This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jonathan Weeks will award a randomly drawn winner a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
What would you tell a new author?
I’ve been asked this several times before and I always say the same thing: As an author, you have to have thick skin. It’s tough finding a publisher for your work and, even if you do, it doesn’t guarantee that you will sell many copies. It’s best to write for the sheer enjoyment of it. Don’t worry about becoming the next Stephen King or James Patterson. Write because you can. Write for yourself. And if your work ends up being published, DON’T read the reviews!
What scares you the most as an author?
As a non-fiction writer, there are actually two things that scare me. One is the idea that someone will publish a book on the same topic while my own book is in the production phase. I understand that books on identical topics can peacefully co-exist, but it’s discouraging when another author beats you to the punch. Another thing that scares me is live interviews. I have never been comfortable with public speaking in any shape or form. I used to do a radio show with a friend when I was in college. I was okay if I was reading off of a script, but was never completely relaxed when we would improvise.
What is the hardest part about writing?
That’s a tough question because there are so many difficult things about writing. For me, the hardest part has always been accepting the finished product. I am a harsh critic of my own work. And I tend to over-edit. There are days when I absolutely hate the work that I have produced and want to start over from the beginning. But I resist because I know that’s just me being me.
What is your ideal writing space?
I’ve found over time that I can write just about anywhere as long as I have a comfortable place to sit and there are few distractions. One thing I can’t do while writing is listen to music. Music is one of my passionate interests and, if it’s on in the background, it commands my attention. There’s no way I’m going to produce a coherent sentence in competition with song lyrics. I have tried listening to guitar instrumentals and classical music while writing but that distracts me as well. I prefer a quiet place.
There has probably never been a professional baseball player more of a puzzle than Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio had a talent for keeping his emotions suppressed and his innermost thoughts to himself. Few could say that they really knew him. And even the ones who did found him to be unpredictable. He was a walking contradiction. He was quiet, but not necessarily shy. He could be both gracious and abrupt, approachable or aloof depending on the situation. Although he came across as humble, he had a tremendous sense of entitlement. He was complex, secretive, inscrutable. There were many layers to the man who came to be affectionately known as the “Yankee Clipper.” DiMaggio always felt that his actions on the field should do the talking for him. And for the most part, they did. To many, DiMaggio personified elegance, style, and grace. An impeccable dresser, he was married to two glamorous actresses. On the field, he glided almost effortlessly, never having to dive for a ball and rarely (if ever) making a mistake on the basepaths. He became the living embodiment of the American dream and a symbol of the country’s so-called “greatest generation.” But as time marched on, DiMaggio grew increasingly distrustful of the people around him. It was understandable—inevitable even. The third book in Jonathan Week’s Yankees trilogy contains an abundance of anecdotes, statistics, and other little known facts about the Yankee Clipper.
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CASE OF THE PURLOINED BAT
DiMaggio suffered a major scare during his 56-game hitting streak. On June 29, 1941, the Yankees traveled to Washington for a double-header against the Nationals (often referred to as the Senators). Joe had hit in 40 straight games and was poised to break the modern record set by George Sisler in 1922. His double in the opener tied Sisler’s mark. In the first inning of the evening game, Tommy Henrich was on his way to the plate when he heard DiMaggio shouting across the diamond. Joe couldn’t locate his favorite bat and wondered if Henrich had done something with it.
Joe was very attached to that particular piece of lumber, naming it “Betsy Ann.” He had been using it throughout the streak and worried that he might fall into a slump without it. A frantic search turned up nothing. The bat was gone. Forced to hit without “Betsy Ann,” DiMaggio flied out. Two innings later, he switched bats and lined out to short. In the seventh inning, Henrich gave Joe his own bat to use. Averting disaster, The Yankee Clipper lined a clean single to left field, claiming Sisler’s record for himself. Still, the loss of his favorite bat vexed him.
“Of course the guy had to pick out the best one,” Joe told reporters after the game. “I had three of my bats on the ground in front of the dugout but he got the one I wouldn’t take money for…the bat was just right for me. I liked the feel of it. I hate to lose it.”
