Greetings, Noters, and welcome to February 2023!

I’m very mindful of the time slipping away, especially as I’m hard at work on the next Glenmyre Whim Mystery. Hazel and Poppy are deep into their investigation, but they’re also remembering to have a little fun while they’re at it. My goal is to have this manuscript ready by March for edits. Fingers crossed!

While it’s been a dreary winter, I realize we have yet to have a snow day in my neck of the woods. My pup, Eevee, does enjoy running around in freshly fallen snow. I am hoping for one snowy day so I can see her goof off. But then the snow can be gone.

As you might remember, I joined the Writers Who Kill blogging team last year, and right now on our blog, we’re sharing a serial novella we all wrote together. If you’re looking for a twisting, quick story, head over to www.writerswhokill.blogspot.com for a treat! We’re about halfway through the story now, so feel free to start at the beginning.

My featured author this week is no stranger to twisting plot lines. Without further ado…

A Bit About the Author: Angela Greenman is the author of The Child Riddler, her debut techno thriller. She is an internationally recognized communications professional who has been an expert and lecturer with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a spokesperson for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and a press officer for the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, the City’s civil rights department. She has traveled the world (21 countries and counting) and now her imagination is devising plots for future novels that will feature more of the exciting places she has been.

Angela, thank you so much for joining me here today. I’ve never interviewed a techno thriller writer before! What a treat. Tell us, what book made you first fall in love with reading?

I had a rough childhood, which included homelessness. Because of this, Gertrude Chandler Warner’s The Boxcar Children, about four orphaned siblings taking care of each other after their father dies, had a profound impact on me. It reflected in many ways the abandonment and loss I had as a child. My mother raised us (alone) and I had to help my mother raise and protect my baby brother. What this book gave me was a connection. I felt a bond with the characters, like they were friends. I also realized I wasn’t the only one going hardships so I felt less alone. From then on, not only did I find friends in books, but also hope. From books I learned how others who were going through hardships handled and solved it. The characters in books showed me there were ways to overcome trials and other ways to live.

A poignant lesson. Books give us so much more than entertainment. How did you begin your writing journey?

Because of my troubled childhood I wasn’t doing well in grammar school. When I was around eleven years old, I was failing. A teacher offered me a deal. If I did book reports, she’d give me extra credit for them to help me with my grades. I took her up on it and discovered that I loved to write. I enjoyed writing about the people in the books, and their stories. I wrote a lot of essays for the teacher! And I passed onto the next school level with higher grades and a much better student.

When I think about my past, it really strikes me how much of a journey it has been. My debut techno-thriller, The Child Riddler, was selected as one of the best books of 2022 by BestThrillers.com! It’s hard for me sometimes to believe that frightened homeless child is now an author with that kind of recognition.

Also, as I ponder the tapestry that is being woven of my life, and the threads that created it, I think maybe my love of writing, and also learning about the stories behind people, guided me toward my career in communications and public affairs. In this field, you have to engage a lot with people and do an extensive amount of writing (media briefs, press releases, articles, speeches, training materials, etc.,).

You have clearly taken every challenge thrown your way and gone on to conquer them. How very inspiring. With it being early 2023, what’s one thing you’re doing to prepare for the writing challenges in the months ahead?

I layout my year on a calendar. I need to see the big picture and like to be prepared for what obstacles might hinder my goals. I’m writing my second book now and keeping to the schedule this year is important.

How did your character, Zoe Lorel, first introduce herself to you?

My fantasy in my teens was to be a female James Bond—a strong woman, kicking ass and traveling the world. I finally got to meet this fantasy character while I was on vacation in in Vienna, Austria.

Zoe was a life-sized photograph staring out at me from a store window. She gazed over her shoulder with a confident, badass expression that said “I see you, but you can’t touch me.” From that moment on she was real to me.

What’s one thing about Zoe you admire? What’s one of her biggest flaws?

I admire her grit and determination. She has laser focus when it comes to getting the mission completed.

Her flaw is that she makes the mission her whole life. This prevents her emotional growth.

What is your favorite way to relax after an intense writing session?

