"Award-winning author Karen Wiesner is a master at her craft. As the Incognito Series unfolds, I am drawn deeper and deeper into the lives of the men and women of the Network. Hunter and Tanya's story is more than just a covert operation. It is the love story of two damaged souls that find each other. As the dynamic story ends, Hunter is shown to be a man of distinction and honor. The ending to RENEGADE'S ROSE was unexpected and a complete surprise. I am anxious to see how Ms. Wiesner weaves the new philosophy at the Network into her future novels." ~ reviewed by Dawn Myers for Writers Unlimited http://www.writersunlimited.com
, took 2nd Place in From the Heart Chapter of RWA's The Lories 2004 Best Published Contest, was a finalist in the 2005 EPPIE's, and was nominated for the 2004 Romantic Times BOOKreview's Reviewer's Choice Award (Best Small Press Romance). Karen's latest release in her Wounded Warriors Series is Wayward Angels, Book 4, her first full-length inspirational women's fiction novel. Karen designed the cover for the book herself.
Karen also writes police procedural mysteries with award-winning author Chris Spindler of Auenwald, Germany. The first book in their Falcon's Bend Series, Degrees of Separation, was originally published in limited edition hardcover from Quiet Storm Publishing (through 6/1/05). Degrees of Separation received a 4 1/2 star, Top Pick review from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. Degrees of Separation was re-issued by Hard Shell Word Factory in trade paperback and electronic formats in November 2006. Falcon's Bend Case Files, Volume I is now available in trade paperback and electronic formats also from Hard Shell. One of the stories from the Case Files anthology, "Fixated", finaled in the L-edit Slip Contest (Best Short Story). Falcon's Bend Case Files, Volume I was a 2007 EPPIE finalist in the Mystery category. Tears on Stone, Book 2 of the Falcon's Bend Series, is also now available. Karen designed all the covers and the series logo. Look for The Fifteenth Letter (Book 3, coming August 2008 in electronic formats; September 2008 in trade paperback), Romantic Notions (Book 4, release date TBA) and Falcon's Bend Case Files, Volume II (release date TBA) in coming years. Join Karen and Chris' Falcon's Bend Community at http://www.falconsbend.com, where you'll find information about the series.
Karen has sold an 11-book romantic action/adventure/suspense series called the Incognito Series to Whiskey Creek Press http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com. The following are now available: No Ordinary Love, Until Death Do Us Part, Bounty on the Rebel's Heart, Dead Drop, Under the Spell and Renegade's Rose. Upcoming releases include: Undercover Angel (October 2008), Hard to Handle (March 2009), Dancing in Shadows (October 2009), Hypnotized (March 2010) and Mind Games (October 2010). Books 1 and 2 were finalists in FTHRW's 2004 Lories' Best Proposal contest. In the L-Edit Slip contest, No Ordinary Love and Until Death Do Us Part both took 3rd in separate categories while Dead Drop took 2nd place. No Ordinary Love won the 2007 EPPIE in the Romantic Suspense category and was also a 2006 CAPA nominee in Romantic Suspense. Until Death Do Us Part is currently a finalist in the 2008 EPPIE Awards (action/adventure category). EPPIE winners will be announced at the annual EPICon Convention held March 6-9, 2008 in Portland, Oregon. Until Death Do Us Part was also a 2006 Ecataromance Reviewer's Choice Award nominee. Until Death Do Us Part won The Romance Studio's 5 heart review Sweetheart Award. Bounty on the Rebel's Heart was also nominated for the Sweetheart Award. Dead Drop and Under the Spell received 5 angel reviews and FAR Recommended Read Awards. Under the Spell was nominated for The Long and Short of It's Best Romance of 2007 in the long ebook category. Renegade's Rose received The Long and Short Of It's Best Book rating (their highest). Karen designed all the Incognito Series covers herself.
Karen's contemporary gothic romantic suspense with an inspirational twist, The Bloodmoon Curse, published by Samhain Publishing http://samhainpublishing.com/authors/karen-wiesner, is now available in trade paperback and electronic formats. The Bloodmoon Curse was a 2006 Ecataromance Reviewer's Choice Award nominee and a 2006 Dream Ream Award finalist in the horror category. Karen recently sold the first book in a new inspirational romance series, Family Heirlooms, to Samhain. Baby, Baby will be published in electronic and trade paperback formats June 2008. Check Karen's website for more information about this release.
