Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Hook & Jill is a fairy tale for “grown-ups.” Neverland is a place we long to return. It calls to us even — and especially — once we are past the innocent age of Peter Pan. Adults who re-read Peter Pan to their children can fully appreciate J.M. Barrie’s nuances and undertones. Hook & Jill revisits the delights of the original tale, and takes it further to develop the more mature themes at which Barrie only hinted in his children’s classic. Those who fell in love with Wicked and its adult perspective of Oz may find an equal fascination with the Neverland that I bring to life in an uninhibited new vision.

Q: What is the book about?
A: As Wendy Darling mothers the Lost Boys in Neverland, she struggles to keep her boys safe from the Island’s many hazards. The obvious villain is Captain Hook, insidious and seductive, a master manipulator devising vengeance for his maiming. But a more subtle threat encroaches from an unexpected quarter.… The children are growing up, and only Peter knows the punishment.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Peter Pan has inspired writers, musicians, artists and actors for over a hundred years. But Hook & Jill is the first novel of Neverland to allow adults to fully return there. As grown-up readers recognize, Barrie threaded the loom for a deeply psychological coming-of-age. I took up Barrie’s strands and wove them to create an intricate and satisfying, if frightening, voyage into adulthood.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Hook & Jill is not a story for those who wish to remain forever in childhood. It challenges the assumption that morality can be viewed — as children view it — in terms of black and white. The dark side of innocence is exposed, and what appears to be good may prove otherwise, while what seems to be evil… is irresistible.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The mythology of Peter Pan is the magic mirror to my own experience. As an emerging adult, I discovered myself to be in the same predicament as Wendy and the Lost Boys. I, too, was forbidden to grow up. Yet I, too, could not help doing so. Like the children in Hook & Jill, in making my own decisions, I cast myself out of “Paradise,” reaping both the troubles and the rewards of independence.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Both adult and young adult.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Jenny Roberts yearns to escape her small hometown of Paris, Idaho and accomplish something remarkable in the world. She has many dreams but the only thing standing in her way is an unpleasant memory from her past, which haunted her since childhood. She must learn to forgive before she can choose which dream to follow. Meanwhile a legendary ten-foot grizzly by the name of Old Half Paw is seen in the area and its boldness has frightened the community.

Q: Why am I the best person to write this book?
A: This book is about dreams and the importance of following our dreams. I have given personal ancestral experiences to my characters in this family saga to add some reality to this historical fiction novel. I believe that real family experiences bring a story to life.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: It’s different because I’ve used my own family experiences in this book along with the legend of Old Ephraim, the ten-foot grizzly bear as a sub-plot.

This legendary ten-foot grizzly really existed in the southern Idaho region. After much research, I used every detail of this grizzly to add a little adventure to the story.

I blend romance, adventure, history, humor, and courage into this family saga, using emotion to bring my characters to life.

A reviewer wrote: “Jenny’s Dream tells a beautiful story that incorporates the value of loyalty, love, family and forgiveness into it. I also enjoyed how the author put real experiences, taken from her family and friends, into the plot. This is a great touch. Jenny’s Dream is a wholesome novel that will be enjoyed by family members of all ages who would enjoy a great historical romance. I think this series is destined to be a classic.”

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Jenny is 20 years old and has three dreams. Her first dream is to accomplish something remarkable in the world.

She has read about the courageous women who forged their own paths and accomplished a lot in their lives. They were self-reliant, daring and determined women such as Susan B. Anthony who fought for Equal Rights, an important part of American history. This was Jenny’s Dream, to make a difference in the world. This is something I believe we all want to do in our lives… to make a difference!

Her second dream is to become a journalist. Writing is second nature to her ever since she was a child and this is her greatest desire. In fact, moving to Houston, Texas sounds quite intriguing to her.

Her third dream is to find a most wonderful, down to earth man to spend the rest of her life with: the man of her dreams! Little does she know that her kindred friend, Will Jones, has gradually fallen in love with her. She hasn’t known him very long but he instantly became a kindred spirit, someone she could talk to and express her inner most feelings. There is one thing standing in her way of focusing on these dreams. She must learn to forgive and put her past behind her. This story is about accomplishing one’s dreams and the miracle of forgiveness.

Jenny says, “Dreams are an important part of life, and without them, life would be so dull. If we can envision it, then I believe it can be accomplished.” Lucy Maud Montgomery touched me as a writer and I loved her books. She strongly believed in dreams. Montgomery once wrote: “While solitude with dreams is glorious, solitude without them has few charms.” That’s how I feel. I believe that dreams are an important part of life.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Suspense thriller readers and readers interested in social justice.

