A Slice of Cake With... Isobel Wycherley

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Isobel Wycherley.

Isobel studied linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University and is interested in pursuing forensic linguistics and has an interest in acquisition.

She loves music, it’s always been a big part of her life, as well as helping her to establish a positive attitude towards anything. Films are another love of hers, which she tries to reflect in her writing style, since she generally pictures her stories as films playing out in her head, which helps her to imagine what she would want to see happen next, if it really were a film.

Isobel is very inquisitive and wants to know everything about everything. She loves learning and experiencing new things and can’t wait to see where that takes her, especially in her new writing career.

What kind of books do you write?

The books I like to write are what I find interesting and what my imagination likes to run with. I take inspiration from everyday life and people but with an exaggerated twist. I like anything that can bring distinct emotion- so as well as having creepy or sad elements, I also like to include some comic relief to make reading my books an emotional journey that the reader can feel involved in.

Can you describe your writing why?

I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing from an early age- I enjoy the escapism and imagination of it and it’s always great hearing that other people enjoyed reading my work just as much. Because of the way I write (pretty much off the top of my head) when details come together in different sections of the book it’s a feeling like no other! I feel a big sense of achievement when a book is complete and I love that.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

Al enters the garden from the opposite side of the house and, immediately after turning the corner, she witnesses Dobromil’s head explode and scatter around the garden. She quickly tucks herself back behind the wall.

“Sonny, what’s going on?” she whispers into the microphone, sending signals to Sonny’s earpiece.

“What? I’m still gettin’ set up. Can’t think of a password.”

“Try ‘Dobromil’s fuckin’ ‘ed just exploded one-two-three’!” she whisper-shouts, hearing the back door open.

“Nah… too many letters,” Sonny drawls.

Tell us about your latest project

My latest release was Dons Vendetta, the final book in the Dons of Warrington trilogy. It ties together the five-book series (Gone Too Far West, Len World and the Dons of Warrington trilogy) and brings it to a complete end. I’m now working on the first book of a new series, I don’t have a title yet, but the vision is clear and will hopefully be even better than the last series.

What is your favourite cake?

Anything with lots of chocolate!

You can connect with Isobel on Instagram: @gone_too_far_west

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Julie Thorpe. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me virtual tea & cake on Kofi - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.

A Slice of Cake With... E.W. Barnes

E.W. Barnes writes science fiction and fantasy, loving equally adventures in time and space, along with magical journeys accompanying elves and dragons. She is the author of the Temporal Protection Corps time travel series, and has recently released the first in the Adventures of the Empyrean Guard space opera series. In 2022, she was honored to have a science fiction short story published in an anthology alongside such luminaries as Alan Dean Foster, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Michaelbrent Collings.

She lives in the Range of Light, which is what John Muir called the Sierra Nevada — where the deer and the antelope play and wild horses roam freely — with a spouse, offspring, and an opinionated 75-pound lab/border collie mix whose nicknames include Princess, Missy, and Zuul, the Minion of Gozer.

What kind of books do you write?

My first series, the Temporal Protection Corps series, takes its characters on adventures back in time, forward in time, in and out of parallel timelines, and across a rift between worlds to save the past, present, and future.

My latest series, the Adventures of the Empyrean Guard, is a spin-off of the Temporal Protection Corps series and follows a couple of my time travelers far into the future, where they opt to remain as members of a team dedicated to protecting the sapient species of old Terra, as the galaxy faces war.

Can you describe your writing why?

What motivates me to write is that I want to know what happens next! While I always have "big picture" knowledge of where my stories are going and how my characters are going to evolve, it is the unexpected plot twists and character surprises that come without warning that I enjoy most. That others also want to know what's going to happen next in my stories makes it delightful.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

The book I enjoyed writing most was a novella in my Temporal Protection Corps series called The Forest of Time written after my offspring requested a story with dinosaurs:

***

The shadows under the trees were dark enough to hide a man. Rose entered the copse, looking for a heat signature, movement, anything to suggest Dr. LeMonde was there. But the only thing that registered was the trembling of the ground beneath her feet.

“Uh, Rose, Taneema says you need to vacate the area immediately,” Richard said.

Rose froze.

“Why?” she asked, but she already knew the answer.

A heat signature appeared on her heads-up display. It was enormous and getting closer. If it stayed on the same course, its trajectory would take it past the copse, but not through it. She stepped behind a trunk, hiding in the shadows. She peered out as it came through the trees. Over nine meters long, it towered over her. Like the beipiaosaurus, it was feathered, and like the altirhinus it had a distinctive snout with a flash of color along a high central crest. But that’s where the similarities ended. Everything about it said predator. It stopped within feet of her, its huge head swinging. Rose felt the stirrings of panic — the zinging, primal fear of the hunted. She took deep breaths.

