Meet author Denise Moncrief. Denise is a Southern girl. She has lived in Louisiana all her life, and yes, she has a drawl. She has a wonderful husband and two incredible children, who not only endure her writing moods, but also encourage her to indulge her writing passion. Besides writing romantic suspense, she enjoys traveling, reading, and scrapbooking.

Accounting is a skill she learned to earn a little money to support her writing habit. She wrote he first story when she was a teen, seventeen handwritten pages on school-ruled paper and an obvious rip-off of the last romance novel she read. She’s been writing off and on ever since, and with more than a few full-length manuscripts already completed, she has no desire to slow down.

What made you pick the genre you write?
I write romantic suspense. I love the build-up of tension in the plot until that moment when all the threads come together and the tension reaches a crescendo.

How many books do you have published?
seventeen

Who is your favorite author?
Heather Graham

Where do you most like to vacation?
Colorado. I love the mountains.

If you could have lunch with anyone (living or deceased) who would it be and why?
My father. I miss him so much. I never realized how much I depended on him for advice until after he died. I miss him every single day.
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Where can readers find out more about you?
www.denisemoncrief.com or www.denisemoncrief.blogspot.com

Meet Joel Van Valin, author of The Grand Dissolute. Joel Van Valin is the author of the fantasy novel The Flower of Clear Burning and the publisher of Whistling Shade literary journal (www.whistlingshade.com). He lives with his wife Lisa, a real life veterinarian, in St. Paul.

What made you pick the genre you write?
I have written in sci-fi, fantasy and historical genres. In the case of The Grand Dissolute, an idea I had about a guy whose girlfriend is a time traveler really captivated me. I wrote a short story about it but it still wouldn't let me go. So I wound up blending sci-fi, historical and romance together in a novel.

How many books do you have published?
Two - The Grand Dissolute and an earlier fantasy, The Flower of Clear Burning.

Have you won any awards with your writing?
A short story I wrote won a local story contest.$500! That's the most I've ever earned for creative writing. I've also won a couple of newspaper poetry contest and had a winning sonnet in a sonnet contest sponsored by the Great River Shakespeare Festival.

Who is your favorite author?
Dead: Edna St. Vincent Millay. Living: David Mitchell.

Where do you most like to vacation?
England

If you could have lunch with anyone (living or deceased) who would it be and why?
Lord Byron. I would be curious about his opinions on our 21st century world. And also perhaps he could talk about his own personal life (his friends burned his memoirs shortly after his death, for fear of scandal).
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Where can readers find out more about you?
My website is www.whistlingshade.com/joel.html