Tag: Inspiration

Midlife Magic Will Not Be Invisible

Published on by Stavyah VatsarahLeave a comment

BOOK REVIEW

Book: Golem for Broke
Genre: Magical Midlife Urban Fantasy
Author: Deborah Wilde
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Stavyah Vatsarah

Deborah Wilde’s Golem for Broke has a wonderfully wicked proposition: what if perimenopause came with not only hot flashes and brain fog but also magic? Tovah Silver is a fixer in her forties for Mad Queens Inc., in a Vancouver where magic skills, supernatural red tape, and everyday life all happily coexist. Her powers manifest as hot flashes, which is a silly idea until you find yourself in a situation where a well-timed wave of heat is just what you need. Wilde takes the joke without diminishing Tovah, using an unconventional heroine to explore power, aging, friendship, and the experience of being underestimated. The result is urban fantasy with lots of magical trouble, but much of its personality comes from women who refuse to quietly disappear into middle age.

Hot Flashes Turn Hotter

Tovah introduces herself immediately, with a narrative voice that’s sarcastic, self-deprecating, and seemingly incapable of wasting a good joke. The first line, “No woman woke up with a song in her heart and the words ‘What a great day for a mammogram!’ on her lips,” tells you exactly what kind of book this will be. Wilde continually contrasts the mundane with the magical, letting mammograms and wet boots, work frustrations, and the indignities of aging exist in the same universe as golems and magical crimes. Even when Tovah is in genuinely uncomfortable circumstances, her observations are still sharply comic. That humor makes her less a carefully constructed fantasy heroine and more a woman determined to meet absurdity with greater absurdity.

But the perimenopausal magic joke has a more serious idea behind it. Tovah points out that the powers of the Mad Queens are often treated as if they are symptoms of conditions the women are already suffering from, which she dryly calls “lady troubles.” Wilde turns that dismissal into a nice metaphor for how the experiences of middle-aged women can be trivialized or overlooked. Tovah herself notes the link between physical transformation and identity, writing that perimenopause can alter “how you experienced the world, the fucks you had left to give.” It’s funny, deliberately blunt language, but there is surprisingly perceptive thought behind it.

Long Live the Crazy Queens

Tovah is important, but what’s more important is the friendship at the core of Mad Queens Inc. Nisha, Margot, Su-Jin, and Tovah all have their own personalities and skills, but the way they work together makes the group feel lived in rather than cobbled together to give the protagonist a supporting cast. They tease, argue, eat, solve problems pragmatically, and instinctively care for each other in their conversations. Tovah at one point describes the feeling of being with the right people as if she “could finally do anything as long as I had the right team by my side.” This captures the emotional architecture of the novel without Wilde needing to sentimentalize the friendships.

The Mad Queens also flesh out the title and larger concept of the book. Their powers show up later than society expects. This is unusual in a magical culture where powers tend to manifest much earlier in life; middle age is not a last-ditch effort to reclaim youth for Wilde, but rather these women come to their new circumstances with experience, professional skills, complex histories, and hard-won confidence. Even their office reflects that mix of age and reinvention, described through “history, stubborn survival, and organized chaos.” In that sense, Golem for Broke does not view middle age as an epilogue but as another possible beginning.

ALSO READ | After a Lifetime of Facts, He Chose Fiction

Magic With Rules and Red Tape

Wilde’s Vancouver is fun because magic hasn’t replaced bureaucracy or social hierarchy: it has only made them more complicated. The wealthy use golems, the police investigate magical crimes, protective wards are security, and supernatural powers are governed by laws and restrictions. Tovah’s work thus occupies a fascinating middle ground between formal authority and those who need problems solved outside of the usual channels. She defends Mad Queens Inc. as a business that serves members of the magical community whom official institutions might otherwise overlook. So the supernatural world appears woven into the fabric of everyday civic life rather than behind a curtain that is wholly other.

The golems are especially good worldbuilding elements because Wilde gives rules for their creation and composition. Tovah sees differences in the way they’re built, moved, in the clay, and in the inside. The people who make them know things, not some vague, unlimited power. The book also plays with familiar golem lore rather than simply reproducing it. Tovah dismisses the simple version of the legend by saying she could tattoo “emet” on a potato, and it still wouldn’t do her laundry. It’s a good example of Wilde using humor to deliver exposition without making the reader feel trapped in a supernatural instruction manual.

Queens Who Need to Prove Something

The prose is quick, fueled by Tovah’s commentary and Wilde’s love of banter. The characters also spar verbally almost as readily as they do with the magical problems, and the exchanges often reveal personality while keeping the story buoyant. Serious fantasy fans might think the jokes are relentless, but clearly Golem for Broke is not trying to be restrained. Its humor is part of its worldview, especially its refusal to treat older women as tragic, invisible, or humorless characters. Tovah can be vulnerable without losing the edge that makes her such a compelling narrator.

Beneath the golems, magical regulations, mysteries, and wisecracks is a story about who gets to be taken seriously and what happens when people refuse to play their allotted roles. Wilde grants middle-aged women the powers, friendships, messy lives, appetites, and adventures traditionally saved for younger protagonists in fantasy. Critically, before the heroines get to be formidable, the novel doesn’t make them become younger versions of themselves. Golem for Broke finds its magic in exactly the stage of life others might underestimate. These Mad Queens aren’t waiting to take back their crowns; they’ve already decided they belong on their heads.

DO READ | From Comedy Sketches to Creative Pursuits

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of the book Golem for Broke and buy yourself a copy right off the bat!

‘If You Want to Be a Writer, You Need to Love to Write’

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INTERVIEW

Beth Mims may have spent over 40 years in the field of education, but words have been a part of her life for much longer. Mims, who lives in north Florida, is not only a writer but also a teacher, gardener, wife, mother, and grandmother. Much of her inspiration comes from faith, family, and the natural world around her. Her work can be found in The Time of Singing, Cantos, The Upper Room, and Christiandevotions.us. She received a Foundations Award at the 2026 Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference. Her first book, Wrapped in Grace, which was released in February 2026, is a collection of devotionals and poetry on the grace she sees in the everyday. B Sudharsan, founding editor-in-chief of Literary Harbinger, recently interviewed her via email. The interview, which you can read below, has been lightly edited for flow.

SPECIAL TO LITERARY HARBINGER

B Sudharsan: You have been writing for much of your life. Where did it all begin?

