S3 EP 126: Darlene Dziomba, Author of The Lily Dreyfus Mysteries

Hello Happy People,

In this week's episode of Book Banter with Dianne Burckhardt, Dianne chats with Darlene Dziomba. Darlene is a cozy mystery writer with two passion projects in her life, writing great cozy mysteries and bringing awareness to the need for pet adoptions and the great work being done at no kill shelters. Darlene has plenty of personal experiences to draw from, due to her own work as a volunteer in a no kill shelter. Her protagonist, Lily Dreyfus, is the Adoption Coordinator at the Forever Friends Animal Shelter.

​While animal rescue and adoption has long been an interest for Darlene, being an author was not always a career focus for her. Her career background is actually in finance. She spent 35 years at the University of Pennsylvania doing financial management and fiscal operations. She had no previous writing experience, but that did not stop her from pursuing her dream of writing cozy mysteries. She just set her mind to go after her dream and she did it. 

Once Darlene made the choice to write her cozy mysteries, she went straight to work honing her craft. ​If you have a fondest for well written cozy mysteries with adorable animal sidekicks, you just might have found a new favorite author in Darlene Dziomba. Don't wait, go listen now! 

Darlene's Website
Darlene on Amazon
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Darlene in Book Banter Magazine

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome to Book Banter with me, your host, Diane Burkhart. I hope you will join me every Wednesday as we explore all things to do with, well, books. Let's get on with our show today. Hello my happy people. Today is July 10th, 2024, and if you are a fan of Cozy Mysteries, you are going to love this episode. We are being joined by Darlene DeZamba, who writes the Lily Dreyfus Mysteries. This book series not only gives you a great story with intrigue and quirky characters, but you also get animal sidekicks and someone who is passionate about rescue dogs. So if you are a fan of a really good female sleuth who happens to be really passionate about animal rescue, you may have just found your new favorite author. There is just so much to love about this mystery series. But that's enough blather for me for the moment. Let's get right to the interview and let you hear it all from the author herself. Please welcome to Bookbander with Diane Burkhart, Darlene DeZomba. So of course, we're going to start today's show the way that we always do. I would like for my guest to please explain to everyone who you are and what you do.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Well, I'm Darlene DeZomba, and I write the Lily Dreyfus Mystery Series. Lily is the adoption coordinator at a no-kill animal shelter, and I am very passionate about dogs and animals, and I volunteer at a local shelter here in New Jersey. And one day I had this wonderful thought. I've never read a book where the protagonist works in an animal shelter, and I had learned a lot about the operation from my volunteer activities. So I decided I'm going to write that. And it's interesting because my background is in finance. I spent 35 years at the University of Pennsylvania doing financial management and fiscal operations. So I had no writing background whatsoever, but I set my mind to I wanted to do this. So I did some writers' workshops. I took a lot of classes through Sisters in Crime, and we're three books in. The fourth one's about to go off to the copy editor, and I'm really enjoying this experience. And the people who have read the books tell me they really like the characters in them.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

You know, there was one thing that I had seen on your website that you are a member of the Sisters in Crime and you're on the board of directors for the Cinse Grand Canyon Writers? Grand Canyon Writers, yes. How important do you think it is to your career personally to be involved in these kinds of groups?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Oh, it's immensely important to be part of these groups. I have learned so much from the Sisters in Crime, just because people have different levels of experience and they are very willing to share like what's worked well, what hasn't worked well for them. And you know, when you're new at this, especially being a self-published author, there is so much to learn and so many pitfalls you could fall into. So having this group of people that you can share ideas with and learn things from is just so immensely important. And the Grand Canyon Writers chapter, they do everything via Zoom. So it's awesome for me because I'm in New Jersey. Most of them are in New Mexico and Arizona, but everything is online. So I can easily do all of their meetings, I can be on the board of directors, and it's great. There's such a talented group of writers that are on the board, and I have learned so much from them.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

