First Chapter Reveal: Terminus by Joshua Graham

Title of Book: TERMINUS
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
Author: Joshua Graham
Website: www.joshua-graham.com
Publisher: Redhaven Books

PURCHASE TERMINUS HERE

SUMMARY:

How far must an angel fall to find his destiny?

Having witnessed one too many senseless deaths, Nikolai, a disillusioned Reaper 3^rd Class, resigns his commission with the Angel Forces after a tedious century of gathering souls.

Immediately, another division recruits him with the promise of a more rewarding career, and issues his initial assignments: To bring down a few very dangerous threats to the human race. In the process, Nikolai falls in love with one of his targets—Hope Matheson, a woman who will lead thousands astray.

Caught between conflicting agendas, Nikolai chooses to “fall” from his celestial state and become mortal in order to circumvent angel law and be with her. But for angels and humans alike, things are not always as they appear. Still a target, the threat against Hope’s life intensifies.

Now, in order to save her, Nikolai must rally the last remnants of his failing supernatural abilities to prevent her assassination, as well as the destruction of an entire city by a nuclear terrorist strike.

But his time and power are running out…

Terminus is a perspective-altering saga that delves into ageless themes of redemption, destiny, and the eternal power of love.

Mr. Breeze is back; so is Michael Ryan and Rover, the magical dog.

MR. BREEZE fans can rejoice. REVELATION, Morrie Richfield’s much-anticipated sequel to his novel MR. BREEZE, has arrived. Readers new to the strange but inspiring tale of a super being and his attempt to set mankind on a straight and moral path for its very survival can immerse themselves in what critics and readers alike are calling an “inspirational fantasy” with important lessons for all of us.

In MR. BREEZE, published in 2011, Richfield introduced readers to Zackary, aka Zack, aka Mr. Breeze, an ancient being who claimed to be mankind’s creator and who still exerts a powerful force on the human race and its very existence. Zack appeared on earth as a powerful man who did miraculous deeds. He chose journalist Michael Ryan to tell his story in a book that, he hoped, would show mankind how to stop its self-destructive ways and bring paradise on earth. With man’s fate hanging in the balance, Zack disappeared, leaving humans to their fate and Michael wondering what his role really is.

REVELATION moves the action two years into the future. The situation looks bleak. Mankind has slipped back into its old, destructive ways and Michael has become a dissolute recluse. There are people who view Michael as a savior and others who see him as a threat to be eliminated.

Along this strange trip, Michael meets new friends and reunites with old companions, the most significant of which is Rover, an abused dog whom Zack endowed with superpowers. Rover becomes Zack’s messenger to Michael, as Michael tries to get Zack’s original message out to the world: If mankind doesn’t straighten out, he will destroy the human race.

Richfield plays down the description of REVELATION as an “inspirational fantasy.” He calls it a “self-help book, a textbook, a reality series on paper. It is what we see when we look in the mirror.”

If MR. BREEZE focused on Zack and his message, REVELATION focuses on Michael, following his struggle to understand his role in Zack’s master plan and to find his soul, Richfield says. “Michael’s final revelation is that we just don’t learn. Without the threat of destruction, we go back to our old ways. Our time is almost up and we need to do something. We need to show Mr. Breeze the human race deserves a chance to continue to exist.”

- See more at: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/02/23/pump-up-your-book-presents-revelation-virtual-book-publicity-tour-win-100-visa-card/#sthash.cSEU8eOS.dpuf

FIRST CHAPTER

Chapter 1

AS A REAPER OF THE THIRD LEGION, Nikolai—Nick, as he preferred to be called these days—had attended to more human deaths over the last thousand years than he cared to. Countless lives and memories snuffed out like the wick of a candle. It had all become routine, meaningless.

Vanitasvanitatum.

The ability to traverse the entire planet in the blink of a human eye had long grown commonplace, its charm lost somewhere between King Malcolm II’s victory in The Battle of Mortlach and Guttenberg’s invention of moveable type. These days he spent most of his time assigned to the northern hemisphere, one of the least active territories on earth.

As for leaving the planet, he typically only did that on days when he escorted a soul to the Terminus.

A day like today.

Nick waited while the OR surgeon continued trying to save the little girl from multiple gunshot wounds.

“My husband was killed,” the beautiful woman standing in the door said, her voice breaking. “She’s all I have.”

“We can’t keep her going like this,” the surgeon said gently.

“She’s not even five.

“I’m truly sorry. But it’s time to let her go.”

“No!” The mother rushed forward, knocking over a metal tray and all its equipment as she reached out to her daughter. The nurse caught hold of her arms and held her back.

“Please, don’t let the last few moments of your daughter’s life end like this. Let her go with some dignity,” the surgeon said.

