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Brain to Books: Linda Rawlins

Fast Facts

Author: Linda Rawlins
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Religion/Christian/Catholic fiction
Books: The Bench, Fatal Breach, Sacred Gold from the The Rocky Meadow Mystery Series

Bio

Linda-Rawlins-200x300As a child, I loved to read, whenever and whatever I could get my hands on. I started to write my own “Nancy Drew” type mystery in fifth grade. As a student, I studied Biology in Vermont, Sciences and Literature in college and eventually became a physician. I enjoy writing mysteries that contain medical and light spiritual content. Either way, a good murder mystery is always fun.

My first book, The Bench, is set in the fictional town of Rocky Meadow, VT. The Rocky Meadow Mystery series then continues with Fatal Breach and Sacred Gold, although each book can be read as a stand-alone, just like your favorite episodes of a mystery show. Dr. Amy Daniels is a trauma surgeon who moves to Rocky Meadow, VT to escape family tragedy. There she meets, Father Michael Lauretta, the psychologist pastor of St. Francis church and Rocky Meadow Retreat Center. Together, they solve a mystery and search for a killer with the help of Katie, the church cook, Willow, a teenage millionaire, Father Victor, visiting priest from Chicago and Tony Noce, owner of Hasco’s Bar and Grill. In Fatal Breach, the characters become involved with cybercrime and a murder at a local soup kitchen. Sacred Gold is about gold treasure buried in the catacombs of the church. There is murder as well as a race to see who finds it first.

While solving crimes, the main characters deal with life, loss, starting over and developing an appreciation for the friends and loved ones in their lives.

Linda Rawlins lives in New Jersey with her family. When she is not working in medicine, she is writing.

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Come visit at www.lindarawlins.com – sign up for my newsletter.

You can also find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lindarawlinsauthorwww.goodreads.com/LindaRawlins, my Amazon author page https://www.amazon.com/author/lindara… and www.Twitter.com/@LRL8

Healthy Blessed Reading!

Author Accomplishments

In my real life, I work as a physician in hospice.

The Bench Blurb

Medical Murder Mystery – Rocky Meadow, Vermont, seemed to be a quiet little town until The-Benchpeople started dying or showing up in the emergency room under mysterious circumstances. Dr. Amy Daniels is a trauma surgeon, who recently moved to Rocky Meadow after a family tragedy. There she meets Father Michael Lauretta, a psychologist priest who counsels troubled clergy and pastor of the famous Rocky Meadow Retreat House. Together, they save lives and souls and try to solve a mystery before they become the next target of a greedy killer. Will they be able to put a stop to this deadly rampage? The unexpected conclusion awaits in The Bench.

Review

A great novel By bookcollecter on June 22, 2014
I loved this book for many reasons. The story was solid, believable, engaging, uncluttered and written with authority. The characters were well developed, from the major characters – doctor and priest, to the supporting cast, such as the young girl, who is left a sizable inheritance and has to deal with a destructive, self-serving father.
I found myself reading this without pause for hours on the day I picked it up. I guess this was because I was immersed in the story. I finished reading it with a lasting impression and for this reason will be buying Ms Rawlins next offering. She is a talented writer who manages to bring plot characters and story to live with ease.

Fatal Breach Blurb

Acting medical examiner, Dr. Amy Daniels and Father Michael Lauretta become entangledFatal-188x300 in murder at the local soup kitchen in Burlington, Vermont. As their intricate relationship develops, they are drawn into a sinister plot as FBI Special Agent Marcus Cain pursues a deadly internet activist group, known as Shepherd Force. They soon learn, the cybercrime organization will stop at nothing to retrieve an illegal flash drive worth millions of dollars.

Sacred Gold Blurb

An old journal, revealing hidden treasure at St. Francis Church, falls into the hands of acting medical examiner, Dr. Amy Daniels, and tests her faith in life, love, and trust. With the help of the church pastor, Father Michael Lauretta, they try to solve the century-old mystery. Before long, the two find themselves in the company of a trained Italian curator, Sacred-Gold-Cover-198x300desperate to ward off her greedy, possessive boss, who follows her to Vermont and intends to steal the treasure.

Against the backdrop of snowy Rocky Meadow, Vermont, bustling during the Christmas holidays, the remainder of the St. Francis family try to secure a new soup kitchen, only to find charity cannot escape tragedy. When arson and murder lead to a dark, dangerous chase in the catacombs of the church, they all join together to follow age-old clues and find Sacred Gold, before the treasure and more lives are lost forever.

Connect with Linda

Brain to Books: Benjamin Westbrook

Just the Facts

Author: Benjamin Westbrook
Genre: Mystery/suspense/thriller with a Christian perspective.
Book: “Infringement”. The sequel to Infringement, titled “A Haunt for Jackals” will be released in early 2016.

Bio

I’ve been a writer and constant reader since about the age of 12 when I read S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders” on Christmas Day after getting all of her books as a gift. As I grew up, I worked as a cook, a photographer and finally went to law school, but always held tight to my desire to write novels. Strangely, it was actually graduating from law school (seeing the culmination of three years of hard work) which gave me the push and confidence to finally complete my first novel (which is now being reworked).

I began writing “Infringement” after reading about James Holmes and the Aurora theater shooting. My goal was to write a story about finding and keeping faith in the darkest of circumstances. As I was writing “Infringement”, my now 4-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia, and began treatment. That experience changed my family’s life drastically, as well as my own faith, and I found myself experiencing exactly what I was trying to write about: faith in the darkest of circumstances. The forthcoming sequel, “A Haunt for Jackals”, continues that theme.