Q: What is the book about?
A: When Gabriel Branch, a biracial Aborigine, searches the outback for his best friend, he is stalked by a Pitjantjatjara shaman. Gabe must find the truth about his friend and about the Aboriginal heritage he lost long ago.

This suspense thriller shows an Australia beautiful and brutal, and has won two national awards. It reveals the tragedy of a government policy intended to wipe out an entire race within three generations.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: As an author, I strive to create literature that bridges divisions of nationality, race, class, religion, gender and age. Books that show readers the emotional lives of individuals from other cultures, socioeconomic levels and subcultures open a safe passage for exploration. Our global society makes this type of work more important now than ever before.

My knowledge of Australia and its diverse cultures is based in part on a sabbatical I took some years ago. For six months I drove around the outback in a twenty-year-old Ford sedan, camping and hiking with dingoes as my sole companions. My work has been supported by the Vermont Studio Center, the Jerome Foundation, the New York Mills Cultural Center, the Cornucopia Arts Center and Wildacres.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Really, there are no other novels by American authors that show readers the trauma suffered by Australia’s so-called Stolen Generation. Although Baz Luhrmann’s recent epic Australia and documentaries like Rabbit-proof Fence touch on the issue, the films don’t delve into the psychological impact the way a book can.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book won the Hackney Literary Award. The committee said, “One of the best novels in ten years of running this contest. The award places Cunningham in the ranks of Pulitzer Prize winning authors like William Styron and Horton Foote.”

The book also won the James Jones Literary Society contest because it mirrors the “spirit of unblinking honesty” for which author James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and Thin Red Line, was known.

Garrison Somers, Editor-in-Chief of The Blotter literary magazine, said, “Ms. Cunningham shows an Australia beautiful and brutal. You know it isn’t going to be a gentle ride but you’re still not expecting to be kicked out of your seat onto the desert floor, rolling to a stop in the sharp-as-glass spinifex. Don’t be surprised when you want to put it down but can’t.”

Read an excerpt from my first novel at www.LaineCunningham.

Author Interview:
Q: In Message Stick, your main characters are adult Australian Aborigines who were caught up in the government’s assimilation policy. They were removed from their families at an early age and sent to missions and adoption agencies. Why is this book important now?
A: Hundreds of thousands of people in Australia today are living with this deep sorrow. They lost their parents and siblings, and still don’t know who their families are. Sometimes they can trace the paperwork back to a specific area or tribe but they’ve still lost those ties to their culture. Our government did the same thing to Native Americans when they shipped the children off to schools hundreds or thousands of miles from their homes. The difference is that Australia did it until the early 1970s, so there are many more people alive there today who suffer that pain.

Q: If they can determine the area where they were taken from, can’t they regain their heritage by reconnecting with their tribe?
A: Not always. Since they missed out on the initiation rituals and all the teaching that still is a part of Aboriginal lifestyles, they have a hard time participating fully. And it’s very difficult to cram a lifetime of learning into a few years. This is especially true for people who were shipped off to homes in the coastal cities. They’ve been acculturated to the European lifestyle. No matter how much they learn, few of them will be able to shake the feeling of being an outsider to their own heritage.

Q: Tell me how you found out about the Stolen Generation.
A: It was quite a shock. I was tooling around Australia in a beat-up Ford sedan. Since I traveled alone for six months, I had a lot of opportunities to meet people. One day I met a fellow named Billie. He told me about his childhood, about having been forcibly removed from his family. I was horrified to think a government would do something like that. He was in his mid-forties, so the assimilation policy had happened very late in the Twentieth Century. That anyone could justify something like that in modern times was unthinkable. Yet there it was.

Q: So Billie’s story struck some cord in you.
A: Yes. He was in Alice Springs at the time, in the outback. He’d been able to track his family back through the adoption and government papers. Although he was able to meet up again with his brother, he didn’t return to the Alice until two weeks after his father had died.

Q: Are there many stories like Billie’s in Australia?
A: Too many. He was actually one of the lucky ones. Once UNESCO and the League of Nations started pressuring the Australian government to stop the assimilation, a lot of those missions and orphanages panicked. They didn’t want to be charged with wrongdoing so a lot of the paperwork was destroyed.

