Hi, your just in time, pull up a chair and get comfortable.

Today I’m interviewing my mentor, the fabulous Faith Bricknell-Brown. She’s a multi published writer, editor, artist and mom.

Janice: *turns to Faith, sitting on couch* Please, tell us about yourself?

Faith: I making my living editing, writing ebooks, non-fiction, and fiction geared for print magazines. I have four children, three stepchildren, and one grandson who turned a month old on August 12. I live smack in the middle of Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, raise a big garden every year, and I’m an artist as well as a writer and editor. I also like to make jewelry and crochet.

Janice: Sounds like a lot of work. When did you start writing?

Faith: When I was six. I wrote a story on brown wrapping paper with a green crayon about a turkey that was in danger of being Thanksgiving dinner.

Janice: I bet that was a fun read. *chuckling* Who was the biggest influence on your writing?

Faith: Oh, wow…that’s a toughie. Someone asked me this very same question the other day and I was stumped on how to answer it. My grandfather was a schoolteacher from the age of seventeen until well into his eighties. He thought I was an unusual child, so he took a lot of time out of his life to work with me and inspire the need to read, write, and learn. He didn’t get along with a lot of the family, but we were good friends and I miss him to this day.

Janice: Wow. It sounds like you had an amazing mentor in your grandfather.

How do you go about your writing? Do your prefer pencils to pens or is it all straight computer work?

Faith: I sometimes jot ideas in a notebook. I have several, believe me, lol. But nowadays I type all my work out as it comes to me and then make notes to keep things straight as I go along.

Janice: What influences you in your writing? Music, movies, reading, or straight research?

Faith: All of the above! My mind is a sponge and it never shuts off! That’s probably why I don’t sleep well at night, lol.

Janice: All those images going though your mind must make a rocky pillow.

When do you write morning or evening, or are you a late into the wee hours of the morning person?

Faith: Most of my writing is done from early morning until late afternoon.

Janice: Who in charge you or your muse?

Faith: Definitely my muse. However, once I get several WIPs going, my muse quiets enough to let me complete them before torturing me too much to start others.

Janice: That’s good.

Use only one word to describe your writing style? Or at least what you want your readers to take away from your writing.

Faith: I can’t label my work, but I’ve had countless readers and colleagues compare my work to Nicholas Sparks (and believe it or not, I’ve never read any of his titles) where others label my style as lyrical.

Janice: Lyrical good. What other books have you written?

Faith: Gah! Too numerous to list! However, the new works I have coming out in the next few weeks to a few months are The Darkness of Sable from Passion in Print, several erotica stories from Breathless Press, and a re-release called Feathers of Silver from Silver Publishing.

Janice: What influenced your recent book, the one you are promoting here today?

Faith: That would be The Darkness of Sable. It’s coming out in both print and ebook from Passion in Print. I have this intense fascination with anything paranormal, supernatural and all sorts of things that relate to faerie lore and the magical side of life, including witchcraft. Add some mythology and history to that mix and my muse goes bananas and I’m just along for the ride. I read everything about these topics I can get my hands on and watch every move and TV program of the same.

Janice: What brought SABLE into becoming a novel?

Faith: A biography I saw about Lenny Kravitz. LOL! He cut his dreadlocks, and BAM! I had an idea for a story. I bashed it out one afternoon and that 8K story has gradually turned into the 104K novel it is now. It has faeries, gods, goddesses, the paranormal, supernatural, lore, sex, action, psychological thrills and much, much more all wrapped up into one book!

The book will be available at all distributors but when it first comes out it can be purchased at www.passioninprint.com

Blurb:
Struggling to deal with the disappearance of her daughter and in a creative slump, sculptress Sable Hendricks-Tade travels to Florida for rest and relaxation only to find herself thrust between divided paranormal worlds. One side wants her dead and the other will do anything to keep her in its “wicked” embrace. Determined to get answers, she searches for her missing daughter and spirals into the realm of immortals and goddesses where she quickly realizes her agent is her only anchor to reality. But can she trust him to keep her safe?

