Interview Alanea Alder Author My Solace
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Alanea and My Solace! Lets start with few questions.
- What secret do you use to blast through writer’s block? It’s a two step process. I start by having coffee with my characters and write down anything that comes to mind, then I bribe myself into sitting in the chair with the promises of using a new pen or notebook.
- What do you want your readers to take away from your books? That it’s okay to be weird, different or odd. That it’s probably the things that we’re most self-conscious of that sets us apart.
- Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down? I grab my phone and do voice memos. That way my eyes stay closed and I usually fall back asleep faster.
- Why do you write what you write? Contemporary, paranormal, suspense, etc. I write paranormal because then, anything can happen.
- If writing is your first passion, what is your second? I’m pretty sure at this point I collect hobbies.
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Alanea ALder, Bewitchef and Bewildered, My Solace, Paranormal Romance by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Kathryn Troy Author of Curse of the Amber
Give a warm welcome to Kathryn, author of Curse of the Amber.
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Kathryn and Cursed. Now for some fun. Second Speed Round <Only two words allowed>
1.What is your favorite book of all time? Dracula
- Where do you relax to read? Under my cuckoo clock
- What sound drives you right up a wall? My children’s whining
- What sound relaxes you? Babbling water
- Favorite drink? Red wine
- Walking in the sand, shoes or barefoot? Barefoot
- Favorite pet Miniature Dachsund
- Snow? Love or hate? Love
- Doing ________ is like nailing jello to the wall. What everyone else tells you to do
- Rock and Roll, Country, Jazz or Classical? Classical
- What can’t you leave the house without? My keys
- Calender or not; Paper or electronic? Both
- Favorite place to write. my Pier One chair
- What is your decadent indulgent? Chocolate
- You’ve just won $1,000.00, you have only 24 hours to spend it, so what will you buy? Airline tickets
- Plotter or panster? Plotter
- Introvert or extrovert? Introvert
- Flight or fight? Fight
- Favorite Monster? Ganon
- Magic or Not? Magic!
Quintus was a dutiful son and soldier. His duty led him to Britannia, to improve his marriage prospects and ensure the Druids never rise again. He never expected to be sacrificed to their sacred bog, trapped forever by the gods below.The sun seems to have forgotten Wales. I didn’t think there was any place on Earth that could make me long to be in Egypt again, but I couldn’t escape the memories that flooded me. I shivered in the absence of the Valley’s merciless heat, where for summers on end its oppressive dryness sucked the life out of my lips and baked my skin into hardened, sand-beaten clay. That dryness had followed Ramesses, Amenhotep, Aken-aten, and his son beyond the world’s suffering down to their resting place, and kept the divine kings ready in the dark, empty stillness.
But the day’s oppression had always faded with the sun. The perfection of those nights on the Eastern Bank, at our host Hani’s home—that was what I missed. Invigorated by the fresh, life-giving breeze off the Nile’s surface and snuggled between my parents under thin woven blankets was a warmth I knew I would never feel again. The cold and damp of Britain, once the stronghold of the Druids, was relentless. The gnawing feeling at the pit of my stomach grew, and the thought I’d pushed away more than once made itself more insistent.
This was a mistake. I shouldn’t be here.
My fingertips numbed to the statuette in my hand, a solid representation of the wet chill in the air. Its faceless form was as alien to me as the bog in which I crouched. The shape of the stone fetish was at least interesting, a long, slender column with a severe “V” etched into it. It held more promise than the dozens of thin rings fashioned out of iron, bronze, and even gold, heaped together in a tangle, the clay pottery, now in shards, and scraps of linen that appeared to be tossed desperately into the bog as a last-ditch effort to avoid Roman destruction. But I couldn’t enjoy it for what it was. It was inscrutable, too disconnected from anything familiar. Its primitive, obscure expression reminded me of my own cold thoughts, and as I squeezed the chilled stone in my hand, I doubted if I would discover anything that had once been warm—made of flesh and blood. We were as deep down as the famous bog bodies had been, more so in certain places, and still we had nothing, or rather no one, to show for it.