About a week later, “Betsy Ann” was delivered by courier to the Yankee clubhouse in a plain brown package. Behind the scenes, one of Joe’s assistants—a wise-guy named Jimmy “Peanuts” Ceres—had spent five days looking for the bat. As it turned out, the thief had ties to the Newark underworld (which was Jimmy’s domain) and also happened to be a braggart. When the thief’s identity was revealed, Jimmy paid the guy a visit with one of his associates. Specific details of how they persuaded the man to return Joe’s prized bat have never been disclosed.
About the Author: Jonathan Weeks has written several sports biographies and two novels, one of which was a posthumous collaboration with his father. He grew up in the Capital District region of New York State and currently works in the mental health field.
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Sorcha is a descendant of the Atlantean people, a race of humans who were once the blood slaves of the vampires of Atlantis. She grew up knowing that the vampires were enemies, the werewolves were beasts, and the witches were their friends. When she starts to question the situation her clan has been put into with the witches, a vampire who haunts her erotic dreams comes to the rescue. Samson didn’t grow up in Atlantis and didn’t choose to become a vampire. He hates what he has to do to survive, and can’t imagine ever deserving love. When he finds a Descendant of Atlantis near death and nurses her back to health, he expects her to run at the first opportunity. When she offers him her willing body, he knows he would do anything to keep her, and that means hiding his monstrous side. But you can’t love someone if you’re hiding part of yourself. One look at Samson and Sorcha knows she erased him from her memory on purpose, but why? What could he have done to make her risk such a dangerous spell? With battle on the horizon and Descendants in trouble, will Sorcha’s memories be the end of any chance at Samson’s happiness, or will it lead to a new understanding of what these monsters really are?
Courtney Davis is an author of urban fantasy/paranormal/supernatural fiction with a little romance and humor thrown in. She loves creating worlds and exploring human, and inhuman, interaction. She lives in North Idaho with her husband and children where she teaches and enjoys time spent relaxing in the summer sun and winters by the fire. She has always had an affinity for reading and writing and a goal to make a career of it. There is no greater joy than to know her words took a reader out of reality for a time and into another world.
B. Truly has wanted to be an author since she was fifteen years old, and she’s grateful to have accomplished this dream. She has very vivid dreams and a wild imagination. She likes to read, watch tons of TV shows, and movies. She is addicted to romance and gets a thrill out of suspense. She writes YA and New Adult and Adult Romance, Urban, Dystopian, Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romantic Suspense, and Paranormal genres.
Those who survived the Battle of Grandfather Mountain are said to be in the Hand of the Gods. No one will need that more than Sange, sister of Arak clan chieftain Javrik. Drawn to Arman Garimandi, the Omani cavalry officer who saved her people during the siege, she shocks her family by marrying him despite her brother’s caution that someday he will break her heart. Blindly in love, she follows Arman to two different forts where he is ordered. At the first, danger comes unexpectedly in the form of another woman And at the second, she finds herself an unwitting pawn–possibly even a prisoner–between two powerful nations.
Just call me Calamity Jane, wherever I go, trouble soon follows. Which makes my job as a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy a bit hazardous. From chasing down a bank robber to dealing with a cat burglar, or handling Sun City’s seniors who are crazy as June bugs and horny as hell. 
Author bio: I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department and to keep from going totally bonkers – I mean people have no idea what a real emergency is. Take this for example: I answered, “9-1-1 emergency, what’s your emergency?” And this hysterical woman yelled, “My bird is in a tree.” Sometimes I really couldn’t help myself, so I said, “Birds have a tendency to do that, ma’am.” The woman screeched, “No! You don’t understand. My pet parakeet is in the tree. I’ve just got to get him down.” Like I said, not a clue. “I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t get birds out of trees.” The woman then cried, “But… What about my husband? He’s up there, too.” See what I had to deal with? To keep from hitting myself repeatedly in the head with my phone I took up writing. 
Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of over sixty captivating, compelling historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Her novels have been translated into five languages and are also available as audio books. Join her Reader Club at https://www.darcyburke.com/join.