Beth Mims: I have been writing since I was a child. I still have copies of poems and stories that I wrote when I was in elementary school. These are not things I share, but I have them. When I was in high school, I helped publish a church paper, and I did a lot of the writing that was printed in the paper. After that, my writing became more private and lived in my journals.While teaching school, I wrote stories and rhymes for my classes, but I didn’t attach my name to them. They just became a part of my curriculum. I also wrote lyrics for songs at church, but I kept them anonymous. 

‘Being an Author Entails a Lot More Than Writing’

B Sudharsan: Tell us about your published works and how they came into being. What can readers expect from your latest book?

Beth Mims: I have published several poems in literary journals such as The Time of Singing and Cantos. I began submitting these after meeting and talking with some editors who looked at my work and encouraged me to submit it. I have also published devotions on Christiandevotions.us and in The Upper Room magazine. My first book is Wrapped in Grace, a book of devotions that was released in February 2026. It is a compilation of sixty-five devotions along with related poetry that express how God’s grace is evident in every aspect of our lives. My latest book, which will be released in the next couple of months, is a children’s book, How Christmas Came: A Child’s Story of Jesus’ Birth. This is a rhyming book that tells about Jesus’ birth and life through the eyes of a child. 

B Sudharsan: With your writing now reaching a wider audience, was becoming an author something you had consciously set out to do?

Beth Mims: Not really. I wanted to write, but being an author entails a lot more than writing. I’m still learning that. The longer you write, the more you realize that writing demands to be read. If it is to be read, it must be published. If it is published, it must be marketed so that people know that the writing exists to be read. It becomes a little like the children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, written by Laura Numeroff. One thing leads to another, and a simple desire to write turns into authorship (if you are fortunate). I was fortunate—I call it blessed.

‘I Read Anything That Richard Paul Evans Writes’

B Sudharsan: As you have grown into authorship, which writers have inspired you along the way?

Beth Mims: Jan Karon is a favorite author. Her stories center around family and community life. The stories seem simple, but her character development is so rich. I always feel like the characters have become my friends by the time I finish one of her books. I read anything that Richard Paul Evans writes. His stories dig deep into my heart and leave me thinking about much more than the story that was written. I always wonder how he manages to do that. C S Lewis is a classic, but he cannot be forgotten. I read him over and over again, each time gaining something new.

B Sudharsan: Turning to your own writing process, do you follow a fixed routine, or do you write whenever time and inspiration allow?

Beth Mims: I generally write in the morning, but that doesn’t always work. Right now, it is after seven at night, and I am at the computer because it has been a busy day. I wish I could follow a fixed schedule, but I am not an island. There are always interruptions. Perhaps it says something about me that I don’t stick to a schedule, but I am committed to being available to my people. People take time.

ALSO READ | ‘I Think Writing a Novel Is a Little Like Archery’

‘I Seldom Go Anywhere Without a Pen and Tablet’

B Sudharsan: You mention being available to “your people.” How do you balance writing with those responsibilities, and what do you enjoy doing when you step away from the page?

Beth Mims: I have difficulty with this. Writing demands my full attention, but my other responsibilities do as well. I try to carve out a few hours each morning, and many days I am successful. When I am not, I resort to writing in my notebooks and on the backs of napkins and in my phone’s notes app. I seldom go anywhere without a pen and tablet. I enjoy gardening and enticing the hummingbirds to make my garden their favorite stopping place. I can watch them from my office window. I grew up fishing with my family, and when I was a child I wasn’t always an active participant. I read my books in the bow of the boat and complained a lot. Now, though, I love it when my husband and I can spend a few hours on the river or bay. He loves fly fishing, but I enjoy using a reel and rod with bait. We also enjoy riding through the woods and stopping at little creeks to fish. I love spending time with our grandchildren. We have five, and they are the light of my life. Each one is unique and such a joy. They keep me busy.

B Sudharsan: Family and place clearly play an important role in your life. Where do you currently live, and what has your professional journey in education looked like?

Beth Mims: I live in north Florida. I have a degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership. I am retired from a forty-plus-year career in education. I loved my job, all of it. I taught, I was a principal, I was a trainer and curriculum writer, and I was a district-level administrator. If you add all of that up, you can probably come pretty close to my age.\

‘Hurts Would Be Healed, Familes Restored, Evil Overcome’

B Sudharsan: After such a long career in education and your own journey toward publication, what would you tell budding authors who become discouraged when their work does not perform as well as they hoped?

Beth Mims: If you want to be a writer, you need to love to write. Write because you love it, not because you are trying to reach a certain number of sales. Write because you have something to say and say it. The more you write, the better writer you will become if you are working on your craft. Then learn the trade. Part (a big part) of being an author is marketing. 

B Sudharsan: Finally, your faith runs throughout both your life and your writing. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Beth Mims: Everyone would know the grace of Jesus Christ. They would know His love and His forgiveness. Hurts would be healed. Families would be restored. Evil would be overcome.

DO READ | From Monsters to Falling Worlds

Write because you love it, not because you are trying to reach a certain number of sales. Write because you have something to say and say it. The more you write, the better writer you will become if you are working on your craft. Then learn the trade. Part (a big part) of being an author is marketing. 

~ BETH MIMS

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of Wrapped in Grace, and grab yourself a copy right away!

Raising Hell While Death’s at the Door

Published on by Stavyah VatsarahLeave a comment

BOOK REVIEW

Book: DeathCon: A Zombie Story
Genre: Supernatural Zombie Horror
Author: Nzondi
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Stavyah Vatsarah

Nzondi’s DeathCon gives a quick twist to the familiar zombie story: its protagonist, Cozimel “Cozy” Coleman, is a necromancer for whom raising the dead is less an unspeakable horror than a job. Cozy and her friends run the Scream Teens, bringing back the dead so families can work out the practicalities of unfinished business. “We raised zombies so mourners could say goodbye one last time,” Cozy says, as if she were describing a normal service industry. This normalizing of necromancy sets up one of the most striking ideas in the novel: death can be scary, but in Cozy’s world it can also be commercial and emotional and bizarrely routine. Nzondi uses this unusual premise and blends zombie horror, supernatural fantasy, comedy, friendship, and adventure.

When Horror Is Not Pretend

That premise is all the more playful given the setting, as most of the early action takes place on board the Sea Queen during DeathCon 2025, a horror-themed cruise with costumes, music, performances, and people eager to be frightened. The same problem confronts Cozy and the reader: how to distinguish entertainment from danger as strange incidents start intruding upon the festivities. After witnessing a woman acting alarmingly, Cozy begins to wonder whether the ship has just hired her “to scare people.” Given the setting, with zombie nuns, werewolves, grim reapers, and other costumed characters, the confusion is totally believable. So Nzondi turns the very setting of the convention into a source of suspense.

