Hi everyone. Thank you to Marcia for having me on!

I’m a dog lover and dogs play a part in most of my books. In one of my first contemporary romance novels, Millie Vanilla’s Cupcake Café, Trevor the little cockapoo replaces the family Millie lost. I like to think of Millie, several years on, with lots of dogs, a couple of children, some beehives and a few chickens sharing her beautiful country cottage. You’ll have to read the Berecombe series of books to find out how she achieves her dream!

{NOTE FROM MARCIA: All buy links for these books can be found on Georgia’s Amazon Author Pages – see below}

In a later book in the series, Benji, the spoiled Westie in The Little Book Café, is instrumental in revealing just how cruel Tash’s boyfriend is. The same book has gentle giant animal sanctuary owner Kit. I gave him a gentle giant of a dog, so he has Merlin the rescued Irish Wolfhound. Kit leaves Merlin to guard Tash, and he’s a quiet presence in the book–just like Kit. My favourite kind of hero!

Why do I put dogs in books? Good question as, just as in life, they can be hard work and a huge tie [aka commitment]! I’ve always loved dogs. I’ve owned a cocker spaniel, a sprocker [NOTE: a cross between an English Springer Spaniel and an English Cocker Spaniel], and currently have a little black cockapoo and a rescue cocker spaniel.

Dogs can be useful in books. Writing a scene where an otherwise taciturn grumpy hero is caring and soppy with his dog can show his softer side. Equally, a character being cruel to an animal can hammer home how wicked they are–even when their public face says something else.

In While I Was Waiting, Piglet, the crossbreed puppy, turns Rachel’s life around when she is at her lowest and opens her up to love.

And dogs can move the plot forward, too. In Janey Trelawney’s Year of Surprising Triumphs, Camilla, the beautiful but dippy cocker, brings the hero and heroine together in a dramatic “meet cute.”

Although I’m probably best known for my contemporary romances, I also write historical romance, too–dual narratives where two stories run parallel alongside one another. They’re my absolute favourite kind of books to read. I find them challenging to write, but eminently satisfying when I manage to pull both plots together at the end. Dogs feature in them, too, although in Magpie, my historical novel about witchcraft, cats play a bigger part.

In On a Falling Tide, set in Lyme Regis and inspired by fossil expert Mary Anning, boatbuilder Matt owns springer puppy Dolly. Not only does she bring Matt and the heroine Charity together, but she’s also the perfect dog for him, being as energetic, loyal, and hard-working as he is. She also–sort of–finds the ammonite fossil which plays a vital part in the story. And another springer and an Irish Wolfhound, in The Sea Glass Necklace, protect their mistresses against predatory and very evil men.

I belong to the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Whenever there is a conference, the Elizabeth Goudge Competition is held. In 2024 my entry, Room for Two at Rose Cottage, achieved second place. I completely rewrote it as Sunny New Beginnings at Sea Haven House, which will be my next book out in June. The forced proximity romance evolved into something very different, and guess what, it features a dog. Vinny the spaniel helps heroine Callie reflect on her childhood, making her realise just how dysfunctional it was. Told you dogs in books can be useful.

Dogs have given me so much in life and they add to my writing, too. Not sure I’d ever trust a romantic hero who didn’t like them!

You can find me here:

Website: http://www.georgiahill.co.uk

Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Hill/e/B003VMVXN2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1429883769&sr=1-1

Amazon US Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Georgia-Hill/e/B003VMVXN2/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgiahillauthor?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/georgiawrites

MARCIA: Thank you, Georgia, for being my May interviewee!

MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!

Each month, I’ll randomly pick one blog commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!

1. I hear you have a black Labrador Retriever in your Sidney Lake Lowcountry Mysteries. Tell us about the series.

The Rising Tide is the first book in the series and introduces all the main characters: Prof. Sidney Lake, soon-to-retire professor of Victorian Lit.; Tillie James, Lake’s Gullah housekeeper from the Lowcountry islands; Mickey, Lake’s black lab and partner that serves as his sounding board for his theories and ideas; and Hattie Ryan, Lake’s associate at the college who doesn’t put up with his pompous approach to the police and others in authority. The book also introduces the reader to the Gullah people and culture and explores their history and language.

