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!

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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)  

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Interview: Moving Violation by Melanie Jackson @melaniejaxn

Melanie has been writing her entire life. In fact, one of her earliest fond memories is receiving an IBM Selectric typewriter for her birthday. After publishing romance novels (Scottish historical and paranormal) for New York based publisher Dorchester Publishing from 1999 to 2010, Melanie chose to begin self-publishing cozy mysteries. Since then she has released the Chloe Boston, Butterscotch Jones, Miss Henry, Wendover House, Kenneth Mayhew and Jane Blackthorn Mystery series.

Melanie Jackson is the award-winning author of more than one hundred novels and novellas published in various languages. She lives with her writer husband and her bossy cat in the Sonoma wine country. Besides gardening, she is involved with animal charities.

Get “Moving Violation”, the first book in Melanie’s Chloe Boston Cozy Mystery Series, absolutely free by visiting your favorite online bookstore or by selecting from these links:

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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?

The head is always full of ideas, but you can’t let them out. Trying to organize more than one project at a time is like herding cats. There is also the danger of mental whiplash because I write both contemporary and historical novels. One doesn’t jaunt between 15th century Scotland and 21^st century Maine. Or I don’t. My characters begin speaking in some pretty peculiar dialects when I try.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in?

Horror. But it would need to be period horror. There are wonderful writers like Richard Laymon who can wallow in blood and guts, but I’m not one of them. I need slow-building moody horror and eldritch winds scratching at the doors and windows. And, to a degree, writing paranormal romance and urban fantasy has allowed me to do this so the urge has been kept at bay.

3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories?

In most of the series, yes. I like a bit of heart of darkness stuff. Sleuths are people too and in a well-rounded life a little romantic rain must fall. It can also add to the tension to discover that there is something sinister about the love interest.

4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself?

Have you seen Alexandre Dumas’ cottage, Monte Cristo? I think that pocket castle in a secret garden would suit me. But since I started off writing in a coat closet—quiet, no windows or other distractions—having an actual office for writing seems the height of spacious elegance. And I still keep the drapes closed to limit my distractions.

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)?

Cable. There is more freedom. The T.V. network censors would probably not deal well with certain aspects of my stories—whether paranormal and violent or intensely sweet. In my greatest fantasy Adam Ball (True Blood, Six Feet Under) would direct.

6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!

There are two. Carved in Stone (A Miss Henry Cozy Mystery) and the Spanish translation of Moving Violation (A Chloe Boston Cozy Mystery).

Carved in Stone follows the continuing adventures of artist and retired NSA agent, Juliet Henry. This time she is in San Francisco where a mansion restoration uncovers the body of a murdered woman who disappeared in the 1950’s.

Moving Violation is the first book in my most popular mystery series. Many of my romances have been translated into foreign languages and done well so I thought it was time to expand Chloe Boston’s horizons. There are so many Spanish speaking people in the world that this seemed a good place to start. It is a bit of risk but we shall see if the life of a small town meter-maid in Hope Falls, Washington will resonate with other cultures.

Where to Buy:

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This book is on sale for only $0.99, as are the first books of Melanie's most popular other series:

Moving Violation (Chloe Boston Cozy Mysteries 1)

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Nook

Due North (Butterscotch Jones Cozy Mysteries 1)

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Nook

Portrait of a Gossip (Miss Henry Cozy Mysteries 1)

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Nook

 

The Secret Staircase (Wendover House Gothic Mysteries 1)
Kindle
Nook

 

Welcome to Hope Falls, home of the world's smallest but smartest detective...

"Moving Violation" is the first book in author Melanie Jackson's bestselling Chloe Boston Cozy Mystery Series. Within it's covers we meet the diminutive sleuth Chloe Boston, a member of the Hope Falls Police Department who is stuck in parking enforcement because at 98 pounds, 5 foot nothing, she will never be able to pass the department's physical entrance exam to become an officer.

In the first installment of this light-hearted cozy mystery series Chloe investigates the death of a local industrialist. Of course, her efforts are hampered by her lack of official status within the department. But there may be another way to achieve her goal of someday becoming a detective. With the aid of her dog, Blue, and her writer's group, Chloe may just be able to solve Hope Fall's recent homicide and by so doing impress the new chief of police.

The Chloe Boston cozy mysteries are light airy reads filled with plenty of quirky characters and fast moving plot elements. And the best part is that if you become hooked on the books, as I'm sure you will, there are 21 more of them in the series for you to enjoy.