How did you originally get involved with the Grand Canyon Writers Group, seeing as it was so far away? How did you connect with them?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Well, they started during the pandemic. They decided to form a chapter and they said, everybody's doing Zoom now. We're gonna open up our meetings to anyone who wants to come. And the Sisters in Crime board said, Don't do that. You're gonna regret this, you'll never have any members. You know, people will just take what's free and never give back. And they had at one point, I think, 230 members who were coming to the meetings, who were paying dues and participating in their events. So I found out through them from Sisters in Prime. I saw one of their meetings and I said, Oh, this is Zoom. I'm gonna go and listen. And their meetings have been really good. They do an incredible job of finding authors with specific skills to talk about. And so it's really nice to be helpful. And then I said, Wow, I've been enjoying this group for two years. I should give back. So last year I, you know, I got in touch with the board when they were doing nominations, and I said, I'd like to be on the board. You know, everything is via Zoom. What would you like me to do? And they I think they did did a backflip. They were like, Oh, whoop, do you want to be on the board? And somebody wants to help. Exactly. So I mean, I wasn't really sure what my role would be, but the woman who was doing membership wanted to move on to something else. And they said to me, Well, how are you with spreadsheets? Do you have any experience with that? And I said, Oh, a little. Because I've been working with them for 35 years. So, you know, I have a little experience with spreadsheets. And so I became their membership chair. And I actually really like it. I was at Malice Domestic this weekend, and someone sat down next to me and I said, Oh, your name sounds familiar. Are you by any chance part of Grand Canyon Writers? And it was like this like smooth transition to, you know, sit down and have a conversation with someone because they were. And they were like, Oh, you're on the board. That's great. I was like, Yeah, you should join the board.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

And it sounds like you're having a lot of fun with it. I really am. Now, being an indie author, was there ever a point that you thought maybe I should try and go traditional, or were you just set on being an indie author?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

No, I started out trying to go the traditional route, and I spent about 18 months sending queries out to agents, and I had about a, I don't know, 2% return of people who actually like responded to my query, and then a 1% return of people who asked for additional pages. And people were very honest with me, those who asked for additional pages. They said they liked my style, they liked my voice, but they weren't sure they could sell it. And I was going along and I had to sit down and have a talk with myself and say, what's the most important thing? Because yes, I would love to hold an Agatha in my hand, I would love to hold an Edgar, but the most important thing for me was I wanted my parents to hold a copy of a book with my name on the front cover. And at the time my parents were in their mid 80s. Like I didn't have 20 years to achieve that goal. Yeah. So I said, I'm gonna self-publish. That was why I chose to self-publish, because I said, okay, I can get it out there. Maybe I won't make a million dollars, but really as a writer who makes a million dollars anymore. And you know, I just I've gone the self-published route. It actually fits in well kind of with my personality, because I can be a little controlling. So in this way, I control the entire process. Like if I don't like a cover, I say, no, I don't like that. We're gonna have to keep working on it.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

I was laughing because I've told my husband, I I never even tried to go traditional. I liked the idea of self-publishing because I had control over everything. And I had friends who were traditionally published authors, and they were always talking about, you know, I wanted this title, but my publisher said no, and they changed it to this, and I wanted this cover, but my publisher said no, and they changed it to that. And I was like, I don't want that. I want it to be my work. So I didn't even think about it. I just went straight to self-publishing. As a self-publisher, how important do you think it is to have a professional editor?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Critical. It is absolutely critical to have a professional editor. And I found someone through another self-published author who, you know, we had connected and she was kind of mentoring me and said, I've got the best copy editor you'll ever find, and I'll share him with you. And I was like, oh, awesome. And I have to say that he is spectacular because he doesn't just edit my grammatical mistakes, he'll change words and say to me, I think what you're really trying to say is this. And when I read it, I'm like, that reads so much better than what I wrote before. So it is critical to have a professional editor. You know, you lose sight of things when you're writing them, you know what you mean to say. So you think, oh, this sounds great. But when someone else reads it for you, someone who like has no investment other than you're going to pay me as your editor, you get feedback with no no like, oh, I can't hurt your feelings or anything of that nature. And I've also found that I have a copy editor, but before I send this into production, I have a professional proofreader also read through it because when I'm copy editing, I do really stupid things like accidentally delete a letter out of a word or delete a word. And you don't catch that because you expect the word to be there and you expect it to be correct. So it's critical to have professionals helping you along the way.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Do you ever use text-to-speech software and listen to what you've written? I have not tried that, but many authors have recommended it. That's one of my favorite things because whenever I'm reading, I will often read what I think I wrote and not actually what is there on the page. But if I'm listening to it and not even looking at the words, it really hits me when something's wrong. Right. That's one of the things that I usually recommend to first-time authors if they're wanting to clean up their work before they send it off to some editor. Listen to it first. You will be amazed at the things that you will catch that way.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yes. How do you develop your characters? A lot of my characters are developed around people that I have known in my life. I've had a lot of like different experiences. You know, I have a very diverse friend group. I worked at a university, so I worked with a very diverse group of people. So a lot of my characters come from characteristics that you know stood out to me from other people. And I've had two dogs, and and each of them have had an incredibly different personality. I had a Beagle Bassett mix who I said if they ever make grumpy old dogs as a movie, he will be the Walter Mathall character in there because that that was exactly his personality. And now I have a terrier mix, and she's the complete opposite. She loves everyone except cats. Cats, I she has like a complete 180 in personality. So it's really interesting to see like the different personality types, not only that people have, but that animals have. And just through those interactions, that's how I develop my characters.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

