Friday Features
Welcomes
Ryan Jo Summers
Author of
WHEN CLOUDS GATHER
Today we are featuring Ryan Jo Summers. She has consented to indulge us and answer a few questions. So, Ryan, let’s get started.
Ryan would you please tell our readers about the book you have brought us today, “When Clouds Gather.”
I would be glad to. ‘When Clouds Gather’ is a romantic suspense. It tells the story of Darby Adams, who runs a successful Bed and Breakfast Inn along with raising her teenage son, Matt, in the coastal town of Driftwood Shores. Life is busy but satisfying, until a dead guest is discovered in one of the rooms. Suddenly Darby is the number one suspect. Suddenly her world is spinning rapidly out of control
The family wants full prosecution, so they hire new-in-town Private Investigator Sam Golden to prove her guilt. Sam begins his new case in the dual role as both investigator and as Darby’s new friend.
His rebellious daughter becomes friends with Matt, which helps bring Darby and Sam together. And strange things start happening at the Bed and Breakfast. And Sam and Darby begin to develop feelings for each other. A promising future looks bright for them, until Sam has to tell Darby what he was actually hired to do—send her to prison. Betrayed, they fight, their fledgling relationship as dead as the murdered guest.
Then both children are kidnapped and Darby knows she has no choice but to trust Sam one more time in order to save the kids. But she isn’t so sure she can trust him again with her heart.
Wow, that sound like an exciting book. How did you come up with the concept for this book?
I had developed a new interest in suspense romances at the time, growing older and enlarging my reading tastes. I liked the suspense they had. I had recently moved and missed being on the water, so Driftwood Shores was a mythological happy place I could travel to. It seemed like a good setting for a huge Victorian B & B and a murder.
We like the name Driftwood Shores and it definitely sounds like a place that would have a Victorian B&B. So do you have a release date yet?
‘When Clouds Gather’ has a released date of November 2014, that is all I know so far.
Boy we understand those nebulous release dates and sometimes they just sneak up on you. We always start working on something else to pass the time. What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on something which is totally new for me. I envision it to be broad in scope and most likely labeled women’s lit with a splash of quantum fiction. Briefly it is the story of a military widow, raising her young son, who discovers one day her dead husband is very much alive. Except he has no memories of her, himself or their lives together. Suffering amnesia from a TBI, he only knows he has some unique abilities that are combat in design, and that she triggers strong emotions deep within him. Their young son will be at risk and his quantum skills will be tested, even if the memories are buried. In the meantime, they work on finding mutual ground in their relationship. Or something like that. So far, I’m about 15,000 words into it and still trying it figure out where I want it to go.
Trying to figure out where you want to go with the story brings up that standard question of do you plot everything out or just go where your muse lead?
I tend to plot out the rough bones of the story—the setting, the main characters, the basic premise down to a few lines and any secondary characters. By then I have snippets of conversation already rattling around my head. So I start to build my three-ring binder. Research is done. It gets a working title and slowly it fleshes out as I work it. But from that point, it’s largely fly by my pants as it all comes to life. Most daily writing is just tapping into a vein and drawing from it. The exception to this of course is ‘September’s Song’, the WIP I described above. It will surely be a literary masterpiece for all the confounding and defiance it is giving me. The inspiration was a photo and since then, it has been constant rebellion to fit any rule or mold. “Clouds “was actually fun to write, with the murder, the mayhem and the first taste of …gruesomeness. “Clouds” showed me I had a dark side. ‘September’s Song’ is showing me how it feels to be pressed under a rolling pin.
Tapping a vein, pressed under a rolling pin? Oh my, your writing sounds like it is very painful. We’re smiling because we understand and you should try it when there are two of you deciding what is going to happen. We both remember when we just wrote by ourselves. Speaking of which when did you first start writing?
I first started writing at age ten. I’d been reading every animal story I could find and one day decided I could take a situation that had happened within the family and write it down. I even drew the illustrations, designed a cover and stapled it all together into a neat little book. A snapshot of our family at that time. I had no notion that action was called ‘writing a book’. I was just putting down what had happened and how I felt about it.
Do you still have that first effort? We both have some of our early attempts.