Q: Message Stick wraps these issues into an astonishing plotline. Why did you decide to include the spiritual aspects of Aboriginal culture in the story?
A: There really wasn’t any choice. Aboriginal lifeways are intrinsically tied to the land. The land lives with the Dreamtime tales, the ancient stories of how things came to be. If you understand the land and how it was created, you understand the proper way to live. There could be no real heart to a story about the Stolen Generation that didn’t contain Aboriginal spirituality.

Q: The antagonist is a powerful shaman. Why did you choose to have what many might consider to be a spiritual person turn out to be so evil?
A: As the bad guy himself says, there is no good or bad. There are only things that are further from the law, the spiritual law of the outback. Because of his own experiences during the early years of the assimilation policy, his anger festered. He became something bitter, unable to love anything except the power his shamanic knowledge brought. His choice to use his gifts to harm others might be different than how most of us think of spiritually powerful people but it’s also realistic. We all have power and we all make choices about how to use it.

Q: How did you research this book?
A: That was difficult. There isn’t too much out there on Aborigines that provides the kind of details an author needs to really make a book come alive. It’s important to me to be able to understand a specific cultural or spiritual system well enough that I can “translate” it for mainstream Americans. I relied on a lot of anthropological studies.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: I wrote this book about my beloved sister because she is a unique woman and led such a fascinating life; I wrote it to appeal to adults and the mainstream market. It’s an epic love story/mystery/thriller that ––judging by reviews on Amazon.com––is appealing to men as well as women and more mature teens … people from all walks of life.

Q: What the book is about?
A: This story is part fiction (faction?), but based on the life of my beautiful older sister and her seven marriages. This is from the publisher’s description: ” … sixty-four years–1933 to 1997–of happiness and tragedy. Always searching for her first love and her childhood, the enchanting child/woman captivates many men along the way, each wealthier than the one before … each sending her scurrying back to her childhood home, 1106 Grand Boulevard, a trail of broken hearts in her wake.”

“1106 Grand Boulevard” is the story of passions that last a lifetime; of family love and betrayal; of spousal abuse and sadistic child abuse; a story of Billie Jean’s desperate search for happiness, self-worth, and maturity … a story of people needing people and people using people.”

Q: Why I am the best person to write this book?
A: Since I’ve always been a writer and am the sister of the main character in the book, I’m the only one who could do justice to her complex character … her exciting life.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?:
A: In most love stories the heroine is married only once; how unrealistic is that in today’s world? As award-winning author Frank Nappi said in his review: “The resiliency of Dravis’s heroine, Billie Jean, is indeed refreshing, wonderfully antithetical to the all too common saccharine, off-putting portrayal of many of fiction’s leading ladies.” Nappi is the author of the new sensational novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler and Echoes from the Infantry.

Q: Is there anything else to know about this book?
A: The title of 1106 Grand Boulevard is the actual Ohio hometown address of the author and the main characters in the book. The cover photo is a picture of her late father, John D. Barger, at age 90, while the home viewed through the car window is 1106. Dravis took the photo when her father drove her and the book’s heroine past the home while they were visiting from California in the 1980s.

For more about 1106 Grand Boulevard and Dravis’s other novels, go to:
http://bettydravisauthor.googlepages.com/
http://tinyurl.com/2b3rko

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Mystery lovers, horse lovers, romance and suspense and lovers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: When the death of a racing stable’s prize horse and his trainer is blamed on the stable’s owner; his son, Adam Blakely, goes undercover convinced that the trainer’s partner, Maggie McGregor is the killer.

Determined to leave the tumultuous world of horse racing, Maggie returns home to try and find peace. When a handsome horse owner moves his horse into her father’s boarding stable and asks Maggie to train his horse, family finances dictate that Maggie accept–and that’s when the accidents begin.

Drowning in deception and lies, Maggie and Adam search for a killer and uncover an insurance scam so insidious, it threatens to rock a horse racing empire and bring the killer to their doorstep.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The seed of this story came from a scandal that happened in Northern Illinois about a decade ago. (The Horse Mob) Race horses and show horses were being murdered for insurance money, then the heiress, Helen Brach, disappeared. I had horses up in the same area and knew some of the people who were involved. In the Arms of the Enemy is an entirely different story, none of the characters even remotely resemble any of the people involved. This is a work of fiction. But, I thought the premise of the story needed to be told.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The only books I know that come from this situation are non-fiction works. I’m sure there are mysteries that have similar themes, but I’m not familiar with them.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book is dedicated to those horse lost to man’s greed and inhumanity and to those humanitarians who make it their mission to serve and protect them.

