❤Author Interview: Romance Author Richard I. Levine: Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea #authorinterview

 

Richard I Levine is a native New Yorker raised in the shadows of Yankee Stadium. After dabbling in several occupations and a one-year coast-to-coast wanderlust trip, This one-time auxiliary police officer, volunteer fireman, bartender, and store manager returned to school to become a chiropractor.

A twenty-five-year cancer survivor, he’s a strong advocate for the natural healing arts. In 2006 he wrote, produced, and was on-air personality of The Dr. Rich Levine Show on Seattle’s KKNW 1150AM and after a twenty-five-year chiropractic practice in Bellevue, Washington, he closed up shop at the end of 2016 and moved to Oahu to pursue a dream of acting and being on Hawaii 5-O.

While briefly working as a ghostwriter/community liaison for a Honolulu City Councilmember, a Hawaii State Senator, and volunteering as an advisory board member of USVETS Barbers Point, he appeared as a background actor in over twenty-seven 5-Os, Magnum P.I.s, NCIS-Hawaii, and several Hallmark movies. In 2020, he had a co-star role in the third season episode of Magnum PI called “Easy Money.”

While he no longer lives in Hawaii, he says he will always cherish and be grateful for those seven years and all the wonderful people he’s met. His 5th novel, To Catch the Setting Sun, was inspired by his time in Hawaii.

Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea is Levine’s first foray into the romance genre.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ http://www.docrichlevine.com  

X ➜ https://www.twitter.com/Your_In8_Power 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/RichardLevineAuthor/ 

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/rilevinedc 

I am so excited about your book, Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea. Why did you choose this particular story to write?

I didn’t choose it, it chose me. Seriously. This is my sixth novel and each time the idea came to me in a way that would make most people would think I need to be examined by a professional. Nonetheless, whether I call it my little voice, intuition, my spirit guides or angels, it’s not only the idea for the story that comes to me without warning and from out of nowhere, but it’s also an ongoing inexplainable inspirational feeling that seems to take over during the writing process. I suppose that’s called being in the zone. 

Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?

When they met in the fourth grade, it was love at first sight for Mitchell Brody and Jessica Ramirez. He was the freckle-faced kid who stood up for her honor and silenced the class bully who’d been teasing her because of her accent. She was the new kid whose family moved to San Juan Island, Washington, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and whom Mitch had thought was the most beautiful girl in the world.

She was his salvation from a strict upbringing. He was her knight in shining armor who had always looked out for her. Through the many years of porch-swinging, cotton-candied summer nights, autumn harvest festivals, and hand-in-hand walks planning for the ideal life together, they were inseparable...until 9/11, when the real world interrupted their Rockwell-esque small town life, and Mitch had joined the Marine Corps.

This is not just the story of a wounded warrior finally coming home to search for the love, and the world he abandoned twenty years before. It is also the story of a man who is seeking forgiveness and a way to ease the pain caused by every bad decision he’d ever made. It’s the story of a woman who rose with strength and determination from the ashes of a shattered dream; but who never gave up hope that her one true love would return to her. As she once told an old friend: “Even before we met all those years ago, we were destined to be together in this life, and we will be together again, because even today we’re connected in a way that’s very special, and he needs to know about it before one of us leaves this earth.”

Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your book?

The three main characters are Mitch Brody, Jess Ramirez, and the small town of Friday Harbor, Washington which is located on San Juan Island in north Puget Sound. So, let’s start off with San Juan Island which is a beautiful and quaint little village that could be any small town in America’s fly-over states except that it has the added beauty and allure of the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Friday Harbor is not just a background actor in this story but a main player because it is an integral part of who Mitch and Jess really are.

As far as these two soulmates, and they really are soulmates, the blurb provided up above tells readers a lot of who these two people are.

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

Like Driftwood On The Salish Sea is not part of a series. It’s a one-and-done...for now at least. You never know. Anyway, I think there are a few pivotal points where the reader’s interests will be piqued to where they’ll want to continue turning pages. With that said, I know that if I mention any of them at this point, I’ll be giving away too much information, and I don’t want to take away the surprise factor...and there are surprises!

Does your book carry a message?

Yes, it definitely does. In fact, it carries several messages. All of them are very subtle. I personally don’t like it when an author has a message that they are very passionate about and she/he hits you over the head with it. So, the messages that I want to convey are just below the surface of the story and they come through by way of the characters’ thoughts, words, and actions. But keep in mind, that those messages can be uncovered only if the reader wants to look beyond the story for the deeper meaning.

Where can we pick up copies of Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea?

