Author: Chelsey M. Ortega

New Release: Cruel Charade by Alana Lorens

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Alana Lorens’ latest Mystery-Thriller released last week: Cruel Charade.

First allow me to introduce Alana, a seasoned author by many names:

*

Alana Lorens (aka Barbara Mountjoy) has been a published writer for over 45 years, including seven years as a reporter/editor at the South Dade News Leader in Homestead, Florida, after working as a server, a pizza maker, and a floral designer. She writes non-fiction, romance, adventure, and suspense novels. She is the author of the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series, which draws on her years as a family law attorney in the state of Pennsylvania. One of the causes close to her heart came from those years as well–the fight against domestic violence. She volunteered for many years at women’s shelters and provided free legal services to women and children in need. Alana resides in North Carolina, and she loves her time in the smoky blue mountains. She lives with her daughter, who is the youngest of her seven children, and she is ruled by three crotchety old cats, and six kittens of various ages.

Now, on to Cruel Charade. Alana, introduce us to the story, world and characters.

Miami in the 1990s was shiny and glitzy, loud and tropical, and often dark and deadly. Star Island has as many criminal masterminds as old moneyed-families, and the average person on the street could get killed for the price of a hit of crack cocaine.

In this world, we find Bet Lenard, who until recently was a family law attorney, married to Richard Lenard, a powerful local attorney practicing criminal defense law. This couple had a home in the Redlands, enjoying the best of Dade County living with their two teenagers, Jane and Jeremy. 

But Bet has a mysterious illness that leaves her constantly in pain, which her doctors can’t identify and even attribute to her mind. Since she cannot work and cope with the pain, she turns to alcohol, which drives a wedge between her and the family. Richard files for divorce, blaming her for the break-up.

When she finds herself in the Everglades one night, she realizes her life is out of control. Reluctant to accept help, because she doesn’t know who to trust, she must peel back the layers of the onion of her life to discover who wants her dead. A sympathetic police detective may be a friend. Her long-time therapist?  Is it a knowledgeable doctor who has a lead on her sickness? Could her estranged husband and children be of support? Perhaps there is no one, and she is doomed to fail.

What inspired your story?

In this book, my daughter Bethany suggested it would be interesting to begin a scene with the Five Things—many people have become familiar with the technique as they have gotten into counseling, etc. So I wrote the first chapter, and her comment was, “Well, that got dark fast.” Haha. But she was right—it was a great place to begin.

And of course I practiced law and lived in deep south Florida for a decade (Homestead, pre-Hurricane Andrew) so I have a background in the area.

Give us a brief look at your writing process. Are you a plotter or pantser? How much time did you spend on this project? What is your writing schedule like?

I’m about half and half. Usually I begin with an idea, or a character and get about halfway through, then begin to draw out final arcs. Most of my books take about six months. This one I worked over two years before getting a contract. I polished and polished so it would be right. I’m a night writer as well, so I confess there are some nights I wrote until the wee hours and some nights I just crashed. 😊

Who are you outside of writing?

A crafter, a mom to a grown daughter on the spectrum, a warrior against autoimmune disease, and a gardener—this year we are growing 14 kinds of vegetables, from potatoes to shishitos to tomatoes, along with thyme, lemongrass and catnip to support our clowder of nine.

Follow Alana and check out Cruel Charade at https://alana-lorens.com/

Miami attorney Bet Lenard has had a rough year. She’s battling an unknown illness that drives her to drink to cope with her pain. Her lawyer husband has divorced her and taken the best part of their business, their home and their children. 

On the night of May 16, 1996, Bet finds herself in the Everglades in the middle of the night, drugged, lost and next to a burned car with a dead body in it. Hoping she’s hit bottom, Bet must drag herself out of her living hell and discover who tried to kill her. Was it her ex-husband, not satisfied with stealing everything that mattered? An angry client, unhappy with the outcome of their case? Her best friend’s husband, livid that Bet’s restraining order kicked him out of her life forever? Police officers fuming that Bet helped a client convict a dirty cop who was their friend? She has no idea. 

As she tries to sort out the motives behind her would-be killer, even more suspects come to light. The only thing keeping Bet sane is her relationship with her therapist, who encourages her to struggle and survive, despite everything that’s gone wrong. How will Bet discover the truth and bring her enemy to justice before they strike again and, this time, succeed?

Meet Elizabeth Packard: Women’s Rights Activist

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Elizabeth Wells Packard is not on the list of “25 of the Most Influential Women in American History” She’s not on the list of 41 women, 50, or even 125 women. But her name needs to be known. And you need to know what she did for you, your mothers, your wives, your sisters, and your daughters.

