Interview with Christopher Clark

Please Welcome Christopher Clark Author of Pulling Strings

What is the greatest joy of writing for you? 

I've been a freelance journalist for more than 20 years. Initially, the thrill was seeing my name on a story in a newspaper or magazine. Then, because I was freelancing, the biggest thrill was getting paid for something I wrote.
I just completed my first novel, an enormous commitment of time with no guarantees it would be read as widely as my journalism pieces are read. The thrill is having completed the novel, being happy with the outcome, and looking forward to writing another one. 

What do your fans mean to you? 

I've often received feedback from readers of my stories in newspapers and magazines, online etc. Since I've started blogging, same thing goes. Feedback is great.
When someone takes the time to read my novel, I am genuinely thankful. If they like it and leave a review to that effect, it's even more gratifying. 

What are you working on next? 

I've just published my first novel, so the honest answer is: I'm not sure. I continue to do my freelance journalism, but I know I want to write another novel in the coming year. It may include characters from my current novel, Pulling Strings, but I haven't decided about that. 

Who are your favorite authors? 

I read as much non-fiction as fiction, and I enjoy books about how things work by people like Bill Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything) and Timothy Ferris (The Whole Shebang). I have a collection of Mike Royko columns that's terrific. In the world of fiction, I've always loved reading Dick Francis. 

What inspires you to get out of bed each day? 

Deadlines! Which is why writing a novel was a challenge. No real deadlines, just the desire to get it done. 

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time? 

I'm a tennis fanatic. I play five times a week in the summer and at least once a week indoors in the winter. I also play drums. Oh, I like to read too :-) 

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote? 

I remember the first story I ever had published. I was working at the Canadian Statesman newspaper in Bowmanville, Ontario. It was a broadsheet, weekly community newspaper. My first day I went with the editor to the local Rotary Club meeting. The newspaper "covered" the weekly lunch and wrote a story about the speaker each time.
It wasn't exactly Woodward and Bernstein, but I learned a lot that day and the entire year I worked at the paper. 

What is your writing process? 

I write in spurts of an hour or so. I can't sit for much longer than that. When writing longer pieces or a novel, I try to walk away in the middle of a section or chapter. I find it much easier to get back into it that way. If I come back and am staring at the end of a chapter, it takes more effort to get started again. 

What is your e-reading device of choice? 

I am technologically non-demoninational. I use a Surface tablet for much of my work, especially teaching. I read Kindle and Kobo books on that. I also have a Google phone and read on that. At my desk, I use an iMac, and I read shorter e-books on that from time to time. 

What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you? 

What, this interview isn't going to be enough??
I'm experimenting with lots of options, but so far word-of-mouth has been the best thing. I tell everyone I know my book is out. I do that in person, but also from my website (christopherclarkwriter.com) and on Twitter and LinkedIn. I'm a FB neophyte but have joined recently to let people know about my novel. 

Describe your desk 

It's a mess. But it's also a comfortable place to be. The desk itself is a really a dining room table my brother and father made about 15 years ago. It's gorgeous. I have papers all over the place. Every few months, I clean up to some degree but it's never what you'd call pristine. I don't subscribe to the messy desk/messy mind concept. A creative mind is a jumbled place. My desk certainly is. 

When did you first start writing? 

I was good at writing essays in university. When I graduated and started looking for a job, I wrote some sample columns and took them around to local newspapers. Being naive, I thought someone would hire me to write a column. Well, that didn't happen, but I did get a chance to work as a general reporter in Bowmanville, Ontario. That led to a bigger newspaper job near Vancouver, B.C. That led to getting a Masters degree in journalism from Western University in London, Ontario, after which I began freelance writing for all sorts of publications. I continue doing that today, along with teaching and writing novels. 

What's the story behind your latest book? 

I mentioned Dick Francis earlier. He wrote mysteries that always involved some aspect of horse racing. Different characters each time, but always related to the world of horse racing. Initially, I thought I'd do the same thing with baseball. I may still, but when I started writing 'Pulling Strings' I quickly moved into the world of politics as well.
So I wrote a story that starts with the murder of one of the owners of the Baltimore Orioles. That has an impact on the 2016 presidential race, in all sorts of subtle and sinister ways. As my blurb says, it's about politics, baseball, murder and sex -- not necessarily in that order. 

What motivated you to become an indie author? 

