It’s my pleasure to introduce my guest, Nathan Shaw. (This interview was done when Reflection released. Nathan is also one of the villains in Retribution (A Whitney Steel Novel – Book 2).
Welcome! Let’s get started with the interview.
What one word best describes you?
Nathan: “Distinct.“
What are you passionate about these days?
Nathan: “What I have been passionate about most of my life. Genetics and cloning. I do not understand why people recoil at the idea of human copies—healthy manufactured humans.“
You were one of the first companies to clone animals almost thirty years ago. Would you consider cloning humans?
Nathan: “Of course if it was legal in this country. Hopefully, it will be one day.“
What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
Nathan: “I was Las Vegas Man of the Year six years running and made the cover of Time magazine, twice.“
You just won a huge lottery what is the first thing you’d buy?
Nathan: (Glances at the wall clock) “Apparently, you haven’t done any background on me. If Miss Steel was conducting this interview, at least she would have done her homework first. I own ShawBioGen, a seventy-five billion dollar Biotech company. The last thing I need is money.”
Who should play you in a film?
Nathan: “John Malkovich. Brilliant actor. I heard he gave a stellar performance portraying serial killer, Jack Unterweger, on stage in Vienna.“
Who is your favorite author?
Nathan: “Elmore Leonard. I enjoy his realism writing style.“
Do you play any sports?
Nathan: “No, I run a couple miles daily to keep in shape.“
What would we find under your bed?
Nathan: (Glances at the clock again) “If you are going to continue with this silly line of questioning, we are done here.”
Ok, then…what is something you want people to know about you?
Nathan: That I have done a lot of good in my life. I’ve donated millions of dollars a year to food banks and homeless shelters around the country and will continue to do so. I’ve also put millions into healthcare and scientific research.“
Tell us about your greatest achievement.
Nathan: “There have been so many but I can’t discuss my greatest at this point. Instead I will say…developing medications that cure diseases and improve lives. In particular, genetic illnesses and recessive disorders that devastate families. Apparently, you didn’t read my company’s press kit. You really do remind me so much of the lovely, Miss Steel.”
What was the scariest moment of your life?
Nathan: “When my sister died of Menkes Syndrome, a dreadful disorder that affects copper levels in the body, leading to copper deficiency and extensive neuro-degeneration of the brain and eventual death. Like most children with Menkes, they die within the first decade of life, usually infancy, as Katherine did. She’s the reason I began my research work into genetic disorders.“
Is there a piece of advice that you have received that has really stuck with you? If so, what was it?
Nathan: “The first rule of business. Employees are replaceable.”
If you could apologize to someone in your past, what would you say?
Nathan: I don’t apologize. I have nothing to apologize for. I do, however, have a message for FBI agent, Blake Neely, and the lovely, Miss Steel.”
And what’s that?
Nathan: “Don’t get too comfortable…you are replaceable.”
That sounds like a threat.
Nathan: (Smiles)
____________________________
Reflection and Retribution are available in eBook and trade Paperback
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Cresswell/e/B00B5LKAXA/
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A midnight food run nearly gets Katherine O’Brian killed. She’s the only person to see the man who brutally murdered a local woman and the killer is hell-bent on making sure she doesn’t talk.
When Katherine meets Scott Mitchell; literally, tall, dark, and handsome, sparks fly, but despite their chemistry, both have their own reasons for wanting to stay “just friends”. When it becomes clear that Katherine’s life is in danger, they’ll work together to try to figure out what the police haven’t been able to—the identity of the killer, before Katherine becomes his next victim.
Scott and Katherine will face jealousy, misunderstandings, lust, and rivals, not to
mention attempted murder—and all before their first real date.
About the Author
MaryAnn Kempher’s books will test your crime solving skills and tickle your funny bone; with quirky characters and witty dialogue, her books will keep you guessing, and smiling until the very end.
Her books can be read out of order, but she recommends you start with her first, Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder which is a romantic mystery set in Reno NV, then Forever Doomed, which is a murder mystery set on a cruise ship.
Sweet Mystery is her most recent release and another “I did not see that coming.” murder mystery.
Verliege, a chilling paranormal and international crime mystery, begins at Arlette Mansion in the mountains of West Virginia. Prisoner and author Adrian Bolt was transferred there accused of the horrific murder of his wife. She was found brutally murdered by an antique sword. His conviction by a German court was as swift as the sword that killed her. Adrian had not spoken since her death …until… Dr. James Pellitere was able to break his silence.
