I love featuring authors on my blog, especially when I am enamored by their writing. And this woman who I'm featuring today -- Beryl Singleton Bissell -- is one of my all time favorites, as a person who you can't help but admire and love, and as a true-hearted, lovely writer.
I highly recommend Beryl's first and second books. Here's a bit about them. Click on the images to buy them on Amazon.
The Scent of God
by Beryl Singleton Bissell
The
Scent of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell is a work of fine art, reminiscent
of a painting by Rubens or a haunting Saint-Saëns melody. The beautifully
crafted memoir offers words that glisten like gems on each page. Lush imagery,
dripping with heady scents and vibrant color, transports the reader to locales
ranging from the sanctified to the exotic. Readers will savor every chapter of
this alluring tale.
A View of the Lake
by Beryl Singleton Bissell
A View of the Lake, by Beryl Singleton Bissell, is a vibrant collection of reflective
essays centered on the North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota. Each slice-of-life
chapter transports the reader into Ms. Bissell’s life in this majestic country,
as well as connecting us to her gentle spirit.
You may read about Beryl's "Next Big Thing" here on her blog.
I will add links to addition folks on this blog tour in the near future, stay tuned!
And now, for my portion of this event, here are my answers to the questions that are propagating around the blogger world. This time I've changed my answers to reflect the newest book I've just started writing, MURDER ON THE SACANDAGA.
THE NEXT BIG THING
1-What is your working
title of your book?
MURDER
ON THE SACANDAGA, book 4 in the Tall Pines Mystery series.
2-Where did the idea
come from for the book?
The
first book in the series, FOR THE BIRDS, came from a dream. Really, it did! But
this one is number four in the series, so the characters were set and
well-established. The idea of the Sacandaga River playing a major part in a
murder investigation came about as I sat overlooking it’s murmuring waters
while visiting my favorite place in the world, the Tall Pines cabin in Hope,
NY.
3-What genre does your
book fall under?
Contemporary mystery from a
women’s POV. These are fresh, fun, and packed with romance and suspense, but
they also have plenty of heart pounding chase scenes through the beautiful
Adirondack Mountains. ;o)
4-Which actors would you
choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Female lead – Jessica Brown
Findlay (she plays Sibyl in Downton Abbey) as Marcella Hollister.
Thelma
would be played by Doris Roberts (Ray’s mother in Everyone Loves Raymond), since my grandmother Lena isn't alive to play the part she would have been perfect for!
Quinn
Black Eagle Hollister would have to look a bit like this guy I just
randomly found on the net. I assume he’s an actor, but maybe not? Anyone have
ideas for Quinn’s Hollywood alter ego?
I can't seem to get the photo to copy and paste, but here is a link to an actor who might work for Sky Lissoneau - his name is Alex Pettyfer. He'd had to grow his hair out longer for the movie.
5-What is the
one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When a serial killer
snatches a young leukemia patient from a small Adirondack town, Marcella
Hollister and her ex-lover, Sky Lissoneau, try to find her along the wooded
banks of the Sacandaga River in the midst of a raging snowstorm.
6-Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
All of my books are represented by Lida Quillen at Twilight Times Books. I love my publisher! Please check out the great selection of award-winning books on the TTB site. (www.twilighttimesbooks.com)
7-How long did it take
you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’ve spent the last month
writing about 25,000 words. I usually write a chapter a day, about 1500-2000
words. This is usually accomplished from 5:30 to 6:30 every morning!
8-What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
The first three books in
the series are really the only other books I know of that feature suspense/mystery/thriller
combined with a bit of spiritual/paranormal themes based in the deep woods of
the Adirdondacks. Check out For the
Birds, Essentially Yours, and Sanctuary
at www.lazarbooks.com.
9-Who or what inspired
you to write this book?
My love of all things Native American and my
own heritage from the Metis tribe in Canada.
10-What else about your
book might pique the reader’s interest?
Marcella
and Quinn have their first falling out. It’s tough on both of them, and
Marcella is constantly driven into the arms of her high school lover, Sky, who
still loves her, 19 years after she turned down his marriage proposal. Also,
these books feature Young Living Essential Oils. My characters “discovered” the
oils about the same time I did, and we learn about the applications and uses of
them throughout the series. ;o)
Here's the first page:
Losing a child is like losing your soul.
Only worse. Especially when you’ve waited your whole life for her.
The judge let me keep Kimi for one month,
then abruptly decided there was someone more suitable to raise her: her dead
father’s sister, who’d come out of nowhere to drop the bomb on us.
I still couldn’t believe it.
One month of cuddling, nurturing, bathing
with no-more-tears shampoo, washing her tiny outfits with special detergent. One
month of watching her toddle uncertainly toward her favorite black bear teddy,
listening to her squeals of delight when Quinn dropped on all fours to play
with her.
I pulled the child closer to me, nuzzling
her soft curls and holding her chubby hand in mine. She lay against me,
completely relaxed, her dark eyes turned up to mine as if she knew something
was wrong.
I held back the sobs.
One month was not enough.
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