BBT Virtual Book Tour: Guest Post by Christine Locke - Open Door

I'm pleased to introduce  you to Christine Locke, on tour at Bewitching Book Tours with her book, Open Door. Christine is sharing a guest post with us today, Welcome Christine. The floor is all yours :)

Who Wants to Live Forever? By Christine Locke

Well, no one, if you believe many popular stories.  Like the contest at the center of Highlander with the prize, life as a mortal, going to its winner, many stories about immortal characters reveal them to be conflicted about their “gift,” eternal life. 

“Being sixteen forever sounded good until you really thought about it. Then it didn't seem like such a great prospect.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels

YA paranormal novels are no exception.  In Time, the sequel to my first published novel Open Door, gives me the opportunity to focus on the question Stephenie Meyer asks:

“If you could live forever, what would you live for?”
― Stephenie Meyer

I get to show—or at least hint at—the afterlife of a main character with In Time, and that is lots of fun.  I try to convey that although her earthly life is over, she still meets challenges and is drawn to opportunities, even if my heroine can no longer understand her mentor as she once did.  I’d like to think that the kind of immortality I’m conveying—a sort of heaven—is free from the biggest problem I’ve observed other immortal fictional characters combating: boredom.  The trials of this life are interesting for a time, but once you’ve learned what you can from them and you know your time has no limits, ennui invariably sets in, or so Lestat told me J

I agree with Baudelaire:

“The insatiable thirst for everything which lies beyond, and which life reveals, is the most living proof of our immortality.” --Charles Baudelaire

Live with an insatiable thirst NOW, revel in all that your life reveals, apply it to the best of your ability, because we do thirst for what lies beyond.  Whatever that is, we do wonder and wait and, perhaps with dread or foreboding (for what could be more natural?), we hope it will be something more, something new, something wonderful.

Just remember this:

“... millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”
― Susan Ertz

Here’s to savoring your Sundays while reading fabulous fiction for as long as we may!  I hope you give Open Door a try, I hope you love it, and I thank you for visiting Immortality and Beyond.

Christine Locke was born in California and grew up in various locations around the United States as a Navy brat. She was the oldest of six children and today is mother and step-mother to seven. She attended Texas A&M University, receiving her Master of Arts degree in Comparative Literature in 1995.

Christine has worked as a writing instructor, a salesperson, and an award-winning retail manager and management trainer, among other things. Today, she co-ordinates makeovers for a local magazine. She and her husband, Mike, live with their children, two dogs, and two cats in Arkansas.

For years, Christine has been writing novels around her work and family life. Open Door is her first published novel. Several other manuscripts are almost ready to follow Open Door onto Amazon KDP, including the Open Door sequel, In Time.


Twitter: @wrtrdoll and @CarinsGriffin

christinelockebooks.blogspot.com

carinatmallacemansion.blogspot.com

http://www.goodreads.com/wrtrdoll

Open Door

By Christine Locke

Book Description:

ENTRANCING OPPORTUNITIES BECKON A YOUNG GIRL...

It's 1987, and 16-year-old Carin White desperately needs her first job.  An elegant woman she's never met appears at her door offering employment.  "Aunt" Helen asks Carin to work for her on the family's rambling, enigmatic estate in the tiny resort town of Eureka Springs.

IN A WORLD WHERE NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS...

Carin takes little notice of Rafe Allen, Helen's other hired help.  But a brutal assault forces Carin to confront her own capacity for violence.  Carin learns her mother concealed her identity from her, and the mansion hides horrific secrets of its own.

 AND ONLY LOVE CAN SAVE HER.

Carin exposes the truth about her presence on the estate.  Will she be strong enough to recognize love and redeem her family legacy?  Or will the temptations of power and control lure her to the same dark places where others lost themselves?

Amazon

Notes to Readers:

This novel is NOT about werewolves, vampires, or fallen angels.  It is a story about magic.  The gothic Mallace Mansion lives and breathes as a character, and only one woman controls its Legacy.  Is Carin the one? Read OPEN DOOR to find out.

This novel does NOT have a cliffhanger ending.  The author does not believe in them.  The story is complete in itself, and the ending points the way to a new storyline for IN TIME, the second novel in the Legacy Trilogy due out this Halloween.

OPEN DOOR is a full length novel at over 46,000 words.

