Dark fiction author Lin Boelz joins us in the forum today....

 

		Today, in the Forum, Lin Boelz is here to talk about her novels and stories. I have a feeling we’re in for an interesting interview. Lin. Lin, would you like to have a seat now?
Tim Greaton: Seriously, it’s great to have you here, Lin. I have often compared the process of creating a story to preparing a stew. This analogy works particularly well for someone with your interests, doesn’t it?   Lin Boelz: I do love cooking. In my spice cabinet alone I have over 140 different spices. Recently I have gotten into making my own canned goods and cheese. Rather than your stew comparison, I would probably say cake. I love baking. I have gone so far as to order ingredients from Africa, England and India to bake a recipe that caught my eye.   Tim Greaton: Your mother had a difficult childhood that turned into a fascinating method of raising children. Could you tell us about that?   Lin Boelz: My mom lost her mother when she was five and was adopted by an aunt who had no children of her own. Her aunt turned out to be like Cinderella’s evil stepmother. Consequently, my mother’s childhood was filled with all work and no play. As a result, when she had kids of her own, she made up for lost time. When Dad would leave for work, the four of us, including Mom, would play hide and seek and tag in the house. Yes in the house, running and jumping on furniture.   Tim Greaton: So when you weren’t all running and playing together, did your family have any difficult times?   Lin Boelz: I remember one Christmas when my dad had lost his job. We barely had enough money for rent and a few groceries.  That year, we all drew pictures and wrapped them in homemade paper. Though hard at the time, it is the Christmas that we now remember fondly and talk about the most. We learned that it is not what you own on the outside but what you own on the inside that matters: the gift of family love stays with a person for a lifetime.   Tim Greaton: We’ve already talked about your international recipe fetish. Do you have any other pastimes that you’d like to share?   Lin Boelz: Gardening is another of my hobbies; it ties in well with my cooking. I have started an herb garden and use the herbs to make medicine instead of taking manmade drugs. I also have a soapwort plant; I make soap out of the roots. I like to be close with nature.   Tim Greaton: People often say your writing makes it easy to visualize themselves in your scenes, which is a tremendous compliment. But there’s another comment you often hear. What is that?   Lin Boelz (grins mischievously): Some readers say I have a dark side.   Tim Greaton: I know you have a some works currently with retailers. What are those?   Lin Boelz: In all, I have nine short stories, a variety puzzle book, and two novels currently available. Syeribus Creatures of the Night is a two-book series. Vampire Dolls is a standalone novel.   Tim Greaton: So what else can readers expect in the near future?   Lin Boelz: I have two novels and short stories coming out by the end of April. I’m having an especially great time producing one project I pulled out of moth balls recently. It’s called my Prepper & Survival E-zine, where I share what I have learned about preparing for short- and long-term disasters.   Tim Greaton: Writers are always fun to hang out with because they seem to have the best stories about their pasts. Something happened to you when you were seventeen. Do you remember what I’m talking about?   Lin Boelz: One night, I came home late from a date. My upstairs room had an outside staircase, which was too dark to use at night. Well, when I moved a trunk to open the French doors, to let my dog in, a rattlesnake was lying beside him. It had crawled upstairs looking for a place to keep warm. My dad saved the day by trapping it in a box and letting it go in the desert the next day.   Tim Greaton: I often ask novelists about their writing “system.” You use a term I’ve never heard before.   Lin Boelz: I am a flow writer. I just sit down and start writing, letting the story take me in whatever direction it wants to go. Sometimes I will just start typing a few words and, before I know it, I have a chapter. Recently, my husband has taken an interest in my writing and will come up with suggestions about the direction stories should take. I credit Syeribus’ ending to him. I also have taken on an editor, someone who isn’t as close to my stories. I definitely like having an editor for those times when I know what I want to write but forget to fill in the blanks for my readers.   Tim Greaton: Do you have beta readers in your family or circle of friends?   Lin Boelz: I already mentioned my husband. I have also started to use beta reading groups throughout the development of my books. One reader’s suggestion brought a couple of important changes to a work-in-progress chapter called The Wizard of Asil.   