I lifted my head, trying to shake off my melancholy and averting my eyes from the stone carving that would not reveal its secrets to me. I was too low down to inhale even a whiff of air that wasn’t saturated with the grassy pungency of the bog wall. From my vantage point, huddled low in a deep, man-hewn pit, the sodden depression of the bog appeared even more overgrown on all sides. Birch trees poked out of humble clusters of willows, red-speckled buckthorn, and mountain ash. Except for these trees skirting its outermost edges, the sunken area was wide and open. The cauldron bog retained its secluded atmosphere, despite being carved into a series of waterlogged cavities.
My somber mood deepened when I saw my advisor approach. Up until then I’d been successful at avoiding him. I deliberately didn’t linger, and always found a reason to visit another pit when the one we were in suddenly emptied of other researchers. I’d resisted the wrenching feeling in my gut too long, but as our excavation wound down, it was impossible to ignore, with nowhere for my thoughts to hide—there was nothing left of what used to be my life.
“How’s it going?” Alex asked, and knelt beside me.
“Fine,” I answered, not bothering to look up from the peat I was brushing off of a link of iron rings sunken into the over-saturated soil.
After a long, awkward silence, he said, “It’s okay, you know.”
“What is?”
“If you don’t…if we don’t find one.”
I swallowed hard. The only place for my rising fury to go was back down.
“I just don’t want you to think that this whole thing was a waste—”
“A waste?” I shot back. “I’ve got enough to keep me occupied for the next decade, thank you.” It was true, but that didn’t make the prospect of studying human sacrifice sansa human sound any better. Nothing would tell us as much about the Druids as human remains that had, willingly or otherwise, undergone their practices. It may have been more than anyone else expected, but the bar had been set impossibly high. A human discovery might have been the only way to exceed my father’s own discoveries in the Valley of the Kings and earn the same level of respect in my own right.
“All right, all right,” Alex said, contrite. “I didn’t come over here to upset you.”
“Then why are you here?” There was more bite in my voice than I meant, but he had that amused eyebrow raised again, the one that made my anger meaningless and painted me as a silly, wide-eyed novice with dreams of finding the next Tut.
“I thought you might need a refill.” He offered me a cup of coffee.
A gruff “thank you” was all I could manage. My brain had reached maximum capacity for caffeine, but it went down easy. Milk and two sugars, just the way I liked it. Damn.
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/CurseAmz
Amazon Print: http://smarturl.it/CurseAmzPrt
City Owl Press: http://smarturl.it/CurseCO
B&N: http://smarturl.it/CurseBN
Kobo: http://smarturl.it/CurseKobo
Apple: http://smarturl.it/CurseiBooks
Google Play: http://smarturl.it/CurseGooglePlay
GoodReads: http://smarturl.it/CurseGoodReads
I’m an historian by day, a novelist and baker by night. I like to write what I read – fantasy, romantic fantasy, gothic fiction, historical fiction, mystery, paranormal, horror, and weird fiction. In nonfiction, my research interests include Spiritualism, the history of the North American Indian, and issues of race, class, and gender in the West as well as the gothic/weird/occult traditions from around the globe in all cultural outlets (literature, film, folklore, etc.)
When I’m not writing or reading or teaching, I’m either playing a video game, or a board game, or watching a horror movie, making croissants, or adding some new weird creepy cool thing to my art collection. I love to travel and learn new languages, and… oh! Have fun with my adoring hubby and kids, of course.
Where to Find Kathryn:
Author Website: http://ladybathoryscloset.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Troy/e/B06XNJNH7Z
Blog: https://ladybathoryscloset.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathryn.troy
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16571460.Kathryn_Troy
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Curse of the Amber, Kathryn Troy, Paranormal Romance by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
It’s Here!!! Mystic Maples Release is May 13, 2019
Good Morning All!!! Today it’s my turn to share. Squeal! I’m so excited I just can’t wait. Monday, May 13, 2019 MYSTIC MAPLES releases! This book is my contribution to The Deerbourne Inn Series. It’s a multi-author series from The Wild Rose Press. Set in the fictional town of Willow Springs, Vermont. If you haven’t read any of the series, I highly recommend them. Each story is written by a different author and share scenes in the little town of Willow Springs where anything can happen and does at The Deerbourne Inn with its cast of quirky characters. Pick up your copy of Mystic Maples today! Pssst….Hey don’t forget the blog tour stops listed below for a chance to win a $15.00 Amazon Gift card!
