I want to welcome Willow Willers and Dan Antion to Fiction Favorites. The two got together to craft an exciting story, and I’m so pleased they are with me today. I’ve laid out the tea, so maybe Willow and Dan can spill more about their book. Welcome, Dan and Willow.
“John, Willow, and I would like to thank you for hosting us today. Your support means a great deal to us. We’ve been talking a little bit about Poetic Justice, but it’s available now, and we’re both thrilled that you’re helping us kick off the sale. I understand you have a few questions for us.”
“Yes, I do. I want to start with you, Dan. In your bar post when you first mentioned this book, you told David this story was a complex murder mystery. Mysteries, by their nature, are complex. I thought the complexity had to do with the fact that it’s ‘a Rascal Todd Mystery with Brody Thompson’, but I sense that there’s more to it. What’s different about this story?”
“It’s a murder mystery, John, but the murder occurred five years before the story begins. The police looked into it but halted their investigation abruptly. Trevor Barcroft, the murder victim’s son, is still looking for answers. He lives in Rochester, New York, but his father lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania so the local police can’t help him.
He tried to get the Pittsburgh police to reopen the case, but they refused. He discovers that Brody Thompson, an author living in Rochester, published a murder mystery that seemed similar to his father’s murder. Trevor asks Brody to help solve the real crime. Brody agrees, but things get complicated after that.”
“Brody’s a retired cop, right?”
“Yes, Brody was a Rochester policeman. He started his writing career after he retired.”
“What was the similarity between the two murders?”
“Both murders occurred in Pittsburgh. Both men were shot, and both shooters left behind the gun they used. The interesting thing is that, in both cases, someone else came along and picked up the gun and the expended shells. Given the odd details in common, Trevor assumed Brody used the details of his father’s murder as a plot element in his book. Brody says he never heard of Trevor’s father’s murder, but he agrees to help.”
“So, the two guys travel to Pittsburgh. How does Rascal Todd get involved?”
“Once in Pittsburgh, Brody buys a copy of the Courier-Reformer. He discovers an article by Rascal Todd (about a different murder), does a little research, and realizes that she has investigated a couple of old crimes. He reaches out to see if she or her editor can offer any assistance. Once details about the murder begin to surface, Bernie, the editor, decides he doesn’t want Rascal or the paper to get involved.”
“I see the complications setting up. But I have to ask. How does poetry factor into the story to the extent that you named it Poetic Justice?”
“I wrote a scene where Brody Thompson wants to visit Wilson Barcroft’s grave. Trevor doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t think there’s anything of value to find there. While visiting the grave, Brody discovers a laminated funeral card that had been pressed into the ground in front of the headstone. The card looks real, but he verse on the back isn’t Biblical; it was a foreboding poem. At the time, I thought it would be a minor detail, something just to show Trevor that Brody knew what he was doing. I tried to write that poem, but that didn’t end well, so I asked Willow for help.”
“Our friend Dan here has done a nice job to this point. Willow, I assume that’s when you got involved. But how did this go from poetry being a minor detail to being in the title of the book?”
” Now John that is the $1,000 question. I got Dan’s email and wrote what I thought was a generic clue….in fact, I wrote a few poems… different types in fact …but something about them didn’t ring true. Then there was a voice, a thought that was just definitely something that was saying …”that’s not what I am saying,” so daft as that might sound, I listened to that voice …That’s when the poet arrived; he had so much to say. I just had to listen to him. His voice grew from there. So much later down the line, Dan and I discussed a title…Poetic Justice seemed perfect.”
“Let me add one more point, Willow.”
“Go ahead, Dan.”
“Once the poet arrived, the story changed to lean more heavily on the poet, and his and Wilson Barcroft’s experience in Vietnam during the war.”
“One last question for Willow. The story is tangled up with the Vietnam War. I know Dan is the right age to know about the war, maybe too young to be drafted, but still aware. But you live in England. Did you know much about the war over there?”
“I was two years old when the Vietnam War started in 1955 and twenty-two years old when it finished in 1975. By the time I was ten years old I was old enough to read about the war in the newspapers and listen on the radio news. We have always had great coverage of world news in the UK via the press, TV, radio, and cinema news reels…We didn’t have a TV in the house before the early to middle 60s. My elder brothers and sisters were socially aware and often went on protests outside the American Embassy in London, and of course, I learned a lot from their conversations and their music, lots of protest songs. The BBC and independent TV coverage were really good.”
“Thank you both. It sounds like an exciting story, and as you said, Dan, it’s available now. I hope you have some purchase links I can share.”
“You bet, John. Here they are. Thanks for having us.”
