Q&A with Susan Mallery, Home Sweet Home

What inspired Home Sweet Christmas?

Inspiration is interesting—it can come from anywhere, or from seemingly nowhere. In the case of Home Sweet Christmas, the season itself inspired the story. The town of Wishing Tree, Washington, is all about Christmas, so every book set in Wishing Tree has a Christmas theme. (The first book in the series, The Christmas Wedding Guest, came out last year. Each book can be read as a standalone.)

So that was my starting point, knowing that this book would have a holiday theme. To me, it’s important for a Christmas book to be intrinsically Christmas-themed, not just a story that could happen at any time of year. I brainstormed lots of possibilities.

I landed on ideas for the two heroines (Home Sweet Christmas is two romances in one). In one storyline, Camryn’s mother passed away last year, so Camryn gave up everything—her career, her condo, her fiancé, and her big-city life in Chicago—to move home to care for her sisters and run the family business, a gift-wrapping specialty store called Wrap Around the Clock. She plans to get back to her “real life” as soon as her sisters graduate high school, so the last thing she wants to do is to fall in love. Still, a little temporary romance with Jake, her teenage crush, sounds like a welcome distraction.

In the second storyline, River is new in town and very shy. To coax her out of her shell, her new friends nominate her for Snow Queen, a crown that River is reluctant to accept—until she meets the very handsome Snow King, Dylan. But River has been burned before by a man with too many secrets, and Dylan is hiding something big.

You’re so wonderful at writing emotional scenes. Do you have any tips for writers who want to portray difficult issues like betrayal or loss of a loved one in their books?

The emotion springs from character. Every person will react differently to betrayal or loss, so it’s important that you fully develop your characters so that they essentially take over. Emotions are nuanced and infinitely complex, and our reactions are colored by everything we have experienced and observed throughout our lives. Put yourself inside your character’s mind and heart fully before you start writing the scene.

If I’m not feeling something as I write the scene, readers won’t feel it as they read. Writing these scenes is not an intellectual exercise—it’s visceral, emotional. If the feeling isn’t there for me, I stop writing and take a few minutes to get myself there. I have to be fully immersed in a character’s point-of-view in order to write these pivotal scenes.

Your novels are always gripping, realistic and romantic. How do you come up with your plots? 

In the world of fiction-writing, there’s a spectrum of plotters versus those who write “from the seat of their pants,” or pantsers. I am on the extreme plotter end of this spectrum, meaning that I write a very detailed plot for a book before I begin writing it. Far from limiting me, this roadmap frees me to immerse myself in the emotions of the characters because I’ve already untangled any snags in the story.

I start to develop a story idea in my head, jotting down notes but mostly just giving my mind the freedom to roam. At this stage, it’s mostly about thinking about the characters and their backstory.

Then I write one scene for each point-of-view character. In the case of Home Sweet Christmas, this meant that I wrote one scene each for Camryn, Jake, River and Dylan. I write until that character clicks in my head and feels like a real person with thoughts and feelings of her or his own. Then I stop writing and plot that character’s storyline onto index cards. I do that for each character, and then I sit down with the index cards and weave the storylines together. Then I number the cards and start writing.

My plotting is essentially the world’s shortest first draft. There are bits of dialogue, but mostly it’s a scene-by-scene synopsis of what’s going to happen in the book.

In case you’re curious, here are the first few paragraphs from Home Sweet Christmas:

“Your teeth are lovely, Camryn. Did you wear braces as a child?”

Camryn Neff reminded herself that not only was the woman sitting across from her a very wealthy potential client, but also that her mother had raised her to be polite to her elders. Still, it took serious effort to keep from falling out of her chair at the weirdness of the question.

“No. This is how they grew.”

Hmm, that didn’t sound right, although to be honest, she didn’t have a lot of experience when a conversation turned dental.

Is it difficult to come up with a specific Holiday themed novel every year?

It’s definitely a challenge! Not only because the story needs to be holiday-centric but feel different from all the other Christmas books I’ve written, but because of the very tight timeline. Home Sweet Christmas starts a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, so that gave me a little breathing room, but for all intents and purposes, when you write a Christmas book the characters have to fall in love in about four weeks. And it needs to happen in such a way as to feel completely genuine, so readers feel confident that the love will last forever.

Do you decorate your writing room when you are writing a holiday book?

No, but I do pull out my Grinch ornament, which helps me get in the spirit.

What’s your favorite holiday tradition?

I love to adopt a family through a local program. Mr. Mallery and I take great joy in finding special gifts that are unique to every family member—some from their wish list, and some surprises that we hope they’ll enjoy.