Sadly, that little story is long lost, probably for the better. After that, I wrote more stories, actual fiction stuff I’d day dream of. As I grew up and entered tween years, I obtained a manual typewriter, converted part of my closet and decided to join the eclectic and elusive “writer’s” I’d come to hear about.
What medium do you use now to write? Paper and pencil, or computer?
I can’t tell you how many notebooks, pens, typewriters, and word processors I have gone through, endless ribbons and reams of paper, correction fluid and all that stuff before the advent of computers.
You mentioned you started in your closet. What is your writing space now? Please describe it.
My writing space now is the extra bedroom in the east side of the house, with a large window facing the east. Plants fill it. My desk is in the corner so I can turn either out the window or to the doorway. The top of the desk is filled with current things I must do—lately it has been notes and files for all my house hunting endeavors. Any number of the cats will be lounging about on my papers and files. The keyboard rolls underneath for safe storage.
I should be closing on my first house by the end of the month. I’ve owned houses and property before when I was married, but never as a single person. So this is my first ‘only me’ house. It’s small, but enough for me and the fur-kids. It’s a gift from God to move me from one blessing years ago that I have outgrown onto something new. I can’t wait to settle in, paint the walls and get to writing. I can bring at least one fish aquarium from the living room into the office. My bird, Taz, will have his cage in the office and when I am working, he is either peacefully playing on top of the cage or hanging out with me on the desk if he chased the cats away.
Sounds like you have a tough bird or just weak cats. What’s on your reading pile?
Right now I am reading ‘Runner’ by Patrick Lee. I read a review of it in the local paper and was intrigued by the suspenseful premise so I bought a copy. I am nearly done and have been hooked from the beginning. It was a new genre for me to try. Next up in my TBR pile is ‘Shane’ by Jack Schaefer, a classic Western I read many years ago and wish to revisit. I have very diverse reading tastes from animal stories (dog, cat, horse, wildlife) which I never outgrew as a kid, to traditional romance and now romance with twisted genres. I also appreciate clean Westerns, YA/ NA and many forms of Inspirational, both fiction and non-fiction. I also like non-fiction dealing with medicine. One of the things that drew my attention for ‘September’s Song’ was my interest in amnesia and TBI. I am also interested in quantum theories. So—quite a hodgepodge of interests in both reading and writing.
We have eclectic tastes as well. Over the past couple of years we’ve finally found the time to explore those by going to the movies almost weekly. Do you have any favorite movies?
There are a few movies I would love to watch over and over. It’s a Wonderful Life, the Christmas classic with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. To me the message is timeless and worthy of being viewed year round. Ghost with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze is one I could not watch without crying every time. I love Somewhere in Time with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, filmed on Mackinac Island, a place very dear to my heart. There is also Perfect Storm and Dances with Wolves. More recently, I loved the movie War Horse. There are a couple Westerns I’d always be up to see again, Last of the Dogmen and Hang ‘Em High. And of course the all-time favorites like Black Beauty and all the Lassie movies, which never get old to me.
You have touched on some of our favorite movies. Getting back to your current book, it seems like it could have some mystery to it.
I have not really written too many mysteries, but I have a clear idea of who the bad guys are. At least by half point if not before. I like the plotting of where to plant clues and how deep.
Do you have a favorite part in your book?
My favorite part, at least with ‘When Clouds Gather’ was indulging the dark side I was introduced to. I could alternate between happy scenes, eerie scenes, loving scenes and take-you-breath-away scenes, all in the same book! It seemed like there no limits.
Have you read many mysteries or watched them on TV? Donald’s favorite is Sherlock Holmes and we both like the current TV show Castle.
I haven’t really read many mystery books, though I plan to branch into some medical suspense soon, probably twisted with some Christian foundation. I do love the mishmashes. But years ago I liked the TV show The X Files. The relational tension between Scully and Mulder mixed with the constant mystery they faced was intriguing.
Anything mysterious or interesting happen while you were writing your book?
