Spotlight: Diane Bator, Author Interview By Connie Vines #Author Interview, #Spotlight on author Diane Bator, #Diane Bator, #BWLPublishing

Today's Spotlight Interview is with the author  Diane Bator.

Diane Bator, author

 Welcome to Dishin' It Out! 

Connie:  Diane, Please tell me about your current release.

Diane: Eccentric romance novelist Mimsy Lexington has a secret.

When she approaches Katie Mullins to help find details about her late husband’s death, Katie and her boyfriend Danny Walker are drawn into a web of lies and deceit. The deeper they dig, the more they realize the biggest dangers may lurk close to home and need to suspect everyone—including Mimsy.

My most recent book, The Conned Lady, is the fifth book and conclusion of my Wild Blue Mystery series. Where the first book, The Bookstore Lady, tells readers how Katie Mullins and Danny Walker first arrived in Packham, The Conned Lady wraps up their story and puts an end to Katie’s struggles with the bosses she’s been evading.

Connie: What was the inspiration for this story?

Diane: The Bookstore Lady was the first in the series and was actually inspired by my move across Canada to a small town where no one knew me. I kept thinking “What if I had a huge secret like I was on the run from someone?” and wrote my book from there. The entire series features some great local things from where I currently live but is set in a small, fictional town in New York State.

 Connie: What would you like to see more/less of in the mystery genre?

Diane: As much as I enjoy cozies, I like to see a bit of variety and adventure in my mysteries. Smart sleuths who can be a bit quirky.

 Connie: What, in your opinion, makes a good mystery writer?

Diane:  I love puzzles and enjoy being kept guessing! I’m not a fan of stories that tell me the killer upfront and then go back to fill in the gaps. Or of books that start off with a bang and then fizzle out for about 6 chapters before the mystery returns.

 Connie: Do you have a favorite paragraph/line of dialogue in this novel?

Diane:  Mimsy Lexington:  “I’ve committed a murder and can’t seem to remember how.”

That was the launching point for me to write The Conned Lady!

:Connie: Why did you choose this location for your mystery novel?

Diane:  As a Canadian author, I was advised to choose a US setting if I wanted to be published in the US. Since I’m in Southern Ontario, I kept my location close to the border, just on the other side of the Great Lakes! I also modeled the fictional town of Packham after the lovely little town where I currently reside.

 Connie: Who would it be if you were forced to live the rest of your life as one of your characters?

Diane: I think Lucy Stephens and I both live a similar life already. She’s a mystery writer with three kids. If I was forced to live an alternate life, however, I’d choose Katie who runs a bookstore and constantly gets in over her head. Life would never be dull! 

 Connie: What are your hobbies? Do any of your characters share your hobbies/interests? Do any of your hobbies play a part in your novels?

Diane:: Lucy, Katie’s sidekick, loves reading and writing. Mimsy Lexington is a prolific romance novelist.

I also have another series, Sugarwood Mysteries, that takes place in Canada. Audra and her best friend Merilee run a craft shop and host a sewing circle for the locals. This stems from my love for needlepoint, diamond art, and crafting in general.

 

 Connie: Diane please share your Buy Links and Social Media Links with our readers.

* Diane forgot to mention that her novels have received numerous awards, too!  🥇🥈🥉

I hope you’ll check out some of my fun mysteries and join me on more great adventures! 

Please sign up for my newsletter!

 Diane Bator Newsletter

Links for website/buy links, etc.

Website:  https://dianebator.ca/ 

BWL Publishing (book links): http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianebatorauthor 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianebatorauthor/?hl=en 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeBator 

Linked In:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-bator-35b63418/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7179945.Diane_Bator 

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Diane-Bator/e/B009CGCPRE%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Diane, thank you for visiting us today! 

Happy Reading, Everyone!

Connie

XOXO

Breakfast on the Go! by Connie Vines

Today I thought I 'dish out' a favorite breakfast recipe of mine.
Why it this a favorite of mine?