On a recent trip to Barnes & Noble, this title caught my eye:

After reading the blurb, I didn’t hesitate to purchase this gem of a biography. Kate Moore weaves an emotional and beautiful narrative of Elizabeth Packard’s strenuous life during the 1860s. A woman whose only crime was to have a different religious and political opinion from her husband. Such absurdity at the time was medically considered insane, imprisoning Elizabeth behind the walls of the Jacksonville Asylum. Elizabeth spent several years trying to get out, and once she was out, she was not done fighting. Her next goal was to get the laws changed that put her there. Ms. Moore writes in the style of narrative nonfiction, giving us the facts in the form of a story. My blood boiled for the majority of the book, but Elizabeth’s triumph made the emotional rollercoaster worth it.

So, let’s meet Elizabeth Wells Packard. (Note: Everything written below comes from what I learned in Kate Moore’s book. All credit for deeper research goes to her.)

Elizabeth married a man fourteen years her senior – which wasn’t a cause for raised eyebrows at the time, but certainly led to her husband’s erroneous belief that he could spend his marriage days controlling her. 

Theophilus Packard was a preacher, which allowed Elizabeth a religious education. Shouldn’t the preacher’s wife know the Bible? In her studies, Elizabeth went beyond her husband’s teachings and explored other philosophies (this is at the tail end of the Second Great Awakening, afterall). Elizabeth thought it would be okay to share her new thoughts in her Bible Studies class. What Elizabeth didn’t know was Theophilus was receiving pressure from his financial backers to preach certain agendas in the wake of the looming Civil War. (Isn’t communication in marriage a beautiful thing?) Those agendas were the exact opposite of Elizabet’s new beliefs.

As tensions in their home rose, Elizabeth left her husband’s church, and began attending a church across town. This was the final straw for Theophilus. He locked Elizabeth in the nursery, and got two doctors to sign a certificate stating that Elizabeth was insane. On the day he planned to move her, he sent their 6 children on different errands and to different babysitters so they would not see their mother cartered off, and so the older ones could not come to her defense. He then brought in several trusted minions to manhandle Elizabeth out of her home, to the train station, and onto the train. Elizabeth was smart. She knew if she fought, then the unintelligent society she lived in would believe her insane. So she remained calm, stoic, and gave her kidnappers her dead weight as they carried her through the town. 

Theophilus accompanied Elizabeth to the Jacksonville Asylum in Illinois, and after dropping her off, would not see her again for quite some time. Theophilius placed her in the hands of the resident doctor, Andrew McFarland.

Dr. McFarland was smarter than Theophilus. After meeting with Elizabeth, he led her to believe that he did not think her insane, and that she would be out in a few months. During those few months, Dr. McFarland met with Elizabeth every day, letting her talk herself into a deeper hole (unbeknownst to her). 

According to Dr. McFarland, Elizabeth was not insane due to her religious beliefs. She was insane because she hated her husband. A sane woman would obey her husband. A sane woman would love her husband. A sane woman would forgive her husband for putting her in an asylum and agree to obey him in order to be released from the asylum. Elizabeth would do no such thing, so she remained there for about three years. 

During her time there, Dr. McFarland tried to break her by preventing her letters being delivered (both written to and by her), taking away her nice clothes, books, and writing supplies, and eventually moving her to the worst part of the hospital for women: 8th Ward. While in 8th Ward, Elizabeth experienced emotional abuse from the staff, and physical abuse from specific patients (these were the only patients that Elizabeth truly believed were insane). She also witnessed horrible physical abuse given to the other patients. 

Elizabeth was really good at making friends. And so, over time she was able to convince staff members to sneak her reading and writing materials into her new room. And during this time she wrote two full length books. One was all about the sins of Dr. McFarland, the other about the problems of her modern-day mental health system, religion, and women’s rights.

Elizabeth requested a meeting with the Board of Trustees, and was surprisingly granted a presentation with them. Dr. McFarland came, and so did Theophilus. But just like with the other patients and staff, Elizabeth won the Board over, and they commanded Dr. McFarland to release her within the next few months. Her release date came and went, but Elizabeth continued to write and pester Dr. McFarland. 

Eventually, Dr. McFarland admitted she was more bothersome inside the Jacksonville Asylum than he could handle, and he released her. Theophilus dropped her off with her cousin and forbade her from visiting him and their children. Elizabeth planned to do no such thing, and took out a loan from her friends to take a train to her hometown. She walked right into her old house, and it was a giant mess. Her only daughter was forced to become a homemaker at 11 years old, and is now a traumatized 14 year old. Theophilus had brainwashed their children against her, and they would only obey their father. Elizabeth became an invisible nuisance in her own home. 

Theophilus locked her in the nursery again, and she discovered he’s preparing her a place in another asylum, this time, for life. If she enters those doors, she isn’t coming out until she is dead. Her friends got the legal help that was denied her three years prior, and her sanity was officially on trial in the county court. 