One neat thing about ‘When Clouds Gather’ is while the book was pretty much written, I stopped to have lunch with a friend. She had recently returned from a trip back home and she was showing me photos. In a collage frame was one that really made me pause. It was the Grafton Inn in Worchester County, Massachusetts. The Inn hails back at least to the 1880’s and is designed in the Federal style of that era. Today it is an Inn, restaurant and bar. What got me was the cupola on top. Immediately I envisioned my hero, Sam, up there on the slate roof, during the rain, on a cloudy night, having a shoot-out with a bad guy. The Cupola would serve as an integral part of gun fight. So I went home and wrote the scene into the book.
Any final words of inspiration before we move on to shamelessly plugging your book with the blurb, excerpt, and cover?
I have enjoyed my visit here today, thank you so much for having me and allowing me to chatter on about my books. One thing I realized lately –this past August really—is this little quote I now keep handy: “Sometimes we need to celebrate the courage it cost us more than the result it achieved us”.
That was born out of several unexpected events happening this summer and my realization that sometimes the courage to open our hands to let go and move toward something different should be celebrated and appreciated just as much or more so then what we gain by our efforts.
Now the Blurb for ‘When Clouds Gather’:
Darby Adams has a satisfying life. She operates a successful Bed and Breakfast Inn in the coastal town of Driftwood Shores. Her teen-age son, Matt, and she have a wonderful relationship. And she is caretaker for local dogs and cats waiting to be adopted. Then the body of a guest is discovered in one of her rooms. Suddenly she is the number one suspect for murder. With her world suddenly spinning out of control, Darby desperately needs a friend.
The surviving family wants answers so they hire new-in-town Private Investigator Sam Golden to implicate Darby. Overwhelmed with his own rebellious teen-age daughter, he still takes the case. He begins in the guise of that much needed friend for Darby, while searching for the evidence to put her away.
As the days pass, strange things start to happen at the B & B Inn and it’s all Darby can do just to survive one calamity to another. Feelings develop between her and Sam and she begins to wonder if there is a brighter future somewhere ahead for them, if they can stay alive long enough to find it. Amid mysterious prowlers and attacks, tensions run high, both sensual and survival.
Until the fateful day comes that Sam confesses to Darby what he had been hired to do. Shattered, she can never trust Sam again. Until their children are kidnapped. She knows she has to trust his police instincts for their sake, but she isn’t sure she can ever give her heart to him again.
Excerpt for ‘When Clouds Gather’:
“So, that’s twice today you’ve come to my rescue,” Darby said minutes later, passing over a steaming cup of herbal tea. “Are you trying for a knight in shining armor nomination?”
Sam shook his head, inhaling deeply from the cup. “No. Just your lucky day today I guess.” Ordinarily he would have refused the tea. Until today. Today the spicy aromas escaping from the steaming brew welcomed him. Today…well today was out of the ordinary. Why not try hot tea too? He took a tentative sip, aware of her quiet study and the welcoming slam of hot liquid hitting the back of his throat, sliding down and splashing his stomach. Not bad. Almost as good as a belt of burning whiskey. Today, that would have been sorely welcomed.
“That was good. Thank you,” Sam whispered. He would tell by her crooked smile that she’d be wanting answers. This was, by far, the worse professional screw up he had ever made.
“The tea or the rescue?” she asked, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
“The tea.” He slid her another smile, meant to be charming. “Apparently the rescue was unnecessary.”
She softened just a fraction. “Only the second rescue. The first was well and truly needed and appreciated.” She picked up her cup for another sip, slowly sliding her gaze over him, thinking.
He saw the suspicions flickering in her blue eyes, more green now, but pretended not to notice. Instead he let his gaze travel slowly around her porch. It was a pretty, relaxing and wholly inviting place.
All decked out in white wicker chairs, rockers, sofas and coffee tables, each loaded with thick cushions and pillows. Trailing plants, stacked books, and colorful potted flowers filled every nook and cranny. A trio of wind chimes sparkled and tinkled gently in the sea breeze. In the distance Sam could hear the ever present, rhythmic pounding surf and smell the pungent salty air. Darby had managed to create a tiny bit of Heaven right here on her porch.
“So what’s the deal with the dogs?” he finally asked. “How did you get wrestled into being the town pound?” Darby sighed again, a soft, wistful sound that hurt his ears. A shadow of forgotten memories crossed over her face like the noonday sun crossing a tree. He wondered if she was going to answer or not.