Without a deadline or any guarantee a traditional publisher would accept my manuscript, I could never get started for real. When I decided to publish it myself, I was motivated to get it done. Going the indie route is the main reason I finally wrote my novel.

_________________________ 

@cclarkwriter

See my new novel, Pulling Strings, at

www.christopherclarkwriter.com

Tessa McFionn

 

After a year-long depression following the murder of her fiancé, Siobhan Whelan stands on a bridge, tormented by unending nightmares, one step away from jumping. Only the kindness of a seductive stranger brings her back down to earth. But the handsome stranger is more than meets the eye, and soon Voni finds herself thrust into a strange new world.

For seven hundred years, Malakai Vadim has shouldered the mantle of Guardian Warrior. But a chance encounter with the tormented beauty brings him face to face with his destiny. His nemesis, Dmitrius Konstantin, has been feeding Voni’s grief through nightmares, wanting her and her untapped powers for his own. As Kai learns of his foe’s deadly interest, he must solve the riddle of Voni’s tortured dreams while holding his growing desire for her at bay.

Too bad the enemy Rogue Warriors have other plans. Now, along with fellow Guardian Eamon McClearon, Kai must venture into the In-Between, the enemy’s powerbase, to save her soul as well as his own. But can his love be strong enough to save them both?

 http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00RM4OGQ6

K L Kreig Jan 10

Excerpt:

 Kate walked through the front door and straight to the kitchen.  It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, but she desperately needed a drink.  Pouring a glass of Zinfandel from a half empty bottle, she thought that simply might not cut it tonight.  Within fifteen minutes she was emptying the rest into her stemless glass.  Sitting at the kitchen table in silence, she watched the bitter winter wind violently whip fluffy light snow around the yard.  It looked like someone had shaken up a snow globe and she was reminded of the Beauty and the Beast one she had as a child.  Goddamn Disney and the dream of happily ever after they push on young, impressionable girls.

         So desperate for the mind numbing effects of the alcohol, she hadn’t even bothered to take off her boots and now there was a puddle of melted snow spreading out beneath her on the cold tile floor.  But it didn’t matter, because she seemed to have a singular focus.

         Try as she might, she simply could not stop thinking of Dev.  Of his eyes or his smell or his touch.  She was obsessing like a fifteen year old with her first real crush and it was just plain pissing her off.  The only thing Kate was obsessed about was research.  

         Until now.  

         Until him.  

         Now she could think of nothing else.  Maybe it had just been too long since she’d had sex and now her lady bits were begging to be used.  And used hard.  Maybe Erin was right and one amazing sweaty session of the wild thing was what she needed to get refocused.  And maybe she was so full of shit that the whites of her eyes were turning brown.

 Sighing heavily, she unceremoniously finished her second glass of wine and opened another bottle.  She had a paper to write, she had homework to grade, she had a grant to think about.  But all she wanted to do instead was sit and daydream, like a lovesick puppy about a man she could never have.

         Jesus, Kate.  Get a goddamned grip.

         Pouring her third and what should be her final glass, but probably wouldn’t be, she headed into the bathroom and filled the Jacuzzi tub with steaming water and lavender vanilla aromatherapy bubble bath.  Lighting some candles and turning on Michael Bublé—don’t judge—she quickly disrobed and eased slowly into the scalding water, groaning with relief.  Bubble bath, wine and a sultry crooner…what more could a girl want?  

         Why…one very tall, very erotic, very virile man with onyx eyes peering up at her from between her thighs of course.

         Kate spent the next thirty minutes sipping wine and reliving her carnal dreams with this incredible man—like she hadn’t done that hundreds of times over the last four months.  She ran her hands over her nakedness, wishing they were his.  Unable to stop, one slipped below the water and stroked her slick center.  She remembered Erin telling her how quickly she’d gotten off from the jets of her tub and at the time that had sounded ridiculous.  But now, badly needing to take the edge off, Kate stretched her legs, positioning her sex perfectly between the maximum speed stream of water and Oh. My. God.  Within thirty seconds an incredibly hard orgasm tore through her, sending warmth spiraling throughout her body.  Head falling back, she reached for the controls and turned off the pulsating water, recovering slowly from the quick rush. 

 Damn.  Erin was definitely onto something.

         Glass long empty, water cooled and feeling a bit less tense, Kate decided it was time to leave her wallowing and soak up the alcohol she’d consumed with some food. Except she didn’t have much in the house, so she’d either have to do take out or run to the store.  And since she’d consumed three very substantial glasses of wine in the last hour, take out it was.