Exercise. For me to feel fully relaxed, I need that balance of a mental and physical workout. A perfect day is working both my brain and body. Since exercise doesn’t require deep thought, while at the gym, or out walking, my brain is free to process what I wrote that day. Good ideas flow while I’m exercising on how to fix writing or plot issues that I had stumbled with that day. Frequently, while exercising, I have to stop and send myself an email with the ideas.

What’s been your favorite “research” moment or activity?

I’d have to say going to observe a dominatrix. It was a mesmerizing experience with the dynamics between the Domme and her submissive, and the overall set up of the environment. There is a scene in The Child Riddler where Zoe goes to a club to have an appointment with one. Not only did I wish to learn about the protocol particulars, I also wanted to absorb as much of the sensory material as I could. In my writing, I try to describe the smells, sounds, sights, etc., to create a vivid moment for the reader.

Wow, what a unique experience! Tell us three things that are always on your writing desk/writing space.

1) A coaster that someone gave me as a gift. It says, “…The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen. Lee Iacocca.” Not only perfect for writing, but also for life. You have to take that first step to accomplish anything.

2) A large board with my favorite quotes about writing. I have quotes from David Corbett’s book, The Art of Character, which I think is an incredible guide. I also have some from Lee Child, as well as other brilliant masters of the craft. It is helpful to me to have them right in front of me when I am writing so when the muse takes a break and forces me to pause, I see one of the quotes, and I’m inspired, and get back at writing that next line of dialogue or action flow.

3) A friend gave me a calendar for a gift titled: “Women who BROKE GLASS CEILINGS.” I cut out the title and made it a sign. It represents my life story. I broke through some barriers personally as well as professionally. In my professional career I was often one of a few women sitting at the table where national and international issues were discussed. I can remember a few times where I was the only woman at such meetings. I like the reminder not to accept the walls. It keeps me motivated.

It sounds like your writing space is full of wonderful motivation. What is your favorite, can’t-live-without writing tool?

My Burmese cat, Lea. She greets me on my lap every time I sit down at the computer with lots of purring. It’s like she is saying, “I’m happy you are going to write.” Then she goes and sleeps in her bed next to me. Her soft snoring is soothing background music. It gives me a warm feeling to know she loves me so much she wants to be with me.

I’m glad Lea is supportive of your work. My dog Eevee seems a bit more disdainful of my writing, in that I’m not paying attention to her while I’m doing it. Now, for our final question: You stumble across a crime scene. What book character are you alerting first? Why?

I’d call Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, and she can alert whichever one of her book characters she wishes. Growing up I read most, if not all, of her books and I think with a mind like hers, she’d solve the crime within seconds!

Getting advice from an expert is always a great place to start. Angela, thank you so much for sharing your inspiring journey with me here at Noteworthy. Readers, you can check out Angela’s debut novel, The Child Riddler, below!

The Child Riddler: Despite the angry scars she carries from her childhood training, Zoe Lorel has reached a good place in her life. She has her dream job as an elite operative in an international spy agency and she’s found her one true love. Her world is mostly perfect—until she is sent to abduct a nine-year-old girl.

The girl is the only one who knows the riddle that holds the code to unleash the most lethal weapon on earth—the first ever “invisibility” nanoweapon, a cloaking spider bot. But Zoe’s agency isn’t the only one after the child. And when enemies reveal the invisibility weapon’s existence to underground arms dealers, every government and terrorist organization in the world want to find that little girl.

Zoe races to save not only the child she has grown to care about, but also herself. The agency prescribed pills—the ones that transform her into the icy killer she must become to survive—are beginning to threaten her engagement to the one person who brings her happiness. Can she protect the young girl and still protect the one thing she cares more about than anything else?

The Child Riddler Purchase links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Child-Riddler-Angela-Greenman/dp/1642473650

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-child-riddler-angela-greenman/1139775262

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781642473650

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-child-riddler-angela-greenman/17417939?ean=9781642473650

Connect with Angela

Website: https://www.angelagreenman.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AngelaGreenman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071879436485

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