Please welcome Karen Hulene Bartell to the Clog Blog! So Karen, what else do you have coming out?
Kissing Kin is being released three weeks prior to Fox Tale’s release. Both are paranormal romances, but other than that, they are so dissimilar.
Kissing Kin is set in Texas. It’s about a woman starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.
When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.
But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?
Fox Tale is set in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan. It’s about a woman who’s terrified of heights. When a stranger saves her from plunging down a mountain, he diverts her fears with tales of Japanese kitsune—shapeshifting foxes—and she begins a journey into the supernatural.
She’s attracted to Chase, yet primal instincts urge caution when shadows suggest more than meets the eye.
She’s torn between Chase and Rafe, her ex, when a chance reunion reignites their passion, but she struggles to overcome two years of bitter resentment. Did Rafe jilt her, or were they pawns of a larger conspiracy? Are the ancient legends true of kitsunes twisting time and events?
When are you going to write your autobiography?
Excellent question, but until enough people care to read what I’ve done during and with my life, I’ll continue to simply put off writing my autobiography until “someday.” Guess I should refer to it as an “ought-to-biography” 😉
Are the names of the characters in your novels important?
I always choose names that are prevalent with the age of the character. For instance, I would not choose Mildred—my grandmother’s name, who was born in the 1880s—for a character who was born twenty-two years ago. In 2002, Madison, Hannah, and Emma were the top female choices for baby names.
Sometimes my character names evoke physical descriptions. For example, if the heroine is a volatile redhead, consider naming her Cayenne. It sounds like a woman’s name and conjures images of a woman who’s either hot or hot-tempered.
For Belize Navidad, a novel set in the Caribbean at Christmas time, I named the heroine Carol, as in Christmas Carol, and named the hero Nick, as in good old Saint…
The protagonist of Sacred Gift was angelic, so I named her Angela. The antagonist was Develyn, short for Debra Evelyn, suggesting the girl was devilish. You get the idea.
I chose the name Keya for the turtle-loving, Native American protagonist in The Keys: Voice of the Turtle. In the Lakota Sioux language, Keya means turtle. The setting of the paranormal romance was the Florida Keys, and the theme was protecting the sea turtles’ nesting beaches.
Selecting evocative names for protagonists and antagonists reinforces their characterizations and enhances the story. I research online for significant words in foreign languages, then use them as the characters’ names or nicknames, as shown above with Keya. The names capture the story’s essence.
If characters’ names still don’t seem important, consider the following scenario.
Four clergymen and their wives were flying back from an interdenominational conference when the plane crashed, and the four couples arrived at the Pearly Gates.
Saint Peter took the first preacher aside. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in. You were addicted to food and had a sweet tooth. In fact, you loved chocolate so much you married a woman named Candy.” Off they went to hell.
Saint Peter then addressed the second parson. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in. You loved the almighty dollar more than the Lord. In fact, you loved money so much you married a woman named Penny.” Off they went to hell.
Saint Peter spoke to the third minister. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in. You loved demon rum more than the Lord. In fact, you loved alcohol so much you married a woman named Brandy.” Off they went to hell.
The fourth preacher turned to his wife. “We don’t have a prayer, Fanny.”
What about the titles of your novels?
I keep a running list of titles that come to me at odd times–when I’m walking the dog, driving, or shopping for milk. (I admit to loving alliteration: Seven Summers, Cats and Cactus, Sacred Stone.) Each time I begin another book, I scour that list for ideas, then wordplay, using those words as the basis for the next title.
For a series title, for example, I might use Saline Series–think salt–briny–brackish. Then I brainstorm.
TITLE: Salt of the Earth
TITLE: Worth His/Her Salt
TITLE: [With a] Pinch of Salt
TITLE: Salt and Pepper–Differing Couples: old/young, different races/types/personalities
TITLE: Salt Away
TITLE: [Rub] Salt in the Wound
TITLE: [Throw] Salt Over His/Her Shoulder
TITLE: Old Salt–Brackish Mariner
Excerpt
“Ava, are you all right?”
“Yes…” His anxious eyes cleared my mind like fog lights cutting through mist. “I am all right…no thanks to you.”
“I deserve that.” His chin dropped on his chest.
“That and so much more.” This time, anger rose in my throat like acid reflux.
After the breakup, I couldn’t mention the bastard’s name for a year. Always questioning what I’d done wrong, I finally realized his leaving was his flaw–not mine. Then I fantasized telling him off, rehearsing what I’d say and how I’d say it…
But now, face to face, the bluster left me.
Worry lines radiated from his glistening eyes.
Mute testament to what? Grief? Remorse? Like drops of water eroding stone, what thoughts etched those furrows? His face was haggard. His looks have changed, but has he?
“Your behavior two years ago was unconscionable.” I pressed five, and the elevator doors started to close. “I shouldn’t have come.”
He intercepted, and the doors reopened. “Please stay…”
I took a deep breath, debating. Then rather than hold up the car again, I stepped into the vestibule.
“Can you forgive me?” A deep V showed between his red-rimmed eyes.
“No. Standing me up on my birthday was bad enough, but eloping…That was unforgiveable–and crocodile tears won’t help.”
“Yet here you are…” A light flickered in his moist eyes.
“I know.” I glared at my nemesis in a silent standoff, annoyed as I stifled a sigh. “What I don’t know is why.”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Author of the Trans-Pecos and Sacred Emblem series, Karen is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life, who writes multicultural, offbeat love stories. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved often, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor Emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.
Connect with Karen:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHuleneBartell
MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/karenbartell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuleneKaren
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/karenhulenebartell/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/611950.Karen_Hulene_Bartell
Website: http://www.KarenHuleneBartell.com/
Email: info@KarenHuleneBartell.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenhulenebartell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenhulenebartell/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-hulene-bartell
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhulenebartell/
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Please Welcome Eden Monroe to the Clog Blog! Eden, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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Excerpt
Welcome Lisette Blythe to the Clog Blog! Lisette, can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
Glory: A Sorority Rejects Tale is the story of understanding you aren’t what everyone tells you that you are. Grab those chapters from here: 
Please Welcome Dean L. Hovey to The Clog Blog! Dean can you tell us a little about yourself and your background. 
I’m a science and writing geek. Seriously, I was educated as a scientist. I’ve always written, and I’ve enjoyed writing, from the high school newspaper to technical scientific articles. I started writing my first mystery about 1995 after making a New Year’s resolution to stop watching television and make better use of my time. “Where Evil Hides” was published by a small press in 2000. That’s been followed by 32 other mysteries. “Family Trees” won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for best fiction in 2016. I joined BWL Publishing in 2019 and have been among their best-selling authors ever since.
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