paranormal

Lisa Wiedmeier, the author of four novels, said she never considered herself to be a writer. During this interview, the author who describes herself as “taming the wilderness of her imagination one story at a time,” discussed what encouraged her to write the Timeless Series. “[It’s] about overcoming obstacles, holding strong and fighting the good fight without giving up. Becoming the person you were meant to be.”

Wiedmeier discovered that meant she should become a writer despite several challenges. “English wasn’t my strongest subject in school. I’m dyslexic; even speaking clearly at times can be a challenge. But, I’ve made up for it in other places. My mind is like a playground where I roam freely, my special world to make and break anything to my heart’s content.”

The ability to explore imaginary worlds allows Wiedmeier to look everywhere for inspiration. She said, “A lot of things inspire me to write, my surroundings, new faces, or in this case rings. The Timeless Series came about because of two simple rings. I looked deeper and saw a story emerging. I took what was unique and twisted it into a tale of mystery, romance and adventure.”

While her stories are pure fiction, Wiedmeier describes herself as “real.” She likes conversing on social media and her blog to create relationships with her fans. She also doesn’t use a pen name to write. “I write under my own name, my real name,” she said. “I know, I should have probably chosen something easier to spell like Lisa Lynn, not to mention easier to find, but I wanted Wiedmeier on my books. I wanted to make my husband proud that I slapped his last name on there. Of course, now he tells me I shouldn’t have, go figure.”

“I want to connect with the people who read my work. I want to get to know them, to develop a relationship with them. I want to be their friend.” She quipped, “Okay, in reality I want them to be my friend, but who’s taking sides? I have days where I write a whole forty-five words, and it sucks, big time. I’m just as real as the next person. From time to time I need words of encouragement and need that cheering section telling me I’m not that bad, that I don’t really suck all the time.”

Her cheering section is there because Wiedmeier’s fans connect with her characters. “When I write, the emotions pour out, the laughter, the crying, the heartache…those are my personal feelings in my work that I share with you. I cry when my characters cry. I’m lonely when they’re lonely. I’m at my end when they’re at their end. They’re all a part of me, the real me, and I think that’s why my fans love the characters so much. They can connect with them as I do, and I love that.”

The latest book in the Timeless Series is “Cheyenne.” Wiedmeier’s description of the book is concise, “Murder, romance, secrets, hidden pasts and deception from every angle, but who’s telling the truth?” In the book, Cheyenne Wilson’s life is thrown into turmoil after her adoptive parents are killed in an accident. Cheyenne is a Timeless, a being that ages one year for every hundred human years, once they reach their twenties. She’s part of a royal bloodline. Destined to gain great power, but walled in by danger and with few she can trust, Cheyenne must come to terms with her true identity and choose between a forbidden love or destiny.

How did Wiedmeier discover she was meant to be a writer? “Prior to 2009, I’d never written more than checks for my bills. I hadn’t picked up a book in over twenty years to read for enjoyment because I didn’t have time. I was too busy doing other things…like raising my children, growing my business, and life in general. Then suddenly I hit a brick wall. Everything I held near and dear to me didn’t matter anymore. My husband saw it coming and told me to slow down, but I didn’t. I’m a do-er, always have been. You can’t ask a do-er to slow down because it’s not in their DNA.”

It was during that time Wiedmeier realized she had a desire to write. She said, “I found a passion, a drive that had been kept in the dark for many years. My writing passion is here to stay, and I hope to produce many more books for readers to enjoy. I am currently working on the fourth novel and will continue with the series as long as the fans desire it.”

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Learn more about Lisa Wiedmeier on her website at www.lisawiedmeier.com, where you can also find links to her Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts.

Linda Thomas-Sundstrom is an award-winning author of both light and dark paranormal romance and urban fantasy. For this interview the teacher-by-day/writer-by-night talked about her new series and why she loves writing it. Thomas-Sundstrom said, “I write paranormal romance for Harlequin’s Nocturne imprint, both full novels and novellas, and love that, but I also wanted to get back to my urban fantasy roots in between book releases from Nocturne. Some friends and I decided to turn out a new fantasy series of novellas, and mine were born. These are not short stories, but novelettes, and the fast pacing of the novella format is what I love best.”

The second novelette in the series, “Hot Holiday,” was released on Nov. 1. In “Hot Holiday,” the Dark Side has put out a hit on Santa Claus and sent their secret weapon, a Recruiter named Wanda, to seal the deal. But Wanda might not be fully prepared for Santa’s hot, heavenly bodyguard. With a lead-in like that, one has to wonder where the idea for a hit on the man in the red suit came from—and how he got a bodyguard. Thomas-Sundstrom said, “I’m fascinated with the concept of darkness, and our fear of things that go bump in the night. I write about those things in most of my books. For this series, I was driven to explore not only the blatant differences between dark and light, good and evil, black and white, but the grey ground in the middle, where both dark and light sometimes have to touch down and then deal with the discomfort.”

Shaking things up—unsettling both sides—is what Thomas-Sundstrom says she wants to do. She might have accomplished her goal. She added, “My new series is titled ‘Dark vs. Light,’ and the Urban Fantasy genre gives me the freedom to twist this grey zone any way I want to. Not heavy stuff, but slightly quirky. ‘Trapped in Stone’ was the first release, in September, and November 1 was the release date for ‘Hot Holiday.’”

As a writer with a day job, Thomas-Sundstrom has the tricky task of keeping her life in balance even as she strives to unsettle both the dark and light sides of the universe. When asked how she did it, she said, “I barely do [smiling]. But, I am getting better at juggling, though. I teach at two colleges, have a family, volunteer in my community, face really tight deadlines, and care for what amounts to a ranch in the country. All of which I am profoundly grateful for. By remembering how grateful I am, and managing my time as best I can, the balance seems to work most of the time. Plus, there just is no time left in this schedule to even consider a nervous breakdown.”

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“Hot Holiday is delightfully entertaining all the way through . . . enchanting . . . with potent scorching desire and unique characters that are unquestionably Linda Thomas-Sundstrom’s best to date.”— Single Title reviews — Amelia.

Linda Thomas-Sundstrom’s website is at www.lindathomas-sundstrom.com.