A Tangled Web of Nuclear Secrets- Kay Smith-Blum

I always think Historical Fiction is best when it tells me something I don’t know. Some subjects (the Regency Period, The US Civil War 1.0) have been mined to death, and that’s why I seldom read about them.

Kay Smith-Blum, a fellow Black Rose author, has written a terrific book about the events- and their afterlife (pun intended) at the Hanford Nuclear site in Washington State during and immediately after WW2.

Okay, Kay. What should we know about you?

I refer to myself as a recovering retailer, because I spent decades in the high-end fashion biz, first at Neiman Marcus and then, co-owned a specialty store in downtown Seattle with my husband, Butch Blum (store of the same name opened in the 70s).  When we sold our business in 2016 – miraculous timing – it freed me up to write full time. I’d been threatening to write my birthmother’s wild and woolly story that followed her giving me up for adoption (she went to work for the mob in one of their first “legitimate” clubs in Dallas and led a high life only to lose everything in the end). But I couldn’t get that story right, and it is “still in the drawer.”  During the course of researching that first tale, I came across a particularly interesting Texas woman attorney – and began to craft a 2nd manuscript. But I met with some resistance about writing a Civil Rights movement story without the “lived experience” – but color me persistent – and during that time I had the odd dream which inspired TANGLES, and the rest is history, pun intended. But, there was a lot of weeding pulling – my Zen activity in my three son’s gardens (which I designed) – to clear away the writer’s block during all three manuscripts. If weeding doesn’t do it – swimming laps almost always does.

I’ve spent some time in the Tri-Cities and heard whisperings about some of the events you talk about, but tell us what Tangles is about?

TANGLES is a Cold War love story wrapped inside a mystery, centered on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the little-known third site of the Manhattan Project – and currently the largest environmental disaster in the Western Hemisphere. That said, this is a deeply human story about the men and women who risked their lives during WWII and during the nuclear arms race that followed – but due to the cloak of government secrecy around all nuclear projects, including the plutonium production at Hanford, they had no idea they were doing so.

That’s not the typical Histfic topic. Where did the story come from?

I was knee-deep into querying my 2nd manuscript and receiving rejections left and right when I had an odd dream. A mass of red hair floating on a body of water and the sensation of peering down at it and realizing the hair wasn’t wet. When the dream recurred a second night, I wrote it down in my journal. Within days, I ran into two long-time acquaintances who both had grown up in Eastern Washington near the Hanford Nuclear Plant. They referred to it as “The Area” and down the rabbit hole of research I went. But the idea of the tangled mass of hair begat the title  – a play on both the dream and the intricate web of government and corporate deception in the name of both war and long beyond the Cold War is the through-thread of the tale.

Totally unfair question: What’s your favorite scene in the book?

The opening scene in chapter one is based on a real scientific peer-reviewed paper I found in Nature Magazine from 1963, and I’m really proud of it. But my favorite scene might be the interchanged between Luke (my male protagonist) and Walker (an indigenous biologist for the state of WA and buddy of Luke’s) when they are hiking in the Goat Rocks Mountain wilderness in search of a missing person. The dialogue between them is snappy – because they are both so smart and challenge each other – and poignant – because Luke is having a bit of a melt down about his first love –  but funny, too. The scene cover a wide range of emotions and brings the reader in close to both of these characters. A particularly great line is where Luke recognizes Walker’s water bag as originally crafted and used by Spanish explorers who carried wine, not water, in the bags, and Walker quips, “Probably why they lost the Americas.” No better way to show a character’s qualities than through dialogue.

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

Please – sign up for my newsletter – I’m bound to send one out eventually – at

https://www.kaysmith-blum.com

Readers can Follow me pretty much everywhere  – here are the links:

Instagram @discerningKSB  

https://www.instagram.com/discerningksb

Facebook @Kay Smith-Blum

https://www.facebook.com/kay.smithblum

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-smith-blum-3877273

Twitter @kaysmithblum                                      

Tiktok @KSBwritesfiction

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49771828.Kay_Smith_Blum

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kay-smith-blum

Whether your tastes run to historical fiction or award-winning urban fantasy, check out all my work on my Amazon Author Page, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

Do All Authors Dream-cast or Just Me?