Nick tuned out the mother’s voice as she got hold of herself. Having to watch this sort of thing was perhaps the worst part of his punishment. Far worse than his demotion.Worse than when he was a guardian a millennium ago. He’d seen tens of thousands die horrific deaths on battlegrounds in the physical realm—even intervened and partaken in sanctioned kills himself. But at least he’d been helping rid the planet of those who’d deserved it.

This was much worse.

Nick’s reflection didn’t show in the mirror, but in it he could see the surgeon calling the time of death and switching off the EKG machine, the little girl lying pale and still, the lovely mother weeping.

And now the warm golden light that only Nick could perceive filled the room, enveloping the body. It was about to happen.

The little girl’s ethereal form sat up and separated from her expired mortal body. She looked to her mother, confused.

“Mama? Why’re you crying?”

Her mother didn’t respond. How could she?

Callous as Nick’s heart had grown over the years, these moments always wrenched it.

“It’s okay, little girl.”

She turned to him and stepped off the operating table. Had she been older, she might have reacted with panic as most do when they see the blood on the sheets, the surroundings, the grief-stricken loved ones standing over their body. But she was too young to understand. She smiled and tried to touch her mother’s head. Her hand passed right through it. She giggled and did it again.

“That’s funny, Mommy.”

Nick hated this. He should never have to take a child this young and innocent to the Terminus. He forced a smile and approached her.

“What’s your name, love?”

“Chloe.” Again she giggled, now prancing around the OR passing her hands through cabinets, walls, chairs, her mother. “Funny!”

Nick put his hand on her shoulder and her smile faded. This was the part he hated most. An expression common to people much older than Chloe replaced it. A look of recognition.Finality.

She’s too young.

She looked back to her mother, still weeping over the empty shell that had been Chloe’s body. Then she turned back to Nick with tears in her eyes.

“It’s time to leave, isn’t it?”

“Come, say goodbye to your mum. She’ll feel it, and it’ll make her happy—if only for a moment.”

“Okay.” She reached up, put her tiny hand in Nick’s. Like an electrical current, a twinge that originated from the core of her spirit flowed into his. By now he should have been used to it, but he wasn’t.

“Come on, then.”

Chloe didn’t seem to pay any mind to the fact that her mother could neither see nor hear her. She leaned over and kissed her mother’s auburn hair, tried to stroke it without her hand passing through.

“It’s okay, Mommy.”

And in that moment, her mother stopped crying, sniffled, and looked up, her eyes incongruously hopeful.

“Sweetie?”

Chloe choked back a little sob and tried to wrap her arms around her mother’s neck.

“I love you, Mommy. Have to go bye-bye now.”

Her mother blinked. Nick waited a couple of seconds, then gave Chloe’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“The last bit, love. Go on.”

She nodded, understanding what he meant—spirits always seemed to know this instinctively when first separated from their bodies. Placing her forehead against her mother’s, she joined her with shut eyes and poured out the very last of her mortal memories, the essence of their all too brief life together.

No matter how many times Tamara had tried to explain the human need for closure, to Nick’s mind it was still sentimental. Nonetheless, he waited patiently for Chloe’s spirit to converge for a moment with that of her mother’s.

Her mother smiled, her eyes closed. It was only a moment, but she seemed at peace. When she began to cry again, Chloe kissed the top of her head and returned to Nick, sadness briefly tugging the corners of her mouth down. Then her eyes and face began to glow.

She took Nick’s hand.

Her mother’s tears and sobs penetrated the emotional barrier he tried to forge. His hand began to glow—how simple it would have been to use his healing ability and restore the little girl’s mortal life. Just one touch.

But it was not allowed.

Nick had learned—the hard way, in England, a century ago. But what good was such an ability if it could not be used where needed?

What’s the point of my existence, for that matter?

He started walking out of the room, an entirely human and unnecessary habit he’d developed from mingling with mortals over the years.

“Ready, Chloe?”

“I miss her.”

“She’ll miss you a lot more.”

“How come?”

“Because mortals don’t know what it’s like on this side.” For them, time was a driving tyrant: linear, merciless, flowing in one and only one direction. Why would anyone want to go through a short pittance of a life with all its sorrows—seventy, maybe ninety years—only to grow feeble and stupid towards the end? At least Chloe had been spared that.

Yet something about this premature departure troubled him unreasonably. He’d reaped the souls of children before, never liked doing it, but in Chloe’s case the pain was quite a bit more acute.

As memories from the past surfaced, Nick without thinking released Chloe’s hand and floated freely in the room. Before he knew it, he found himself standing beside her mother. The auburn hair falling over emerald eyes shimmering with tears made her look achingly beautiful.