Author Accomplishments

My son is now in remission and is doing wonderfully and our experience with cancer has prompted my wife and I to get more involved in the fight against cancer. I serve as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Gateway Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, in St. Louis. We’ve both appeared on the radio discussing our experience, cancer research and fundraisers. I will be riding 37.5 miles in September in Pedal The Cause, which raises money for cancer research and treatment at the St. Louis Childrens’ Hospital. So far, I’ve raised roughly $1,600 towards my goal of at least $2,500.

Blurb

Still grappling with his loss of faith and anger towards God following the death of his Infringement-188x300father while a young boy, second-generation FBI Agent Declan Parker is called to investigate a simple complaint. Quickly discovering a dark undercurrent, Declan is unexpectedly drawn into the world of David Stanton, a man in the final stages of planning the bloodiest mass shooting in history. The lines between “the good guys and the bad guys” become irreconcilably blurred when, during the course of his investigation, Declan stumbles into the midst of a broad, sinister agenda, the aftermath of which will forever change not only his own life, but the lives of all Americans.

Reviews

5 Stars
Great Story!
By David Carlyle on May 21, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
The story is engrossing, but bloody for a Christian book. Mr. Westbrook would have to change the story to have less killing in it, and it’s hard to think how to change it without damage to it. The book definitely keeps the reader wanting to see what happens next, and it’s a top quality book. David Carlyle, “Billy Thomas: Forever Fearless.”
5 Stars
Excellent
By Michelle Dry on February 8, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Could not put it down. Can’t wait for the continuation of the as story. No telling what will happen next.
5 Stars
Loved the book
By Ziply on January 31, 2015
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Loved the book. Easy to read. Could not put it down once I started. Can’t wait for the sequel. Al Matey
5 Stars
Infringement is an intriguing and fast paced book that reads…
By Lisa on January 20, 2015
Format: Paperback
Infringement is an intriguing and fast paced book that reads very quickly! I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next one!
5 Stars
Engrossing, built on today’s domestic and international headlines. Jim and Joan Costello
By Mary J. Costello on January 15, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
A crisply written adventure based on today’s news and old fashioned faith. Written in the
fast based styles of Baldacci, Vince Flynn, and Dan Silva.
5 Stars
A suspenseful, thought-provoking book!
By S. Middendorf on January 15, 2015
Format: Paperback
I thoroughly enjoyed Benjamin Westbrook’s book Infringement. It was a great combination of a suspenseful FBI story (like the TV drama “24”), an analysis of current events (unrest in the Middle East correlating to Biblical prophesy), and thought-provoking dialogue (honest questions about faith in God). As a Christian, I appreciated the author walking us through the main character’s journey to try to see God during the hardships of life.
I really appreciate that this book entertained me (several exciting scenes had me on the edge of my seat!) and made me think about the current state of the world. I look forward to reading Westbrook’s next book!
5 Stars
A Suspenseful Page-Turner!
By Kimberly Mitchell on January 15, 2015
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
A fantastic page turner- I couldn’t put it down! In the midst of catastrophic events whether personal or global, this book addresses how we grapple with our faith when bad things happen. The main character, Declan is questioning his own faith after the death of his father at a young age but begins to believe that God is real and present in the midst of the horrible things happening in the world everyday. I love how Westbrook combined suspense with love and family and wove biblical references throughout the novel. I definitely learned a thing or two about the bible that I didn’t know before! If you like the Da Vinci code and the show 24, you will love this book! I can’t wait for Westbrook’s next novel!
4 Stars
Fast Paced Thriller
By E. McCarthy on January 10, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This novel is a psychological thriller and discusses historical events. The main character, Declan, plays a deadly cat and mouse game with a terrorist named Stanton in part one. Part two explores civil unrest because of governmental infringement of constitutional rights.
The ambitious approach of part two left me a bit confused over different characters’ relationships. I think this could be solved by moving some scenes around to part one in order to keep the characters’ lives juggled more evenly.
I liked the fast paced nature of the book. I would have liked to see more descriptions of the people however, and this would have made me empathize even more with them. I always loved how Charles Dickens described characters.
The action is exciting and kept me interested. I continued reading to find out what happened because I cared about the characters, especially Declan.
I loved the scary scenes inside the mind of a terrorist which were handled very well with a touch of explanation of why he was the way he was. I think this was the best part of the book and I liked the parallel between Stanton and Declan.
The writer has a lot of promise. I would recommend a few ideas: lose the few swear words (or use dashes), just say they went for a drink as some people don’t like alcohol references (and why turn off readers), let any physical intimacy be in the minds of the reader (although the scene wasn’t graphic), and cut any scenes of assaults on women entirely as they turn off female readers (it might be mentioned in passing or referred to in conversation. I was able to skim over the very few scenes).
The religious discussion fit the characters. I liked that the characters stayed true to their convictions. Declan’s journey to self-discovery was an interesting part of the novel.
I feel the writer has a talent for tender scenes especially between mother and son and Evan and Jessica who were lesser characters. I would have loved to see more scenes like these.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fast paced and entertaining Christian novel and I enjoyed reading it.
5 Stars
I highly recommend this book
By margaret Moellenberg on December 24, 2014
Format: Paperback
 From beginning to end, “Infringement” keeps the reader engaged and enthralled. It is a fast-paced thriller that I could not put down. Benjamin Westbrook’s debut novel is a real page-turner and one you will want to read over and over again. It hooks you from the first chapter, scares you into thinking someone is always watching and makes you realize nothing is as it seems. I highly recommend this book.
Links

Excerpt

Chapter 1

December 15th

He worked deliberately and meticulously atop the short ladder in the dark, quietly screwing into place the last of the four bright red “Exit” signs to be replaced. As far back as he could remember, he’d been a night person. He enjoyed working in the darkness, amid the silence and solitude one typically found during the late night hours when most were asleep. There were fewer distractions at night, no people to get in his way or take up his time with their generally meaningless chatter.

