Stephen B. King Author of Glimpse, the Beautiful Deaths
Give a warm welcome to Stephen B. King who is giving us a first look at his up coming release Glimpse, the Beautiful Deaths. Release date April 10, 2019!
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Steve and his Beautiful Deaths!
What defines you as an author? As a person? Are they one in the same?
I’d like to think that what defines me as an author is firstly an inborn need to tell stories, and secondly to bring characters to life. The thing I enjoy most is creating people and getting the reader to invest in them. If I can hook the reader to like them, then I can take my perfectly ordinary people, and put them into extraordinary situations. Then I hold the reader by the hand, and take them on a roller coaster. The biggest compliments I’ve received on my writing are by readers liking and feeling sorry for not just the victims, but the murderer I’ve brought to life. I think we all have flaws, and as an author, I love describing normal, flawed people, in an entertaining way.
As a person, I think there is something of me in everyone I create. My heroes and heroines are likable, though normal, and there is a piece of me in each of them (I hope).
What inspired this particular story? What makes you laugh out loud?
Glimpse, The Beautiful Deaths, book 2 of the trilogy, will be released on April 10th, and the inspiration came from a woman who once said to me (though I now wish I’d never met her) “Here’s an idea you can use: when is a serial killer, not a serial killer?”
I must admit I hate riddles and couldn’t get what she meant, and she explained it was when someone doesn’t actually kill his victims, but his actions cause them to die. This sparked a lengthy discussion, and out of it, came Gordon, a man so hopelessly addicted to beauty he will abduct young women to capture the essence of them in oil. But once drugged and kidnapped, they cease to be the one thing he took them for in the first place – beautiful.
Why should we read this book/series and what sets you apart from the rest and makes your book/series unique?
It’s funny, but I was trying to think of a book, or series that I know of that is anything like The Three Deadly Glimpses Trilogy, to aid in picking search words, and I failed. By that definition, I think it is unique. In terms of the trilogy, I wanted to explore the relationship between two married people who must work together during three separate murder investigations, and they are instantly attracted to each other. Rick is a Detective Sargent and Pat is a criminal psychologist, brought in to provide a profile of a serial killer. Across the three books they fight the urge they both feel, yet their desire grows to the point both marriages are affected, even though they have not done anything but flirt. The attraction for both is deeper than a desire to have sex, they are drawn to each other yet they fight it to protect their crumbling existing relationships. Yes, it’s a love story, a long one – combined the three books total 300,000 words, and that gave me the time to really get inside their psyches to try to describe how they feel about not only each other, but their marriages. In my life, I’ve always got on better with women, than men, and I love being with, working with, or friendly with a women who I find desirable, even though I am married. No, I wouldn’t want to be unfaithful, for good reason – I adore my wife, but I love to feel that I could, if that makes sense. It was that wanting, and should I shouldn’t I feeling I wanted to explore in story form.
Each book is a thriller, a stand-alone story police procedural hunt to track down three entirely different, very troubled human beings who choose to kill people. Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer, is a man whose life has been so bad, he has become a narcissistic sociopath who wants to be famous as the ‘best’ serial killer in Australian History. The killer in book 2, Glimpse, The Beautiful Deaths is something else entirely. His life since childhood has been so ugly, first through his mother, then his overbearing wife, that he becomes addicted to beauty. His quest to find perfection causes six young girls to lose their lives. Book 3, the finale of the series, Glimpse, The Tender Killer features a man who develops situational schizophrenia through unbearable guilt. He hears and sees an imaginary man, named Jolly, who quotes verses from the bible and urges him to kill nine times to find salvation and avenge the death of his sister. But is Jolly imaginary, or is he real? To make things worse for Rick and Pat, their marriages are in tatters, and PPP, the serial killer from book 1 has escaped, and is out for revenge.
Who is your favorite character of all of the books you’ve written and Why?