This is my first published novel.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: The intended audience is definitley not children. It’s no more violent or “in the gutter” as, say, a Stephen King novel, and the book’s aimed toward that audience. I’d say 18 and up can give it a go. But I had no “intended audience” in mind while writing it. If people think it sounds like a good read, then that’s the intended audience.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The novel is all about hope. Yes, there’s a wide-spread power outage, mass hysteria and what can best be described as zombies running around (there’s your gore), but that’s just the story. It’s all about how these people in this one small town find hope during a situation when there appears to be none.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I’m neither the best nor the worst person to tell this story – I just happen to be the one that jotted it into my computer and put it out there. I wrote it not seeking fame or fortune – something like that happens very seldom for an author.

I wrote it because I’m a storyteller and always have been. I tried this story as a screenplay for years, and that just never worked. If you want to see examples of some bad writing, you should see those pages. Not good. Luckily they’re long gone. But once the idea hit me to give it a try as a novel, everything fell into place.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: I don’t know if it’s different, but rather an extension of disaster and zombie movies/stories, a different take on those two genres slammed together. The “zombies” aren’t zombies – I don’t really care for that term myself – but they are indeed part of the undead family. They think, they plan, they’re really just the characters that end up being the undead in a different light: the worst of people. And within their heads, we get to see what they’re thinking. Some of them fall into the trap of violence and hate while others fight for the hope that is the soul of the book. It’s actually through some of these undead folks that we see the best of people.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book was a labor of love, as is the one I’m working on now. Although the ending seems open for a sequel – and I’ve been asked about one – there will be no sequel. Those characters have been through enough, I think they deserve to live out the rest of their lives in a good way. Plus, I have too many other stories I want to tell before I end up in a grave. There’s also the fact that I simply have no idea what would happen in a sequel. I think Moonlight ended up being a real good thing, and I do my best to not screw up a good thing.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Adults and young adults, specifically young adult women.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Protection specialist Natasha Chamberlain thinks guarding an English rock star while she tours the Southern states should be easy and loads of fun but a bullet in her leg after the first concert changes her mind. Join Natasha and the dynamic dual Pit and Bigun as they chase a cyberstalker while trying to guard a rock star with a penchant for drugs, sex, shoplifting, and sweets.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: It’s the third in my series; about an independent, contemporary woman trying to cope with a traditional world. It takes place in Knoxville, TN, my home town.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: My bodyguard experienced date rape and because of this seeks to be stronger, mentally and physically, so she will never be this vulnerable again. She also sees herself as protector of the innocent, animal and human, who cannot fend for themselves.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Professional reviewers are comparing it to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, although my series is Southern. It features a Weimaraner, and proceeds from the sale of the book are donated to a local Weimaraner rescue as well as the local animal shelter. I try with each book to call attention to the abuse and neglect and unnecessary euthanization of animals across America, and encourage readers to adopt or rescue a pet.

Chasing Secrets – available 10/08!
The Bodyguard and the Rock Star – “I just want to know if I can nominate it for some kind of award.” – LAS Reviewer
The Bodyguard and the Show Dog – 2006 Reviewers’ Choice Award, DWAA Fiction Finalist
The Bodyguard - Best First in Series 2005
Chasing Demons – published in USA and Japan
Wayne’s Dead – Myshelf’s Top 10 Reads for 2002, published in USA and South Korea
Chasing Horses – Madcap Award for Best in Romantic Comedy

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Since the span of the main character’s life takes you from 11-26, Whale Song appeals to virtually anyone who enjoys reading. The audience is general–young adults (even as young as 10) and adults. Book clubs and schools (particularly schools in Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, USA) will appreciate Whale Song because of the beautiful Pacific Ocean setting and the interesting yet somewhat controversial elements that can be discussed in a group setting.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Whale Song is the story of Sarah, a young American woman who moves to Vancouver Island, Canada, when she’s eleven, and is thrown into a strange new world of native customs, fascinating legends and simmering racial discrimination. When a terrible tragedy takes away someone she deeply loves, Sarah is left with partial amnesia, and only a wise Indian woman’s stories can help her heal. Whale Song is ultimately a story of love, family, tragedy, sacrifice and forgiveness, a story that will change the way you view life…and death.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: Sarah and I are very similar. I grew up on two different islands in BC, Canada, and I’ve always felt the ocean’s magnetic pull. As a child, I would go to the Vancouver Aquarium every summer and see Skana the killer whale. I was fascinated by her and loved to watch her grace and beauty as she swam. Like Sarah, I know what it’s like to move around, to be thrown into a different culture, and I know what it’s like to live in a world of racism and bullying. Yet, I too was mesmerized by native legends about Whale, Wolf and Eagle. Sarah “came to me” two years before I ever started writing Whale Song. And she’s stayed with me ever since.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Whale Song is different from other books on this topic because I have managed to take the scenes, smells and flavors of Vancouver Island and weave them into the pages. People who read my novel tell me they can visualize everything so clearly, that it feels like they’re right there on the beach or driving through the trees.