I am neck-deep in the sort-of-final draft of my new historical novel, The Deserter. As I spend more and more time with Gil, who is a pain in the ass, and not the most charming character I’ve ever written, I find myself writing the action scenes like a movie. Since every movie needs a star, I often imagine a certain actor as that character. Here are some of the actors who have inspired my work (and if any of them want to actually make the movies, operators are standing by!)

First, of course, was The Count of the Sahara. Byron de Prorok was a real person, so I had to choose the right person for the job. Here’s the real Byron, looking very, well, Byronic.

So who do I get who has that early 20-th Century, mid-Atlanic look?

How’s Benedict Cumberbatch sound?

Then there is the Lucca Le Peu stories, Acre’s Bastard and Acre’s Orphans. Kids are tough because they age quickly, and Lucca is of mixed Syrian/French heritage. But the one character I was obsessed with was the leprous spy master and member of the Knights of St Lazar, Brother Marco. Nobody says tortured, doomed and brooding like Clive Owen. Then there’s the equally tragic Sister Pilar. Rachel Weisz is perfect, although to mar that visage with Leprosy would be a horrible crime, but maybe an Emmy nomination would be reward enough?

Then there’s Johnny Lycan, the Werewolf PI. A normal Chicago suburban white boy with a monstrous secret. He’s physically big but vulnerable… “Reacher with Claws.” I bounced around a lot on this one, but if you’ve seen The Night Agent, Gabriel Basso rocks it. Plus my wife thinks he’s adorable. Not for nothing, the script for this movie exists if anyone with money wants to see it.

Finally, there’s the tragic Gil Hawkins, whose anonymat is Gil Vincente. Once he was the Lion of Marseille’s underground and now a Legionnaire with a deep secret. One face kept popping up. Charlie Hunnam is physically perfect, if a bit old for the job but that’s what make-up’s for, right? And he’d rock a kepi.

Hey, a guy can dream. Who do you imagine when you read books? Do you picture actors or are you normal? Let’s see your comments.

Real Actors as Sleuths, Histfic from Mary Ann Noe

I love that as the new novel is closer to done, I’m reestablishing connections with those in the historical fiction community. It’s a very different group from the Urban Fantasy nerds, but just as interesting.

Today we are talking to Mary Ann Noe, who is on her second novel about the famous 20th-Centry theater actors, Lunt and Fontanne. The first book was Deserving of Murder, and it’s now joined by Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins.

I love the idea of using a famous real life couple as your heroes, especially someone as legendary (to those of us over a certain age) as Lunt and Fontanne. Tell us about yourself and we’ll get right down to business.

William Shakespeare and I share a birthday.  No, darling, he’s older than I am.  So, it was inevitable I should become a writer.  (Although my early stuff­ should probably line birdcages.)  I got better.  By the time I had thirty years teaching English, I was good enough to publish poetry and short stories.  After I retired, I went for the big guns and, surprising even myself and my workshop buddies, had my first novel in my hands at age 73.  Thank you, Black Rose Writing, my publisher in Texas.  The best part?  I can write in multiple genres, and my readers like all of them.  Already out are family sagas, middle-grade fantasy, murder mystery, historical fiction…and there are more coming.  My goal is to live long enough to get all of my manuscripts published!

Tell us about the new book.

My latest, Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins, is a second historical fiction starring Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, real-life globally famous stage actors of the 20th century.  The first Lynn & Alfred Tale, Deserving of Murder, is a closed-room murder mystery.  Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins puts the couple in 1939 Paris, attempting to help Jaroslav, a Czech glass artist, get his family’s fortune out of Europe.  As these three lives come closer and closer together, they are all pulled into Hitler’s maelstrom, encountering a multitude of terrors and horrors.  Moving from Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, England, New York City, and, ultimately, to Ten Chimneys, the Lunts’ Wisconsin home, Lynn and Alfred must face the final showdown with Hitler’s henchmen, struggling to survive while hoping against hope Jaroslav has been able to do the same.