Praise for The Rising Tide: “You may want to pick up this really good mystery set in the Lowcountry. I really enjoyed it.” — Ellen C. Priest, Editor/publisher, Summerville, South Carolina Journal Scene

The Rising Tide is available in ebook and paperback.

Amazon paperback buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-Sidney-Lowcountry-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FJ6SJ3S2/

The Murder of Amos Dunn is the second book. Here we have a mystery where both Tillie James and Mickey shine, as they lead Prof. Lake in directions he and the police had not thought of. Amos Dunn is a successful Black man from the North, who has done very well for himself in the Lowcountry town of Morgan and is found dead in his store. The police chalk it up to a simple robbery gone wrong but not Tillie, who questions a notebook Amos was known to always on his person and was not found on his body.

Praise for The Murder of Amos Dunn: “This is a great read and my favorite mystery for 2020.” — Kale on Books

The Murder of Amos Dunn is available in ebook and paperback.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Amos-Dunn-Tim-Holland/dp/1961548410

Deception is the third in the series. When Sidney Lake learned the author’s copy of Anne Brontë’s novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall had been stolen, he firmly believed he would never see it again, much less hold it in his hands. But there it was. In the hands of an appraiser at the National Arts and Crafts Show. Could it be the same three-volume first edition of the book or a forgery? The Lowcountry of South Carolina takes center stage as Sidney Lake and Tillie James pursue the answers to questions not everyone wants asked.

Praise for Deception: “I rate Deception 4 out of 4 stars. The book was an engaging, entertaining, enlightening, and intriguing one. It is one of the best mystery novels I have read.” — Ziggy, Official Reviewer for The On-Line Book Club

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Deception-Sidney-Lake-Lowcountry-Mystery/dp/1953434789/ 

Deception Barnes & Noble paperback buy link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deception-timothy-holland/1141774831?ean=9781953434784

December Rain is the fourth in the mystery series. Here we have the ultimate puzzle. It begins in the year 1718 in colonial Charles Town, South Carolina, where the reader is introduced to a mixture of real and historical characters. The story is told in alternating chapters between the history ones and current day ones (where crimes and murders are taking place). It covers the happenings during the early slavery of the Gullah people, King Georges War, The French and Indian War, The American Revolution, the battle between the Rebels and the Loyalists before and after the revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and finally merges with the current time, where the search for a killer continues.

(NOTE: I ‘ve been asked to participate in Jamestown, VA’s 250-year celebration, where I will feature December Rain.)

Praise for December Rain: “It’s very good, and the history background makes it a standout.” — Mary Skinner, former director of English program at Oceanside School System, Oceanside, New York.

December Rain is available in ebook and paperback.

Amazon paperback buy link: https://www.amazon.com/December-Rain-Sidney-Lowcountry-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0CVFL7GJQ

2. Why did you add a black lab to this series?

Mickey (legal name, Mrs. Micawber), is the black Labrador Retriever who often steals center stage in the series. One of the models for Mickey is Sophie, my Chocolate Lab, who shares the sofa with me in my office as I write. Sophie also helps do the laundry as her job is to go to the bathrooms and find any used clothing she can and bring it to me in the laundry room.

The first model for Mickey was another Lab Retriever of mine named Cassie. She was given a tag to wear that designated her as the “Official Greeter” for the community. Sadly, she passed away at 14.

While most postal carriers are wary of dogs, Chris (the mailman), Cassie, and Sophie were best of friends. Sophie would even go into his truck to pick up the mail directly from him before he had a chance to put in into the mailbox.

3. What was the inspiration for this series?

I began writing about the Lowcountry of South Carolina about twenty years ago while I lived in Beaufort, SC. As part of my community activities for Clemson’s Senior Leadership Program, I was asked to create a Beaufort Heritage Day program. My first outreach was to Marquetta Goodwine, the founder of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. I asked her to give a talk on the Gullah heritage that permeates everything in the region. She was shocked. No one had ever asked a member of the Gullah community to participate in a heritage program. It was then I decided to begin work on a mystery novel that would make the Gullah people and the Lowcountry of South Carolina its center. And so, The Rising Tide was created. Tillie James, the Gullah housekeeper turned entrepreneur, grew as a much-loved character. The positive response resulted in the writing of the three following novels and another one in the planning stage.