Patricia Holmes, in this series is the star of the show. It is her insightfulness, and hers alone, that helps uncover who the killers are, and helps understand why they do what they do. She is smart, beautiful, self-assured, wealthy (unlike Rick) and working in an era (between the years 200 and 2003) when firstly women in the police force were snubbed, and criminal psychologists laughed at. Pat overcomes all the prejudice and wins the respect of a very testosterone heavy bunch of jaded detectives. She is a wonderful character to write about, and though this was only ever going to be a trilogy, I adore her so much, she may be back in the future.
Do you find it easier to write from a male or female point of view? Why?
This is a great, and fun question. One of the reasons my wife and I get along so well is I say there is quite a bit of bloke in her (she’s always been a bit of a tomboy) and she says there is a strong feminine side to me. For example, she loves my taste in clothes for her and we shop together. I once wrote a story totally from a female POV, and my editor said she had never read anything quite like it and that it was the best example of a man describing how a woman thinks and feels she had ever experienced. I thought that high praise indeed. It’s not for me to say what I do best – I’m an author and I write about people. I hope I get most of it right, and I hope I entertain. I love writing about love, both from a male and female perspective, but the reader is the final arbiter.
My goodness you are a multi-faceted individual indeed! Now the SPEED ROUND FOR A LITTLE ADDED FUN:
Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>
Favorite movie: INCEPTION
Favorite book: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Last book read: FACELESS KILLERS (WALLANDER SERIES)
Favorite color: YELLOW
Stilettos or flipflops: I CAN’T WALK ON STLETOES – Too bad I’d pay to see that. LOL
Coffee or tea: COFFEE – BLACK
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: AUDIO THESE DAYS
Pencil or pen: PEN
Favorite song: ROUNDABOUT – YES
Streak or not: NOT ANYMORE, BUT IN MY YOUNGER DAYS YOU BET
Favorite dessert: VANILA BEAN ICE CREAM
Favorite junk food: KFC
Favorite thing to do to relax: WRITE
Champagne or gin: G&T – WITH BOMBAY SAPHIRE AND FRESH LIME JUICE
Paranormal or Historical: HISTORICAL
Wonder Woman or Top Model: CURVES – WOMAN HAVE THEM IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES
Favorite TV show: WALLANDER
Hot or cold: COLD
POV: SLIGHTLY LEFT OF RIGHT
I’d die if I don’t have: MY LAPTOP
Review or Not: ALWAYS
A little about Glimpse, the Beautiful Deaths:
Rick McCoy of the Major Crime Squad is trying to repair his marriage when he is sent to the South of Western Australia. A young girl’s body has been found in a cave, with flowers on her chest. A search finds five more bodies.
Beautiful criminal psychologist, Patricia Holmes, has recovered from her stab wounds inflicted by the serial killer PPP, and is brought in. Pat believes they are hunting a man who is addicted to beauty. When another school girl goes missing, they have only days before she too will die.
As their desire for each other grows and the pressure on their marriages increase, they close in on the man responsible for the beautiful deaths. Meanwhile, in the high-security wing of the mental health hospital, PPP plans his revenge on Rick.
Buy Link: AMAZON
About the Author:
I left Perth, Australia many years ago to go East and find fame and fortune in the music business as a long-haired rock guitarist. I wrote poems and music in my wild days. I gave it all up for love and got married (as you do when the right one comes along). Then, real life took over, children came along and I threatened to write a book for so many years my long-suffering wife eventually pushed me into it by buying me a laptop and said: “No more excuses, do it.” And so, began this amazing journey. Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer is number seven, with books 2 and 3 of the trilogy also contracted, so I think, now and again, she regrets buying that laptop.
Stephen B King
Australian Author
www.stephen-b-king.com
email: stephenk8@me.com
Twitter: @StephenBKing1
Facebook: @stephenbkingauthor
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Glimpse, the Beautiful Deaths!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Glimpse, Serial Killer, Stephen B. King, the Beautiful Deaths, Thriller by Tena Stetler with 17 comments.
Interview Jana Richards Author of Child of Mine
Give a warm welcome of Jana Richards, author of Child of Mine The Masonville Series, Book One.