That tension works particularly well because DeathCon isn’t simply relying on darkness to generate horror. The characters are surrounded by bright lights, loud music, flamboyant costumes, dancing, jokes, and references to pop culture, all against an increasingly uneasy atmosphere. Even the bar called Lipstick Zombies looks like a horror carnival with costumed patrons and zombie-themed staff. The contrast makes it easy to dismiss anything unusual as part of the spectacle, creating a natural build-up of unease. In the novel, uncertainty gradually leaks into a world where everyone is expecting scary things to be fake.

Cozy Coleman Raises the Ante

The novel’s best asset is Cozy herself, and her first-person narration gives DeathCon a loud, irreverent personality. She’s impulsive, funny, combative, compassionate, and self-aware enough to know she’s reckless, though she doesn’t always rein it in. Her introduction captures that combination perfectly: “Some girls talked too much, some stole boyfriends, but my vice was raising the dead.” The joke does more than set the tone; it shows how deeply Cozy considers the extraordinary ordinary. Even the explanatory sections are lively, driven by her colloquial narration, pop-culture references, jokes, and sudden observations.

But there is also an emotional counterpoint to Cozy’s bravado. Her humor and attitude coexist with moments of vulnerability, while her interactions with those around her show the importance of real human connection. Her friendships, in particular, give the story warmth without taking away from its irreverent energy. Cozy is also compassionate, unafraid to help others without expecting acclaim. These moments keep her from being just another wise-cracking supernatural heroine.

ALSO READ | Writing Beyond Retirement

Rewriting the Rules of the Undead

The worldbuilding is just as distinctive, as Nzondi deliberately subverts the traditional zombie mythos. Cozy rejects the cinematic notion of zombies smashing their way out of coffins and hunting living people outright, saying that “zombies weren’t savage killers.” Instead, the novel lays out rules for necromancy, protective circles, rituals, substances, spiritual forces, and the obligations of temporarily bringing the dead into contact with the living. These explanations provide an internal logic for its supernatural world, rather than treating magic as a solution without limits. The result is a version of the undead that feels familiar enough to recognize but different enough to remain interesting.

The mythology is also placed next to a very modern universe of social media, music, movies, video games, celebrity culture, and gadgets. References to African, Egyptian, Hawaiian, and other cultures and spirituality help build the supernatural framework. Cozy casually talks about everything from horror movies to cell phones. The combination fits a protagonist who herself lives in several overlapping worlds: ancient practices and modern adolescence, extraordinary experiences and ordinary insecurities, and death rituals and commercial entertainment. The novel therefore avoids depicting necromancy as something that exists only in a mysterious past. Instead, Nzondi invites readers to consider what happens when an ancient supernatural practice becomes a recognizable modern service.

Blood, Banter, Beating Heart

Stylistically, DeathCon favors speed over restraint. Conversations ricochet between jokes and moments of unease, and Cozy’s interior narration ensures scenes rarely stay solemn for long. Those who like energetic narrators will probably enjoy the immediacy, but if you like understated horror, you may find the slang and pop-culture references heavy. But the excess is largely appropriate for the environment because DeathCon itself is intentionally extravagant. Cozy talks to the world at the same volume she lives in it.

But beneath all that noise, the novel keeps coming back to broader questions of connection, identity, responsibility, and the uneasy boundary between life and death. Its more interesting concern is therefore not just the existence of the undead, but how people respond to a world in which death does not necessarily mark the end of human interaction. Cozy is a particularly effective protagonist because her unusual profession exists alongside recognizably ordinary emotions and relationships. Nzondi crams these concerns into an unapologetically energetic mix of zombie horror, supernatural fantasy, humor, and adventure. DeathCon has plenty of blood in its veins, but what breathes life into the story is the discernible heart beating underneath.

DO READ | Stories Among the Stars

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of the book DeathCon and buy yourself a copy right off the bat!

‘My First Novel Took Twenty Years and Two Months to Write’

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INTERVIEW

Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning author and podcast host. Her debut novel Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent won the Kindle Book Award for Best Horror/Suspense in 2020 as well as Best Horror Novel of the Year from the Authors on The Air Global Radio Network. Her novel Pretty/Ugly won the Helicon Award for Best Horror 2022 and the Kindle Book Award for Best Novel of the Year 2022 (Reader’s Choice). Her novelette The Japanese Box won the Lit Nastie Award for Best Short Story (2023), and her essay ‘Navy Blue Dickies’ (Glassworks) is a Best of the Net nominee (2025). Her mainstream debut, a book club thriller, Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies, was released September 8, 2026, by Podium Publishing. Her essays have appeared in Miniskirt Magazine, Tangled Locks Journal, Lumina, Flash Glass, Persephone Literary Magazine, Horror Tree, and The Nerd Daily. They are also included in the collections Such a Loss, Not Ghosts, But Spirits (Volume V) and Letting Grief Speak: Writing Portals for Life After Loss. Gordon, who is also the creator and co-host of the popular comedic literary podcast Vox Vomitus and is a co-host of House of Mystery on NBC Radio, was interviewed by B Sudharsan, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Literary Harbinger, via email recently. You can read the interview, slightly edited for flow, below.

HARBINGER EXCLUSIVE

B Sudharsan: You seem to have been drawn to storytelling from a very young age. What are your earliest memories of writing, and how has your writing evolved since then?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I think like most writers, I feel like I have always been writing something. My first writing memory was in third grade when I got a short “prayer for a cat” published in our little school newspaper. From there I wrote some Nightmare on Elm Street fan fiction in sixth grade—this was very embarrassing and honestly pretty gross. In seventh grade I would eat lunch in my English teacher’s classroom and write short stories. I have dabbled in poetry over the years, a short foray into trying to write comics and graphic novels, and now I mainly write personal essays and novels…and the occasional short story.