He turned the last screw firmly into place, quietly, one rotation after another until the metal screw squeaked against the metal bracket and it could go no further. After he’d finished, he scanned the sign to be certain it was perfectly even, gave each of the four screws another quick turn to verify they were tight, and gently nudged the “Exit” sign from each side to be absolutely sure it was securely in place. Satisfied with his work, he then turned the power switch to “On” and removed his night vision goggles to see the four red letters glowing in the darkness above the doorway. He stepped slowly and quietly down from the ladder, careful not to misstep, and walked to the center of the semi-circular sanctuary where he had a clear view of each of the four “Exit” signs he’d installed. As he’d planned, the new signs looked, in all respects, exactly like the four he’d replaced, except for the tiny HD video camera in each. The camera, located just to the right of the “T”, was totally indiscernible from a distance, unless someone knew to look for it.

Eager to test the new signs, he made his way toward the last row of pews nearest the main entrance of the sanctuary, where he’d left his laptop. He opened the laptop and deftly pulled up the admin page of his website, which was still under construction and hadn’t gone live yet. He clicked on the “Live Webcams” link, which took him to another page split into four window panes, one for each video camera in the “Exit” signs he’d installed. Three of the panes were completely dark, which was expected given the darkness of the sanctuary. The fourth pane, which showed the video feed from the camera in the sign above the main entrance, featured the dim light of his laptop. He couldn’t test the camera views completely until he could return during the day, but he knew, together, they should stream a full 360 degree live view of the sanctuary to his website.

Unable to wait until morning, he decided a small test was in order, so he took his iPad out of his backpack and pulled up his website there as well. Once he’d again accessed the page showing the live webcam feeds from the four “Exit” signs, he walked slowly to the center of the sanctuary, holding his iPad close to his face in order to illuminate it slightly. As he walked toward the main pulpit area, he watched each of the camera views on his iPad, to see when each camera picked up the dim light and his faint silhouette. Although not ideal, it was a sufficient test for the time being, and just seeing his dim silhouette from the cameras’ views gave him a distinct and very pleasing sense of excitement.

Once he arrived at the pulpit area in the center front of the sanctuary, he stepped up the few small marble steps to the main stage, and saw each camera feed had picked up the light from his iPad. From anywhere on the pulpit, he’d be perfectly visible to all four cameras in full light.

He shut down his iPad, leaving the sanctuary pitch black again but for the red light from the “Exit” signs, and slid his night vision goggles back on over his eyes. The pews fanned out in a semi-circle from the large stage, thirty rows deep. He stood in the center of the pulpit, where the preacher typically gave his sermon and prepared communion, and enjoyed an unobstructed view of the entire sanctuary. With his goggles on, he carefully scanned each section of the empty and otherwise dark pews, beginning with those on his left side, until he’d gone through them all one by one. Then, he again removed the goggles and closed his eyes, letting the perfect darkness clear his mind.

He stood facing the pews directly in front of him with his eyes closed tightly, his breath slow and measured. His mind began to focus, his imagination came alive, and one by one the pews were populated with faces. Soon, the faces, some familiar and others not, filled every corner of the almost bursting sanctuary. From the pulpit, he watched them talking to one another, greeting and hugging each other. He heard them chattering back and forth before services began, joking with one another, and laughing. He sensed their warmth, their excitement, their joy. His eyes still closed, he turned slowly and deliberately from his left to his right, watching them intently and letting their faces burn into his memory. He wanted to remember them, to know the joy on their faces down to the very smallest detail, so that when he finally raised his rifle and began spilling their blood onto the glittering marble sanctuary floor, he’d be able to recognize the precise instant when the careless joy in each face turned to horror and fear.

What’s next on the map: WIP – Guest Post by James Quinn

I had the pleasure of meeting Get Down With The Awethors participant James Quinn a few months ago and was impressed by his novel, A Game for Assassins. What’s so impressive about it? He has the actual experience in the subject matter: covert operations and other James Bond-type things. To me, this makes his novel much more real and therefore all the more enjoyable.

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I have to confess (and please bear with me as I’m new to this whole writing game, so no sniggering, you guys) that up until recently I thought that WIP had something to do with a wireless internet connection. And no, I’m not making that up…

I’d see people on various forums and FB groups banging on about “WIP this” and “WIP that” and “Oh my WIP is just on a downward spiral.” Poor woman, I thought! Eventually I figured out that it means a work in progress and it all became clear. So the next step along the path, the next big novel, the next project – right I got it now. It sounds nice. Then one of my friends commented that now that the first one was done I should really start on book 2. Errrr…I was so focused on getting the first book finished and into print that I hadn’t even considered getting to work on a follow-up book! Jeez – I’ve got to go through all that AGAIN!

As I’m writing this I am in the midst of a blog tour and about halfway through the expectedA Game for Assassins publicity for the first book. I had always had a plan that the “Gorilla Grant” books would be a 5 book series, charting his adventures and history from the 1960’s up to the present day. Hopefully, if readers take to the character and enjoy the books, that will come to fruition and we can see where the characters from the first book will be a mile or so down the road of time.

A Game for Assassins is what I would class as my Cold War novel. The character of Gorilla Grant, though, is able to transcend that period in history and move around into different locations and adventures. For example the follow up book – SENTINEL FIVE – takes place in the underbelly of Asia and has a very different feel to it. In fact I’m kind of curious to see how Gorilla survives in these environments.