Where did such a unique story come from?

I am lucky enough to be a docent at the real Ten Chimneys, Lynn and Alfred’s summer home, so I know a great deal about this fascinating couple.  In the books, I try to adhere to facts as much as possible.  The Lunts’ lives are a treasure-trove of challenges and excitement,  so stretching the truth like taffy is easy.  For Glass Flowers, I wanted to work in the real glass flowers that form a garland around Lynn’s dressing table mirror.  I finally hit on creating a glass artist who could use his work to somehow smuggle out his fortune.  Lynn’s sister was the real artist who created the flowers.  That’s one of the joys of writing fiction: the freedom to create a new “reality.”  However, I feel a responsibility to others interested in the World War II era to stick close to the history of the times.  Sometimes, I spend more time researching than I do writing in order to get it right!

Where can we learn more about your work?

FOR MY BOOKS:

https://www.blackrosewriting.com/search?q=mary%20ann%20noe  Click on cover/title to order.

For audible books:  https://www.audible.com   Search Mary Ann Noe to find all books. Audible also available through Amazon.

Amazon, Kindle, BookBub, Goodreads. I’m on Facebook as well.

Whether your tastes run to historical fiction or award-winning urban fantasy, check out all my work on my Amazon Author Page, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

This Feral, Nasty, Uncooperative First Draft is Done…

If Mary Poppins is correct (and did you ever think you’d catch me quoting anyone so darned wholesome?) “Well begun is half done.” Actually, Aristotle said it first, but it sounds so much cuter coming from Julie Andrews. Anyway…. announcement time.

The first draft of The Deserter is done. The second draft is going to be more of a slog than anything I’ve ever written, but then the book is different. Darker. More serious. A tragedy.

In other words, fun. I am hoping to do for the Beau Geste/ Foreign Legion stories what Unforgiven did for Westerns. Honoring the tales while demythologizing them.

Stay tuned for more, but for now, me and Mary Poppins are gonna get a drink.

Now Comes the Raven- Jean M Roberts

Hang around the writing business long enough and you’ll keep coming across the same people. One of the finer humans is Jean Roberts. She’s written some solid Historical Fiction, which I think is where we first crossed trails. She also has published some of her work with Black Rose Writing, and there we met up again.

I really enjoyed her time-travel novel The Heron. She’s back with a sequel, Now Comes the Raven. Here’s my catch-up chat with her.

Okay, lady. Tell the uninitiated who you are and what you’ve been up to.

Thank you, Wayne for asking me to be on your blog!

A little about myself, hmm. I’m older, but not old. I’ve lived in four countries and multiple states. My husband and I met in the Air Force when we were stationed in England. After moving around a lot, we settled outside of Houston, Texas, where I worked as a nurse administrator until I chucked in the job to write full-time. I started with historical fiction, then wandered into historical fantasy, and every once in a while, I take a sharp turn into murder mysteries. When I’m not writing, I’m usually in the garden, pulling weeds, watching birds, and thinking about my plot.

We actually share a fascination with birds, although they don’t (or at least haven’t yet) found their way into my work. So, what’s your new book about?

As you well know, the worst question you can ask a writer is ‘what is your book about?’ How many hours have you got? I just published (March 6th) book two in my Midsummer Woman Series, called NOW COMES THE RAVEN. The story is a dual time set in modern-day Devon and in 9th-century Wessex. The main character in each period is a witch with special skills in healing. The antagonist is called The Raven, and he makes life hell for both women. The two must come together to defeat him. It is heavy on historical fiction with a bonus of magical realism/fantasy. There is mythology, mystery, romance, and a rollicking good time. I am currently thinking of ways to torment my MC in a third installment.

You bounce around a lot. What’s your favorite period in history to write about? Why pre-Hastings Wessex?

I’ve loved every time period I’ve written about. I really enjoyed the history of Wessex as it transitioned from pagan to Christian, clinging to some of the old ways and blending it into new traditions. This was the time of King Alfred the Great and the Danish (Vikings) invasion. My MC in the past, is a young woman learning her skills from a master herbalist and healer. They are witches, but not in the hocus-pocus sense, more like cunning women who can see visions and predict the future. The emphasis of the story is woman power, building a sisterhood, coming together to help and heal.

