​I first discovered author Ali Winters and her amazing book, The Reapers, through posts from UTOPYA 2016. Everyone was buying this book so naturally I had to check it out. I am very pleased to report that it did not disappoint. 

Just this weekend I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Sarah L. Colton.  I loved reliving this story and meeting the characters all over again.  Sarah brought the story to life.  I love the voice she lends to Caspian. Very smooth and sexy!

Action packed with an underlying love story, The Reapers is a fast paced, fantastic story. You cannot trust anyone or take them at face value. Everyone has a their own agenda. The fine line between the good and bad is very much gray and muddled. 

I cannot wait to see where this series go and if a certain reaper finds love.

Well it finally happened.  I am all caught up on Eric Asher's Vesik Series and I do not know what to do with myself.  I need more.  I must have more. Now. Right this very minute. 
​~ Lynn

A necromancer's fear. A family's fate. An ancient spirit with a new alliance.

I shouldn't have told myself things couldn't get any worse. They did.

As Nixie struggles to unite the water witches, the Fae king discovers a spy in his ranks. We're forced to split our focus and our powers between the unrest in Faerie and the rising tensions in Falias. When Nudd's latest gambit puts humanity’s most dangerous weapons into his hands, we can't let anything stand in our way. We'll need help from new contacts and trusted allies if we hope to stop the Fae king's madness.

But the award for worst timing in history goes to an old friend: Vicky. ​

Story   5 stars 
Performance   5 stars 
Overall   5 stars

Forgotten Ghosts is the eighth installment in the Vesik Series and should be read as a series and not a standalone.  The apocalyptic fae/human world Asher has created is spectacular.  The author continues to blow my mind with his unique and powerful saga.  I am so immersed in the series that I can see it play out like a movie.  Seriously, this series should be on the big screen!
 
Narrator William Dufris has been with the series from the start and is phenomenal.  With the character list growing with each installment I don’t know how he keeps it all straight.  The intensity and desire he delivers with gets better with each story.

​~ Lynn

​Eric is a former bookseller, cellist, and comic seller currently living in Saint Louis, Missouri. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.

Stalk Eric at https://www.facebook.com/EricRAsher/​

​Author Eric Asher is bloody brilliant! The complexity of the Vesik series is no small feat. The series just keeps getting better.  Asher's storyboard must be the size of a wall to keep all the players and storylines straight but he weaves the tale majestically. The military style battles in this installment left me breathless like I was standing next to Vesik myself.  There is never a dull moment.  I LOVE the MC, Damien Vesik.  Vesik is full of attitude and snark.  His cheeky manner lightens the mood in the story often. If you haven't read this series, you should be.  

The narrator, William Dufris, is phenomenal!  He brings the characters and story alive. Dufris embodies the essence of all the characters (and believe that's a lot).  Because he lends a unique voice to each there is no doubt who is speaking.

I cannot say enough great things about this series.  Trust me, you need to be reading or listening to it.

​There's a turning point in every war, but I didn't expect this one to be in my front yard. Allies of the Fae king have moved against the military stationed in Saint Charles. Our unsteady alliances are threatening to fracture, providing the water witches and vampires an opportunity to strike. With losses on both sides, things are far more dire than we realized, and the return of a long-forgotten enemy has made that clear. Thankfully, I know a very grumpy parrot.

​Eric is a former bookseller, cellist, and comic seller currently living in Saint Louis, Missouri. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.

Stalk Eric @ https://www.facebook.com/EricRAsher/​

I L-O-V-E this series so when I found out there was an audiobook too I had to have it.  I loved visiting with Jen, Danio, and the gang once again.  ~ Lynn 

Jen Maddox is a few days into her summer study-abroad program and has loved every moment on her cruise ship turned college campus. Everyone tells her the experience will change her life, but none of them realize just how right they really are.

One night, Jen goes out on deck and encounters five other students. She knows Charlie from one of her classes, and he’s a funny, friendly, regular guy. Picture-perfect Dani and his gorgeous wife, Mariana, live right down the hall from Jen, and she has seen TS, who’s built like a truck, around the ship, and recognizes the cute but quiet Thomas as well.