         Forty-five minutes later, long hair pulled into a messy bun and dressed in black yoga pants and a ratty yellow Golden Eagles sweatshirt that had seen better days, the doorbell rang.  Expecting to see a delivery boy from the Jade Garden, her favorite Chinese restaurant with the best cashew chicken and egg drop soup to ever to pass her lips, she quickly opened the door without checking the peephole.

         And immediately regretted it.  Oh God.  Breathe Kate.  In, out...in, out.

         Instead of the deliveryman, standing on her front porch was the man of her dreams. Literally and figuratively.  And in one hand dangled her food.

         “Hello Kate,” he drawled, full lips turned up on one corner.

         He stood there in the same breathtaking suit she’d seen him in earlier, but with a heavy, long black overcoat shielding him against the elements.

         “Hi.” Her voice was breathy.  Lord, he was just sinfully good-looking.  

         “I think I have something you want.”            

         There was no truer statement ever made than that one.  She wanted, all right.  Oh, how she wanted.  He laughed as she stood quietly gaping at his sheer perfection.

         “I was talking about the food, but by the way you’re devouring me with your 

hungry eyes, I can see maybe food’s not all that’s on your mind.”

         He strode confidently through the door, but not before leaning down and running his nose seductively along the unencumbered expanse of her neck, inhaling deeply.  A sexy, low rumble sounded in the back of his throat. 

         “Mmmm, you smell good, Kate.”  

         Good god.  Cue the fan. 

          He stood back, his burning eyes roaming over every inch of her body. Her hideously clothed body.   Go her.

         Finding her voice, she finally asked the question that had been burning in her mind for the last sixty seconds.

         “How did you know where I live?”

He smiled mischievously and sauntered quietly through the living room into the kitchen.  He was as comfortable as if he’d been there a dozen times before.  Having no choice, she followed him but stopped in the doorway and watched as he efficiently found a plate and silverware and set them on the table before dishing up her food.

         “What are you doing?”

         He looked up from his task, confusion clouding his face.  “What does it look like I’m doing?  I’m feeding you.”

         She couldn’t help the small smile that passed her lips.  She should be irritated and in truth she was, but irrational delight overrode any other emotion she felt.  But that didn’t mean she was letting him off the hook.  He seemed very good—too good—at dodging her simple questions.

         He gestured for her to sit, but she wasn’t about to fall in line that easily.  “You haven’t answered my questions.”

         He walked toward her, but gliding would have been a more accurate description.  He moved with such stealth and grace, it was almost unnatural. Stopping only inches from her, his piercing gaze pinned her so firmly in place so she couldn’t move even if she’d wanted to.

         “Really?  Because I was certain that I had,” he said in a low, deep voice that went straight to her loins.

         Unable to speak, she could only shake her head in disagreement.

Unable to speak, she could only shake her head in disagreement.

         Leaning down so close his breath feathered her lips, he reached up and drew the back of his fingers lightly down her cheek.

         “Where you live is public information, Ms. Martin and as for what I’m doing here?  I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

         “Oh,” she whispered, mouth suddenly dry as the Sahara.  She felt dizzy and didn’t know if it was the wine or his scent affecting her.  Probably both.  His evident desire for her was heady and she found herself making excuses on why it might not be so bad after all to sleep with this man.

         Just when she thought he’d lean down to kiss her, he took a step back taking his body heat and unique scent away with him.  Disappointment stabbed deep.  She wanted his mouth on hers more than she’d ever wanted anything else.  Even more than she’d wanted that little electronic Barbie car as a child, the one you could sit in and drive around your neighborhood?  And she’d wanted that a hell of a lot.

         “Now, why don’t you take a seat and eat before your food gets cold,” he motioned as he pulled out the chair like a gentleman.

         Not knowing what to make of this bizarre encounter, she walked to the small round table and took a seat.  He sat just to her right and all of a sudden she wished she hadn’t drank so much wine.  While the haziness clouding her brain was absolutely in part due to him, it was also undeniably the alcohol.  A woman didn’t face a man like Dev without a very clear head unless she wanted to end up underneath him in short order.  And while she so did, she worried with her inhibitions lowered she’d make a mistake of epic proportions and end up hating herself in the morning. 