Tim Greaton: Could you tell us about your upcoming release?   Lin Boelz: It’s a combination of two projects that are coming out on the same day. One is a short story based on a man recently released from prison. He is determined to prove the warden wrong by not returning to the hell hole he emerged from after ten long years. First thing he needed was a job, but who was going to be willing to hire an ex-con? After having a job and a mysterious black cat fall in his lap, he figured maybe, just maybe he was going to get the break he deserved. Daniels soon finds out nothing is free and everything has a catch.   The other project is my aforementioned Prepper & Survival E-zine. I figure if I can help even one person become better prepared to navigate the stress and trials of disaster, then I will have done my job. Let’s face it, the world may never turn into an apocalyptic disaster movie, but earthquakes, floods and tornadoes are a fact of life. Are you ready to live off the grid or feed your family if it takes days or even weeks for help to arrive? And what if someone or something does cause the world to go crazy for a few weeks, months or years? What then?   Tim Greaton: Will there be sequels to either of those two new works?   (She gives me that grin again).   Tim Greaton: I’ll take that as a maybe J   Which author do you model your work after, or do you not see any parallels with past works you’ve read?   Lin Boelz: Edgar Allen Poe, Sherlock Holmes, and The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits television series had the most influence on my writing.   Tim Greaton: So that’s where the dark Lin comes from J   What part of your books are the most difficult to write?   Lin Boelz: It’s never the same, but one recent ending was particularly difficult. My husband and I battled for quite some time before it got worked out.   Tim Greaton: If a director contacted you to put one of your works on a movie screen right now, what would our audience see?   Lin Boelz: Scenes from my upcoming short story—   Tim Greaton: You really aren’t going to tell us the title?   Lin Boelz (again the grin): My movie would unfold with glimpses of a mysterious woman who is never seen at the same time as the black cat who often follows my freed prisoner around. To Daniels it will start to feel like the cat is everywhere at every waking moment.   Tim Greaton: You have a unique solution if any of the monsters from your stories appeared in real life. What is would you do exactly?   Lin Boelz: I would pull all the beds out of the house and leave the lights on.   Tim Greaton: Could you share your website/blogsite and links to where our audience could directly communicate with you and purchase your stories?   Lin Boelz: http://www.weaverofshadows.com. My email and blog are on the website. My books (under the name L.M. Boelz) are available on Amazon kindle and Smashwords.com. Smashwords is especially great because of the variety of download formats they offer.   Tim Greaton: Thanks for taking the time today, Lin. It’s been fun.   Lin Boelz: No, thank you. I feel lucky to have found a forum where readers can get to know authors. Really, your site is priceless.  Thank you, and thank you to all the readers who took time out of their busy days to spend with us.

 

Interview with versatile and busy author Scarlet James about her novel Uncontrolled Desires....

		Today, in the Forum, I have the pleasure of introducing Scarlet James, who is here to talk about her novel Uncontrolled Desires.
Tim Greaton: To a lot of people, Scarlet, you seem to be an overachiever. Could you explain to our audience what I mean?      Scarlet James: Sure. I recently graduated from ICDC with an Associate’s degree in Homeland Security. Now, I am pursuing my certificate in Public Relations to better understand the business of entertainment and media.  I am very goal oriented and have recently started my own entertainment business as well. I currently manage a singer who performs songs by Conway Twitty. Tim Greaton: Where you also so busy in childhood?    Scarlet James: Well to be honest, yes. I was pretty much a tomboy growing up, but my interests expanded when my truck driver dad took me with him one summer. Being a teenager stuck in a big rig wasn’t all that pleasant, but while seeing the country I discovered that I had a knack for writing stories. Once home, I got involved in theatre as well as writing. I loved it. I was also busy with sports, and especially loved high school basketball. Adding to all of that, I was a member of the police explorers in my home town when I was about 14 or 15 maybe.    Tim Greaton: A lot of writers point to a particular relative who positively influenced their career. That wasn’t true for you, though, was it?    