Saturday, March 22, 2008

Gisel from Wildcat Victory


Follow Gisel Matah and the thunder of hooves as she strikes back at the Imperial armies that threaten all she has worked for. She must defy every established world power to bring justice to common peasants and workers in societies now ruled by greedy aristocrats. Her covert activities require her to protect her fledgling Radical movement from both friends and enemies.


Risking her life and her love, Gisel negotiates even greater hazards in a wide ranging adventure. Her partner, Yohan Felger, becomes a problem when the Baron has him smuggle a steam engine to the Empire. Gisel knows of the subterfuge but cannot admit it, while Yohan is almost torn apart by the need to deceive her. Faced with removing the pressure on Yohan as he moves his contraband engine, she accepts the offer of General Lord Ricart, an ex-lover, to command a cavalry unit in battle. Her reckless courage is needed to carry out missions against two Imperial armies.


The fight finds her opposed by ever increasing odds until in the final confrontation she must outwit two enemies who vie to dominate Iskander. New friends, allies, and enemies as well as all the old ones fill the pages when Gisel Matah sets out to gain "The Wildcat's Victory".


Tell us about your heroine --- the female lead in your book.


What's her name?


Gisel Matah


Why did you pick that name?


I could say that's almost lost in the mists of time, I started writing stories in the series over ten years ago. I think the name Gisel has a strong but feminine sound to it - and I wanted both. The spelling Gisel rather than the French Giselle being responsible for making the name sound stronger.


I picked the family name as something sounding Indian - as in Zubin Mheta, the conductor. I was very concerned in writing about a group of people from the future that they should be multicultural.


Give us a brief description of how she looks.


She has a page on Facebook with a picture I bought from iStock. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=550780677


It's not exactly as I visualized her, of course, her arm should be more muscular reflecting her working out and swordfighting strength. Perhaps the girl who modeled for the picture is more beautiful than I originally intended - I wanted Gisel to be striking and to gain attractiveness through her vivacity, but I think this picture does justice to my concept.


My original conception -


She has long black hair, very dark “Gypsy” eyes, and olive skin reflecting her genetic heritage. She's 5'10” and weighs 145lbs.


Is there anything unusual about her appearance?


There is in the stories, because she is a modern young woman in an alternate 17th century world, and 5'10” is very tall for a man or woman of that culture. Her height enables her to convincingly disguise herself as a man in some of the action.


The hypnotic eyes came from a real young woman I once worked with (who later became my doctor for several years.) She did have Gypsy in her heritage and could give meaning to the myth of the Gypsy's eyes whenever challenged. I wanted Gisel to be able to transfix with a glance.


Who does she love? Why?


She's had more than one love affair but has come to love the rather fussy and serious Yohan Felger, the young man she had to escort to an enemy city in Deadly Enterprise. While other lovers, such as Lord Ricart the commanding general of her people's armed forces, might have been more exciting, Yohan is the steady and reliable man who she can trust when he says he loves her. In the latest novel I'm working on they're married.


Does this person love her?


He does, but he is also exasperated by her strong will and reckless plunging into danger. He knows of (at least one of) her earlier affairs and does his best to control his jealousy.


In working on an early draft of The Wildcat's Victory, where Gisel is called back to a combat command, I had another writer question whether they really loved one another. Then I had them meet after a month's separation when Yohan led an ammunition supply column to join her. In a love scene in the back of an ammunition wagon, almost everything conspires to break the romantic mood and spoil their lovemaking, but they rise above it. My critical reader was convinced.


Tell us about her family.


She was born on a future version of our Earth, near the end of the 23rd century - not the 17th century world where her adventures take place. Her father, Henrik, is an engineer from an Anglo-Indian family from Mumbai, her mother, Gina, a Greek medical doctor. The two met when Gina visited her parents in Mumbai, where her father was serving as a UN Trade Commissioner.


The marriage was always stormy and resulted in divorce before these stories start. Gisel was raised sometimes in her parents' home in Mumbai, partly by her Greek grandmother in Greece, and partly by her mother in London during a separation while she practiced at Guys Hospital. I attribute Gisel's stormcrow personality to the less than optimum childhood she experienced.