 Because nothing had changed between this morning and now, saying no was exactly what she needed to do, but she was wound so damn tight that she wasn’t at all sure she’d be able to.

• Amazon pre-order: http://www.amazon.com/Surrendering-Regent-Vampire-Lords-Novel-ebook/dp/B00PE2O4RE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416325373&sr=8-1&keywords=surrendering+kl+kreig

http://klkreig.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/KL-Kreig/808927362462053?ref=hl

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9845429.K_L_Kreig

Christopher Clark Day 2

Author profile:

I am an author and freelance journalist in London, Ontario, Canada.
I write articles for magazines, newspapers, websites and a variety of interesting organizations. I also teach journalism in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University in London. 

When I'm not writing or reading, I play as much tennis as possible. I also play drums.

My first novel, Pulling Strings, is a mystery/thriller about murder, politics, baseball and sex. The story starts with the murder of the popular owner of the Baltimore Orioles, which affects the 2016 presidential race, well underway in neighboring Washington D.C. 

Thanks for checking in. I hope you enjoy Pulling Strings. If you do, please consider leaving a review. And drop me a line with questions and suggestions.

Links:

Read the first 20% of Pulling Strings at my website:

www.christopherclarkwriter.com

Gabriel Boutros Day 5

Montreal in the year 2039. Like all major cities, the air is poisonous. On the other side of the planet, the war on terror rages with no end in sight. The Canadian government is run by a militaristic administration that was 
installed on the basis of a horrific lie. Civil rights have been curtailed and the justice system is rife with corruption. In the middle of this decaying world lives Allen Janus: husband, father, bureaucrat and backstabber. In a moment of petty vindictiveness he will betray the people who love him, setting the lives of everyone in his family on a tragic course. 
From the author of The Guilty comes a story about how lies can entrap both the deceiver and the deceived.




Robert Bratt is a lawyer who has always done whatever it took to win his cases. After twenty years of defending the most hardened criminals, many of whom he knew to be guilty, the only thing he can no longer do is look at himself in the mirror. 
Loosely based on a multiple-murder that shocked Montreal in the 1990s, this riveting story pulls the reader into the inner workings of a murder trial, and reveals what one lawyer must do when he has to defend "The Guilty."


In this novella, or very long short story, a mild-mannered mob accountant goes on the run after he embezzles millions of dollars from his boss. He is chased across the country by a hired killer, and is forced to hide out in cheap, out of the way motels. He dreads the day the gunman will catch up with him, aware that he doesn't have the strength to defend himself. Except when he sleeps, at which time he dreams that he is the fearless hunter, and no longer the cowering prey. As the real killer closes in on him, the line between his dreams and his waking life become blurred.


http://storiesbygabrielboutros.weebly.com/

Review of THE HARMONY OF ISIS by Catherine M. Walter

THE HARMONY OF ISIS

Author:  Catherine M. Walter

Four stars

The Harmony of Isis is an unconventional, yet curious
fantasy/romance novel.  Maggie, a museum
curator, finds herself entrenched in a love triangle with t
wo hunky rock star brothers.  Her plight is
somehow reminiscent of the relationship between Isis, Osiris,
and Typhon in ancient Egypt.  In fact, the
author hints that Maggie may herself be a reincarnation of Isis,
and that one of the boys is actually
Osiris, Isis’ true love, who was murdered by Typhon in jealous rage.
The book intrigues then confuses the reader.  The characters
are passionate and the themes breathe
sensuality; however, the sexual imagery is so masked behind
euphemisms that it lacks emotion.  In
defense of the author, ancient Egyptian and Freemason s
ymbolisms are foreign to modern sensibilities. 
Perhaps to an anthropologist, the love scenes exude passion.
Catherine M. Walter is a solid writer.  She has also added her
own drawings and maps to aid the reader
in understanding her explanations within the book. 
Egyptology enthusiasts are in for a treat.