My (rather naïve) idea was that I would finish the publicity for A Game for Assassins, have a summer vacation and then in the autumn move on to starting with book 2. Nice and clean. A bit like leaving one girlfriend, having a period of being single, before moving in with girlfriend number 2. Unfortunately life doesn’t always go along with our plans and I have already started upon my current WIP.

Is there a right or a wrong time to begin a follow-up book? Should writers take a break before committing to another work? I’m not thinking of the time between To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set The Watchmen length here, but enough to give a fresh perspective to an existing set of characters. Perhaps we should go totally off track and try something else? I confess that over the weekend I began to work on a short story totally unrelated to anything else that I have written before. I found it quite refreshing. A change is as good as a rest and all that.

So what do you think? How do you think the characters from A Game for Assassins will develop and change, and where will they end up? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

James Quinn

~~~

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Title: A Game for Assassins
Series: The Redaction Chronicles, Book 1
Author: James Quinn
Length: novel (528 pages)
Genre: mystery, thriller, spy thriller, espionage
Synopsis

The assassination of a Caribbean dictator… The “hit” on a traitor in Beirut… The brutal murder of a young CIA officer behind the Iron Curtain… So begins the game…

It is 1964, the height of the Cold War, and British Intelligence is riding high with its top double agent network: Constellation.

But in the secret war fought across Europe the enemy is never far away and soon the agents of Constellation are targeted by an unknown team of assassins. In desperation British Intelligence sends in their best agent to protect the network and hunt down the killers.

Jack “Gorilla” Grant isn’t your typical Cold War secret agent. Short, tough, uncompromising, rough edged. He doesn’t fit in with the elitist spies and debonair intelligence agents. He prefers working at the rough end of British covert operations.

But “Gorilla” is one of the best “Redactors” in the business. He’s an expert at close quarter shooting: quick to the draw and deadly accurate when it comes to the elimination of traitors and extremists on behalf of the British Secret Service (SIS). He is soon drawn into a game of cross and double cross where nothing is as it seems and even the most perfect spy can die in a wilderness of mirrors.

A Game for Assassins is an action packed edge of your seat thrill ride played out across the global stage of the Cold War.

Buy Links

Free with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VQORC0K/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VQORC0K/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00VQORC0K/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00VQORC0K/

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d3e3d66a28/

About the author

James Quinn spent 15 years in the secret world of covert operations, undercover investigations and international security before turning his hand to writing.

He is trained in hand to hand combat and in the use of a variety of weaponry including small edged weapons, Japanese Swords and Hunting Bows. He is also a crack pistol shot for CQB (Close Quarter Battle) and many of his experiences he has incorporated into his works of fiction.

He lives in the United Kingdom and travels extensively around the globe.

Website: http://jamesquinn.webs.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Quinn/1558765681046413
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ape101Quinn

Author Chat: Ben Starling

Author Ben Starling’s upcoming romance book includes something for everyone: corporate criminals, a beautiful island, a mysterious box, the struggle between a successful career and fulfillment, and  even marine life. Ben’s novel sounds like both an epic adventure and a beautiful, honest romance. January 2016 can’t come fast enough! Good thing we’ll have some prequels to tide us over.

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Your debut book (title reveal coming soon) will be published next year. How far along are you in the writing process?

My current novel will be released on January 21, 2016. I am in final edits of the manuscript – nearly there now! Since I find the flow of water critical for spurring on creative activity, I’ve taken to swimming nearly every day to speed up the process. I’m developing gills.

Right now I’m also working on a series of prequel short stories to be released from September 2015, set in the same world as my upcoming novel.

Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming book? The blurb on your website says:

What if to be with the man of your dreams… you had to give up your life? On the verge of losing her job, a side-lined journalist is forced to travel to the South Pacific to untangle a mystery where she meets a reclusive ex-boxer with a message. When a syndicate of corporate criminals invades paradise, she must either defend the island with her life or accept the plum promotion that will save her career.

Other highlights in this tale include: a mega yacht, a super sensitive whale, two environmentalists with a passion for concrete garden angels and Scrabble, verdant tropical island politics, seaweed farming and a faithful blue-footed seabird stowaway. And a love that lights up two lives and reaches past the grave.

Who will this story appeal to? Those who love the works of Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts and Colleen Hoover.

What else can you tell us about it? Can you give us a glimpse into your main character?

My heroine Teal’s character came to me out of the ether one day (I credit my muse, Edington – a beloved Great Dane I once had – for that gift). I was so fascinated by Teal that I had to sit down and write her tale.

Teal’s courageous and vulnerable, ambitious but still finding her own strengths and confidence, still determining what she truly believes in. She’s the girl from Nantucket who dreamed of being a reporter amidst the bright lights of New York. And achieved it.

Yet it is not the satisfying path she thought it would be. She’s still searching for the one magical thing that that will make her life complete. When she picks up an unopenable box in the street with her name carved in it, she finds herself headed for a mysterious island on the other side of the world – and maybe to the magic she was looking for.

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Do you mostly write in contemporary fiction or do you dabble in other genres? If so, which ones?

I love mysteries, sci-fi, thriller, contemporary fiction, classics, adventure, historical, great love stories – but am interested in just about everything. I think there’s something to learn from all genres, so I like incorporating strong elements from several different genres when I write.

But while other genres inform my writing, I keep coming back to my true passion. My upcoming novel and the series of prequel short stories to be released from September are contemporary fiction. And perhaps more importantly – they are love stories.

In them, you can expect to find obstacles, ecstasy and some tragedy – I like to write stories about passionate and spiritual kinds of love. Really when you think about the big picture, does anything else matter?

Did you plan this book with an outline, character development exercises, and/or other pre-writing activities? Or are you just writing it as it comes to you?