Thank you so much for stopping in Christine and the best of luck in the future :)

Virtual Book Tour & #Giveaway with Alan S. Kessler - Satan Carol

Today I am excited to introduce you to Alan Kessler, on tour now with his book Satan Carol at Goddess Fish Promotions! Alan is offering you a chance for 2 of you to win a copy of his book in your choice for print or e-book, PLUS, by following his tour and commenting, you also will be entered to win a $10 Wild Child Publishing Gift Card AND a pack of Snackwells Devils Food Cookies (Open to US/Canada Only)!

Welcome to Immortality and Beyond Alan!

BK:  Please tell us a little bit about your current release...

Satan has a son who needs a soul. A Satan Carol is a story about how the devil, constrained by the cosmic law of freewill, tries to influence a young girl and her family into giving her child’s soul to him.

 BK:  What inspired this particular novel/book?

I wanted to write a story about faith and choices while using as its central character the devil, portraying him beyond caricature as someone with motivations we can understand. He is not the enemy of God but a fallen angel who feeling abandoned by his Father has a plan to regain His  love. Of course, since we are talking about Satan here, the plan is demonic.   

BK:  When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I wrote my first story when I was ll. It was about the earth opening up and exploding with crawling creatures called Leeks.

BK:  How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

I think spiritual horror is different by definition. I use blood but at the end of the story I want the horror to transcend the visceral and give the reader something to think about beyond the gore.

BK:  What was the hardest thing about writing this story?

My habit of self-editing as I write. I want every sentence perfect, every word to fit not only with what I want to say but have a rhythm. Prose should be musical, that often means not using the same adjective, verb, or noun in the same paragraph or sometimes, same page. Pretty crazy, I admit. 

BK:  What character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?

I liked having Satan expound upon why he thinks he got the short end of the stick.

BK:  Which was your favorite scene to write?

There’s an old farmer from Idaho, Orem, who landing on a beach, in the parallel universe of ShinyLand 7, believes he’s died. Crabs pop up from the sand and crawl over him, their large pincers snapping. He tries to brush the crustaceans away, his hands going through the scaly bodies.

BK:  Will this become a series? If so, what inspired it to be a series?

No. One journey into this kind of hell is enough.

BK:  Now for a little fun, and into your everyday life, What is a day in your life like?

I get up, walk the dog, see the kids off to school, sometimes use the EMF meter I got for my birthday and look for electromagnetic anomalies in our old New England farmhouse.

 BK:  What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I teach karate, watch Ohio State football and when I can, the Cleveland Browns. For those of you not familiar with the latter, it is a professional football team and according to a Brown’s website, rebuilding since 1964.

BK:  What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

I hate violence

.

BK:  What do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

I read non-fiction, except for horror writers I like, especially ones belonging to the New England Horror Writers association. I like Dickens and Faulkner. Both believed in ghosts.

BK:  Please tell us one piece of advice you were given as an author that you carry with you when you write?

Don’t let your imagination become a monster devouring the story.

BK:  What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?

My advice is a cliché—don’t give up; persevere. But here’s something more—write what’s true to your heart and with your own voice. Perhaps that will intersect with what the market wants, but if not, does it matter? The passion to write should be the overriding motivation for why we do it.

   

BK:  What are you currently working on?

A novel about a boy who grows up in a house of demons and a novella with a serial killer who gets what he deserves.

BK:  Where can readers connect with you?

alan@askessler.com

About Alan:

Born in a small town in Ohio. Married, with four children and a dog, Buckeye. We live in New England.

What does the devil really want?

Nostalgic for the Inquisition and plague, Satan feels neglected by the modern world that no longer blames him for disease and death. He plans to create a new genesis, a place where people will love him. For that, his son needs just the right soul.

And there is one—unique, powerful, able to heal. To get it, Satan has a plan that begins in Ireland in the famine year, 1848, and 180 years later traps a young girl and her family in demonic forces pushing them to kill.         

A Satan Carol is a horror story about family values--even if they originate in hell.

  

Excerpt:

On back of the EnViro truck continuing across the grassless, treeless land, Orem couldn’t tell if the gray, steaming waves he saw lapping sluggishly against a beach were those of a bay or ocean. He could distinguish the two structures whose dark shapes he had seen from a distance, the one closest to him an old farmhouse painted black, beyond it, a ramshackle pier standing a half mile from the shoreline. When the truck passed the pier, Orem saw what looked like a junkyard where the road ended. As the truck slowed before entering the junkyard’s fenced in area, he let go of the handle and jumped, rolling in dirt so dry and light he inhaled it as if it were another form of air. Choking, he took small breaths, sat there slowly adapting to the particle laced, heated atmosphere.