Click on the cover to read more or purchase!
A little about Mystic Maples:
Earth/Fire witch Mercy Rose’s insatiable curiosity always gets her in trouble. After a break-in at her Colorado flower shop, and a court battle that comes to a screeching halt in her favor, she arrives at Deerbourne Inn for a much-needed getaway. Looking for peace and quiet, she finds just the opposite in a startling handsome but mysterious man and his dog.
Silvanus Forrest’s gypsy/fae heritage is a double-edged sword. The land he inherited from his parents is rumored to be enchanted. But when Mercy discovers the truth, his well-ordered life unravels, and they’re catapulted into the past to right a wrong. Along the way their lives intertwine, and they discover the true meaning of family and love. Will they change the past in time to save their future?
A sneak peek between the pages of Mystic Maples
It was a beautiful summer evening lit by a full moon. What harm could come from simply popping over to Mystic Maples, digging my toes into the earth and see if there is any truth to the rumors? She shrugged. Sis wouldn’t have told me about it, if she hadn’t thought it worth investigating. Right?
She toed off her shoes, pulled off her socks and straightened. With a snap of her fingers she left the room without a sound and landed smack dab at the edge of the maple trees. Glancing around, she could see the house in the distance and the outline of the sign. “Good, I’m in the right place.” She wandered farther in among the trees, the dirt beneath her feet was cool. Wiggling her toes deeper into the earth, she felt the warmth of the day and something else—a connection.
Several trees had a slight glow to them, then it was gone. Am I imagining…She raised her arms out from her sides and turned her face to the starlit sky letting the magic surge through her. It had been almost a year since magic of any kind called to her. It felt so good, she was lost in the moment.
Suddenly a male voice broke through her revelry. “What are you doing here?”
Her heart thundered in her chest. She hadn’t heard a sound. Yet, there he was standing not three feet from her, hands on hips, and glaring at her.
You can find Mystic Maples at the retailers below:
Amazon, AmazonUK, AmazonAU, AmazonCA Barnes&Nobel and itunes
I’m offering a chance for a $15.00 Amazon Gift card for commenting on blog tour for Mystic Maples! Check the tour stops here! Enter to win at each stop AND learn a bit more about Mystic Maples and the maple syrup process! Fun!
May 13: Romance Novel Giveaways
May 14: Viviana MacKade
May 14: Notes From a Romantic’s Heart
May 15: Christine Young
May 15: BooksChatter
May 16: Angel’s Guilty Pleasures
May 16: Long and Short Reviews
May 17: Fabulous and Brunette
About the author:
Tena Stetler is a best-selling author of award winning paranormal romance novels. She has an over-active imagination, which led to writing her first vampire romance as a tween to the chagrin of her mother and delight of her friends.
With the Rocky Mountains outside her window, she sits at her computer surrounded by a wide array of paranormal creatures, with a Navy SEAL or two mixed in telling their tales. Her books tell stories of magical kick-ass women and strong mystical males that dare to love them. Travel, adventure and a bit of mystery flourish in her books along with a few companion animals to round out the tales.
Colorado is her home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-seven year old box turtle.
I hope you enjoy reading Mystic Maples as much as I did writing it!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Deerbourne Inn, fantasy, Mystery, Mystic Maples, Paranormal Romance, Tena Stetler, Time Travel Romance by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Interview Nikki Lee Taylor Author of The Descendants
Give a warm welcome to Nikki Lee Taylor author of The Descendants – Rise of the Reaper Army.
What inspired the Heart Collector?
As a reader, I love urban fantasy. Vampires, werewolves, demons all living among us – it’s my favourite. So, when I set out to write my first novel, I knew it had to have paranormal elements to it.