Karen's first writing reference title with Writer's Digest Books http://www.writersdigest.com, First Draft in 30 Days, is now available wherever writing reference titles are sold. It was a Writer's Digest Book Club http://www.writersdigestbookclub.com. Main Selection in March 2005. Visit the First Draft bonus website, where you'll find articles and supplementals to the book, at http://www.firstdraftin30days.com. Karen has also sold a second offering to Writer's Digest Books. From First Draft to Finished Novel {A Writer's Guide to Cohesive Story Building}, a companion to First Draft in 30 Days, will be available in the Fall of 2008 and will also be a WDBC Main Selection. Check Karen's website for more information about this release.
Karen is also the author of Electronic Publishing The Definitive Guide {The Most Complete Reference to Non-Subsidy E-Publishing} and Weave Your Web. The Guide was a finalist for the 2000 EPPIE and won the 2001 EPPIE for Best Non-fiction. It was excerpted in the 2001 Writers Digest Novel & Short Story Market and made the 2001 Inscriptions' Books of the Year list. eBooks N' Bytes chose the Guide to be their first winner of the eBooks N' Bytes Award of Excellence for Epublishing Book of the Year (2002). The Guide was also a finalist in the 2002 Indie Awards. Weave Your Web was a 2004 EPPIE finalist.
Note: Please note that Karen will has discontinued these books and both are currently unavailable.
THE POWER OF PROMOTIONAL GROUPS is Karen's newest nonfiction which details how published authors can set up a promotional group (like her own, Jewels of the Quill). The book is available now in electronic formats from Twilight Times Books http://twilighttimesbooks.com.
Karen writes children's books under the pen name Karen Sue Wiesner for Writer's Exchange E-Publishing http://www.readerseden.com. Releases include:
- Taking Responsibility Builds Trust (Making Good Choices Series); illustrations by Robert Beers-2004 EPPIE Finalist!
- Taking Care of Your Things (Making Good Choices Series); illustrations by Robert Beers-now available!
- Cody Knows with Linda Derkez; illustrations by Candace Hardy-2004 EPPIE Finalist!
Karen's first book of poetry, Soul Bleeds The Dark Poetry and Other Wanderings of K.S. Wiesner, finaled in the 2002 EPPIE's and is available from Atlantic Bridge Publishing http://www.atlanticbridge.net.
Karen has won the Inscriptions Engraver Award for best on-line columnist two years in a row, the Year 2000 for eXcellence in E-publishing Award: E-author from ebookadvisor, was a two time recipient of the E-Pub Ambassador Award, and was a two time recipient of The Simply Charming Award for outstanding promotion of e-books. She was also nominated for the 2000 EPIC Florence Moyer Service Award.
Karen is the founding member of Jewels of the Quill http://www.JewelsoftheQuill.com, a promotional group of women authors who write in a variety of genres. The group has monthly spotlights and giveaways at their website, a newsletter with almost 700 subscribers, and was featured in the September 2003 issue of Romantic Times. Jewels of the Quill has sold several anthologies to Whiskey Creek Press http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com.
- Tales from the Treasure Trove, Volume I was released September 2005 (with Karen's traditional romance "The Amethyst Angel"). It received a 4 1/2 star review and was a September 2005 Top Pick from Romantic Times BOOKclub, was a Romantic Times' 2005 Reviewers' Choice Award winner (Best Small Press Romance), an EPPIE 2006 winner, a Love Romance's Golden Rose Reviewer's Choice Award winner as well as an Ecataromance Best Book of the Year (2005) winner.
- Tales from the Treasure Trove, Volume II, which also received a 4 ½ star review from Romantic Times, is also currently available. ("The Amethyst Star" by Karen Wiesner, futuristic romance).