Blue Fortune Enterprises (BFE) under their Cactus Mystery imprint (https://blue-fortune.com/cactus-mystery-press) is the publisher of the latest Sidney Lake mystery, December Rain and is reissuing the first three novels. Sidney Lake and Tillie James are not finished, however, as there are more stories yet to be told.

4. What other books have you written?

BFE will also be the publisher of my new Matt Donovan mystery novels, the first of which, An Impulse for Murder, will be out in the Fall of 2026.

Matt Donovan is a retired NYPD detective who previously headed the White Collar Crime Division. He now has a consulting company that is on retainer to a firm that validates private investments, not vetted by the SEC, for their suitability as investments in retirement and general market portfolios. In An Impulse for Murder, there’s an apparent murder of an arrogant, mysterious, wealthy investment manager in Suffolk, VA, who was peddling participations in a real estate project. Matt Donovan, who’s a student of philosophy and a devotee of Plato’s Republic, evaluates suspects by using the habits and characterizations Plato describes in great detail of the Immoral Man.

What the Mirror Doesn’t See was my second novel:

It is 1993, the banking world is in turmoil, and in NJ, there is outright panic. The big New York banks and emerging regionals are gobbling up everything in the state. The Fed has opened the floodgates, and traditional banking ethics are disappearing.

At a used book sale, Jim Fairmont, a career banker having worked for First State Bank for more than twenty-five years, finds a blank, signed invoice belonging to an auto parts supplier. The document is contained in a box of books donated by Larry McBride, a new-breed, brash, former New York banker.

Jim begins to investigate McBride’s relationships with some of First State’s customers. What he uncovers is much bigger than he ever imagined. His discoveries put him in the sights of New Jersey’s underworld, who are determined to protect McBride and his clients, putting not only Jim’s life in danger, but those of his close associates’ as well.

Praise for What the Mirror Doesn’t See: “I found it educational, entertaining, and hard to put down.” — Regan Murphy, The Review Team of Jones and Murphy

What the Mirror Doesn’t See Amazon paperback buy link: https://www.amazon.com/What-Mirror-Doesnt-See-Holland/dp/1626948712

5. Where can readers learn more about you and your books?

I’m a featured author at the Williamsburg Book Festival on March 7 and the Suffolk Authors Festival on March 14. And here is my website: https://www.Tim-Holland.com

WIN A “SIDNEY LAKE” MYSTERY: Tim will give away an ebook of The Rising Tide to one lucky commenter on his interview! So don’t forget to comment below!

Thank you, Tim, for being my March interviewee! I always enjoy learning about new-to-me mystery series.

MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!

Each month, I’ll randomly pick one blog commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!

1. I hear you have mysteries featuring a Southern ornithologist. Tell us about the series.

The series is called “The Benjamin Miles Mysteries.” The protagonist, who prefers to go by Miles, is a Southern ornithologist who investigates birds, but stumbles across murders.

The first book, The Elvis Bird, begins with Miles alone in a dark audio lab, listening to recordings made by a Cornell University team that were collected in the Okefenokee Swamp. Miles is searching for the distinctive kent-call or double-knock of the now presumed extinct, ivory-billed woodpecker. Instead of kent-calls, Miles overhears a human conversation, a gunshot, and a splash. He inquires about a possible murder from his Ithaca, New York office, but apparently, no one has been murdered. Frustrated, he decides to fly home to Georgia to investigate a murder that may not have occurred and a bird that may not exist. The Elvis Bird is part mystery, part love story, and one-hundred percent Southern.

In the second book, Death of a Golden Bird, Miles travels to California at the request of his old professor, Baz Chapman, to address a meeting of the Field Ornithologists of the Pacific. Miles’ ulterior motive for the trip is a chance to reconnect with Susan Swail, a mathematics professor at Stanford, and his love interest from book one. Baz also has an ulterior motive for inviting Miles to California: he wants Miles to take up his research on golden eagles. Baz has documented that golden eagles are dying at an alarming rate because the state has approved major wind farm construction in the Pacific Flyway. Miles is soon drawn into a mystery that involves possible corruption in the state government and an eccentric billionaire who aims to connect all of California with magnetic trains powered by the world’s largest wind turbines.

I am in the middle of writing the third book in the series, A Charm of Hummingbirds. The setting for this novel is Washington, D.C. Readers can expect to learn a bit about hummingbirds and the imagined political shenanigans of lobbyists in Washington. The book will appear in the spring of 2026.