Fourth Anniversary Illustrated Edition

The fourth anniversary rerelease of this classic series opener includes illustrations by author Lisa Cach as well as bonus material originally released separately under the title the "Chloe Boston Files".

If you're looking to spend a pleasant evening snuggled up in a chair by the fire reading a good book then you need look no further -- this is the book for you.

Let's stay in touch...

---Melanie

Melanie will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble during the tour!

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Interview with Arby Corry for Heart-Shaped Stone

Arby Corry has spent the last twenty-five years in the radio business. Performing every job from radio announcer, to program director, to commercial producer to copy writer, Arby gives voice to characters found just on the other end of the request line.  Her debut novel, Heart-Shaped Stone, has received critical acclaim as well as delighting readers with its fresh approach. Arby believes in real characters, with real voices. And while a happy ending is always satisfying, she believes life has other plans. When not on the air or writing her follow-up to Heart-Shaped Stone, Arby enjoys spending time with her husband, children and the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.

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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? I wish it weren’t true, but there are many ideas floating in my head, racing, more accurately. However, currently it’s all about the follow-up to Heart-Shaped Stone. This book wants, needs, no, requires, a follow-up and I’ve had many ask me when it’s on its way. Soon.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in? Comedy. I think I could likely do this as it’s sort of my background, having worked in the radio business for years and performed morning shows, but it takes great finesse and I really admire those who can do it right. The thing about writing comedy is it’s sort of like comics who perform on stage – either you’re really good at it, or you really shouldn’t have sold everything you own, moved to Hollywood and given up that pretty decent day job.

3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories? Well, the genre for Heart-Shaped Stone is all about Romantic Suspense. However, it didn’t start off that way. All I knew going in was that it was going to be a love story. I weren’t sure where we were going, or how we were going to get there, but I love a good love story and a complicated one all the more. My story just took the direction it was meant to have, I suppose. Do I think all stories should incorporate Romantic Suspense? No, just the ones I want to read!

4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself? Half of Heart-Shaped Stone was written (and this truly true) in a beach parking lot, adjacent to a lighthouse where I could watch the comings and goings of a Washington State Ferry. When it would rain, and that would be often, and I’d been in my car a while, I’d have to walk to the park’s restroom. It’d be nice to have one of those houses perched on the hillside right behind me in said beach parking lot - the ones with the plenteous windows overlooking the Sound. Yeah, that would work.

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)? As much as it pains me to say, this is truly a Lifetime made for TV movie! I love that network, so why am I knocking it? I think that comes with “falling in love” with your story. I want the best for it and would hate to see it relegated to the Saturday night lineup just before that infomercial for pantyhose. I kid, but it really does fit the network – romance, suspense, intrigue, deception, it has Lifetime written all over it. The only exception, there is quite a steamy love scene in Heart-Shaped Stone and they’d either have to water that down or heavily edit. If not then we’re headed for HBO for sure!

6. Finally, tell us about your latest release! Caila, like most dreamers, just wants to be wanted. Unlike most dreamers, she's wanted by the CIA.

When the last decade of thirty-two year old Caila Domenici’s life disappears, destroyed in a car accident, she is forced to begin again. Defying doctor’s orders to slow-go-it, she sets out to navigate the world on her own. It's not going well. Coddled from birth, everything from a bus schedule to how to boil water confounds her. Worse yet, she's about to accept her meddling mother's offer to pay for food and rent. With just a hunch her talents extend beyond that of daughter of privilege, Caila searches for her past. Before she can find it, it finds her. And the handsome azure-eyed stranger who’s saying he knows her is somehow part of it.

Caila always believed there had to be more, but now, on the verge of discovering the truth, she must decide which is worse – never knowing who she really is, or knowing too much.

Where to Buy:

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Excerpt:

Reese was being too nice. Something was up - their deep conversation the night before, the bubble bath, the tea, turning down her bed and now breakfast? Caila wasn’t suspicious by nature, and in most cases trusted more than she should, but where Reese was concerned she dropped all pretenses and questioned his every move. He was much too calculating to not see opportunity in everything he did. Caila recognized that in him right away. Her mind was now churning with theories. Why, if he was up to something, would he be so blatant with this sudden kindness? Did he think she would not notice?

Then she imagined the most unexpected thing.

Maybe he wasn’t up to anything at all. Maybe this was another side to the man she detested right from the start. The invader, the man who came to make her life a living hell and push aside her father may not, after all, be the man she believed him to be. But even that theory was short lived. No, she thought, he has a motive.

Arby Corry will be awarding $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour!

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