Out of the ground hundreds of small, shriveled crabs, their oversized, razor-sharp claws clicking, swarmed over him. Orem thrashed at them, his hands going through their bodies. Still frantically searching for what had strayed into their feeding zone, the crabs covered Orem’s face, twitched and convulsed in hunger and after running down his legs, disappeared with a popping sound into the dust, the last of their energy wasted on trying to eat a ghost. Orem saw no bite marks on his skin. He got up and by walking slowly, resting every few steps, the heat from the scorching land burning through the soles of his shoes, reached the junkyard fence of dry-rotted planks arranged haphazardly. Orem read a blistered, hand-lettered sign propped up against an old toilet: Moe Gut-man Salvge & antiks

A business sign…in Hell? The EnViro road from Boston to the White Mountains ended on Moe Gutman’s desert land where sinks, stained mattresses, broken pipes and large, cracked vats lay jumbled together along the fence. Through a hole in the boards, Orem watched the truck he’d jumped from pierce the ground with its titanium shaft. Sludge poured from the truck into a bubbling landfill marked Field 17. Nearby, a row of glowing, fissured mounds created by EvViro trucks pumping waste beyond the ground’s capacity to absorb it, rose 70 feet above fields 12 and 9. Brother Green’s business extended all the way to Hell. Orem didn’t understand. For him Hell was a place of torment, not entrepreneurship. In the Hell he imagined, the crabs would have chewed on his face forever. “Am I a spirit and this, damnation? The house and pier, the junkyard, designed to remind me of the world I’ve lost?” Except for the heat, he couldn’t feel or touch what was around him. This Hell of Brother Green’s trucks had its own dynamics and he remained outside it, looking in, detached and alone. “Is this my punishment for sin?  Eternal isolation even from other damned souls in this land of the dead?”   

Hello hello. Can you hear me?

Orem blinked and looked over to where a boy sat slumped and drooling in a stroller parked a few yards from the junkyard fence. Behind the child, a young girl, very thin, stood gazing out at the water.

Children? In Hell? To Orem that didn’t make sense. And he was sure the girl had just spoken to him. Is it possible, by some miracle, I’m still alive? 

 October 22:Writers and Authors

October 23: The Bunny's Review

October 24: You Gotta Read Reviews - Guest

October 25:  Immortality and Beyond

October 26:  Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews

October 26:  STOP 2  Linda Nightingale...Wordsmith

BBT Virtual Book Tour: Corpse Days by Jonathon Kane

Welcome to Immortality and Beyond. May I offer you a drink?

·         Vampires Wind

·         Witches Brew

·         Zombie Blast

Zombie Blast.  Make it a double.

Wonderful...Zar, please bring Jonathon his drink please.

 Thank you Zar. Now that we're settled in, let's chat.

BK:  When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I wrote a short story and received a really good review from a friend who’s an avid reader.  Positive feedback goes a long way with me.

BK:  Please tell us a little bit about your current release...

Corpse Days takes place in a world that has survived a Zombie Apocalypse.  In this world, zombies are kind of just a nuisance… that can eat you.  There are rules and a system in place to deal with them.  Most people long for an end to the Disease, but others want to exploit it.   

BK:  What inspired this particular novel/book?

The short answer is Halloween.  This is my favorite time of year.  I find the horror genre of entertainment very compelling.

BK:  How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

I withheld from making it a gore-fest.  There is some gore, of course, but I tried to focus on good character development and an interesting story as well.

BK:  What was the hardest thing about writing this story?

Ending it.  A lot of things needed to come together at the end, so when I felt I was getting close, I actually had to outline it, which I did not do for the rest of the story.

BK:  Which character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?

Heather Storm.  No doubt about it.  She had the best fight scenes.

BK:  Tell us about the one scene you had the most fun writing…

I really enjoy writing dialog, so the scene where the members of the team were playing cards and telling stories of their first zombie encounters was fun for me.

BK:  Will this become a series? If so, what inspired it to be a series? OR If it is a series, what inspired it to become a series?

It’s a two part series.  The second book is called The Calm Before.  I knew pretty early on how I was going to end the first book and I was happy with it, but when I got there, I realized there had to be more. I also felt it would be cool to bring back some of the lesser developed characters from the first book.

BK:  Now for a little fun, and into your everyday life, What is a day in your life like?