I am a big believer in the value of planning ahead. Every minute spent planning is a month saved. Maybe more. I don’t have time not to. The Writer’s Journey, by Christopher Vogler should be on every writer’s bookshelf.

And after all the planning is done and the outlines made – I toss them all in the air and gallop off free flowing and four feet off the ground with the wind in my ears. It’s important to plan the route to one’s destination, the final climax at the end of the book. And it’s important to also revel in the journey to get there.

Is there anything in your life that inspired you to write your upcoming book, or is it purely from your imagination?

My upcoming novel was inspired by the loss of my partner at forty-five years of age to ovarian cancer, just thirteen weeks after her diagnosis. In the aftermath, an old friend challenged me to turn that grief into something positive.

Remembering a conversation with a charismatic Polynesian fisherman (I visited there once) about his people’s vision of death and the afterlife, I began to write. The story kind of took off from there.

You have a lot of your own marine art on your website. Does marine life inspire you to write or just to draw?

My interest in marine life has taken me across three oceans over the past three decades. Our oceans are critical for our future. The human body is sixty-five percent water and about seventy-one percent of the earth is covered by water. We can’t do without it.

I have done a fair amount of research on this topic for personal interest over the years – so it is true that the marine theme in this novel is close to my heart. I do worry about what kind of state the world will be left in for the next generation.

Are any of the characters in your book based on people you know or have seen/talked to in real life?

Every character I write comes as a complete surprise! They are like no one I’ve ever met before but, in the case of the good guys, they are people I’d like to meet. They seem to arrive on a beam of light direct from Edington. But the villains frankly scare me!

Are you part of any writers’ groups? If so, what do you like about them? How do they help you or inspire you? If not, why not?

Yes and no. I don’t attend a scheduled writers’ circle. On the other hand, I do have friends who are writers and journalists. We regularly turn to each other to bounce ideas around. I also work closely with my editor – she helps me and I edit her work in return.

Do you read the kinds of books you like to write? Do you watch movies similar to or the same genre as your writing?

Yes, I do read in my genre as well as in others. Maeve Binchy’s work, for example, is always moving, and I was astonished by the movie Titanic. I also enjoy reading across genres and am particularly interested in the way different authors address and solve problems. I read for the intrinsic joy of the story – but I can also convince myself that this is research! Sooner or later a technique I admired in, say, a thriller, proves useful to me and then that time reading delivers a double reward.

If you could write anywhere in the world – in a fictional or nonfiction place – where would you write?

In a house by the ocean. It would be warm but not hot – and the sea breeze would waft over me. I’d be able to gaze at the waves though an open window. Inspirational!

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BIO

Ben Starling is passionate about marine conservation and boxing, both central themes in his upcoming novel. He is Oxford’s only ever Quintuple Blue (varsity champion five years running), was Captain of the university boxing team, and coached and boxed competitively. Ben graduated from Oxford University with a Master of Arts and an M Phil. He was born in the USA but has lived in the UK since childhood.

Connect with Ben!

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‘You should write a book…’ Guest Post by Maurice G. Miller

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of being consulted on a new author’s debut book cover. We exchanged a few messages on Goodreads and ended up talking quite a bit more about writing and publishing. Maurice Miller, author of the recently released The Budapest Experiment, is an active, sociable writer you’ll want to get to know. Why not start here?

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When sharing life experiences that are perhaps out of the norm, interesting, or compelling, how many of us have heard the phrase ‘You should write a book…’? Having always considered taking on this challenge, I finally decided to dedicate myself to this monumental task. It has been a long, interesting journey so far, and I look forward to both the trials and successes to come as I continue on my writing/publishing career.

In the early 1990s one of my entrepreneurial ventures led me to working as a trade consultant in Hungary. At that time, the country was transitioning from a state to market economy and offered many business opportunities. In the 2+ years that I travelled there, I met lots of characters in both the business and political arenas. The Budapest night life could get quite crazy at times, if your ‘meetings’ and social engagements led you to certain places. For me it was always interesting ‘playing games with the faces’, as Simon and Garfunkle would put it. Sometimes my colleagues would identify people in a crowded room, saying ‘I heard he is associated with the Mob’ or ‘she is one of the Organization’s women.’ It was these real life experiences that inspired me to write my debut fictional novel, The Budapest Experiment.

The book follows the journey of the protagonist, Michael Rousson, an adventurous but struggling American entrepreneur. While Michael shares a lot of the same traits as I did budapest experiment cover photoback then, most of his experiences in Budapest are quite different than what mine were. In the course of doing business he eventually becomes involved in the Russian Mob’s business operations that were centered in Budapest. Enticed and seduced by the Organization’s women, money, and power, he accepts what he thinks is a part-time consulting position with the Mob.

Inspired by things I dealt with back then, philosophical dilemmas evolve as Michael gets a remote glimpse into the darker worlds of sex, drugs, and arms trafficking. ‘At what price does one sell their soul?’ and ‘What is the greater evil in the world? Those that profit from the vulnerable in society, or those of us that just stand by and watch, complacent to the plight and suffering of the human condition around the world.’ The experiences and encounters that the protagonist endures in the book are fictional and extreme, but these questions are ones that we face ourselves, to some extent, every day. How much of our resources of time, treasure, and talent do we allocate to those less fortunate vs. what we keep for our own benefit and pleasures?

On what you might call a lighter note, I should mention that there are erotica scenes in the book. As a newbie author, my decision to include these was a bit of a struggle. I considered glazing over these scenes, but in the end I felt it was important to capture the intimacy between Michael, the ‘Mob women’, and a flirty interpreter. My hope was that by including the details of these encounters, readers would better comprehend the internal conflicts of the main character as well as familarize themselves with the behind-the-scenes life stories of the women he encounters.

Special thanks to Christie for inviting me to guest blog.