A deal was offered to Pellitere. Traveling to Germany with a paranormal investigative team they searched for evidence that would clear Adrian and prove him innocent. While at the castle, Pellitere is confronted by the supernatural residents. A battle begins over the secret of the nine and a prophecy is in jeopardy of becoming unfulfilled.
Praise for Verliege
“I was reminded of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) and William Hope Hodgson’s accounting of the final voyage of the Mortzestus (1909), and the telling of Lovecraft’s “The Statement of Randolph Carter” (1919). Such is the narrative of this in comparison with these types of confessional stories. Like Gilman, Hodgson, and Lovecraft, the richness of dialog is not lacking in Rivers’s prose. The creatures of Verliege have some similarities with Tim Powers’s nephilim in The Stress of Her Regard, but without the vampiric tendencies. I hope the reader realizes that I am tossing out these comparisons to illustrate the depth of craft honed in Verliege. Rivers does not so much stand upon the shoulders of of these giants as he rubs elbows with them.”
– Amy K. Marshall, Staff Reviewer, Dark River Press
Meet Micheal Rivers
BESTSELLING PARANORMAL THRILLER AUTHOR MICHEAL RIVERS won 1st Place Runner up at The Paranormal Awards 2014 and has won Supernatural Book of the Year 2012.
Micheal Rivers is the pseudonym for Mike Baugham. His Cherokee heritage prompted him to honor his great-grandfather and write under the name of Rivers. He grew up near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. His love of the sea and all it has to offer was the driving force of his first novel The Black Witch. As a child, he became aware of the supernatural world due to several experiences. A recognized authority as a paranormal investigator with more than thirty years of research, teaching classes and giving speeches provides his readers with some of his experiences woven into his paranormal thrillers. He is the lead investigator for the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers.
His works include supernatural thrillers, literary fiction and ghost story anthologies published by Schiffer Publishing. Micheal is a USMC veteran and served during Vietnam. The passions in his life are his wife, family, Boxer Delilah affectionately known as DeeDee, and the great outdoors.
Are you trying to promote your books? Are you a writer, publisher, or agent?
Promote your book with this bestselling author’s reference, the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages. Make your book promotion easier, and get the publicity you need from book reviewers. Learn how and where to submit your book for review. There are hundreds of new book reviewers listed in this book. Each listing details the individual book reviewer’s:
Reviewers are rated for quality and influence. This new edition includes several blog tour sites and their submission guidelines. Learn how to get the exposure that your book deserves! Authors and book reviewers can sign up for alerts at: http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net
*Note: This book is enrolled in the Kindle MATCHBOOK program. If you purchase the paperback from Amazon, the Kindle edition is free. The paperback has a genre index, which makes searching for accepted genres easy. The Kindle version has clickable website links (which is impossible to do in a paperback), so you can click directly to the reviewer’s site and contact page. The publisher of this book recommends purchasing the paperback and then downloading the Kindle edition for free using Amazon’s Matchbook program, and using both versions to maximize your promotion efforts.
PROMO TIP: This is a reference book with active hyperlinks in the e-book. It is easier to view and use the Kindle edition of this book on a computer using Amazon’s free Kindle app. That way, you can use the full screen to check genre preferences and submit your query right from your desktop.
Purchase
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Interview with Christine Pinheiro, Editor, Defiant Press
The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages is a bestselling author’s promotional reference, designed specifically for authors who need book reviewers for their books.
Where did you get the idea for the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages?
At first, I did it purely out of self-interest! I wrote a nonfiction book in 2007, and I had a very difficult time finding book reviewers. It seemed like an impossible task. All of the regular outlets were closed to me—where do you go when you can’t get a review in the New York Times? Where do the “little guys” go when they need to promote their books? So I started the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages out of my own frustration. At first, the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages was just a big list on a simple website. I added to the list when I had spare time. Book reviewers started seeking me out, and asking to be put on the list, and it just grew from there. In 2009, I published the first “Book Reviewer Yellow Pages,” and the rest is history. The list just grew organically. Now we have hundreds of book reviewers on our list, and thousands of authors subscribe to the newsletter.
How about the book reviewers themselves, what do they get out of it?
