{"id":4021,"date":"2014-10-28T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/?p=4021"},"modified":"2014-10-27T14:41:38","modified_gmt":"2014-10-27T19:41:38","slug":"4021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/?p=4021","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Parade: Aaron Paul Lazar"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m doing a new feature this year — the HOLIDAY PARADE! Basically, each week between now and the holidays (choose your own favorite variety),\u00a0I’m featuring an author whose books would make excellent holiday gifts.<\/p>\n

The first one is a\u00a0particular favorite of mine, who writes mysteries with a dash of paranormal. He’s\u00a0been at this for a while and has quite an inventory, so check him out! If you like his stuff, you’ll have reading material to entertain you for months. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Aaron Paul Lazar<\/a>!<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I Broke the Rules \u2013 Go Ahead and Shoot Me!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a92014\u00a0<\/em>Aaron Lazar<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t intend to write a series when I created the rather kooky and slightly paranormal mystery,\u00a0For the Birds.\u00a0<\/em>I knew it would feature a pretty little red bird on the cover (see below), because I\u2019d just had a vivid dream about her. Out of the wild blue yonder, Ruby came to me and insisted on a book of her own. I\u2019d never owned a bird, never even known anyone with a feathered pet, but this dream was so vibrant I couldn\u2019t get Ruby out of my mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Marcella and Quinn \u201cBlack Eagle\u201d Hollister came upon the scene as Ruby\u2019s owners, and Marcella\u2019s mother, Thelma, popped out of nowhere. Before I knew it, I had created a dynamic and diverse family and their pets. True to my dream, I set the story in the Adirondack Mountains, which set me craving for the mountains, woods, lakes, and rivers that I\u2019d come to love. I just\u00a0had<\/em>\u00a0to get up there again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fortunately, or unfortunately, as the case may be, I was laid off from my engineering job at Kodak right around the same time. So, with lots of free time on our hands, we headed up to the mountains and discovered the cabin where the story takes place. Tall Pines is a rustic, wonderful cabin situated on seven acres of pines above the Sacandaga River in Hope, NY. We fell in love with it, and it has become the center of the series that grew from\u00a0For the Birds<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"When Marcella Hollister\u2019s prize parakeet gets zapped by a wayward power line in the same pool as her mother, the ensuing psychic link helps Marcella chase her mother\u2019s kidnappers through the Adirondack Mountains, where she unearths a fifty-year-old secret about her dear father with shocking links to a hidden treasure.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I really didn\u2019t plan to include paranormal or spiritual elements in\u00a0For The Birds<\/em>, either. I just went ahead, guns blazing, and let the story blast out of me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can\u2019t exactly call me a planner. But I have a hard time trying to keep up with myself. I know, that sounds nuts. But it\u2019s how I write.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I finished this book, I was in love with the characters. My readers wanted more of Marcella and her gorgeous half-Seneca husband, and they seemed to enjoy our jaunts to the Adirondacks. At the same time, I\u2019d recently become infatuated and obsessed with essential oils. There was no question that my characters would also discover them, and it came as no surprise that I used the healing power of essential oils as one of the main themes in the second Tall Pines book,\u00a0Essentially Yours<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Strangely enough, however, this book was a bit different. Although it\u2019s dubbed a mystery, it had more suspense and action than the first book. If I had to give it a genre on its own, I would have called it romantic suspense.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hey! Where\u2019s the consistency?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If push came to shove, I\u2019d say it\u2019s in the characters and the telling of a great story set in the same locale.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Marcella\u2019s first love has been MIA for eighteen years. Callie, her best friend and Sky\u2019s sister, flips out when a mysterious package from Sky arrives on her doorstep. Inside his old backpack are bottles of precious essential oils, a memory stick, and a bag of emeralds. Are these his final effects? Or is Sky alive?
