Category: Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: James R. Tuck

Erin Penn

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I’ve read mostly James R. Tuck‘s Deacon Chalk series, which is in his unrelenting Dark Urban fantasy style. Having a female cowriter for Robin Hood Demon’s Bane curtailed it not a whit. 

Whether short story or full novel, Mr. Tuck creates a testosterone-driven roller coaster ride . Non-stop action beginning to end, with nothing wasted – even the slow build up the hill for the next fall into oblivion. The author promises gritty, violent mayhem and delivers.

In person at conventions, he is thoughtful and informative. If you want well-written books without much in the way of pesky emotions, look him up.

Author Spotlight: Sarah M. Anderson / Maggie Chase

Erin Penn

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One of the marketing questions every author needs to ask when they change their primary genre, is should they go with a pen name or keep their primary name or work with somewhere in between. Sarah M. Anderson writes contemporary western romances, but wanted to create an erotica historic series set in the west. How to go about it? If she completely separates them under different names, she would need to create two web-presences, or only market one of her “people”. If she didn’t create some separation, the series where she explores MMF, FF, BDSM, and other non-Harlequin topics, some of her regular readers will feel betrayed buying the book unexpectedly. So she set up a alternate name, but provided a clear window between the two. The Maggie Chase cover indicates her primary writing name, and her website has her Maggie Chase personality under a tab.

And when I went there – Good Grief! My name is there too because of my Goodread reviews of her books:

That was unexpected. I read a lot of books and review a lot of books on Goodreads – I cherry-pick from the 120 plus reviews I do in a year for the twelves I publish here. (I have over 400 reviews posted on Goodreads at this time.)

This particular quote comes from my review of His Sapphire, the BDSM book of the series.

Ms. Chase has created an amazing cast of character for her Jeweled Ladies’ series – each with different needs and wants. Each talk differently and have different goals. And – this is extremely rare – some of those goals are at cross-purposes! Usually everyone in a series are all good, likeable people in a circle of friends with similar goals. This series is set in the wild west with politicians, and freed slaves, with ladies of the night, and ancient feuds. One of the most amazing erotica series I have ever read.

If you like erotic romance and want something wild-west western, look into this series.

Author Spotlight: Marion G. Harmon

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

Wearing the Cape is a long-running series by Marion G. Harmon.  The first one seems to be a YA, but quickly breaks away from that.

Reading Mr. Harmon is hard for me because he write the way I would like to write. (No real surprise with the combination of a background in financial, plus a higher degree in history.) Jealousy please get behind me so I can enjoy the story. His first person POV is fantastic. The reveals of character in Book One, from a cancer survivor to the death of a childhood friend, are perfectly timed and not overwhelming.

The stories themselves are excellent superhero prose. Lots of actions, but different battles. Not all are slugfests. And the reason why someone would want to be on a superhero team is clear. Not everyone is Superman (or Atlas type) – but then Superman can’t win every situation. What happens when the bad guy is Nature? You can’t punch nature in the nose. The mix and match of abilities to situations is intriguing and well done.

And the worldbuilding – what happens after superheroes shows up – keeps on getting deeper and better the longer the series continues. A superpower cleanup crew to rebuild that which is broke after a battle. The politics and government wanting to protect people from danger, but also protect liberty, is believable.

Author Spotlight: Jeanne Adams

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

If you get to a convention with Jeanne Adams and she has a special lecture, GO TO IT. They are always amazing, informative, … and deadly. Not what you expect from an author whose sparkling eyes and blonde hair go with writing landing on the romantic side of the genre street (with fantasy and/or science fiction mixed in). Her one fundamental belief: #LoveAlwaysWins.

I’ve got to attend her Fighting seminar and her How to Dispose of a Body lecture. Just the things writers and editors need to know.

Her Romantic Paranormal series Haven Harbor follows a town run by witches. I personally love her science fiction novellas from Outcast Station she writes with Nancy Northcott, with Ms. Adams writing about the medical staff on the space station while Ms. Northcott writes about the police force planet side. And her science-fiction / fantasy romance mashup series of the Slip Traveler provides the perfect story of what happens when a wizard has to hunt aliens, and a time-traveling spy needs to deal with monsters out of myth.

In other words, if you have been looking for some romance which isn’t straight romance but might have a mix of police procedural, fantasy, medical, or science fiction – Ms. Adams is an author to add to your reading list.

Author Spotlight: Marion Zimmer Bradley

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

Coming home from Pennsic, I thought I would do an Author Spotlight on the woman who named the Society for Creative Anachronism while she lived in Berkeley California. When the college-related group of medievalists needed a name to rent a park, Marion Zimmer Bradley came up with the name on the spur of the moment. Her SCA name was Mistress Elfrid of Greenwalls, and she was instrumental in getting branches started in the New York area.

Her most famous work is The Mists of Avalon, and you can see the impact her time with the historical reenactment group had on her writing. Nothing like being able to talk to men and women who actually put on armor to make things more believable. After all, write what you know. As she concentrated on her work, her time in the SCA got less and less. Her other series include Trillium and Darkover. Her impact on the fantasy genre was extensive.

As well on those who live a slice of The Dream in the real world.