Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Today we have Sally Basmajian, eager to tell us about her romantic comedy, So Hard to Do. If it’s not too hard to do, could you please tell us a bit about your new novel?

Sally: It’s a fast-paced, contemporary novel. The cast is diverse, a few characters being on the autism spectrum. The plot revolves around the twisted love triangle of a middle-aged mother and her adult daughter who unknowingly fall for the same man. Tension and comedy build as they blunder their way forward, both convinced that they’ve found true love.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write the book?

Sally: In my immediate family, there are individuals who are neurodiverse, and I thought it would be interesting to explore a fictional dating world where the players may struggle for acceptance, but ultimately find their happy endings. I wanted readers to be entertained at the same time as they gained a heightened awareness of the challenges faced by people with ASD. Plus, when you think of it, don’t we all bumble along when we try to make our romantic lives work? As my older heroine, Suze, remarks, “We’re all on the spectrum when it comes to looking for love.”

Sabitha: If you could pick any author to read your book, who would you want to read it? Why them?

Sally: For sure, I’d love Sophie Kinsella to read it. She’s got such a light, optimistic touch with her romances, and a great sense of humor, too. Given my overdeveloped sense of the ridiculous, I also think that either Stephen Leacock or Terry Pratchett, if only either of them were alive, would “get” my jokes. I certainly like to believe they would!

Night Beats: We all love Terry Pratchett! Which character do you relate to the most, and why?

Sally: My favorite character is the delightful Lola Devine. She sprang fully-formed directly onto the pages, without any conscious planning or analysis from me. She’s an outrageous but caring soul—the kind of staunch supporter I’d love to have in my real life. Could it be that all those RuPaul’s Drag Race episodes I’ve watched spawned this Amazonian goddess of a fairy godmother?

Sabitha: Was there any music that inspired you while you were writing?

Sally: I didn’t consciously incorporate music, but it certainly ripples throughout the story. I’ve captured many of the songs that reflect the characters on a playlist, which I’ve posted on my website. They range from Neil Sedaka to Sir Mix-a-Lot. My own educational background was in Music History, but please don’t expect any of the classical masters to appear on this particular list!

Sabitha: What a fun collection! What do you most want your readers to take away from reading your book?

Sally: I want them to laugh out loud as they follow the paths of my two main characters. I want them to feel as if they’re out on a lark with some extremely fun companions. But also, I want them to walk away with a greater sense of understanding for those on the autism spectrum. Just last week, one of my advance review copy readers approached me, saying she wanted to thank me for giving her hope that her twelve-year-old grandson, who is on the spectrum, may be able to navigate our great big, scary world one day and succeed in work and love. Nothing—praise or criticism—can ever mean more to me than that.

Sabitha: That sounds both fun and deeply meaningful. What a wonderful thing. Where can our readers find you and your book?

Sally: You can find my novel at the universal link. I’m on Instagram and TikTok, and I dabble in Twitter and Facebook, plus I’ve got a website. Thanks very much, and please drop by!

Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Dixon Reuel joins us to talk about Myth of Five, the 5th book in her paranormal post-apocalyptic series, Blood Brute. Dixon, tell us a bit about the series!

Dixon: The six-book series follows the adventures of The Vampire Rise as a zombie apocalypse befalls humanity. Realizing that their supply of human blood is at stake, Rise takes the fateful decision to leave his coven’s secluded smallholding of Owl Court to bring back human survivors. However, not every survivor is happy to be vampire-succor, nor are the rest of his coven so open to new people, despite the apocalypse. Caught between humanity and his coven, Rise undergoes the worst transformation a vampire can imagine: being bitten by a zombie and becoming a doubly-undead blood brute. Thus begins Rise of One, Blood Brute Book 1.

Sabitha: There’s so much fun action there! What inspired you to write this book?

Dixon: The idea of Blood Brute–of vampires surviving a zombie apocalypse–came to me while playing one of my favorite games, 7 Days To Die. In that survival crafting world, you basically kill zombies and craft defenses against their hordes, however it also got me thinking … what would vampires do during a zombie apocalypse? How would their supply of human blood be affected? Are they on humanity’s side and want to help rid the world of zombies? Or, would the vampires enjoy the chaos and downfall of humanity?

That got me thinking of the earliest humans. There is a plotline in Blood Brute where Rise discovers the eldest vampire: literally a caveman-like creature dating back to the Neanderthals/Denisovians. As Rise is a zombie-bitten vampire, he has to determine who he wants to be in terms of this great, ancient lineage.

Sabitha: I love when one piece of art inspires another like that. Speaking of inspiring art, we have a lot of writers in our community. Can you share your writing process?

Dixon: With five books and two prequels under my belt by now, my writing process has thankfully become nice and streamlined. I’m a big ol’ nerd who loves spreadsheets and stationery, so I’ve created a series of printables that take me from that initial writing idea, to developed characters and arcs, on to a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline where I can begin the first draft. I deeply adore this progressive ‘handholding’ using my own printables, so I don’t forget to deepen a particular plotline or to make sure the beginning-middle-end structure is evenly balanced. As I write full-time, I devote three focused hours to drafting five days a week. I find that is a nice balance between burning out and feeling frustrated at doing too little. As I’m an indie author, all the other hours of the day are spent marketing and social media-ing!

Sabitha: Your world is full of entertaining characters. Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Dixon: The character I relate most to in Blood Brute is that of Salter. She is tall, like myself, and adores books, writing, and stationery. She is also indoorsy and shuns the outside, also a bit like myself! Salter likes to let things simmer and fester, whereas I’m much more direct!

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Dixon: They can find Rise of One, Blood Brute Book 1 on Amazon KDP in ebook, paperback, and hardback here. I have a website. And if you sign-up to my author newsletter, you’ll receive a free Blood Brute prequel!

Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Today we’ll talk to Regina Brownell about her newest holiday romance, One Lucky Christmas. Regina, can you introduce us to your book?

Regina: One Lucky Christmas is about Kasey Johnson, a twenty-four year old woman who wishes her mother would accept who she is and not run her life. She agrees to go on blind dates set up by her mom. After several failed dates she meets date #31, a pastor’s son, Tobias Scott. She expects it to all go wrong but he takes her by surprise. He and his family accept her with open arms unlike her own, but with her meddling mother, his ex-girlfriend, and an accidental discovery, things might not turn out the way she hoped. 

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Regina: I was inspired by a Wattpad short story contest. The prompt was that your MC went on 121 dates and found the one. What started out as a short story soon turned into a whole book. I could not let go of these characters. 

Sabitha: We have a lot of writers in our community. What’s your writing process?

Regina: I’m a pantser, so things tend to get a little chaotic at times. I mostly jot down a few ideas, make a mood board and just start writing when it feels right—when the characters won’t stop talking. I write notes like characters’ names, their appearance, their likes, random chatter that goes on in my head, into a notebook. After my first draft, I let it sit and then do a reverse outline of sorts, writing everything down chapter by chapter in my notebook too. Then when that’s all done and it’s kind of edited I send it to my betas, then the pulling it all apart begins and the developmental edits happen and line edits after. 

Sabitha: Do you have a “fan-cast” – do you have actors you’d cast as your main characters?

Regina: Yes! I have always pictured Tobias the love interest as Nathan Parsons. He did a movie on Hallmark channel and the female lead Jonna Walsh also looked exactly how I pictured my MC Kasey. 

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read? Besides yours of course!

Regina: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang and Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren are my comfort reads. Will always recommend those. 

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?
Regina: You can buy my book on Amazon. You can find me at my Amazon author page, my Twitter, my Instagram, or my website.