I Have A Story by Colleen L. Donnelly

 Heroes aren’t heroes because they are clever or brave, but because they love someone or something deeply.

 About I Have A Story: Jim Turner writes crime but doesn’t live it. He respects his grandfather’s tales of heroes but doesn’t believe them. When his failing grandfather sends him to a remote peninsula to write the end of his own heroic love story, Jim adds a war criminal interview to his agenda to maintain his edge.

          Chastity is an anomaly, a misfit in pre-WWII culture as well as in Jim’s life. Her spritely charm and endearing features turn Jim’s world upside down, especially when she reveals his grandfather’s peninsula as the site of her upcoming wedding.

          Do good journalists flee when their interviewee is murdered? Do heroes write fiancés out of another’s story and themselves in? “The End” become the hardest words for Jim to write.

 Wild Women Authors is pleased to feature I Have A Story, a novel of romance and intrigue out of the Vintage Rose line, recently released by the Wild Rose Press, and written by Colleen L. Donnelly.  

With Colleen is Jim Turner, a noted crime writer, who will go first.

Good morning, Jim. Thank you for joining us today. Tell us a bit about I Have a Story. As a successful writer, I never lacked an idea for a story until my grandfather sent me to a remote peninsula in Illinois to finish one he had begun but didn’t complete. My tales were successful fictional crime novels, but Grandpa’s was real…a love story with a real hero…matters of the heart I never concerned myself with until he, my only hero in life, asked me for help. Little did I know, his story would become mine, or that both of our hearts would soar and break on his peninsula. “I Have a Story” woke me up to love, culminated in the most incredible tale I would ever write, and nearly got me killed.

What did you think the first time you saw Chastity Higgins. When I looked upward to the blonde curls and big blue eyes peering down at me from the second story balcony, I believed I was looking into the face of an angel.

What was your second thought? That neither she nor the blazing skyrockets I felt could be real.

Was it love at first sight? Absolutely, although fascination and maybe a little lust accelerated my rush to love.

What do you like most about her? Everything that is the opposite of me—her happy-go-lucky attitude, her indistinct boundaries, her love of color and lemony scents and fresh breezes.

How would you describe her? A beautiful, but unfortunately unattainable, enigma.

How do you think she would describe you? Her hero. And her friend.

What made you choose writing crime novels for a career? Grandpa. I grew up at his feet, listening to heroic tales, dismissing the elements of love but grasping the adventure.

What is your biggest fear? Losing love once I found it.

How do you relax? I find writing relaxing.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Philo Vance.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Look for the relationship when you write. There always is one, whether it is between a man and a woman, a boy and his dog, a sailor and his ship, or a country and its enemy. The most daring conquests involve the heart. There is no battle, no story, until there is heart.

This has been great, Jim. Thank you for spending time with us. Now, we’d like to chat with Colleen.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? The movie The Help for its voice, and Matthew Lewis’s The Monk for its intense moral dilemma.

Is there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? This story came from a dream. I was pondering giving up fiction writing when these characters appeared in a very vivid and colorful dream. I woke up knowing it would be radically different from anything I had written before, but it was to be my next book. All I did was add some danger, personal flaws, and relationship tension to the mix, and the zaniest novel I have ever written came to be.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? The Wild Rose Press did a presentation at a writer’s conference I attended. Their transparency, devotion to the writer, and determination to survive the publishing industry deeply impressed me. When I wrote Mine to Tell sometime later, I queried them first, and they snatched it up. I have been with them ever since.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? Can I change that question to what authors currently rest on my TBR pile? Because solid reviews are so very important to writers, and because I cross paths with many excellent ones, I have constructed a list of authors who are not only satisfying to read, but who I also wish to support. Recently I have read and reviewed Liz Flaherty, Karen Whalen, and Maggi Anderson. Next up is Kathleen Buckley. After her is Anita Davison. So many good ones worthy of note.

Last, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? Good question. I Have a Story was so radically different from my usual tale or voice, it has taken me a while to decide whether to continue with that style or to return to my old one. I finally decided to return to my old one, but the story idea I am contemplating is so much in its infancy that I dare not make any announcements as of yet.

Colleen brought an excerpt for us:

          “So,” Chastity said. “Tell me more about the grandfather who impacted you so much.”

          I felt him in the room. Or maybe it was in Grove. Or because we had been on his beloved peninsula, she with her yellowish hair. It was as if he joined Chastity and me, and she sensed it too. His hands and heart were in this decrepit building with us, his presence and hers making it feel like a castle instead.

          “If it wasn’t for him, who knows where you might be now instead of here helping me.” She squeezed my hand.

          How did she know? Because of Grandpa I came to Grove and searched for a peninsula that brought me to Chastity…who actually brought me to it. “My grandfather is a wonderful man… But before we discuss him, there are things you should know about.” I had to be honest. “Tasks you can’t help me with.” Like crime and violence, dangerous interviews, and the way I felt about her.

          A face unlike any I had ever seen…and never would again…should send my heroic heart to the ladder where I would gather a million splinters in my hands by sliding to the ground, risking pain and infection to keep her safe by leaving.

          Her features looked watery as I gazed at her. Tears? I never cried. Her pastel throw rugs turned into colorful puddles blurred by an emotion I had never experienced before.

          “You are supposed to be here, Jim. And I am supposed to help you.”

          For a moment, something ominous crept into my thoughts. Something of the old crime writer in me, who with several clicks of a typewriter’s keys could turn any story the direction I wanted. I welcomed him back, then set him aside. Because in the blue of her eyes, I saw something stronger—my promise.

          If friendship was defined by a long period of time and a large number of interactions, Chastity didn’t qualify. And maybe my initial carnal fascination which became a pitter-patter my heart couldn’t beat without didn’t meet the definition of love. But she was at least partially right. For three days we were supposed to be together and help each other. For three days we had an eternity.

To learn more about Colleen L. Donnelly and the stories she creates, go to:

Website: http://www.colleenldonnelly.com/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/colleen-l-donnelly

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colleen.donnelly.568/

Goodreads: http://www.Goodreads.com/colleenldonnelly

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleenldonnelly/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/37vcnO4

Twitter: https://x.com/ColleenLDonnell/

 

To purchase I Have a Story, go to: https://amzn.to/4lq6qGO