Many book reviewers just do it for fun, and they get the benefit of free books and ARCs (advance review copies). Quite a few of them also earn money, either from sidebar advertising, blog tours, or other author’s services. There are so many self-published authors out there right now, trying to promote their books without the help of a traditional publisher, so there’s a lot of little business ventures cropping up to serve them.
Many reviewers list their “pet peeves,” is this something that the authors really want to know?
Yes! It’s the most popular part of the questionnaire—all the reviewers have their own horror stories. Sadly, many authors have terrible etiquette when they request book reviews. Many don’t take the time to even spell-check their queries, or find out if the reviewer is a man or a woman, so they can address them correctly! I used to review books myself, and it’s amazing how many times I’ve gotten a review request with nothing but a link to the book. No signature, no salutation, nothing! Why would I review your book, when you aren’t even willing to take a few minutes to send me a proper review request? We also added an “author etiquette” section to the front of the book, and that seems to help a bit.
Do Book Reviews really help sales?
They’ve helped my own book sales tremendously, and I know hundreds of authors who would say the same. Look, everyone knows that book promotion is boring work. Contacting dozens of book reviewers is time consuming, and you have to deal with rejection, but the payoff from a positive book review is enormous. That’s been the case in my own writing career. Reviews really help sales, and it’s nice to have a public testimonial that customers can refer to when they purchase. On the flip side, many of the reviewers accept ARCs and also work as beta-readers, so if you can get a few good reviewers to read through your manuscript before publication, they might be able to give you valuable feedback. I found a big plot hole in one of my novels that way—a reviewer found the problem, and I was able to fix it before the book went to publication.
Do reviewers ever drop off the list? Can authors get updates?
Yes, on our website. Reviewers get added and removed on a regular basis—and the list goes through a complete overhaul once a year. I do a formal update every April. That’s when we put out a new edition of the book, as well as update the reviewer list on the website. The abbreviated list on the website is free, and authors and publishers can sign up for updates to the list here: http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net. The newsletter is also free.
Do you have any advice for authors?
Be polite to book reviewers, always. Not everyone is going to like your book, that’s just the nature of game. But publishing is a business, and it pays to be professional. It’s just like any other creative business. Reviewers are our critics, and they give us valuable feedback that we need to improve. One of the best reviews I ever received on the Book Reviewer Yellow Pages was mildly negative. The writer gave me tons of feedback on how to make the book better. I followed his advice, and the book has been more profitable since. Book Reviewers really want to help authors—I’ve never met a single book reviewer that was interested in just tearing an author down. We are all in this business together!
For more information visit:
The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages
Website * Facebook
Blast Giveaway
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 5/31/14
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Hey everyone! I’m thrilled to have K.L. Docter, award-winning romantic suspense author as my guest today! I’m presently reading her latest novel, Killing Secrets, and it’s fantastic! Wow! I hope you get the chance to grab a copy.
5 Things About Author, K.L. Docter
1. I love getting dirty in the outdoors. Two of my favorite pastimes are camping and fishing. It’s so peaceful to sit around a campsite and write. I always take my laptop with me so the minute we get settled somewhere, I find a shady spot to set up my table. Depending on where we go, I enjoy listening to the babble of a brook or the water lapping at a lake shoreline or the breeze whispering through the pine trees. It’s inspiring.
When I’m not writing, I fish…at least, whenever possible. Colorado does have places for me to fish but it usually requires a 2-3 hour drive so I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like. I’m the fisherman in the family. It’s probably the only time I can actively wake myself up before dawn without an alarm. I’m that eager to hit the water.
2. I write to music. I don’t have playlists for particular stories, like some authors. My music sets or enhances my mood. I’m both right and left brained, so I use music to signal my left brain to take a back seat to my creative right side. Otherwise, I find it difficult to get fully into writing mode. My usual “go to” music is romantic flamenco. I intersperse piano, guitar, new age, celtic into the mix, too. My favorite music to write action or dramatic scenes is Apocalyptica, Techno, and Industrial.
There are seventeen radio stations on my Pandora playlist, and I bounce around it all day depending on what I’m working on. I avoid music with lyrics, except for foreign languages. For some reason, the English words draw me out of my writing zone. If it’s in Spanish or Italian or opera – even if in English – it doesn’t impinge on me the same way.