- Also a recipient of a 4 ½ star review from Romantic Times, Tales from the Treasure Trove, Volume III is also available ("Revenge in Amethyst," Adventures in Amethyst Series, Book 2, by Karen Wiesner, romantic thriller). Tales III is currently a finalist for the 2008 EPPIE Award (single title/mainstream category). EPPIE winners will be announced at the annual EPICon Convention held March 6-9, 2008 in Portland, Oregon. Tales III is also currently a 2007 Romantic Times BOOKclub Reviewer's Choice Award nominee (Best Small Press Contemporary Paranormal/Futuristic category). Winners will be announced at the Awards Luncheon at the Romantic Times Booklover's Convention on Friday, April 18, 2008.
- Tales from the Treasure Trove, Volume IV, available now, includes "Blood of Amethyst," Woodcutter's Grim Series, Book 2, by Karen Wiesner, romantic horror.
- Tales from the Treasure Trove, Volume V will be released in September 2009 ("Behind Amethyst Eyes," Kaleidoscope Series, Book 3, by Karen Wiesner, contemporary romance).
Jewels of the Quill will also be doing annual holiday anthologies with Whiskey Creek Press.
- The first anthology was Christmas-themed and titled Small Gifts (available now and including Karen's inspirational romance "A Home for Christmas").
- Treasures of the Heart is a Valentine's Day anthology (available now with "A Rose for Romeo," the first in Karen's Adventures in Amethyst Series). Treasures of the Heart was a finalist in The Romance Studio's 2005 Cupid and Psyche Awards for best contemporary romance and also in the 2006 CAPA's for best anthology.
- Shadows in the Heart is a Halloween anthology (available now with "Papa," romantic horror, the first in Karen's Woodcutter's Grim Series-Classic Tales of Horror Retold). Shadows in the Heart received a 5 angel review from Fallen Angel Reviews. Shadows is currently a finalist for the 2008 EPPIE Award (horror category). EPPIE winners will be announced at the annual EPICon Convention held March 6-9, 2008 in Portland, Oregon. The cover of Shadows, designed by Karen, was a recipient of EPIC's 2008 Dirk A. Wolf Honorable Mention Award for Excellence in eBook Cover Artwork (horror category), which honors the runner-up covers in the 2008 Ariana Best in Category contest!
- Christmas Wishes is the groups' second Christmas anthology (coming September 2008 with "Perfect Cadence," contemporary romance, the first in Karen's new Kaleidoscope Series).
- Magical Kisses is the groups' second Valentine's Day anthology (coming February 2009 with "In Cahoots With Cupid," contemporary romance, the second in Karen's new Kaleidoscope Series).
Karen edited Tales from the Treasure Trove, Volume I, and co-edited each subsequent group anthology. She also designed all the Jewels of the Quill book covers.
In addition, Karen's Jewels of the Quill anthology stories will be packaged in the following collections:
- Dame Amethyst Treasures, including "The Amethyst Angel," "A Home for Christmas," "The Amethyst Star" and a bonus, never-before-published romantic paranormal novella called "Creatures of the Night" (available now from Whiskey Creek Press).
- Adventures in Amethyst Series collection, including "A Rose for Romeo" (Story 1), "Revenge in Amethyst" (Story 2) plus two bonus stories never before published "Reckless Rose" (Story 3) and "Christmas in Amethyst" (Story 4), available now from WCP. Adventures in Amethyst Series received 5 angels and a FAR Recommended Read Award. "Reckless Rose" has been nominated for The Long and Short of It's Best Romance of 2007 in the short print category. Winners to be announced January 31, 2008.
- Woodcutter's Grim Series-Classic Tales of Horror Retold collection, including "Papa" (Book 1), "Blood of Amethyst" (Book 2), plus 2 bonus stories never before published: "Dancing to the Grave" (Book 3) and "The Amethyst Tower" (The Final Chapter), coming September 2008 from WCP.
Karen is represented by the Three Seas Literary Agency, which is currently shopping around Karen's romantic inspirational cozy mystery titled Retired and on the Rocks, the first in her Denim Blues Mysteries series. For more information about what Karen's working on, visit http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/WIP.html.
In addition to writing, Karen enjoys designing websites and graphics for her pages. Currently, she designs and maintains her own site, children's author Linda Derkez's website http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/linda.html, the Jewels of the Quill's website, and the Falcon's Bend Community. Karen also enjoys designing cover art and logos for books. You can view her designs at http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/KarensCoverDesigns.html.
