethy frequented, and escorted her to the interview room.
Gritty sunlight streaked in through dusty windows, phones jangled, puncturing the taut mood, muted voices mumbled from around the cavernous space. A clock on the wall tick-ticked languishing minutes.
Twenty minutes passed, dusk shadowed the gray windows, officers came and went. Detective LeBlanc returned with Mrs. Callais.
Frida went to Beverly as the detective called out instructions to three officers.
“I saw them,” Frida told Beverly. She looked to the others gathered. “A big guy, really tall. Dirty blond hair, full beard. Filthy man—vulgar mouth. He was the leader. Four guys, they were watching her, I think she was going into Freshly’s. I was locking up early for the day and I saw him, heard him when I stepped outside to bring my sign in. He nodded at another fellow, scrawny kid, big scar on his arm. He was the one that grabbed her. Whispered something in her ear. Must have terrified her—I saw her face.” Frida held a sob.
“Big guy?” Jeremy pulled away from Meredith’s clinging arms. “Did you hear them? Did they call him Big Mac?”
“Yes!” Frida stood. “Yes, they did. They surely did.”
“Do you know them?” Todd, Bethy and Meredith’s dad, stood and faced Jeremy.
“I’m afraid I do.” He turned to the detective. “Detective?”
Detective LeBlanc turned.
“I know who took her.”
The detective led Jeremy into the interrogation room. They emerged within ten minutes.
Instructions turned to barked commands. Locations called out.
“I’m coming,” Jeremy moved to join the officers that gathered.
“No.” Detective LeBlanc was firm without being aggressive. “You are a civilian, and you don’t have a weapon.” He paused. “Do you?”
“No sir. I can’t—don’t.” He grabbed the detective’s arm as he turned away. “But I know these guys.”
Detective LeBlanc’s bushy brow raised a quarter of an inch.
“I, uh, used to hang with them.” He had, of course, confessed as much in the interrogation room. But Meredith’s parents—his fiancée’s parents—sat not five feet from him.
“Well now.” The detective’s big beefy arms crossed over his barrel chest. “You do have a point.” He turned to one of the uniformed officers. “Brad, get the man a vest.” And to Jeremy, “You stay low or I’ll send you back here. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
robinsnest212 - stories by design 