Where is she from?


I guess I've answered much of this as a preamble to the above. She is a woman of many cultures, and her honour and courage stem from the best of them - Western in her physical personality and Eastern in her spiritual.


Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude?


Her background, upbringing, and melding of cultures affect who she is. When she was returned from Greece to Mumbai as a girl of 8 the staff of the private school she entered pushed her into competition gymnastics in the hopes of channeling her tempestuous nature. When she later accompanied her mother (and elder brother) to London during yet another of her parents' marital storms she was entering into the growth spurt of puberty and could no longer compete in gymnastics. She went into fencing instead and learned the Akido way of the sword from her mentor as well as enough competition skills of the epee to rate as a junior Olympic team member. She fights courageously when she must, but looks for paths to peace when they become possible.


What does she want out of life?


In the dangerous occupation of Security Service officer, her wants at times are narrowed down to just staying alive. She is above all a warrior and a mentor to the local population hoping to rise above the authoritarian and monarchial regimes that rule every nation. Married in the next story of the series, she just wants to be able to blend her official duties with becoming a wife and mother. What's her biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.)


Ah, I suspect her of keeping one, but I've never learned the details. In the next novel to be released, called Arrival, I take the story back to when her people become stranded in the 17th century world. Gisel is then 16 and has been wangled into the mission by her father as a personal trainer and minder of the starship's gymnasium. The story shows her developing in five hectic months from starship brat into a warrior.


In a desperate fight to prevent an enemy from taking over a shipyard and works they have set up, she acts with rather sinister man, a bodyguard/come trained assassin more than twice her age, to repel the assault. The two become attracted to one another - sexually during the sensory heightening of battle - and subsequently plan to elope. Her father gets wind of this and moves her out of the country. How far did their relationship go? She's never told me.


Did you write more than one story about her?


She's been the prime mover of most of my writing of the last ten years. Three novels published or under contract, two completely set aside (perhaps to be entirely re-written), and one in progress. But I do have another novel under contract and one in progress that she's not part of.


How would she describe you?


Interesting. I can't visualize her ever meeting me. I rather feel that there is a lot of me in her partner Yohan, so perhaps she'd think of me as a rather dull but reliable fellow.


Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Feel free to share.


She shares the rebelliousness of my London forebears, and myself. None of us wants to bow down to arbitrary authority, or to the hierarchies of mere birth and social advantage. That's really why I write stories of a society even more mired in them, where she will deceive her friends - even Yohan - to protect her fledgling Workers' Brotherhood that one day may flower into a truly egalitarian social system where all might benefit from the Common Good.


Please provide your website link.


Http://www.christopherhoare.ca


What is the link to buy your book?


Deadly Enterprise is on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/yryhs7


The Wildcat's Victory is on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1554045398

Both are on my page at Double Dragon's site ---- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare

It was wonderful to meet her. Thank you for bringing her to meet us.


About Christopher Hoare -


Chris Hoare is a retired surveyor who has worked in all the oil provinces of Canada, the Canadian Arctic and the Libyan Desert. His post secondary education started as aeronautical engineering but he quickly headed out to learn from the world. As well as time in oil exploration, Chris has worked in oil refinery and gas plant operations and surveyed on a heavy construction project, a dam, where he was a member of the tunneling survey crew and then the check surveyor for the main dam construction.


His writing is generally some kind of speculative fiction. His Iskander series novels have a strong female protagonist, a modern young woman in an earlier society on an alternate Earth. The stories feature the struggle to produce technological and social advancement against the opposition of established rulers.


Chris lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada, with his wife of 37 years and two Humane Society shelter dogs.


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Rachel from Choice, My Secrets


Tell us about your heroine --- the female lead in your book.

She is the girl next door; she is out going and well mannered. She is liked by all; she excels at most things she takes on. She gets along very well with her parents and talks to them about everything except the relationship she has with Gary and her being pregnant. She knows that she has crossed the line.

What's her name?

Her name is Rachel, which means beautiful, innocence and gentility of a rose or lovely.

Why did you pick that name?

I felt it's the perfect name for her.

Give us a brief description of how she looks.