~~~

maurice miller headshotThe Budapest Experiment is now available in Print and Kindle eBook. You can check it out here: http://amzn.to/1z1g09v. There are 3+ chapters in the ‘Look Inside’ feature on the Kindle page to help you get acquainted.

You can gets lots more info including my author profile, blog, entry to win one of 15 free eBook copies on June 1, social media contacts, and much more by visiting my website www.mauricegmiller.com.

For those of you on Goodreads, be sure to watch for my second giveaway of 3 authographed author copies starting on Friday May 29. You can check my Goodreads author profile http://bit.ly/1DO6y6k and while you are there please send a friend request.

Thanks.

– Maurice

Do your words serve your story – or do they serve you?

by Anita Stratos, Proof Positive editor

Picture this: you’re craving apple pie – one of those “just gotta have it” days – so you go to your favorite café and order up a slice.

Your mouth waters when the server puts your pie in front of you, but when you look closer, you see cranberries, blueberries and pecans mixed with a few apples inside a coconut crust.

“What’s this?” you ask your server with disappointment. “I just wanted a simple apple apple piepie.”

“That’s our pastry chef’s version of apple pie,” she answers. “He likes to stretch his creative culinary muscle.”

Do you think you got what you ordered? Or did you get a more complex dessert, a berry-apple-nut pie with a unique crust? The chef promised apple pie on the menu, but he loaded it up with lots of other things and topped it off in a nontraditional way.

While that gourmet pie might be delicious and welcome on any other night, this time you wanted apple pie and trusted what was written on the menu. So even though the recipe might win a James Beard award, it’s most unwelcome and unappreciated by you at this moment.

Two things went wrong here, and the same things can go wrong with your writing, too.

First, don’t promise something in your title, cover image, or book blurb that you don’t deliver in your story. A book blurb that describes a fantasy novel but delivers a romance is bound to get bad reviews. Your writing may be superb, but you attracted the wrong audience.

The first takeaway: Don’t write “apple pie” on the menu when you’re crafting a multi-berry-apple-nut coconut-crusted pie.

Second, write your prose in a way that best serves your story, not in a complex way that doesn’t match the story or reflect something within the book or character(s). Unnecessarily complex writing gets very tiresome very quickly, slows readers down, and could sound pretentious.

The second takeaway: Serve apple pie to people who love apple pie, and save the gourmet blends for a different audience.

Universal Harmonics: Guest Post by Josh de Lioncourt

Many authors say that their characters lead their story places they didn’t know it would go. How about a character whose entire personality changed when her author gave her a new name? Josh de Lioncourt’s guest post is an outstanding example of characters who take over their own stories to help everything come together.


On the opening page of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain writes, “Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.”

This is true for most, if not all, literary characters whether or not the author realizes or acknowledges it consciously. Writers draw from their life experiences, people they’ve known, and things they’ve loved when telling a story. This is, perhaps, the most basic and unchanging truth of writing.

But it’s true of each and every human being on the planet as well; we are all drawn, colored, and sculpted into the individuals we become by the experiences we have had, the friends or family who’ve touched our lives, the things we’ve discovered, and the places we’ve been. Or, to use Mark Twain’s more eloquent phrasing, we all belong to the composite order of architecture.

As I write this, Harmony’s Song, a short story that ties into The Dragon’s Brood Cycle HS cover_mediumseries of novels, has just been released, and I find myself reflecting on the bits and pieces of my life that inspire my work, make me the person I am, and influence the characters I create. It’s always easier to connect the dots looking back, at least for me. I’m rarely, if ever, aware of the sources of my inspiration while I’m writing.

Sometimes I rediscover a phrase I wrote and see it in a whole new light that reminds me of some author I admire; sometimes I hear the echoes of those I’ve known in the voices of my characters; sometimes the words or melody of some old and well-loved song surfaces as I read over a scene or wander along forgotten passages. Most times, though, lightning simply strikes, and it’s fun to just let the magic of creation run its course and not bother with the whys and wherefores of the fickle Muses; they are as likely as not to rescind their blessings.

But there are times, too, when the universe simply gives you a gift, and it’s best to accept it with grace, even if that means rewriting large portions of your current project.

I received a gift like that while writing Harmony’s Song. The story’s title character began life in my imagination and then in the bits and bytes of my MacBook with an entirely different name. Daniel, an orphan living on the streets of Ravenhold, befriends a new orphaned girl who comes to town, and who was, in the earliest draft of those first few pages, named Shanna.

One Thursday afternoon, after I’d written perhaps a third of the first draft, I was taking a break and enjoying a game show. One of the contestants was named Harmony.

What a pretty name, I thought, and then I went on listening to the show.

It wasn’t until the show ended that I found myself wishing that I’d bestowed the name Harmony on Daniel’s friend. It would’ve made such a perfect name for her, I thought.

It was then, of course, when my conscious mind finally caught up with my subconscious. I could name her Harmony. It would be the perfect name.

And so began the process of what I thought would be a simple swap of one name for another. If you’ve read the story, you’ve probably realized by now that it didn’t turn out quite that way.

As I read through the first part of the story, exchanging each “Shanna” for “Harmony”, something strange began to happen. The character’s new name took on a life of its own, working its way into the fiddler’s songs and, I hope, into the very fabric of the character herself and the story as a whole. While the basic plot remained the same, the tale of Daniel and his mysterious friend acquired a luster that hadn’t been present in the earliest draft. It resonated, and I loved it.