“Rose, your heart rate is increasing. Are you ok?”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t know if it hunted by sight, sound, or smell, and she didn’t want to find out.

“Taneema calls it a yutyrannus. It’s the apex predator in this environment,” Richard’s voice was low, as if he, too, did not want to be overheard.

“I can believe that,” Rose whispered. “What do I do?”

The yutyrannus raised its head and roared. Rose flinched.

“Taneema says not to move.”

Tell us about your latest project

The Adventures of the Empyrean Guard is a space opera spin-off of the Temporal Protection Corps series (without the time travel) and will be a 5-book series when completed:

Caught in a tangled web that threatens the galaxy... and their lives. 

Nizhoni and Jonas are former time travelers who gave up the past to become members of the elite Empyrean Guard, dedicated to the noble cause of fighting for the freedom of Terran sapients. 

But on their first mission they are captured, threatening a fragile peace. As war looms, the Empyrean Guard must face the consequences of their choices and the slow realization that only ones the team can trust are each other.

Even if the choices they make may ultimately tear them apart...  

The first novel in the series, entitled Apsis, is currently releasing episodically on Kindle Vella. Episodes are also available on Patreon on the Patron of the Empyrean Guard pledge tier, and free audio episodes are released weekly on YouTube.

What is your favourite cake?

Chocolate lava cake with raspberry coulis — cake and pudding, sweet and tangy. Perfect.

To learn more about the author, current and upcoming works, and about Princess the Dog, visit https://linktr.ee/E.W.Barnes

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Isobel Wycherley. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me virtual tea & cake through Kofi - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.

A Slice of Cake With... Drēma Drudge

This week I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Drēma Drudge.

From reading cereal boxes on the breakfast table when Drēma was a wee thing to reading her first chapter book in a mimosa tree which birthed her love for novels and twinned it with her affection for trees, the written word and Drēma have been fast friends forever. She's also been writing in one capacity or another since she was about nine, starting with terrible poems and graduating to melodramatic stories in junior high. (No one explained to her then that my beloved books came from the destruction of her (almost) equally beloved trees!)

Mercifully, Drēma eventually discovered that there are books, classes, and programs on writing and she learned how to write! Now she have an MFA in Creative Writing.

Drēma is married to the incomparable Barry Drudge, musician (and writer) extraordinaire. They have two grown children, and live in a charming small town filled with plenteous, splendid, trees and wide Victorian homes.

Barry and Drēma have been privileged to travel to some really cool places. Her first novel ended up being written in six countries! As a result of their travels, Drēma ended up writing in some fascinating, gorgeous places, such as sitting in a pew in the Pantheon in Rome and writing in Recoleta Cemetery in Argentina. Drēma has visited the homes, birthplaces, and graves of many of her writing and art heroes and have often had the opportunity to write in or about those very places, something her younger self never imagined possible.

What kind of books do you write?

I write novels that delve into the hearts and minds of my characters as they face obstacles that are both very different from most people’s day-to-day life and very much the same. That lends, I hope, interest while also being relatable.

Can you describe your writing why?

I write to explore ideas and what it means to be human. I write to forgive both myself and others, because what we can understand, we can have compassion for. 

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

This is from my new novel, Southern-Fried Woolf.

After the server leaves us with a promise to return to refill our water, I reclaim my hand and assure Joy that Michael will be back up to speed in no time after his fall, noting how she pretends to hide her triumphant smile with a too-late head duck: Haven’t I heard? She is sorry to be the “bearer of bad news,” but Ben let “slip,” (her hand now crossing her chest) -- Michael is having an affair with Velvet (Or, as we all call her, V. Appropriate nickname, wouldn’t you say?). 

You’re afraid your “Oh, that rumor again” doesn’t sound convincing, so you stay for another half hour, finger the stray strand of hair hanging out from the front of her so-last-decade ponytail-through-ballcap style, ask if she’s ever thought of getting highlights. Order another glass of wine. You’re so convincing she asks for your stylist’s number, which you promise to text her. You won’t.

Heartbreak, when you allow it full tilt, will be good for your songwriting. You assume. Because country songwriting benefits from a constant chaffing of the sorrow bone.

Tell us about your latest project

In my second novel, Southern-Fried Woolf, Briscoe Chambers is not only the manager of her country music star husband, but a graduate student trying to complete her Virginia Woolf thesis by fall – the same time her cheating husband, Michael, has an album due to avoid being in breach of contract. No problem, right?

 

Except his co-writer will be Velvet Wickens, his idol who has been opening shows for him. And who happens to be the one he’s cheating with. Now Briscoe has been asked by their record label to ensure the album gets finished on time. To accomplish this, they must all live together for the duration of the writing of the album.

 

And by the way, Briscoe knows.

