Interview with Wendy Cartmell

Interview with Wendy Carmell,

Author of STEPS TO HEAVEN

Questions: R. Murry

Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I’m an expat Brit who lives on the Costa del Sol in Spain. I live with my husband and two dogs near the beach. I've a BA Hons degree in English and Education and have worked in PR, communications and edited a large corporate newspaper. I’m very lucky to have a writing group nearby which I’ve been attending for four years now.

Do you remember the first story you wrote?
It was a Halloween witch story for my children. The Brownies needed a storyteller for the Halloween Night meeting, so I made up a story where a young witch needed items for a spell. I collected all the things she needed and the children got to put their hands on the ingredients. This later became the Wilhelmina the Witch story I self published.

Were you inspired by someone or something?
I started off, like a lot of writers, by writing what I wanted to read. And that was crime novels. Using the old adage of 'write what you know' Sgt Major Crane was born out of my husband's 22 year's service in the British Army. We set the books in Aldershot - The Home of the British Army. I am very humbled that the Crane novels are now being enjoyed all over the world, sometimes to critical acclaim.

What do you like about writing a story?
Being transported into Crane’s world. It’s like watching a tv programme in my head and I write down what I see.

Can you tell us about your book? 
Steps to Heaven: Sergeant Major Crane is a Special Investigations Branch Detective in the British Army, he is the soldier who polices other soldiers. He thinks he has seen every crime known to both war and peace. But nothing has prepared him for the case of Solomon. An Afghanistan veteran he has murdered his wife and six year old son and then committed suicide. Soon there are similar horrific murders around the country. Crane knows there must be a connection. But what? Crane starts to investigate the local Church Solomon was attending. But with the body count rising, events start to take a darker turn … could the Church be the connection? Is the Church offering salvation? Or is it forcing people to take the first, untimely Steps to Heaven?

What genre best fits for the book?
They’ve been called thrillers, mysteries set in the military and they also read like police procedurals – so take your pick really.

Are you working on something new at the moment?
A new series based on another character from the Crane novels. This time they’re more action/adventure and I hope to write books in this series and the Crane series.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
Read a lot, write a lot and read a good writing book. Stephen King’s On Writing is excellent.

Where can people go to read your work?
At the moment the ebooks are only on Amazon. The paperbacks can be ordered through Amazon or your local bookstore.

Do you have anything to add?

I’ve just been published by Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading publisher of digital books, so I’m really excited about that. There are five books so far in the Crane series and the first two books Steps to Heaven and 40 Days 40 Nights have now been published by Endeavour. At the moment we’re bringing out a book a month.

Review of The Unknown (Flawed Series)

Review of The Unknown

(Flawed Series)

Written by Lara Henley

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Misty and Drake, the main characters in The Unknown, individually tell the reader about their love story. There is nothing unusual about this other than the fact that ‘It’s love at first sight’ in the middle of nowhere going into the direction – disaster.

It is difficult to convey a love story in novel form, because many have tried, including “Love Story.” Ms. Henley attempt gets ‘A Thumbs up’ for its dialogue of the characters who express their emotions and life’s development, leading to a heart breaking ending.

At times you will have a tear in your eyes and at other moments you’ll be asking yourself ‘What are they doing?’ As they say, ‘Kids will be kids,’ and so will young people in what they call love.

Emotions are brought to a level of passion and delusion that few reach and become problematic in the beginning of Misty and Drake’s stories. The ending culminates into unforeseen events that will endear the reader to them, asking what comes next.

Lara Henley’s novel does have a euphoric tone that reaches ecstasy in her character’s dialogue, having the reader expecting a disaster at any moment. The surprise will not be when it comes, but how it happens. This is what makes this novel special.

It’s an easy read using modern technology’s ‘Text messaging’ and cell phones as emotional tools.  Ms. Henley has written an in depth novel for young adults.  Check out her current endeavors of romance.   

Ms. Henley's links: 
Website: https://www.larahenley.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larahenl

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/laraisadiva

Review of Deadly Attraction

Review of Neil Low’s

DEADLY ATTRACTION

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

When it comes to a good moving detective story, I look for a fast moving adventure into the lives of the ones doing the detecting and the mysteries they are trying to unravel. Neil Low makes that endeavor entertaining, expounding on all the emotions.