See, I think we need to get your dog and my dog together because he loves cats and doesn't like people. Oh, okay. So they're exact opposites.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

When I'm walking her, like I tell people, I'm like, listen, I have to control her enthusiasm a little. Like I always have my hand on her back. I mean, you can bet her, but let me just put my hand here or else she'll be in your face.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

All of these friends of yours that you use to help build your characters, do they recognize themselves in your work? Some of them do, yes. And how do they feel about their representation?

SPEAKER_01 11:56

I so far everybody's said nice things about them. So I'm very glad about that. Interestingly though, some people think that a person is is someone I did not intend that person to be. So like a lot of people say to me, Oh, Lily is you, and I'm like, you don't know me that well. Because she isn't. I mean, there are things in Lily that are part of me, like I love to cook, and Lily's always like preparing meals for friends or her brother or what have you. But other than that, really, we like dogs and we like to cook. The the rest of Lily is not me. But I had a friend who had these two very interesting dogs, and I wanted to use those dogs as characters in my book. And so I was like, Well, Linda's going to get a character because I want her dogs. And we were out to dinner one night and talking, and she said to me, I want a character in your book. And I said, Oh, good, because I was planning to make a character in the book about you. And she was like, Great. So, you know, I was like, just what do you want your character to be called? And she gave me three choices, one of which was Tallula. And I was like, No way, that'll drive the spell chuck crazy. You cannot be Tulula. So uh, yeah, so she's Lucinda, and she, you know, she has actually said to me, Oh, yes, Lucinda, she's so brilliant, very detail-oriented.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

So who is Lily Dreyfus? So Lily Dreyfus honestly is who I wish I had the courage to have been. So Lily had a very top-level job. She was a social worker at the children's hospital of Philadelphia. She got resources for families, helped families who were in crisis because they had a sick child, or they had a domestic situation that was going on. But Lily was getting burnt out. Like all of that pressure and seeing all of that sadness was really wearing her down. And one day one of her friends said to her, you know, you're really getting worn down. And there's a job that I think you would be perfect at. It's the adoption coordinator at an animal shelter because it's what you do. You find the right resources for people and you make the correct matches. And here, that's what you would be doing. You would be finding all of these animals who need a home, a place to be. And so Lily took this giant leap of faith and left this very high-level professional job, you know, where she had to have all these certifications and took a job nobody would really expect someone with a master's in sociology to go and take. And I respect her for that, because I never would have had the courage to take that leap. So, you know, I I'm a writer, but I was writing while I was still working my finance job because that was paying the bills. You know, it's great to do something you really love to do, but at the end of the day, there are bills that you need to pay. So that's really the thing about Lily that I really like. And and Lily is the oldest sibling of four, so she's the one who's kind of always giving advice and leadership to her siblings and to her nieces and nephews. I'm the youngest. Everybody says I'm just spoiled. I say that my parents finally got it right, and so why keep on trying once you achieve perfection? Where do the mysteries come in? Well, the mysteries come in with things that Lily experiences and things that I've experienced. So my very first book, Clues from the Canines, Lily comes to work and she gets a call from the state police. They've done a wellness check on someone and found him dead. And he has a dog, and they would like the shelter to house the dog until they do their next of kin notification. And Lily says, Of course we've done this before, no problem. You know, bring the dog in, only to find out that the man who's dead is her boyfriend. So Lily has to deal with the grief and the suffering of having lost her boyfriend, finding out in this very shocking way, but still pull herself together and be a professional in the workplace. And you know, I've had situations where I'm like, I'm dealing with something really hard, but none of my coworkers know about it. And you know, you have to just pull yourself together, put that in the back of your mind and focus on what you're focusing on in the moment. So that's really where like, you know, things come in. But my third book, which we just released in March, is Fire in Dalmatian, and it's about how the home of a hoarder burns down. And one of the things this woman hoarded was cats. So Lily gets involved because she gets involved in helping to rescue the cats and re-home them after this fire. And that story really came to me. The person was not a hoarder, but one morning I woke up to find four fire trucks on my block because the house at the end of the block was on fire, completely destroyed the home. But that smell of wet wood lingered for over a month. It was incredible just to have that. And that shocking feeling of one morning you could wake up and you're running from the house, and the only thing you have is the pajamas you wore to bed that night. You've lost everything. And I thought this is just this is the perfect plot for a mystery. What happens when you lose everything in a minute? You know, I knew I could write a realistic scene because I had been there. I'd experienced being on that block, watching the firemen work, seeing these people who are like, okay, all I have are my pajamas and my slippers. I have nothing else. And watching them cope. Really, the mysteries kind of come from things I've experienced.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