This is one of the most amazing court cases I’ve ever read. And I can’t do it justice. Just read the book. In the end, Elizabeth won. She won against all those men who wanted to lock her away for life. BUT she is only free in the state of Illinois, and Theophilus still has legal control over their children. Ever the sore loser, Theophilus took off with their children and moved to Massachusetts. 

Elizabeth would then spend the next several years lobbying state government after state government to get the laws changed across the country. After another showdown with Dr. McFarland, she was successful. And because of Elizabeth Packard, women cannot be placed in asylums just because their husbands wish it. Because of Elizabeth Packard, women received a huge step in progress to their legal rights over their mental health and personal property. Because of Elizabeth Packard, the treatment of mental health patients started the process of improving. 

Elizabeth would get reunited with her children, and begrudgingly, her husband. They never divorced, but they also remained in separate dwellings for the rest of their lives. They stayed cordial in order to both have access to their children. The two books Elizabeth wrote while imprisoned got published and she lived off the sales of those popular volumes and the charity of her adult children. She is an amazing example of determination, passion, and perseverance.

Have you read about Elizabeth Packard before? What are your thoughts on her accomplishments? What other biographies would you recommend? Let me know in the comments!   

What YA Stories Can Teach Us: The Haunted Purse

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’m currently reading the Junie B. Jones series to my 6 year old (I know the title says YA, I have a point, I promise), and my adult eyes view Junie B. in a whole new light. It makes me sad that almost every adult in her life is so impatient with her and jumps to punishment right away instead of finding the root cause of Junie B’s behavior. There are two adults who treat her well and actually listen to her: Principal, and Grampa Frank Miller, but talking about those two is for a different post. 

Like with fiction’s funniest kindergartener, I’ve had a different reading experience with YA stories now that I’m a parent and I teach high school. And I’ve started to see three common messages in the recent YAs I’ve read: how adults treat teenagers is important, see something-say something, and honesty really is the best policy. 

As I dive into these lessons, I would like to use The Haunted Purse by Kimberly Baer to dive deeper into these themes. 

First, let’s get you on board with the plot and characters of The Haunted Purse.

Libby Dawson is our main character. She is a 15-year-old Sophomore, and her story begins during the second half of the school year. She just purchased a new (to her) purse from her local thrift store, and her purse keeps making things disappear. After she sweats for an hour or so, her purse will magically return it. This Mary Poppins purse causes problems between Libby and her Physics teacher, and Libby and her mom. On the flip side, the purse also helps her overcome her bullies and protects her from an assault the school’s heartthrob has planned for her. 

Libby eventually figures out that the purse is not magic, it’s haunted. The ghost of the previous owner has possessed the purse, and she wants Libby to solve her disappearance and murder. One big problem: this is a cold case from over twenty years ago.

Libby’s best friend, Toni, gets to witness the purse in action and happily becomes Libby’s sidekick in solving the case. The two girls put themselves in dangerous situations, leading to Toni getting grounded for the rest of the summer, and now Libby has to finish the case by herself – which ends up being more dangerous than Toni’s ridiculous idea that got her grounded. 

Now that you’ve got a feel for the story, let’s dive deeper into our three messages.   

How educational professionals treat each student is important. 

The opening scene is Libby losing her position as her Physics teacher’s “favorite student”. An essay is due, and Libby has to tell her teacher, “My purse ate my homework.” Her teacher doesn’t believe her, and embarasses her in front of the whole class. At the end of the class period, the purse returns the essay to Libby, and she tells her teacher she found it and asks if she can turn it in. Her teacher says yes, but the damage is done. She stops treating Libby with respect and compassion. Libby is the narrator for her story and informs the reader that this teacher is obsessed with being the fun teacher for the popular kids, plus has a few prized academic students. Libby used to be one of those prized academic students, but after this one mistake, she’s now a peasant, especially since the popular kids already bully Libby. 

I had a teacher like that in high school. Not to the extent of bullying students, but he was focused on keeping the popular kids entertained, and it caused him to let the rest of us fall through the cracks. 

In another scene, Libby is planning the rest of her high school career with her school counselor, and he is very condescending about Libby’s socioeconomic status. He basically tells her that her only chance of going to college is to be a straight A student so she can get scholarships. While what he said was factually true, Libby already knew that about herself, his delivery was so gross and judgmental. 

So, the takeaway from these two scenes is that teenagers – and young people in general – are very aware of their surroundings. They can absolutely tell how adults feel about them. And adults who have a stewardship role over minors need to be a safe person.  

See something, Say something.  