Then Jen sees something that isn’t humanly possible. Jen would have thought that it was all a dream if not for the fact that Charlie, Dani, Mariana, TS, and Thomas are making every effort to cover it up. Suddenly, the five of them are everything but normal, and Jen is determined to figure out what they’re hiding.

When she does, her life really does change. Jen expected to spend her summer studying the cultures of Latin America; she never dreamed she’d learn about a magical culture instead.

But Jen’s childhood fantasy come true is about to turn into a nightmare; there’s something on the ship. Something dangerous. Suddenly, everyone on board is threatened by a creature that Jen never even believed existed. Jen and her new friends might be the only people who can stop it!

Now Jen has to learn everything she can about her new world before it kills her. And her friends. And maybe everyone on the entire ship.
​

I first read Semester Aboard in 2014, and I fell in love with the characters. Elizabeth Kirke creates a magical, modern world that I lost myself in. Her characters are well defined and very complex.  Kirke paints a spectacular picture in each port stop.  It was so easy to lose myself within the pages.

I’ve read Semester Aboard a few times since then and I immerse myself in it each time. Listening to Starla Huchton bring it to life for me again was well, magical.  Huchton infuses her passion and intensity into this story.  When Jen and her new friends are confronted by a creature on the boat and a fight ensues, I was right there on the ship deck with them feeling every punch, snarl, and bite. It was fantastic!

As debut novels go, Semester Aboard is a flawless adventure into a mysterious, magical world.  I highly recommend the series and the audiobook.

Danielle Lyndon, owner of a 200-year-old bookstore in Greenville, Alabama, has built a fortress of suspicion around her heart. A tragic fire has taken the lives of her beloved Grandmother and mother, leaving her with nothing but an ancient collection of magical books.

Facing what seems like an eternity of loneliness and abandonment, her life is inexorably altered late one night when a runaway teenage girl breaks into her store and Danielle receives a mysterious text message…from her dead mother.

The only person who can help her is Aaron Donnell, a reckless, tormented drifter with haunting silver-blue eyes who is searching for the burglar, his younger sister. Aaron somehow holds the answers to the mysterious texts, but he’s arrogant, dangerous, and is clearly no good for her. The problem is . . . . she’s falling in love with him.

Consumed with Aaron’s mysterious darkness and the prospect of locating the source of the texts, Danielle allows him to unwittingly drag her into an insane, mystical world where human trafficking is the usual, black magic reigns supreme, and inhuman power lasts forever.

Are the dark chasms of magic and eternity too wide and deep for love to cross? Is the collateral damage in their battle too high of a price to pay if it leaves someone with their soul encased in stone?

The Story
I found the blurb and story line for Soul of Stone intriguing. Soul of Stone is a quick paced, page turning read. I found myself immersed in Danielle's bookstore. Too bad it isn't real! The characters were well defined with complex backstories. That cliffhanger though...well played Traci McDonald.

I had 2 issues with this story. Set in rural Alabama the author went a bit over board with the Southern colloquialisms; especially in the first quarter of the story. It was not as prevalent in the rest of the book. Being a Southerner I can say we do not use southern jargon that frequently in our daily speech, but maybe Alabama is different. Secondly the author's over use of the like. Her descriptions and details were fantastic; however, she over used the simile.

Overall I enjoyed the story and will check out the rest of the series.

The Narrator
As I said, I am a Southerner so it is easy to spot when someone is faking or forcing an accent. I found that Amanda Stribling did a flawless job narrating this story. She really sold me on the story and I loved her accent. I hope she does the rest of the series.

