Thanks for hosting me on your blog Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales, Isabel!
So, I’m to blog about anything I want? Oh, my! So much to say and so little mind to say it with!
*grin* Thanks for joining the party, Gordon! Glad you could make it.
Well, I hope it’s obvious that I love to write. I wrote Jezebel for therapy while going through a divorce—thus the violence and sex seemed appropriate at the time. I’m not really a horror writer. I like writing thrillers, and this one just ended up leaning toward horror.
In all my novels I enjoy using specific types of characters/tools: a romantic connection, a tension-heightening storm, at least one dog or horse, a Native American, a deadline that shortens, and a strong, smart woman. I feel that this combination of ingredients provide for an exciting and surprise-filled, dynamic story.
Jezebel was a blast to write. I love dogs, and this is about a very large dog that gets caught up in a conspiracy and used in a hideous manner. After she kills her master, she’s on the loose, and terrorizing the city. But is she the one who’s really doing all the killing? Meanwhile dogs all over the city are attacking their masters and the person who seems to be at the center of these crazy and heinous attacks is the animal control director, Tony Parker. Tony’s going through a mid-life crisis and has his own problems. His lovely wife feels the tension and see her husband’s attraction to his beautiful, young and seductive assistant.
My dog would rather lick you to death than attack. Unless you're holding out on a treat & teasing her of course...
I love the tension that builds in this story, and planting little clues that makes the reader say, “Oh, yeah! I should have seen that coming” when the plot twists and things get out of hand. I’ve had several readers tell me that they’ve read Jezebel several times, just so they could find those clues and see the story from an enlightened angle each time. This is a novel that scatters clues throughout, and I challenge anyone to predict the outcome. Jezebel isn’t a who-done-it—that’s obvious within the first few chapters; it’s a what’s-going-to-happen-next thriller. The suspense is intense throughout—I think it’s a perfect Halloween season read.
After Jezebel, I wrote Dead Reckoning—a real fish out of water, or should I say “in hot water” mystery thriller. A female NCIS agent goes undercover aboard a ship of horrors to find out why crewmembers are disappearing one-by-one. There’s romance, mystery, and murder—what a wonderful combination. And I challenge anyone to guess who-done-it in this one.
NCIS? I'm so there!
My latest novel is Brainstorm. Once again, there is romance, mystery, big thrills, and high technology. This one gets into remote viewing, and man was it fun to write. I loved writing the mind trips, and paranormal scenes. Still, I tried to ground the story in realism to make it believable in the real world so that I didn’t have to create a whole new one. I know you’ll enjoy this one.
No cheating—don’t read the end of any of my novels first, it will absolutely ruin the story for you. And don’t ever put any of my books away without reading the epilogue. There is always a surprise or two just to top it off. The very best surprise right now is that all three of my thrillers and a couple of short stories are currently on sale as eBooks for only $.99 just to get those numbers up and to reward my readers for their loyalty. You can find them on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, Sony—all the major online bookstores, as well as http://www.readersmatrix.com/. Of course you can also get them in hardcover and paperback.
So now I’m working on sequels for all three thrillers. You can find out a little more on my blog and my website. Please check them out. And, you can always email me. Drop me a line!
Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to give my spiel on your blog! Happy reading.
BLURB:
Sleep lightly tonight…
A madman has come to town seeking a diabolical revenge and large dogs begin attacking their masters for no apparent reason and with heinous results.
Animal Control Director Tony Parker must find out why and stop the murderous attacks. Meanwhile, Jezebel, a huge black Great Dane has killed her master and is loose, terrorizing the city and stalking Parker and his family. Parker and Sarah Hill, his beautiful and seductive young assistant, attempt to unravel the mystery and stop the terrible carnage while dealing with their own demons and lusty desires.
The attacks must be stopped. Jezebel must be found-and soon, you see--there is one other complication. Parker seems to have come down with an annoying little virus. No, it's not one of those irritating summer colds. It's certain death.
She's a murderess, huge and black as a hell-bound night.
Beware. Jezebel is on the loose!
EXCERPT:
In the grayish soup, a dark vision appeared. Floating down the middle of the street, it slowly formed into a recognizable shape.
An animal. A large black animal. A huge Great Dane. It walked with confidence. Long, thin legs. Mouth closed, head and eyes fixed straight ahead. Occasionally, its feet splashed one of the pools. Light from the streetlights caused a sparkle from underneath its neck with every step of its left forefoot. A large diamond, set on a gold tag, captured the light and shot it out like a laser. The dog maintained its pace for what seemed like minutes.
Finally, it stopped. With its body still pointing down the street, it slowly turned its head to the right and looked up a sidewalk leading to the front door of a house. It stared, still emotionless, at the door. At Tony Parker’s door.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Author bio: Gordon A Kessler is a former US Marine parachutist, recon scout, and Super Squad team leader, with a bachelor's degree in creative writing. He is a Master Instructor for Johnson County Community College, National Academy of Railroad Sciences, and the BNSF Railway. He has taught novel writing for Butler County Community College, English Composition for Hutchinson Junior College and has previously indie-published the thriller novels Brainstorm and Dead Reckoning, and a book about the novel-writing craft, Novel Writing Made Simple.
He is a founder and current president of the Kansas Writers Association and tries to stay connected to writers and the writing industry by doing speaking engagements at writers conferences and for writers organizations, and does his own "The Storyteller" seminar in Wichita, Lincoln (Nebraska), Kansas City, and other Midwestern cities based on his Novel Writing Made Simple book.
His websites, http://www.writersmatrix.com/ and http://www.indiewritersalliance/ are landing pages for writers to help them in their writing endeavors. His author website is http://www.gordonkessler.com/ .
Other links:
5 comments:
Great excerpt thank you. I could feel the tension mounting. I could visualize this perfectly.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thanks for hosting Gordon, Isabel! Doesn't his book sound awesome?
It really does capture the attention! I enjoyed both his post and the excerpt. In fact, of the 2 offered, I had trouble chosing!
Thanks for sharing!!
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Sweet another interview :)
Morganlafey86(at)aol(dot)com
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