I’m incredibly busy.  Unfortunately, I have a full-time job that doesn’t involve writing.  We do what we have to do, though.  Wait… that wasn’t fun at all.  Sorry.

BK:  What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I play as much hockey as I possibly can.  I also play guitar in a band.

BK:  What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

I’ve only seen one episode of The Walking Dead.

BK:  What do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

I honestly have not been reading as much as I want to lately.  The last books I read - Harry Potter.

BK:  What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?

Keep trying.  I’ve started and stopped many stories.  Hitting a wall is natural.  It happens.  Not every story is meant to go the distance.

BK:  What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a collaboration project with another writer.  It’s going to be horror, but there won’t be any zombies, werewolves or vampires.  We’re six chapters into it, and I’m really happy with the way it’s going so far.

BK:  Where can readers connect with you?

I can be reached at jonathonkane1@gmail.com and also on Facebook.

Corpse Days
Jonathon Kane

Genre:  Horror

ASIN: B007YT8V9M

Number of pages:  169

Word Count:  53,132

Cover Artist:  Steven Novak

Amazon   Barnes and Noble  

Book Blurb:

Is this the end of the world? Is the Rapture upon us? Has a Zombie Apocalypse arrived? That's a matter of opinion, but it doesn't hurt to be a licensed Shooter in these uncertain times.

Meet Stan Norton - a middle-aged Shooter with a haunting past. He wants little to do with the living dead and less to do with the living, until that is, a mysterious young woman with an affinity for guns and martial arts enters his life. An adventure begins and the hunt is on for a reclusive enemy, as the clock ticks down toward a full-blown resurgence of the Corpse Days.

 Short Excerpt:

“So what do you say, Stan?”

“Yeah, what do you say?  Wanna join our merry band of zombie hunters?” questioned Jay.

“You’re the only merry one,” played Javier.

“Yeah… I’m the merry one.”

“Seriously,” pleaded Heather with a hint of longing in her eyes.  “We could use one more.  Safety in numbers, Stan.”

“I’ll… have to think about it.”

“Okay.  Well, think about it at our place tonight then.  We have a cabin in the woods down the road from here… plenty of room, a king-sized bed, and the fridge is stocked full of beer,” she offered.

Stan contemplated the offer for a few seconds.  He was exhausted from the road trip and sore from his run-in with the living dead earlier.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“Our place is your place,” called out Jay enthusiastically.

“Thanks.”

“Well boys, I got this one,” announced Heather to a receptive audience.

Stan got up so that Heather could get out of the booth.  She walked up to the counter, and paid the bill with cash.  As she collected her change, she noticed a news broadcast on a small television mounted up in the corner behind the register.  She listened closely to hear what the newscaster was saying over the noise of the restaurant.

“Earlier today, this video was shot of a man walking around downtown Mobile.”

The video was shaky.  Panned out, it showed the side view of a man in a well-tailored suit slowly walking down a sidewalk.  He was holding a briefcase.  No one else seemed to be around.  When the camera quickly zoomed in, the man still appeared to be perfectly normal.  He had dark, slicked back hair and short sideburns.  However, his profile was partially hidden due to the angle at which he was being shot, and when he turned his head, the reason why someone was filming him became dreadfully obvious.  He was facing the camera, but he was not looking into it.  He was not capable of looking into it because he had no eyes.  The frame froze there.

“Oh my gosh,” gasped a waitress who was standing next to Heather, looking up in awe.

And there it was—in the upper left corner of the screen—the poster child for the new zombie movement.  Where the windows to the soul would be, this thing had neither.  Its humanity left behind somewhere, yet inexplicably, it still moved on—transformed from someone with a purpose to something with a purpose.  Heather wondered if he ever had a soul to begin with.

“The man was processed by an off-duty police officer.  He has yet to be identified,” concluded the newscaster.

“This really is the end of the world, isn’t it?” asked the gum-chewing waitress, still staring at the grotesque image in the background.

“Depends on who you ask,” replied Heather coolly.

