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The Story of IDENTITY ISSUES

          Hi! My name is Claudia Whitsitt! I’d like to tell you about my latest mystery, Identity Issues. Thanks for reading!

It wasn’t until the threatening letter arrived (from Botswana) that I became a bit concerned about the theft of my husband’s passport some years previous. The letter, clearly meant for someone else, was disturbing. But in all his business travels, Don had never been to Botswana, nor did he have associates there. We blew it off. Then came the late night wrong numbers (also from Botswana) demanding my husband’s contact information. My interest peaked, but there weren’t enough dots to connect. The caller sought a man by the same name, a man not my husband. I never succeeded in convincing the persistent caller of his mistake and merely tolerated in his bi-annual calls. They became nothing more than an irritating interruption of my much-needed sleep.

After the calls faded, a parent who shared my surname visited me at Parent-Teacher conferences. Who’s named Whitsitt? C’mon, really! She claimed her husband shared the same first and middle name as my husband, along with a matching birth date and countless other similarities. This identity theft had come back to haunt us. FOR REAL. Right in our own backyard. That short twenty minute conference with the other Mrs. Whitsitt, who wound up making startling accusations, marked the conception of Identity Issues.

That disquieting meeting would have been enough to spark my writing of the book, but more puzzle pieces fell into my lap. Too many questions with too few answers and a simple schoolteacher from Michigan re-invents herself as an author of suspense.

I’ve always loved writing and even attempted to write an entire book when at the age of ten. But I found myself compelled to write this story in a way I’d never experienced before. It wouldn’t leave me alone. So, in September of 2006, I fired up my laptop and put fingers to the keyboard. To my surprise, the book poured out of me. Since the initial parts of the story were true, it seemed easy to recount the details. And I LOVED WRITING! In the process, I researched. Both the true elements of the story, to verify the facts, and the fiction portion, to add credibility. I wonder how many readers will be able to tell when the true story drifts into fiction. Can you?

Identity Issues is available exclusively at Amazon.com. Click here!

Traditional interviews can get dull. Having the chance to interview author Marian Allen gave me the perfect opportunity to come up with some insanely wacky questions. Why would I do this to poor Marian? Read her books. Force of Habit made my face hurt I was grinning and giggling so much. So please enjoy this wacky interview, while you learn about a truly amazing author!

1. Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla?

CHORKLIT!!!!!!!

2. The light side or the dark side?

Light. Definitely light. I am MomGoth, and I like dark, but not The Dark Side.

3. Do you have deep dark secret? How about a shallow grey one?

I read the first book of the TWILIGHT series and, dammit, I liked it!

4. What sort of coffee would you order? Simple coffee, complicated soy-non-fat-extra-espresso-half-caff-nightmare?

Depends on who’s buying. If it’s me, I usually buy whatever’s cheapest. If it’s somebody else, or I happen to be flush, I’ll order something fancy-schmancy like Pumpkin Spice Choco-bomb with Caramel Swirl and Whipped Cream.

5. Have you ever given someone who asked for decaf, regular coffee just to see what would happen?

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa! No, I haven’t. That would just be mean, funny though it sounds. ~grin~ No Dark Side, remember?

6. Is there any food you refuse to eat? (Other than brussel sprouts because NO ONE likes them)

Actually, I LOVE Brussels sprouts! But there are many foods on my Forbidden List:

No tongue, brains, innards, wobbly bits or naughy bits.

No cute little baby animals (exception: eggs)

No long squiggly animals

Nothing with eleven billion rock-hard seeds (exception: strawberries)

Nothing that ends in “mite”

No beets

No beets

Still no beets
7. What is your favorite breakfast cereal? Are you opposed to those brands with tiny marshmellows in them?

My very most favorite cereal of the world is bite-sized frosted shredded wheat (or, as my mother calls them, sugar-coated Brillo pads). I am adamantly opposed to “marshmallow” cereals, because the marshmallows are always hard. Nobody should have to eat hard marshmallows. It’s just WRONG.

8. If you could live off of chocolate would you? What kind?

Oh, dear God, can you make that happen? Chocolate-coated coffee beans. Chocolate-coated orange peels. Chocolate-coated nuts. Chocolate-coated peanut butter.

9. What do you think the coolest pet to have would be?

A pink alley jammer. That’s a critter from FORCE OF HABIT. I want a gray one, to match my cat.

10. If you could visit any world (real or imagined) where would you go?

Llannonn, of course!

11. Have you every done anything really crazy? Do you regret it?

I walked on a ledge about ten feet off the ground between one door of a school building and another. I don’t remember how old I was, but it was somewhere in the single digits. If I had fallen off and injured myself seriously, I would have regretted it. As it is, I don’t, because nobody thought I’d have the guts to do it, not even me!

12. What kind of person drives you nuts? (personality trait)

Mean people are the worst. Other than that, people who won’t. shut. up.

13. Do you prefer tapered candles, pillars or tea lights?

Tea lights. Pillars hurt if you drop them on your foot and tapers–you could put your eye out.

14. What do you think about scarves? Do you wear them or p