I think the secret is to keep writing. If you’re stalled writing your novel, write something shorter, like a novella or short story. Or if that’s too much, a blog post, or even a journal entry. Maybe try writing in a different genre, not necessarily for publication, but simply for fun. I believe the secret is to not quit writing entirely because that breaks the habit and makes it much harder to pick it up again. And do whatever you can to bring back the fun and excitement of writing again.
Who is your favorite character of all of the books you’ve written and Why?
That’s a little like asking who’s my favorite child! I love all my characters; when you spend so much time with them, they become dear to you. I admire both Lauren and Cole from CHILD OF MINE for their perseverance in never giving up on love. But I do have some favorites from other books as well. I don’t write Alpha heroes often, but oddly, two of my all-time favorite heroes are take-charge, stubborn Alphas. Cameron Hainstock in SECRETS AND SOLACE, book 2 in my Love at Solace Lake series, is a man who’s had his share of set-backs and heartaches. He’s been let down by love before and he’s wary. He can be gruff and blunt and distrusting. But he also has a huge capacity to love. He adores his five-year-old daughter Tessa and is a wonderful, loving father to her. He’s a loyal, protective (some would say over protective) brother to his siblings. And he’s stronger than he believes. Even though he’s struggled with alcohol in the past, and he’s worried he’ll fail again, love will give him strength.
My other favorite hero (also an Alpha) is Zane Martin in A LONG WAY FROM EDEN. Zane is also one of those (over) protective types. He’s been a single father for years, and when his eighteen-year-old daughter Erin becomes pregnant, he insists that she and her twenty-year-old boyfriend marry. He never knew his father and he doesn’t want that for his grandchild. But despite being stubborn and proud, he’s a tender father and grandfather, and a wonderful son. Zane looks after the people he loves, sometimes even when they don’t want him to. But even when he makes mistakes, he does it out of love.
What inspired you to write? and How long have you been writing?
I’ll answer these two questions together. I was inspired to write by reading romance novels and thinking “I could do that.” Ha! Little did I know! I’ve been attempting to write since the early 1990s. I say ‘attempting’ because those first efforts weren’t ready for publication. I discovered I had a lot to learn. I got really serious about learning my craft and writing for publication in the mid 2000s, and my first novel, HER BEST MAN, was published in 2007. Apparently, I needed a long apprenticeship!
Did you tell friends and family that you were writing a book? Or did it take a while to come out and tell friends and family you were a writer?
I didn’t tell anyone I was writing for a long time, not even my husband. For a while I only wrote when he was at work. I think I felt like everyone would say “Who do you think you are, thinking you can write a book?” When I finally did tell my husband, he was like “Great.” It wasn’t the big deal I’d made it out in my head! I talk more about my writing now, but usually only if someone else brings it up first. My fondest wish is to make enough money with my writing to treat my husband to a few luxuries. As he says, he would love to be a “kept man”. And I would dearly love to keep him! He’s been patient and supportive for a very long time and deserves to be treated.
A sneak peek inside the pages of Child of Mine.
We asked you to come here this evening because we have something we want to tell all of you. Lauren and I are getting married.”
The room went deathly quiet. Lauren tightened her grip on his hand. Her face turned pale as she stared at her family’s stunned expressions. Cole put his arm around her waist, afraid she might faint.
He needn’t have worried. She lifted her chin at a defiant angle and turned to face the others.
“Cole and I have decided this child needs the best possible start in life and that means having a mother and a father. We’ve always been friends, so what better way to start a marriage then with friendship?”
Garrett pushed himself to his feet and came forward. “I think it’s a hell of an idea. You two will make wonderful parents.”
He enfolded Lauren in an embrace. Cole heard her murmur her thanks to her brother. “I think you’ll make a wonderful uncle.”
Charlotte was next in line. She kissed Lauren’s cheek. “I’m so happy for you, sweetie. When’s the big day?”
“In a couple of weeks,” Cole said. “As soon as we can arrange everything.”
Lauren’s parents, Robert and Grace, also extended their congratulations. If they had reservations, they kept them to themselves.