And it is not simply an entertaining novel. Whale Song has a powerful healing message of forgiveness and letting go, and I’ve been amazed and moved by emails from people who have told me Whale Song has changed their lives. Just recently, a young woman emailed me with her story, which you can read on my blog. Aynsley Nisbet was so changed by Whale Song that she created a brilliant painting–titled “Whale Song”. Please read: How Whale Song inspired artist Aynsley Nisbet and changed her life.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Whale Song is dedicated to my brother Jason who was brutally murdered in January 2006. A portion of my royalties for EVERY SALE of Whale Song goes to 3 nonprofit organizations–Hope Mission, Bissell Centre and Mustard Seed Church, to help combat poverty, homelessness and addictions. Whale Song makes such a wonderful gift–for mothers and daughter, in particular–so please order extra copies, and help me help these nonprofits.

My sites:
http://www.whalesongbook.com
http://www.cherylktardif.com

My main blog:
The suspense is lkilling me!

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: It’s suitable for any audience, but I think mostly women will find it appealing.

Q: What is the book about?
A: In 1927 Virginia, Grace Langdon is a bright, intelligent sixteen year old with a head full of dreams and a longing for love. She is also trapped by the customs of her time and place, and when her domineering father tries to force her hand in marriage, she flees. Finding her beloved older brother and his wife, who had left Virginia years before to live in Chicago, she begins a new life and finds romance with a handsome neighbor. But the past comes back to haunt her when the man she rejected returns to claim her as his own.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I’m from a big southern family who still cling to many of the customs of the old days. I’m also a lover of books, especially romantic ones, and I love creating stories that appeal to the heart. I’ve been writing off and on since I was young.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: I’ve tried to be a little unpredictable in my writing, taking it in a direction that the reader might not expect, to keep the story interesting. I’ve also tried to create unique characters who are flawed but worthy of devotion by readers.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: My main hero, Henry, was inspired by UK actor Richard Armitage, whom I first discovered in the BBC mini-series North and South, adapted from the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. His mannerisms, his way of speaking, and especially his looks, have given him a devoted following of female viewers. I’m one of them, and I would greatly recommend discovering his work.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Readers who love psychological thrillers that illuminate the domino effect of secrets within all families will be swept up by this story. Anyone with an interest in genealogy will enjoy the way in which the many branches of one family tree are introduced in their specific era and environment, from the present to 1800s England.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Tom Nelson is struggling after the death of his son at the hands of his wife Jane. While Jane sits in a Texas mental hospital for her part in the crime, prosecutors turn their focus to Tom, believing he knew Jane was in decline, and charge him with “failure to protect.” Enter attorney, Dave Frontella, who employs a radical defense strategy – one that lays the blame at the feet of Jane’s nature and nurture. To gather evidence about Jane’s forbears, Frontella hires a woman with the power of retrocognition – the ability to use a person’s belongings to re-create their past.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I passionately wanted to understand the days and moments leading up to a woman deciding to take the life of her child. My quest for answers and months of research helped me develop an understanding that the pivotal moment is not, in fact, a moment or a sudden snap, but a series of events and breakdowns leading up to this moment. I am also a mother. I don’t think I could have written this without the full understanding of the challenges of parenthood.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: If I met your grandfather, what would that tell me about your personality? If I observed a day in the life of your childhood, what would that tell me about how you make choices today? Jane, the character who committed this terrible crime in Janeology, is drawn from the perspective of her genealogy. To know her, we must also know her parents, her grandparents and her great-grandparents. And we also meet her on one critical day of her childhood. While there are wonderful non-fiction treatments of nature and nurture and genetic inheritance, Janeology is a unique fictional account exploring one family and its legacy of secrets.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Janeology explores the idea that genes passed down through the generations impact who we are in countless ways; that nature and nurture are illuminated by the other. The reader is introduced to four generations of Jane’s family on both her maternal and paternal sides – from her English-born great-grandmother to her rough and tumble west Texas father. All the while, we watch as her husband – a man torn apart by still loving a woman he can no longer understand – grapples with putting the pieces of his life back together.

To read an excerpt or view the heart-stopping trailer, please visit www.karenharringtonbooks.com