2. Why did you add a dog to the second book?

I’m a big fan of Andrew Cartmel, the British author who writes The Vinyl Detective series of mysteries. Cartmel is a cat-lover in real life and writes about his protagonist’s two cats in each book. It got me thinking about my own novel. Could a pet help the story along? In Death of a Golden Bird, Miles is competing with Susan’s fiancé, Peter, for her attention. Peter, has gifted Susan a terrier named Asta. I thought it could be insightful to see how Asta interacts with Peter and Miles as Susan is making up her mind about these two men. Asta also has a small part in finding the evidence needed to solve the mystery.

3. Why did you decide to self-publish?

After a forty-year career teaching mathematics and computer science, I came to serious writing rather late. I took a creative writing class at Merton College, Oxford, and my desire to write fiction was ignited. I’ve spent years practicing, and finally produced The Elvis Bird after learning about the real-life search for ivory-billed woodpeckers in Arkansas. I began to shop the book with agents and found the process encouraging. My plans to publish were thwarted by the discovery that I had stage-four intestinal cancer.

With what seemed like limited time to live, I decided to skip the Kubler-Ross stages of grief and jump to a celebration of the life I had been given and joy for each day that comes along. My daughter suggested self-publishing the novel, and I decided she was right: it was a wonderful way to get the book into the world. Three years after the initial diagnosis of cancer, I am still in the world and writing. I don’t seem to have cancer at the moment. For that, I am joyful and blessed.

In looking back at my experience, I believe that self-publishing can be an excellent choice for a young writer. It gives them a chance to write, improve, and see their books in the world. With diligence, a young writer can develop an audience over time as they improve the quality of their books and develop a brand.

4. How do you promote your books?

With each new book, I throw a celebration. It’s held at the Springer Opera House, the State Theatre of Georgia. I invite everyone I know, and it’s open to anyone interested in the book. We have lots of food and drinks. It’s a chance to thank my friends for their prayers and kind deeds. After speaking briefly about the new book and reading a few paragraphs, I sign books as everyone mingles.

In the Venn diagram of mystery lovers and bird lovers, there is a large intersection of readers. I decided to advertise my books in Living Bird Magazine, published by Cornell University, and in Bird Watching Magazine. This is fairly expensive, but the risk reflects my belief that the books are worth reading and that there are people in the world who would enjoy them. My goal is modest: I try to break even. I have found it a very effective way of promoting book sales.

I occasionally speak at bird groups, including the Georgia Audubon Society Bookclub. I promoted my books with that group, and they included my books in their reading list.

I have two websites:

• dewoolbright.com – my publishing site that lists all my books.
• punctiliousprogrammer.com – my blog and teaching site for IBM Assembly Language. The blog has a substantial number of readers, and I have promoted my mysteries there.

5. Where can readers buy your books and connect with you online?

The best way to connect with me is by email: woolbright_david@icloud.com

You can see links to purchase my books at DEWoolbright.com and my books are also available at Amazon in several formats.

6. Do you have a dog?

Rocco is the shelter dog we bought several years after losing our sweet schnauzer. I named him after the fabulous Italian detective Rocco Schiavonne in Ice Cold Murders. Here he is, solving the mystery of how he can spend more time on my lap.

MARCIA: Thank you, D. E., for being my January interviewee!

MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!

Each month, I’ll randomly pick one blog commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!

1. I hear you have pets, as well as wild animals, in your multicultural mystery series. Tell us about the books.

I write “A Cadence Mystery” series. Six books are available and book 7 is with my editor and due to be released in December 2025. Cadence, located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, is a fictional Utopian community established in 1789 on sacred Seneca land, gifted by the Todadaho, the spiritual leader of the Six Nations of the Iroquois. This is a place where everyone is welcome, and people live in harmony with one another and with nature. The town is governed based on the Onondaga principles of equality, respect, collaboration, and unity.

But bad actors had been trying to destroy the town since its beginning. After a horrific race massacre in 1921 that left hundreds dead and hundreds more fleeing, the town agrees in a secret covenant to go into hiding for 100 years, when it is hoped that the country will have reconciled its racist past.

The stories pick up in 2021, when certain conditions of the covenant are met with the arrival of the three main characters in the book: Marian Greene, the narrator; her husband, Lester; and Enoch Shenendoah, who becomes the couple’s close friend and neighbor.