Well, now you have discussion questions in one of your media kits, and I was curious about this one. It says that Clarissa's backstory delves into a reality that a lot of Americans face, but that isn't often discussed. What is that topic?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Oh, so includes from the canines, Clarissa is the cousin of the deceased, and Clarissa was in a great job as a paralegal, but she went on a ski trip and broke her leg. In the time it it took for all of the surgeries and rehabilitation, she used up the 12 weeks of family medical leave that you are legally required to give an employee. So at 12 weeks and one day, the law firm cut her loose, said, You're done. We're not going to give you a job anymore. So she lost her job, her income, her health insurance, and still could not really work because she couldn't stand on the leg that was broken. And so this actually came from a friend of mine who had a similar experience, not with a broken leg, but at 12 weeks and one day was told you're done. You don't have a job anymore. And so they were going through this medical treatments that suddenly when you lose your insurance, oh, you used to have a $50 copay. Well, now if you want that chemotherapy treatment, it's going to cost you $10,000 to have. And puts people in this really horrible experience or you know, decision-making place where it's like, okay, if I want to live, how do I afford this? How do I get medical treatment, having my insurance stripped away, and I don't have a job, so I'm not making an income. And people really don't want to have that conversation in the US. You know, people say there's no problem with the health insurance industry the way it is. And that is so untrue. I, you know, I see people every day who are struggling with, well, I know I should have this test done, but my insurance doesn't cover it. I think that's a conversation that gets glossed over in the US because we start talking about, oh, it's welfare, people are already getting money from the government, but it's really not about that. It's about the health insurance industry and how a bunch of industry executives decide who gets care and who doesn't get care based on what health insurance options they have.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Yeah, I have a lot of personal experience with that. I actually had to go into work with fresh stitches in my head after brain surgeries because I had to be able to go to work and put in the time to keep my insurance. Right. And, you know, whenever you're going in there after having brain surgery the week before, there wasn't a whole lot I could do. But I just had to go in and put in my time so that I wouldn't get fired and lose my insurance. So yeah, that is definitely a conversation that people do need to have and does not get talked about. Yeah, it's a heavy subject. Oh god, yeah. When you started your job working in animal welfare, how important do you think these programs are for actually keeping control of the animal populations in the US?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Oh, you know what, it is very important, and it's interesting because I was working in the clinic there and there were people who worked on TNR, which is trap neuter release. So they would trap feral cats, bring them in, they would get neutered at a reduced rate because you know, helping the society, and then they would release the feral cats back out because they're not cats that can be rehabbed and turned into house cats. But if they're neutered or spayed, then you're not constantly reproducing the feral cat population. And when cats have a litter, it it's not one kitten, it's multiple kittens that are coming out. And that population can quickly take over a space in a community. So I think it's really good to have these types of programs. And also for the dog population. So Animal Welfare Association is a no-kill shelter. And there are a lot of organizations in the United States who are trying to turn all shelters into no-kill shelters, which I think is really important. You know, people get dogs or cats either way, they don't really know what they're getting into and then decide, hmm, I can't handle this. And some people are smart and take the dog to a shelter or the cat to a shelter. And some people drive down the road, open the door and push the dog out. That's not the right option.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Yeah, that kind of just makes me angry.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yes, exactly. I had the pause because I was so angry just saying it. And so when you have a no-kill shelter, it gives people a different opportunity. Like it gives you that opportunity to, okay, I'm an older person. I have to go to assist it living. What happens to this poor dog who has lived with me for 10 years that I can't take to assist it living? And really that dog probably still has four or five years of life left in it. I can't see euthanizing a healthy dog just because the owner has to go to assist it living, you know, and there's no family member who can take the dog.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