‘I Start Writing and See Where It Takes Me’

B Sudharsan: How do your novels usually come into being, and what can you tell us about your latest book?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: All of my published novels have come out in the same manner, when the story in my head gets too big and it needs to come out. I start writing and see where it takes me. I joke that my first novel, Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent, took 20 years and 2 months to write… 20 years of the story living in my head and eventually two months to write the first draft of the novel. My latest novel is a book club thriller called Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies. It is a story about a woman who is still processing the grief of losing her son 11 years ago, and the only comfort she finds is in drinking cheap wine and pretending to be someone else online. She gets involved with a group of women on the internet and quickly gets in over her head with their cult-like connection. It’s a story of female friendship, toxic internet culture, and trauma.

B Sudharsan: Since you tend to start writing and see where the story takes you, how much do you know about your characters and plot before you begin?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I usually have a vibe or a rough concept. I let that simmer in my head for a while when I am trying to figure out who the story is about. To me the character(s) are truly the most important aspect of any story, so once I figure out who they are, then I start writing. Usually this involves me discovering things about the character along the way. I am a pantser, so I don’t have an outline to follow. Mostly I have scenes or flashes of scenes that I know need to happen, and then I try to figure out how to link those together and have it make sense.

‘I’ll Keep the Same Schedule for an Entire Project’

B Sudharsan: Which authors have had the strongest influence on you as a reader and writer, and what do you particularly admire about their work?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I have too many to mention, and depending on my mood, they change. But the authors that have been my favorites as long as I can remember are Shirley Jackson, Anne Sexton, Josh Malerman, Sarah Langdon, Clay Mcleoud Chapman, Jennifer MacMahon, Stephen Graham Jones, May Cobb, Megan Collins, Rachel Harrison…the list goes on and on. They all inspire me in different ways. May, Rachel, and Megan are masters of twists and turns. I burn through their books so fast, and they are easily some of the most fun I ever have while reading. Josh, Jennifer, Sarah, Stephen, and Clay… They are masters of terrifying me while also breaking my heart.

B Sudharsan: Does your writing routine change from one project to another, or do you tend to follow a fixed schedule?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I don’t really have a fixed schedule, but I will usually keep the same schedule for an entire project. So, if I start to write a book during the afternoons, then I stick to afternoons for the duration of the project. It’s where my muse can find me for that specific book. Maybe it’s superstitious; maybe it’s true. It’s hard to say.

ALSO READ | After a Lifetime of Facts, He Chose Fiction

‘I Am Still a Very Avid Reader’

B Sudharsan: Was becoming a full-time writer something you had consciously planned, or did circumstances lead you towards it?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: When I sat down to write my first novel, I didn’t think I would become a “full-time writer” so quickly, but then the pandemic lockdown happened, and I lost my job, and suddenly I had all the time in the world to try and make this happen. It had been something that I had always dreamed of doing, but dreaming it and being it are very different things.

B Sudharsan: What other work and interests occupy your time?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I am a ballroom dance instructor part-time; I also love photography and travel. I host a literary podcast, and I am still a very avid reader. My husband (Roman Sirotin) and I are also painters, and we co-paint abstract mixed media paintings.

B Sudharsan: You mentioned that you can be a little superstitious about your projects. Without giving away too much, what can you tell us about what you are currently working on?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I try not to talk too much about current projects; again, I am superstitious…but I will say that it is very slightly autobiographical, except in the work in progress there are a lot more murders than in my real life. Haha.

‘Most of My Days Revolve Around My Dog’

B Sudharsan: To writers who become discouraged when their work does not perform as well as they hoped, what would you say?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I would say they should try to remember why they started writing in the first place. To remember the joy in it. I know how hard this is, and it’s all easier said than done. So, when this doesn’t work, I encourage writers to try writing something completely new, maybe try a new genre or try writing flash. Even using writing prompts or taking a class or workshop has helped me in the past.

B Sudharsan: If you could change one thing about the world, what would you most want to eliminate?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: If there was a way to eliminate cruelty, that would be the big one. I think that would cover most of the things I wish were different in this world.

B Sudharsan: Away from writing and your other creative pursuits, what does an ordinary day in your life tend to revolve around?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: I have a dog, so truthfully most of my days revolve around him, his snacks, his walks, and his playtime.

B Sudharsan: Last but not least, where can readers who would like to follow your work and read more of your personal essays find you?

Jennifer Anne Gordon: If anyone wants to know more about me or my work and subscribe to my Substack (where I share personal essays), all of that information can be found on my website at http://www.JenniferAnneGordon.com.

DO READ | Writing Beyond Retirement

I would say they (discouraged writers) should try to remember why they started writing in the first place. To remember the joy in it. I know how hard this is, and it’s all easier said than done. So, when this doesn’t work, I encourage writers to try writing something completely new, maybe try a new genre or try writing flash. Even using writing prompts or taking a class or workshop has helped me in the past.

~ JENNIFER ANNE GORDON

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies, and grab yourself a copy right away!

Old-School Sleuth, New-School Crime

Published on by Stavyah VatsarahLeave a comment

BOOK REVIEW

Book: :05 Seconds to Die
Genre: Crime Thriller
Author: Bob Brill
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Stavyah Vatsarah

In :05 Seconds to Die (2025)—A crime novel by Bob Brill, former reporter and private investigator Casey Order meets actress Ginger Queen, then is pulled into a criminal plot concerning the 2028 Summer Games. The novel has 25 chapters and moves rapidly from a meeting in Hollywood to a much wider world involving organized crime, law enforcement, technology, and international links. The premise is deliberately inflated: Ginger warns Casey that powerful criminal networks might be teaming up and using ‘high-tech gadgetry to steal from the summer games.’

A Detective Who Knows He’s In Trouble

Much of the personality of the novel comes from Casey’s voice as narrator. He knows the situation is dangerous, but Brill keeps letting humor break the tension. Faced with the enormity of the crime he intends, Casey lets himself dream of becoming famous enough to take over from Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street before admitting, ‘Maybe, just maybe, I might end up dead. Might make me a legend.’ The mixture of fear and bravado sets the scene for the slightly overblown world the novel wants to inhabit.

Humor also comes through in smaller exchanges. Casey’s assistant, Trixie, is comfortable enough to say ‘You look like shit’ when his behavior gets noticeably odd. Such dialog prevents the characters from becoming mere plot devices in a crime story. Casey may be up against dangerous folks, but his normal relationships provide comic moments of normalcy in between the threats.

A Private Eye Walks Into Cyberspace

Brill pits a quaint, personal-eye persona against a decidedly modern technological menace. Casey talks like someone who has read a lot of detective fiction and has watched a lot of old movies, but the crime he is investigating involves digital systems, hacking, burner phones, and the vulnerabilities of cashless transactions. The scheme also covers common purchases, tickets, sellers, financial data, and digital money. That contrast between Casey’s throwback persona and the technological scale of the danger gives the novel an unusual flavor.