The books are character-driven cozy mysteries with strong elements of thriller/suspense, folklore, social justice commentary, and Gothic horror. Literary Titan compared my books to Louise Penny’s “Three Pines” series and Julia Spencer-Fleming’s “Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries,” while a reader review compared Fallen Deer [book 6 of the series] to Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Many of the stories, as I mentioned, explore the myths and legends of the First Nations People of the Americas and Africa. These are cultures that hold animals in high esteem, and animals play important roles in the Cadence stories. For example, Enoch Shenandoah has a Maine coon cat named Jí:hah, which is the Onondaga word for dog, who might or might not be a reincarnated tiger. His pet dog, Ęhní’da’, the Onondaga word for moon, is a silver-haired terrier who sometimes assists in solving crimes. Enoch, who is Onondaga, is known in the community for his special relationship and bond with animals. He’s assisted animals in crossing over and communicates with them.

Wild animals play important roles in the stories, too, and include Clear-Eyed bear, a bear with cataracts who may or may not be the reincarnation of Sheriff Craig Lawton, who dies in Stony Place (book 3), an eagle, an owl, deer, and in book 7 (yet to be released), bats. All the animals serve as warnings, messengers, or protectors, as Seneca Lake, or Assiniki, the Seneca name, releases the secrets it has witnessed. Each secret released is part of Cadence’s tragic past but is also connected to the secrets and tragedies of the present.

I’d like to highlight three of the books in the series:

Fallen Deer (A Cadence Mystery, book #6) blurb:

A penumbral lunar eclipse of the worm moon is imminent in Cadence where the spring rain is constant and the chill in the air is palpable. Lester Greene and Enoch Shenandoah are called to an emergency at the Hill Place Resort. Marian Greene decides to run errands. She is stopped in her tracks by a deer. And a dead body. When Police Chief George Powless receives a report that there are monsters in the woods, and two more bodies are discovered, chaos ensues. The community of Cadence is left to wonder once again what secret the lake is about to reveal. Will Cadence be destroyed when the secret is revealed, or will it be saved?

As far as the role of animals in the story, deer and the el cadejo of Guatemalan folklore play important roles, both as metaphors and as helpers/messengers to the people of Cadence, a sanctuary town. The town needs all the help it can get in discovering who the real bad guys are when two busloads of immigrants are sent to Cadence from one of the red border states. A secret from the past is revealed and connected to one of the passengers. The community is about to learn that the sins of the past cannot be buried and forgotten.

It’s sold on Amazon and Audible. You can purchase it here: https://tinyurl.com/25sk4r5n

Stony Place (A Cadence Mystery, book #3) blurb:

As dawn breaks on July 2, 2023, two brothers steal a vintage car, load it with assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and drive two hours to Cadence to start a race war. Their fantasy of mayhem and notoriety brings anguish and loss to the multicultural, inclusive community. Seneca Lake, known for millennia as Assiniki, or Stony Place, by the Seneca tribe, dredges up a shameful history of Cadence. Or perhaps it is the Great Serpent who orchestrates the shocking revelation. Once again, Marian and Lester Greene, Enoch Shenandoah, and their family, friends, and neighbors must rise to the challenge or lose everyone they love and the town they’ve committed to keeping safe.

This book introduces Ęhní’da’. He stops the brothers from finishing their deadly mission and teams up with Jí:hah to prevent Enoch Shenandoah from making a fatal decision.

You can purchase it here: https://tinyurl.com/3hxnxff7

Stone Coat Man (A Cadence Mystery, #4) blurb:

“What could possibly happen?” Marian Greene quips to husband Lester, as she sets out for a quiet walk in the woods. But life in Cadence is neither quiet nor easy. Stunned after a fall, Marian stumbles upon a mutilated corpse. Kneeling beside the corpse is a menacing giant. Is the ogre a figment of her imagination, or is it the Genoskwa, the mythical creature of Seneca legend?

Gunfire, a second body, and two missing people ignite a community-wide search for the answer. When hidden truths and secret agreements are uncovered, the Greenes and their friends are soon confronting their own demons and wondering, “Who is the real monster?”

In this book, Ęhní’da’ is with Marian when she goes on her walk but runs off to visit an old friend, causing Marian’s fall. He plays a crucial role in solving the mystery, too. Clear-Eyed bear is awoken from his state of torpor by nefarious characters. He serves as a protector in this book and others.