A big part of Libby’s character arc is that she is “the girl who raised herself.” Libby’s mom, Misty, had her when she was a teenager, and Libby has never known her biological father. Misty did not want to be a mom that young, and resented Libby for taking away her young adult years. So when she meets a man who claims he doesn’t like kids (at least, that’s what Misty tells Libby – I have my own theory), Misty moves in with him and leaves Libby in their apartment. Misty stops by occasionally to give Libby money for groceries, rent, and other bills; but other than that, Libby is literally living by herself. The entire apartment complex knows this, and no one does anything about it. Libby doesn’t want to end up in foster care, so she is fine with everyone else’s silence. But no one caring about her whereabouts is going to be a problem when she finds herself at the mercy of the villain.

Obviously, the plot would not have gone the way it did if one of Libby’s neighbors called social services the minute Misty abandoned her daughter. But in real life, these kinds of situations are not okay.  

Honesty really is the best policy.  

Almost all of the characters lie at some point. Most of them are lies by omission. The one I want to highlight, I’ll have to be vague on because it’s part of the resolution. So one of the characters who was close to the ghost when they were alive blames themself for the victim’s disappearance. They knew the ghost (when she was alive) was doing something they weren’t supposed to, and kept their secret for them. Twenty years later, they’ve still kept that information a secret because they feel so awful. Like most blame plotlines, if they’d confided in at least one other person, they would have learned everything was all right, and they weren’t responsible. 

We all need at least one person whom we can be completely honest with. 

So with these common lessons in YA stories (and let’s be honest, most stories), the plots would not be as developed and the stories would be over too quickly if these types of mistakes weren’t made. But the lessons learned from them are great for real life.

And this is one of the many reasons that The Haunted Purse is a worthy 5 star read. The story is intriguing, the characters are realistic and relatable, and the lessons learned are applicable. 
Have you read The Haunted Purse? What were your thoughts on it? What other stories like it would you recommend? Let me know in the comments!

How to Put a Ghost in a Romance: Bound Across Time

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Four years ago, I learned the rules of romance writing. There are two very important requirements for a story to be considered a romance:

  1. The main plot must center around the relationship between the love interests.
  2. It must end with a Happily Ever After or Happy For Now. 

I struggled with rule #2 for about a year (check out how I overcame that in a previous blog post), but once accepted, I had a big question: How do you make this work with ghosts? If one half of the couple is a living person, and the other half is a ghost, how are they going to have an HEA?

Part of my confusion came from reading an incorrectly labeled paranormal romance. First off, the main plot was not the relationship with the (ghost) love interest; that ended up being the side plot. Second, the main character is not reunited with their ghost love interest until decades after the main story ends when they die of old age (think the reunited scene of Jack and Rose in Titanic). That didn’t really feel like an HEA to me. 

So, like the emotional teenager I sometimes act like, I stayed away from ghost stories until Bound Across Time by Annie R. McEwen fell into my lap. This is a paranormal romance worth reading.

Let’s start with our living character, our female main character: Celeste Gowdie (a.k.a. CeCe). CeCe’s mother died when she was young, and she was raised by her aunts in the U.S. state of Georgia. CeCe doesn’t know who her father is (this is important for one of the reveals toward the end). She studied history in college, and is working in St. Rhydian’s castle in Wales when the story begins. CeCe wants to be taken seriously as a real historian, but she ends up being the American tour guide who gets to research and share ghost stories to the patrons. 

Patrick O’Loinsigh is the bastard son of one of the historic Lords of the castle. He was born in Ireland in the 18th Century, educated in Paris, and forced to move to his father’s castle during his early adult years. His father used him to do his dirty work since Patrick wouldn’t be inheriting the title. Patrick is murdered by his half brother, and his spirit spends the next few centuries hanging out in the in-between waiting for the living soul who matches a prophecy meant to free him.

Patrick and CeCe have a meet-cute of epic proportions. Patrick lures CeCe to the top of the tallest tower by turning on a battery operated candle. CeCe can’t lock up the castle and go home until all lights are turned off. So after a literal hike, CeCe comes across a handsome man in 1700s clothing. Patrick scares CeCe so bad that she faints. 

It takes CeCe several days to believe Patrick that he is the ghost of the handsome man in the gallery of the castle’s historic inhabitants. At first she thinks he’s a loiter pretending to be Patrick O’Loinsigh. But when she finally believes him, she falls, and she falls hard. 

The local witch coven gets involved, CeCe’s aunts get involved because… family secrets! (That I’m not going to spoil.) Everyone wants CeCe to stay away from Patrick for her own good. Of course she doesn’t listen, and she embarks on a passionate and steamy love affair with Patrick. 

Well, it turns out that when a living person spends that kind of time with a ghost, their literal being starts to disappear. So now, CeCe and Patrick have a difficult decision to make: go their separate ways to save CeCe’s life, or research if magic can help them. 

And that’s where I’m going to leave you with this story, because you’re just going to have to read it yourself if you want to know how it ends. But the ending is soooooo worth the emotional turmoil that Ms. McEwen is going to put you through. 