It also refuses to remain geographically small. What appears to be out of Casey’s professional sphere of expertise is in fact a case that involves many criminal organizations and official agencies. Even Casey realizes the disproportion of himself to what he has stumbled upon: ‘This was something bigger than my little world. ‘ Brill exploits that imbalance to keep the suspense alive because Casey is never presented as an invulnerable mastermind who can solve everything himself.

ALSO READ | ‘Don’t Write for Other People’

Crime With a Broad Grin

The novel’s style is playfully knowing. Film references, cultural observations, jokes, food, travel details, and Casey’s running commentary—all sit alongside serious danger. ‘No, old boy, I’ve got a leading role in this one,’ he tells a postman once, when he is laughed at for his conspicuous clothes. That sentence almost sums up Casey’s whole personality: he behaves as if he knows he’s in an adventure.

This will especially appeal to readers who like their crime fiction without the gloominess. The stakes are pretty high, but Brill still leaves room for banter and character quirks. And Ginger is not just presented as a glamorous actress. Her financial struggles and reduced professional circumstances complicate Casey’s original picture of her.

Five Hours Well Spent

:05 Seconds to Die is therefore less concerned with austere realism and more interested in momentum, personality, danger, and entertainment. Its core threat is technologically contemporary, but its storytelling often evokes a more traditional private-eye adventure, replete with wisecracks and a narrator willing to admit to the absurdity surrounding him. That blend gives the novel its identity.

I give :05 Seconds to Die 5 out of 5 stars. Brill deserves that rating for taking a big criminal premise and filtering it through a narrator with an unmistakable voice. It’s a story that keeps itself lively with a mix of technology, organized crime, humor, international movement, and old-school detective swagger, without requiring the reader to take every moment deadly seriously.

DO READ | The Jungle Comes Alive

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of the book :05 Seconds to Die and buy yourself a copy right off the bat!

‘If You Self-Publish, Guess What? You Can Change Your Book’

Published on by B SudharsanLeave a comment

INTERVIEW

Angela Haas writes stories about the lives of people who have lived and stumbled. A slow-burn romance author who loves emotional tension and sharp banter, she began writing when she was about ten, filling her spare time with handwritten and typewritten stories while cassette tapes played in the background. Her writing journey has been diverse, from fantasy and superheroes to romance, including two books in her Goalkeepers of the Universe series and more works to come. Haas, who can read, speak, and understand some Italian on account of growing up in an Italian household, also co-hosts The Author Next Door podcast, which discusses the realities of indie publishing after the first book. She has a BA in Business Leadership and an MBA in Organization Leadership and Communication, has taught college-level business, mass media, and public speaking, and helps manage several brick-and-mortar retail stores with her husband. She lives part-time in Colorado Springs and part-time in Rio Verde, Arizona, and is also a photographer, a communication trainer, and active in local author communities. Outside of work and writing, her life includes three dogs, salty snacks, blankets, and emphatically no camping. B Sudharsan, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Literary Harbinger, recently interviewed her via email. The interview has been lightly edited for flow.

HARBINGER EXCLUSIVE

‘Never Thought I Could Write Romance’

B Sudharsan: It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms Haas. When did you first start writing, and what inspired you to begin?

Angela Haas: I started writing when I was ten, maybe. Grew up in a time without technology, and my parents always worked. So if I had downtime, I started writing. I would put a cassette tape in and write by hand or on a typewriter just to pass the time. And here I am, about to publish my fifth book.

B Sudharsan: Tell us about your published works and what readers can expect from your latest book.

Angela Haas: I started writing fantasy stories and then moved to superheroes in space. I published two books in my Keepers of the Universe series but actually have now gone back to rework those based on all the knowledge I have now versus four years ago. I really wanted to see older women as the Avengers, if you will. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that there is a lack of stories where women of a certain age are superheroes or soldiers, so I decided to write them myself. While I was waiting for edits to come back on book 2 in that series, I accidentally started to write a romance. I never thought I could write romance, having really read action/adventure stories, but I studied and read romances and then created a fun, faking dating wedding-themed one. My latest book is a small-town Western romance set on a Colorado ranch for veterans coming home. It’s a place for them to transition back into civilian life. It’s also about a travel writer who has to do a story on the ranch to save her career.

‘I Almost Always Have the Title First’

B Sudharsan: What does your creative process look like when you begin writing a new story?

Angela Haas: Sometimes, I begin when I hear a song that inspires me, and I can then visualize a scene like a movie, and then I start to create the characters. I almost always have to have the title first. That way it’s already manifested into existence. Once I have that title, I start working on characters, emotional wounds, setting, etc. I do know who the characters are when I write, but they sometimes take shape differently as I’m writing them.

B Sudharsan: Any authors who have had the greatest influence on your writing?

Angela Haas: I grew up reading Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, and I LOVE Emily Henry as a romance author who inspired me. I love the way the first two write humor into their stories with a little absurdism. I learned from Douglas Adams that sci-fi doesn’t have to take itself too seriously. With Emily Henry, I learned that it’s okay not to have graphic levels of spice in your romance. As long as you’ve created great characters, readers will find you.

B Sudharsan: What does your writing routine look like, and how do you stay consistent?

Angela Haas: I’m a night owl writer, which can get a little lonely because there are no writing groups that I know of that write from 9 to 12 like I do. I try to keep that schedule as my office hours whether I write or complete author business tasks. Showing up every night regardless helps me stay consistent.

B Sudharsan: Could you tell us a little about your life outside writing, including your professional and academic background?

‘I’ve Always Been a Writer’

Angela Haas: I split time between Colorado Springs and Rio Verde Arizona. My husband and I run/own several retail brick-and-mortar stores, the largest one being 24,000 sq ft. We have 200 employees, and I’ve worked in the business since I was 16. I’m turning 50 in December. We needed to escape in the winter for our mental health; otherwise, we would just work every day all day. My background is a B A in Business Leadership and an MBA in Organization Leadership and Communication. I also taught college-level classes for eight years, teaching business, mass media, and public speaking classes.

B Sudharsan: When did you consciously decide to become a published author?

Angela Haas: I mean, I’ve always been a writer. Becoming a published author was a decision. Started during COVID when I was locked down, had more time on my hands, and again, wrote to pass the time. Then, I decided to take the plunge and self-publish my first book.