Find out more about Karen by visiting her website at http://www.karenwiesner.com. If you would like to receive Karen's free e-mail newsletter, Karen's Quill, and become eligible to win Karen's monthly book giveaways, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KarensQuill or send a blank message to KarensQuill-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Back list
Romantic Suspense:
NO ORDINARY LOVE, Book 1 of the Incognito Series
UNTIL DEATH DO US PART, Book 2 of the Incognito Series
BOUNTY ON THE REBEL'S HEART, Book 3 of the Incognito Series
DEAD DROP, Book 4 of the Incognito Series
UNDER THE SPELL, Book 5 of the Incognito Series
RENEGADE'S ROSE, Book 6 of the Incognito Series
Romantic Horror:
"Papa" {Woodcutter's Grim Series-Classic Tales of Horror Retold, Book 1} in SHADOWS IN THE HEART, A Jewels of the Quill Halloween Anthology
"Blood of Amethyst" {Woodcutter's Grim Series-Classic Tales of Horror Retold, Book 2} in TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume IV, A Jewels of the Quill Anthology
Police Procedural:
FALCON'S BEND CASE FILES, Volume I (with Chris Spindler)
DEGREES OF SEPARATION, Book 1 of the Falcon's Bend Series (with Chris Spindler)
TEARS ON STONE, Book 2 of the Falcon's Bend Series (with Chris Spindler)
Paranormal/Inspirational Romance:
THE BLOODMOON CURSE
SWEET DREAMS
Contemporary Romance/Romantic Thriller:
ADVENTURES IN AMETHYST SERIES Collection, including:
"A Rose for Romeo" {Adventures in Amethyst Series, Story 1} originally published in TREASURES OF THE HEART, A Jewels of the Quill Valentine's Day Anthology
"Revenge in Amethyst" (Adventures in Amethyst Series, Story 2) originally published in TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume III, A Jewels of the Quill Anthology
"Reckless Rose" (Adventures in Amethyst Series, Story 2)
"Christmas in Amethyst" (Adventures in Amethyst Series, Story 2)
Romantic Traditional, Inspirational, Futuristic and Paranormal:
DAME AMETHYST TREASURES Collection, including:
"The Amethyst Angel" originally published in TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume I, A Jewels of the Quill Anthology
"A Home for Christmas" originally published in SMALL GIFTS, A Jewels of the Quill Christmas Anthology
"The Amethyst Star" originally published in TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume II
"Creatures of the Night"
Contemporary Romantic Women's Fiction:
RELUCTANT HEARTS, Book 1 of the Wounded Warriors Series
WAITING FOR AN ECLIPSE, Book 2 of the Wounded Warriors Series
MIRROR MIRROR, Book 3 of the Wounded Warriors Series
WAYWARD ANGELS, Book 4 of the Wounded Warriors Series
FALLING STAR, Book 1 of the Angelfire Trilogy
FIRST LOVE, Book 2 of the Angelfire Trilogy
FOREVER MAN, Book 3 of the Angelfire Trilogy
LEATHER & LACE, Book 1 of the Gypsy Road Series
FLESH & BLOOD, Book 2 of the Gypsy Road Series
FIRE & ICE, Book 3 of the Gypsy Road Series
VOWS & THE VAGABOND, Book 4 of the Gypsy Road Series
RESTLESS AS RAIN
"Silver Bells, Wedding Bells" in the MISTLETOE MARRIAGES Anthology
Writing Reference:
THE POWER OF PROMOTIONAL GROUPS
FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS
Children's Nonfiction and Fiction:
"Taking Responsibility Builds Trust" (Making Good Choices Series, Book 1)
"Taking Care Of Your Things" (Making Good Choices Series, Book 2)
CODY KNOWS
Poetry:
SOUL BLEEDS The Dark Poetry and Other Wanderings of K.S. Wiesner
An Interview with Karen Wiesner
By Holly Hewson, Marketing Director for The Romance StudioHH: Karen, welcome to TRS! Please tell us about your featured book, Renegade’s Rose. This is part of your very popular Incognito Series. Where did you get the idea for the series? How does Renegade’s Rose continue the series, and where did you get the idea for it?
