- What is your “day” job if you are not a full time author?
We’re lucky enough to be full-time writers. Before focusing on fiction, we both worked as writers for advertising, public relations, marketing and publications.
- If you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?
I Did That!
We’ve both been lucky enough to attain many of our personal and professional goals. There are still mountains to climb, but we have a lot of pride in who we are and what we’ve accomplished.
- What is the hardest thing about being an author?
Promotion. It’s easier to write three novels than promote one.
- What is the best thing about being an author?
Characters that come alive.
- Have you ever been star-struck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so, who was it?
Neely - Mary Higgins Clark was guest speaker at a luncheon in Nashville and signed books after. I not only met her, I spoke with about doing an interview for the magazine I worked on. She agreed immediately and gave contact info for her publicist. We arranged a time for me to call her at her Long Island home. The night before the interview, I didn’t sleep a wink. She was gracious and delightful during the interview, giving me heartfelt answers to questions about her personal life and the many tragedies she survived. Talking with her is something I will never forget.
Powell - Larry McMurtry. Neely had a short story published in an anthology and was signing at the Brooklyn Book Festival. McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove, was a speaker. I spied him on the street and trailed him, breathless with excitement. He gave me plenty of nervous looks, and who can blame him? Later, when he signed my book, he wasn’t as nice as I had hoped. But taking that book home to my husband was a great thrill. McMurtry was one author we both loved.
- What book changed your life?
Neely - I read the biography of Nellie Bly in junior high and immediately realized I wanted to be a newspaper reporter. It was my goal throughout high school and beyond. I fell in love with Nellie’s need to know things and provide objective information for others to evaluate in their own manner. True journalism becomes a passion.
Powell - No Quarter Asked by Janet Dailey. She was the first American author published by Harlequin Romance, and her books were fresh and different with heroines who were strong, independent and liberated. While I had always wanted to be a writer, her books told me I could do it.
- What were some of your favorite books growing up?
Neely - Fairytales, Little Women, The Five Little Peppers, The Hardy Boys. I sat in the mimosa tree in the front yard reading whenever I got a chance. I used to hide from mother because she thought I read too much. Silly woman!
Powell - Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Dr. Seuss (read aloud to my younger siblings), The Diary of Anne Frank, young adult romances from Scholastic Books and later, every Harlequin Romance or Georgette Heyer book I could find.
- What books are currently in your to be read pile?
Neely - The Witchcraft series, True Dead by Faith Hunter, the Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris.
Powell - “The Witchcraft Series” by Juliet Blackwell, “Blackbirds & Bourbon” Toil and Trouble Book 2 by Heather R. Blair
- Which do you prefer: ebooks, print, or audio books?
Neely - audiobooks
Powell - ebooks
- If you could live inside the world of a book or series, which world would it be and why?
J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series
It’s New York City in 2059. You can travel around the world or off-planet in a matter of hours. Auto-chefs deliver delicious meals with the touch of a button. The main characters Eve and Roarke are wealthy beyond words, live in their huge, gated mansion in the middle of Manhattan, and have a butler who sees to their every need. Sounds like heaven! Eve always gets justice for her homicide victims, and we’d just like to count her as a friend.
The Witches of New Mourne
Book Three
Neely Powell
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: Oct. 18, 2021
ISBN Paperback: 978-1-5092-3960-3
ISBN Digital: 978-1-5092-3961-0
ASIN: B09F3VX1PCB
Number of pages: 279
Word Count: 65,001
Cover Artist: Debbie Taylor
Tagline: An empathic witch. A magical warrior. Joined by love, they battle a demon and an evil spirit.
Book Description:
Eva Grace Connelly is a witch and a beloved healer. Rodric McGuire, paranormal expert and descendent of faerie warriors, adores the flame-haired beauty. But their future is on hold as a family curse threatens her life.
Centuries ago, the Witches of New Mourne struck a dark bargain with the Woman in White. In exchange for peace, the malevolent spirit takes a Connelly witch from each generation.
Eva Grace is convinced she can heal the ghost's troubled spirit and end the reign of terror. But violence and family heartbreak challenge that resolve. As Samhain approaches, the Woman and her vile demon have control.
Is sacrifice the only road to peace? Can Eva Grace and Rodric uncover the secrets and lies at the heart of the curse?
Excerpt 2:
Eva Grace put her hand against the elderly woman’s chest and chanted quietly.
Rodric watched Inez’s color improve.
“Better?” Eva Grace asked.
“Yes, thank you. Now I have something for you.” Inez produced a little velvet bag. “This belonged to my husband Craig. The fae helped him find it.”
Her hands trembling, Inez opened the bag. The arrowhead she held out was of creamy stone and perfectly shaped. The tip was honed to a fine point.Inez placed the arrowhead in Eva Grace’s palm. “The day your mother was taken, Craig got out this arrowhead. He held it and cried like a baby. He wouldn’t tell me why. But he was a Connelly, and he had a good sense of magic and of danger. He told me to guard it until I knew it was time to share the power.”
Eva Grace stared down at the arrowhead.
“It’s time,” Inez whispered. “Only you can find the answers.”
The arrowhead glowed, becoming almost translucent. Eva Grace closed her fingers around it and swayed.
Rodric placed his hand on her shoulder. He felt a ripple of magic. She looked up at him, her face alight with beauty and strength.
The front door banged open, followed by a burst of cold wind that extinguished the fire.
“Hide it,” Inez warned Eva Grace. “Now.”
She stuffed the arrowhead in the top of her boot.
Leigh Neely and Jan Hamilton Powell are the writing team of Neely Powell. They met working at a rock ‘n roll radio station, discovered they’d both rather be writing fiction, and have been close friends ever since. Their path to cowriting paranormal romance took some detours.
Leigh’s resume chronicles a diverse career as a disk jockey, newspaper reporter, advertising copywriter, magazine writer and editor. Jan wrote 24 romance novels as Celeste Hamilton for Silhouette and Avon Books and then built a career in corporate communications and public relations.
Neely Powell became a successful team when they turned their attention to shifters, werewolves, witches, ghosts, fae and all things supernatural.
Their first novel was TRUE NATURE from The Wild Rose Press, followed by AWAKENING MAGIC and HAUNTING MAGIC. The Witches of New Mourne trilogy will conclude in October 2021 with HEALING MAGIC.
Their rules for maintaining a partnership are simple: be honest, be kind, and bring Diet Coke and chocolate.
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