Since apparently it’s my job to ask unfair questions, what’s your favorite scene?

What is my favorite scene? That’s like asking a mother which is her favorite child. One scene I really enjoyed was when Aelfwyn, my witch in training, calls up a storm to destroy the Danish Fleet off the coast of Exeter. This was a powerful moment for her when she realized the possibilities and consequences of her magic. BTW, the Danish fleet really did sink, and who knows, maybe it was a witch.

Maybe. Where can people find more of your work?

You can find my books on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Most of them are available as audiobooks. I am all over social media, usually lurking in the dark shadows, but if inclined you can find me in the following places:

My Blog: The Books Delight

Amazon Author Page 

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on Facebook

Instagram 

Bookbub

Bluesky

Threads

Goodreads

Tiktok

Website: Home | Jean M. Roberts – Wix.com

Thanks again, Wayne for letting me stop by!

Whether your tastes run to historical fiction or award-winning urban fantasy, check out all my work on my Amazon Author Page, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

Boxing and Books with Lou Eisen

If you’ve hung out here for any length of time, you know I have more than a casual interest in the sport of boxing. In fact, I’ve written several short stories featuring the sport (you can read them here.) Yes, boxing is full of toxic masculinity, casual racism and violence, to which I say, “what’s your point?” It is the very essence of drama.

But as much as I enjoy the sport, it doesn’t begin to approach the love my old friend and stand-up comic friend Lou Joshua Eisen has. We’ve talked prize fighting for almost 40 years (including a memorable night watching Cooney-Foreman.) He’s finally written a book worthy of his obsession, and even though it doesn’t fit what we usually talk about here, I wanted you all to know about it.

Okay, Eisen. What should people know about you?

 I was born and raised on December 1st, 1960 in Toronto, Canada, where I reside today with my wife Cynthia. I fell in love with boxing when I first saw Muhammad Ali on local television to promote his upcoming fight with Canada’s George Chuvalo on March 29, 1966. I became obsessed with boxing at that moment. My mother had died only one month earlier and boxing kept my mind occupied. It was at that point that I started obsessively watching boxing on TV. I also started collecting boxing books, magazines, and newspaper articles, most of which, I still have today. Boxing was really my first love.

What’s the book about?

My book is entitled, BOXING’S GREATEST CONTROVERSIES – BLUNDERS, BLOOD FEUDS AND MOB CORRUPTION. My book covers eleven controversial fights from different eras in boxing, starting in 1772, when the first fixed fight that can be unequivocally verified occurred in England, and ending with the second Tyson-Holyfield fight in June of 1997.

We both love boxing, flawed as it is. Why do you think that is?

Boxing appeals to me primarily because the prize ring is really the only bastion of honesty that I know of. There is no artifice about two warriors in the ring facing each other with only the skills God gave them, to succeed. Boxing is great not because it gives a fighter a chance to be as good as his/her opponent but, because it gives them a chance to be better.

We have spent a lot of time over the years BSing, and I don’t know many people who have written, spoken, and been interviewed about the sport as much as you. Why write the book now?

The roots of the book emanate from 60 years of watching thousands of fights on television, many of them controversial. I wrote the book because much of what has previously been written about some of these fights is incorrect, deliberately or otherwise.  I wanted to find out the real reason these fights ended up being so controversial and a source of arguments.

What’s your favorite story in the book?

That’s a tough question. My favorite story in the book may very well be the chapter on the Roberto Duran-Ken Buchanan fight because I watched it on TV with my cousin Barbara who was from Glasgow, Scotland and the way it ended was outrageous. We were both angry and yelling at the TV!

Where can folks learn more about your book?

You can learn more about my book and where to purchase it at amazon.com, dundurn.com and at barnesandnoble.com. They can also follow and subscribe to my substack at https://loue.substack.com/

Whether your tastes run to historical fiction or award-winning urban fantasy, check out all my work on my Amazon Author Page, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

Your Boy is in Two New Fiction Anthologies

I love writing short stories. Usually, they are writing exercises where I’m attempting to try something new without investing in a full-blown novel. Two, very different, anthologies out this month feature some of my stories. I think they are some of my best work, if very atypical of my usual stuff.

