#Interview Baby Girl Doe by @LarryKelter

A resident New Yorker, Kelter often uses Manhattan and Long Island as backdrops for his stories. He is the author of the Stephanie Chalice Mystery Series and other works of fiction.

Early in his writing career, he received support from best-selling novelist, Nelson DeMille, who reviewed his work and actually put pencil to paper to assist in the editing of the first novel. When completed, DeMille said, “Lawrence Kelter is an exciting new novelist, who reminds me of an early Robert Ludlum.”

His novels are quickly paced and feature a twist ending.

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At any given time do you work on only one story at a time…

There are always several ideas competing for attention in my head. In fact, sometimes it’s an effort to concentrate on the one I want to give priority. At the very least I’m working on two at time, the one I’m editing and the one I’m newly creating. Some authors only turn out a single book a year but I usually complete a new novel every four to six months. I also turn out a couple of short stories each year. Busy, busy, busy.

Is there a genre you haven’t written in but would like to?

I haven’t written any supernatural tales but there’s one I’ve been toying with for quite a while. I should’ve started on it already but there just hasn’t been time. It’s based on modern day lore and takes place in the town where I actually live. In order to do it justice I’d to have to conduct several interviews and that takes oodles of time.

Do you add an element of romantic suspense to your stories?

You bet I do. Stephanie Chalice may be a cop’s cop but she’s a woman’s woman first. From the very onset of the series she’s been involved with her eye candy partner, Gus Lido and they’ve had lots of … fun? In fact they have “fun” everywhere. Not to worry, they don’t let their romance get in the way of the cases, they just have lots of libido to deal with and who wants to waste perfectly good libido. At the same time, Stephanie is madly in lust with Dr. Nigel Twain, a dark and brooding British psychiatrist who consults on many of her cases. Stephanie is also plagued by dreams and nightmares. The amatory Dr. Twain is often the subject of her nocturnal fantasies. It’s kind of a love triangle, and Stephanie is constantly torn between her true love and her true lust.

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

I’ve often wished that I had a tropical home much like Ian Fleming had. I don’t know if you’re familiar with his life but Fleming used to vacation in Jamaica every winter and had a cottage he named GoldenEye, which is where the name came from for the 1995 film starring Pierce Brosnan. Fleming would write in the morning and then go for a swim in the afternoon. I’d love to have a setup like that, an open-air cottage where I could write while gazing out at the Caribbean. Who wouldn’t, right?

If you could turn your novel into a TV show…

I’d love that. I can’t tell you how many notes I get from readers asking when they’ll be able to watch Chalice on TV or the big screen. I’ve always been a huge fan of visual media and I picture each scene in my head before I commit it to paper. I see Chalice as a cable project because her cases most often involve violent crime and I wouldn’t want to candy coat those scenes. There’s also a lot of sexual tension between her, Lido, and Twain—lots of innuendo and explicit dialogue. Cable would be a much better choice for that reason as well.

Lawrence will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to one randomly drawn commenter and 5 autographed copies of the book as runner up prizes (US & Canada only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s a little bit about Baby Girl Doe, the latest release in the Stephanie Chalice Series.

Blurb:

Everyone deserves a well-earned vacation, don’t they?

Guess again!

Plans have been made and the bags are packed but Detective Stephanie Chalice is having about as much fun as Michael Vick at an ASPCA fundraiser.

In his latest thriller, “Baby Girl Doe,” Chalice tackles murder, arson, abduction, and government secrets held as closely to the vest as those related to the existence of UFOs at Area 51 in Roswell, New Mexico.

The new story finds Chalice and her eye candy husband, Lido on the East End of Long Island, vacationing with Max, their new arrival. Things go wrong from the very start. Their vacation rental burns to the ground, bodies pile up, and just to make things interesting, Lido . . . All I’ll say is that you’ll never believe it.

Chalice may be out of her jurisdiction but she's never out of questions or determination and soon connects two unsolved homicides. As always, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and her initial findings plunge her deeper and deeper into the most extraordinary investigation of her career.

NY Times best-selling novelist Nelson DeMille actually assisted Kelter in the editing of his early work, and has said, “Lawrence Kelter is an exciting novelist, who reminds me of an early Robert Ludlum.”

There are a total of five books in the Stephanie Chalice Thriller series, which include Don’t Close Your Eyes, Ransom Beach, The Brain Vault, Our Honored Dead, and now Baby Girl Doe. The Series has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide and topped bestseller list in the US and UK. He is originally from Brooklyn, NY and has not gotten very far from his roots. He currently resides on Long Island with his wife.

 

Excerpt:

Dramatic

I zigzagged between the two opposing lanes of traffic as I gave pursuit.

He was in a flat-out run, but I was not going to be beaten. Not now, not with Gus’ captor in sight. I reached down deep and found an extra gear, one that I didn’t know existed. I was running so fast, I felt as if I could take off. I was closing in on him: two yards behind . . . one . . .

I lunged and took him down by the ankles. As he attempted to kick free, I pounced upon him, fists flying. I hauled back and was ready to pummel him when I froze. “You? It’s you?” The face I was about to strike was one I had seen before, but looked nothing like the person I had seen on the ladder outside my bedroom window. This man was the one who told me there was absolutely nothing suspicious about the fire the day I first inspected the remains of Bill Alden’s cottage. Two bodies, burnt beyond recognition—now I understood who would use that specific MO. Dummy, you couldn’t make the connection?

“You son of a bitch.” I heard the sound of others running toward me, but my fist was clenched.

“Chalice, we’ve got him,” Ambler said. “Don’t!”

There was no force on heaven or earth strong enough to keep me from striking him, this man who had turned my family’s world upside down and put my husband’s life at risk. I drove my fist into his jaw and heard it crack. I was ready to hit him again when someone grabbed my arm. I looked up and saw Gus. His cheek was swollen, and there was dried blood on his face.

“Thanks, babe,” he said, “I’ll take it from here.”

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