3. I write two different kinds of romance novels – contemporary romance as Karen Docter and romantic suspense as K.L. Docter. My contemporaries are cute and spicy romances about men and women with dreams and goals that don’t allow for a relationship just so I can throw them in each other’s path…with a tickle and a smile. They’re lighthearted and fun books around 50,000+ words in length. They’re my “beach reads.” My romantic suspense falls on the opposite end of the scale. They have strong romances, too. But the dangers I throw at the hero and heroine is usually intense because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives. These books are twice as long – around 100,000+ words.
4. My desire to be a police officer as a youngster led to the launch of my romantic suspense career. When I was nine or ten-years-old, an incident happened that shaped my strong sense of justice.
Our family was coming back from a late night at the drive-in theater – heavens, I miss those fun family outings! Anyway, we were stopped at the edge of our neighborhood for an hour or two by the police. There had been a shooting. Two policemen had responded to a domestic situation that went tragically wrong. They’d settled the dispute and were leaving the scene when a neighbor, who’d been drinking and took exception to their presence, shot and killed one of the officers. The standoff lasted over an hour.
I found myself deeply affected by the situation when, the next day, I learned the details of the incident and that the slain officer left behind a pregnant wife. It was all so senseless. There was no justice in what happened. Oh, they arrested the shooter but there would never be justice for the slain officer’s wife and child.
For the longest time, I considered becoming a police officer. It’s not the direction I eventually headed but, when I began to write romances, I found quite a few suspense elements creeping into the stories. It was a natural progression toward writing pure romantic suspense. Now, I dispense justice in my thriller novels.
5. I launched my first romantic suspense series with the release of Killing Secrets, a Thorne’s Thorns novel, on April 17th. Police officer Ross Thorne, and his wife, Evelyn, had only one biological son, Patrick. But they raised him with five foster brothers – Jack, Ben, Cole, Sam, and Joe. They were all in some kind of trouble at one point or another, which is where the name “Thorne’s thorns” was born. The six brothers have become strong, sexy men, and each book in the series is about one of them, the danger that enters his life, and the woman he falls in love with and must protect. Killing Secrets is Patrick’s book. The next book in the series is Killing Proof, Ben’s story – an October 2014 release. Follow the series: http://www.karendocter.com
Some secrets are better left dead.
Rachel James’ ex-husband is released from prison determined to reclaim her and her little girl — the child is his key to controlling the James fortune. Frightened, Rachel flees to Denver with the child who hasn’t uttered a word since her daddy went to prison.
Contractor Patrick Thorne wants nothing to do with another of his parents’ charity cases. He failed his own wife so abysmally she took her own life as well as his unborn son’s. After two years, it’s time to concentrate on the bid he’s won and the saboteur trying to destroy his construction firm.
There is no room for trust in either of their hearts. But trust is all that will untangle the secrets that dominate their lives, free a little girl of her silent prison, and save them all from a serial killer who stands too close.
Buy at Amazon
Author Bio:
Karen Docter writes two different kinds of romance novels….
Contemporary Romantic Comedy w/a Karen Docter: Romance…With a Kick of Humor! http://www.karendocter.com
Romantic Suspense w/a K.L. Docter: Women hunted by killers…men who’d die to protect them. http://www.kldocter.com
Karen’s contemporaries are cute romantic comedies. She loves writing about real men and women with dreams and goals that don’t allow for a relationship just so she can throw them in each other’s path…with a tickle and a smile.
Her romantic suspense novels are also filled with romance, although the dangers the hero and heroine face are intense, usually because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives before they can fall in love. These are psychological, woman-in-jeopardy stories.
Karen’s an award winning author, a four-time Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® finalist, and won the coveted Kiss of Death Romance Writers Daphne du Maurier Award Category (Series) Romantic Mystery Unpublished division.
When she’s not saving her characters from death and destruction or helping them fall in love, she loves camping and fishing with her family, reading, gardening & cooking. If she can do most of those things over a campfire, all the better!
Links:
Blog
http://www.karendocter.com/blog/
Catch That Santa
http://www.amazon.com/Catch-That-Santa-ebook/dp/B00ACDF0EG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353766171&sr=1-1&keywords=catch+that+santa
Satin Pleasures
http://www.amazon.com/Satin-Pleasures-ebook/dp/B0078VSY6G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330384089&sr=8-1
Facebook (Karen Docter)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Docter-Author/112017712223396
Facebook (K.L. Docter)
https://www.facebook.com/kldocter
Twitter: @KarenDocter
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5754902.Karen_Docter
Running away from home was never Chloe Kowalski’s plan.