I think the paranormal gives our imagination the opportunity to expand and open up, to see in our minds-eye the things we dream of but don’t necessarily believe in. I also knew I wanted my book to convey an important message, something I do believe in – which is ensuring the future of our planet and all the species of life it harbours.
So that’s how the theme and overall plot of The Descendants – Rise of the Reaper Army was created. Its genesis, so to speak.
By linking the Reaper Army to the rising rate of carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere, and as a result making it a liveable environment for the demon army, my goal was to convey the inevitable global crisis we all face if we do not take drastic measures to protect our world.
Likewise, I wanted to include factual aspects like The Giaour, the first poem ever printed in the English language about a vampire and written by Lord Byron in 1813, and the battle between the Serbian and the Turkish armies as part of my main character Aurora’s back story.
I felt it was important to include factual elements so that you, as a reader, would really engage with the message that despite the story being fiction, how we got to this point is very, very real.
Do you see yourself in your characters?
I think all authors give a little of themselves to their character, they are born inside our minds after all. I’d like to think I try and live my life with the same strength and determination as my main character Aurora, but at times when I find myself at a loose end or not keeping up my end of the bargain in life, I think about what she might do and try to be more like her.
What do you do when you aren’t writing?
I love all forms of storytelling and when I’m not writing I watch a lot of movies and Netflix series. Aside from that I also love photography, live music and spending time with my two golden retrievers at the beach.
What advice would you give new writers?
Don’t give up. It’s tough out there and unless you are very lucky, or crazy talented, you are going to get rejections. It’s just a fact. Don’t take it personally and don’t think you’re a bad writer. Timing is everything and always consider going it alone as an indie author. There are so many opportunities now to get your work out there and just because you self-publish to start with, doesn’t mean a traditional publishing house will not represent you later in your career.
Tell us something most people don’t know about you
I actually started writing The Descendants as a Mills & Boon book after a friend of mine started publishing with them. But about half way through I decided I wanted the book to have multi-layers and include themes about climate change, conservation and other non-romantic elements. I thought that perhaps my overall vision for the book had grown so much that it would no longer fit into the traditional romantic format for M & B, so I decided to take a different path.
Aurora and the Council as possible, but his head was spinning. It was too much
information, too much deceit and too much betrayal. His body ached and his
brain hurt. Unable to continue, he found an old log and threw himself down with
his head in his hands. How could she have done this? How could she have been
the thread that caused his entire life to unravel?
kill him, Gabriel had given himself to her. He had followed her and believed in
her. How could she have betrayed him this way? Everything had changed.
Everything was different. He wished he had never met her. He wished it could
take it all back. He wished he could just go home, but it was a long trip and
storming off into the forest half-cocked was a recipe for disaster. He had
learned that lesson a long time ago. No, he needed to calm his mind. He needed
to find a way to look at things differently. He needed a way to breathe.
was she just a victim of the Council’s plan like he was? After all, she wasn’t
the one who approached him. He was the one who had gone to the farmhouse and
killed her brother. But he never would have been there if he hadn’t been
attacked in the first place.
this was their destiny, but what if she hadn’t been so obsessed with those
things? He wondered, could their destiny have been different? He dared to
imagine how it might have played out. What if he had never been changed and
instead, they met out walking in the forest? What if he could have been himself
with her? What if…?
voice. He hated her. Worse than that he loved her. He was completely screwed.
pressed into the earth like a question mark. How would she make it all the way
home without him? But how could he wait for her knowing this was her fault?
Damn it. He was in his own personal hell. He wandered at a snail’s pace and it
wasn’t long before he heard her calling his name.
was calling out. “I know about the Reapers.”
down he knew she would catch up and he hated himself for wanting her to.
not follow me!”