Rumor has it that you’ve created a cookie cookbook that you’re giving away for free. True?

True! The Wishing Tree Cookie Cookbook is available for free in the Members area at SusanMallery.com to anyone who wants it. It includes 160 recipes submitted by readers, with lots of pictures. It’s a PDF file, but I will also be giving away a printed copy of the cookbook every Tuesday from October 4 through December 20 on my Facebook page. I’ll also give away three as door prizes at my virtual event with Debbie Macomber on November 9. Details and registration at https://bit.ly/debbieandsusan 

What’s next for you?
The Sister Effect will be coming in March. It’s both one of the most emotional stories I’ve ever written and one of the funniest. Finley and Sloane were really tight when they were growing up. Their mom kept leaving them with their grandpa while she went on the road with theatre troupes, so they had to watch out for each other. But as they grew up, they made different choices that drove a wedge between them. The Sister Effect is a beautiful, uplifting story of forgiveness and reconciliation and the importance of family.

Buy on Amazon | Audible | Bookshop.org

Q&A with Patricia Davids, A Match Made at Christmas

Can you describe your hero and heroine in 3 words each?

Karl - devastated by loss.  Sophie – convinced she’s dying.

Are any of the holiday scenes in this book inspired by your own holiday traditions?

Funny you should ask. My brother puts on a living nativity for his church with sometimes hilarious results. I’ve added a few of them to my story.

What are the key elements of a holiday romance?

I think the holiday must have some special significance to the character. For teacher Sophie, she is forced to come up with a school Christmas program on short notice at a new school. The event is the highlight of the Amish community and much anticipated. Is she up to the task? As things go wrong, can Karl help save the day?

Is it difficult to come up with a specific Holiday themed novel every year?

Oh my goodness yes. Amish Christmas themed stories are hugely popular, but the Amish don’t celebrate the way we do. No trees or lights, only small gift exchanges. Portraying the Christmas spirit really comes from inside the characters.

Do you decorate your writing room when you are writing a holiday book?

No, the Christmas story I’m working on is usually due 6 to 8 months before the holiday. My office is where I work but I do bling out the rest of home for the holidays.

What is the best gift you've ever given? Recipient's reaction?

I hid clues around my home and let my daughter and my grandchildren search for them in a scavenger hunt. When all the clues were gathered, they assembled them into a picture of a fishing lodge in Montana. Then I sent them on an all-expense paid road trip the following summer. They were thrilled and talked about making the trip for weeks.

What is the best gift you've ever received? 

The year I moved back to the farm to take care of my elderly dad after my mom passed away, I got to spend many hours with my youngest brother who managed the farm for our dad. Being eight years older, I had moved away before he left grade school. It was wonderful getting to know him. That Christmas he gave me a gold and silver heart-shaped necklace to thank me for taking care of our father. I was overwhelmed. He’s not a hugger but he got hugged that night.

What’s next for you?

Amazingly, another Amish Christmas story. Christmas on His Doorstep releases on November 29th from Harlequin’s Love Inspired line.

My Protagonist and Her Mama by Patricia Crisafulli, author of The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor

When I sat down to write my debut mystery novel, The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor, my protagonist—Gabriela Domenici—sprang to life on the page: 40-year-old single mom, recently moved back to her hometown, and longing to return to her dream job at the New York Public Library. Instead, she’s helping to run an understaffed, financially troubled library—and stuck with managing a Friends of the Library rummage sale! What a perfect recipe for resentment—and a setup for discovering the extraordinary that is about to unfold all around her, from murder to small-town mayhem.

In that mix, another character emerged: Gabriela’s mother, Agnese Domenici. Their intergenerational tensions and ties enriched the character development—and the story. Here’s how:

Agnese faces a cancer recurrence as the book opens. She and Gabriela are scared, but never really talk about their feelings. Gabriela clings to knowledge, while Agnese takes out her rosary beads, as in this exchange on the way home from the doctor’s office. “Gabriela gripped the steering wheel as she guided the car down the parking garage ramp. ‘No miracles here, Mama—only medicine. Tell me you know that.’ ‘No.’ Agnese clutched her purse and stared through the windshield. ‘There’s both.’”

Agnese, who was born and raised in Italy, retains her old-world personality and sensibility. When a medieval artifact turns up in the library rummage sale, everyone is surprised—except Agnese. “‘I told you!’ Agnese rapped her knuckle against Gabriela’s forearm. … ‘Right again, Mama.’ Gabriela took another sip of wine…”

The intergenerational, mother-daughter conflict shows both women as more alike than they are different—stubborn, strong-willed. It’s very relatable! But there is something far stronger between them: a fierce love that’s grounded in each woman’s innate protectiveness and loyalty.