KW: I love all things series, so it’s a very rare thing for me to write a single book that has no connection to others I’ve done. That was the case with the first book in the Incognito Series, No Ordinary Love, winner of the 2007 EPPIE in romantic suspense; 2006 CAPA nominee; L-Edit Slip finalist; recipient of A Perfect 10 review award from Romance Reviews Today; and recipient of 5 star reviews from The Romance Studio, Huntress Reviews, Lighthouse Literary, Fallen Angel Reviews, and Coffee Time Romance.
Many years ago, I had an idea for a story that utterly intrigued me. What if a woman had only a handful of memories—vague and troubling ones of a dark, cold and wet night and gunshots—and she remembers nothing else before the age of five, before a certain man entered her life? Since that fateful night long ago, all she knows is her nightmares and this man loving and keeping her sheltered from the world. What if this man had the answers to her past but wouldn’t give them to her? What would compel him to do the things he’s done to keep her life before a secret? No Ordinary Love was born with that concept, and, once I wrote it, my Incognito Series was instantly spawned.
The series premise is based on the world’s most covert organization, the Network (fictional, of course!), with underground headquarters in Chicago beneath a front technology company called ETI. Having unchallenged authority and skill to disable and destroy criminals, the Network takes over where regular law enforcement leaves off in the mission for absolute justice. The price for that justice is high, requiring the life of every man and woman who serves—no turning back. Once you belong to the Network, there’s no escape. There is no life and no love, only duty. These operatives truly live in the shadows.
In No Ordinary Love, readers learn about the only operative who ever escaped the Network, and this really sets the stage for the organization and the series.
The second book, Until Death Do Us Part, introduces the scenario of the corrupt head of the agency putting his plan to topple the Network into affect. This takes several of the operatives outside of the Network. I combined Network operatives’ Kirsten Ulrick and Ash Barnett undercover mission (and secret relationship) of protecting Raven Harris from her seemingly invisible enemy with Raven’s broken marriage and the loss of her son. Romantic relationships between two Network operatives, or an operative and a civilian, are strictly forbidden by Network superiors. The consequence for an operative caught—a bullet in the brain. Until Death Do Us Part is a 2008 EPPIE finalist in the action/adventure category; was a 2006 eCataromance reviewer’s choice nominee and an L-Edit Slip finalist; and received 5 star reviews from The Romance Studio (and winner of their Five Heart Review Sweetheart Award in February 2008), Lighthouse Literary Reviews, Coffee Time Romance, and Fallen Angel Reviews.
Book 3, Bounty on the Rebel’s Heart, continues where Book 2 leaves off (though it very much stands on its own) with Raven Harris’ journalism partner in hiding with evidence he uncovered on a dangerously corrupt man of power with connections to the Network. Network operative Natalie Francis goes undercover, posing as Reb’s former lover investigative journalist Adrienna Kelly. But Reb and Adrienna’s relationship was nothing if not complicated. Add that Natalie is losing her heart to Reb and seriously considering escape from the Network, and you’ve got a story that’s non-stop action. Bounty on the Rebel’s Heart received 5 star reviews from The Romance Studio (finaling for their Five Heart Sweetheart Award in February 2008), EuroReviews, Sime~Gen and Harriet Klausner.
At that point, I really wanted to show life inside the Network, rebuilding after the situation that almost destroyed them from the inside out, since all the stories up to this point had been set pretty far outside the organization. The hero in Dead Drop, Book 4 of the series, Roan Emory, was first introduced in Until Death Do Us Part, but also had a role in Bounty on the Rebel’s Heart. Again, I was intrigued with a compelling concept. The heroine, Perry L’Engle, is an FBI agent. She lost the man she loved years ago to what appeared to be an accident. Just before his death, he was approached for recruitment by a covert government agency. Now, 25 years later, Perry’s son is approached by the same covert agency. Perry is determined to both find the man she loves and to protect their son from the same fate. Dead Drop won the FAR Recommended Read Award and finaled in the L-Edit Slip Contest, also receiving 5 star reviews from Fall Angel Reviews, EuroReviews, and The Long and Short Of It Reviews.