Her weeping subsided. Her lips moved ever so subtly.

She was praying.

Again without thinking, Nick stretched out his hand, gently reached toward her face with his fingertips, taking pains not to touch her so she wouldn’t perceive his presence.

Or would she?

She gasped with a start, her face lighting up.

Damn. Nick had inadvertently touched her hair and revealed himself.

Idiot!

He instantly slipped out of her perception. It had lasted only a second, but she had felt his presence. Seen his face.

She bolted to her feet and looked around the room, returned to her seat when she saw no one.

“Let’s go, Chloe.” Nick took her hand.

“What happened?”

“She’ll be all right.” He led Chloe to the door, hoping he hadn’t just lied to her.

Chloe turned back to see her mother, waved, and said, “Bye-bye, Mama.”

Nick, against his better judgment, turned and looked at the mother too. Any trace of that brief moment of euphoria mortals experience the first time they encounter an angel had been replaced by deep grief. He’d seen such pain far too often, but this was the strongest he’d felt it himself in a long time.

Human emotions.

As though they were his own.

He hated it. Hated the fact that he was starting to feel them again.

They were alien, perverse, just…wrong!

With a shudder, he held Chloe’s hand and crossed the divide.

First Chapter Reveal: The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry

Title of Book: THE BELOVED DAUGHTER
Genre: Inspirational Fiction
Author: Alana Terry
Website: www.alanaterry.com
Publisher: CreateSpace

PURCHASE THE BELOVED DAUGHTER HERE

SUMMARY:

In a small North Korean village, a young girl struggles to survive. Catastrophic floods have ravaged her countryside. But it is her father’s faith, not the famine of North Hamyong Province, that most threatens Chung-Cha’s well-being.

Is Chung-Cha’s father right to be such a vocal believer? Or is he a fool to bring danger on the head of his only daughter?

Chung-Cha is only a girl of twelve and is too young to answer such questions. Yet she is not too young to face a life of imprisonment and forced labor. Her crime? Being the daughter of a political dissident.

“The Beloved Daughter” follows Chung-Cha into one of the most notorious prison camps of the contemporary free world. Will Chung-Cha survive the horrors of Camp 22?

And if she does survive, will her faith remain intact?

“The Beloved Daughter” won second place in the 2012 Women of Faith Writing Contest.

FIRST CHAPTER: 

A BRUISED REED

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Isaiah 42:3

The wind howled, pummeling gusts of snow through the cracks in our cabin walls. If the stinging cold and the hunger pains weren’t enough to keep me awake, my parents’ hushed argument was. I hugged my blanket as I listened to their voices, forceful and angry as the winter gale.

“We can’t risk drawing attention to ourselves,” Mother warned. “These inspectors report to Pyongyang.”

I slipped one eye open, just a crack. I knew my parents were anxious about the arrival of the inspections unit from Pyongyang, our nation’s capital. Kim Jong-Il, the Dear Leader himself, sent these inspectors to Hasambong to weed out any subversive citizens. No one in Hasambong felt safe, even us children.

My parents stood in the middle of our cabin facing each other. Father didn’t move at all. His face reminded me of the statue of our nation’s founder in front of our school. Kim Il-Sung’s bronze image never yielded in rain or snow or hail or storm but gazed resolutely at his starving citizens with cold and stony eyes.

“I will not renounce the truths of Scripture just to make my life here on this earth a little more comfortable,” Father spat. He was still whispering, but the forcefulness of his words filled our cabin like the roar of the angry Tumen River in flood season. “‘If you falter in times of trouble,’” Father quoted, “‘how small is your strength’!”

Mother swore. “Don’t talk to me about strength! Don’t you think I wish things were different? But they’re not. You think I’m a coward. But I’m the one who watches out for our daughter’s safety while you bring open suspicion upon our household right in front of the inspectors. No, Husband.” Mother pointed a finger in his face.

“It is you who are the coward.”

Instinctively, I longed to rush to Father’s aid. In the candlelight, I saw Father’s frame droop. His shoulders sagged. He looked older and frailer than I ever saw him before. I waited for Father to respond, willing him to defend himself, but he was silent.

“You dare speak to me about courage,” Mother continued, probably unaware that she was close to shouting now. “You don’t realize how much courage it takes to get up every morning and go to work, knowing that my daughter could be interrogated any day by her teachers at that school. Knowing that I’m powerless to worship God like the Good Book says if I want my only child to see her thirteenth birthday. Knowing that my husband thinks I’m an apostate because I would rather see Chung-Cha survive to adulthood. And meanwhile you – for the sake of a mere philosophy – are willing to condemn our entire family to prison camp. Of course you realize what those guards would do to Chung-Cha there, don’t you?” I prayed for sleep to shield me from my mother’s words, and I clenched my thin blanket tight against me.