1. It's transportable
2. It's make-a-head and freezable.
3. It is loaded with protein and yummy.

Breakfast Egg Cups Recipe

 Serves: 8

 Prep Time: 10 m
 Cook Time: 20 m
 Print this Recipe  Save to Prepear What is Prepear?
Ingredients
1 – cooking spray
6 large – egg
1/4 cup – milk
1/8 teaspoon – salt
1/8 teaspoon – black pepper, ground
1 medium – bell pepper, red
3/4 cup – spinach
1/4 cup – cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and  set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Whisk the eggs and milk together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Dice the bell pepper into small pieces. Stack the spinach leaves, roll them up, and slice them thin. (This method is called chiffonade.)

Add the peppers, spinach, and shredded cheddar to the egg mixture.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes until centers are set and no longer runny.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Extras may be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to a month. Microwave thawed egg cups on high for 45-60 seconds or until hot.

Nutrition Facts

NUTRITION PER SERVING% DAILY VALUE
Calories: 78 4%
Fat: 5 g 8%
Carb: 1 g 0%
Fiber: 0 g 0%
Protein: 6 g 12%
Sugar: 1 g

You may add different veggies, meats, cheeses, to your personal preference.  You may also use a cupcake liner instead of oil or non-stick cooking spray..

Enjoy!

Connie

Author Branding—Don’t Muddy the Waters (Part 1) by Connie Vines

Since this is my wedding anniversary, I'm posting a previous Bog Post.

I have been researching this topic via workshops, online chats, and discussion with other authors for several years.

The workshop I attended recently wrapped up the final meeting with: author branding was totally unnecessary.  (Well, that was a total waste of my money!)

So, does Connie have a brand?

No.

Does Connie still think she needs a brand?

Yes.  And no.

I know I need a memorable brand for each series that I write.  However, since I write in multiple genres, I don’t know if an all-encompassing brand is possible.  Or even practical.

We all know how much Connie loves to do research, enroll in online workshops, and conduct impromptu interviews with total strangers (to quote my husband, while we are in line at Souplantation, “why were you asking that man about the cost of a sleeve of tattoos?  You are not going there for the sake of research).  I handed him a napkin and smiled.  Now was not, I decided, the time to remind him that I had my eyebrows and eyeliner enhanced with “wake-up with make-up” tasteful, but still permanent ink.

How to Design Your Author Brand

Okay, it’s scramble time.  Find a piece of paper and something to write with.  You can use the note app in your phone, but I think pen to paper works better in this case. (If you write under more than one pen name, just select one.)


Ready?

Write down what your author brand is.  You have 10 seconds. Go!
Time’s up.

Were you able to write down your band?  Did you use 6 words or less?

Good for you.  You probably have a good idea of what your brand is.
If you didn’t (you are with me) don’t worry.  We will go about fixing the problem.

Brands Need to Be Specific

If you failed, the above test the reasons are likely because:

1. You don’t really know what your brand is yet.
2. You are over-describing your brand and couldn’t write it all down fast/concisely enough.

Now is the time to sit and ponder.  Strip away the contradictions, muddiness, superfluous.
What does a brand do?  A brand is a signal to customers to know what to expect when they see it.
Once they have had experience with a brand, they (hopefully) know what to expect.  Ideally this is a favorable expectation that encourages them to purchase your product, talk to their friends, and take chances on your next release.

How about a brand like this?

“Daring, Thrilling, Romantic, Action Packed.”

What if we change it to…

“Daring, Thrilling, Sexy, Action Packed”

A big difference isn’t it?

I selected very genre-esque words.  This was my intention because genres play a big role in branding. Brands are also about trust.

Remember genres and sub-genres are their own brands.

This is really important.    We already have a mind-set/expectations when we select a genre to read.  If you select a “Historical” novel (unless it is a sub-genre) you do not expect or probably appreciate elements of Urban Fantasy in the story-line.  Riding in stage coach, you prim-and-so proper heroine isn’t going to mesh with a hidden magical world featuring Fae, Vampires, and Werewolves.    So, unless you plan on inventing your own sub-genre (SteamPunk/StoneagePunk) with a limited readership, consider what you are inheriting from your genre.