For the next book, Under the Spell, Book 5, I took the Network Communications and Systems Analyst, Justine Fielding, who’s had bit roles in all of the previous books, and I thrust her into a situation where she has to return to her old life as Gina Calhoun, spoiled daughter of a ranch owner in my made-up cowboy town, Fever, Texas (which incidentally will be the setting of a new cowboy series I plan to start in 2011). Alex Lynch’s dream of owning the Triple Aces Ranch has finally come true when Gina drops back out of nowhere (literally, from his point of view). Little does he know the woman he’s falling under the spell of all over again is there to stop the men who killed her father—and Alex is her chief suspect. Under the Spell won a FAR Recommended Read Award along with 5 star reviews from Fallen Angel Reviews and The Long and the Short Of It Reviews.
That brings us to the sixth book in the series, Renegade’s Rose (available March 1, 2008), which sends Network 5th in Command, Hunter Savage—nearly at death’s door and turned renegade to save his sister kidnapped by the Black Pope, Rex Kovac, leader of the covert terrorist organization R.E.D.—to Mexico. Hunter’s only means of saving Celine? Steal Kovac’s most prized possession: His wife. Renowned belly dancer, “the Spanish Rose”, Tanya Kovac is nowhere near as innocent as she seems...and Hunter is nowhere near as indifferent to deep-cover operative Tanya’s charms as he wants and needs to be to save his sister. I had the idea of Renegade’s Rose almost twenty years ago. One day, a man who claims to be the most dangerous man in the world shows up on the doorstep of a rich powerful businessman’s door. The wife of the businessman has no idea her husband is one of the world’s leading terrorists. The dangerous man insists that her husband kidnapped her sister. Naturally, I had to tweak this original idea to the series and make it more believable, plus throw in some pretty shocking surprises, but the final product of this idea is far better than I imagined it twenty years ago! Renegade’s Rose has already received The Long and Short Of It Review’s highest award—a Best Book rating.
HH: What do you like best about Tanya and Hunter?
KW: Writing a story in which my hero was supposed to be the most dangerous man in the world presented with me several challenges. I couldn’t make him a machine because then he wouldn’t appeal to romance readers, nor could I make him anything but what his well-earned reputation described. So I tried to find a way to bring out the vulnerability in Hunter. He and his sister were willingly inducted into the Network when they were just children, having witnesses their parents’ murder and, in the process, became targets who would forever be hunted if they didn’t join the Network. Hunter’s sense of protectiveness for his sister allowed him a hint of vulnerability that also gave him the motivation to go after the Network’s most wanted terrorist. Then I gave him a heroine in a no-win situation, and only one man—Hunter—can rescue her. But, at the same time, I didn’t want Tanya to be a wimp. She had to discover her inner strength. I enjoyed the challenges involved in getting these characters to be multifaceted—vulnerable yet tough. And they’re both about to set the Network on its ear in a way that leads to permanent changes with the organization. Don’t miss it!
HH: Karen, you’ve had an amazing career. How did you get your start?
KW: Thanks! I wrote my first book when I was ten years old. I always knew I wanted to be a writer because I couldn’t stop spinning stories in my head. My first novel was published in 1998 after countless “good” rejections and after I’d made the monumental (and retrospectively premature) decision to write only for my own pleasure instead of for publication. Once that ball got rolling, there was no stopping it.
HH: You’ve made some amazing contributions to the genre. What in your career, to this point, are you most proud of?
KW: Two things in particular, I’d have to say.
First, First Draft in 30 Days continues to amaze me. I have countless writers telling me that I’ve finally gotten the writing process to make sense for them. Or they could never finish a novel and now have finished several. That they’re moving forward in their career. That they’ve learned things they’ve never imagined. That book was intended for writers who haven’t gone to school to learn how to write. It’s a basic plan that can be used in whatever way works best for the individual writer. It’s flexible in the utmost, and it works in such an awesome way for so many different kinds of writers.
I used to offer Electronic Publishing The Definitive Guide annually, also in an effort to help writers navigate the electronic book market, and I was proud to be able to offer something like that. Ultimately, I couldn’t keep it up, but the medium is so huge now it’s probably not needed quite so much as it was back when e-publishing was in its infancy.