This is the point of the show that we like to do five quick questions that never turn out to be quick, but we still hold out hope that someday this is gonna work. Are you ready? Yes. Question one. What is your favorite breed of dog?

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Oh, I am a sucker for the hound dogs. Those long ears and that sad looking face. I'm just a sucker for it.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

So now question two. With summer coming up and people usually tend to take vacations at this time, what is your favorite vacation destination?

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Oh, now that's a hard one. So a vacation destination for me is some place where I can be completely relaxed and don't have to make a lot of decisions. So going to a beach community where it's like, do I wear my bathing suit today or a pair of shorts is the biggest decision you have to make. That's what I really like to do. Or having an opportunity where I can just sit and read for an extended period of time. So it doesn't matter if beach, mountains, what have you, like I want to be able to like sit on a porch and read a book for three hours, you know.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

I think for me, it's any place I don't have to do laundry, cook, or wash dishes. Other than that, I don't care. Question three. With your groups that you're involved in and going out and doing author meet and greets and meeting your public and signing books, what is the best experience that you had had at one of these interactions?

SPEAKER_01 24:59

I did a book signing last year at my local library, and you know, I sent the word out to friends, neighbors, and I am telling you, my friends showed up in force. I was actually in awe at one point because my mom was there with me, and I was like, Ma, look, there's a line. There's a line of people waiting to see me. And so that was just amazing to me, because you know, this is a passion. I enjoy doing it, but to see people waiting in line to buy my book and chat with me was just amazing. Like it was eye-opening.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

That would be a fantastic experience. Because I think that's one of the big fears that a lot of, especially indie authors and new authors, is if they go and do a book signing and a meet and greet, that nobody shows up. Exactly. Question four Where do you get the names for your dogs? In the books. Not your personal dogs, the books.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

So in the books, the dog's names come from either character traits that they share or literary names. So Lily's two dogs are Boone and Crockett because they're hound dogs, and hound dogs are explorers. So Boone and Crockett just seem to be the perfect names for her dogs. Nice. Whereas her friend Mickey Sterling, her dog is named Nero, and she says he's Nero for Nero Wolf, because her mother was a big reader, and she was named Mickey Sterling. Um, she was named Mickey for Mickey Spillane, and she has two brothers, Raymond and Chandler. So when she got a dog, the dog had to have a literary name in some way, shape, or form.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Now, do you use that same system to name your own dogs?

SPEAKER_01 26:49

No, it's it's interesting because my Beagle Bassett mix was Tugger, named for Tug McGraw, a famous Philly's relief pitcher. And I said to people, people found this really hysterical. I'm like, he kind of looks like Tug. Like, look at his face. He's got those big round eyes, and his ears frame his face, just like Tug's hair used to frame his face. And their eyes would start to glaze, and they would say, Oh, okay, darling, sure. That's right. So, you know, after Tug passed away and I found my next dog, I had all these sports names in my head for the dog, you know, because there was Schmidty and the Lefty and Doc, and there were all these great Phillies names out there. And then I fell in love. Well, I should say I got chosen by a dog that's female, and I was lost. I was like, I don't have any female names in my head. Oh my goodness, what am I gonna do? But I'm a huge jazz fan, and I like the music of Billy Holiday, so she became Billy for Billy Holiday.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Oh, I love Billy Holiday. Billy Holliday, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith. Yes. Like all the old women of jazz and blues are such amazing singers. Question five. With summer coming up and you being part of our summer read suggestions, who do you suggest people read for the summer?