His story is simple: women found dead and someone did it but whom? This is where the fun begins. The fun is not the violent act but in this case - the attractions. It’s in the DEADLY ATTRACTION of a man against women and the attractions of the two detectives unraveling the details of why the woman is dead.

Because of the woman’s attraction to a man with a questionable background, she meets her maker at an early age. Mr. Low’s Vera and Alan detective couple’s attraction to each other becomes a deadly factor towards the thrilling end of this whodunit.

Seattle is Mr. Low’s home where he works as a police officer and is the reason for that city being the background of the novel. I’ve found that’s good to write about what you know. He knows Seattle, and from what I read in his books he is an excellent detective.

Using simple prose, Neil has his characters Vera and Alan giving each other humorous, loving jabs. With the help of police detective Ben, they go about solving two cases that clash at the end into one, on a tugboat no doubt.

If you like a good moving fun-filled thriller, DEADLY ATTRACTION should be in your Book to read list.    

Purchase: http://amzn.to/1IuRti3

Interview with Neil Low

Interview of Neil Low, 

Author of Deadly Attraction

Interviewed by Roy Murry

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m a career police officer, having joined the Seattle Police Department forty-five years ago. I’ve risen through the ranks, starting as a teen-aged cadet, making captain twelve years ago. I still love police work, figure that I’m contributing to society, and I enjoy serving as the Night Commander, which means I’m in charge of all police emergency services when the chief is in bed—like the battalion chief at a fire department. I’ve been interested in writing since first reading Joe Wambaugh’s New Centurions, when I returned from Naval Service in Vietnam. After reading Wambaugh’s stories, I vowed I would write someday, but first I had to go out and gain police experience, developing my own stories, as well as learn how to write them in an entertaining fashion. I did just that. After several years on the street, I went back to college and graduated cum laude from the University of Washington Bothell, 2003.

Do you remember the first story you wrote?

While in Vietnam I lost my lucky hat. Knocked off my head, it fell overboard, and I watched it sink slowly into the muddy water of the Mekong Delta. I dramatized the telling of this non-event to my mother, implying that it was a best friend who had died at sea. She was completely taken-in by the story and didn’t find out until the very end of the letter that it was just my blue cap that was missing. She scolded me for teasing her, and told me that I had writing talent worth pursuing.

Were you inspired by someone or something?

When I first read Joe Wambaugh’s New Centurions and The Blue Knight, I was impressed to find an author who understood police officers and could tell our story, something people wanted to hear if told well. Joe was an active L.A. police sergeant at that time, with a Masters degree in English. I had read detective novels before this, but I think Wambaugh was the first to capture what real police officers dealt with on the street. It was much grittier than Adam 12 or Dragnet had ever been. Later, when I went back to college, a professor encouraged me to write a paper on Raymond Chandler and his crime fiction novels, and that was the spark that changed my whole perspective on what and how I wanted to write. I had been a police detective for several years by then, and I was extremely impressed with Chandler’s style and his craftsmanship in telling stories. I decided to emulate him while telling my own. He continues to be my inspiration. I think I’ve read everything he’s ever written.

What do you like about writing a story?

I enjoy the storytelling process. I write organically, meaning I don’t use an outline; I let my characters tell me their story. But as I say this, I know that I have a built-in boiler plate, knowing what is necessary for a criminal case to go to trial. For a novel to be complete enough for publication, it has to meet the same standards as a case for prosecution. All the leads must be followed, and the facts have to logically point to a satisfactory conclusion.  I love sitting down at the computer with the hint of an idea and then typing out what I’ve learned by paying attention to my characters interacting with each other. BUT—this is only part of the fun. I have since learned that there is pleasure to be had in the rewrite, while polishing the novel, if you take pride in craftsmanship. I appreciate the creation of a well-turned phrase, and I love injecting foreshadowing and alliterations, as well as metaphors and similes, wishing I could write them as well as my writing idol. I love the feedback I get when a fan tells me how much he liked my stories, and then he quotes a passage back to me that resonated with him—makes me feel like Raymond Chandler. This is probably a good point to mention that I have an art background and am a very visual person. I write hoping that my readers will see what I see, appreciating the detail that makes a story feel real to both of us.