The exact link is long, but it’s just as easy to go to Amazon and type in my name Richard I Levine or the book title. But here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Like-Driftwood-Salish-Sea-romance-ebook/dp/B0F6Q336FJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1IGJG15YRJT0K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.juZQjKb0acNeawSTV7qyQmdkpoi5K8Z-CQ1AGHZNW64.Ce7ZINokx8AMdyfIxTENxQvCNSna13uRfm5-oN0UPf0&dib_tag=se&keywords=like+driftwood+on+the+salish+sea&qid=1751324713&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C364&sr=1-1 

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

It is said that a good hearty belch after a meal is like music to the ears of a chef. It is the ultimate compliment. To an author, that belch is a good, but honest, review posted by a satisfied reader. If you’ve been entertained, introduced to new friends that you’d love to hang with, taken on a journey that you didn’t want to end, or if you were transported to world that made you forget the stresses of the day, then write a nice review to compliment the author who made you laugh, cry, imagine, or filled you with even the smallest amount of wonder. 

Inside the Pages: Find My Daughter by Jennifer Chase

 

Title: Find My Daughter (Detective Scott Book 13)
Author: Jennifer Chase
Publisher: Bookouture
Pages: 384
Genre: Crime Thriller

She hears footsteps approaching, then the clunk of a heavy lock. Her body is numb in the cold but she stands, determined to fight. A blinding light overpowers her, and the world goes black…

When Detective Katie Scott finds a woman dying in the car garage, blood pooling around her, she reaches her just in time to hear her utter the words: find my daughter.

Katie doesn’t waste a second gathering her team and pulling the case file for the missing child, Anna Braxton, a teen with sparkling blue-eyes and an even brighter future. Staring at the blank investigation board, Katie won’t rest until she fulfills Anna’s mother’s dying wish.

Searching the Braxton’s impeccable family home, Katie finds Anna’s journal, filled with teenage secrets. Buried among the pages, she thinks she finds a lead—a strange man reached out to Anna, just days before she went missing…

But the case takes a terrifying turn when Anna’s best friend also vanishes. Hours later, a girl’s body is found in the embers of a house fire, her yellow satin dress devastatingly beautiful amongst the ashes. Is it Anna, her best friend, or another girl?

One thing is certain: a monster has the closeknit community of Pine Valley in a chokehold, and Katie must get one step ahead of the killer before any more precious young lives are taken. But at what cost?

★★★★★ ORDER YOUR COPY ★★★★★

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Darkness shrouded the old cellar, causing a continuous chill to trickle down her spine. The dirt floor felt cold against her bare feet and her hands were dry as she rubbed them together. She could smell the musty remnants of what had been stored there in the past and the earthiness of being underground. The four walls seemed to be old stone or brick and they crumbled beneath her fingernails as she tried to claw her way out—but to no avail. Her exhaustion ultimately took over and she sat still, alone with her overwhelming fears. She had been left isolated and abandoned—in the pitch-black.

She hadn’t heard the man in hours, or maybe it was days—she wasn’t sure. In her bones, she knew this time he wasn’t coming back. The plastic-bottled water and peanut butter sandwiches were almost gone; her mouth was constantly dry. Her memory seemed to play tricks on her. How long had it been since she’d gone to the casting call for young aspiring models? She hadn’t told anyone where she was going, not her mom or even her best friend. She’d wanted to wait until she got the job to tell them the great news. It had been exciting; she dreamed of being a model and actress.

Her hands touched the dress she had been given to model—a yellow silk sheath wrap that made her feel beautiful, grown-up, as if she was finally someone who mattered.

She didn’t know how many times she had crawled up the wooden stairs to the small opening into the cellar, checking to see if he had left it open. But it was always the same—bolted shut. She had memorized each stair, which ones were sturdy, which were creaky and unstable. There were nine steps in total.

As hard as she tried, she couldn’t remember how she got there or what the house looked like. Even if she had a cell phone, she wouldn’t have been able to describe where she was—or even what town she was in. She felt a million miles away from home.

But she wasn’t giving up. Though weakened from lack of proper food, she dropped to her knees once again and crawled slowly toward the stairs. Her knees were bruised and scraped from the dozens of times she had attempted to escape—hoping that each time would be successful and she would be free.

As she paused at the first stair, feeling the familiar outlines in the darkness, she used her hands to steady her ascent; each time a stair ahead. Her knee pressed against the first stair, then the second, and the third. The creaks and groans were a disturbing symphony that reminded her of her situation: she was a prisoner in an empty basement and no one was coming back for her.

She stopped halfway to the top; her breathing quickening; feeling lightheaded. Her stomach grumbled. Her hope dwindled. Each time she’d gathered the strength to go up the stairs, it had turned out to be disheartening. She was never going to be free again. How stupid and selfish she had been, thinking she would become a model. She wondered if any of the other girls ended up like this. Or was she the only one whose fate was sealed?

Looking up toward the opening, she thought she heard footsteps. Yes, she had heard something. They were faint, but steady. He was coming. She froze. Her knees and hands were almost numb—her fingers hurt. Should she go back down or keep going?