“And do you know what will happen to Chung-Cha if she dies without ever learning the good news?” Father asked quietly.

“She knows the good news,” Mother insisted. “Why isn’t that enough? Why do you continue to endanger our only child? Especially now with the inspectors here, looking to make an example of traitors?”

“The Lord will care for us,” Father promised. I pretended not to hear the strain in his voice.

“You are certain of God’s provision,” Mother countered.

“Yet if Chung-Cha doesn’t die of cold and hunger this winter, she’ll just as likely die in a prison camp this spring. All because of your recklessness. You have the word of God in your heart.

Why can’t you keep it there instead of speaking so openly and condemning us all?”

Father was speechless. I willed away the sob that was rising in my throat at the sight of my dear father so humiliated. Could Mother be right? I never met anyone like my father, who memorized whole books of the Bible although Scripture was outlawed in North Korea, who whispered the gospel to his co-workers but never was caught. Father’s faith was so strong that I was certain the Hasambong mountains themselves would one day cave in at the sound of his prayers breathed in the darkness. Could this man – whose love for his Creator was so vast that the entire North Hamyong Province hardly seemed large enough to contain it – really be wrong to love God so deeply? Was Father foolish to obey God so fearlessly?

Father always promised that God would care for us just like he cared for the sparrows. Years ago, I was quick and eager to believe Father’s words of faith. But as each month of the famine grew worse, as each night I shivered from the cold and clenched my empty stomach while listening in on my parents’ disagreements, I wondered if my mother could be right. Seeds of doubt found fertile soil in my empty belly.

In our Hasambong village, even the sparrows were falling to the ground from starvation, not to rise again.

Now with the inspectors here, the danger was even more real. The prison camps were more than rumors. Two families in our small village of Hasambong had been relocated since the start of the famine. One couple was caught with a stolen potato.

The other family, whose infant I played with before she starved to death, was accused of cannibalism.

Was Mother right? With the People’s Safety Agency here to inspect us, wouldn’t God understand if Father was less vocal about his faith, given the circumstances and grave dangers to our family?

My father sighed, and I held my breath to hear what he would say in his defense.

“I am not a fool. I know what risks come from following Jesus Christ.” Father’s voice wasn’t angry anymore, but gentle, like the snow that occasionally covered the Hasambong mountainside in a blanket of unblemished white.

“Chung-Cha is a gift from God … as are you.” Father reached out his calloused, work-worn hand to wipe a tear off Mother’s gaunt cheek. She turned away with a disdainful snort.

Father continued, “Nevertheless, if I began to love these gifts more than the One who entrusted them to me, then I would not be able to look my Savior in the face when I stand before him and give an account of my life.

“It is God who gives me breath.” The confidence of Father’s quiet confession filled our cabin with uncharacteristic warmth. “And as long as my old worn-out heart keeps beating, as long as these tired lungs continue to draw air, I will not remain silent. I cannot. I will proclaim the Good News until my Savior returns to rule the earth or until he calls me home.”

My heart swelled at Father’s words of triumph and faith. I watched Mother’s face to see if she felt the same wave of power, the same surge of hope, that transcended the suffering and fear – even the constant hunger – of our provincial lives in rural North Korea.

Mother brushed past Father and unpinned her hair. She walked to the bed, yanked down the tattered blanket, and hissed, “Your stubborn faith will be the death of us all.”

How to Write a Good Zombie Book by Colin M. Drysdale

How To Write A Good Zombie Book

By

Colin M. Drysdale

When Max Brooks’ best-seller World War Z was first published it not only re-energised the zombie genre, it also introduced to a whole new audience to the world of the undead. With the film of the book coming out this summer, starring no less a figure than Brad Pitt, it’s likely that the audience for zombie fiction will explode as those who wouldn’t usually consider themselves zombie fans start dipping their toes into the genre. And to cater for this increased audience, we’re likely to see a whole slew of writers, both first-timers and more established authors, being tempted to give the zombie genre a go just to see if they can get their own slice of this burgeoning market.

But, many of those hoping to pen the next World War Z will soon find that writing a good zombie book isn’t as easy as might seem. This is because you can’t just throw together some random characters, pile on the blood and gore, and pump out an instant classic. Instead, you need to put effort into creating a world where zombies exist that’s not only believable but that feels so real the readers are left looking over their shoulders just to check there’s nothing sneaking up on them.