In this scene, when Gabriela finally tells her mother everything that’s been going on (no spoilers here—it’s a lot, trust me!) her mother’s reaction is not what she expected: “Agnese sat back in her chair, tapping her fingertips against the tabletop. Gabriela braced for a lecture about not being careful and putting herself in danger. ‘You keep fighting, Gabriela,’ her mother said. ‘And you don’t worry…’”  

Where does Gabriela get her spunk and her spine? Well, the apple (or, in this case, the olive—given that Agnese was born in Tuscany) clearly doesn’t fall far from the tree!

The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor—like each of the books in the Ohnita Harbor Mystery Series—is told from the perspective of Gabriela (a close, third-person point of view). Yet every time she interacts with her mother, more facets of both women’s personalities shine forth. Or, as I hear from readers: everybody likes Gabriela and cheers for her …but they love Agnese!  

Buy on Amazon | Audible | Bookshop.org

Q&A with Evette Davis, 48 States

Congratulations on your latest novel, 48 States. Please share a brief synopsis.

Widow, single mother, and Army veteran Jennifer “River” Petersen works as a truck driver in Energy Territory No. 1, formerly known as North Dakota. Forced to enlist after her father’s death, the lines of River’s life have been redrawn, much like the United States’ map has changed. Living in a motel room with nothing but her books and a Glock handgun for company, River is weeks away from returning home when an injured man standing in the middle of the highway upends her plans. From the moment he encounters River, Finn Cunningham knows he must conceal his identity or be left for dead. His deception draws them into a megalomaniac’s deadly conspiracy to ignite a civil war and overthrow the government. If River and Finn want to survive, they’ll have to learn to trust one another and themselves.

Where did the idea for this novel originate?

I may be dating myself but there is a funny scene in the movie Working Girl where the young assistant has to prove she didn’t steal a business plan and is asked how she came up with the idea. In response, she pulls out a collection of seemingly random news clippings, that when strung together, validate her plan. 48 States is similar. I’d interviewed a panel of women veterans for a literary festival around the same time I was reading about the explosion of fracking in North Dakota. National Geographic had a feature about people who had left their homes and gone to North Dakota for work and one of them was a mother who left her family behind to drive a haul truck because the pay was so much better. I’d also been reading about Japanese Internment camps and had been surprised to know that the entire effort to relocate Japanese Americans had been done by Executive Order… that was the genesis of how I came to write 48 States. The book took five years and went through several major plot revisions, but I became interested in the issues of executive power, domestic refugees, and, of course, women who transform themselves. 

The book examines the dangers of extremism. What do you want readers to take away from this story?

We’ve lost the capacity to listen to opposing points of view with an open mind. In 48 States, a number of the characters run away from things they don’t want to hear or know about, which is wholly impractical. My books transmit a strong dislike for extreme politics–on both sides of the aisle. If I can accomplish anything, I hope it's to help people remember that listening to ideas and understanding other people’s points of view is not dangerous. It’s also OK to forgive someone for making a mistake. We are human beings and humans need love, understanding and compassion to thrive.

In addition to writing novels, you work in public affairs. How does your day job influence your work as an author?

I’ve got a front row seat to political dysfunction and other interesting forms of human behavior every day. While I don’t model my characters after any specific individual, the collective experiences and personalities do inform my writing. I have an urban fantasy series–The Dark Horse Trilogy–that is set in San Francisco and despite the fact that all of the characters are supernatural beings, close colleagues ask me all the time if they are in the novel. To which I reply, “not unless you’re a vampire.”

What is your writing process like? When do you find time to write?

I try to write every day, but it’s not always connected to a specific book. Sometimes I give myself writing exercises so I can work through a problem I’m having, where a particular scene doesn’t work. Sometimes I’m actually working on a novel, other times I write letters to friends or work on blog posts and my newsletter. All of this takes place at night after work and during weekends. I usually work two hours an evening. Family ski vacations are also usually great for me, because I don’t ski, so I write all day and then show up for apres ski cocktails. 

How does music influence your writing and storytelling?

I have playlists for all my novels. Certain songs remind me of characters or play into the mood I’m trying to set in my novels. In some cases they become part of the story, like Duran Duran who performs in Serbia in my novel Dark Horse. The band actually does perform there somewhat annually as part of a summer music festival. 

You’ve had a few career pivots in your life, from journalism to political consulting to author. What advice do you have for anyone looking to change paths or those looking to start writing? 