These kinds of stories always have to have “rules of magic” and the rules of magic that Annie created were very cool. When Patrick and CeCe meet up, the room they are in reverts back to the way it was when Patrick was alive. When Patrick leaves, the room returns to its modern-day look and feel. When they are together, they are neither in the past nor present – though they are closer to the present, because humans could hear CeCe if they came by the room. 

There also appears to be two different “types” of magic. There’s a traditional witch who can cast spells and make potions and such. Then there are people born with “gifts”. CeCe is born with a gift that allows her to see and hear Patrick in the first place. (For more details on that, read the book!)

And to finish off this review, here is a Q&A with the author herself:

In your planning, what came first: a story about witches? Or a story about ghosts?

Door Number Three: a story about a castle! Because, when I conceived the book, I was living in a small Welsh town that is graced by a very old and beautiful castle. I spent a lot of time thinking about the people who passed through those halls and gardens. Were any of them still there? So, yes, I suppose the ghosts came first and everything else followed. 

What historical people, places and facts are true? What did you embellish or fill in the holes?

The town, the witches, the historian who’s forced to resort to ghost walks since history doesn’t sell, the castle, the stone circle a few miles out of town, the Welsh coast almost within sight of Ireland, the family who kept secrets, the work of people – archivists, admins, docents, conservationists – at an historic site: all those are fact-based, along with the many casually dropped references to and stories about the past as viewed by both a modern historian and a ghost who died in the mid-1700s. Beyond and embracing those is the truth of protagonist CeCe’s life and work; just like her, I’m a career historian who lived in a small Welsh town and met the astoundingly warm and quirky inhabitants, worked in the local castle, visited the stone circle. The things I changed were the ghost (whom I never met, more’s the pity) and the names and actions of both CeCe and the locals. Oh, and the color-changing cat! Always wanted one of those but, alas, mine have all been the single-color variety. 

I’m guessing Aiofe’s story is next? Do you also plan on going back in time and also telling Gabrielle’s story?

Bound to Happen (Book Two of the Bound Series) does indeed follow Aoife/Fee’s story. It involves a radical change in setting, from a tiny Welsh town to London and, specifically, Covent Garden, where Aoife has a grant to research playwrights and poets of the 1600s. She’s lured to an abandoned theater by some urban exploring chums and…Well, you’ll have to read the novel to see what happens then! But in addition to new and very different secondary characters – Aoife’s Ghana-born flatmate and her ancestor priestess Mom, along with some skeptical folks in the National Trust and Museum of London Archeology – characters from Book One re-appear, like Jana Smithbury-Tewkes (and her new color-changing feline, Rumpelstiltskin.) Through them, readers learn more about Fee’s Savannah family (still keeping secrets, as families do) and her life growing up with leathling-souler parents in 18th century Paris. As to Gabrielle Gowdie: while bits of her tale are woven into Bound to Happen, it’s in Boundless (Book Three of the series), that we hear from an aging Helene Gowdie (oldest of the original five sisters who included Gabrielle) about why and how the secret-keeping of Gowdie family began.

What’s next for your writing career?

More writing, more publishing! I’m contracted with four publishers (one in the UK, the rest US-based) for nine books, five of which are written, the rest in progress. I’m eager to push ahead with my series for the UK publisher, Bloodhound Books; it’s Victorian working class romance centered on the lives and loves of four women who work in a London corset workshop. If you liked Peaky Blinders, you’ll love The Corset Girls! I haven’t left paranormal romance behind, though; I’ve got a spine-chilling vampire romance story in Rowan Prose Publishing’s horror anthology coming out later this year. And I’m finishing a time travel historical romance set in 1910 Boston, New Orleans, and Wales. Several other WIPs are nudging me for attention, including a Regency romance comedy about the lengths to which an impoverished heiress will go to avoid an inconvenient marriage, an 1880s romance set in New Orleans’ back streets, and a novel of smuggling and love on the Kent coast in the 1740s. 

Annie R. McEwen has written a beautiful romance that brings past and present together in the most captivating of ways. She kept me guessing until the very end how the problems would get resolved. Very captivating and well-earned five stars. 

Learning to Love Flawed Characters

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

When I was going through my early-teens horror movie phase, I would constantly ask, “Why don’t the characters do xyz?”  My dad would always respond, “Because if they did, there wouldn’t be a movie.”

That’s how I’m starting to view flawed characters. Their flaws create drama, tension, and even plot points in the stories they star in. Even so, up until recently, I still expected some type of redemption or growth from a flawed character. That kind of expectation from a main character? Absolutely! But I also placed that same expectation on side characters, and it was affecting my ability to enjoy some great stories. 