Scarlet James: Growing up I never had any role models or positive influences. I tried to hide my writing efforts but once they were discovered, I was down-graded and insulted by my family members. To be honest, those barbs pushed me to keep working. I knew that I had something resembling a gift at a young age, and I try every day to get back to that place. From time to time I still get negative remarks, but rather than let those naysayers get me down, I work that much harder to prove them wrong.    Tim Greaton: As if you didn’t have enough going on, you have also started an online venture. Could you tell us about that?    Scarlet James: I am in the midst of building an online magazine site. Once fully established, we will also release print versions of each edition.    Tim Greaton: So, I understand that you had a mix of sports and art interests in your background, but what led you to pursue a degree in Homeland Security? Scarlet James: Computers were always easy for me, and my teen work with the police gave me an interest in profiling and criminal investigations. I also learned a certain police-caution, which gives me a second sense about suspicious behavior and when things are not quite right. Sometimes, I can even guess how events might turn out.    Tim Greaton: What kinds of books do you read? Are they in the same genres in which you write?    Scarlet James: When I have time, I love to read Nicholas Sparks, Danielle Steele and Stephen King as well as a few others. I like to mix it up as I do with my writing. I write in different genres, depending on my mood at the time.    Tim Greaton: You have a deep enjoyment for travel. How does that influence your writing?    Scarlet James:  I really got inspired while on the road with my parents for two months. I did a lot of writing during that period, and it allowed my mind to open up. One especially inspiring trip took place when I was 17 in Florida. Something about the beach air and the ocean makes me come alive. I did some of my best writing while sitting on the beach overlooking the ocean and open sky. A lot of years have passed since then but two years ago, while in South Carolina, I experienced a similar awakening. That’s when I began the novel I’m working on now.    Tim Greaton: You’ve received a lot of positive comments about descriptions in your stories, but you also hear another comment fairly often. Could you share that with us?    Scarlet James: My early readers commented about the creativity and surprising detail in the seven books I wrote in a five-year period. One of those books has now been published. I’ve tried to build on that creativity and attention to detail. I now work with an agent who was especially surprised how well I write about the feelings of characters with the opposite sex. She encouraged me to keep that up as well.    Tim Greaton: So which of your works are available to purchase right now?    Scarlet James: Uncontrolled Desires is available in e-book and will soon be released in paperback. All Messed up and Crazy for You will be released soon through a new publishing group. I hope to receive the proofs soon.    Tim Greaton: As a young teen, you were inspired by one famous storyteller. Do you remember who I mean?      Scarlet James: Sure: Walt Disney. When I was 12 or 13, we went to Walt Disney World in Florida. Seeing his stories in three dimensions was absolutely magical, and even though it was at that age when we all tell ourselves we’re not kids anymore, I fell head-over-heels for the entire place. I might as well have been 4 years old again. I had to see every colorful thing and had to get my picture taken with as many characters as I could.    Tim Greaton: Have you ever met a memorable person that you have copied in your fiction?    Scarlet James: We’ve all met memorable people, and the main character from my novel Uncontrolled Desires is definitely based on a real person.    Tim Greaton: Is there a book or a story that truly impacted your life in a HUGE way?    Scarlet James: Yes. Misery by Stephen King gave me nightmares. It also makes me cautious as I travel and meet fans and coworkers in the writing world. Stephen King is one of my favorites. I also loved Misery, the movie.    Tim Greaton: What is your writing “system” like, and how has it evolved over the course of your career?    Scarlet James: I am constantly switching back and forth between my magazine and my novels. It has to do with motivation. When one becomes a chore, I back off and work on the other. I write mostly at night. I’m not sure why evening hours inspire me, but I’ve been that way since the age of 14, which is when I starting getting serious with my writing. I also have to have only music on. Any other noise easily distracts me.    Tim Greaton: Do you work with beta readers in your family or circle of friends?    