Please welcome Beverley Bateman to my blog. Good morning Beverley. Shall we sit down for a chat?
Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.
Thank you, Mary for having me as your guest. I’m a Canadian author and live in Medicine Hat with my family and Shiba Inu dog. I write, read, bike, do some volunteering, do glass fusion and winter in the south.
Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book?
Yes, writing has always been part of my life. It started in childhood when I told stories, in school I wrote locked room mysteries and I’ve forever been writing short scenes and stuffing them in folders. I kept talking about writing that first book and when I was diagnosed with breast cancer it was my big wake-up “know” moment.
How difficult was it writing your first book?
It was a challenge. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write and someone mentioned romance. So I started a romance, but I’d be writing mystery scenarios so I kept throwing in deaths and attempted murders and it turned out to be a romantic suspense. It’s still hiding under the bed.
Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?
Yes. I write and think it’s horrible and I shouldn’t be writing. But I’ve always written, even just for myself. It’s like eating and breathing. I don’t think I can ever stop.
Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?
My daughter, she actually found the first writing conference I attended, before I knew anything about RWA and writing groups. And my husband tries to be supportive. He’s very patient when I’m writing.
Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
Not really, I try to write the best story I can and I hope they enjoy it and it takes them out of their daily life for a short period and maybe learn a little something from the themes.
What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?
There have been many who gave great advice. Once I found the writing group of authors I found them to be the most generous and helpful group to other writers.
The best advice is one everyone hears; write every day, you can edit whatever you write. You can’t edit a blank page. I think it originally came from Nora Roberts.
What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?
My target audience is women, probably twenty-five and up. My characters are successful women, strong women but with flaws or emotional issues and how they grow and overcome them. I hope that women who read me might find ways they can grow and change should they want or need.
Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?
I have a cover designer and we work well together. I tell her my thoughts, what I’m sort of thinking and she works on it and sends me sketches. We go back and forth until it works for me.
What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?
I’m working on Book Two in The Foundation Series, Liability Wife.
Here’s a draft excerpt.
“Lydia hesitated at the door of her Florida home. It had been almost five months since she’d been back. She’d had the locks changed so her wonderful, cheating husband couldn’t get in. Still…
She knew he’d hired a hit man but she hoped she had slipped back into town unnoticed and if she was quick, she could get in, do a quick check and remove some of her stuff before her husband or the hit man knew she was back in town. She had a flight back to New York tonight.
Her first stop had been to her lawyers to sign the changes to her will.
Now she glanced over her shoulder. The street looked empty. She turned the key and the locked clicked. Lydia slipped quickly inside and locked the door. The place had the musty scent of being closed up for a few months. No one, including Paul, had been back inside. He was staying at the Men’s club. She’d checked out his location and itinerary before she’d come back to Florida.
The house gave off unwelcoming, almost threatening vibes. She felt a little vulnerable without her team. A smile touched her lips briefly. She’d never expected to become a special operative with a strong supportive team rescuing women in life threatening situations. If they were here they’d have her back but they were back in New York. They would always be there for her if Paul continued to try and have her killed.
She hurried to her office, opened a couple of drawers, and grabbed a diary and some computer disks. Lydia dropped them into the backpack she’d brought with her and hastened up the stairs to her bedroom. In the closet she removed a few favorite outfits. At the back of the closet she opened the secret compartment where she kept her good jewelry, dumped everything into the backpack, shivered, and ran down the stairs. Something felt off.
She wanted out of the house. She darted down the hall to the back door. A click from the front door caught her attention. Lydia’s stomach clenched. Someone knew she was here. They were trying to break into the house.
Lydia paused one second and focused her mind on the front door. She could see the lock. Using her power of telekinesis she visualized the pick being pushed into the lock, slid it out of the lock and dropped it in the plant beside the door.
She heard someone swear.
Running quickly to the front door she let herself out, locking the door behind her and raced down the steps to her car.
Seconds later the rental car was doing a Daytona down the road. Lydia checked in her rear view mirror. She couldn’t see anyone following her.
She’d sell the house. She couldn’t go back. Paul hiring someone to kill her had been a possibility. It hadn’t really hit her until today. It was hard to believe he hated her that much, or maybe just wanted her money. He’d be shocked when he found out she’d made sure he didn’t get a penny.”
Any last words before we wrap things up?
Thank you for having me. I hope people enjoy my books and I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and reads lots of books.
BIO
Murder, mystery and romance fills award-winning, Canadian author, Beverley Bateman’s life. She loves to plot, kill and hopefully baffle the reader. Her nursing and public health nursing background helps with some details and administering a community care facility program had her investigating and directing investigations into irregularities and sometimes a death. She even has court experience.
She began writing in her preteens and loved to write locked room mysteries. Reading Nancy Drew helped her figure out plots. Facing breast cancer, she decided she needed to do what she’d always wanted and began to write. She completed her first romantic suspense novel and hasn’t stopped writing since. She recently moved and now lives among ranches and wheat fields in southern Alberta, with her husband and Shiba Inu dog.
Social Links
BLOG – http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/beverley.bateman.18
Website https://www.beverleybateman.com
Twitter @kelownawriter http://twitter/kelownawriter
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7052567.Beverley_Bateman
Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/Beverley-Bateman/e/B008M01F5E
Tumblr – darkwriter.tumblr.com
Instagram Beverley.Bateman
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/okwriter
LinkedIn – babateman@shaw.ca https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleybateman/
BUY LINKS
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JQ97L8M?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-fourth-victim-9
Itunes https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-fourth-victim/id1440048796?ls=1&mt=11
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Beverley_Bateman_The_Fourth_Victim?id=_Od3DwAAQBAJ
When Angels Fly 