\nDrug company goons want the data on the memory stick, because it links a newly discovered essential oil with a leukemia cure. They kidnap Callie, hoping to lure Sky into the open. Marcella and Quinn track her to the wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains, where against all odds they fight to save Callie and preserve the proof that could change the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The characters screamed at me to write more, especially Marcella\u2019s newly introduced old flame, Sky Lissoneau, and his damaged, but adorable, sister, Callie. I thrived on the tension between Marcella\u2019s husband and her first love, who showed up after eighteen years with a whole gang of villains chasing him through the Adirondack woods. Quinn\u2014usually a quiet and passive soul\u2014is insanely jealous of Sky. After all these years, Sky still adores Marcella, and can\u2019t get that look of desperate heartache out of his eyes. I let all hell break loose in Marcella\u2019s family and in the mountains where the scientific medical studies were being held to prove that a common lake week held the key to curing leukemia. Mix together some nasty drug company thugs and a bit of mysticism with crystals, oils, and the love of a big old Bernese Mountain Dog, and you have\u00a0Essentially Yours<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I wrote\u00a0Sanctuary<\/a><\/em>, book three, I was obsessed with what I called \u201cmy Indian soul.\u201d With the help of a Cherokee historian friend, I wove substantial elements of Native American traditions into this mystery\/suspense. Using mystical elements of crystals, smooth river stones, essential oils, and a haunted mountain top, I pushed the psychic barrier a bit here and allowed a bit of mind-melding.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t belong in a mystery, does it? You\u2019d really expect it more in\u00a0Star Trek<\/em>. But hell, like I said, I didn\u2019t care. I just forged ahead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Marcella\u2019s husband, Quinn \u201cBlack Eagle\u201d Hollister, severed ties to his family and friends on the Seneca reservation years ago. He rarely mentions his past\u2014until his young cousin Kitty collapses on the couple\u2019s doorstep in the dead of a rainswept night.\u00a0After two Seneca men break into their home with intent to kill, the Hollisters flee with the mute and injured girl to Tall Pines, their cabin in the Adirondacks. Marcella, unable to bear a child of her own, unleashes her motherly instincts caring for Kitty. As the girl slowly recovers, they start to piece together who wants them dead, and why.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When it came time to write\u00a0Betrayal<\/a><\/em>, which flowed out immediately afterSanctuary<\/a><\/em>, I wanted to create a winter mystery full of threats, sexual upheaval, and plenty of chase scenes. I didn\u2019t expect to introduce a pair of serial killers who left bodies on the icy shores of the Sacandaga, but that\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I also introduced some pretty dark relationship issues into Marcella\u2019s marriage. She feels Quinn betrays her, and flees to Tall Pines to escape for a while. Trouble is, Sky is waiting there for her, and it\u2019s all she can do not to let herself fall into his arms. The old passion is still there, and it tortures her to look into his sea green eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Marcella Hollister realized a lifetime of hopes and dreams when she was given custody of a child. A cousin of her half-Seneca husband, Quinn, the baby\u2019s mother was murdered in a political plot\u2014and Marcella, who\u2019s never been able to have children of her own, formed an instant bond with little Kimi. Then a distant relative comes forward to claim Kimi\u2014and Quinn, who Marcella thought understood her pain better than anyone, allows them to take the baby without a fight.\u00a0<\/em>Confused and deeply wounded, Marcella takes off for Tall Pines, their secluded Adirondack cabin. She hopes the peace and natural beauty of the mountains will help clear her head and decide whether to forgive Quinn\u2026or leave him. But the situation at Tall Pines is anything but peaceful. Her high school lover, Sky, arrives to help out\u2014and Marcella discovers her old feelings may not be as distant as she thought. Worse, a serial killer is stalking young women in the area. And when a teen girl whose mother works with Sky goes missing, Marcella and everyone she cares for wind up dead center in the killer\u2019s sights.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If I were to read\u00a0Betrayal<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on its own, I might classify it as a romantic thriller.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Uh huh. Not a kooky, paranormal mystery like\u00a0For the Birds<\/a><\/em>. Not a romantic suspense, like\u00a0Essentially Yours<\/a><\/em>. Not a Native American spiritual mystery, likeSanctuary<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I know, I know! Where\u2019s my consistency? Where\u2019s my platform planning?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That said — I must tell you my Tall Pines fans and readers don\u2019t give a darn into which official genre my books fall. You could certainly still classify them as mysteries. But they don\u2019t care, and frankly, neither do I. It\u2019s the characters we care about, and they are going to be here for the long haul.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, yeah. I broke the rules. Please don\u2019t shoot me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aaron Paul Lazar<\/p>\n

www.lazarbooks.com<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Aaron Paul Lazar writes to soothe his soul. A bestselling Kindle author of 22 books, including three addictive mystery series, writing books, and a new love story, Aaron enjoys the Genesee Valley countryside in upstate New York, where his characters embrace life, play with their dogs and grandkids, grow sumptuous gardens, and chase bad guys. Visit his website athttp:\/\/www.lazarbooks.com<\/a>\u00a0and watch for his upcoming release, UNDER THE ICE. Aaron has won over 18 book awards for his novels and finds writing to be his form of “cheap therapy.” Feel free to connect with him on Facebook or his website; he loves to connect with readers!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m doing a new feature this year — the HOLIDAY PARADE! Basically, each week between now and the holidays (choose your own favorite variety),\u00a0I’m featuring an author whose books would make excellent holiday gifts. The first one is a\u00a0particular favorite of mine, who writes mysteries with a dash of paranormal. He’s\u00a0been at this for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4021"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4024,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021\/revisions\/4024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}