Following these guidelines, I will attempt to come up with a brand for my current Rodeo Romance Series (BLW, BooksWeLove, Publsihing.).

Genre:  Contemporary Romance (Lynx), Romantic Suspense (Brede), Contemporary Romance/Humor (Rand), Romantic Suspense (TBT).

I’ll go with Romance as a genre.

Now to the dictionary and thesaurus.

For part 2, stop by next week.

(Feel free to post idea :-))

Connie 

Fictional Teachers By Connie Vines #Round Robin Feb.

Topic: Your characters come from your mind, from other people you've witnessed, but can you create their lives without them revealing

something about yourself? Have they ever taught you something?

So are my fictional characters my 'great reveal'? To a degree I believe this to be true.  Every story is filtered through an author's view of the world, emotions, and life experience--at least for my heroine.  

Another challenging topic from Robin for our group of Round Robin Blog authors.

However, there is also a curtain we all have firmly in place--revealing only what we wish to reveal to others.  The same is true of our characters.  My heroine will be more like 'me' in my rough draft than she will be by the time I've completed my novel.  

In my soon to be released "Gumbo Ya Ya an anthology who like romance Cajun".  One of my heroines, Celeste, jumps overboard into a raging sea!

Not a plan of action in my 'non-fictional' life.  Runaway horse?  Yep, I'd saddle up.  Yoga on a mountain top?  Sure, with a soft yoga mat.  Dine on escargot, Rocky Mountain oysters, frog legs? I have.  Hold a 6 ft. python--yes, though someone else had a firm hold of upper portion of snake's body (no accidental snake-licks for me).  Jump into the sea?  Never. . .ever.

I seem to be be more removed--meaning more analytical in the development of my secondary characters.  This is especially true when I seeped myself in the secondary character's world, work, and point of view.  I become the secondary characters, like a method actor.  

Now, my villains must have a motivation with a trigger rooted in a past event/or recent trauma.  Providing me with way I can explain (not justify) the villain's twisted reasoning/action. 

Yes, some people are evil, truly evil.  However, I have yet write a novel requiring I delve into that degree darkness, and doubt I every will.

The second part of the topic:  Have my characters every taught me something?

My current release, "Tanayia" Whisper upon the Water, Book 1 Native American/First People Series, taught me to not only view life, but experience the hardships though the eyes of another person.

Opening Prologue 1868:  

The Governor of New Mexico decreed that all Indian children over six be educated in the ways of the white man.

Indian Commissioner, Thomas Morgan, said:  It was cheaper to educate the Indians than to kill them.

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where the sagebrush was stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters.  Desolate.  Bleak.  A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reached out into the silence.

A world of hunger and hardship.  This is my world.  I am Tanayia.  I was born thirteen winters ago.  My people and I call ourselves "Nde" this means "The People".  The white man calls us Apache.

Stop by and see what stories other member of our Round Robin Blog authors have to share.

See you next month,

Connie

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Marie Laval http://marielaval.blogspot.co.uk/
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1c1
Rachael Kosinski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com/

Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com

-- 

Poodle Quotes

On Sundays I post an assortment of short little snippets, quotes or pictures (as listed on the side-bar of Dishin' It Out).  Today is Poodle Sunday!

Ever consider what pets must think of us?

I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

Anne Tyler
American Novelist

A Poodle, a Wedding Anniversary, and a Opossum By Connie Vines

I had an article about the craft of writing written and ready to post.  I decided, instead, to share that post on a later date..

Why?

For those of you who follow my Twitter, Instagram, author Facebook page, or website, you know I often share stories about my little poodle-mix puppy, Chanel.

Please, no groaning from those of you who prefer cats.

Chanel, is lively, friendly, and poodle-like in her powers of reasoning.

She is also serious about her friendships.