What did she have to lose?

The footsteps were getting closer. They sounded like a pair of work boots hitting old hardwood floors. There was a strange echo to the movement, which was now above her. She could hear the creaks of the uneven planks; a mismatched harmony.

The distinct jingle of keys, then the rattle of a heavy lock.

She was going to stand her ground and push past the man to make her escape. It was all she had.

She could barely breathe.

The heavy creak of hinges.

Her body numb. She tried to stand up, ready to fight.

The doorway opened a crack at first, then wider, and finally pushed all the way open.

The blinding light overpowered her. Trying to escape it, she fell backward, flailing her arms in an attempt to catch her balance. She couldn’t focus on anything. She felt every step hit her back and ribs as she tumbled down to the dirt basement. Her head struck the floor. She lost her breath and closed her eyes.

– Excerpted from Find My Daughter by Jennifer Chase, Bookouture, 2025. Reprinted with permission. 

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Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and USA Today Best Selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling.  

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ https://authorjenniferchase.com/ 

X ➜ https://x.com/jchasenovelist 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferChase 

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/jenchaseauthor/ 

Goodreads ➜ www.goodreads.com/author/show/2780337.Jennifer_Chase

❤Author Interview: Urban Fantasy Author Christine Amsden: Knot of Souls & Book Giveaway! #authorinterview

 

Christine Amsden is the author of nine award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels, including the Cassie Scot Series.

Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but Christine believes great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. She writes primarily about people, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

In addition to writing, Christine is a freelance editor and political activist. Disability advocacy is of particular interest to her; she has a rare genetic eye condition called Stargardt Macular Degeneration and has been legally blind since the age of eighteen. In her free time, she enjoys role playing, board games, and a good cup of tea. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two kids.

Author Links

Website ➜https://christineamsden.com/wordpress/

X ➜https://www.x.com/christinaamsden

Facebook ➜https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664?ref=hl

I am so excited about your book, Knot of Souls. Why did you choose this particular story to write?

The idea for Knot of Souls came to me in November of 2020, after a particularly divisive election cycle. I wasn’t sitting on the sidelines that year; I worked social media for two state senate campaigns where I got a front-row seat to some of the vilest comments you can imagine. The day after the election, I sat down at my computer and wrote three words:

Write something happy.

Joy got her name before she got a plot! :) 

Ultimately, I chose to write a story about two very different beings forced by circumstance and mutually assured destruction to work together … and come out stronger on the other side. 

Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?

Two souls, one body …

When Joy wakes up in an alley, she knows three things: she was brutally murdered, she has somehow come back to life … and she is not alone. She’s been possessed by an inhuman presence, a being that has taken over her dying body. That being is powerful, in pain, and on the run from entities more dangerous than he is.

Shade, a Fae prince on the run, didn’t mean to share the body he jumped into. Desperate and afraid, accused of a murder he didn’t commit, he only sought a place to hide—but if he leaves Joy now, he faces discovery and a fate worse than death.

Forced to work together to solve multiple murders, including her own, Joy and Shade discover hidden strengths and an unlikely friendship. Yet as their souls become increasingly intertwined, they realize their true danger might come from each other … and if they don’t find a way to untangle the knot their souls have become, then even the truth won’t set them free.

 

Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your book?

There are two main characters in this book, Joy and Shade. 

Strangely, I was reading a writing how-to book called  Story Genius as I drafted this novel, and Story Genius is of the opinion that stories have one main character. They said that even if a story seems to have more than one, if you think about it, there’s a main main character. They provided examples. It seemed somewhat compelling, but … What if both characters are sharing the same body?

Joy is a 23-year-old human woman from the Kansas City area (that’s the skyline on the cover). She’s incredibly kind, a real nurturer, spending her free time serving at a homeless shelter or just baking sweets for a coworker who’s feeling down. She’s also … at least at the beginning … not very assertive. Which is maybe why, when Shade first possesses her, she hides instead of fighting. 

Shade is an incorporeal being who has recently been accused of murdering his own maker (Queen of the Fae). Which doesn’t make him the main main character, but it does make him the inciting character. He’s the one fleeing judgment. He goes to Kansas City where he once lived as a human and had a human child. He sees one of his own descendants (Joy), dying, her soul leaving her body. And there he chooses to hide, not because it’s convenient (in some ways it isn’t), but because he’s always cared about family. 

At first, Shade and Joy seem to be opposites, but actually, they’re complements. Both are defined by past trauma, one powerful but in need of learning to trust, the other trusting but in need of claiming power. 

Together, they work magic. Literally and figuratively. I hope you enjoy their story!

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

I agree, but I’m not sure if it’s author-defined so much as reader-defined! I work to make my books unputdownable from page one, but I understand that emotional connection grows and builds over time until the magic moment where each reader feels that tug. When I myself reread this book earlier in the year (to prepare it for publishing), I was especially drawn into Shade and Joy’s Memphis road trip, which begins in Chapter 10 and ends with important, life-altering changes for each of them. 

