With Calliope and Zola at her side, find this super hero in red, white, and blue.

According to Wikipedia, ‘a superhero is a type of heroic character possessing extraordinary talents, supernatural phenomena, or superhuman powers and is dedicated to a moral goal or protecting the public.’

Sounds like a writer to me!

Join me as another one of these unsung superheroes invites into their personal ‘batcave’.

If you were to write the origins episode of your writing, what would be the most important scenes? What did your early efforts look like? Are they still around to be used as bribes and blackmail material?

My first stories were always centered around girls and their horses. I dreamed of owning my own horse farm or riding stable or just a pony! My early childhood stories are no longer around, but they were simple stories about horseback riding and love of horses. I also put together reports on dogs and horses, complete with a labeled picture of their body parts! Somewhere in my house there is a folder that contains a few bits and pieces of poems and stories I wrote decades ago… But you won’t find any trace of the first few novels I wrote.

All superheroes have their mild-mannered secret identity. What is yours? I promise we won’t tell.

Mine is Jane, the musician and stitcher. But shhh! She only comes out on very rare occasions so we don’t want to scare her away.

Who are your partners in crime? What are their superpowers?

Calliope the cat makes sure I take breaks—to pet on her and scratch her itchy nose while I’m supposed to be writing. Zola the pup manages to entice me out to pet on her so she can get her licks in—literally! She loves to lick me wherever possible, including my socks!

Where do you get your superpowers from?

I draw strength (and inspiration) from both the present and the past. Everything from historic documents, history books, diaries, and cookbooks to documentaries about how things are made today, romantic comedies and dramas, to news stories and funny anecdotes on the radio. Add to that my natural affinity with language and words and the mixture is quite a strength indeed!

Where is your secret lair and what does it look like?

I have my own office in my home where I can close the door and concentrate if need be. Unless of course Calliope needs to be scritched… It’s painted a pretty yellow and has some shelves holding seashells I’ve collected over the years on one wall.

A few other pictures and awards are on the walls, too. My favorite features are the desk and the door! Before we moved into Huntsville and this house, I wrote sitting in a chair in the family room with a rolling table to hold my laptop and the keyboard in my lap. By the way, before I got the table, I just had my laptop on my lap. That’s not a good position to write long-term as it adversely affects your neck. So I bought the computer stand to elevate the display of the laptop and used a cordless keyboard in my lap with a mouse on the armrest of the chair. Now you can probably understand why I’m glad to have a desk, right?

What kind of training do you do to keep your superpowers in world-saving form? How do you ensure they are used only for good?

I read A LOT. For fun and research. I also write Monday through Friday on various projects and tasks. Blogging helps me to write shorter pieces, for instance. I also occasionally take on freelance editing jobs—both fiction and nonfiction projects—to keep my editorial eye sharp. Before I started writing full-time, I worked as a technical editor/writer for various industries and government entities (I have a master’s degree in English), so I have a trained eye for polishing a document. I want to keep that working well!  

Granted, you probably don’t get to wear your superhero costume a lot, but if you did, what would it look like?

When I worked at NASA as a tech editor, the people I worked with joked about getting “Super Betty” a cape… But then again you don’t want a cape to get tangled up in anything, right? So, I guess mine would be blue leggings and a red-white-and-blue tunic since I write a lot of American historical fiction.  

What is your kryptonite? What are the biggest challenges faced in your writing?

My personal Kryptonite is feeling overwhelmed by everything that a published author is required to do these days. That is my biggest challenge. I think I’ve a good handle on the storytelling part of my life at this point. I’m sure I’m not the only author who started out wanting to be published because of the love of writing and the desire to share those words with others. But now it’s more than just writing; it’s all the promotion and marketing and social media presence and blogging and maintaining a newsletter that goes along with it. I hadn’t expected to be running a full-time business as well as writing full-time. Oh, and don’t forget husband and family obligations on top of everything else. My motto is Family First but it can be a challenge.

What was the supervillain that threatened to stop your latest project and how did you vanquish it?

Dastardly Interruptus kept showing his ugly mug! I fell way behind in my planned schedule as a result, but I managed to push through and fight my way to The End!

What have been the best/most memorable experiences along the way?

The Fury Falls Inn series is set in north Alabama in 1821. Doing the research for it by going to several local historic sites yielded not only fond memories of time spent with my husband but also helpful insights into the sights and sounds of an 1800s village, farm, and town center.  

If you did this again, what would you do differently and what would you not change?

I think the thing I’d do differently with writing a series is to take the time to really think through what the series story arc is before starting the first book. But having a broad idea and then starting to write let me really get to know my main characters before doing the more detailed series story arc. I think I’ll do a hybrid of those two ideas next time.

What is the best (writing or otherwise) advice you have ever gotten and why?

Nora Roberts’ advice is the most useful to me though it wasn’t something she said to me directly. To paraphrase her advice, you have to have something on the page before you can revise and polish it into something others will want to read. In other words, it makes more sense to complete the project/story/manuscript and then go back and tweak as needed. You can’t edit a blank page, after all.

Tell us about your new book and why we need to drop everything and get it now.

Desperate Reflections is the third book in the Fury Falls Inn historical fantasy series. The secrets and threats are really ramping up in this story, too. Abram ventures to the Inn only to find out shocking truths about himself that change everything. Here’s the official book description:

Fury Falls Inn in 1821 Alabama. A place for ghosts, witches, and magic. A place of secrets and hidden dangers. Abram must protect his vulnerable sister from all of it. Before the dark side of magic ensnares her.

When Abram Fairhope grudgingly travels to the Inn, he has no idea of the dire revelations about to upend his life. His only desire is to fulfill his familial duty and then get back to his job as senator’s aide. But the shocking truth of his very nature destroys his carefully laid plans. Worse still, he must use his newly revealed ability to shield her from terrible danger. Threats exist from within and without, especially the surprisingly pretty woman his jaded heart can’t seem to ignore. Can he keep his sister safe and still protect his heart?

You can pre-order/order your copy HERE

What’s in store for you in the future? Do you have any other big projects on the horizon?

I have three more books to write in the Fury Falls Inn series, and have started on book 4 already. Then I have an idea of writing a memoir about my father, essentially rewriting his memoir with my view of his life overlaid on what he originally shared. I also have a Civil War Christmas story I want to write and several other ideas “penciled in” on my list of ideas to follow.  

Thanks so much for joining us Betty, it was great visiting with you!