Well, before the SoCal winter rains, there was a young opossum who would walk along the block wall several nights a week at 2:00 A.M.  I know this because this is the time I usually finish writing and get ready for bed.  Chanel dance in a circle requesting to step outside.  She would run over to the wall and bark, causing the little white-faced opossum to dart away.

I would pick her up, instructing her to leave “Harvey” alone.  (Yes, I know he is a wild animal and does not possess a name.)  Chanel, however, knows every ‘thing’, be it a person, toy (bouncy-ball, Side-kick, blue bouncy-ball), animal, or ‘food’, has a name.

So, this opossum was dubbed Harvey.

Harvey didn’t return during the rains, or afterwards.  Then, magically, one night a larger, more attractive, and braver “Harvey’ returned.

This time he sat on the wall and waited for Chanel to bark at him.  I’d pick her up, bid “Harvey” good evening.  While the two of them stared at each other for a few moments.  We’d go in and Harvey would leave.

Where does “Harvey” live?  I believe he lives in the yard next door (the owner is a bit of a zealous ‘collector’), or perhaps in the shrubby in a nearby park.  I’m not too sure if he has a family.

It has never gone past the ‘flirting’ stage with Chanel.   And ‘Harvey’ never ventures into our yard when we are about.

Today, all of that changed.

Today was my wedding anniversary.  My husband and I went to local home-style diner for an early dinner.  We bid Chanel bye and promised to bring her home a mini-hamburger patty.  No. Sorry. No riding in the car this time.

When we got back to the car, packed left-overs and doggie meal in hand, my husband voice his concern about something handing from his side bumper.

I bent over to examine it.  While my husband kept saying he would yank the piece of the plant out from the bumper, I objected.

It wasn’t a plant.

It had an odd texture.  It was a pale color.  It was a snake, no. A rat. . .oh, no!

It was the hook of a opossum’s tail.


“Harvey!”

“Harvey?” my husband questioned.

“Yes.  See, that’s Harvey’s tail.”  The tail went limp, they turned back into a hook.

“This could only happen to you.” was my husband’s only response.

“Harvey just wanted to join us for our anniversary dinner.”

My husband stifled a chuckle.  “I doubt that very much.”

“Now at least we know where he sleeps during the day.”

So, we drove home via the city streets, so not to ‘over heat’ Harvey.  When we arrived home, Harvey had pulled his tail back up into the wheel well, waiting for us to leave.

Do you have an interesting anniversary story to share?

Happy Reading,
Connie

P.S.
Yes, Harvey did return several days later to visit an 'concerned' Chanel (she been looking for him every night).

Harvey appeared a little road-weary--not quite as tidy and his face appeared a little dirty, and moving like he had a few sore muscles, but otherwise, his usual Opossum self.

Inspirational Sunday Quote

 Sunday Inspiration Quote:

Hell Minus the Heat

Those of us who are Western history buffs sometimes view winter through the lens of what was called the “Great Die-Up” on the Western Plains in the winter of 1886-87. There was absolutely nothing normal about that winter. 

The winter of 1886-87 came on the heels on one of the worst droughts that the settlers and ranchers on the Great Plains had seen in their limited time there. Prior to that winter, for many years of the preceding three decades of settlement, rainfall in a usually semi-arid land had been well above normal, creating lush landscapes on which to graze cattle. After the American Civil War, land was basically free for the taking under the Homestead Act and the land they grazed their cattle on was owned by no one so these cattlemen established codes to govern the West and to protect it from outsiders. Principal among such codes was the Law of the Open Range, the unwritten rule of free access to grass and water. Most did not own the land on which their cattle grazed, and thus the Law of the Open Range secured their rights, by warning farmer-pioneers “not to stand in the cowman's route to the ranges, not to block his way with towns and fields--and of all things—fences.” The cattlemen had settled the West prior to the Civil War. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that their empire was built. After the Civil War the demand for beef reached unprecedented levels, driving the cattle to higher and higher values and more and more cattle were brought to graze the “free land” of the West.