​~ Lynn 

​About the Author: Traci McDonald

Traci McDonald is a blind author of clean romance novels, including Burning Bridger (Muse It Up, 2015), Killing Casanova (Crimson Romance, 2012) and the forthcoming Soul of Stone. She believes that falling in-love is the greatest risk of all, and her non-explicit romances are about hurting, healing and finding true love. Traci has been blind for 20 years. When she isn’t writing she is an editor for Ink and Quill Press and the co-host for a blogtalk radio show on The World of Ink Network. Traci is an active member of the National Federation of the Blind, on the board of her local writer’s guild, and a speaker for various writing conferences and book fairs. She is a full time wife and mother of three boys, an avid reader, and loves living in a small town on the fringes of Nevada's Mojave Desert.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook

How did you select your narrator?
The setting of this story includes a well-educated, traditional southern belle. Amanda Striplings voice was intense, articulate and had a hint of ‘southern’ without being ‘Hick’.

How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
Amanda and I didn’t cross over into each other’s expertise. I write, she brings the characters alive. The only tips I gave her were to be aware of pronunciation of words, to balance her speed and accuracy and to keep the characters sounding like their age.

Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format? 
​The sound of a human voice telling a suspenseful, action, or thriller works, for me to help feel the suspense is alive.

Our world was perfect - until we broke the law: Don't go out at night.
Utopian by day, dystopian by night; this is the world I recently discovered. I now struggle with the fact that our whole society has been based on a lie. There's only one way to change it - conquer the darkness we've all been raised to fear.
Live the lie; fight to the death; become a Handler. It's the only way.

Overall   5 Stars
Story  5 Stars
​Performance  5 Stars

The Story
WOW!  I don't know what I expected, but it definitely wasn't this.  Handler by Tish Thawer is a total mind F%$k!  Talk about falling down the rabbit hole, Cole's life as he knows is GONE. How can i describe it? This story is the Hunger Games, MMA, and the Matrix all rolled into one with a bizarre, unique twist.  <---- See, mind f%$k.  This is NOT your run of mill dystopian novel.  Thawer has crafted a original, thrilling tale that left this reader slack jawed and wanting more.  
​
The Narrator
John Pirhalla did a fantastic job bringing this story to life for me.  The intense fight scenes, the chill of sneaking down hallways, the loss of friends, he brought the feels to all of it.  I hope he will be on board for the rest of the series.

~Lynn 

​#1 Bestseller in Historical Fiction
Top 100 Bestselling in Paid Kindle Store
Best Cover Award Winner
Readers' Choice Award Winner

Author Tish Thawer writes paranormal romances for all ages. From her first paranormal cartoon, Isis, to the Twilight phenomenon, myth, magic, and superpowers have always held a special place in her heart.

Best known for her Witches of BlackBrook series, Tish's detailed world-building and magic-laced stories have been compared to Nora Roberts, Sam Cheever, and Charlaine Harris. 

Tish has worked as a computer consultant, photographer, and graphic designer, and has bylines as a columnist for Gliterary Girl media, RT Magazine, and Literary Lunes Magazine. She currently resides in Arizona with her husband and three wonderful children, and operates Amber Leaf Designs, an online custom swag retail store.

You can find out more about Tish and her all titles by visiting: www.TishThawer.com and subscribing to her newsletter at www.tishthawer.com/subscribe

You can also find Tish on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTishThawer

A common FAQ: "How do you pronounce her last name?"

Answer: Think "Bower" or "Thow-er". It's Persian!

​Jen Maddox is a few days into her summer study-abroad program and has loved every moment on her cruise ship turned college campus. Everyone tells her the experience will change her life, but none of them realize just how right they really are.

One night, Jen goes out on deck and encounters five other students. She knows Charlie from one of her classes, and he’s a funny, friendly, regular guy. Picture-perfect Dani and his gorgeous wife, Mariana, live right down the hall from Jen, and she has seen TS, who’s built like a truck, around the ship, and recognizes the cute but quiet Thomas as well.

Then Jen sees something that isn’t humanly possible. Jen would have thought that it was all a dream if not for the fact that Charlie, Dani, Mariana, TS, and Thomas are making every effort to cover it up. Suddenly, the five of them are everything but normal, and Jen is determined to figure out what they’re hiding.

When she does, her life really does change. Jen expected to spend her summer studying the cultures of Latin America; she never dreamed she’d learn about a magical culture instead.
But Jen’s childhood fantasy come true is about to turn into a nightmare; there’s something on the ship. Something dangerous. Suddenly, everyone on board is threatened by a creature that Jen never even believed existed. Jen and her new friends might be the only people who can stop it!
​
Now Jen has to learn everything she can about her new world before it kills her. And her friends. And maybe everyone on the entire ship.