She has eyes of blue with mahogany colored long hair. She has cheeks that glow a natural blush color with a smile of confidence and beauty. She is tall and slender but with an athletic build.

Is there anything unusual about her appearance?

No; not really just the glow that she has about her.


Who does she love?

She falls for Gary.

Why?

He is a mystery to her; he is from a rival school and is very athletic good looking and smiles when he sees her. She feels that he is the one and wants to get to know him.

Does this person love her?

Oh yes; Gary fell for her as well, I guess you can call it love at first sight during one of the games they were at they both got a good look at each other from a distance and made eye contact for the first time. That got the mystery going as she was a mystery to him too. Then finally they spoke to each other for the first time at Down Towns pizza place on the first night of summer their love story began with a secret.


Tell us about her family.

She is an only child of two loving and caring parents. They have a solid relationship of trust, honor and respect for each other. They have conversations about most things, attend church weekly and are very involved with Rachel's life and friends. However when Rachel turned 16 they gave her room to explore her boundaries, believing they had instilled the right values in her and with the understanding of trust that she can talk to them about anything. But the most important conversation did not take place; the one that put her in the toughest situation and life changing struggle she has ever faced. Relationships and teen sex.

Where is she from?

She is from a small town somewhere in New York.

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude?

Yes, it would have a pure and innocent affect on her and most kids from there too. It is a quiet, peaceful town with a strong culture and tradition. But the choices she makes take over her traditional and family values that really were never explained or given importance for her to have a better understanding of them.

What does she want out of life?

This she is not sure of. She is in the process of searching for her outlook on life and what it can become.

What's her biggest secret?

Rachel makes several choices that she did not clearly think through and one of them was to get involved with a nice boy her age from another school and not tell anyone about him. Then together they chose to have a relationship that left Rachel pregnant and Gary leaving for school. Rachel then chooses not to tell any one that she is pregnant and is on the run trying to figure out how to deal with it alone.

Did you write more than one story about her?

No; but I may in the future.

How would she describe you?

Loving, caring, thoughtful, talkative, a father that explains, informs, tells what he means and why. Listens

Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Feel free to share.

Rachel wants teens and parents to learn what she has without having to live the roller coaster of a life that she has lived by being a pregnant teen and having to make excruciating choices because she made other choices without thinking them through carefully. She wants to help you have a better understand of choices and how to prevent choices that could cause life changing events.

Please provide your website link.

www.heritagevalues.com

What is the link to buy your book?

You may link at www.heritagevalues.com, click on the book cover and it will take you to amazon.com or you may go to www.xulonpress.com

It was wonderful to meet her. Thank you for bringing her to meet us.

You are so welcome. She and I enjoyed the tour with your readers. We both hope all readers will gain wisdom from her story; Choices, My Secrets.

In Christ,

Thomas Wade Bounds

Choices, My Secrets, tells the compelling story of Rachel, a teenager faced with confusing choices leading up to and during a summer romance that leaves her pregnant. Searching for hope, things spin out of control. Does a chance encounter help her think clearly? Does she find her true self and gain the faith, hope, and courage to consider the best choices to guide her through her incredible journey?

Learn Rachel’s experience without having to live it yourself.

A great book for teens, parents and churches, Choices, My Secrets brings back the art of conversation; an easy way to talk about teen choices together and help set expectations, family values and godly goals.

Author’s Bio: Thomas Wade Bounds is a businessman and the founder of Heritage Values. He lives with his wife Elsa and their two children, in Charlotte, North Carolina.



Monday, March 10, 2008

In the Arms of the Enemy by Patricia A. Guthrie



In the Arms of the Enemy

WANTED: ASSASSIN TO KILL RACE HORSES ON DEMAND

FLEXIBLE HOURS-GOOD BENEFITS

Light Sword Publishing announces the release of Patricia A. Guthrie’s first published novel “In the Arms of the Enemy.”

When the death of a racing stable’s prize horse and his trainer is blamed on the stable’s owner; his son, Adam Blakely, goes undercover convinced that the trainer’s partner, Maggie McGregor, is the killer.