Gabriel…”
still be a part of his family’s lives. He would still be an Army Captain. Hell,
he would still be alive. Had it not been for her, he would never have fallen in
love.
listen.”
a damn thing.”
killed her brother and the guilt in turn was killing him.
but to stop.
can’t let these things destroy our world. You can’t just walk away!”
anyway Aurora, not like this. I’ve had enough.”
talk like that, do you hear me? Not ever Gabriel, you’re too important!”
do but anger was crippling him. It twisted inside, wrapping around his ribs and
squeezing accusations up into his throat. He wanted his life back. He also
wanted her.
with you I thought you understood?”
and it was a life that I loved. It was a life that I made, that I worked for.
Damn it, don’t you see? I had a family. I followed in my father’s footsteps and
my grandfather’s before him. Did I love fighting? No, but I was proud to serve
my country. I had respect and I had honour. Now I have nothing.”
step closer. “Nothing you could have done as an Army Captain would ever come
close to what we need to do now. Gabriel, everyone will die. Not a town, not a
city, not a country… Everyone, including your family.”
thousands of mothers and fathers. Every animal and plant will be decimated.
Rivers and oceans will dry up. Forests will disappear. If the Reapers are
allowed to rise and stay here, nothing will be left but a barren wasteland.
I’ve seen it. You want to know what happened here in the forest on the way to
the Council? That’s what I was shown. I saw the end. Is that really the legacy
you want to leave behind?”
knew of the Reapers were some paintings on a wall and a vision shown to him by
a vampire, probably the same one that ended his life. How could he trust that?
How could he just believe? His heart ached and sorrow descended like nightfall.
He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly so cold that he
wondered if he was coming down with something. But strigoi couldn’t get sick,
could they?
doing this?”
He nodded and looked away, hating that she could read him so well.
the darkness that lives inside them. Try to imagine a world without sunshine,
without love, without hope. If they rise nothing will survive.”
soul.” She stepped away and opened her arms. “For everything that exists there
needs to be balance. That is the essence of the universe. Think about it. Black
and white, light and dark, hot and cold, male and female, even Heaven and Hell.
God created humans and Satan created demons. That is the balance, but their
darkness is beginning to seep into our world. That is what you’re feeling.”
wind blew in off the mountains and moisture hung heavy in the air. Despite his
dizziness he could smell the scent of rain coming in, fresh and clean.
them?”
“No, but he told me that you are the only one capable of destroying the army.”
and laughed out loud. “Well that will do me Aurora. You have got to be joking!
No one can defeat an army alone, demonic or any other kind. It just can’t be
done.”
“Not alone Gabriel, with me.”
yourself Aurora. I don’t know who your mother was, but you are no match for an
army of demons. Like I said, you couldn’t even take me down.”
carry the strongest bloodline of the entire strigoi race. You are the closest
thing on Earth to a demon. And besides, I wasn’t really trying to kill you,
obviously.”
Did Lucius tell you that?”
meant to hurt him, it had just come out somehow. “I’m sorry Gabriel. I didn’t
mean to – ”
When she didn’t reply, he stormed over and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Answer me damn it! Am I a demon? Is that what he said?”
like that. Gabriel…”
determined to get as far away from her and everyone else as he could. As he
ran, he told himself that Aurora would be fine, that the forest would keep her
safe. That she didn’t need him. Undeterred by the storm, he pushed forward not
caring as wet tree branches slapped against his face and wind whipped through
his hair. If what Aurora said was true, then he had no reason to be careful. If
he was a demon, then he didn’t want to exist anyway.
most, frustration itched and bit at his skin. He loved her but he hated
himself. She wanted everything and he had nothing. How could he save anything
when he couldn’t even stand to be inside his own skin?