The first is a very dramatic, serious piece called The Ghost Tower. It is set in Bangkok, Thailand, and features a lonely man and an abandoned skyscraper. Make of that metaphor what you will.

It’s in the 2024 Edition of Whispers in the Desert Wind. That’s this year’s collection of stories from talented writers in the Las Vegas area. Technically, it’s the Henderson Writers Group. I hope you get the book and support their (our) good work supporting writers here in the Las Vegas area.

The second anthology is VERY different. It is a highly political, angry, screw-them-all to the oligarchs and wealthy jerks who are running things. The title, Devour the Rich should give you an idea. it’s edited by my GoIndieNow compatriot, Juliet Rose.

My horror tale, Fur Babies, is about the revenge of a cat lady on her horrible boss. This book is full of rage, and vitriol and (just to give you an idea) I’m probably the least cranky contributor in it, so let that be your guide.

Trigger warning, the book is dedicated “To Luigi.” If you know, you know. Nobody asked me, probably not a choice I’d have made, but I’m only one among many. Enjoy and get a little vicarious revenge on the 1%.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to read some of my other short stories, this site is full of them. Just click on Short Stories and Other Pieces on the menu.

Of course, you can read my novels and my nonfiction work on my Amazon Author Page.

The Prolific Bryan Tann

If you’ve been following my socials (and why the heck haven’t you??) you know that I’ve been pretty active in the Go Indie Now community. You can see my latest wide-ranging, somewhat silly interview here.

The best part, besides being able to promote my work, is meeting all the other authors and artists that are part of that community. On an episode of This Week in Indies (you can see it here) I meat the prolific Bryan Tann. Thought you might want to meet him too.

Alright man, what’s your story?

How’s it going everyone?! I’m Bryan Tann, born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. I write fiction that includes Urban Fantasty, Science Fiction, Horror, and Erotic Crime. I have a black belt in Kenpo and a recognized black belt in Goju Ryu, the real life equivalent of Miyagi Do Karate! I have an MBA with a focus on Leadership and I have more movies and funko pops than I can count!

I can appreciate the writing in more than one genre, even if it makes you hard to categorize. What are a couple of your books about?

My Urban Fantasy novels in The Enforcer series follow the adventures of Bryce Kreed, a vampire enforcer tasked with protecting a Mistress Vampire from a Clandestine Blood Cult. 

My Sci Fi series follow the adventures of John Baker, a government created super soldier tasked with hunting down a terrorist until he finds he’s on the wrong side. 

My Erotic Thriller, Ed and Livvy, tells the tale of a couple who have both suffered. Together they have made the decision; never again. 

I know that the vampire enforcer has an interesting history. Where did he come from?

Bryce Kreed was a recurring nightmare from my late teens and early 20s. I had a psychotic break and became the character. I decided to take back my peace of mind, and made my trauma into a character. 

Who did this to you? Who did you read that really influenced you?

I love Robert R. McCammon. His book Swan Song changed my life. I’m also a fan of my writing partner Kindra Sowder. 

If you’re tired of werewolf detectives (WHAT?!!!) Check out the exciting historical fiction action of Acre’s Bastard and Acre’s Orphans. Can one small boy save the Kingdom of Jerusalem? It’s like Kipling’s Kim, set in the Crusades.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter and learn all about what’s going on and future projects. Cool stuff is coming.

Body-Swapping Romantic Fantasy with L A Hilder Jones

If you haven’t figured out by now, I love living in Las Vegas. One of the biggest reasons is the people I’ve met through Sin City Writers. We are an odd little group but supportive of each other’s efforts and we rejoice when one of our own gets published. Thus, I bring you L A Hilder Jones and her new novel, “It Happened One Morning.”

Okay, I know you under another name, but who is L A Hilder Jones and why should people care?