What I like to share about myself is that I didn’t come to writing novels early in life. I’m not an

MFA graduate. I’ve had a book in front of my face one way or another since I was able to read. Other kids won awards for sports, I won them for the number of books I read from the library. I started my career as a newspaper journalist because I have an overwhelming sense of curiosity about people. But I left journalism to work in politics in Washington DC and then I left DC to come back to the Bay Area and eventually I started my own public relations firm. 

I’ve had my “day job” for 23 years and along the way been a wife and raised a daughter who is off to college this fall. Not long after my daughter was born, I felt like something was missing in my life and I started writing. That writing became the novels I’ve since published. Not coincidentally, the characters in my books are usually female and often going through major transformations where they come to understand themselves and their skills. So I guess I’m saying I write what I know…I know that women are often transforming themselves and finding the source of their power. I’m at a point now in my life where I feel very powerful intellectually and it’s a pleasure to sit down and see where my imagination takes me.

I hope that joy creates books other people want to read and can relate to. I think life is a series of “acts” and you don’t have to stay in one place. If writing is something you like to do, then there is no time like the present to get started.

What have you read lately and loved?

Jesse Mihalik has a new series involving a female bounty hunter and veteran who is forced to work with an old nemesis from the war. The first book is called Hunt the Stars and it’s another captivating space opera involving kick-ass women and their alpha men. I just pre-ordered the second book which is due out in July. I devoured her other series The Consortium Rebellion and have reread them twice, because I love the sisters in the stories. 

What’s next for you?

My next novel is coming out early 2023. It is the third and final installment of the Dark Horse Trilogy, with the working title, Death Wish.

Where can readers follow you and your work?

Contact – Evette Davis

Q&A with Dr. Tracey Marks, What Am I So Anxious?

Why did you write the book?

I started writing the book in 2021 after we all endured the events of 2020. I recognized the need for a comprehensive resource to understand how anxiety takes hold and the many options to manage it.

Are there any life experiences that shaped how you wrote this book?

I was treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child, and I think I still have some remnants of it as an adult. I struggle to keep my attention when reading if there are too many details for which I can’t see the relevance. The result is needing to reread passages to fill in the blanks I missed when my attention wandered. 

Because of this problem, I write the way I like to read. Instead of teasing details to keep you interested, I like to lead with the point and fill in the details afterward. I use this approach when I script my educational videos, and I think this style is what my viewers have positively reported as content that is easy to understand. 

There are a lot of books on anxiety; how is this one different?

This book goes beyond talking about panic, fear, and your anxiety brain circuits. All those contributions to anxiety are important. But what about the person with everyday anxiety? Is anxiety always a disorder? In this book, I talk about the many conditions in which anxiety appears, and I dedicate a chapter to anxious personalities and temperaments.

Who is the book for?

The book is for the person who wants to know in precise terms what their distress is about, why they have it, and what they can do about it.

What is your favorite chapter?

It’s hard to limit it to one, but if I must, I’d say it is the chapter on anxiety disorders. I enjoyed explaining them, and this chapter gave me the greatest opportunity to tell stories that add life to the disorders.

What is your least favorite chapter?

It’s actually the first chapter (great way to start, right?). I’ve always struggled with writing introductions and conclusions. As such, I wanted to jump right into storytelling and explanations, but I needed to set the groundwork by talking about the biology of anxiety. I didn’t want it to read like a textbook, so it took some time for me to take complex information that could be a stand-alone book and distill it down to pertinent foundational concepts. Setting up this information pays off later when I discuss other topics that build on these early concepts.

What surprised you the most about writing the book?

I was surprised to see just how much anxiety I have. I don’t think of myself as an anxious person, but I have a lot of issues! I write about my personal experiences in the book. I think other people who have experienced occasional distress may similarly recognize anxiety in themselves that they didn’t know was anxiety.

What was your favorite part of writing the book?

I really enjoyed writing the narratives to illustrate some of the concepts. Many of the stories are my own experiences or those of family members. Some of the narratives are fictional accounts based on my experience treating patients.

What’s in your book that makes someone better from reading it?

Understanding yourself unlocks the power within you to enhance your life experience through incremental improvements.

What are the core ideas of the book?

Anxiety is multifaceted, and you can experience it on a gradient of intense to diffuse. Similarly, there are many tools you can use to manage your anxiety. Instead of looking for one magical solution, the best approach is to layer different tools that address different aspects of anxiety. The book shows you what tools work best for various situations.

What will readers learn from the book?

