Friday, March 27, 2015

Interview withR.J. Merle for Savage Winds

Author R.J. Merle stepped out of the realm of Top-Secret documents (shh, don’t tell…) to write sci-fi and paranormal fiction.
 
R.J. survived and escaped both the entertainment field and the government-contracting environment, craves the Walking Dead, and entertains what-if tidbits about “supposed” technological and biological advances.

No stranger to the goings on in the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, R.J. Merle blends a down-home flavor with a former in-the-know—hypothetically, of course—technical background to craft the twists and intrigue of Secret City Adventures.
 

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1. At any given time do you work on only one story at a time and maybe plot out the next one or are there many ideas racing around your head? YES! (Most definitely in all caps with an explanation point, then times three.) At any given time, while I am plotting one book, I first draft a second, while polishing a third. Always there are ideas racing, so I jot them down so that I can maintain focus on current projects.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in? While Savage Winds and the Children of the Elements is YA Science Fiction Adventure with horror elements, my next series is YA Horror focused and is about psychically gifted teens on a ghost busting TV show and their haunting adventures. The first book in the is scheduled for release this spring.

3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories? The Children of the Elements Series features suspense and action of the science fiction/paranormal/horror kind.

4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself? Honestly, after years of being under the impression that I had to have big chunks of time set aside to write, I’ve trained myself to write anywhere at any time, even on a Canadian floating fishing lodge and in the Australian mountains. Anytime I can claim 15 minutes, I write.

5. If you could turn your novel into a TV show, which novel or series would you do? Where would it be set? Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS), Cable (AMC, BBC, Lifetime) or Premium Cable (HBO, Showtime, Starz)? The Word-o-gram for the Children of the Elements Series would include descriptions such as Psychic Powers, Telekinesis, Apocalypse, Electro-Magnetic Pulse, Zombies, and Mutants; therefore, AMC, since AMC most awesomely hosts the Walking Dead.

6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!
A dangerous conspiracy unfolds...
In Author R.J. Merle’s whirlwind start of the Children of the Elements series, a clumsy teenage techno-geek struggles to protect kidnapped children from a covert government organization responsible for creating their abilities to control the five elements.

A mighty wind…
Eighteen-year-old Stedford Thackett’s conspiracy theorist brother ensnares him in a real life children-as-weapons plot, while a determined scientist grooms happy-go-lucky five-year-old Darcie Lynn Carpenter to use the wind as a deadly weapon.

Out of control...
Despite the firm hand of Scientist Nora Hicks, Stedford struggles to rescue the kids and escape, even as Darcie Lynn fights to gain control of the surging power of the savage winds.
 
 
Where to Buy: Please Note Savage Winds is FREE!
 
 
Excerpt:If only Stedford could spend his Saturday afternoon working on projects. Nowhere near as lucrative or fun, keeping track of Cantrell was a honking full-time job.

Up ahead, a left-to-right movement shifted among the towering tree trunks.

He choked out a loud whisper, “Cantrell?”
 
A coyote howled. Behind him. Too close.
 
A rush jolted through Stedford’s veins. He shoved the phone into his back jeans pocket and dashed into the brush.
 
Branches slashed and snapped.

Briars grabbed, snagged, and snatched free.
The pounding smash of his high-tops bulled through the scrub. Grayness reduced the reach of his eyesight. As dusk fell toward nightfall, he wouldn’t be able to see squat.
Zero night vision.
 
Zilch.

After pulling up to a halt, like a tree among many, he stood stark still.
What had he been thinking coming out here like this?
 
That maybe he might keep Cantrell from getting into trouble, all the while protecting his own chances to contract for a special project. Nothing wrong with looking out for both their futures.
If Uncle Merv’s contacts worked out, the brothers would be set money-wise for life.
 
Not a bad deal for a geeky eighteen-year-old.
 
Except Stedford would soon be wandering the dark.
 
He retrieved his phone and gauged the average power usage. Three and a quarter hours of battery life. Tops. Way before midnight, his flashlight app would die with the phone, and he would flounder in total darkness.
 
Ominous shivers goosed his chill bumps.
A stick snapped atop the hill.

About the Children of the Elements Series:

When nature refuses to be controlled, can mankind endure? Brainwaves altered by a covert government project based out of the Secret City of Oak Ridge, the Children of the Elements are brought together and tested as weapons of mass destruction. Their struggle to free themselves and survive in the hostile East Tennessee Mountains creates massive chaos and threatens to bring about an apocalypse.
Five full novels, one huge story.
Savage Winds (Book 1)
Dire Rumblings (Book 2)
Raging Inferno (Book 3)
Unrelenting Tide (Book 4)
Merciless Void (Book 5)  
Enter to win a $50 Amazon/Barnes and Noble Gift Card during the tour 

11 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thanks for hosting!

R.J. Merle said...

Thanks for Hosting Isabel Roman! First off, the regular price of Savage Winds eBook is $3.99 and has been discounted to $0.99 for the Goddess Fish Promotions tour. I look forward to comments/questions.

Mai T. said...

What'd be the author's dream cast if the book were made into a movie?

R.J. Merle said...

Mai T., Teen Wolf and Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien would make an awesome Stedford, while Julianne Moore would be great as Scientist Nora Hicks and a young Dakota Fanning would truly bring five-year-old Darcie Lynn Carpenter to life on the big screen. (Thanks for the fun question!)

Karen H said...

I enjoyed reading your interview today.

Anonymous said...

It's a fun interview!

Trix, vitajex(at)Aol(Dot)com

R.J. Merle said...

Thanks again, Isabel Roman, for hosting! Best of luck, all, on the Giveaway!

Unknown said...

Thank you for the giveaway! I just bought Savage Winds!

R.J. Merle said...

Ree Dee, thanks so much for checking out Savage Winds!

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