Yvonne

Gabriel Boutros Day 4

Some recent reader comments:

5 stars:  "An interesting story that explores the dark recesses of inner despair for people living in the reality of a fallen society.  Yet the flame of human determination is never quite quenched, and finds itself wandering in many directions as Janus, our protagonist, searches for a purpose in life outside his mundane job and unsatisfactory family life. " - Andrew Kasch, Amazon.com


5 stars: "Boutros has written a very mature work that demonstrates the lengths to which people will use subterfuge to achieve their goals. On the one hand, Face/Mask harkens back to the flavour of cold war novels in the tradition of le Carré and on the other it creates a whole new psychological spectrum within which its characters co-exist. At it's core, however, Face/Mask exposes human nature for what it really is: flawed, tortured, morally ambiguous, but ultimately hopeful. A terrific read that I highly recommend." - Lorne Kelton, Amazon.ca

4 Stars: "In Face / Mask, Gabriel Boutros presents an uncomfortable alternative view of the near future...Against this bleak existence, people continue to live their lives. They love and marry, have children and jobs. Their lives are familiar enough to us to make this new world believable. Anyone who knows Montreal will find its transformation disturbing...This is an interesting, thought-provoking novel. It reminded me of “1984”, with its heavy police presence, widespread surveillance of the population, and betrayal of others in order to save oneself..." -BondiBookgirl, Amazon.com

Gabriel Boutros Day 3

Gabriel Boutros has lived in Montreal for most of his life, and being a rabid fan of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, could not imagine living anywhere else. He is married and the father of two boys, and practiced criminal law for 24 years. His legal thriller, "The Guilty," is available on Amazon, and he says:
"In writing "The Guilty" I pictured the main character, Robert Bratt, a top-notch criminal lawyer, as someone who is essentially a good person, but whose need to win has led him to forget his inherent honesty, and driven him to do things that he wished he hadn't. This story is about how, after twenty years of doing whatever was needed in the defense of the most hardened criminals, he begins having conflicted feelings about himself and his profession, at the same time he is hired to defend a young gang member accused of a double-murder." 
This book is loosely based on a multiple-murder in Montreal that Gabriel Boutros worked on in the 1990s, and the story takes the reader into the inner workings of a murder trial to reveal what one lawyer must do when he has to defend "The Guilty."
The website topbookreviewers.com has called The Guilty: "An absolute winner of a debut mystery novel." 

His latest novel, Face/Mask, is a dystopian vision of the not so distant future. It is a bleak look at our world, where the environment has decayed, the war on terror rages endlessly and the Canadian government is run by a corrupt, militaristic administration that curtails civil rights. The main character is Allen Janus, husband, father, bureaucrat and backstabber. Despite his privileged position in society, he is unhappy with his life and with the world around him, so he lies to his family and begins living a double-life in order to find some sort of satisfaction. In a moment of petty vindictiveness he betrays a relative to the military police, setting the lives of everyone in his family on a tragic course.

Also available on Kindle is the novella entitled "If I Should Die Before I Wake." It's the story of a mob accountant who goes on the run after ripping off his boss. The accountant is weak and afraid, like a rabbit being hunted by the mob's hit-man, who closes in on him relentlessly. In his dreams, though, it is the accountant who is the fearless hunter, and the hit-man his prey. As near-certain death approaches, the line between his dreams and reality become blurred. This story combines elements of The Twilight Zone with the best of hard-boiled crime fiction.

You can read about all his fiction at: http://storiesbygabrielboutros.weebly.com/

Gabriel Boutros Day 2

Prologue

October 17, 2039:

     When the time came Richard knew there would be a high probability of serious injury, not only to the Cons, but also to innocent by-standers. He’d told them he didn’t want anybody to get hurt, and that, despite his big talk a few days earlier, he believed they should remain a non-violent movement.

     But Suzanne had spoken to him quietly the night before in her kitchen. She held his hand and gazed into his eyes as she told him how proud she’d been when he’d spoken up at the last
 meeting. She was glad he understood that some pain was necessary, or else people wouldn’t react.

     “The sheep,” she said, “will keep walking down the chute unless something scares them. Only then will they open their eyes and see where they’re headed.”

     Richard didn’t respond. He knew that even scared sheep couldn’t stop themselves from going to slaughter, but he didn’t want to contradict her. She saw his hesitation and asked him if he was afraid, with a look that told him she would only accept one answer.

     “Of course not,” he lied, looking down to avoid her searching gaze. “I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.”

     “What else can we do, Richard? The public is so apathetic they can’t be shaken out of their torpor with clever slogans and colourful signs.”

     She brushed the hair out of his eyes and bent her head to look into his face.

     “Without some pain they’ll never see that the administration is run by militarists and elite industrialists who are happily enriching themselves while families are poisoned by the very air and water around them.”