My biggest struggle with this was the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. There are several characters whose flaws cause problems, and there’s no redemption or growth. The characters double down on their reasons for how they act, and Ethan and Lena are forced to accept it because they are young and have to obey the adults in their life. 

Years later, I read Spirit in Tow by Terry Segan, and her character named Gus drove me absolutely crazy. He caused a lot of problems, he was incredibly selfish, and he rarely apologized. Ms. Segan agreed to an interview when I was reviewing that book, and one of my questions was specifically about how she created Gus with all of his flaws and issues. One thing she said that stuck out to me was, “I… wanted Marni to see his occasional soft side, that we know almost every tough guy has, despite trying to hide it. It’s those cracks in his armor that kept Marni wanting to solve his murder and free his soul.” 

Occasional soft side. Cracks in his armor.

Characters need to have enough likable aspects, that their flaws can be, at the very least, tolerated.

And with this budding new view on flaws in fictional characters (and I do think it’s important to emphasize fictional – there are things that are okay in fiction that are not in real life, and that’s okay), I picked up Terry’s newest book: Five Steps to Celestia.

Joy lost her memory in a motorcycle accident 22 years ago. After her doctor is unable to find anything to identify her, he courts her, and they get married. Now she’s a widow, and comes across some mysterious seeds on a road trip with her bestie. Planting the seeds coincides with the arrival of some suspicious characters, and Joy’s memories start to crack open. As Joy learns about her past, she realizes that she was a different person than she is now, and she has a lot to answer for. And the big question: Which version of herself will Joy keep, or is it possible to blend her two lives?

Terry Segan does an excellent job of weaving an engaging story with enough mystery to keep the reader wanting more. And like her previous book, these characters are full of flaws.

Suzi is Joy’s best friend, and she starts out as your typical comedic elderly character. Suzi is on her 5th divorce when the story starts. She’s a terrible driver, a shopaholic, and a giant flirt with men young enough to be her grandsons (and they rarely want to flirt back). She’s loud, speaks her mind at inappropriate times, and won’t take no for an answer. Her flaws are going to cause a life-threatening climax that my younger self would have not been able to forgive had this book existed five years ago. But Suzi is also fiercely loyal. She will protect her loved ones with every fiber of her being. She has good internal radar when it comes to discerning who is and isn’t trustworthy. I honestly did not like her the majority of the book, but everything ended up coming together nicely in the end. 

Grace is Joy’s adopted daughter. Joy became Grace’s mother by marrying her father, the doctor who saved Grace’s life. Grace is married to a man who doesn’t deserve her, and her inability to kick him to the curb frustrates both the reader and Joy. But Joy has more patience than I do, and she allows her daughter to make her own choices – even if she disagrees with them. Grace’s decisions don’t put anyone else in danger the way that Suzi’s do, but it definitely caused some extra drama, that added to the tensions in the plot. 

Owen is Grace’s husband. He hurts Grace terribly and has a greedy and malicious plan that Suzi learns about from spying on him. He receives a couple of natural consequences from his actions, but none of those consequences come from Grace or Joy; and I really wanted those two women to deal out justice. *Sigh* But whether he gets the comeuppance I thought he deserved or not, doesn’t change the main plot. And because of that, I had to (begrudgingly) accept Joy’s realization: Grace is a grown woman who needs to make her own choices, and also needs her family for love and support. 

Silas is going to remain a bit more mysterious for this post. But what I will say is he likes to be in control, even if that means taking away others’ agency. Like with Owen, Silas has one consequence, but that consequence doesn’t make things better for Joy, our main character. And he doesn’t seem truly penitent. But his choices are important for the overall plot. His growth can’t happen until the end, if he was going to have growth. Joy chose to focus on other things, and doesn’t force him to change. Once again, I had to accept that this was Joy’s choice. 


When I finished reading Five Steps to Celestia, and I sat down to review it, I had to pause. I really was not happy with any of the four characters I just introduced you to. But did they make my reading experience unenjoyable? No. Did they cause an unsatisfactory ending? Again, no. So did the story deserve to lose a star or two because the characters are human? For the third time, no. And it’s with this realization that moving forward, I’ll be looking at books with imperfect characters differently and with more grace (pun intended).

Five Steps to Celestia released yesterday. Were you a lucky ARC reader like myself? What were your thoughts on the book?

Have you read any of Terry’s other books? What are your thoughts on those?

What books have you read that have helped you grow as a reader?

Let me know in the comments!

New Release: Fox Tale by Karen Hulene Bartell

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Karen Hulene Bartell is back to talk about her newest release: Fox Tale. Before we dive into this captivating title, let’s get to know Karen.

Plotter or Pantser: I’m a pantser, no question about it. I do make short outlines of what happens next, but I’m too spontaneous to follow any extended framework. Besides, when I “play dolls” with friends, that is, brainstorm my plot, I often prefer their ideas to mine, which makes for far more interesting plot twists than I’d devise.