About the Author:Corpse Days is Jonathon Kane's debut novel.  A zombie story was a natural fit for him, as he loves all things Halloween.  He felt he could bring human emotions other than just fear into this corner of the horror genre.  In high school, he began writing short stories.  However, only when Heather Storm came along—the main character of Corpse Days —did he realize a novel was possible.  Jonathon has recently finished the sequel to Corpse Days, titled The Calm Before.

https://sites.google.com/site/jonathonkanesite/

Follow The Tour:

October 22 Guest blog

Sarah Ballance 

http://sarahballance.wordpress.com

October 23 Interview

The Zombie Survival Crew 

www.zombiesurvivalcrew.com

October 24 promo

Krystal's Enchanting Reads 

http://enchantingreads7.blogspot.com/

twistedpixie7@gmail.com

October 26 Interview

Immortality and Beyond, 

www.immortylcafe.com

October 27 Interview and Promo

The Solitary Bookworm 

thesolitarybookworm.com

October 27 spotlight

Books & Beauty 

http://janieraeldridge.blogspot.com

October 27 Review

Not Now...Mommy's Reading

www.mommysreading.com

October 28 Guest blog and review

Mama Knows Books 

http://mamaknowsbooks.blogspot.com  

October 28 guest blog and review

Unabridged andra's

Http://unabridgedandralyn.blogspot.com

October 29 guest blog and review

Zombiegirl Shambling

http://zombiegirlshambling.blogspot.com/

October 29 Promo and review

Michelle  @ Mom With A Kindle

https://momwithakindle.blogspot.com

Award Winning Author p.m. terrell is at the table today! #Giveaway & Interview

Welcome to Immortality and Beyond.  I'm so happy you could join me today. p.m. is currently on tour with Goddess Fish Promotions and will be offering you a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card during her tour, so be sure to leave a comment and please include your email address. Follow the tour for more chances to win.

BK: Please tell us a little about yourself...

I write under the pen name p.m. terrell, which stands for Patricia McClelland Terrell. I’ve been very fortunate to have received international acclaim for the fourteen books that have been released to date. River Passage, an historical adventure based on the true story of a riverboat journey, won a 2010 Best Drama Award. And Vicki’s Key, the second book in the Black Swamp Mysteries series, was a finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and a nominee in the 2012 USA Best Book Awards. I am a full-time writer. In my personal life, I am a sucker for dogs down on their luck (I’ve rescued 7 dogs to date and would rescue more if I had the space) and my hobby is keeping and raising freshwater angelfish—which made it into my series as a front for CIA operatives Vicki Boyd and Dylan Maguire.

BK: Please tell us a little about your book....

Secrets of a Dangerous Woman is the third book in the Black Swamp Mysteries series. Dylan Maguire returns in his first assignment with the CIA: to interrogate recently captured Brenda Carnegie. But when she escapes again, it’s obvious she’s had help from within the CIA’s own ranks. Now he must discover why some in the highest government offices want her killed—and others will risk everything to help her. And when he discovers her true identity, his mission has just become very personal.

BK: What inspired you to pen this particular novel?

After Exit 22 was released a few years ago, I was inundated with requests from readers to bring back Brenda Carnegie. There was something about the way she was equally comfortable as a computer hacker on the wrong side of the law as she was escaping through an alligator-infested swamp... So I knew I would have to bring her back as a major character throughout the entire series.

Readers were the same way with Irishman Dylan Maguire; opportunistic, perpetually good-humored but capable of killing when he had to, I knew he would be the perfect nemesis for Brenda. They are so much alike that they are drawn to each other—but each too dangerous to know it would ever work out between out.

BK: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Definitely by the time I was fourteen years old. I won my first poetry contest (which I’ll always think was rigged) when I was in the fourth grade and that started me on the path to writing—first poetry then short stories, and by the time I was thirteen or fourteen I was writing full-length novels. But I didn’t consider myself a decent writer until nearly forty years later!

BK: How do you keep your story flowing?

Most writers work toward the climactic scene near the end of the book. But when I decide what the plot will be, I determine three points: the beginning and the groundwork to be laid there; the middle, which could be a climactic scene by itself and turns everything in the book a hundred and eighty degrees; and the ending. I work the first half of the book toward that mid-point. Once that point is reached, the story is propelled forward like a roller coaster toward the climactic ending, which has to be bigger and more breathtaking than the mid-point.

BK: Do you ever run into writer's block, and if so, what do you do to get past it?

I never run into writer’s block. My problem is I don’t have enough hours in the day to write all that goes through my mind. I get ideas from everywhere—scouring declassified government documents, watching documentaries, reading everything I can get my hands on. My plots are always believable because they are pulled from headlines that I weave together—like the rise of China and how easily our touch-screen voting technology could be rigged by a foreign government. The plot of Secrets of a Dangerous Woman was actually devised when I couldn’t turn on the television or open a newspaper without seeing or reading about another politician’s scandals.