Scarlet James: No, not in my family. I have had friends who helped. We all make mistakes, and it really helps to have an outsider catch those things we miss. Tim Greaton: Which author do you model your work after, or do you not see any parallels with past works you’ve read.    Scarlet James: I’m often so busy with projects that I seldom have time for fiction reading. That said, I would like to model my work after Nicholas Sparks or Danielle Steel. I would love to be the next queen of romantic comedy.    Tim Greaton: Do you think of yourself as a particular type of writer?    Scarlet James: No I don’t think so. I know when people ask me what I write I tell them romance/drama/comedy, but lately I have been moving more toward thrillers and suspense.    Tim Greaton: What is your most recent book/story release? And could you tell us about it?    Scarlet James: Uncontrolled Desires is about a PGA golfer, now instructor, who grows up with a lot of problems. He had searched for his mother only to learn she died while giving birth. He deals with depression, sexual addictions and obsessions as well as drugs and a wild, out-of-control lifestyle. His involvement with cyber dating and outside relationships leads to murder and foul play. The story was fascinating and took some delicacy to write, and I think a lot of teenagers would find it interesting because of the way the character fantasizes about young girls and finds himself in trouble because of it. He gets involved with a woman online, and she agrees to write his life story…but that’s when things get messy. I suspect the story would be a must-read for anyone with addiction problems, mental illness, overt sexual desires and such. Tim Greaton: What led you to tell this particular story?    Scarlet James: A man approached me back in 2006, about this story actually. Though Uncontrolled Desires is based on him, there are fictional aspects that made it more tolerable for me. I flew to his home in Las Vegas twice and interviewed several people involved in the story before I wrote it.    Tim Greaton: Will there be a sequel? Scarlet James: No sequels are planned. I am currently working on another love story/romantic drama/satire and then will tackle a novel about a police detective who falls crazy-in-love with a columnist writer who works for a popular magazine.    Tim Greaton: Which part of Uncontrolled Desires was the most difficult to write?      Scarlet James: Wow. I would have to say the main character Greg was the most difficult part. He had a great deal of problems, and being a parent of two wonderful children made it hard. Greg would pretend to be various young boys online so girls would send him nude pictures and even have phone sex with him. Learning about this guy really disturbed me, but it also made me realize that writing his story might well keep others safe. Tim Greaton: What about your past made you decide on this book?    Scarlet James: I wasn’t sure I wanted to tackle this story when I was first approached with the idea. But ultimately I decided that writing outside of my own experience would be a great way to grow as an author.    Tim Greaton: If any one of the characters could appear in your world right now, which one would you choose and why?    Scarlet James: Maybe you haven’t been listening (she says with a smirk). I don’t think I want any of them to pop out.    (Once I stop laughing, our interview continues….) Tim Greaton: Okay, let’s say Uncontrolled Desires gets picked up by Hollywood, which actor do you think should play Greg?    Scarlet James: Alec Baldwin would be great, or maybe even Kevin James. I think the female writer who gets involved with him would have to be either Kate Hudson or Sandra Bullock.    Tim Greaton: Though we have every expectation that you will live well past 125 years, when you finally find rest, what would you like your tombstone/obituary to say?    Scarlet James:  Well I am not sure that I would have one as I am thinking of cremation with my ashes thrown out to sea. But if I were to have a tombstone, it might be something like, “I actually did it. I made all my dreams come true and had two of the greatest kids while doing it. They were my number one fans and believed in me, even when I wasn’t at my best.”    Tim Greaton: It would be great if you could share your website links.      Scarlet James: Facebook/Author, Scarlet James and Amazon Author central    Tim Greaton: Thanks for taking the time today, Scarlet. You have been an amazing guest.    Scarlet James: Thanks for allowing me to be a part your forum, Tim. Thanks to everyone, and I hope to hear from you and make some friends and fans.

 

Interview with historical fiction and fantasy author Prue Batten...

 

		Today, in the forum I’m tickled to be talking with one of the hardest-working women in fiction. She not only has a catalog of completed works that is to envy, she also has projects percolating and bouncing off her tongue. So, without further delay, I’d like to introduce my friend Prue Batten.