​

Overall - 5 STARS
Performancce - 5 STARS 
Story - 5 STARS

I first read Semester Aboard in 2014, and I fell in love with the characters. Elizabeth Kirke creates a magical, modern world that I lost myself in. Her characters are well defined and very complex.  Kirke paints a spectacular picture in each port stop.  It was so easy to lose myself within the pages.

 I’ve read Semester Aboard a few times since then and I immerse myself in it each time. Listening to Starla Huchton bring it to life for me again was well, magical.  Huchton infuses her passion and intensity into this story.  When Jen and her new friends are confronted by a creature on the boat and a fight ensues, I was right there on the ship deck with them feeling every punch, snarl, and bite. It was fantastic!
​
As debut novels go, Semester Aboard is a flawless adventure into a mysterious, magical world.  I highly recommend the series and the audiobook.

​Story 4
Performance 3
Overall 4


Author Kathryn Knight created so much more than just a ghost story in Gull Harbor. The characters all have well developed complex back stories including the ghost. The story has a great balance of heartache, romance, and paranormal. I felt connected to the characters. My only complaint is that in the end as the author was wrapping up all the loose ends it felt rushed and lacked some of the emotion that had carried on through the entire story. 

The narrator, Kristin James did a good job of drawing me into the story but i felt there could have been more feelings invoked from her. She fell a bit flat on the guys part. I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it. I will still check out other work from Kristin.

I spent my Spring devouring the entire Detective Kay Hunter Series written by Rachel Ampheltt and narrated by Alison Campbell.  It was fantastic!  Alison needs to narrate my life.  I love her!
​~Lynn

​Loyalty has a price.

Kay Hunter has survived a vicious attack at the hands of one of the country's most evil serial killers.

Returning to work after an enforced absence to recover, she discovers she wasn't the only victim of that investigation.

DI Devon Sharp remains suspended from duties, and the team is in turmoil.

Determined to prove herself once more and clear his name, Kay undertakes to solve a cold case that links Sharp to his accuser.

But, as she gets closer to the truth, she realises her enquiries could do more harm than good.

Torn between protecting her mentor and finding out the truth, the consequences of Kay's enquiries will reach far beyond her new role…
Buy Links
Buy on RachelAmphlett.com

​5 Performance
5 Story
5 Overall


I devoured all 5 of the Detective Kay Hunter books. The series as a hole is fantastic in both print and audio. Each book is better than the previous one and that is saying something. I want more!
Rachel Amphlett is a master at weaving an intricate, diverse, crime drama. I feel like I needed a suspect board this time around. There were twists and turns and OMG moments with every turn of the page and a shocking ending. The MC, Kay Hunter, is phenomenal. When she sinks her teeth into a case she doesn’t give an inch.

I adore Alison Campbell as the narrator. She has done a smashing job with the series. Through Ali I am connected to Kay on a more personal level. She really makes the story come alive around me. 

I highly recommend this series for any crime novel fans out there. You do need to read the all the books in the series in order for the best experience. You won’t be disappointed

Before turning to writing, Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter series.

Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel cites her writing influences as Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Robert Ludlum. She’s also a huge fan of Peter James, Val McDermid, Robert Crais, Stuart MacBride, and many more.

She’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore's TIMECrime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany’s Luzifer Verlag.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads⎮Instagram

Struggling to forget a crumbling marriage, 40-year-old Anna Lucia Lottol comes to Venice to visit an old friend - but instead of finding solace, she is dragged into the police station and accused of murdering a money-laundering count with whom she had a brief affair. A US Treasury officer with brains and athleticism, Anna fights to clear her name in a seductive city full of watery illusions. As she works to pry information from a cast of recalcitrant characters sometimes denying what she sees and hears, she succeeds in unleashing a powerful foe bent on destroying her. Will she save herself and vanquish her enemies, including her darkest fears?