Can you tell us about your book?

DEADLY ATTRACTION is based on two true crimes and other factual history that I discovered combing through old and cold cases, while I was the Homicide Commander for the Seattle Police Department. The primary murder involves the discovery of an attractive, young woman's body near the Green Lake walking path. Audrey Lockhart is a recent college graduate from an East Coast school and was in Seattle to visit her dying father, whom she hadn't seen in years, while on her way to Hollywood. Since the case involves a potential conflict of interest for Seattle detectives who have crossed swords with Lockhart's uncle, the King County Commissioner, private detectives Alan Stewart and Vera Deward are called in once again to help the police, something that wasn't all that uncommon back in the 1920s and 30s. Alan and Vera's skills shine as they discover clues and links to other crimes, while working with stalwart police detective, Ben Kearney, who is based on a real policeman I had the pleasure of working with during my early days in Seattle. Chasing the suspect(s) involves door to door searches in Shanty Town, as well as fist fights in Skid Row bars, gun play, and knife fights along the Seattle Harbor and waterfront.

Packed with local Seattle settings and true history, Deadly Attraction, was written to grab the reader’s attention and not let go.

How did you come up with the story?

While working on a famous Seattle story involving a vault burglary, I started crafting the back story on the main characters, which took me away from the outline I was drafting. While fleshing in Alan Stewart, I added information a friend had shared concerning the death of his dad in the 40s, dying from a beating at a union meeting. When I asked if the police had caught whoever killed his father, he said, “I think it was the police who killed him.” Since we were both police sergeants at this time on the same department, I asked how that could be, and he replied, “It was a different era back then. The department had corruption then like we’ve never seen in our careers!” Before long, Alan’s back story stretched to eight chapters, and of course it begged the questions: Who killed Mackie Stewart and why? So I followed my instincts and went with the story, letting my characters explain what happened to them. I felt like a scribe recording the story told by ghosts.

What genre best fits for the book?

I write noir murder/mystery.

Are you working on something new at the moment?

THICK AS THIEVES led to a sequel, SIGN OF THE DRAGON, and I’ve followed that with UNREASONABLE PERSUASION, UNHOLY ALLIANCE, DEADLY ATTRACTION, and my sixth, THEATER OF THE CRIME, which is due for release mid-March, 2014. All have been published by Kristen Morris of Tigress Publishing (Seattle and L.A.) who has been an absolute joy to work with. She’s been very active in the book designs, promotions, editing, and concept development.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

Learn as much as you can about writing. Read Stephens King’s On Writing, Robert McKee’s Story, and everything else you can find on your craft. I started reading Writer’s Digest, and now read various blogs on writing. And as Ray Bradbury has said, I urge would-be writers to start writing and make it a habit. Bradbury suggests starting with short-stories, completing one a week, which is what he did, and it’s also how Stephen King honed his skills. I also took every college class I could find on writing or literature, because it is all about learning your craft. I’ll also reiterate what other authors have said: If you want to write, you need to read. Read everything you can and expand your taste in reading. Educate yourself.

Purchase at http://
amzn.to/1kgbqGR

Review of SAVAGE PAYBACK

Review of SAVAGE PAYBACK

Written by Seumas Gallacher

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Action packed is what I call SAVAGE PAYBACK. With revenge in his mind, an ex-SAS agent puts into motion a crime wave the leads to the theft of a major jewelry district and the death of a many good people.

This thriller keeps you trying to stay ahead of ISP, International Security Partners, and Interpol’s endeavors to curtail or eliminate the vengeful perpetrator and his paymaster, who wants ISP destroyed man by man.

There are enough moves made based on greed and payback by the participants that the reader will be entrenched in the story.

Mr. Gallacher has presented his followers, of which I’m one, with an excellent follow-up to other ISP novels that reveal what may be happening in the world of international crime – human, drug, and the diamond trade. He takes the “What if?” and makes it seem plausible.

Do the governments of the world have their own outside groups to take care of business like ISP? If they don’t, is one needed? In this and other novels with ISP being the enforcer of the law, using unconventional means, the job gets done. And, Mr. Gallacher makes it entertaining with little melodrama.