With this in mind, here’s my six tips for writing a good zombie novel:

1. Come Up With An Original Idea: If you’re going to write a successful zombie book you can’t just follow the well-trodden route of having a group of survivors trying to get out of a city as the undead close in. This idea have been done to death and it’s unlikely you’ll be able to anything with it that hasn’t been done a hundred times before. Instead, you need to come up with an idea that’s in some way different from all that have come before. You want it to stand out from the crowd; you want people talking about it round the water-cooler, and this will only happen if you do something new and distinctive. This was the beauty of World War Z (the book version at any rate). Instead of focussing on a single small group (as almost every other zombie book does), it took a wide lens to tell it’s tale of apocalyptic downfall and salvation through vignettes which showed how many different individuals survived or died. However, with so many other zombie books already out there, coming up with a truly original is easier said than done.

2. Decide On The Rules For Your World: All zombie books have rules that govern things like how people become zombies, what happens when one of them bites a human, how the undead can be killed and what causes the dead to rise in the first place. However, not all zombie books follow exactly the same rules; some have fast zombies, some have more traditional slow zombies, some don’t even have true risen-from-the-dead zombies but rather have living humans infected with a disease that make them act like zombies. This means that as a would-be zombie author, you need to set out the rules for the zombie world you’re creating; and then make sure you stick to them! Nothing puts readers off faster than a zombie book where the rules seem to change from one scene to the next.

3. Develop Your Characters: A good zombie book isn’t just about blood and gore. If people are going to connect with it, it has to also be about the characters. These characters can’t be two-dimensional stereotypes; instead they need to feel real. The readers need to like the nice ones and hate the nasty ones; they need to feel the pain when a characters loses someone close, or even worse gets killed by the undead. If you don’t develop your characters, you’ll find your book just won’t come to life in the readers’ minds and they’ll end up either not caring what happens to them, or worse, cheering for the zombies.

4. Research Your Locations: To be successful, zombie books need to feel real. After all, part of the fascination with zombie stories is seeing the world your so familiar with turned upside down by the arrival of something as unthinkable as the undead. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use real world locations to give your reader reference points. In World War Z, one of the key scenes is the battle for the New York suburb of Yonkers. By setting it there, Max Brooks didn’t need to describe the area in detail. Instead, anyone who’s ever watched TV or seen a film can instantly know what it would be like. This means you need to choose on a distinctive location and then research it so that you can place your story into the local landscape in such a way that the reader will believe it could really happen there.

5. Avoid Clichés: The zombie genre is riddled with clichés: the little girl zombie who surprises someone at the start of the outbreak, the fact that almost anyone can pick up a gun and start popping off perfect headshots instantly even if they’ve never held one before, the baseball bat, the lone zombie lurking amongst the shelves of an apparently deserted supermarket and so on. Avoid these like the proverbial plague as they’re one of the quickest way to alienate your would-be readers.

6. Think Of Imaginative Ways To Kill Zombies: This follows on from the previous tip. Readers of zombie novels want to see the undead dispatched in new and interesting ways rather than the same ones that have been used over and over again. Smacking them in the head with a baseball bat? Yawn – read that a thousand times already. A hockey stick? That’s a bit more original but not by much. How about the urn with your dead grandmothers ashes in it, grabbed off the mantle piece and brought down on the head of an attacking zombie? That’s more like it. Or what about mowing down a whole horde with a combine harvester? Messy but it’ll get people talking, and that’s what you want.

So now you’ve read my tips for writing a good zombie novel, why not give it a go?

If you do a good enough job, you never know, next time it might be the movie of your book that Brad Pitt’s starring in. The only thing that’s certain is that this can’t happen if you don’t write it in the first place!

***

Bio: Colin M. Drysdale is the author of his own zombie book For Those In Peril On The Sea, which was selected as one of only five finalists in the ForeWord Firsts Winter 2013 competition for debut novels. A professional marine biologist, he first ventured into writing when the idea for a zombie book set around the sailing community of the northern Bahamas came to him while he was working there. He now splits his time between writing zombie fiction, and studying whales and dolphins. You can find out more about his fiction at http://cmdrysdale.wordpress.com.

Character Interview: Veronica Vasquez from R. Barri Flowers’ crime thriller, BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN

We’re thrilled to have here today, Special Agent Veronica Vasquez from R. Barri Flowers’ crime thriller, BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN. Veronica is a thirty-five year old Criminal psychologist and profiler with the FBI’s Serial Killer Unit., living in Washington, DC, but visiting Portland, Oregon.

It is a pleasure to have her with us today at Beyond the Books!

 

Thank you so for this interview, Veronica. Now that the book has been written, do you feel you were fairly portrayed or would you like to set anything straight with your readers? 