     Now Richard stood inside the library’s entrance, remembering her words, and smelling her perfume like she was still holding his hand.  He watched as his fellow students trudged in and out of the building.  Most carried small waist-packs containing their study discs and maybe some nutri-snacks under their slickers. He worried that somebody would wonder why his pack looked bulkier than everybody else’s. Surely nobody would expect him to be carrying an actual textbook around. But nobody gave him a second look.

     In the street, in front of the RCMP station that was next door to the library, several patrol cars were parked. He watched as two Cons, their air-masks hanging from their belts, chatted amiably while they leaned against their cruisers. They were happy about something: one of them laughing out loud while squeezing his colleague’s arm, before they both strolled into the station.

  Richard wanted to imagine that they were laughing about an arrest they’d made, maybe some innocent and harmless old man, but he couldn’t. It was easier to hate a faceless administration than it was two buddies sharing a laugh. Whatever passion he’d felt in Suzanne’s apartment had dissipated. This would have been easier for him if his heart was still full of anger, but there was no turning back.

     He looked at the antique digital clock on the library wall: it was 9:45 AM. They’d told him to plant the bomb at 10 o’clock, five minutes before the planned detonation, to minimize the risk of discovery. But his heart was beating too rapidly, and he could feel the sweat pouring down his face. He was sure he’d faint if he had to wait much longer.

     Nobody’s going to find it anyway, he told himself, as he placed the waist-pack behind a bench near an exterior wall.

The detonation was set to expand outward, toward the police detachment, and not inward where the students were crowded into a tight space. Still, the chances of some of them being seriously injured, maybe even dying, were fairly high.

      He repeated to himself some of Suzanne’s arguments that he’d memorized as a mantra: All shortages are tools of the administration; hungry people must pay more for food; there’s always someone else to blame.

     He took a deep breath and told himself that it had to be done. After this act of defiance the administration would have to take them seriously. And Suzanne would know that he was a real man.

     He just hoped that nobody he knew would get hurt.

Face/Mask can be bought on Amazon.com at

http://www.amazon.com/Face-Mask-Mr-Gabriel-Boutros/dp/1500994383/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

or on Amazon.ca at:

http://www.amazon.ca/Face-Mask-Gabriel-Boutros-ebook/dp/B00Q644AWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420063513&sr=8-1&keywords=face%2Fmask+boutros

You can read about all my fiction on my author site at:

http://storiesbygabrielboutros.weebly.com/

Or follow me on Facebook, at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stories-by-Gabriel-Boutros/1727472844143732?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Review of Long Road Home by Mary Jane Morgan

 Long Road Home by Mary Jane Morgan

 

Brett and Megan are complex characters, facing real world problems, and their love connection with each other is believable, gripping, and complicated. The emotional conflict is well developed and believable-it pulled me in and held me as I rooted for them to succeed by overcoming obstacles. The characters, setting, and dialogue are rich and believable.

The author either did her research or knows her stuff which adds authenticity to her story and makes it very engaging. I enjoyed this book a great deal and was satisfied with the ending. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a story full of twists and turns, sex, mystery, and true love. This book has it all and more! It is like a modern day Romeo and Juliet set on a horse farm.

 

 I would give this a solid four stars.

 

Amanda Siemen

Gabriel Boutros

We are having a giveaway going on for a free paperback or e-book copy of Face/Mask. (Anyone can win the item by going to the rafflecopter on the right hand side of the pg.)

First why dont you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m happily married with two sons who are threatening to eat me out of house and home as they move through their teenage years. I live with my family in Montreal, where I practiced criminal law for 24 years. I love to read all sorts of styles and genres of books, and I think this has served me well in my fledgling writing career.  Along with two full-length novels, I’ve written a novella and several short stories, in genres that range from horror, to fantasy to crime fiction. If I like to read in all sorts of genres and styles, you can be sure that I also write that way.



Newest release?
My latest novel is Face/Mask, which I call “a brainy dystopian drama.” It’s a story that is set in Montreal 25 years into the future, and is about everyday people living in a decaying and oppressive society, and how the poisonous environment around them is reflected in their own behaviour. In writing Face/Mask I was more interested in examining the actions of normal people placed in impossible circumstances, than in heroes with special powers who try to overthrow tyrannical governments.The title refers both to the masks people have to wear in order to survive the toxic air, as well as the masks they wear to hide their true natures.