In music, two notes played together makes an interval; three notes, harmonious with one another, make a chord. But the real magic is frequently when two or more independent melodies weave together to form something better—something bigger—than any on its own. It is the wedding of melodies into something beautiful that separates the lullaby from the symphony, or, in literary terms, the one-dimensional character from the fully realized soul who lives and breathes within both the confines of the page and the wide open spaces of our imaginations.

It’s a miracle of sorts how one creature, whose parts have become more than their total, can breathe life into another. Since time out of mind, humans have disdained flat and lifeless characters of prose and poetry, while simultaneously doing the same to those living in the real world who defy the norms of convention.

In the end, whether we are a Tom Sawyer, an orphan on the streets of a mythical city, or just another human being trying to make our way through life, we all gloriously belong to that composite order of architecture. May we celebrate that, and may we make the sweetest of harmonies.

~~~

Buy the short story here!

Connect with Josh:
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon
Dragon’s Brood Cycle series Facebook page

Dear Authors: My Editing Education and Experience

Dearest authors,

I’ve heard the question time and time again: what qualifies me to be an editor and own an editing company? I’ve gotten many questions about my education and my experience, so here’s a video in which I talk about all of it, from my alma mater (Lebanon Valley College) and college jobs to my real-world experience. While I was at it, I filmed some footage of my college campus and the buildings I spent most of my time in, going to classes, studying, and working.

I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me, and please feel free to ask any other questions you may have about Proof Positive!

– Owner of Proof Positive, Christie Stratos

(If you cannot see the video on this page, please click here: https://youtu.be/K3JrSv6zL5I)

Author Chat: Bradley Cannon

Did you ever wonder what might happen if you didn’t die when you were meant to? Author Bradley Cannon explores the possibilities of this in his first novel, Extended Stay. And don’t be afraid to love his work – he’s got six more novels in the works!

~~~

Extended Stay is your debut novel (congratulations!). How long did it take you to plan it before you began writing it?

Thanks! It’s been great to finally let people see what I’ve been working on. The beginning ideas for Extended Stay taunted me for about a year before I finally figured out how to go about writing it. I had a theme in mind all along, but the actual storyline took a while to develop. I have no idea why the pieces of the puzzle finally came to me when they did. I didn’t question it at the time. I just jumped right out of the shower at that moment (no joke!) and ran around the house wet and butt-naked for the next hour to write down all of my ideas.

I have never had so many plotlines and themes come to me so quickly for any other novel. I outlined more than half of Extended Stay’s chapters that day and began writing the first draft by the end of the week, which took around nine months to complete. The next seven drafts took four years. Then the publishing process took an additional year before the book ultimately became available January 26, 2015.

Do you typically plan your writing out with outlines, character development exercises, and other pre-writing activities? Or do you just write as it comes to you?

I always have an overarching outline of where a novel should go, chapter by chapter, from beginning to end before I start writing. I do this because I find that the constant worry of wasting six months only to corner myself with no proper conclusion slows me down more than any creative freedom would otherwise speed me up. However, I don’t think writers should ever be afraid to deviate from an outline if a particular scene or moment compels them to do so.

As for writing activities, I usually only do character development exercises if I am creating a character who is not partially based on a real person (or people) that I already know. My favorite prewriting exercise is to visit a location (e.g., a swamp, a bus station, or a movie theater) before writing about it. I do that often!

Your book, Extended Stay, is based on the idea of nobody dying within a 50-mile radius of Chattanooga, TN for 30 days. Is this concept about overpopulation and its effects, people taking life and death for granted, or something else?

Have you ever wondered why someone you knew had to die the way that they did? Extended Stay Cover-6.7ForKindleExtended Stay is my opportunity to express the answer to that question by showing how bleak the world would become if people never died at all. Along the way, many characters lose their sense of purpose and begin to make bad or reckless decisions to reveal why death, in all of its gruesomeness and bluntness, is actually a very necessary part of being human.

What do you think makes Extended Stay stand apart from other works in its genre?

There are numerous stories where an immortal character tells a mortal character about how tired or hardened they feel because they have lived for hundreds or thousands of years. However, the majority of Extended Stay spans a mere 30-day timeline in order to show a big picture of how quickly people would begin to change if they couldn’t die. That’s been a really fun angle to pursue that I haven’t heard as much about in the past.

Also, the Final Destination series is a major source of inspiration for the novel. However, Extended Stay focuses on the fact that people are not in control of when or how they will die, and then the novel goes on to show how this may actually be a good thing. As one reviewer put it, Extended Stay “makes readers think about their lives, privileges, and surroundings.”

It looks like you have two more books in the works, one literary fiction and one historical fiction. Extended Stay is gritty commercial fiction. Which of these three genres would you say you like writing the most, or do you like them equally?

Each novel and genre has had its own unique set of challenges. I suppose I felt the most comfortable writing Extended Stay. The novel has a lot of characters, each with their own storylines brimming with opportunities to pull in different readers. This forced me to do a little more research than usual, but it also gave me a lot of wiggle room to switch between stories on bleak days when I was feeling less inspired. Also, the idea of writing about people who avoid more than 40 forms of death was a blast to write about, and it created varying levels of suspense in each and every chapter. I didn’t want the novel to become some 800 page philosophical tome, so I took the fast “gritty commercial fiction” route instead, which I found to be an especially exhilarating and entertaining style to write in.

