Hi Joan, Lisa, and Lily, Thanks for the reinforcement of what I thought I already knew. Reader Matt may completely agree with you completely, but Writer Matt is as filled with doubt as the next writer. Much appreciated.
Hi Kathleen, So glad you're enjoying the two series. And yes, the new Delta Force series has some crossovers and is now starting to grow tie-in short stories of its own. It's just so much fun. I'm thrilled that you're enjoying them. All the best, Matt
Hi Kathleen, Thank you for supporting "The Way of the Warrior." I'm very proud of both that project and the story I wrote for it. And yes, there will be more about them (my short story "Dawn Flight" is also in that world). Glad you enjoyed Firehawks as well.
Hey Colleen, Me too. As an author I love the chance to revisit prior characters and see just what they're up to. Whole new adventures await some of them (sound of author scheming quietly in the background...a sound often mistaken for a slightly mad giggle of pure glee). Others will continue to grow and become more of who they are. I love reading that, and let me just say as a writer, it's at least as much fun to write that!
Hi Peggy, Yep! I've left authors for the same reason. It's a real challenge as an author to strike that balance of "fresh and new" along with "still fits in series." I keep trying to change things up. And then in my Firehawks and Delta Force series, the challenge expands: I want the series voice to be different enough to stand out, but similar enough that my readers will have a good time when they follow me sideways. It's one of the main reasons that this career never gets dull; storytelling is such a varied beast!
Yes, Diane, It is already setting up to be the worst fire season in history, and the "season" didn't technically begin until April 28th! It makes what these folks do even more impressive!
Thanks. I've had a lot of fun learning about wildland firefighters and, I believe, that I'm the first to take wildland heli-aviation firefighteres into the world of romance! It was a hi-heat blast! Working on more adventures even now.
Thanks Peggy. I grew up hiking and skiing the New England forests and hills of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine (+ a fair bit of way upstate New York). Now, for the last couple decades, my tramping and biking have been mostly through the Washington and Oregon (where "Pure Heat" is set) wilderness which has a wholly different, but equally wonderful character.
Hi Mary, The audio rights are in the publisher's hands and they haven't yet exercised those rights. I have recorded the three holiday novellas however and those titles are available on both Amazon and iTunes. Thanks
Carletta, I figure that the true first reader of my books is me, the writer. So, I look for what will interest me, intrigue me through the much longer process of writing a book rather than just the reading. My storylines in this whole series are taken from recent and past news. "Take Over at Midnight" looks at the birth event of the Night Stalkers, the motivating event of these two soldiers, and the course of the meeting and courtship. Juxtaposing these three elements gave me the background, and the concept of bioterrorism gave me the cap on that sequence.
For the characters themselves, Crazy Tim Maloney was born back in Night Stalkers I and has been waiting for his story. Lola was an interesting challenge. I wanted to explore someone who had not connected with her life, who had drifted as I've seen so many young women do, and then what she's done to turn her life around on her own. What would that do? What weaknesses/fears would she be carrying forward from that past? What strengths would that require to overcome?
It kept her interesting to me the reader, totally mystifying and intriguing Crazy Tim, and hopefully made her fun for the reader as well.
Linda, each book is designed as a stand-alone, with cool reader cookies as to what the past characters are up to. I've read books where it was all reader cookies and I was bored because I wasn't a series reader so I'm very careful not to do that.
Also, the list of books above, "Frank's Independence Day" is actually book 3.5 and book 3.9/4.1 is not shown "Peter's Christmas". The events were supposed to occur after the release of "Take Over at Midnight", but that book was delayed by a few crucial months. So Peter (the President of the USA) single in book #4, but finds HEA in the earlier release of his Christmas story. A little weird, even if it doesn't effect the plot line.
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