Poetic Justice – Paperback – https://relinks.me/B0FBRCQSHQ
Poetic Justice – Audio – https://relinks.me/B0DP5FR58S
Video Trailer: https://youtu.be/PLUZ9wwyQnA
Blurbs
Series Blurb
Rascal Todd mysteries feature a tenacious young reporter with an insatiable appetite for investigating crimes the authorities can’t solve or choose not to. For various reasons, she’s not being allowed to work this case the way she might like.
Poetic Justice Blurb
Trevor Barcroft enlists the help of crime and mystery writer Brody Thompson to help solve his father’s murder — a murder the police and the FBI are ignoring. Rascal Todd wants to help, but her editor keeps her away from the story. Why? What was Wilson Barcroft doing at Gateway Park the night he was killed? Who is the mysterious Poet? What do the odd bits of poetry he has spread around mean? Is the Poet still alive? Will Brody and Trevor survive? Join Rascal and her friends and coworkers as they try to help from the sidelines without becoming targets in an ever-growing list of deadly crimes. Real life turns out to be far more dangerous than any fiction Brody could create, as the history of a war long over comes back to haunt the city of Pittsburgh.
Consistent with previous books by this author, this is a character-driven story with an ensemble cast sharing their concern and a fair amount of often inappropriate humor. You will fall in love with some of them, as they try to keep Brody and Trevor alive.
Author Bios
Dan retired from a 42-year-long career in systems development and other technology and began writing his first book the next day. He’s married, the father of one child, and although there are no pets around today, he and his wife have had four Irish Setters and a handful of Tuxedo cats over time. Dan is the author of the Dreamer’s Alliance Series and the Rascal Todd Mysteries. When Dan isn’t writing, you might find him in his woodshop, working around the house, or walking around with a camera. He also might be having a beer with friends, and some of those encounters have inspired the fictional bar stories on his popular blog—NoFacilities.com.
Author page: http://relinks.me/DanielAntion
Blog: https://noFacilities.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ptjdluuxckfau3dnaihh2sn5
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
DAntionYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNHXESp0LosdxjU-7elOu3g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danantion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dantion/
Willow, London born, now retired, lives in Berkshire, England, with her husband and a procession of foster dogs. Mum of three boys and two beautiful grandsons, she shares her observations, poetry, prose, and music at her blog willowdot21, where she says: “Writing poetry and prose has helped me a great deal, in fact I think it has saved my life.” And she adds: “I hope that you might see how the poetry is moving from very dark through the grey and hopefully into light.” For this book, Willow needed to reconnect with the dark.
Author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Willow-Willers/author/B0DZD1TNZX
Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/share/16AwsHVCqk/
Blog at wordpress.https://willowdot21.wordpress.com
Fiction Favorites 
[…] Willow and I are guests of John Howell, and I don’t want to compete with him for your time. Head on over to his place to learn more about the new book. The link opens in a new page, so you can come back for the […]
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Thanks for the link, Dan
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[…] we are off to visit John Howell he has some interesting questions for us today. ..I just hope we can get past the security at his […]
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Thanks for the link, Willow.
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Thanks for hosting Willow and me today, John and thanks for that cup of tea. We are super excited to have this book available, and truly appreciate your sharing our story with your audience.
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Hi John thank you so much for inviting us round and being our release day host. We very much appreciated your hospitality and your questions.
It was great to explain how the poet grew and I loved your question about how or even if I knew about the Vietnam War. Sad times that still affect people today.
Thank you again John 💜💜
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Good questions, interesting answers. The writer’s mind and the way of writing are the biggest mysteries of all. I salute this new book with serious morning coffee!
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Thank you for the nice words and visit, Maureen.
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Thanks Maureen. We appreciate being here today, and I appreciate that salute. Morning coffee is pretty darn special.
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Thank you for the interview, John! I have ordered my copy.😊
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Thank you so much Dan and I hope that you will enjoy the book 💜💜
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I’m sure I will!!😊💕
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🤞🤞💜💜
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Thank you, Deborah. John is a great host. We hope you enjoy the book.
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Thanks for the visit, Deborah.
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You’re welcome.
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[…] Guest Post – Poetic Justice by Dan Antion and Willow Willers […]
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Thanks for sharing, Charles.
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Thanks for hosting, Sally. Another excellent interview, John, and I got my copy. I love the weave of Willow’s poems into the overall story flow. Kudos to both of you!
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Oops! There I go again, proving I’m very much human. Sorry, John. Not sure where “Sally” came from. Off now to get another cup of coffee before any more comments.
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That’s okay. As a wise man once said, “Don’t care what you call me, just not late for dinner.”