Determined to leave the tumultuous world of horse racing, Maggie returns home to try and find peace. When a handsome horse owner moves his horse into her father’s boarding stable and asks Maggie to train his horse, family finances dictate that Maggie accept--and that’s when the accidents begin.

Drowning in deception and lies, Maggie and Adam search for a killer and uncover an insurance scam so insidious, it threatens to rock a horse racing empire and bring the killer to their doorstep.

They need to learn to:

Keep your friends close; but your enemies closer.



Heroine interview

Tell us about your heroine --- the female lead in your book. What's her name? Maggie McGregor (Margaret, but nobody calls her that Why did you pick that name? I didn't. Maggie picked it for herself. Nothing else fit. She was a Maggie. Give us a brief description of how she looks. Maggie's about five foot three-four inches. She has red hair, light skin that sunburns and freckles if she isn't careful, blue eyes like the Caribbean, fit from riding horses and doing barn chores. Wears mainly jeans, tank tops and over shirts, but "cleans up well."

Is there anything unusual about her appearance? Her hair. Curly, shoulder length and the color, as described by Adam, of a fire framing her face. (well, maybe he didn't exactly say that, but I'm in a poetic mood.) Who does she love? She was engaged to Ricki Lane the owner of Lane Training Stables because he taught her to be a successful trainer. She was young and fell in love with not only his looks and manners, but what she thought he stood for. (Boy was she wrong) Through the course of the story she falls in love with Adam Blakely a horse owner who brings his horse into her father's barn. Something about him moves her, he's there when he needs her, and something about his is like a Greek tragedy."

Does this person love her? Ricky Lane was more involved with himself and promoting himself and didn't mind screwing Maggie at the right opportunity. So, I'd say no to him. But he's not important, because he's murdered in the beginning.

Adam Blakely, despite a huge amount of misgivings falls in love with Maggie. He's smitten with her caring and fun-loving nature, her love of horses his attraction to her. But Adam has a secret. (see hero interview) and his secret makes it dangerous for him to fall in love with whom he thinks Maggie is. Tell us about her family. The only family Maggie has left is her father Cullum McGreggor. He's very protective about his daughter especially with what happened before the story began. The community has also taken an interest and everyone interacts, has gone to school together and will protect "their own." They're like extended family. what happens to one of them, happens to all of them. Where is she from? Michigan

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude?
Yes they do. they've always come together in friendship and trouble. You can see that with the keen interest the sheriff has in stranger, when an elderly horsewoman cross-examinated Adams intent toward Maggie on the trails and the threatening way the farmer questioned Adam at the hospital. Asking him if he was her boyfriend trainer and if he'd beaten her up. Fortunately, Adam was able to say no on both counts (Maggie fell off an intentionally broken ladder at the barn)

What does she want out of life? Maggie wants a career as a horse trainer. She's a loving woman who needs to be loved in return, and she won't settle for being second best.

What's her biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.) Maggie thinks Ricky Lane killed Black Autumn and whoever killed Ricky might be after her too. There are forces at work who would destroy her.

Did you write more than one story about her?
No.

How would she describe you?
I think she'd like to put me in a straight jacket and deposit me someplace where I can't take over her life and give her all those problems. She sees me coming and wants to run and hide.

Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Feel free to share. Maggie is naive about a lot of things, but she's had to grown up fast between the prologue and the first chapter. She's wary of people and, although basically being outgoing, now she wants to shrink away. She feels guilty about leaving Black Autumn, a horse she'd loved and trained, to a man (Ricky Lane) she thinks might have killed him. Now, she's scared that someone might be after her. Please provide your website link.
www.patriciaanneguthrie.com www.paguthrie.blogspot.com

What is the link to buy your book?
www.lightswordpublishing.com www.patriciaanneguthrie.com www.amazon.com, www.borders.com


It was wonderful to meet her. Thank you for bringing her to meet us. Maggie says as soon as things are back to normal, she would love to go out for lunch. Her treat. And--she'll even invite her author-mommy. (that's me.) That is if I haven't put her in the middle of another murder.

For much more information about Patricia Guthrie and In the Arms of the Enemy visit her tour home page - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Patricia+Guthrie