AUTHOR INQUISITION

Welcome one and all to the Author Inquisition. Let’s have a drum-roll please ...

Ladies and gentlemen, my newest victim, I mean guest, is beloved author of historical and romance, and none other than Joyce DiPastena.

Joyce: Good morning!

Spill it, Joyce. You’ve written three novels; give us your best writing advice.

Joyce: What? You expect me to give away all my secrets? Never! Never, I say! Okay, okay you forced it out of me. This is a secret known only to the ancient sages. If you want to be a writer, then you must...WRITE! Write when you're happy, write when you're sad, write when the last thing on earth you feel like doing is to write. Because the bottom line is, if you don't write, you'll never be...you know...a writer.

Does writing grocery lists count?

Joyce: Probably not 

How about blogs?

Joyce: That’s a little better, but you need to stretch yourself a bit more. 

Sheesh! [whispers over shoulder—I think she expects me to write a novel or something.] So, Joyce, what’s your favorite activity when you’re not writing? 

Joyce: Thinking about writing. Yeah, that's even easier than actually writing! The thinking, making up stories in my head part. It's putting those stories down on paper (or computer screen) one word at a time that is torture. And you would know a thing or two about torture, now wouldn't you, Mistress Inquisitor. 

Me? Torture? [jumps up] Never! How could you imply such a thing!? [Pounds on table]

We will get off that subject right quick Ms DiPastena.

Joyce: [whispers] me thinks she protests too much.

What? I didn’t catch that. 

Joyce: I said, I’m enjoying these questions so much.

[smirks] I bet. Tell me about the dreaded writer's block. What do you do? 

Joyce: Gotta fall back on the "What If Game." I ask myself, "What if this happened to my character?" "What if my character did this?" What if, what if, what if, what if... I just keep throwing "what if's" at the wall until something sticks.

What if—we move on to the next question—do you snack when you write? If so, what?

Joyce: Most of the time I write food free.  

I see that gleam in your eyes. Come on. Give us more. [leans over the table] 

Joyce: [eyes widen] When I write, it’s kind of like being locked in a medieval dungeon. You know, that image is actually helpful to my creativity. [smiles hopefully] 

Spill it, Joyce. You’re not getting off that easily. [gives the evil inquisitor glare] I’ve got you pegged as a snacker. What is it—chocolate or veggies? 

Joyce: [eep!] Occasionally my jailor will toss me a little string cheese, and once in a while some merciful soul will smuggle me a Hershey Kiss with an almond tucked inside. [shoulders slump] Oh, darn. Now the secret's out, my jailors will put a stop to those Kisses in no time. [scowls] I hope you're happy. Oh, right, you're the Inquisitor, so of course that'd make you happy!

Moah-ha-ha-ha! [smiles with satisfaction] I knew I could break you down. Now for the tough questions. What made you decide to write medieval novels?

Joyce: I'm a glutton for punishment? (That's why I'm here, isn't it?) Actually, I've never really figured that out. I remember I used to pull out our old World Book encyclopedia and turn it to the Middle Ages and look at a picture of a knight wearing chain mail armor. I would do that periodically.

I think I know just the one. [quirks a smile] Handsome. Tall. Dark curly hair.

Joyce: Yes. [has a faraway look] Why I was drawn to that picture, I don't know.  

I know. That knight was one handsome dude. 

Joyce: [sighs] I can still see the picture in my head to this day. (Occasionally I'll even run across it on the internet and the memories will come rushing back.) Then I read a book about the Plantagenet kings of England in high school and I guess I fell in love with their stories and decided I wanted to write my own stories about them.

I’m right there with you. [fans self] whew! How about some nice cold refreshment? What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? 

Joyce: [smiles wistfully] While locked in the writing dungeon, I sometimes dream of cream of vanilla ice, chips made of chocolate, and almonds roasted fine, mixed together at the Creamery of the Cold Stone

[sighs] A true ice cream connoisseur. 

Joyce: Tina?

Better yet, scoops of delicious ice cream being served by the ever adoring knight in shining armor. Ahhhhh, and the kisses Mathilde steals from Etienne. I don’t know which is sweeter.

Joyce: Tina? Hellooooo?

Huh? [blinks and looks around] Oh, Joyce. Right. I was remembering one of the scenes in your book. Do tell us about your latest, Dangerous Favor.

Joyce: Okay. I’ll read you the back cover blurb. 

Mathilde needs a champion. 

Her father has been accused of stealing from the king, an allegation that has reduced her family to poverty. She has one chance to find and marry a man who can help her prove her father's innocence. Lord Therri, heir to a rich barony, has the wealth and connections Mathilde needs to delve into the mysteries of her father's past. Furthermore, Therri embodies all her romantic dreams.