You can purchase it here: https://tinyurl.com/mu8r83jx

My cover drawings are done by Brad Jimmerson, a Seneca Nation artist. He brings my imaginings to life with his line drawings, and several of the book covers feature animals. AI covers are popular, but I’d rather stay authentic and unique, just like Cadence and the people and animals who live there.

You can purchase all “A Cadence Mystery” books here, including The Rightful Future (A Cadence Mystery, #1), The Eagle Speaks (A Cadence Mystery, #2), Improbable Future (A Cadence Mystery, # 5), and Creature of Secret Sorrows (A Cadence Mystery, #7) [to be released in December 2025]:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B54ZMZH2?binding=paperback&qid=1754618026&sr=8-1&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tpbk

2. Why did you add pets to this book?

I’ve had pets my whole life. The neighbors called my childhood home The Liuzzi Menagerie. We had a cat and dog, of course. My Australian mother loved birds, so we had canaries, parakeets, and green parrots. We called them budgies. I had rabbits. We had pet turtles and goldfish. And we had a pet caiman. He wasn’t much fun.

My oldest brother was a psychology major, and when it came time to put down his lab rat, he brought him home instead and gave him to me. I named him Ratso and smuggled him into my dorm room when I went to college.

When our four-year-old twin daughters asked my husband and me for a cat, we ended up with Zara, a tabby who mostly terrorized us with her demands. I told my husband we couldn’t give her away, when he said she was mean and might seriously injure one of us. “What should I do?” I quipped. “Place a classified ad that reads, ‘Vicious cat needs good home?’”

Zara insisted we ruined her life when we brought China, our Shar-Pei, home. She made sure to remind us daily. But the two of them joined forces one evening on pizza night. China pushed the kitchen door open, and Zara jumped up on the counter to grab slices. Then, they made a run for the basement with their stash.

Our most recent pet, Ru, was a silver mini schnauzer. He was a man-about-town type, but he loved his people, especially his mama, and every night he and I would do floor time before bed. He never met a human he didn’t like, and he wore ties with panache. He kept an inventory of his toys, tossed our bed if he were angry at us, and was the only dog my mother-in-law wasn’t afraid of. She would pet him for hours. We lost Ru four years ago, when he was 15, but we still talk about him often and miss him so much. He lives on in spirit as Ęhní’da’. Here’s a pic of my handsome boy. He cut his eyes at me because he’d just come from the groomer and wasn’t happy. I know, what’s not to love?

Like my mother, I love birds. I don’t go to the beach to sunbathe. I go to photograph birds. An Eastern bluebird honors us with visits each morning. He goes from window to window searching for us. Sometimes he joins us at the dining room window, eating his worm while we eat breakfast. We talk to him, and he has a lot to say. Yes, I talk to animals and they talk back. The birders claim he’s seeing his reflection and being territorial, but we don’t believe that. Otherwise, why would he look for us? Share a meal with us? Here’s a pic of him. What a beautiful bird.

3. What other books have you written?

My two memoirs are also available on Amazon and Audible:

Another Day in Post-Racial America: To Mothers of the Black Lives Matter Movement, With Love blurb:

Dedicated to the mothers of the Black Lives Matter Movement, and set among the stories of unarmed black men, women, and children who were victims of excessive use of force and racial bias, Liuzzi Hagan’s memoir is a candid, emotionally intimate account of the devastating personal effects of politically motivated and systematized racism in America. She is white; her husband is Black. They have mixed-race twin daughters. Their relationship spans over forty years. As both a witness to and a target of racial bias, her stories, ranging from microaggressions to the truly terrifying, are told in vivid and affecting detail. Interwoven throughout the stories are appeals for empathy and insight, as well as suggestions on how to dismantle systemic racism and change the race narrative to make America safer, egalitarian, and a place where black lives matter. This is a story of shock, outrage, heartbreak, forbearance, love, and hope for her family, for the families who lost loved ones to racially motivated violence, and for America. It includes discussion questions for classrooms and book clubs.