SAVAGE PAYBACK is a quick read. I read it in one sitting last night while on my sick bed. It kept my mind on the story and not on my flu. I’m better for it.     

 Amazon: http://amzn.to/1m2ls6M

Interview with Seumas Gallacher

Interview with Seumas Gallacher

Author of 

SAVAGE PAYBACK

      

Questions by Author Roy Murry

Hi, Seumas, how’s your self-publishing experience developing these days?

Hello, Roy. First of all, thanks a bundle for inviting me back onto your blog page. It’s an honor to be allowed a second visit to talk with you. The indie publishing adventure rolls on apace, with the third title in the Jack Calder crime thriller series, SAVAGE PAYBACK, recently up on Amazon. It’s still a terrific buzz being involved with this wonderful, global quill-scrapers family on the Web. The down-loads on all three titles have exceeded my wildest expectations.

What are you writing now?

The story lines for the Jack Calder franchise are a long way away from being exhausted. The current work in progress is KILLER CITY, with more lethal immersion in fighting international crime syndicates.

Have you changed the style and content much from the first book in the series, THE VIOLIN MAN’S LEGACY?

As a matter of fact, yes, the story lines have taken on a grittier, and at times, harsher reality, where the good guys get their share of setbacks. Combating heavy-hitting international drug-trafficking syndicates is a perilous activity. I like the way that has developed, and readers share that they also like it.

Remind us what your books are about?

THE VIOLIN MAN’S LEGACY and VENGEANCE WEARS BLACK were the first two in what has now developed into the Jack Calder series. SAVAGE PAYBACK carries on in the same mode as the first two. The novels spin around a trio of Ex-SAS commandos who form their own specialist security firm. The stories involve international crime, drug peddling, people trafficking, murders, arson, and all these cuddly things bad people get up to when they’re not being angels. It’s not about the SAS a la Andy McNab, because being former commandos; these guys are not bound by the usual terms of engagement when they set about the bad lads.

Where do you get the ideas for the stories?

When I was corporate trouble-shooting in the Far East, part of my career involved looking after a financially-distressed shipping company, which needed clearing out of some serious criminal elements. During the course of that engagement, I received death threats which resulted in me being protected with an armored car and a squad of armed bodyguards. These were trained by a former SAS officer who also was a personal friend. I guess that’s where the concept started.

I know you’re an avid social networking proponent. Do you have any tips for other authors with regard to that?

Yes. These days, it’s important to recognize that writing the stuff is only the beginning. The ‘building the platform’ of a social media network is vital. The most enduring way to do that is by reciprocating constantly. Get into the habit of helping other writers through Re-Tweeting on Twitter, sharing on Facebook and so on. ‘Paying it forward’ is a gratifying feeling. The global writing family is the biggest-hearted bunch of people I've ever known. I spend about half of my ‘writing business’ time on the social networks and the other half on the writing.

Blog                : seumasgallacher.com

Twitter            : @seumasgallacher

Facebook       :  http://www.facebook.com/seumasgallacher

Email              : seumasgallacher@yahoo.com

Review of Souvenir

A Collection of Short Fiction

By Mary O Paddock

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Souvenir is the first in Ms. Paddock’s short collection of stories and poems, which deals with a pregnant woman’s day that seems to have reoccurring and insightful events. FUM, the last in the collection, has reoccurring events, which are more psychologically upsetting than the first.

The stories that are told in between by Mary also leave you thinking, which is one of my past times. Each has its uniqueness, not necessarily with a beginning or an ending, but leaves you to your imagination, a pleasant way to end a reading. This I find to be the heart of a good writer of stories.

I particularly liked the story “Wrong number.” I have heard similar versions, but Ms. Paddock’s take on it I found amusing. And, she starts it off with a quote from Sigmund Freud. Need I say more?

Mary Paddock’s stories are all well thought out and have a point to make. I won’t be presumptuous and state my thoughts, because they are many and would confuse a reader.

There are fourteen shorts and a hundred thoughts that will arrive into your brain when you read this collection. I stopped reading a number of times and pondered. I believe a woman would understand more because of the liked circumstances entwined.

Souvenir is something to think about when looking  for thoughtful and pleasant reads.

Her website that can point you toward the various sources and is a great place to find updates as well as ways to get in touch with her: http://maryopaddock.com/