You will gain a deep understanding of the origin and significance of your anxiety and be equipped with solutions and coping skills to manage it. More specifically, you will learn:

How to identify normal anxiety versus an anxiety disorder

When to seek help for a disorder

What kinds of professional help are available (e.g., medication, therapy, and complementary approaches)

What is psychotherapy, and how they work for anxiety and trauma 

How to use 25 different self-help tools and which ones work best for a given situation

What is unique about this book?

It gives you an abundance of tools to use to manage anxiety and shows you how and when to use them. It also dives deep to discuss the impact of personalities and temperaments on your anxiety. There are a few topics not typically discussed in books on anxiety, such as recognizing existential anxiety and the science behind aromatherapy and how to use it.

What are your two most useful tips for students and/or parents as they head back to school, given the new "normal" of covid and school shooting fears?

Our minds and bodies thrive on routine and consistency. One of the best things you and your child can do to cope with our current uncertainty is establish and stick to a routine. Your routine should include a regular bedtime, wind down time before bed, and at least one meal around the same time (breakfast, lunch, or dinner).  The second thing you can do is set aside time to debrief at the end of the day and discuss any worries or concerns your child has. Affective labeling is a powerful tool that helps diffuse anxiety by assigning words to feelings. Use the daily debriefing as a time to help them identify how they feel with words. Science shows that this exercise reduces brain (amygdala) activation and deescalates intense emotions. 

Her book is available at Amazon | Bookshop.org

Q&A with Meg Elison, Number One Fan

Where did you get the inspiration for Number One Fan?

        Number One Fan is written from my years of experience in convention culture, as well as a hellish century (at least) of watching the way women get blamed for everything that happens to them. I wanted to write about what it's like as a creator to struggle to maintain ownership of your work, your success, and yourself, even as the world tries to convince you that nothing belongs to you. It's a complex reckoning with identity, artistry, and the way fandom and marketing and media can eat you alive if you're not careful.  

What is your writing process?

      I'm an early morning writer. I like to give my best brain and my freshest approach to the work that matters most. After that, the day can do anything it wants to me and I've already completed the thing I wanted to do. I don't answer emails or texts or any of that stuff until after I've given the best part of myself to my work. I don't edit as I go: I vomit a whole draft out and then let it sit for a while before going back into it. I have a very good writing group that sees my second drafts and gives me valuable feedback and support. I'm proud of my work and I stand behind it, which makes me want to keep working. 

Do you write using pen and paper or on a computer?

     When I was younger, I was a pen-to-paper writer. I liked the process of re-typing, and it gave me a quick window into my most common errors and a first-pass edit right there. However, it slows me down considerably; I type over a hundred words a minute and that's still too slow for how I think. Manually writing with a pen is much slower and I don't think it benefits me to slow down. At this point, I bash things out on my laptop to get the work done, and then edit the same way. I still write letters and my journal by hand. That's the best use of it, and it keeps my handwriting from degenerating entirely. 

Who is your favorite character in the novel and why?

     Eli's personal assistant, Joe, is one of the best characters I have ever created. He's supportive, kind, and a god of details. He's exactly the sort of person every writer wishes they could have in their corner. Most writers can't afford an assistant, even part-time like Eli has in Joe. But the dream is to find someone like that someday, and to be able to pay them what they deserve. He's a well-dressed queer cornerman, and low-key the hero of the story. 

If you were a character in your story, which would you like to be?

     I'd like to be as successful as Eli, but I'd also like to not wake up chained in a basement! I'd like to be as helpful as Joe, but I never want to be the power behind the throne when there's glory to be guzzled. I think I'm going to choose Eli's stalwart friend: Nella Atwiler. She's got no time for nonsense and she works hard to get to an enviable spot as a writer in books and film. She's secretly very cool and extremely talented until she explodes on the scene and it's not a secret anymore. That's a power move. 

How and why did you choose the names for your main characters?

     I cannot get enough of queer women who use a masculine nickname or diminuitive, so Elizabeth to Eli is an iteration on that concept. Joe has a classic Armenian last name (Papasian), because I was working in an office while I was writing it staffed by half a dozen handsome Armenian geniuses and I enjoyed the prosody of their names so much. I chose the villain's name (Leonard Lobovich) because it's a combination of geekiness (Leonard, not Leo; big nerd energy) and something predatory (lobo for wolf, vitch for witch/bitch). My smart detective, Carla Silvestri, is named after a film composer I really admire (Alan Silvestri). He composed the scores for Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and a thousand other movies that you loved. I have a hard time writing cops, and this helped me stay connected to her: she's composing, she's conducting. She's hearing the tension and the beat.