B Sudharsan: May I ask what other interests occupy your creative life?

Angela Haas: I really stick to my office hours. When you run your own business, you never clock out. But that’s why I’ve learned to fight for my creative time. My other hobby is photography, and I do communication training seminars on the side. I’ve also really started networking with my local author communities, and I’ve put together classes that I present at writer conferences.

‘Selling a Few Books Is a Win Sometimes’

B Sudharsan: What are you working on now, and is becoming a full-time author ultimately the goal?

Angela Haas: I feel like I always have so many ideas, and I can’t write fast enough. For now, I’m reworking First Strike and Seconds to Oblivion, which are books one and two in my Keepers of the Universe superhero series. Then, I’m hoping to publish books three and four in that series. I also have sequels to my first two romances planned and a romantic suspense series outlined. I do intend to become a full-time author, but that won’t happen until I get more books out and start generating an income from those.

B Sudharsan: For an author disappointed by a book’s performance, what would you say about defining success and deciding what comes next?

Angela Haas: Keep going. And I would ask what their idea of ‘not performing well’ is. Selling a few books is a win sometimes. If you self-publish, guess what? You can change your book. I have gotten a lot of feedback on my first book; I read the reviews and realized that it’s not the book I actually wanted to write. It’s the book my editors and coaches at the time told me to write. I have complete power to go in and change it and republish it. If you think your book is not doing as you’d hoped, maybe run an audit on it. Then, change what you want. If you don’t want to go back, keep going, keep learning, and write a new one that’s even better.

B Sudharsan: Last but not least, if you could change or invent just one thing in the world, what would it be?

Angela Haas: I’m never one to discuss anything that might be seen as something political, so I’ll keep this light. I would invent technology that could better dissolve the plaque on your teeth. Like some sci-fi tech that makes going to the dentist much more enjoyable. I HATE going to the dentist because I hate that scraping tool on my teeth!

If you self-publish, guess what? You can change your book. I have gotten a lot of feedback on my first book; I read the reviews and realized that it’s not the book I actually wanted to write. It’s the book my editors and coaches at the time told me to write. I have complete power to go in and change it and republish it. If you think your book is not doing as you’d hoped, maybe run an audit on it. Then, change what you want. If you don’t want to go back, keep going, keep learning, and write a new one that’s even better.

~ ANGELA HAAS

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of the book you wish to read and buy yourself a copy right off the bat!

When Life Loses Color, Travel Paints It Back

Published on by Stavyah VatsarahLeave a comment

BOOK REVIEW

Book: Finding Color
Genre: Travel Memoir
Author: Candace MacPhie
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Stavyah Vatsarah

Finding Color, a travel memoir, is the first book in the five-part Back in a Year series, based on Candace MacPhie’s memories, journals, photographs, and emails home. Beginning with MacPhie struggling to rebuild her life after her mother’s demise, the memoir follows her as travel opens up possibilities beyond the routine she has fallen into. The memoir takes the reader from Canada to Greece, England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, and beyond, but the focus remains on the person who is doing the traveling. MacPhie herself makes the distinction clear: ‘If you are looking for a travel guide for city information, this is not it.’

Grief Too Travels

Finding Color is based on grief, emotionally. At the start of the memoir, MacPhie describes how her mother’s care had consumed a large part of her life, and the loss of her mother left her uncertain about what was left. A simple admission, ‘I don’t know what I like to do or who I am if I’m not looking after others,’ gives the travel that follows a deeper purpose. It is not just a story of wanting to see more countries. It starts when a person starts imagining what it would be like to live an independent life.

Crucially, MacPhie doesn’t make that process sound graceful. She tries to do things at home, like Tai Chi, toile painting, and dragon boat racing, but they don’t fill the void. Her description of that time is typically unvarnished: ‘This last year of “finding myself” has sucked, big time.’ That sentence also captures the voice of the memoir. There are serious emotions, but they are rarely dressed up to sound profound.

A Messy Sort of Adventure

The travel writing works because MacPhie allows herself to be ridiculous. She gets lost, drinks, has a hard time in new situations, stresses over relationships, overthinks things, and sometimes is uncomfortable in her own company. In Dublin, for example, she admits, ‘This is a prime example of how traveling alone can suck.’ These moments prevent the memoir from being an idealized tale of backpacking, where every problem magically leads to wisdom.

There is also a strong late 1990s vibe throughout the book. The source material itself helps create that feeling because while MacPhie uses her emails home as anchors, her journals, photographs, and memory provide what lies behind those carefully presented messages. Elsewhere, helping a new acquaintance set up her first Hotmail account, so familiar now, quietly reminds the reader of how different travel and communication were in those days.

ALSO READ | A Secret Waiting to Be Found

Discovering More Than Places

MacPhie is also acute about the curious connection between independence and loneliness. She craves freedom, but she doesn’t say that being single is automatically freeing. At one point she confesses that nothing to occupy her is her ‘personal red-hot danger zone’ because it leads her toward overthinking and homesickness. The honesty of such observations makes her growth more credible, for confidence comes in fits and starts.

The title thus becomes significant beyond the literal colors of unknown places. Grief has made the world seem duller before, even MacPhie’s clothes and surroundings. Later, tiny decisions become echoes of a changing relationship with herself. When buying a raincoat, for example, she chooses canary yellow instead of dark purple, a small detail among many that suggests a person becoming more willing to inhabit her own life.

Journey Worth Partaking In

That’s why Finding Color works: MacPhie avoids the trap of perfect hindsight. The narrator can observe the insecurities and contradictions of the young woman living the story while still permitting that younger self to be impulsive, funny, lonely, hopeful, and sometimes frustrating. The memoir that emerges is less like someone showing off a completed transformation and more like someone reconstructing how change really happened.

I’m rating Finding Color 4.5 out of 5 stars. The blend of grief, humor, travel, relationships, and self-questioning gives the memoir emotional heft, without ever becoming somber. Most of all, MacPhie understands that simply going somewhere new doesn’t necessarily make you a new person. What’s satisfying about the book is watching someone start to find out who she might become.

