When I learned a few weeks ago that the composer and music critic Ned Rorem had died—a lifelong apostle of youth who dreaded turning fifty, he had somehow lived to be ninety-nine—I felt a complicated pang. I first came across Rorem’s diary in 1971, when I was a junior at the Putney School, in Vermont. […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2022/12/25/ned-rorem-apostle-of-youth/
I have been interested for a long time in theology and also in science. These two brilliant fields of thought have been at odds, supposedly, since the rise of what might be called the modern period, say, beginning in the nineteenth century. Marilynne Robinson opens her essay from the Holiday Issue of The New York […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2022/12/25/glories-stream-from-heaven-afar-marilynne-robinson/
A Colossal Injustice follows a homicide detective who is investigating a murder that leads to bigger questions and bigger crimes. What was your inspiration for the mystery that must be unraveled?
Judge Dredd, The Matrix, Robocop, The Terminator, Death Wish, and Shadowrun.
How do you balance story development with shocking plot twists? Or can they be the same thing?
The key to victory is the brainstorming and outline process. I can turn an idea into something concrete by writing it down. If I know what I want to happen, then I can make it happen.
There are a lot of things that are not directly answered in the book. Was it your intention to leave so many mysteries in the story?
Yes.
What is the next book that you are working on for Detective Griffin Knight, and when will it be available?
You’ll see. I don’t like spoiling surprises. 
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
I haven’t even been in the city for 48 hours, and it’s already obvious that the information in front of me doesn’t add up.
As a homicide detective, I’ve seen it all, but this murder is different.
To kill someone in this manner is often a crime of passion or a deeply personal attack, and yet the evidence suggests otherwise.
Why was he targeted? How is it connected to Seattle’s biggest megacorp? Was it someone he already knew? What if this is the start of something so much bigger?
The only thing I do know is that I need to find out who did this fast in case others are also at risk!
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/12/25/i-can-make-it-happen/
Cloudy with a Chance of Answers follows a grieving woman as she closes out her uncle’s estate and discovers a clue to her cousin’s disappearance over thirty years ago. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I’ve heard that when there’s an unsolved crime that happens to a family, especially when it involves a child, they are never, ever fully able to move forward from it. There’s always that question of who did it. There’s like a cloud over their heads, figuratively. And how do people stand to live in a community where one of the citizens is a killer but nobody knows who it is? I wanted to write a book about that, but featuring a gutsy main character who never gave up hope of one day finding a resolution. The main character, Bethany, of course, persists.
Did you plan the tone and direction of the novel before writing or did it come out organically as you were writing?
The story all came about naturally, just popping into my head one day during the beginning of the pandemic. There wasn’t a crime like the one in the book in my family, thank God, but I drew on another part of my own family history with the characters of Bethany’s mother, grandmother and father. The mother and grandmother have been battling one another since before Bethany was born. The father sits on the sidelines, does nothing, and watches them go at it, and Bethany may be a child, but she constantly steps in as the family referee. That was exactly the story of my own childhood, so I knew it well. My mother and grandmother’s battles were so over-the-top and crazy that they were almost funny, and a story like CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF ANSWERS needed a lot of comic relief.
What was the hardest part about writing a mystery story, where you constantly have to give just enough to keep the mystery alive until the big reveal?
It’s a juggling act with handling all of the clues, that’s for sure! There has to be just enough information for various people to look suspicious, but it’s a question of just enough and no further, so the reader will wonder which one of the potential suspects might have done it. I love it when someone reads one of my books and then tells me they had a whole other suspect in mind for the crime. I figure that means I did my job well!
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
The next one is a murder mystery set in a Broadway talent agency. I used to work in one myself so I kind of know the territory there. Talk about having to juggle a lot of potential suspects! It’s a challenge and I’m having a wonderful time writing it. I’m hoping it will be available by the winter of 2023.
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook | Website
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/12/25/the-story-of-my-own-childhood/
Sled With Me takes readers on a dream adventure to the North Pole where they meet a variety of holiday characters in a fun rhyming picture book. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I wanted to create a fun book about Santa’s workshop and the North Pole that didn’t necessarily have to be just for the Christmas season. I wanted it to be a dream adventure you could take anytime of the year filled with wonder and interesting things to discover. With my illustrator’s help, I believe we accomplished this goal.
The art in this book is cute and colorful. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Tamara Piper?
Terrific, Tarmara and I make a great team. I give her total control, initially, over the illustrations. She prepares the first draft of sketches and if there is something I feel is off base, we discuss and adjust if needed before going onto the colour phase. In most cases, I love how she interputes my words and helps bring them to life. I believe it’s best when the writting is left to me, and the creative process of bring the story to life through pictures is left to her. Sled With Me is the fourth project we’ve worked on together. Two more are already in the works.
What scene in the book did you have the most fun creating?
I think the first scene inside the workshop is the most fun. There is so much to see. Kids should have a blast looking at all the details and trying to spot the different elements within the illustrations.
What can readers expect in the next book in the Wherever Shall We Go Series?
The next book in this series, which is already being illustrated, is a dream adventure to the jungle. There will be so many animals, plants and birds to discover. After the jungle book is released, a dream adventure to the forest will come next. Both of these series books will be released in 2023.
Author Links: Facebook | Amazon
Sled With Me is a sweet Christmas bedtime story to help children prepare for sleep. It ends with a loving message from the reader to the child which helps to bring their day to a close as it softly lulls them into sleep.
Like the other books in this children’s bedtime story series, Sled With Me is a promise from the reader to the child to meet them in their dreams, so that together, a wonderful adventure can be experienced.
Beautiful illustrations and a delightful rhyming story await. So, go ahead and grab a copy of this children’s Christmas book, because everyone at the North Pole is waiting to greet you.
This is the mother and daughter edition of Sled With Me. It is the perfect bedtime story for moms to share with their little girls, or grandmothers to share with their granddaughters. A mother and son edition can be found separately by searching this title.
Don’t forget to follow this author and be on the lookout for other books in this series. You never know where the next adventure will take you.
Sled With Me by Sharon Purtill is the perfect Christmas story book for kids 2-4 3-5 or even 4-6 years old.
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/12/25/a-dream-adventure/