 

Yes, I believe the book was pretty accurate in its depiction of me as a career FBI criminal psychologist, a widow still hoping to find love again, and a sister seeking to reestablish the bonds with my estranged sister. 

 

That said, I would like to tell the readers that I didn’t run away from my hometown of Portland for the sake of running away, per se, but rather because it was time to start a new life. Though there have been some regrets along the way, I firmly believe that things happen as they were meant to, for better or worse. 

 

Do you feel the author did a good job colorizing your personality?  If not, how would you like to have been portrayed differently? 

 

Yes, the author was spot on in colorizing my personality. I am basically the same down to earth, yet analytical character with an open mind as a profiler and tender heart for those who mean something to me as illustrated. Like other people, I have a few flaws and am continually trying to rectify them. 

 

What do you believe is your strongest trait?

 

My dedication to the job, even as other things were falling apart in my life. An honorable mention would be a willingness to look at the big picture while zeroing in on the smaller one. 

 

Worse trait? 

 

My worst trait is perhaps a stubbornness that I inherited from my mother—in which I can be pretty inflexible to my own detriment. It’s something I’m working on. 

 

If you could choose someone in the television or movie industry to play your part if your book was made into a movie, who would that be (and you can’t say yourself!)? 

 

That’s a great question. If it were a television movie, it would definitely be Kelli Giddish, who resembles me physically and is a great actress. For a motion picture, I would say that Kate Hudson or Amanda Seyfried would be ideal choices to play me. If they decided on a British actress, I’d love to see Dominique McElligott in the role. 

 

Do you have a love interest in the book? 

 

Yes, I am happy to say. Things between me and Homicide Detective Sergeant Bryan Waldicott of the Portland Police Bureau become pretty intense as the story moves along.

At what point of the book did you start getting nervous about the way it was going to turn out? 

 

I would say about three-quarters of the way when I think I’ve got the bead on the serial killer and am forced to look in a different direction, unsure just who the unsub is. 

 

If you could trade places with one of the other characters in the book, which character would you really not want to be and why? 

 

I definitely wouldn’t want to be the killer that’s for sure, because he’s going down—if I have any say in the matter. 

 

Beyond that, though I love my sister Alexandra, I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. Mainly because it would just be too weird as we know each other too well (not always a good thing). Also, I don’t get along too well with her new husband and certainly wouldn’t want to wake up one morning and find that I was married to him.

 

How do you feel about the ending of the book without giving too much away? 

 

I feel it was really a great ending—everything you would expect in a good thriller with a heart pounding conclusion that wraps up everything while leaving open the door to the future.

 

What words of wisdom would you give your author if he decided to write another book with you in it? 

 

I would tell him to keep my character three-dimensional while exploring new ways for me to do my job and pursue a social life. 

 

Thank you for this interview, Veronica. Will we be seeing more of you in the future? 

 

You certainly will. BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN is the first in a new crime series, starring me as a tough but vulnerable FBI criminal psychologist and profiler, ready to do my part in solving cases and bringing perps to justice; along with continuing an exciting new romance and exploring its potential. 

 

Thanks for interviewing me. It was fun. Hope to do it again sometime.

 

—————————————————

R. Barri Flowers is an award winning criminologist and internationally bestselling author of more than sixty books–including thriller and suspense fiction, relationship fiction, young adult mysteries, true crime, and criminology titles.

Bestselling mystery and thriller fiction, including SEDUCED TO KILL IN KAUAI, MURDER IN MAUI, MURDER IN HONOLULU, KILLER IN THE WOODS, DARK STREETS OF WHITECHAPEL, STATE’S EVIDENCE, PERSUASIVE EVIDENCE, and JUSTICE SERVED.

Other novels by the author include the bestselling relationship novel, FOREVER SWEETHEARTS, and young adult novels, COUNT DRACULA’S TEENAGE DAUGHTER, GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY, and DANGER IN TIME.

Flowers has also written a number of bestselling true crime books, including THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS, THE PICKAXE KILLERS, SERIAL KILLER COUPLES and MASS MURDER IN THE SKY. He was editor as well of the bestselling anthology, MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME.

The author has been interviewed on the Biography Channel and Investigation Discovery.

Official Website: http://www.rbarriflowers.com/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Barri_Flowers

Video Introduction to Author: http://youtu.be/kKvkXirbpgM

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/R.-Barri-Flowers/e/B000APKBLI

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RBarriFlowers

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rbarri.flowers?ref=ts

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Interview with Michael Bigham, Author of ‘Harkness’

Raised in the Central Oregon mill town of Prineville beneath deep blue skies and rim rock, Michael Bigham attended the University of Oregon and during his collegiate summers, fought range fires on the Oregon high desert for the Bureau of Land Management. He worked as a police officer with the Port of Portland and after leaving police work, obtained an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. Michael lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, his daughter and a spunky Bichon Frise named Pumpkin. Harkness is Michael’s first novel. You can find him online at www.michaelbigham.com and http://blueparrot.blogspot.com/. His Twitter feed is @wassir.

Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Michael. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

A: Harkness is my first novel, but I have had two short stories published: “American Clipper” in the anthology Coming Home and “Siren” in the anthology Aftermath.

Q: What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

A: My first book was called Springtime in Tunisia written 20 years ago. It was a spy parody, very rough, very much a first novel. I took it to a writer’s workshop with Jack Cady in Cannon Beach, Oregon. He said it was very funny and that I wouldn’t have any problem getting it published, but he also told me not to publish under my own name, to reserve that for my “serious work.” It sits patiently in a trunk in my basement waiting for me to return to it.

Q: For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

At least fifty rejection slips are in my desk. Shopping around a novel isn’t for people with fragile egos.

Q: How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

A: Yeah, so my ego is a little fragile. No one ever trashed my prose, but it is a difficult process, especially the form rejections that I got. I relied on the positive comments I got from other agents and editors to bolster my spirits.

Q: When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

A: The publishing business is in a state of flux. Traditional publishers are in trouble, so it was time to try something different. A couple of writer friends and myself decided to start up a small publishing house, Muskrat Press. We’re going to publish our stuff first with an eye toward publishing other writers somewhere down the line.

Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

A: It felt great. I immediately sent copies to friends and family and set to work on promotion and the next novel.

Q: What was the first thing you did for promotion when you were published for the first time?

A: I’m still trying to figure out the promotion thing. The first thing I did was to announce my book on Facebook. Social media is great for self-promotion.

Q: If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

A: I’m happy with this option, but for the next novel I’m going to have a self-promotion plan in place before publication. I’ve discovered that you need to make the publication of your book an event. That’s something I didn’t do and now I have to backtrack.

Q: Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

A: Harkness was published a couple of months ago, and I don’t have my next book finished yet. I hope I’ve grown as a writer. I have more confidence in my prose and in developing my characters. My main challenge right now is to plot before I write rather than winging it.

Q: Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?

A: There was a period when I stopped writing seriously. I had received some harsh criticism in a writing workshop and it shut me down for a couple of years. As a writer, you need to write constantly rather than suffer through long dry periods.

Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

A: I had a very successful reading in Portland a couple of months ago. Many of my friends and family were there, and I felt very proud of my book.

Q: If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

A: Tough question. I was a cop for 27 years. It was one of those love/hate things. Sometimes I loved my job, but at other times I didn’t. I seriously thought about going back to school for a degree in social work or psychology. Those interests reflect in the depth of my characters.

Q: Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

A: I’m exactly where I want to be. After leaving police work, I got a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Vermont College. It’s the best move I could have made, and I’m content with my decision.

Q: How do you see yourself in ten years?

A: Hopefully, I’ll have two series of mystery novels out in the world. I have an idea for a second series that will also take place in Eastern Oregon.

Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

A: Keep plugging away and remember that the publishing business is being turned upside down. The traditional path of getting an agent and shopping your novel to the big publishing houses isn’t the only path to your success as an author.

Character Interview: Cedric, the Dark Lord, from Melodie Campbell’s Rowena and the Dark Lord

We’re thrilled to have here today Cedric, the Dark Lord, from Melodie Campbell’s new fantasy novel, Rowena and the Dark Lord, book 2 in the Land’s End series.  Cedric is a 35 year old Earl, master mage, and ruler of Huel in Land’s End.

It is a pleasure to have him with us today at Beyond the Books!

Thank you so for this interview, Cedric.  Now that the book has been written, do you feel you were fairly portrayed or would you like to set anything straight with your readers? 

Damn right, I want to set things straight. They have me portrayed as the villain, the Dark Lord. That is utter nonsense.

I am the Earl of Huel. And yes, I am a powerful mage. Rowena is my wife. Everything I do is to protect her and our unborn child. How can that be villainous?

Do you feel the author did a good job colorizing your personality?  If not, how would you like to have been portrayed differently? 

I should be the hero in this book! Twice, I have rescued Rowena from certain death, and have killed the villains who dared to kidnap her. Yes, one was my worthless brother, a fool who would have risked her life among depraved men. The other was the King, an abusive tyrant who struck Rowena in front of the whole court. Of course I had to kill him. So why I am considered the villain?

What do you believe is your strongest trait? 

I never give up. It’s to the death. And I have never lost a battle yet.

Worse trait?

My weakness for Rowena. We are destined to be together, whether she believes it or not. She is my heaven, and without her I am in hell.