DO READ | The Ascension: Where Power Meets Character

PS: Buy Finding Color by Candace MacPhie on Amazon

The Business of Knowing How Business Works

Published on by Stavyah VatsarahLeave a comment

BOOK REVIEW

Book: Corporate Coach Approach
Genre: Career Development Guide
Author: Nicole Fronek
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Stavyah Vatsarah

Corporate Coach Approach: A Systematic Guide to Career Development is a career development book with a practical approach by Nicole Fronek, a corporate coach, published by Painted Gate Publishing. In ten chapters, Fronek touches on personal branding, resumes, workplace communication, stakeholder engagement, meetings, presentations, corporate environments, and performance reviews. She brings outside research into the discussion, along with her professional experiences, and she concludes each major topic with a list of best practices. It is intentionally written for both those who want to read it cover-to-cover and those who want to go straight to the most relevant topic.

Lessons Learned From Experience

What gives the book its personality is Fronek’s willingness to use her career as evidence. She doesn’t pretend to be someone who started in corporate life knowing the rules. For example, in the chapter on resumes, she recalls applying to many jobs and finding that hiring managers could not clearly understand what she did or how her experience related to the positions she wanted. Her final advice, then, is to communicate accomplishments accurately, and it is not abstract but born of experience.

This same quality enhances her discussion of personal branding. Fronek differentiates reputation from a willfully constructed professional identity, arguing that workplace interactions are always sending cues to other people about what they can expect from us. One of her most insightful observations is that ‘Every engagement is an opportunity’ to reinforce how others see you. But she’s not suggesting you create a contrived professional image. In fact, one of her tips is that branding has to be authentic.

Work Is Too Often About the Little Things

Much of the Corporate Coach Approach is about activities so routine we may hardly notice them: writing emails, preparing resumes, attending meetings, speaking to colleagues, and giving presentations. The chapter on business writing by Fronek is particularly helpful, for she advocates clarity, not ornamentation. Her advice to ‘Write economically as if each word had a monetary value’ sums up the chapter rather nicely. She also advises writers to avoid complexity for clarity and to read their work aloud when editing.

Her philosophy for approaching meetings and presentations is the same practical one. She understands the changing relationship professionals have with meetings as their responsibilities grow, from wanting ‘a seat at the table’ to being far more discerning about whether a meeting is worth the time it takes. Technology is also dealt with in a balanced way. Fronek views AI as a useful tool to help refine material and analyze information but stresses the important distinction that ‘while AI may help to solve a problem, it should not be seen as the solution in full.’ Spontaneous reaction and human judgment still play a key role in effective communication.

ALSO READ | The Jungle Comes Alive

A Coach Who Doesn’t Idealize the Office

There’s a bracing unsentimentality to Fronek’s take on corporate life. This is not a book that promises that hard work will automatically lead to promotion or security. She acknowledges reorganizations, mergers, budget cuts, favoritism, challenging professional relationships, and the uncomfortable truth that an employee can sometimes ‘become a number’ regardless of their past contributions. What follows is pragmatic advice: develop skills, maintain professional relationships, understand the business, and keep enough physical and mental capacity to respond when circumstances suddenly change.

That realism is also where the book sometimes welcomes dissent. Some suggestions are so specific that readers may feel they do not apply to their work environment, personality, or career. But Fronek herself repeatedly emphasizes individuality, encouraging readers to establish their own standards and aspirations, since professional goals are unique. The book therefore works best not as a compendium of commandments, but as the advice of a seasoned professional that you weigh against your circumstances.

Careers Are Built, Not Finished

The overall impression is of a book less concerned with shortcuts than its highly practical format might initially suggest. Fronek characterizes self-awareness as a continuous process and cautions against rushing or taking on more than one can handle. You cannot force career development into being. Experience changes what people want, what they are able to do, and occasionally where they want to go next.

I would give Corporate Coach Approach 4.5 stars out of 5. Its greatest strength is the combination of practical advice with the experience that has created it: Fronek doesn’t just tell readers what to do; she shows again and again why she came to believe it. The best-practice lists also make the book easy to revisit long after the initial reading. Most importantly, behind all the recommendations about resumes, meetings, communication, visibility, and performance is a more lasting idea: professional growth is progressive and never totally finished.

DO READ | The Man Behind the Wolf

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of the book Corporate Coach Approach and buy yourself a copy right off the bat!

A Secret Waiting to Be Found

Published on by Stavyah Vatsarah1 Comment

BOOK REVIEW

Book: Aisha’s Secret
Genre: Fantasy Romance Mystery
Author: Zachary Hagen
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Stavyah Vatsarah

Zachary Hagen’s Aisha’s Secret is about a girl who lived life on the edge and all of a sudden came across a very different kind of life. But even if circumstances change, it does not mean all of you change overnight. Magic doesn’t fix everything. This is a heady mix of fantasy, romance, palace intrigue, and djinn mythology. A story about the curious space between getting what you want and knowing what to do with it. This combination is what makes the novel so powerful. One wants to imagine escape, but what comes after is much more complex.

The Cost of Getting What You Want

Hagen identifies Aisha by her identity: Oiled Hand. Her cleverness and her instinct for self-preservation don’t seem like handy character traits to make her particularly appealing. And that’s why she has to live with a lot of insecurity. Then a djinn, Qadira, enters her life, offering her three wishes and opening doors that Aisha could never have imagined. Magic has its boundaries. ‘I can’t raise the dead. That’s rewriting history,’ Qadira says. She can’t change a person’s heart or mind forever. These rules mean that magic is not a simple answer to any problem and add emotional depth to the story. Aisha has the power to change her life, but she also has to live with the consequences of her decisions.

What I most loved about Aisha was that her circumstances changed much faster than she did. But she can’t just throw away the instincts that helped her survive, even if she might walk into a world of privilege. Her past still affects her thinking and her perception of other people. There’s always a tension between who she shows the world and who she’s learned to keep in check. Hagen, too, grieves in his own very personal way. Aisha fills her mother’s memory with clothes, perfume, sewing materials, and other small things that connect to her. At one point, she says, ‘My mother was extremely proud of this dress.’ The dress is much more than something she happens to be wearing. It reminds her of who she lost, of the life she abandoned.

ALSO READ | Controlling the Controllables

Effects of Social Life & Friendships

Qadira’s one of the most energetic characters in the book. She adds humor and character to the story, especially when things get complicated in Aisha’s life, but she isn’t there to resolve everything for her. There is love between them, but also argument, frustration, and real concern. Qadira tells Aisha that magic entails responsibility. The truth is, the more power Aisha has, the more she has to consider what she does with it. And that’s one of the things that keeps the fantasy grounded in something that feels recognizably human.