Aurora crying out for him. His heart leapt. He ached to turn back, but
quickly shook it off. He couldn’t go back, she was better off without him.
across the sky. Beneath his feet the ground shook and just for a moment he
hesitated. The lightning cast an eerie glow across the wet cliff face and
he peered through the darkness. Was he imagining it, or was somebody there? He
drew in closer and saw camping gear littered across the rock face. A backpack
and a sleeping bag, a broken tent, its framework poking out through the canvas
like pieces of broken bone.
and looked over.
both terrified.
across her face and tears had made her eyes as red as Aurora’s. The man was
trying to hold it together but one look at his face told Gabriel just how
scared he really was.
so he closed his eyes and said a prayer that he could disappear before they
asked any questions. “Just hold tight. I’ll help you.”
pull them up. All around him the wind howled, an ominous sound that chilled him
to the bone.
his arms in frustration. There was nothing he could use that would bear the
weight of an adult man and out of options, he threw his head back and cursed at
the sky. He was damned. No matter what he tried nothing worked. Everything was
falling apart. And then she appeared, wet and weather beaten and yet somehow
still beautiful.
longer caring about their fight. “We need something to pull them up.”
campers, he thought. His life might be over but perhaps theirs didn’t have to
be.
haul the people up from the ledge. Finding one, she walked over and closed her
eyes. She whispered to the tree and it responded, quickly offering up metres of
vine.
both to be out here Aurora.”
need me again.”
ledge needed him more than she did. Turning away from her, he ducked his head
over the ledge and peered down at them. “When I pass this vine down, I want you
to take hold of it. But only one of you at a time, okay?”
“Take my wife first,” the man shouted. “I need to make sure my wife is safe.”
someone so much that you would immediately put their life ahead of your own? It
was an emotion he would probably never feel and yet he ached to love another
with such devotion. He thought he had fallen in love with Aurora, but at the
first sign of trouble he had abandoned her. He wondered if that meant he wasn’t
capable of loving another, if perhaps the world really would be better off
without him.
forehead and wrapped her hands around it tightly. “Don’t you let go Laura.
Promise me you won’t let go no matter what.”
Gabriel towing her to safety was easy, but when she reached the top, he noticed
the palms of her hands were bleeding. Before he could move away, she threw her
arms around his neck and pulled him close. “You saved my life. How can I ever
thank you?”
need you to stay over there,” he ordered the woman. “As far back as you can get
so I have room to pull up your husband. In fact, see that tree over there? I
need you to go and stand by it and do not come over here again. Not under any
circumstances. Do you understand me?”
wind and the scent of her blood would be carried away by the storm. When
she moved away, he sighed with relief. Aurora had taught him well.
hold of the vine and do not let go. That ledge will not bare the weight of your
body falling onto it from a height. Do you understand me?”
weight on the end, Gabriel began to pull. He was a lot heavier than his wife
but within minutes Gabriel managed to lever him up and over the edge. When it
was safe to let go the man immediately ran into the arms of his waiting wife.
team.”
I don’t want you in my life. Nothing is going to change that.”
drops were tears.
was changed because of your fixation with these Reapers or whatever the hell
they are. I’m not – ”
struck a tree just metres away.
going to try and find higher ground. Come with us, please.”
cut through the dark. It struck the earth between their feet sending sparks
flying high enough to sting their legs. Before they had time to react, the
ground moaned like a waking giant.
slipped in the loose rubble.
toward me, you can still make it!”
side. He made it across the growing divide but landed hard, his fingers clawing
in the loose rock on the other side. His eyes met Aurora’s and for a moment
they simply stared at each other. Her lips whispered his name and then he fell.
he landed with a heavy thud on the rock ledge below. Unable to take the weight
of his fall, it quickly gave way and he fell further and further until the
sound of Aurora’s screams were swallowed up by the wind. His body smashed
against rock and earth. Protruding branches cut his face and then his body hit
the ground and everything went black.
their words were muffled by the storm. She stared down into the darkness
calling Gabriel’s name over and over until eventually the man edged closer and
took her arm.
down there. The fall was too great.”
trying.”
understand. We have to try.”
saved your life. Are you really going to turn your back on him?”
with the woman I love. He’s gone. Now please, come with us.”
hurt. “I can’t. He needs me.”
help.” The man turned and ran up the hill to where his wife was waiting. “We’ll
send help,” he shouted back. “You have my word.”
at the sky. “Gabriel will fulfil his legacy. He will sacrifice himself to give
the people a second chance. It has already begun.”
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with The Descendants!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Nikki Lee Taylor, Paranormal Romance, The Descendants, Urban Fantasy by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