Thomas Valimar, a highly trained marshal working with a network of humans to maintain the line between the paranormal and human worlds, is assigned to protect Sable from the magic she doesn’t realize she possesses. Operating undercover as her agent, his duty soon turns to passion as he falls for the beautiful artist.
Drawing Sable into their world of sex, magic, and intrigue, the dark forces will do anything keep Sable in t heir clutches so they may feed from her emotions and mysterious ability. Only through sheer determination and Thomas’ love can Sable walk through other realms and not only battle the paranormal creatures that wish to destroy her live but save her daughter as well.

EXCERPT:
The Darkness of Sable
by F.L. Bicknell
Published August 2010 from Passion in Print. Print and ebook (release date pending).

Upon hearing Sable’s scream, Thomas’s blood ran cold. His startled gaze met the lovely woman’s next to him, and then he spun on his heel, facing the chaos at the dais.

Flash bulbs bombarded her with their brightness, and camera phones clicked repetitively. She scrambled to her hands and knees and then shielded her face with her hands.

Nearly everyone around him moved closer to the embarrassing scene. He scanned the crowd for anything unusual and found only the Paranorm posing as an officer. For an instant, Thomas thought he saw something else standing in the cop’s place, something tall with big, curling horns sprouting from its head. He blinked. Had he imagined it?

He took a step toward the dais, but the woman next to him grabbed his sleeve.

“Don’t.”

“I have to protect Sable,” Thomas whispered and shrugged her off.

“Protect her from what?” the beautiful black woman replied, her gaze stern. “There’s nothing there.
Discretion is a big part of protecting your ward.”

He returned his attention to Sable, who accepted Isa’s proffered hand to help her up.

“Valimar, have you fallen for the woman?” she asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Yasmine,” he snarled. His heart flailed so hard he felt faint. Again, he glanced across the gala, taking in all the faces, looking for movement in shadowy corners. “What good am I as a Paranormal Marshal if I can’t protect her?”

“You forget that The Golden is with her.” She patted his arm. “Only a fool would make an attempt on Sable’s life in The Golden’s presence.”

“See that guy over there?” He inclined his head in Officer Delmont’s direction. “The one with the coal-black hair.”

“Yes.”

“What or who do you see?”

“A nice-looking man, why?”

“He’s a Paranorm, but for a moment I thought I…”

She focused jade-green eyes on Thomas.

Feeling silly, he shrugged. “Never mind. I think stress is messing with my mind.”

“Isn’t he the one assigned to help you guard Sable?”

“Yeah, but I don’t trust him.”

Yasmine snorted derisively. “Few Paranorms can be trusted, Valimar, you know that.”

“Come on.” Thomas took Yasmine’s hand and drew her toward the onlookers. “Let’s see what we can find out.”

As they shouldered through the crowd, Thomas waved to Sable, showing her he was on his way. Fear for her stomped in his heart. By the Judges power, how the hell do I protect her from something I can’t see?


He pushed past a man in a hideous green suit jacket, who wore enough cologne for twenty men. Behind him, Yasmine sniffed abruptly and then sneezed. Pausing a few feet away, Thomas witnessed unshed tears glimmering in Sable’s eyes. A lump that felt like the size of a cinder block formed in his throat. Oh, how he wanted to comfort her, to chase away her embarrassment and fear.

Drawing within earshot of the dais, Thomas heard Isa ask, “Are you all right?”

Sable bit her trembling lower lip and then nodded to Isa.

“Bless you, child.” Isa motioned, and security personnel rushed to the scene.

Thomas kept watching for stealthy movements, twinkles in his peripheral vision that denoted magic about to be used by someone, and odd nuances in a person’s eyes or form. However, nothing out of the ordinary hinted at its presence.

Officer Delmont moved closer to the scene.

If he touches Sable, I’ll beat him to death with a champagne bottle.

As if the policeman sensed Thomas’s thoughts, Officer Delmont turned toward him and smiled.

Okay, buddy. Thomas offered the cop a challenging gaze. Make one stupid move and it will be your last.

“Once you’re sure Sable is all right,” Yasmine said, her voice low, “we need to find a place to discuss some things.”

“Damn, Yasmine. This isn’t a good time. I can’t leave her here unprotected.”

“She’s with The Golden, and the Paranorm is nearby too. She’ll be fine.”

He sighed. It’s not The Golden who worries me.