Because of the railroads, that beef could be transported quickly and efficiently (either on the hoof or in rail cars specifically designed to transport meat kept cool with ice) to markets back East. 

In the 1870s, barbed wire made its first appearance on the range, following the passage of The Homestead Act in the late 1860s. Now, smaller homesteaders could settle the Plains, keep their crops protected from ranging cattle and prevent access to water. The cattlemen were furious and range wars became the normal—but that’s a story for another day.

The rains dried up and the lush grasses that had first lured the cattlemen burnt in the summer sun. Two years of extreme drought was followed by one of the worst winters on record. The snows started in late October of 1886 and didn’t stop until the following May. There is a recorded period, from November 13, 1886 until December 24, that it snowed every single day. When it wasn’t snowing and would warm up to a few degrees above freezing, it rained. This rain created a cap of ice several inches thick on the snow cover. And when it would momentarily stop snowing or raining, the bitter cold would return.

In January of 1887, the blizzards came and with the blizzards came a kind of cold that locals call “freeze-eye cold”—a cold so intense and bitter it would freeze the moisture on eyelashes. Blizzards came howling over the plains, blasting the unsheltered herds. Some cattle, too weak to stand, were actually blown over. Others died frozen to the ground.

Starving cattle, already weakened by a lack of grazing fodder because of the drought, would attempt to paw through the ice and snow to what was left of the drought-blighted and sun-burnt grasses. “The cattle had the hair and hide wore off their legs to the knees and hocks. It was surely hell to see big four-year-old steers just able to stagger along” (Teddy Blue Abbott). The cattle would drift with the howling winds. Cattle won’t stop “drifting” until they run into an immovable object: a dead-end canyon, a rock face, a barbed wire fence. The results were horrific as one account states: 

They moved “like grey ghosts” . . . icicles hanging from their muzzles, eyes, and ears," directly into the fences. There they were stalled; they could not go forward, and they would not go back. They stood stacked together against the wire, without food, water, warmth or shelter. They pressed close against each other in groups all along the fence line, and sometimes they gathered in bunches reaching as much as four hundred yards back from the fence. Still there was not enough warmth in their huddled forms to counteract the cold, and within a short time they either smothered or froze in their tracks (Hill, J.L.. The End of the Cattle Trail. Austin, Texas: The Pemberton Press, 1969).

The spring thaw of 1887 (in late May) revealed the extent of the devastation. More than fifty percent of the cattle herds died that winter from hypothermia and starvation. Some ranches lost upwards of seventy-five percent of their livestock. Dead cattle were found everywhere; observed bobbing in the streams as the ice broke up, large groups were discovered that had died where they stood; littering the plains as far as the eye could see.

It was a perfect storm of conditions: decades of unusually high rainfall in a semi-arid land, overgrazed land, a severe drought that ended the wet period, too many cattle and the open range cut-up and sectioned off with barbed wire. The “Great Die-Up” as cattlemen called it in a dark attempt at humor marked the end of open range ranching, that supposedly sure way to riches which Theodore Roosevelt called “the pleasantest, healthiest and most exciting phase of American existence.” And it proved again that nature can at any moment shatter all sense of human control.

The Art of Lying (aka Creating the Bad Guy) by Connie Vines

A compulsive liar is defined as someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right.

So, you have your “perfect” hero and “perfect” heroine’s character sketches and novel outline at your fingertips.  What about your “not-so-perfect” villain, aka the bad guy?  He’s just the bad guy.  Ah, but the villain is a key player in your novel.  And, you’d like him to be a compulsive liar.  However, you really want to keep the reader guessing. . .

In law enforcement, these actions are called “tells”.

How do you make the “perfect” liar?  You need to know the rules before you can break them.
What will your villain have perfected?  Why, the art of lying, of course.

Nine Tips your Villain Can Teach you about the art of lying

1. Keep your head up:

“In all shows, there is always that moment when the magician risks being discovered,” explains Jacques H. Paget*, illusionist and negotiations expert. For example, when he makes a ball “disappear” as it remains hidden in his other hand, he may tend to tilt his head to the side, a movement which, however small, may be unconsciously perceived by the viewer as an indicator of cheating. “This is an instinctive gesture that we all do when we are afraid of being caught.”
Conclusion: Your villain knows to keep his/her head straight up. This will prevent the other person from getting suspicious.