Named one of the Best Black Lives Matter Books and Audiobooks by BookAuthority, and a semi-finalist in the North Street Book Prize 2020, you can purchase it here: https://tinyurl.com/2vem22ma

American Dreaming: A Memoir of Interracial Love, Estrangement, and Race Equality blurb:

In a country that can’t seem to close the divide between Black and white Americans, Dianne and Ronald’s enduring love shows how. In the 1940s, Liuzzi Hagan’s father, Frank, an Italian-American, met Ruth, an Australian of Irish descent, in Ryde, Australia, where he was stationed during World War II. They married and settled in Albany, New York, where Frank’s family refused to accept a foreigner into their fold. Much like our country today, the resulting division, vitriol, and isolation were overwhelming for the couple, and their relationship disintegrated into arguments and alcoholism.

Thirty years later, in 1976, their daughter, Dianne, met Ronald, who is Black, during their freshman year of college at Syracuse University. Against external judgments, threats of violence, and her family’s strong disapproval, they fell deeply in love. Unlike her parents, Dianne and Ronald found solace, equality, acceptance, and a peaceful reconciliation in their relationship–a lesson for America on healing the racial divide. Liuzzi Hagan artfully weaves the stories of two generations, who struggle against convention, with dreams, commentary about the state of systemic racism and race relations in America, and an intimate portrayal of fractured family relations.

Winner of an Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest 29th Annual Self-Published Book Awards. You can purchase it here: https://tinyurl.com/4j53aymb

4. Tell us about your kudos or reviews.

A Cadence Mystery is the winner of five Literary Titan five-star Gold Book Awards and four American Fiction Finalist Awards. Here’s what reviewers and critics are saying about A Cadence Mystery:

“What I love most is how effortlessly Hagan blends cozy small-town dynamics with high-stakes suspense. The relationships feel real—warm, complicated, and filled with the kind of teasing and deep loyalty that makes the town of Cadence feel like home. Every character feels like someone you’d meet in real life.” Literary Titan

“Small-town mysteries are nothing new, but Cadence certainly is, as are the inhabitants. It’s not simply a novel set in a small town, but a murder mystery, and not just a mystery, but one about long-buried (but still simmering) slights. It’s also a tale of community, spite, legacy, and, beyond anything else, healing. Hagan’s characters are realistic and vivid. The cast is lively and multigenerational. And Cadence, the town, is another character of sorts, the secretive kind who, when she finally does give up a secret, keeps a dozen more.” Booklife Prize

“A gripping, emotionally rich, and culturally aware mystery that exemplifies character-driven storytelling at its finest.” Reader Review

“Hagan’s ability to balance a deeply personal story of survival with a pulse-pounding mystery is exceptional.” Reader Review

5. How does the inclusion of animals help you deliver your main message to readers?

The animals in my books are not props. They’re active participants in the stories. But they also represent truth, wisdom, knowledge, intuition, and trust. When Clear-Eyed bear nudges a shoulder with his messy snout, the receivers of his gesture must have trust that he is there to protect them. The mythical monsters that visit Cadence represent fear, secrets, distrust, sorrow, and the dark tragedies of the past and inside the hearts and minds of certain characters.

What I hope my stories convey is that although we may have cultural differences and different perspectives, one thing we share is our history. It connects us more than separates us. Much of our history is brutal and unforgiving. The legacy of colonization and subjugation hangs over us like a shroud. But I believe we can reconcile our past and heal the wounds it caused, as the characters in my books are learning to do as each awful secret from the past is revealed.

Cadence is a place that values and promotes stewardship of one another and of nature and the earth. They do that by treating everyone with respect; acknowledging each individual’s agency, which is the ability to make decisions and to act independently; and by believing that they’re on this journey together. They include, nurture, and support one another along the way, especially during the difficult times. Those simple acts can make the world a better, kinder, and more forgiving and accepting place. A place like Cadence.

Animals deserve the same respect and stewardship. They serve important roles in keeping our earth vital. We should honor them for their contributions, in the wider world, and personally in our lives. Our pets offer us unconditional love, emotional support, and joy. They teach children empathy and how to nurture and appreciate others. Some people claim animals have no souls. I beg to differ. Just like I know our Eastern blue bird is coming to visit us, not to stare at his reflection. We’re his people. And he’s ours.

6. Where can readers learn more about your books and connect with you online?

Website: https://diannelhaganauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianneLiuzziHagan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17598423.Dianne_Liuzzi_Hagan
Amazon Author’s page: https://www.amazon.com/author/diannelhagan

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MARCIA: Thank you, Dianne, for being my September interviewee!

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