Please Welcome Karen Muller Bryson Author of One Last Class and Twyla's Last Trip

It is a pleasure to host One Last Class and Twyla's Last Trip on the Rogues Angels blog. Please leave a comment. I am sure Karen would love to hear from you.

PRIZE INFORMATION

Karen will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenters during the tour and to the host whose post has the most comments (excluding Karen's and the hosts).

“One Last Class” and “Twyla’s Last Trip”

By Karen Mueller Bryson

Excerpt from “Twyla’s Last Trip:

Lucinda peered intently into her microscope until Bunny's voice blared from the intercom—again. “I'm sorry to bother you, Lucinda, but Mr. Yates is on the phone. He says he won't hang up until he speaks with you personally.”

Lucinda took a deep breath, stood and exited the lab. She marched over to the reception desk and ripped the phone from Bunny's grasp.

“Lucinda Starr,” she growled into the phone. “How may I help you?”

Thirty-year old T.J. Yates, the epitome of all things country, spoke to Lucinda from his cell phone. “Miss Starr,” he said. “I know we've never met but I've been your mom's attorney now for nearly a decade.”

“Will you please get to the point?” Lucinda interrupted. “I'm in the middle of an extremely important experiment.”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your mom has passed away.”

Lucinda flinched slightly but then it was back to business. “And what does this have to do with me?” she asked.

“Well, Miss Starr, you are the sole beneficiary of your mom's estate.”

“Estate?” Lucinda snorted. “My mother was a cat lady, who lived in a trailer.” 

“Miss Starr,” T.J. continued. “I don't think you understand.”

Before T.J. could finish, Lucinda slammed the phone into the receiver and hurried away.

T.J. looked at his cell phone dumbfounded. People never hung up on him, especially women.

Dakota, his two-year old bloodhound, glanced up from her doggie pillow and gave her head a tilt.

“I think this requires a little trip up to Chicago,” T.J. said.

Dakota just yawned and plopped her head back down on her bed. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Karen Mueller Bryson is an award-winning screenwriter, produced playwright and published novelist. She has been writing since she learned to read and fell in love with books! Karen is the creator of Short on Time Books, a series of fast-paced and fun novels for readers on the go. When she’s not at her computer creating new stories, Karen enjoys spending time with her husband and their bloodhounds.

Interview

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

My mother taught me to read when I was four and I immediately wanted to “write” a book! My mom helped me “write” my first novel, which was titled, My Family. That was forty years ago and I’m still writing! My love of books and creating stories has never waned. 

2. How did you come up with your idea for Twyla's Last Trip and One Last class?

When one of my best friends died of cancer two years ago, her husband and daughter took her ashes on a road trip along Route 66. The trip was something my friend wanted to do but she never got the chance before she passed away. I decided to use Route 66 road-trip concept to create, Twyla’s Last Trip, about a young woman, Lucinda Starr, who must take her estranged mother’s ashes on a road trip along Route 66, to fulfill the terms of her mother’s will. I decided to make the story a romantic comedy by adding a male lead, her mother’s lawyer, who must go on the trip with Lucinda. And I added a bloodhound on the trip for comedic effect (which works well because Lucinda does not like pets).

I love reading those “What ever happened to…” stories about teen celebrities, who are no longer in the public eye. It’s interesting to see how their lives change after their celebrity fades. Over the last few years, I’ve read about several celebrities, who returned to school to complete their college degrees, so I thought it would be interesting if a “washed-up” teen idol, Zak Spencer, who was no longer relevant in Hollywood, and couldn’t get an acting job, decided to go back to his hometown and return to college to complete the degree he never finished. I wanted to complicate his life, and also add romance, so I decided to have him fall in love with the young professor, who teaches the one last class he needs to graduate. 

3 & 4. What expertise did you bring to your writing? What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

Working as a counselor and as a university psychology professor, has provide me the opportunity to interact with so many different types of people over the years, and I have learned a lot about motivation, desire and human nature. I hope these experiences have made me a better writer. I get a lot of complements on my dialogue. People often say my dialogue is realistic. I attribute that, in part, to my counseling skills and my ability to really listen to what people say. I think the study of psychology can be a great enhancement for writers. Someday, I may even develop a course called, Psychology for Writers. 

5. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

My next Short on Time Books release is a young adult romantic comedy called Retro Geeks, which is about two 80s obsessed BFFs, who decide to prove to their classmates that they are not complete losers by getting super-hot dates to senior prom.

I have also been hired to write Hell on Wheels: The Incredible Story of Rookie Roller Queen Cindy McCoy, which is a biography of the sports legend. 

I am also working on the release of a graphic novel version of my tween time-travel adventure, The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell.

6. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

I work full time as a university professor and I spend nearly all of my free time writing and marketing my work. Unfortunately, it leaves very little time for engaging in critique groups. I have been involved in critique groups in the past and I found some of them more helpful than others. The best feedback I’ve gotten is from writers with whom I have exchanged critiques individually. 

7. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

Oddly, I never had the idea that submitting my work as anything more than a natural step in the writing process, so I never conceptualized it as a “big step.” My first submission was to a kid’s magazine when I was in 5th grade. Looking back, I’m sure the publishers thought it was funny to receive a handwritten query from an 11-year old! I received my first (extremely encouraging) rejection letter before I hit puberty. 

8. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I am the founder of Short on Time Books, which are all fast-paced and fun novels based on screenplays. My processes is to write a brief screenplay outline, develop the idea into a screenplay then novelize the screenplay. I believe this process makes story development easier. Additionally, I think working back and forth between the novel and the screenplay makes both products stronger. I also benefit from having two products (a novel and a screenplay) to sell for each story I develop. 

9. How do you maintain your creativity?

I have the opposite problem. I have too many stories to tell and not enough time to write all of them! Lack of creativity has never been an issue for me. Stories are always rolling around in my head, day and night. Of course, insomnia tends to be a problem!

10. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?

My favorite character in One Last Class is Chay Robinson, the lead character’s best friend. Chay was also a teen idol and starred opposite Zak Spencer on their hit series, The Malibu Boys. Chay is the fun-loving best friend, who never grew up. Even though he’s now in his early 30s, Chay is still very child-like and he always tries to get Zak into trouble by luring him back into the party-life of their heyday.    

11. Anything else you might want to add? 

Thank you so much for this interview! I greatly appreciate it!

Links

Website: http://www.ahorsewithnoname.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenmuellerbryson

Twitter: http://twitter.com/karenmbryson

Blog: http://shortontimebooks.tumblr.com/

Short on Time Books: http://www.shortontimebooks.com

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PRIZE INFORMATION

Karen will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenters during the tour and to the host whose post has the most comments (excluding Karen's and the hosts).