Does It Come to Me, or do I Struggle?: It’s usually a combination of the stories coming to me and me struggling to conclude the chapters. I’m inspired to begin each book, but occasionally I grapple with twists or turns of the novel, trying to patch the sections into the greater story, as well as smoothly transition the reader to the next chapter.

When did I Start Writing?: An only child, I began writing my first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating my own happy endings…However, I got four pages into my first “book” and realized I had to do a lot of living before I could finish it! 

Reading is the entry to writing. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually–sometimes monthly–I found my earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became my portable pals. Ghost stories kept me up at night–reading feverishly. Novels offered an imaginative escape, and the paranormal was my passion.

So here I am all these decades later, still creating my own happy endings…

What is the Most Powerful Challenge of Authoring a Novel?: IMHO, marketing is the nightmare to the dream of writing! Promoting my books is the hell to the heaven of authoring them. I’d much rather keep “plugging away” at finishing a chapter than “plugging” myself on social media 😉

Background of Fox Tale 

My husband works for a Japanese company. When he was instructed to meet with his Tokyo team, I leapt at the chance to accompany him. The next thing I did was research Japan’s cryptids. What appeared were Inari’s kitsunes or fox spirits—and voilà, the idea for Fox Tale was born.

What are Inari’s kitsunes? Japan’s history of foxes is complex. According to Fox Tale’s leading man, Rafe, “Originally, Inari was the concept of a successful rice harvest. Over time, devotees fleshed out that belief, and Inari became the androgynous god of wealth.” 

“And the kitsunes?” asked the protagonist, Ava.

“The relationship has always been cooperative…Initially, foxes kept rice fields free from rodents, ensuring good crop yields. Eventually, people humanized the foxes into guardians and agents.”

While my husband attended meetings, I explored Tokyo, sometimes alone on foot and sometimes with a group tour. I took copious notes, and each site I visited became part of my developing story. With the supernatural element, as well as the locale established, my imagination began taking flight.

I spoke to locals as often as possible, asking if they believed in kitsune–or if their neighbor or grandmother believed in them. (Luckily, many Japanese speak English!) Not one admitted to believing in the old superstitions, but almost all knew of someone who did. 

Said Fox Tale’s antagonist, Ichiro, “Most Japanese live in concrete canyons, and rational university educations replace superstition. Still, fox stories persist through theater, festivals, language, and literature…or kiterature as I call it.” 

“Despite a waning belief?” I leaned closer. 

“Even today, some believe in fox possession…although believing in kitsunetsuki might not be fashionable in this age of supercomputers and artificial intelligence, stories still circulate in the tabloids and mass media.”

“For example?” 

“In 2019, a doomsday cult member rammed his car into pedestrians on Takeshita Street, then pled not guilty on the grounds that the cult was fox possessed. And as recently as 2022, the Sessho-seki split in two.” 

Skeptical, I squinted. “The what did what?” 

“The killing stone…according to legend, it imprisoned an evil nogitsune vixen. Her spirit escaped when it split in half and began spewing sulfur fumes, killing anyone that approached…For over a thousand years, Japanese medical practitioners considered kitsunetsuki a disease. Even into the twentieth century, psychologists believed fox possession caused mental illness.” 

“But not anymore…” Crossing my arms, I hugged myself, seeking reassurance. “Right?” 

“Today, therapists consider kitsunetsuki a psychosis or a culture-bound syndrome. Although”—he shrugged—“its symptoms can extend to people familiar with the Japanese culture.”

Gathering all the information I could from locals, as well as researching online, the plot for Fox Tale began to take shape. Once I had the realistic component that tied the supernatural to the natural, I had the storyline. Then the characters emerged as the story unfolded in my mind.

When my husband finished his meetings in Tokyo, we visited Kyoto, where we toured Fushimi Inari. The mountain is sacred in the Shinto religion, a place where “deities coexist with nature” and where, some believe, Inari resides. Fushimi Inari has an ethereal presence. Its otherworldly aura and scenery are difficult to describe, but if anything supernatural could occur, it would happen on that mountain. While at that shrine, the various parts merged into the basis of Fox Tale: the supernatural element, general locale, plot, characters, and finally the specific location for the otherworldly activity. 

Lo and behold, a novel was born.

Chase is seemingly the villain of Fox Tale, yet from his perspective, he’s… 

“A guardian? Yes, but an angel…?” His lips rose in a sly smile. “I’m also a male with physical needs.” The smile faded. “I’m lonely without a woman’s company. I yearn for a woman’s touch.” The corners of his mouth drooped, and he spoke in a flat monotone. “Which brings us full circle to where this conversation began. You remind me of a woman I almost married—” 

Chase has objectives, but he acts and reacts according to his own code of honor.