Tim Greaton: It’s really great to have you here on the forum today, Prue. In a few minutes, we’ll delve into a great bookish discussion about your many projects, both available and soon-to-come. Before that, however, I was hoping we could talk a little bit about what you do with those hours when you’re not writing.   Prue Batten: I farm a wool-growing property in the far south of Australia (an island state called Tasmania) with my husband. We grow superfine wool which is sought after by Chinese woolen mills for the world fashion trade. We are just about to double our sheep numbers as lambs begin to pop out right across the farm.   Tim Greaton: You sound passionate about it.   Prue Batten: It’s tough in a drought, cold in winter, hot as Hades in summer and hurts my muscles when I’m working in the sheepyards or fencing, but it’s a remarkable life which I blog about periodically.   Tim Greaton: I often ask writers if there is a particular place from their past that influences their writing. Your family has deep roots in one location, which gives you an unusual answer to that question, doesn’t it?   Prue Batten: My family has a 90-year-old connection with a tiny coastal village in Tasmania where my grandfather established a seachange home for my grandmother who was ill with cancer at the time. As baby-boomers, my cousins and I lived the life of Swallows and Amazons by the sea and we had sea-legs aboard boats before we could crawl. Everything about the village colours my life now and we have our own little place there called House, which is where I write most comfortably. I guess you could say it still influences me!   Tim Greaton: Our President Teddy Roosevelt was known for having warring interests as both an outdoorsman and as an intellectual. I’ve heard you say something similar. Could you share what you mean by that with us?   Prue Batten: My hobbies might not be exactly unusual, but they are poles apart from each other. I am an embroiderer of the style called stumpwork which dates from the seventeenth century. Absolutely love it even though it tests my eyes to their limits. The art-form gave me inspiration for my first book, “The Stumpwork Robe.” It formed Book One of the continuing “Chronicles of Eirie” and was first published in print in 2008 and is about to be re-issued with a new cover and imprint. It is, of course, available as an e-book.   My other hobby is kayaking. I LOVE kayaking on the ocean near House; it’s my ultimate getaway. I have very little fear of the ocean – except for man-eating white pointer sharks, because as climate change warms the water and as the food chain alters, we are seeing more and more around the coastline.   Tim Greaton: I think most of our forum readers would say that today you have painted vivid pictures with many of your answers. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard that compliment, is it?   Prue Batten: No. I do often have readers describe my stories as unique and immensely pictorial. I like to think that‘s evidence that pushing my imagination to tell the most unusual and special story possible has paid off. Whatever the case, it is a supremely nice thing for readers to say.   Tim Greaton: Are most of your works available or do you have you stashed some away that might someday reach the market?   Prue Batten: No, I spring clean regularly (she grins) so no older stories will see the light of day, but I do have a fantasy work-in-progress for The Chronicles and a historical fiction/historical romance work-in-progress for “The Gisborne Saga.” Hopefully ready for the publisher by December.   Tim Greaton: With such a busy life running the farm, you must have a pretty effective “system” for getting your writing projects done?   Prue Batten: My system? Oh great heavens! It’s very odd. I begin the story on the computer with an opening line and a very rough outline in my head. Then I tend to let the story run its own course. I always take the last line written on any day to bed in the evening and write in long hand if the impetus is there. I also create a style guide which is a list of names - characters, setting etc and its correct spelling in alphabetical order. I also write a character profile for every character, from physical appearance to early life and psyche. And I have a whole printed folio of the fantasy world of Eirie with maps. I have a massive folder for each book with research PDF’s and other research information all filed in plastic sleeves. I have tons of bookmarked detail on the computer and I have my own personal library shelves along with books I borrow from our libraries. I write when I can and consider myself fortunate to get three straight hours let alone a whole day, but my head writes all the time.   Tim Greaton: What is your publishing team like?   Prue Batten: I have two wonderful beta readers—a friend in America and another in Turkey. They are very honest, pull no punches and I value their hard opinion more than anyone else’s, apart from my highly trusted, professional editor. Industry professionals handle the cover graphic designs and print formatting.     Tim Greaton: Our time together has been fascinating, Prue, but I’m willing to bet a lot of our readers are anxious to find out more about your latest novel, “Gisborne: Book of Pawns.” Could you tell us about it?   Prue Batten: “Gisborne: Book of Pawns,” ah, let’s see. The blurb might go like this: “Two people drawn by lust and a lost inheritance in 12th Century England, where status means power and survival depends on how the game is played. Guy of Gisborne, a man of dark secrets, accompanies Ysabel of Moncrieff, a woman of prominence, on a journey that rewrites history.”   Tim Greaton: Though I haven’t yet had a chance to read “Gisborne: Book of Pawns,” I’d like to mention that novelist John Hudspith says, “your storytelling is mesmeric and exact, taking the reader on a spellbinding ride of unpredictable twists and turns.” Now that’s a pretty serious compliment, Prue.   