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Well said, John!
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😀
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Thanks Grant. We hope you enjoy the book. Willow and I had fun writing this. We are so happy to be here at John’s place.
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Thank you Grant it’s good to know you are reading the book…
We are so lucky to be here at Johns …or Sally’s, great chat and good tea and coffee! …we are all human …to err is human to not and you are a Bot!
Thank you for saying the poems weave in that is exactly what Dan and I were hoping for! .. We found working together a great experience.
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Fun collaboration! Iron sharpens iron…
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I can certainly agree with that Grant 💜
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Thank you for the visit, Grant. 😀
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What a great concept.
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Thank you Craig we think it was too and it all made sense! … Thanks for visiting here while we are here been here enjoying John’s hospitality 💜💜
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Thanks Craig. It was fun to work with this story, especially with the poetry flowing in so the characters could react to it. Thanks for visiting here.
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Wonderful of you to host Dan and Willow, John! Their book sounds mesmerizing!
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Thank you, Tim. It does sound that way, doesn’t it? 😀
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Yes, it does. 😊
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Thanks Tim. We are very happy to be here with John. This was such an interesting writing process. I enjoyed working wit Willow and having the story evolve.
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Hi Tim John has been a great vist here Tim! 💜👍
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This book sounds fantastic! John, thanks for hosting Dan and Willow (or Willow and Dan). I’m definitely intrigued. If Dan doesn’t stop publishing books, I’m going to go bankrupt!
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Thanks Marian. John is a gracious host. It’s fun to be here (when the security system is deactivated). I think you have about a year to wait for the next one. I wish Amazon let you for a frequent fliers club 😉
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Hi Marian Dan is an amazing and prolific writer and his books are so good…. I was really honoured to work with him. Strangely the miles , time zones and different continents made absolutely no difference .
It’s been great here with Dan visiting John … Thank you John for your hospitality and support 💜💜
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Thank you for the lovely comment, Marian. 😀
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I like the way one thing leads to another, branching out in unexpected ways. In books but also in life. (K)
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It does make life interesting. Thanks for the comment.
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That’s the way this project went, Kerfe. It went in an unexpected direction from the start, but I like the way it went and we had fun along the way.
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I can tell!
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This was great. I wondered how poetry came to be with a murder mystery, so Willow’s explanation was interesting. Getting a peek inside a writer’s mind is so fascinating. Good interview, John. Yay for you, Willow and Dan!
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Thank you Lois it was a voyage of discovery working with Dan and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of it!
We have had an amazing time here with John too 💜💜💜
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Thanks Lois. We’re so glad to be here with John. This was an amazing process, and, as Willow said, I enjoyed every minute. For me, this was like one of my characters coming to life.
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Thank you, Lois. 😊
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Thank you John for hosting Dan and Willow’s book release.
Great questions and answers. I thoroughly enjoyed the share. Congratulations, Da and Willow! Poetic Justice ounds like a wonderful book with lots of intrigue. I look forward to reading it.
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Thank you Suzette John had some deep and soul-searching questions for us . We do hope you read and enjoy the book 💜💜💜
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You are most welcome Willow! Yes, I am certain I will enjoy the book…the mystery (cold case) literary genre has my personal favorite since childhood.
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Well this is a very cold case Suzette 💜💜💜
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Excellent!
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Thank you Suzette. John is a gracious host, and I think these are questions that many people wanted to see answered. This is a cold case with a warm twist. I hope you enjoy it.
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You and Willow are most welcome, Dan.
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Thank you, Suzette. I’m sure you will enjoy it.
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You are most welcome John. Wishing you a blessed day!
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And to you.
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Thanks John.
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Another excellent entry in this blog book launch. Sounds like a winner!
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Thank you Jacquie we are very grateful to John for having us here 💗
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Thanks, Jacqui. I think so too.
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Thanks Jacqui. John hosted a great stop on this tour. We appreciate all the support we’ve had during this launch.
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It’s great to see Dan and Willow on your blog, John. Great questions and really interesting answers.
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Good to see you here as well, Esther. Thanks. 😊
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Hi Esther thank you for visiting we have been very well looked after by John and I agree he asked some very relevant questions 💜💜
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Thanks for joining us here at John’s place, Esther. I’m glad we could bring out what makes this book different. John has been an excellent host.
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A fabulous interview with just the right amount of info to make you want to read the book.
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Yes indeed John is is the taskmaster at this ! Thank you for joining us ☺️☺️
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So glad you liked it, Darlene. Thanks for the visit.
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Thanks for joining us, Darlene. The right amount of information is hard to achieve with a mystery but I think John brought out some interesting points.