Neither was ending up the target of killers, or having her body change in
unusual ways. She only wanted a vacation, someplace far from her crazy parents
and their irrational fear of water. She only wanted to do something normal for once, and maybe get to know
her best friend’s hot stepbrother a bit better at the same time.But the first day she goes out on the ocean, strange things
start to happen. Dangerous things that should be impossible. Things to which
‘normal’ doesn’t even begin to apply.Now madmen are hunting her. A mysterious guy with glowing
blue eyes is following her. And her best friend’s stepbrother seems to be
hiding secrets all his own.It was supposed to be a vacation. It’s turning out to be a
whole lot more.
_________________________________________________________
About Skye
Skye Malone is the creative mind behind the Awakened Fate series.
She also technically does not exist.
Skye was born on May 17th, 2013 as the pen name of author Megan Joel Peterson, to give Megan an outlet for all the stories running around in her head. She writes paranormal romance and adventure, loves wolves and the ocean, and might just take over Megan’s life someday.
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on two books: The much-anticipated sequel to my award-winning romantic thriller, REFLECTION (working title – Retribution). I can’t wait to share more of Blake and Whitney’s story with the world. I’m also writing Deadly Shadow, the first book in a four book supernatural thriller series. This series is going to be exciting!
Can you tell us what genre you write?
I write a variety of different genres; mainly suspense and thrillers. I also write true crime short stories. Real Life Evil – A True Crime Quickie (Book One) released was in January 2014. You can also find more of my true crimes stories in Serial Killer Quarterly, a new e-magazine published by Grinning Man Press.
What is your all-time favorite book?
My favorite book would have to be Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War by Donna Moreau. “In 1964, as the first B-52s took flight in what would become America’s longest combat mission, an old Air Force base on the plains of Kansas became Schilling Manor — the only base ever to be set aside for the wives and children of soldiers assigned to Vietnam.” It’s an incredible story about determination, strength and love!
Is there anything you want to make sure potential readers know?
If you enjoy edge-of-the-seat suspense, loads of action, and hot romance, you will enjoy my cinematic writing style. I write as if I’m watching a movie and I hope readers enjoy the show. (I highly recommend having some popcorn on hand.) 🙂
Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?
I think there is a message in my books: No matter what life hands you, you are strong and can and will overcome!
Why do you think what you do matters?
Being an author does matter. I’m a huge supporter of freedom of speech. I also try to use some type of controversial topic in all my books. Human cloning (REFLECTION) is one of them and has caused lots of debate over the years. It gets people talking.
How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in your book?
Quite a lot—especially in Lauren Taylor, the heroine from LETHAL JOURNEY. She has my drive and strength incorporated into her character and a few more character traits.
Who influenced your writing once you began?
I wonderful woman I meet online. Her name was Christina Harris. She was a friend, my writing mentor, and a two-time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Finalist. She taught me a lot and really helped me write LETHAL JOURNEY. I couldn’t have done it without her. Unfortunately, she died before I finished writing my debut romantic thriller, REFLECTION.
What is your favorite quote?
“In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write.” ―Natalie Goldberg
From the Inkbok team…”Today, Inkbok begins offering unlimited reading of books, short stories, poetry, articles and more for just $4.95 a month. The Inkbok community enables you to connect with other readers and authors through chats, personal blogs, messaging, friend requests, ratings and reviews. You can search and discover thousands of books and other works, build your own personal digital library, and share it with others.
Launching is just the beginning. In the coming weeks and months, we will be continually adding more content and new features, such as a bookstore, an app for iOS and Android, and new e-reader elements.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support, encouragement, and for helping us to spread the word! We could not have done it without you.
Sign up today for unlimited reading on Inkbok, and don’t forget to tell your friends and family the news!”
Don’t forget to check out Lethal Journey and Real Life Evil – A True Crime Quickie on Inkbok!
Because the world needs good stories
This blog is the place where I post reviews of the books I have read. I review audiobooks, regular books and eBooks for authors and publishers as well as any other book or audiobook that catches my eye.
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Award-Winning Author Kim Cresswell 