Prue Batten: I’m always honored when readers appreciate my work.   Tim Greaton: What led you to tell this particular story?   Prue Batten: It was originally inspired by the BBC’s rendition of “Robin Hood.” I found the character of Gisborne intriguing - a bitter man for whom life had absolutely no meaning, a man with no self-worth. I decided to take Gisborne far from the familiar canon and set him along another life journey entirely, one that may have fallen his way if the cards had been played differently.   Tim Greaton: Will there be sequels or other stories connected to this one?   Prue Batten: Most definitely if I live long enough. There is at least another book in the Gisborne Saga, perhaps another after that. Gisborne: Book of Knights is 25% written. I also have fourth and fifth book planned for The Chronicles of Eirie and in fact the fourth is 70% done. I love both genres, but perhaps fantasy is more relaxing to write than historical fiction as there are very specific strictures within hist.fict that one must be respectful toward.   Tim Greaton: I know you don’t like to compare your work to other authors, but it has happened. Could you give us a few examples?   Prue Batten: No, you’re right. I don’t like to compare but one Amazon UK reader said he finally found a book he enjoyed more than “Game of Thrones,” which he loved. That book was “A Thousand Glass Flowers,” and his kind review rather shook me…in a nice way, of course. And when I was submitting my first two books of the “Chronicles of Eirie” to a peer review site (YWO.com) one reviewer called them “A cross between Neil Gaiman’s ‘Stardust’ and John Crowley’s ‘Little Big,’” which I thought was terrific!   Tim Greaton: Which part of your story was the most difficult to write?   Prue Batten: Always the love/sex scenes as I believe in the mantra of “less is more.” At the same time it has to be compelling and acceptable to a wide cross-section of readers.   Tim Greaton: After writing your novel/story, did you wish you could have changed something? Do you think you will address that issue in future sequels?   Prue Batten: Rarely. Although I wondered if I should have changed the title of my fantasy “The Stumpwork Robe” after a woman bought it thinking it was an embroidery book and giving me a one star review for her mistake. I went to secure the link just a moment ago to place here, and it appears it has been removed. I’m glad the mistake was cleared up, and yet it was such a good talking point!   And then some bright sparks have commented on “Gisborne: Book of Pawns” with emphasis on the Pawn (porn). Sigh! Thus making me wonder if I should change that title as well.   Tim Greaton: For what it’s worth, Prue, I think that every author I’ve ever met has second-guessed various aspects of past projects. Now that I’ve dragged you through all the serious stuff, let’s try a couple of fun questions. Let’s say Peter Jackson showed up at your door tomorrow and offered to put one of your stories on the big screen, what kind of a monster would be in the film? And which actor or actress would you have battling it?   Prue Batten: If we are talking my “Chronicles of Eirie” series, there is an array of legendary spirits like the Cabyll Ushtey (a horse that eats people) or the Caointeach who wails as she washes bloody laundry in a stream and thus lets mortals know there will soon be a death. Those are just two, but there are dozens of nasties throughout that series. I’d be thrilled to see Peter’s WETA Workshop work their movie magic on those.   As for actors to play my hero? Oh any divine English actor: Rufus Sewell, Richard Armitage, Damian Lewis and so on. In the historic fiction, Sir Robert Halsham is quite simply a devious and dangerous bastard. Cruel, manipulative … will say no more as it might be seen to be a spoiler. I imagine Damian Lewis as Halsham and Richard Armitage as Gisborne.   Tim Greaton: Okay, everyone loves to answer this one: if you had an unlimited advertising budget, how would you “get the word out” about your latest release?   Prue Batten: In terms of my “Chronicles of Eirie” series, I would take Peter Jackson to the best dinner he has ever eaten. I would ask world famous chef Tetsuya Yakuda to cook Tasmanian food to die for, and I would pay Tets to take Peter on his wonderful boat around the Tasmanian coast. Then, as we sailed and ate, I would say “this is a movie just waiting for your touch.”   In terms of “Gisborne: Book of Pawns,” I would pay as much as Richard Armitage wanted me to pay to his favorite charities if he would just carry the print novel in his arms at every single interview he does!   Tim Greaton: I also often ask authors what they would like to see on their tombstone when they finally go to rest. I know it’s decades and decades away, but what would your answer be?   Prue Batten: Maybe they could print: “Nobody’s Perfect.” But seeing as I want a Viking Funeral or, at the very least, to be cremated and my ashes scattered at sea, I don’t care if there’s no headstone at all!   Tim Greaton: It would be great if you could share your website/blogsite and links to where our audience could directly communicate with you and purchase your stories.   Pure Batten: Website: http://www.pruebatten.com/ Blog: http://www.mesmered.wordpress.com has pages to take readers to details of published books. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Prue.Batten.writer Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pruebatten   Tim Greaton: Thanks for taking the time with me today, Prue. It’s amazing of you to spend the time, which I know can be a challenge with your busy schedule.   Tim, it was delightful. Thank you for making me think about all these wonderful questions, and thanks to all your readers for taking the time to scan the result!