Only his mother remained in her seat, staring at them in disbelief. Cole sat next to her. “What do you want to say, Ma?”
“You can’t replace Billy.” She choked out the words.
“I know that.” He’d known he was second best in her eyes all his life. “I wouldn’t even try.”
“But to marry his wife, to raise his child? It’s wrong. They don’t belong to you. You always wanted what belonged to your brother.”
He wanted to shout at her that the baby was his, that it had nothing to do with Billy. And Lauren was his, too. He’d loved her first. His brother had never appreciated what a gem he’d had in her. He’d squandered his marriage the way he’d squandered the love that had been lavished on him all his life, from his parents, from Lauren, and even from him.
Instead he pressed his lips together and said nothing. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw that Lauren stood beside him.
“I know this is difficult for you, Ella. I know you’re grieving. But I have to raise my child in the best way I know how. Aside from my brother and sister, Cole is my best friend in the world. He’s a good man, and I know he’ll be a wonderful father. You should be very proud of him.”
His mother stared at Lauren as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying. Her face twisted. “Don’t you miss Billy at all? Don’t you grieve for him? Nobody understands. Nobody.”
“Ma.”
He said the word a little sharper then he’d intended, but at least it got her attention. She looked up at him in surprise.
“I’m sorry if it hurts you, but Lauren and I are getting married. We care about one another and we care about the baby. The three of us are going to be a family. I wish you could be happy for us.”
Ella dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. Finally, with a shuddering breath, she turned to look at him.
“For Billy’s baby’s sake, I’ll try.”
Billy’s baby.
The pain was swift and unexpected. If she’d stabbed him through the heart with a dagger it wouldn’t have hurt as much.
About the Author:
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Child of Mine, Contemporary Romance, Jana Richards, Small town romance, The Masonville Series by Tena Stetler with 9 comments.
Celebrate Quinn’s Resolution by Katie O’Sullivan’s
Today we’re celebrating Katie O’Sullivan’s new release After Hurricane Nina: Quinn’s Resolution- Hot Hunks-Steamy Romance Series, Book 5! Yippee! Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out about hot hunk Quinn’s Resolution! Pssst…. Quinn’s Resolutions is still up for grabs for only 99 cents. Download your copy today!
After he loses everything, can she help him find his way back to the music?
Eight Strangers. Eight Unique Stories. All Stand-alone Novellas.
On November 30, 2016, Hurricane Nina hit Bali, Indonesia. In the aftermath of death and destruction, eight strong sexy men will realize it’s time for a change in their lives. A resolution of sorts. A contractor, a personal trainer, a millionaire, a stuntman, a rock star, a thrill-seeker, an army veteran, and a trust fund prodigal will all find a way to conquer their loss and learn to love.
This is Quinn’s story. Resolution: To find his way back to the music.
Quinn MacDonald had it made. With a record label deal and their first single skyrocketing up the charts, his indie punk band is finally getting a taste of rock and roll fame. Bikini-clad women and bottomless bottles of booze fill endless days… until their hotel collapses during a hurricane. He’s still under contract but as far as he’s concerned, the music died along with the rest of his band.
Life has never been easy for Phoebe Snow. Working three minimum wage jobs barely keeps a roof over her head while she and her band struggle to get noticed. But on stage, nothing matters but the music in her heart.
When her band plays a cover of one of his hits, Quinn is blown away. Can Phoebe be the inspiration he needs for more than just writing songs?
A sneak peek between the pages of Quinn’s Resolution!
On the open-air stage in Times Square, Quinn MacDonald was making a very different resolution for the fast-approaching new year. As he stood there with a fake smile plastered on his face, listening to Wiz Khalifa spout on about some after-party, Quinn vowed he would never sing on stage in public again. No matter what the fucking studio executives said, they couldn’t make him do this. Rock stars don’t cry on national television, for fuck’s sake.
He felt raw. Exposed. Alone.
And the duet with Demi Lovato? Someone had to have planned that ahead of time without telling him a thing. There’s no such thing as spontaneous singing for television cameras. Certainly not on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. So let’s add feeling “used” into the mix.
