Series Spotlight

Changeable Facades (Book One in Samantha Barclay series)

by Suzanne M Hurley

Samantha Barclay is a counselor at Milton High. When a student confides that his mother was murdered, she is the only one who believes him.

Can she stop the murderer from killing a second time? Will handsome Deputy Al Michael help her? Can she escape with her own life intact?

More about The Godfather of Dance from Andrea Barton

I love fast-paced dramatic stories that keep readers guessing, so I aimed to achieve this with The Godfather of Dance.

I chose the setting because, like my protagonist, Jade, I lived in Houston away from my hometown in Melbourne, Australia. I wanted to share the highs and lows of the expat experience: the excitement of exploring a new place and the loneliness of being away from friends and family.

During my time in Houston, I was writing dance shows, so I spent hours rehearsing ballroom dance. My creative instructor helped to convert my stories into movement. The character of Anton is inspired by his love of dance.

Anton’s family motto is loyalty to family, no matter what. I used this to explore the theme of family. Anton and his family suffer the consequences of following or betraying blind loyalty. Meanwhile, Jade is in Houston in part to run away from her family. My challenge was to incorporate these ideas while maintaining the tension, dropping new clues, and creating twists.

More about Seeking the Future in the Past from James Hanley

I’ve often wondered about people in my past, particularly women I’ve known, curious about what their lives are now, and how different they are and look in comparison to the young woman I knew and cared for. Would they remember me after such a long time?

In the novel, the main character carries that curiosity further with unadmitted intentions. But reunions can evoke memories of hurt and disappointment, as the character encounters, as we might, in meeting past loves.

The intent of the novel was deliberate: to describe the romantic quest of older individuals and the challenges that a later-in-life reconnect with past lovers varies from the more familiar romance stories of younger protagonists.