 

To cope, she pounds out short sections of her thesis in which she explores Woolf’s thoughts on marriage while dealing with her own, experiencing the sudden return of her eating disorder, and enduring her claustrophobic cloistering with Michael’s band – including Velvet. In the end, Briscoe must determine the viability of a marriage she’s invested everything in and the fate of something that has become increasingly important to her, her “thesis.”

 

Fans of the writing of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Virginia Woolf will enjoy this novel that has plenty of sweet tea, country music, Virginia Woolf, and heartbreak.

What is your favourite cake?

I once had something delectable called Hummingbird cake. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. I think it may be time to hunt up a recipe and try making it myself. 

You can connect with Drēma here:

Website: www.dremadrudge.com (You’ll get a free story when you sign up to her newsletter there!)

Instagram: @dremadrudge

Twitter: @dremadrudge

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Ew Barnes. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me virtual tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round! 

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.

A Slice of Cake With... Melissa Leedom

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Melissa Leedom.

Melissa, author of To Forgive, Divine, a work of contemporary Christian fiction, is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds degrees in Professional Writing and English Literature from Towson University and Troy University, respectively. She has been reading the Bible since she accepted Jesus as her Savior at age nine. She lives with her husband in a suburb of Austin, Texas, where she is at work on her second novel with her writing partner Andy, the quaker parrot, and where she can visit her two grandchildren as often as possible. 

What kind of books do you write?

To Forgive, Divine is a story about modern people with modern problems: single parenting, divorce, re-entering the dating scene after 10 or more years of marriage.

Add to the mix: nosy neighbors, controlling parents (of adult children!), and rising crime in a usually peaceful small town, and you’ve got a story that defies genre classification. BUT there is a budding romance…if those two could just get together!

Can you describe your writing why?

A now-famous writer (Lisa Wingate) once told me that fiction writers are adults who still like to play with their imaginary friends. In my case. I play “What if?”

For instance, with To Forgive, Divine, I said, “What if two single people suddenly found themselves alone together at a restaurant? And what is some OTHER people saw them and ASSUMED they were on a date? Wouldn’t THAT make for a juicy story?” 

And as it turned out, it did!

And I think, if I get excited writing about it, surely readers will have fun reading it. It keeps me banging away at the keyboard.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

When Bonnie woke up on Wednesday morning, it had been raining since the wee hours and showed no signs of stopping. Rather than forgo her daily run, she donned her running shorts and shoes and drove to the gym after dropping Ben and Josh off at school.…Just as she rounded the curve in front of the plate glass windows fronting the racquetball courts, the lights went on and she saw Jack Summers and Jeff Wells entering, dressed for their racquetball match.

Jack saw her first and, though she couldn’t hear him through the glass, she could see that he was yelling, “Hey, Bonnie!” and waving. She could see Jeff’s unpleasantly surprised reaction to Jack’s greeting and watched as he turned to see her pass. He waved at her somewhat automatically, as if his hand had gone up before he remembered that they weren’t really speaking to each other, but there was no smile on his face. 

Great, thought Bonnie, maybe I should have taken the day off after all. She took a deep breath and forged ahead. Her ponytail bounced as she ran; her face glowed with exertion.

After Jeff’s fourth straight miss resulting from Bonnie’s passing by the window, Jack said, “Are you going to play, or are you going to watch her run?”

Jeff swiped at his forehead with his wristband and said, “Very funny.”

Tell us about your latest project

I am on Ch. 15 of the sequel to To Forgive, Divine, so it will still be a while before its release. And I am having a devil of a time thinking of a working title. Offsides in the Friend Zone occurs to me, but I don’t think it quite captures the whole story. Stay tuned! And in the meantime... To Forgive, Divine makes a great Valentine's read!

I do have a work of nonfiction that was released in January 2023, The Story of the Bible (McGahan Publishing). If you or someone you know has ever been curious about what that BIG BOOK called the Bible is all about, The Story of the Bible is a great place to start. 

What is your favourite cake?

Mmmm…cake.  The BEST cake I ever ate was actually my wedding cake from a tiny little bakery in New Orleans called the Swiss Confectionary (90 years and still going strong!). I should have known it would be fabulous because, when I walked into the store and inhaled, I thought, “This must be what heaven smells like!”

Nowadays, I love tiramisu if I’m going to have cake. If I am ordering DESSERT, however, I would much rather have a serving of chocolate mousse or, if I’m visiting family back in New Orleans, bread pudding soaked in rum sauce!

You can connect with Melissa here:

Twitter: twitter.com/MelissaLeedom

Facebook: facebook.com/melissa.leedom.9

Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/7673728.Melissa_Lea_Leedom

Instagram: instagram.com/toforgivedivine

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Drēma Drudge. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours virtually through Kofi and buy me 'tea & cake' - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.