I once had a writer tell me that nonfiction authors are like vampires preying on gullible, needy writers who don’t know they’re being swindled. I was stunned to hear someone claim something like that about me because I don’t write nonfiction for love. I write fiction because it’s the very heart and soul of who I am, but I truly do kind of hate writing nonfiction. I do it only because I know what I have to offer writers can help them in life-changing (career-changing?) ways. I do it for love of writers, I guess you’d say. Sure, the money’s been nice, but what I’m most proud of in my career is how I’ve helped others reach their goals through my writing reference titles.
Second, I’m incredibly proud of my promotional group Jewels of the Quill http://www.JewelsoftheQuill.com. In every way possible—the group members, our multi-award-winning anthologies, the strategy involved in setting up this kind of continuous promotion and making it so incredibly successful—Jewels of the Quill is a reward to me I can’t even describe. This group is my pride and joy. For more information on how to set up a promo group like Jewels of the Quill, see my book The Power of Promotional Groups at http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/nonfiction.html.
HH: What goals have you set for yourself in your career?
KW: To maintain quality and efficiency. If I’m not writing something I love, then my fans will never read it. If I plan my schedule well enough, I’ll never have to feel rushed to write something that I don’t feel is my best work. Discipline can provide the efficiency I need to continuously offer my very best to my fans.
HH: What do you enjoy reading?
KW: Anything and everything. Every genre I write, I also read.
HH: What is your idea of a perfect day?
KW: My favorite things to do during a perfect day are also extremely simplistic and probably boring to most. Write or work a full eight hours on weekdays. Take walks with my family. Read all day. Relax with my family and watch movies. Watch the snow fall. Shop. I’m a simple girl who gets all the vicarious thrills she needs through her writing, so I need little else to be content.
HH: What can we look for next from you?
KW: My 2008 releases are as follows:
Baby, Baby is the first book in my new inspirational contemporary romance series, Family Heirlooms. Samhain Publishing will release it at the end of June in electronic formats, then in April 2009 in trade paperback.
Find out more about the rest of the books, and register to be notified of releases, in the Family Heirloom Series here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction9.html.
The Fifteenth Letter, written with Chris Spindler, is the third in our mystery/police procedural Falcon’s Bend Series (coming later this year in trade paperback and electronic formats from Hard Shell Word Factory).
Find out more about the rest of the books, and register to be notified of releases, in the Falcon’s Bend Series here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/mystery.html.
"Perfect Cadence" is the first in my contemporary romance Kaleidoscope Series, to be published in Christmas Wishes, A Jewels of the Quill Christmas Anthology (coming in trade paperback and electronic formats September 2008 from Whiskey Creek Press.
Find out more about the rest of the books, and register to be notified of releases, in the Kaleidoscope Series here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction8.html.
Woodcutter’s Grim Series—Classic Tales of Horror Retold is the one-volume novella collection of my previously published books in the romantic horror series: "Papa" (Book 1) and "Blood of Amethyst" (Book 2) plus 2 bonus stories in the series never before published: “Dancing to the Grave” (Book 3) and "The Amethyst Tower" (The Final Chapter). Whiskey Creek Press will release both trade paperback and electronic editions. I adored this series and I’m not ready to let it go, so there will definitely more coming in the future.
Find out more about the rest of the books, and register to be notified of releases, in the Woodcutter’s Series here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction6.html.
From First Draft to Finished Novel {A Writer’s Guide to Cohesive Story Building} is my follow-up—and really a companion book—to First Draft in 30 Days, a Writer’s Digest Book bestseller for writers. It’ll be out in trade paperback sometime this Fall.
Find out more about my writing reference titles here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/nonfiction3.html.
I’ve completed the outline for Undercover Angel, Book 7 of the Incognito Series (coming October 2008 in trade paperback and electronic formats from Whiskey Creek Press) and will begin writing it in March. The heroine, Captain Shannon McKee, has been mentioned in every book in the series thus far, and she leads the Network with an unfeeling, iron fist, just as her father did before her. Yet, when the opportunity comes to take down the most notorious drug dealer in history, she goes after her heart’s desire—to utterly destroy the man who killed her younger brother. When this undercover angel’s true mission becomes jeopardized by her own confused feelings, Master Strategist Ron Blair—the only man Shannon ever loved—rushes in. But can he save her from herself?
Find out more about the rest of the books, and register to be notified of releases, in the Incognito Series here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction7.html.
HH: Thank you!
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