He didn’t like it. It was… wrong.
Sure, he’d promote the album. It was part of the contract he signed. He owed that much to the memory of his friends, and to their families. But as far as Quinn was concerned, the music died in the hurricane along with the rest of his band.
Quinn’s Resolution Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KXYBHK1
About the Author:
Katie O’Sullivan is an award winning writer with a dozen books to her credit, including My Kind of Crazy, Ghosts Don’t Lie, Breaking the Rules, and the Son of a Mermaid series for young teen readers: Descent, Defiance, Deception, and the yet to be released Destiny (Coming soon.) (Hopefully.)
A recovering English major, she earned her degree at Colgate University and now lives on Cape Cod with her family and big dogs, drinking way too much coffee and finding new uses for all the sea glass she obsessively collects from the beach. She writes YA and romantic suspense novels, as well as working full time for a high tech company. Which explains all the coffee.
Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon Author Page
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Quinn’s Resolution!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Contemporary Romance, Hot Hunks, Katie O"Sullivan, Quinn's Resolution by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
Cover Reveal for The Night House by J.C. McKenzie
It’s cover reveal time!!! Give a warm welcome to J.C. McKenzie, who’s here to share the cover of her new release The Night House. Love it JC!
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate. Let’s take a first look at her new cover and find out a little about The Night House!
J.C., give us the down and dirty on The Night House.
What would you pay for your freedom?
Caught by a powerful lord from the alternate realm of Arkavia, Taya’s offered the chance to avenge the dead, save her home world, and win her freedom.
Her days of stealing supplies and surviving among the remnants of Earth are over, but can she afford the price of Lord Thane’s deal?
WOW Just enough to wet my appetite. How about a sneak peek between the pages of The Night House?
The Tarka held perfectly still, gray gaze flashing, white-blond hair shining under the setting sun. He looked like a warrior angel sent to Earth to smite the pest-like humans.
She clutched her staff and brought it up with numb fingers.
He raised a dark eyebrow. “You plan to fight me with a stick?”
“I can hand it over and tell you what to do with it, if you promise to follow directions.” She moved the stick slowly. Not fast enough to give away her skill, but enough to warm her wrists and get blood flowing back into her limbs.
“I’ll take option number one, thank you,” he said.
“Fine with me. I’d prefer anything to becoming your next sacrifice.” They’d never confirmed the Arkavians were responsible for the bloody sacrifice they’d stumbled on, but no crazy magical beasts had roamed the forest since the portal opened, so they made an assumption. She glanced behind her at the trees and George’s exposed foot. What the hell had the Tarka done to him?
“He’s incapacitated. You won’t find any help from him.”
Taya snarled while her mind raced. The man hadn’t used any magic yet. Maybe he didn’t have any. Maybe only some of the blondes had power. Could she outrun him? She wasn’t fast, but he was bulky with muscle, and wore lightweight armour and a heavy cloak to stave off the damp cold.
Where would she run to? She couldn’t lead him to the others, and she couldn’t survive long in the woods without supplies.
The man cocked his head, studying her and probably reading every thought screaming through her head. “Sacrifice? Exactly what kind of fantasies have your kind concocted about us?”
“I would hardly call them fantasies.”
“What would you call them, then?”
“Nightmares.” Duh.
He nodded. “Is this where you tell me my evil ways are done?”
“I’m not sure. Is this where you make some grand speech about ridding the world of my kind or do you plan to preach about the superiority of your race and how you deserve to leach off our planet?”
“I’m waiting for you to finish warming up so we can get on with it.”
She fumbled and almost dropped the staff.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo
About the Author:
J. C. McKenzie is a book-loving, gumboot-wearing, unapologetic science geek. She’s the author of the Carus Series, an urban fantasy five-book saga published by the Wild Rose Press. Born and raised on the West Coast, J. C. sets the majority of her books in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance with sassy heroines and brutish, alpha-type men.
J.C. McKenzie’s Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Newsletter
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with The Night House!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged JC McKenzie, Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Fantasy, The Night House by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