2. Use the phone:

Sometimes lying is much simpler over the phone.  Deception makes our voices drop a pitch, in order to sound more stable and assured, but lying also exposes us to three negative emotions – fear of getting caught, shame and guilt – and these may just manifest in our voices.  Your villain knows this.  Your hero/heroine may believe the action was unintentional—the first time.

3. Repeat the scenario:

If you are telling a story, the villain knows he/she first needs to integrate it as a complete theater role. Being an actress does not mean just to learn words. It is also necessary to be at one with your thoughts and emotions. These are the things that will generally reflect your words. And some techniques can better reflect what it feels like:

– Begin and end sentences clearly.
– Take note of punctuation marks, especially full-stops.
– Sustain consonants that make words ring.
– Speak clearly.
– Work on your expressive diction.
Playing your role with sincerity.

 4. Control your actions:

“Our body speaks its own language and never lies,” says Dr. David J. Lieberman, hypnotherapist and a doctor in psychology. If you’re not careful, some little gestures will only end up betraying you.
Embarrassed by your hands, you slip them into your pockets or you lay them on your hips.
You sputter, your smile trembles and cracks as you declare how much you love the gift you received.
You touch your face, you scratch your ear, place a finger on your lips, you rub your eyes or nose to justify your delay in response.

Your face, your hands, your arms punctuate your words belatedly, and in a somewhat mechanical way.

You display a grimace instead of a grin while expressing your joy of learning promoting a colleague.
You pull a folder, a book and computer against your abdomen, as if it were a shield. Without understanding why your partner says there was something wrong with your story…

5. Do not say too much:

You call a friend to postpone a lunch for the third time. Listening to you presenting your perfectly oiled explanations, she begins to find this suspicious, there is just too much justification. To avoid getting caught, you think, better increase the size of your tale: the bigger it gets, the more credible it will seem. Because of its magnitude, it cannot possibly be invented. Your villain knows less is more. . .believable in this case.

6. Put on your sincere face:

Instead of looking your interviewer in the eye, aim for the tip of his nose. It is less destabilizing and you do not have the look diagonally, distant and elusive, whilst you spin your yarn. “Establishing good communication requires eye contact for 60-70% of the time of the dialogue,” says psychoanalyst Joseph Messinger. Also, be wary of your eyebrows wrinkling, your eyes crinkling and your eyelids blinking – they raise doubt.

7. Deviate from the truth:

A good lie always contains an element of truth. “In this case, the truth functions as a decoy.” For example: “I have an appointment with the dermatologist…” is a good primer. Then the embroidery comes in: “… to check my moles,” but you casually omit “…and to complete my Botox sessions.” It’s just a shot you have to take.

8. Do not say I:

Your villain knows to entrench himself/herself behind objective, impersonal, irrefutable facts.  “My company recruits only its sales executives with a certain diploma/certificate” … that your friend’s son happens not to possess, of course.

9. Camouflage:

Sharpen a pencil. Hang a picture. Drink coffee. Practicing an activity to pass the time is unquestionably the best camouflage for a lie. Is what any expert in non-verbal communication will tell you. The ideal situation? Lying whilst you are behind some sort of wall or partition, in order to neutralize body language, which is less controllable than words. It is essentially a way of saying that
those with mowing the lawn or trimming hedges are at an advantage for if they want to lie.

Little lies?  Big lies?  Huge lies?

It’s your story.

It’s your chance to create the “perfect” villain.


Happy Reading & Writing,

Connie

The Importance of Book Titles by Connie Vines

I am blogging about the Importance of Book Titles today (Saturday, October 22) at my WordSlinger Weblog.  Please stop by and see what every has to say!

http://connievines.blogspot.com/

Happy Reading & Writing,

Connie