I’ve always been a storyteller ever since I was a teenager. Wrote two books. One was about a sensuous vampire exacting revenge on three annoying classmates (8th grade, you know?). The other was an 18th-century soap opera-type story which took place in Wales. Never published them, but the whole point was to create a world I wanted to be part of. Escape the annoying, humdrum reality that is life, and control the fate of characters in my hands.

But, gotta have a day job. In my case, several day jobs. After college, I landed a mailroom job at KNBC-TV, then a gig working Hollywood Squares. Typing their contracts for prizes and such. Then after about five years at Lockheed as an editorial assistant for an aerospace magazine, I headed to Washington, D.C., where I eventually landed two jobs at Gannett. Left there, joined another company writing for their newsletters and eventually their proposal center. Then moved to Las Vegas, where I became a communications consultant to MGM Mirage, then joined a government contractor where I wrote for and oversaw their company publication. Twelve years of that and I said, “That’s enough,” took early retirement and now write what I want to write and publish.

Your book has a unique premise. What’s it about?

“It Happened One Morning…” tells the story of Boz Studebaker, a famous but burned-out on-air relationship coach who, one morning, suddenly turns into a woman. Now’s he forced not only to live a woman’s life, but also take his own advice. He–Bonnie–does everything she can to turn back to Boz, even enduring problematic “woman-y” situations and two little shapeshifters. But a horrific event leads her to the love of her life. For the first time, Bonnie doesn’t want to return to being Boz. Problem is, the Universe has other plans for her.

The novel is a mix of laugh-out-loud entertainment, poignancy, and wise advice, while Boz/Bonnie learns what makes and breaks even the most promising relationships.

The ebook version launched Oct. 12. The paperback version will launch Dec. 1, 2024, just in time for the holidays.

What about the magic or character appealed to you? What are the roots of this unique story?

When I was very young, I was inspired by actors I had crushes on, or TV shows and movies. Never books, oddly. Now, I write from experience and the experience of others. When I imagined Boz, his looks and personality reminded me of Bruce Willis’s wacky but astute character in “Moonlighting.” Liz, his producer, was inspired by my hairdresser. Morgan Pacek, Bonnie’s lover, was a composite of men but he ended up being his own man in the book. And the story itself was inspired by all the male relationship coaches I watched on YouTube and the internet. They give really smart advice, mainly for women. But one component was missing: They, as straight men, never dated men. We women have, so their advice only goes so far. That observation inspired the Boz character, who does go through that gender shift, to his horror and dismay.

Who did this to you? Who did you read that made you the writer you are?

I loved Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre.” She brings you into that 19th-century world so easily and beautifully. Today, I’m reading Kristin Hannah’s “The Women”. I much admire her writing style, because she simply tells a story with intriguing characters, without getting prose-y and long-winded. Her writing style is “seasoned,” for lack of a better word. Another writer I admire is Nathaniel Philbrick, particularly his “In the Heart of the Sea” non-fiction. I love non-fiction the most, particularly when the author forgets his or her research and delves into the story, the real reason why that story was written.

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

You can learn more about my book by reading it. I recommend that readers buy my books directly from my website, www.lahiderjones.com. They can get a personally autographed copy with a bookmarker. Otherwise, the ebook is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Apple Books, all the big players. When the paperback goes live Dec. 1, folks can come to Copper Cat books in Henderson, where I’ll have my launch party, selling “It Happened One Morning…” at a discount. And, we’ll get to meet and chat!

Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder was a finalist for the 2024 American BookFest Fantasy Book award. Check it out, along with the rest of the series on Amazon in Audible, Kindle or Paperback, or through Black Rose Writing.

Johnny Lycan is now an Award Winner

I know that book awards aren’t supposed to be a thing. We’re supposed to be cool and arty and above all that nonsense.

That said, look what just happened. Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder is a finalist for the 2024 Best Fantasy Book from the American Book Fest.

Yes indeed, the grand finale of the Werewolf PI series is officially an award winner (or at least a finalist, darn it.)

Thanks to the team at Black Rose Writing for their help with this book and the whole darned series.

Order the AWARD WINNING Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder now, available in paperback, Kindle, and Audible.