BK: What is your writing process like? Do you have any quirks, or must-haves to write?

I have been typing my manuscripts since the late 1970’s; writer’s cramp prevents me from writing too much by long-hand. So electricity is a must-have! I also prefer silence because I can really get into a scene. I find that music or noise in the background can make its way into my writing by phrases or mood so I sequester myself in another building on my property and write six days a week, sometimes more than ten hours a day.

BK: Where do you hope your books/writing will be in the future?

I have one series, Black Swamp Mysteries, underway that will always involve an element of the CIA (since several main characters are CIA operatives) and international locations. I have started a second series involving an Irishman who moves to America and becomes a homicide detective that involves local mysteries—it’s a cross between Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series and Nicholas Sparks’ romances. I hope to write three or four books per year between the two series. I’ve written three books this year and love the schedule. My agent is also shopping the movie rights for all my suspense/thrillers.

BK: What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

I hope to entertain; to take the reader out of their own life and propel them into the worlds I create; and because my method of writing includes a lot of factual detail, they can learn a lot in the process—whether it’s the inner workings of the CIA or terrorism or foreign lands and cultures.

BK: What is one piece of advice you received that you carry with you in your writing?

Show, don’t tell.

BK: What is one piece of advice you would give to new and aspiring writers?

Take your ego out of your work. When a writer thinks his or her book is the best thing since sliced bread, they’re unable to accept constructive criticism and they’re unable to improve. By removing their ego, they can listen to criticism, take it under advisement and improve their writing book by book.

BK: Are you currently working on any new projects? What can we expect from you in the future?

I am currently working on the sequel to Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, entitled Dylan’s Song. It takes Vicki and Dylan to Ireland on a CIA mission—to find and extract a missing CIA operative. While there, Vicki learns the real reason Dylan left his native country—while harboring a secret of her own.

Dylan’s Song is scheduled for release in 2013, along with the next book in the Black Swamp Mysteries series (as yet untitled.) I will also be writing the second book in my new Ryan O’Clery mystery series, tentatively entitled After the Tempest.

BK: Where can readers find you?

My website is www.pmterrell.com. From there, you’ll find links to my Facebook page, Twitter and blogspot. I often post things on Facebook, Twitter and my blog first—so it’s a great way to know what I’m up to in real time.

Thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today. It's been a pleasure having you and I wish you much success in the future.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

p.m.terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 16 books, including Vicki's Key, a 2012 International Book Awards finalist, and River Passage, 2010 Best Fiction & Drama winner. She is the co-founder of The Book 'Em Foundation whose slogan is "Buy a Book and Stop a Crook" and the co-chair of Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference & Book Fair. For more information, visit www.pmterrell.com.

LINKS:

www.pmterrell.com

www.pmterrell.blogspot.com

Twitter: @pmterrell

Facebook: Patricia M. Terrell

In Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, Dylan Maguire is back in his first assignment with the CIA: to interrogate recently captured Brenda Carnegie. But when she escapes again, it's obvious she's had help from within the CIA's own ranks. With Vicki Boyd's assistance, Brenda is back in Dylan's custody. And now he must find out why some in the highest levels of our government want her dead while others are willing to risk everything to help her. And when he discovers Brenda's real identity, his mission has just become very personal. 

Excerpt:

“Who are you running from?” Vicki asked.

Brenda took a deep breath. “I am in trouble. Big trouble.”

“What did you do?”

“Depends on who you ask.” She took a deep breath. “I’m tired, Vicki. Really tired. I need to get off the street. Stay inside for a day or two. Regroup.”

“I’m living in Lumberton now. The woman who owned the house where I’m staying passed away. Her nephew inherited it.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Yeah? Where’s he?”

“I live with him. Come home with me. It’s a big house, three stories.”

Brenda frowned as if she was deep in thought. “It’s just you and him there?”

“His name’s Dylan. I’ll tell you all about him on the way.”

She half nodded. “He won’t be taken aback by you bringing me home? I’m a bit more to handle than a stray cat.”

“He’d love to meet you. I promise. He’ll take care of you.”

“He will, will he?”

Vicki blushed. “He’s got a strong sense of family. Besides,” she said as she started to rise, “it’s suppertime and you need to eat. We’ll get something in your belly and you’ll get a good night’s sleep.”

Brenda hesitated only briefly before she rose from the table. “You sure you can handle the intrusion?”

“Positive.”

As they made their way toward the door, Brenda whispered, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”