The true villain is Atsuki, however, with his expensive suits, chauffeured cars, and Yakuza tattoos. Atsuki is an old adversary of Chase. Though his superficial generosity and lavish gifts fool many, Atsuki bends time and shapeshifts to attain his goals, then lures his pawns to their demise.

Meet Karen: Author of the Trans-Pecos, Sacred Emblem, Sacred Journey, and Sacred Messenger series, as well as Kissing Kin, Fox Tale, Wild Rose Pass, The Keys: Voice of the Turtle and more, Karen is a best-selling author, motivational keynote speaker, IT technical editor, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her mews—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.

Follow Karen at her website: https://karenhulenebartell.com/

Fox Tale can be purchased here.

Heights terrify Ava. When a stranger saves her from plunging down a mountain, he diverts her fears with tales of Japanese kitsune—shapeshifting foxes—and she begins a journey into the supernatural.
She’s attracted to Chase, both physically and metaphysically, yet primal instincts urge caution when shadows suggest more than meets the eye.
She’s torn between Chase and Rafe, her ex, when a chance reunion reignites their passion, but she struggles to overcome two years of bitter resentment. Did Rafe jilt her, or were they pawns of a larger conspiracy? Are the ancient legends true of kitsunes twisting time and events?

New Release: Kissing Kin by Karen Hulene Bartell

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Maeve Jackson is starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.

When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.

But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?

The idea for Kissing Kin first came to me during 2020 because of the striking similarities between Covid and the Spanish Flu of 1918, but publishers convinced me no one wanted to read about pandemics. Time passed. 

Then I noticed a handmade cookbook my grandmother had constructed during the depression. It’s made of two cardboard flaps reinforced at the edges with duct tape and held together by two metal ring binders. That book inspired me. (I used some of its recipes in Kissing Kin, for instance, Simple Sponge Cake, Mother’s Soft Gingerbread, and…the treatment of chicken lice with nicotine-sulfate.)

The general tone of the cookbook, which was meant as a Christmas present during the 1930s, was chatty. It read more like a diary than a book of recipes, and it motivated me to begin writing Kissing Kin.

If wishes were fishes, Kissing Kin would be made into a movie. I realize that’s a longshot, but it never hurts to dream. On that note, Maeve, the female protagonist for my Kissing Kin dream cast would have to be Millie Bobby Brown because of her amazing acting range. With her talent, she could pull off being an M2 Bradley driver in Afghanistan and the unwitting spectator to specters. 

The male protagonist would have to be Timothée Chalamet. Not only is he a heartthrob, but he’s a versatile actor, whether the genre be drama, comedy, or action. I can see him as the struggling vintner, who makes Maeve a deal. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he offers her room and board in exchange for pruning grapevines.

And for your enjoyment, an excerpt:

Grandma’s bedtime stories echoed through my mind as I sped west on I-10. At an early age, family history had merged with myth until the name Fort Lincoln was as legendary as Avalon or Middle Earth.

But when the snow-covered peaks loomed closer, their reality was undeniable. Maybe her stories weren’t tall tales…

And what about her proverbs? “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” I winced. No job and no prospects. Mustering out after a five-year Army stint, I had to ask myself: What next? Where next?

Cody slipped into my thoughts, but I dismissed him, refusing to romanticize our breakup.

A troop of cavalry soldiers galloped toward me from the nineteenth century, but a second glance proved the images were metal cutouts–two-dimensional illusions that resembled an officer and guide leading two columns of cavalrymen.

The silhouettes evoked tales of my great-great-grandfather, Ben Williams. Beginning his military career as a scout, he’d been field promoted during combat, then commissioned as Second Lieutenant at Fort Lincoln.

I smiled, proud of our similar career paths. Maybe Grandma’s stories influenced me more than I realized.

Leaving the Interstate, I turned south. Road signs noted towns that sounded familiar from family stories but seemed as mythical as Camelot or Tintagel Castle.

Closer now, the mountains’ features came into view. No longer mere outlines on the horizon, each craggy palisade and butte towered over the highway. Fluffy hoarfrost transformed the landscape into an icy spectacle, with flaky, crystal shards overlaying each leaf and every blade of grass. A frozen fairyland! Just the way Grandma described it. Inspired by the raw beauty, I straightened my shoulders. Maybe I’m viewing my discharge the wrong way. Instead of adrift, maybe I’m free…

Kissing Kin can be purchased here: https://books2read.com/u/boXl10

Author of the Trans-Pecos, Sacred Emblem, Sacred Journey, and Sacred Messenger series, as well as Kissing Kin, Fox Tale, Wild Rose Pass, The Keys: Voice of the Turtle and more, Karen is a best-selling author, motivational keynote speaker, IT technical editor, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her mews—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.98

Connect with Karen at her website: https://karenhulenebartell.com/