SPEAKER_01 28:09

I just finished a fabulous book called Devil's Chew Toy. It's written by Rob Osler. And if you like quirky characters, I I just did this. My review on Goodreads was Rob puts the cue in Quirky. He really does. A really good book, and I enjoyed it. Another person who I've read recently, who I found was fantastic, is Karen Odin, O D D E N. She writes the Mickey Coravan series, and it's set in the late 1800s in London. She is a fabulous writer. The plot is very detailed, and her characters are so well developed. You feel like you know these people, like you would have dinner with them. So both of those writers are good. And if you like dogs, I my hands-down favorite dog writer is Spencer Quinn. He writes a series called Chet and Bernie, and everything is written from the dog's perspective. So they are hysterical because the dog just has a much different viewpoint than human beings would. So they're really good, but the plots are also really well developed. So you're not just reading this comical dog. You've got a really good plot holding the book together.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

Those are great suggestions. Thank you for that. You're welcome. So it's one thing I tend to spend a lot more time reading during the summer. I love finding great summer read suggestions for everybody because I know there's so many other people that love going to the beach and reading or just hanging out in the backyard. It's like gotta enjoy the summer, and nothing is better than setting out in good weather with a good book. Exactly. So now tell everybody again where they can find your information.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Okay, so I am my website is readdarlene.com, R-E-A-D, because I want you to read the books, and all of my social media is based on Read Darlene. So I'm Read Darlene7 on Facebook. Don't ask me how there were six Read Darlings before me, but apparently there were. And also ReadDarlene7 on Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

Makes me want to go search and find out who all these people are. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:24

I was like, really? Six other people had this idea. So now where can they find your books? My books are on Amazon, and uh they're also in on Ingram Spark. So if you ask your independent bookstore to purchase them, they can order them through Ingram Spark.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

And of course, all of the contact information to find all of your books in the Lily Dreyfus Mystery series will be available in the description of today's podcast on our website and in the summer issue of BookBanter magazine. I cannot thank you enough. This has been so much fun, and I love the fact that you have dogs throughout your book series because I am a huge dog fan and I love reading books that have great dog characters too. And I know there's lots of other people who feel the same way. This was been so much fun. Thank you so much for having me on. So there you have it, my happy people. What a fantastic interview with Darlene DeZomba and her Lily Dreyfus Mysteries are such a great read. If you need a good cozy mystery to read while you lounge on the back patio with a cold drink on a warm summer night, the Lily Dreyfus Mysteries are a good place to start. So go check her out on her website, readdarlene.com, and all of her social media. Now, next week we have Takia Smith. She is the author of Single Mom and the City: Create Time, Money, and a Rich Life. But we are talking to her mostly about her coloring books that she has. She has one specifically for boys and one for girls. They are empowering coloring books that they can doodle, dream, and discover. They are the I Love Me colorful and creative books, and they are so adorable and so much fun. It makes me want to get a couple just to sit around and color at home. And speaking of great summer reads, don't forget to go to Burkhartbooks.com and check out my books that I wrote as Stephen Burkhart. We have the seven novella series, the Into the West Saga Serial. It is an award-winning historical fiction family saga. It's a clean read with wonderful family stories. So if you're looking for something else to read this summer, why not give my books a try? You can find an excerpt from chapter one of Into the West The Orphan Train, which is book one in my Into the West Saga serial, in the current issue of Book Banter magazine. We will be featuring an excerpt from book two Into the West A New Home in our next issue. Don't forget to come back next week and be sure to go check out our current issue of Book Banter Magazine with full articles on Darlene de Zamba and Dakia Smith and everyone else who's appeared in our June and July Book Banter with Diane Burkhart podcast episodes. We have had so many great summer reads authors, you don't want to miss a single one. If you enjoy listening to BookBanter with Diane Burkhart, the Book Talk Podcast, you can help us to continue bringing you great content by buying an issue of BookBanter magazine. For just $2.99, you get a downloadable PDF version of the magazine that you can keep forever on your computer, or it just gives you access to be able to read it online whenever you want at Burkhartbooks.com. You get to decide how you access your copy. But now that's enough for today, folks. I have had some technical issues, which is why this episode is getting out a little bit later than normal today. But everything finally came together and we got a great interview for you. Now you know what time it is. It is time for you all to go forth and be really happy that I finally pulled this one together.