Etienne, the younger son of a disgraced family, has neither wealth nor connections, but is smitten with Mathilde at a glance. She finds the knight intriguing, but believes he is only out to seduce her. While she seeks for a way to win Therri's attention, Etienne tricks her into granting him her favor, an embroidered white ribbon, for a tournament, setting in motion a dangerous chain reaction of events. Can Etienne save Mathilde from a nightmare from her past and prove himself the true hero of her dreams? 

I can never read your books just once. Dangerous Favor is available at Deseret Book, as well as Amazon.com (print and Kindle), BarnesAndNoble.com (print and Nook), and the BookDepository.com (free shipping worldwide) 

Joyce: You can read more about my books on my website (http://www.joyce-dipastena.com), blogs JDP NEWS (http://jdp-news.blogspot.com) and Medieval Research with Joyce (http://medievalresearch.blogspot.com). Did I mention that I love Facebook? You can like my author page there at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJoyceDiPastena.

DANGEROUS FAVOR, by Joyce DiPastena

A single silken ribbon. A harmless thing. And yet, author Joyce DiPastena weaves a brilliant tale with this simple charm as the catalyst. Dangerous Favor is categorized as a medieval romance, but it's so much more. In Dangerous Favor, the stakes are higher than the, will they get together, of most romances. The stakes are life or death, and with a madman on the loose, it looks as though death is imminent.

A tournament is being held at Violette De Maloisel’s estate, and she plans to marry the winner. Many knights have lined up for the opportunity to inherit her wealth by virtue of their prowess on the field, but it’s Therri, Etienne’s lifelong friend, that she loves. Unfortunately for Therri, he has a reputation as a scoundrel. That, and the fact that he mistook someone else for his beloved Violette, has angered her. Now, Therri must prove that he loves Violette, and more importantly, that he will be faithful.

At their father’s insistence, Girard reluctantly parts with his silken ribbon as an adornment for his sister, Mathilde’s, hair and takes her with him to the tournament hosted by the wealthy Violette De Maloisel. At the pre-tournament banquet, Mathilde hopes that she will find favor with a wealthy knight, and that he will use his wealth to help her clear her father from a disgrace that happened before she was born.

The first man to see her is, indeed, wealthy—but he is also fat and sweaty, and, she discovers, is the cousin of her father’s enemy—a man she had been betrothed to before he died. Chesnei makes her skin crawl, but he is there, wanting the favor in her hair, and saying he will wear it in her honor during the tournament. As he reaches for the ribbon, Mathilde puts him off, saying she must ask her brother, and rushes away. In her effort to get away from him, she accidently bumps into Therri (the Vision) and his friend, Etienne.

The Vision is obviously wealthy and could help her easily, but it’s Etienne who talks to her and charms the favor from her hair. Mathilde has heard of men like Etienne—men who use their seductive charms to prey on innocent women such as herself. She shouldn’t let him have it—her brother wouldn’t want her to give a token to a seducer. But once the favor is in his hands, Etienne won’t give it back.

This starts a series of assaults on Etienne, and he is seriously wounded during the tournament, but only Chesnei, Girard, and his father’s mortal enemy—the not dead after all Sir Alun d’ Amville—are aware that the ribbon is a significant key in a plot against the crown.

Before Mathilde decides whether Etienne is a seducer, as she originally feared, or actually a wealthy knight in disguise, she has fallen in love with him. Unfortunately, her father is virtually penniless, having had several of his castles and nearly his whole estate taken from him by d’ Amville, and so Mathilde has no dowry to offer a worthy suitor.

Etienne is not a wealthy knight, and realizing that he has no way to support a wife, tells Mathilde that his heart belongs to another.

These are the players. These are the stakes. Dangerous Favor is a whole lot of action, and two romances in one. And when you’re done reading, you’ll know and love the characters so well that you’ll want to go visit them in their castle, or invite them over for dinner just to see how they’re doing. I did anyway.

Reading Books

Summer is a great time for "chillin" and reading books. Actually, for me any time of year is a good time for reading a book. This summer, I've re-read Joyce DiPastena's book, "Loyalty's Web." It's a historical novel set in medieval days, and dispite the unfriendly term "medieval" it is a very entertaining and compelling read.

I've also read, "The Hourglass Door," by Lisa Mangum. It is a contemporary fantasy/sci-fi, and is also a great read. It's about a high school senior who finds herself falling in love with who she thinks is a foreign exchange student. He's not.

I am currently reading, "A Door in the Woods," a fantasy by James Dashner. I met him at the LDStorymakers Conference this year when I bought his book and asked him to sign it for me. He has several novels out, and as he signed this one, he apologised to me in advance of my reading it as this apparently was his first effort. So far I don't understand the apology because it has been engaging from the very first page. The main character is 14, however his story isn't full of short, clipped sentences geared for young readers which I find refreshing (especially since I'm long past 14).

The next book on my list to read is Joyce DiPastena's newly published sequel "Illuminations of the Heart," that I will purchase at a writers retreat that I'm attending this weekend. I read the first chapter on Joyce's website and it proves to be as good as her first.