And the same is true of the romance. Aisha’s relationship is not just a reward for all she’s been through. Love demands of her what survival never really asked of her: that she be honest and vulnerable. This is especially true because Aisha has been hiding pieces of herself for so long. So the notion of being truly known becomes a big part of the romance. It is not just two people falling in love. It’s about whether they can take each other without the masks. Well put in the promise of Aladdin’s desire ‘to know you and know you fully.’

Fantasy With High Emotional Stakes

The story takes Aisha from a world of survival to a world of privilege and responsibility. The palace setting also allows the story to examine the social and political elements of Aisha’s new reality. Some of the emotional and political developments happen rapidly, and I found myself wishing the story would have lasted a bit longer before moving on from something. But that momentum is part of the reason the novel is so easy to read on.

What Aisha’s Secret ultimately does with its most important questions has little to do with magic. Magic can change your situation, but it can’t take away your grief, or make you feel like you belong, or make the consequences of your choices go away. Hagen combines the pleasures of fairy-tale fantasy and romance with a more serious identity question: What do you have to become to live the life you dreamed about when you finally get it? And that’s what makes the story so emotionally powerful. If you like fantasy with romance, humor, magic, secrets, and a heroine whose new life isn’t quite what she thought it would be, Aisha’s Secret has lots to recommend it.

DO READ | How Maria Jane Found Her Voice Through Fiction

ENGAGE WITH LH | Click on the cover image of the book Aisha’s Secret and buy yourself a copy right off the bat!

‘Joy and Blessing From Creating Should First Be for Yourself’

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INTERVIEW

Storytelling has been an instinct with T K Bush all her life, beginning in childhood and now finding its way into the world of psychological suspense. A registered radiologic technologist specializing in interventional cardiology, she brings an unusual professional perspective to her fiction, drawing on her medical expertise to provide authenticity to hospital settings and protocols. She also reads and reviews thrillers and assists other authors with writing accurate medical scenes. Her debut psychological thriller, Unveiled, marks the opening of a new chapter in her literary journey. In this interview with B Sudharsan, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Literary Harbinger, T K Bush discusses how she began her writing journey, the unexpected turns her characters take, juggling a career in healthcare with fiction writing, and the stories she plans to tell next. The interview has been lightly edited for flow.

T K BUSH | MARGIE DOTSON PHOTOGRAPHY

SPECIAL & EXCLUSIVE

‘Knew From a Young Age Would Become an Author’

B Sudharsan: Glad to make your acquaintance, Ms Bush. When did you first discover your love for storytelling, and what made you realize that you wanted to become an author?

T K Bush: I started writing as soon as I learned to read. I think I was creating characters in my head even before that. The joy I felt from bringing stories to life, from my imagination to the page, is how I knew from a very young age that I would one day become an author.

B Sudharsan: That early connection with storytelling has now led to your debut novel. How did it come into being, and what can readers expect from it?

T K Bush: My debut novel, Unveiled, releases on October 6. It’s a psychological thriller about a cardiac manager who has amnesia after an accident. As she rebuilds her family and career, she must confront her forgotten past when someone arrives with a deadly secret that could destroy everything.

MARGIE DOTSON PHOTOGRAPHY
MARGIE DOTSON PHOTOGRAPHY

‘I Read Pretty Much Everyone’

B Sudharsan: How much of a story and its characters do you usually have mapped out before you begin writing?

T K Bush: I try to have at least a basic sense or outline of everything before I start. I used to start writing and see how things unfolded, but I’ve found I save time by planning as much as possible in advance. Despite all the planning, the characters and plot almost always develop in unexpected ways, and for me, that’s the most exciting part of writing.

B Sudharsan: What kinds of writers and stories do you find yourself drawn to?

T K Bush: I don’t have a particular favorite. I read pretty much anyone who writes psychological thrillers, romantic suspense, or biblical/historical romance.

‘I Write Whenever I Can’

B Sudharsan: With so many responsibilities beyond writing, how do you find the time to create, and does inspiration tend to follow a particular routine for you?

T K Bush: I write whenever I can. I’d like to follow a set schedule, but that rarely works out. I find I’m most inspired when I don’t have much time to write, so I have to make the time.

B Sudharsan: Your professional life, as I am given to understand, connects intriguingly with your fiction. Where are you currently based, and what exactly is your professional background?

T K Bush: I reside in Florida, and I am a registered radiologic technologist who specializes in interventional cardiology.

B Sudharsan: Looking back at that childhood certainty about becoming an author, was writing always something you consciously intended to pursue as a career?

T K Bush: Yes, definitely. I always knew I wanted to be an author.

ALSO READ | The Man Behind the Wolf

‘Am More Productive When I Have a Clear Deadline’

B Sudharsan: How do you balance your professional responsibilities with writing, and what other interests occupy your time when you step away from your stories?

T K Bush: I do the best I can. Sticking to a set schedule can be difficult, but I find that I am more productive when I have a clear deadline. I enjoy reading, of course, and creating goodie bags for events or parties.

B Sudharsan: With Unveiled about to make its way to readers, where is your writing taking you next? And do you hope to make writing your full-time career?

T K Bush: I am currently working on my next psychological thriller, which involves choices and consequences. I don’t want to give too much away at this time, as it’s still a work in progress. I definitely intend to become a full-time author in the near future.

‘Just Don’t Give Up’

B Sudharsan: Every writer encounters moments when the response to a book may not match the hopes invested in it. What would you say to authors who begin to lose motivation when their work does not perform as they expected?

T K Bush: I would say to remember why you do what you do. The joy and blessing from creating should first be for yourself. The rest will come. Just don’t give up.

B Sudharsan: Your advice to writers places the joy of creation at the heart of the journey. If you could extend that philosophy beyond writing and change one thing about the world, what would it be?

T K Bush: I would change the way people think about forgiveness and unconditional love, especially the importance of extending both to themselves and others.

‘My Days Vary’

B Sudharsan: From cardiovascular technology to writing and family time, your days seem to move between very different worlds. What does a usual day look like for you?

T K Bush: My days vary. I’m either at work as a cardiovascular tech or sitting at home by the pool or in my office writing or spending time with family.

B Sudharsan: Besides English, are there any other languages you know or speak?

T K Bush: Just English.

B Sudharsan: What final message would you like to leave with readers?

T K Bush: Please check out my debut novel, Unveiled, which releases on Oct 6! Thanks!

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I would say to remember why you do what you do. The joy and blessing from creating should first be for yourself. The rest will come. Just don’t give up.

~ T K BUSH