Does your book carry a message?

Yes – that two different people can come together to work for a common good. Although if you just want to enjoy the story of two people fighting over the same body, that’s fair, too! 

Where can we pick up copies of Knot of Souls?

Knot of Souls is available in print and ebook formats through Amazon, and is free with Kindle Unlimmited.

https://a.co/d/5gPO2Rz

What's your next project?

It’s called The Spaces in Between (working title), and it’s my first attempt at a young adult book, although I confess to having chosen the young adult genre situationally. The thing is, I lost my central vision between the ages of sixteen and eighteen (especially when I was eighteen), and my main character is going through the same thing. Stargardts can affect children as young as ten, and it can take as long as the mid-thirties to culminate, but in my life, in my lived experience, it happened fairly rapidly and mostly over the course of a single year. The book is still fantasy, despite drawing on some real experiences. 

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

This is my new favorite book. It’s not a romance, like some of my others, but the central relationship is no less intimate for being a friendship. If you loved my Cassie Scot books for thee character, family drama, magic, and connection, then I think you’ll love this too. 

Thank you for having me!

 

Giveaway: Christine Amsden is giving away one 2 epub copies of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (gifted through BookFunnel! This includes Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, Secrets and Lies, Mind Games and Stolen Dreams

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one epub copy of the 4-book Cassie Scot series.
• This giveaway starts July 1 and ends September 26.
• Winner will be contacted via email on September 26.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

❤Author Interview: Literary Fiction Author R.C. Dickens: Crown of Blooms #authorinterview

 

R.C. Dickens is the pen name of Juniper Ray, a black, queer writer, choreographer, teacher’s assistant and disaster living in Appalachia with big dreams of escaping out to the West Coast. Along with their debut novel, Crown of Blooms, they have worked as a ghostwriter for several years and have published several short stories. In 2023, Juniper won the Webby Award for Best Single Episode of a Podcast for their appearance on Snap Judgement. When they aren’t writing (which is rarely) Juniper enjoys dancing, singing, anime, cosplay and generally being a menace to the general public. 

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ https://rcdickens.wixsite.com/website 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRCDickens  

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/rcdickens_author 

I am so excited about your book, Crown of Blooms. Why did you choose this particular story to write?

I hardly feel like I get a choice in the stories I write. I sort of just vomit stories out of the depths of my brain and try to make what comes out meaningful. I knew I wanted to write something that would resonate with people like me, no matter how much or how little we actually have in common. I knew I wanted to write something raw and honest, but not entirely without hope.  This book in particular is the product of my own upbringing growing up black and queer in the buckle of the bible belt, as well as the

result of some of my biggest influences like Ellen Hopkins and Ayad Akhtar. 

Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?

Crown of Blooms is the story of a 15-year-old pastor’s son named Kayden. Kayden has always struggled to live up to his father’s expectations and the example set by his twin sister Delilah, and that only gets harder when he starts to fall for Alex, the freckle-faced new boy in youth group. What transpires is a story of queer awakening, young love and betrayal which kicks off a three book coming-of-age series. 

Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your book?

Kayden is a reflection of my inner child, unsure, a people pleaser who can’t live up to expectations, sweet, and soft, and unable to reconcile that with his burgeoning masculinity, struggling to balance his faith-filled upbringing with his own nascent belief system. I crafted Kayden to be a reflection of the vulnerability that black boys are so often denied. Kayden’s foil is his twin sister, Delilah. Delilah is self-assured, at least on the outside, practical, cutthroat, the ideal daughter for a pastor. Her softness comes from her loyalty and love for her brother. Kayden is also contrasted with Alex. Whereas Kayden is sheltered and naive, Alex is worldly and curious. Where Kayden is reserved and uncertain, Alex is creative and confident. I wanted it to be very clear why someone like Kayden would be attracted to someone like Alex, and I think I succeeded in that. 

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

I don’t want to spoil it, but Delilah does something shocking that really changes the trajectory of Kayden’s life and his relationships. I think it will really challenge the reader to reflect on what they would have done at that age and how far faith can push a person. 

Does your book carry a message?

I try to let the reader discover the message for themselves, but if there were an overall message for Crown of Blooms, it would be that the process of becoming yourself is a scary but necessary one, and that faith can often be the enemy of love. 

Where can we pick up copies of Crown of Blooms?

Crown of Blooms is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and everywhere e-books are sold. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crown-of-blooms-rc-dickens/1146136760;jsessionid=A8A90709874C02BE5600E54B503E05B9.prodny_store01-atgap01

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

This book has been such a labor of love. I’m still in the phase of my career where every individual purchase, like, comment, and review means the world to me, so please, don’t think your support goes unnoticed.