If you could choose someone in the television or movie industry to play your part if your book was made into a movie, who would that be? 

That fellow who plays Eric in True Blood…Alexander Skarsgard. He is strong. He looks like me.

Do you have a love interest in the book?

Rowena, of course. Our telepathic bond becomes stronger with each passing day. Soon, we will not be separated.

At what point of the book did you start getting nervous about the way it was going to turn out? 

When I had to leave my body and take on another. It was the first time I had done that. Luckily, I chose well. Ha! Wait until you read the sex scene that results from my invading another body. Rowena will feel the lust of two men for her…

If you could trade places with one of the other characters in the book, which character would you really not want to be and why? 

Why would I want to be anyone else? There is no need. I cannot be killed. Yes, you heard me right. I cannot be killed.

How do you feel about the ending of the book without giving too much away? 

Pah! This is not the ending that should be. I will be back in book three to make it right.

What words of wisdom would you give your author if she decided to write another book with you in it?

She has no choice. She must write another book. My power will influence her. I am a powerful mage, you see.

Thank you for this interview, Cedric of Huel.  Will we be seeing more of you in the future?

Look for me in Rowena and the Viking Warlord, book 3 in the Land’s Ends series, coming in fall 2013.  The battle begins…

Dark magic…dark passions….

When Rowena is abducted from Arizona and taken back to medieval Land’s End, one thing is clear: she must learn to control her powers of magic. It isn’t easy being a modern girl in an archaic land, and when Rowena accidently conjures up a Roman Legion in mid-battle, Land’s End is on the brink of a war that could jeopardize everything and everyone she loves.

The stakes are raised when the Dark Lord reappears and traps Rowena in a cyclone of lust and passion. Once again, she is torn between the man she loves and the mage who fires her desire.

Purchase the book on Amazon.

Currently #2 Timetravel in Canada!  Top 100 in US!

Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Digest compared her to Janet Evanovich.

Melodie got her start writing comedy (stand-up and columns.)  In1999, she opened the Canadian Humour Conference.  She has over 200 publications including 100 comedy credits, 40 short stories and 4 novels. Her fifth novel, a mob caper entitled The Goddaughter’s Revenge (Orca Books) will be released Oct. 1. She has won 6 awards for fiction, and was a finalist for both the 2012 Derringer and Arthur Ellis Awards.

Melodie is the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada. Her humour column ‘Bad Girl’ appears inThe Sage.

Find Melodie on the web:

www.melodiecampbell.com

www.funnygirlmelodie.blogspot.com

Facebook: MelodieCampbellAuthor

Twitter: @MelodieCampbell

Book Review: Chasing Victory by Joanne Jaytanie

Chasing Victory is a delightful debut novel by first-time author Joanne Jaytanie.

Our beautiful protagonist, Victory Winters, is a veterinarian and geneticist specializing in molecular biology for Claremont Research in Poulsbo, Washington. She also has a special innate ability she keeps secret: she has almost a telepathic gift to communicate with animals. As head of her department, she’s currently researching canine DNA and its potential benefits to humans.

Then one day, Victory receives a cryptic call from Jeffrey, an old friend and colleague who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in 5 years. Like her, he’s also a veterinarian and geneticist working for a competitor company, Biotec. Jeffrey insists he needs her help and asks her to meet him in a picnic spot. But, to her horror, once there she secretly witnesses his murder.

Soon after, she’s approached by a representative of Biotec with an offer to work for them. They claim that Jeffrey is working overseas, and they want her to take his place. Though she doesn’t trust them, she decides to play along in order to investigate her friend’s murder. But things go unexpectedly wrong when instead she’s kidnapped to a secluded island and forced to do research, injecting humans with wolf DNA. Unbeknown to Victory at first, the madman CEO wants to create the perfect invincible army.

Thus, Victory is soon pulled into a vortex of intrigue, blackmail and murder. Together with the hero, Tristan Farraday, a naval officer who also has telepathic abilities and who is sent undercover to investigate Biotec’s experiments, Victory must find a way to stop the company from carrying out their horrific plans and to get out of the island alive.

This was a fun, light, entertaining read! They story is compelling and the hero and heroine sympathetic. Victory is intelligent, yet caring and sensitive. Tristan is the perfect combination, not too alpha, not too soft. The action moves at a pretty quick pace, and there’s a lot of action and romantic suspense to keep readers turning pages. One thing I especially enjoyed about this story is that the love between Victory and Tristan develops gradually and organically. I certainly look forward to reading more works from this author. Recommended for fans of paranormal romance!

Visit the author’s website: http://www.joannejaytanie.com/

Purchase from Amazon.