“I’ve done this for as long as I can remember. First as a little girl bringing home strays. Then folks started bringing them to me.” Another sigh escaped her. “Now I’m sort of a combination drop off point, holding yard and adoption center.”
Sam chuckled, picturing her story, seeing a little girl in pigtails dragging a bedraggled mutt up these same steps, begging her folks to let her keep it, and the dozen or so to follow over the years.
Darby took another sip of her tea, giving Sam a thoughtful look over the rim. “So tell me, why didn’t you go back to town?”
He shrugged. “I was going to.” His eyes swept her porch again, looking for possible excuses. “It had been my intention when I left here.” In the distance he saw the beacon from the lighthouse majestically rising up into the clouds. “I stopped at the lighthouse to enjoy the view.”
“Uh-huh.”
Whether she completely believed him or not, he kind of doubted it. Well, it was the best he could do on the spot. Actually, he thought it sounded fairly credible.
“So why did you come back?”
I heard the screams and panicked. “Because I was thinking about you.” The words tumbled from his lips before he could think or reclaim them. Suddenly uncertain, he picked up his cup and cradled it between his palms, staring at the remaining liquid.
Darby leveled another long look at him, weighing his words. A tiny stain of heat crept into her cheeks and she looked away.
“Hey, you have cats too.”
Darby followed his gaze to where a large white Persian cat had quietly stole up to the porch and now sat staring, unblinking at them.
“That’s Fluffy. She’s one of five I am currently feeding.”
“Just like the dogs?” Sam asked, captivated by the look in Darby’s eyes. When she looked at the cat, they turned so soft and tender, like a woman who looked at the man she loved. Sam caught himself wondering if Darby had ever looked at a man with that soft, tender expression. She had been married. She bore some man a son. Sure it ended badly, he knew, but had that tender, loving look once existed between them? Something knifed through him, hot and quick and painful, stealing his breath away.
Darby swung her gaze from Fluffy back to Sam. “Yeah, just like the dogs,” she whispered.
The corners of his eyes crinkled a little. “Aren’t you taking this whole ‘Love me, love my dog’ thing just a little too far?”
Darby looked back at the cat, unable to meet him. “No, not at all. I am not asking anyone to love me. Just maybe to love one homeless animal.”
That angry mule kicked him in the chest again, leaving him struggling for air. “That has got to be the saddest thing I have ever heard,” he said once he could, wanting so badly to reach out and pull her close. He wanted to erase some of that pain she tried, and failed, to hide. “I mean, everybody has to be loved.”
Darby glanced at him, then looked away, shaking her head. “But not all the time. Sometimes…sometimes love hurts. Sometimes love lies. It doesn’t last.” Her words came as hardly more than a whisper. “Sometimes people are better off without love.”
Like you? The thought popped into his mind before he could stop it.
“Did you ever love someone, Sam? Someone you loved so much it actually still hurts later?”
“Yes I did.” He wasn’t sure he liked where this conversation was going. “I guess you could say another love of mine ended up killing her.”
She blinked, clearly startled by his confession. “You had an affair on your wife?”
“Not like you’re thinking. I was married to a wonderful woman. And I was married to my career. They eventually reached a point where they could no longer compete for me.” Sam looked away, blinking back the hot tears. Six months and it was as fresh as yesterday. Maggie, I am so sorry. So very sorry. “So one finally went away.” Forever.
Darby thought about that, head down, concentrating. Finally, she returned to meet his dark eyes, seeing the shadows. “I’m sorry,” she said simply.
“So am I.”
Bio for Ryan Jo Summers:
Ryan Jo is a North Carolina writer who enjoys time with her pets and friends, though not necessarily at the same time. She writes romance novels with a twist, combining the basic elements of a love story threaded with any mixture of Christian, time travel, suspense, shape shifting and mystery. She also writes short stories, poetry and free-lance pieces.
When not writing, she likes to cook and bake, paint various media forms and create full sized carousels from spring horses. She relaxes by working word find puzzles and best by enjoying the mountain vistas around her home.
‘When Clouds Gather’ is her third published novel. She can be reached at her website, blog, Facebook page, Amazon Author Page or Goodreads
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Not so the Finger Lakes, where a foot of snow makes walking a challenge.
C.D. Hersh 