On the other hand, my literary fiction novel, The Wholesome Bell (coming summer 2016?), has been a little more challenging. In this novel, four uneducated men move into a doublewide trailer and create a bunch of utterly outrageous rules that they believe will bring them closer to happiness. Fortunately, I had already learned the value of writing about a familiar location in Extended Stay, so I placed The Wholesome Bell in Collegedale, TN to ensure that I always understand the setting. There is also a lot of dialogue in The Wholesome Bell, which I tend to struggle to describe after a while, especially when I am trying to be…well, “literary.” The solution to this problem has involved reading a lot of dialogue and implementing a variety of language tools, such as direct quotes, indirect quotes, summaries, and so forth, depending on the situation. The biggest difference between this novel and Extended Stay is that The Wholesome Bell is written in the first person, meaning that readers will have much more time to get to know a small group of characters, especially the main protagonist and narrator, Nick Johnston. That’s something I really wanted to try out after writing Extended Stay.

The historical fiction novel Darling, Schatzi has been the most daunting by far. This novel is about my grandmother’s experience growing up in pre-WWII Germany and how she eventually fell in love with my grandfather, an American soldier. The first draft of this novel is now finished, but there were many times that I had to go “over the hill and through the woods to Grandma’s house” for backup. I’m sure I’ll have to visit her again as soon I start working on future drafts too. After all, how was I ever supposed to write about life in pre-WWII Germany when I couldn’t even imagine what life in pre-WWII America was like? I really could not have completed the first draft without my grandmother’s support. I have spent many hours speaking with her to get all the pieces of her journey, which I believe has revealed a truly miraculous story of incredible growth and courage.

Did you do any research for Extended Stay?

I wish I could say no! Unfortunately I am not a police officer, lawyer, oncologist, exterminator, or any of the other professions that appear throughout the novel. I did use several locations and occupations that I do understand (e.g., lawn maintenance! Haha!). However, I also have had to ask people questions about everything from Catholicism to their experiences during a tornado in order to make sure the story remained both credible and incredible at the same time.

If you could write anywhere in the world – in a fictional or nonfiction place – where would you write?

I would write in a soundproof room with nothing visible in front of me except for a computer screen and a keyboard. Even the desk and chair beneath me would be invisible. The Internet would only work for occasional research. The room would have no door, no telephone, and it wouldn’t let me out until I complete at least 1,000 words. A slot where snacks magically appear would be a great bonus.

Going out into the world to discover new stories is integral to write any book, but privacy away from all distractions is absolutely necessary as well. This is not to say that I always want to be secreted away. For this magic writing room to be truly perfect, it would also stop time while I am inside so that I can see family, friends, and readers as soon as I get done. I greatly appreciate all of your support over the years and look forward to seeing and hearing from you at each and every opportunity.

Thank you, Proof Positive, for hosting this interview and for all you do to support authors. Everyone else, thank you for reading this interview; I hope you enjoyed!

BIOGRAPHY

Bradley Cannon NovelsBradley Cannon was born March 26, 1991 in Cleveland, Tennessee. He attended Bradley Central High School and recognized his interest in literature at the early age of 15. After that, a few long-winded ideas spiraled into several novels in excess of 100,000 words each. So far, six complete novels have emerged, all in different draft stages from one to seven.

Bradley graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as an English Major/Communication Minor in summer 2013. Besides getting up early to write, he also works as a writer for Psi Chi Central Office, the International Honor Society for Psychology.

Bradley is now 24. He enjoys criticizing and praising television and looks forward to one day creating his own continuing selection of work. On his birthday, he proposed to his wonderful new fiancée, Leslie. They married in the summer of 2014.

POPULAR LINKS

You can view the first few pages of Extended Stay for free, check out customer reviews, and purchase a print or Kindle edition of the novel at Amazon.com HERE.

The Extended Stay video trailer is available on YouTube.com HERE.

You are also invited to connect with me via Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or Google+.

Awethors Event: Why I Love Supporting Indie Authors

Get Down With The Awethors co-creator D.M. Cain graciously suggested that I should do an interview too. As I haven’t published a full book yet, I thought I’d take her up on it in a different way: by telling you why I love all of you.

Indie authors have something really special about them: a sense of community. Why is this so special? Because even though we’re all technically competing with each other, we put that behind us as something that doesn’t need to be acknowledged, as something that is really not the point, and instead we focus on supporting each other. Where else can you find a sense of community that strong?

We exchange books, we give honest reviews, we spread the word on social media for each other, we comment on each other’s work before it’s published. There’s no end to indie authors’ generosity, and it always makes my day to see indie authors working together. Events like the Awethors Facebook event help us not only connect with readers but network with each other. And those relationships last forever.

Just a few of the amazing authors Proof Positive has interviewed and some of the books we’ve worked on!

One of the reasons I started my editing business is to help indie authors succeed, not only through editing but through exposure. I have read some of the most incredible books by indie authors, and I’ve found that I end up reading bestselling traditionally published books mostly to keep up with publishing trends – not because they’re better. This was a big eye opener for me when I first discovered it, and I hope to help open other readers’ eyes  to the fantastic talent right in front of them.

Congratulations to all of you who have had the ambition and courage to publish your own books or even get your start by publishing your own books. I hope to join the ranks of such an awesome group soon.

~~~

Christie Stratos headshotChristie Stratos is an editor and award-winning writer who holds a degree in English Literature. An avid reader of all genres and world literature, Christie reads everything from bestsellers to classics to indies, and is an audiobook reviewer at AudioBookReviewer.com. She is also a writer of short stories, poetry – some of which have already been published – and upcoming novels. She dabbles in all genres.

Connect with Christie

Author website and blog
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest
Goodreads
YouTube
LinkedIn
AudioBookReviewer profile (scroll down!)

Connect with Proof Positive

Facebook
Twitter (same as my personal one!)
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