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What an excellent interview, John! Your questions with Willow and Dan’s answers really brought out the intrigue of the story!!
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Thank you, GP. Thanks for the visit, too.
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Thanks for the visit, GP. This has been fun. John’s an excellent host and Willow and I love sharing this information.
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Congratulations Dan & Willow, the book sounds terrific!
John, you are a wonderful host.
Thank you all, for this enjoyable chat!
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Thanks Resa. John has been a wonderful host. Willow and I are so happy to be here to share a few more details about this book.
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WelcomeDan!
John is a fab host.
John is fab.
John is.
I do like everything he shared . It’s a cool chat. I like the chat feel/format.
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I like your comment 🙂
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Thank you, Resa 🐂 🐂
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🐂 🐂
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😊X
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Thank you so much, Resa. 😀
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Pleasure, John! 🐂
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😀X
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Thank you Resa we have have had a great time at Johns! He had some great questions for us 😃😁
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You’re welcome, Willow!
It was a wonderful chat!
😃😁
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It was indeed 💜
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Sounds like a fabulous story that is quite fascinating! Kudos to Dan and Willow on this collaboration and best wishes with the book launch. Thanks for hosting this opening interview, John.
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Thanks for the encouragement and visit, Monika. 😊
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Thank Monika …John was a great host 💜💜💜
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He is definitely a good guy in our books!
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Yes indeed 💜☺️
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Aw. Thank you, Monika. 😊
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Thanks for the good wishes, Monika. John has been a wonderful host.
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Hi, John. Your interview made for great insights into this book. Thanks for hosting Dan and Willow. Wishing everyone an easy coast down the other side of this midweek hump. Hugs all around.
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Thank you, Teagan. Wishing you a smooth coast as well.
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Thanks Teagan. John has been a great host, and we were excited to share this information. I hope your slide into the weekend is an easy one, too.
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Hi Teagan I am late to the party again ….Thank you for visiting…John was a great host and I loved his questions he really made us think.
I hope you also have a gentle coast down to the weekend ahead of you.💜💜
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I’m intrigued by The Poet’s role. Sharing this interview to entice other readers!
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I think you are right, Liz.
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Hi Liz and thank you so much for sharing this post with your readers. John was a great host and asked us some very thought provoking questions…. The Poet just grew and grew.💜💜💞
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You’re welcome, Willow.
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Thanks for sharing this interview, Liz. It was fun being here with John. He’s a wonderful host. The Poet’s role changed at the outset, and it changed the story. It was an interesting journey.
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You’re welcome, Dan.
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Congratulations to Dan and Willow. I’m a big believer in the power of teamwork and collaboration. I remember when you and Gwen co-wrote a book, John.
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Thank you Pete.. I agree a collaboration is a great thing. I believe it brings out the best in in everyone involved.
John was a great host and asked us some really interesting questions! ….that’s team work too. 💜
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Thanks Pete. Collaboration can combine strength and produce a stronger result than the individuals combined are capable of. I think that’s what happened here. Willow brought the Poet to life for my other characters to react to. It was an amazing experience.
We also appreciate John and the other’s who have helped us share this story. We couldn’t have done this alone.
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We did have fun on that one for sure. Thanks, Pete.
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Fantastic feature John and congratulations to Dan and Willow… it sounds like another riveting story. hugsx
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It does sound that way. Thanks for the visit, Sally.
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Thanks for visiting with us, Sally. John has been a wonderful host. I hope people like the story. Willow and I enjoyed writing it.
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Thank you so much, John, for hosting Dan and Willow today. Some great Q&A! I am looking forward to reading this collaboration!
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Thank you for your lovely comment, Jan.
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This was the best interview to kick-off the book. Well, more than you know. Understanding how poetry is part of the mystery is big, really big. Your interview unlocked that door. Thank you for that, John. Book ordered!
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Thank you, Jennie. Dan and Willow will be pleased.
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You are very welcome. It all came together thanks to you, John.
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😊
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It’s great to see Dan and Willow featured here, John
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Yes. It was fun having them.
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[…] John Howell 11thJune Release day […]
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[…] John Howell 11thJune Release day […]
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[…] John Howell 11thJune Release day […]
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[…] John Howell 11thJune Release day […]
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[…] John Howell 11thJune Release day […]
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Love the link.
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I enjoyed the book, Poetic Justice, and coming here to the first launch post was fun as it gave some more info!
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So glad you did. Thanks, Yvette.
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Yes, and enjoyed your launch post for it!
xxx🙂
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I’m so glad.
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🙂
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😊
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