A captivating tapestry of murder, betrayal, and family, Venetian Blood is a story of one woman's brave quest for the truth - before it's too late.

"A riveting whodunit that makes full use of its dramatic setting." (Kirkus Reviews)

​Audiobook Review

Story:3.5
Performace: 5
Overall: 4

I gave the story 3.5 stars because I felt like the author got bogged down in the details. She described Venice, its people, and the artwork in painstaking detail. There were parts I felt that did not lend themselves to the story much UNTIL I got to around the last 10 chapters or so. All that stuff I thought was miscellaneous rambling turned out to be relevant to the story. My point here is this, don't give up on the story. It is worth it in the end. However, I do think the author could have condensed some of her descriptions down a bit.

Despite that, this was quite an intriguing tale of murder, money laundering, infidelity, and secrets galore. The residents of Venice certainly lived complicated lives. You cannot take any of the characters at face value as none are what they appear to me. Everyone was hiding behind the proverbial mask. The MC, Anna, was smart, strong and resilient. She had to be as she attempted to proof her innocence in the murder of a Count.

I was pleasantly surprised by "who done it" and how all the major players were interconnected. The author did a wonderful job of spinning a complicated and torrent web with many characters and story lines converging into one at the end. There was a surprise gem at the end as well that i cannot go into due to spoilers.

The narrator, Gabrielle de Cuir, did a phenomenal job. Her accent and pronunciation was immaculate. She made me fall in love with Venice.Audiobook Review

~Lynn 

About the Author: Christine Evelyn Volker
Christine Evelyn Volker became intrigued by foreign cultures at an early age, which propelled her to study Spanish, German, and Italian. After securing a BA in Spanish and an MLS at University at Albany – SUNY, followed by an MBA at UC Berkeley, she was drawn to international banking and became a senior vice president at a global financial institution. Her career brought her to Italy, where she immersed herself in the language and made frequent visits to Venice. Venetian Blood marks a return to her roots in the humanities, and just won the Sarton Women’s Book Award for contemporary fiction.

She is currently at work on her second international mystery, this one set in the rainforest of Peru.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook

​About the Narrator: Gabrielle de Cuir
Gabrielle has narrated over 400 hundred titles specializing in fantasy, humor, and titles requiring extensive foreign language and accent skills. Her “velvet touch” as an actors’ director has earned her a special place in the audiobook world as the foremost choice for best-selling authors and celebrities. Short list of those directed: Anne Hathaway, Emilio Estevez, Wil Wheaton, Dr. Daniel G. Amen, Elijah Wood, Deepak Chopra, Eric Idle, Nancy Cartwright, Michael York, Ed Herrmann, and Joe Mantegna. She is the writer and director of the Award winning short film THE DELIVERY, which deals with an Alice-in-Wonderland version of audio books. She spent her childhood in Rome growing up with her wildly artistic and cinematic father, John de Cuir, four-time Academy Award winning Production Designer, an upbringing that her to be fluent in Romance languages and to have an unusual appetite for visual delights.)
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook

~~~Interview with the Author~~~

Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
Yes. But it didn’t enter the choices that I made. If you’re a writer doing your job, you’re already making decisions based on the cadence of words, their sounds, how realistic your dialog is and how it would be spoken. All of these factors are critical for a good audiobook. After the first few drafts, I read the book out loud to hear how the words sounded and made changes if they didn’t work well together.

How did you select your narrator?
Gabrielle de Cuir auditioned, and I loved her voice – its pitch and expressiveness. She brought out the characters’ emotions while also creating interest in paragraphs of pure description. Once I heard her Italian pronunciation (I also speak it), I knew she could handle the super-challenging text I had written: lots of Italian and Spanish words, plus six types of accents in English. I checked her background. She had won awards, and was highly experienced. She didn’t have to learn the craft via my book. I used Audiobook Creation Exchange (acx). Despite the audition and the first fifteen minutes where the author listens to the narrator’s recording and provides feedback, going forward there’s a lot riding on faith. Faith that the rest of the voice actor’s work holds up to the standard of the first part. Given the linguistic and emotional complexity of my book it would have been easy for someone with less talent and experience to go astray.

How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?  
We worked together very smoothly. I spent a lot of time at the beginning by preparing six pages of written character descriptions, including minor ones. I boiled the key characters down, their attitudes, what made them tick, and where important, how I thought their voices could sound. This allowed her to reflect before she started, to figure out how she’d breathe life into their words. Since Gabrielle grew up in Rome, I didn’t need to give her Italian pronunciation tips. That was a huge boost. We did have a back and forth, surprisingly to me, about the first name of the main character, Anna. I didn’t have to consider this at all when writing the book. But Anna’s name would sound different when pronounced by Italians or Americans (“Ah-na” vs. “Anna.”) This could confuse listeners. Gabrielle needed to nail it down. We decided on the “Ah-na” pronunciation, no matter which character was saying it.

Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
Certainly there’s my visceral love for Venice which becomes a character in the novel. I tried to bring out the city’s rich and storied past, its faded glory and its contradictions. Venice still exists, against all odds. Then there are bits of my own life hidden away in the pages. In 1992, I went to Italy for work but also to seek space from a troubled first marriage, so I fused pain with my love of Venice and the desire to create. The time period for the book is the same. Also, wildlife is a sub-theme in the book; nature and the future of the earth are important to me.

Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
Definitely when there are two characters engaged in a suspenseful or moving dialog, like Anna being grilled by Detective Biondi, Anna and Pablo confiding in her about Sergio – the dead man, Anna, Margo and Agatha together later in the book when Agatha reveals shocking secrets. I’ve listened to my audiobook three times now, and its emotional punch is greater throughout. Whether it’s the fact that language is meant to be spoken, or that in our history, the spoken word came before the written one, or that many of us had the pleasure of hearing our parents tell us stories before we learned to read, or that listening is a more elemental pleasure than following dots across a page, or that hearing is something we engaged in before we were even born, or that it’s all of the above—I can’t say. But a well-narrated story is more gripping than the written one.

If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the primary roles?
This is a fun question. Anna: Rachel Weisz, Margo: Jennifer Connelly, Alessandro: Giancarlo Giannini, Detective Biondi: Daniel Craig (I think he can pronounce Italian well), Dudley: Gary Oldham, Agatha: Helen Mirren. Pablo: Javier Bardem or Edward James Olmos. I could go on, but I’ll stop there!

What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading?”
Stop being so judgmental. Each has its advantages. Certainly, it’s important for all of us to be literate, so reading is a skill we all must master. Assuming we have, then a written book or a spoken book is a choice we’re free to make. Technology made audiobooks portable, and that means people who endure commutes to work can benefit, folks who exercise can get involved in a story as they’re on the treadmill, and even dreaded housework can be made more pleasurable while listening to a book. Everybody’s short of time and may not be able to just sit and read. I fail to see a problem.

Is your favorite food, song, or city referenced in your work?
Yes. Anna manages to savor a lot of food in my mystery. We’re talking about Italy – so how could I leave food out? One of my faves is porcini mushrooms crowning warm polenta. Outstanding. I first ate it in Verona, but it makes its way onto Anna’s plate in Venice. I can’t resist getting into wine. The first time I drank fruity and sublime Amarone was at the Hotel Metropole in Venice with my husband, Stephan. Of course, I had to feature it.  
A unique and moving song I love came out around the time of the book. Eros Ramazzotti sings the story of two dolphins, Missie and Silver, almost from their point of view. They were real dolphins, kept in a small tank in England, and eventually set free. One of my characters, Angela, listens to the song; it has a special meaning for her. My favorite city, Venice, infuses the entire book, even when I don’t mention it.

What bits of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Reach high, get uncomfortable, and repeat after me: “I am the only one who can tell my story.”

What’s next for you?
Polishing my novel, Jaguar Moon. It’s a mystery based in Peru, with a Latina journalist. She returns to Cusco to find out what happened to her parents many years ago. On assignment, her photographer goes missing. Her journey takes her through Cusco’s cobbled streets to the lushness of the rainforest. Will she be as fearless as her father in seeking the truth?