What can we expect from your stories: action, drama, romance, sex, blood and guts?
My stories are not very action-filled. I think of them as dramas, about realistic people who are faced with decisions that can have consequences for themselves as well as for many people around them. In my first novel, The Guilty, the lead character is a lawyer having doubts about his profession and the violent people he represents. In Face/Mask, the lead character lies to his family and cheats on his wife in order to find some excitement in his monotonous life, then has to deal with the fall-out from his actions. There’s some sex, but no blood and guts beyond the way we tear ourselves up inside over the things we do to each other.

Do you have a favorite character in your stories? Who? and Why?
In Face/Mask my favourite character is named Giuseppe (Uncle Joe) Pizzi. He is the uncle of my main character, Allen Janus’s, wife. When I originally conceived him he was very two-dimensional. He was a very kind, if somewhat interfering older relative, whose main purpose was to act as an irritant to Janus, leading Janus into doing something to hurt him. However, as the story unfolded, I began to develop a back story for Uncle Joe, which had him being much more active in anti-government actions, and he became a much more strong-willed person with hidden depths of character. He stopped being merely a victim to events, and became someone who could take control of what was happening around him.

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book or series:
In Face/Mask much of the story revolves around the increasingly toxic environment on Earth and the health problems caused by this. I knew absolutely nothing about this topic when I set out to write the book, but I learned a lot as I researched topics such as damage to the ozone layer, various respiratory diseases, and so on. I found many quite scary scientific reports about  what we’re doing to our planet and how this affects us; I incorporated fictionalized versions of these reports into my story, taking the facts they set out and projecting them 25 years into the future to show what might happen if we don’t change many of our polluting habits. I haven’t become an environmental activist by any means, but I am certainly more aware of the problems our planet faces than I was before. (OK, those facts weren’t really fun.)

Have there been any other authors who have inspired your work or helped you out with your stories?
This isn’t an easy question to answer because it makes me feel that, if a writer “inspired” something that I wrote, then maybe I was trying to do what he or she has already done. I’ve read and loved a wide variety of authors who wrote in many different genres. While I admired their work, whether because of the stories they told or the quality of their prose, I’ve had to be careful to not unconsciously imitate them. Perhaps I would have been more successful if I did, but it was always important for me to write in as distinctive a voice as I could, and to avoid telling stories that have already been done before and better by others.

What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?
Like most authors I would like readers who enjoyed my book to tell others about it, whether it’s directly to their friends, or to the on-line community through reviews and comments. Most indie writers, like me, work on a limited budget, which means no expensive marketing campaign. So, word of mouth, especially through comments on Amazon, Goodreads or blogs and sites like this one, are essential to us.

Do you have any tips for readers or advice for other writers trying to get published?
For readers I would only say read with an open mind; don’t limit yourself to one genre or style of books. You’d be surprised what you might like if you give it a try.For writers, especially other indies, when you finish writing your manuscript, reread, revise and rewrite it again and again. And then get it proofread and edited by someone else. It’s vital that we put out polished products for those readers who are willing to spend their money on writers who aren’t conventionally published. If our books are full of typos or badly-written, readers will simply ignore self-published writers, and many excellent, deserving books will fade into obscurity.

Do you have a favorite author? If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?
One? Why does it have to be one? I love Charles Dickens for his empathy and understanding of the human condition; I love Stephen King for his lurid imagination and his knowledge of what scares us all; I love Raymond Chandler for his clean, spare prose; I love Frank Herbert for his vision of new worlds and his creation of new mythologies; I love Ian Rankin, and Margaret Atwood, and Joseph Conrad, and John Le Carré, and on and on.What all these writers and so many others have in common is their ability to tell stories. They may be silly or serious stories, they may be written in a florid or a simple style, they may be about external forces that attack us or internal forces that motivate us; but they’re all simply well-told stories.

Can you remember one of the first things you wrote? What makes it memorable?
I wrote a short story in high school, which I think I still have in a shoebox somewhere. What I remember is that it was a satire about politics, told from a very ignorant and innocent point of view, and that I tried to shock my teacher with my non-conformist opinions. If memory serves, she was not impressed.

Where do you gather most of the inspiration for your work?
In my first novel, The Guilty, I drew on many of the experiences I had as a defence attorney. The book was about a murder and the ensuing trial, and I based it on a case that I actually defended in my practice, although I changed some of the facts (and names, obviously) for dramatic purposes.
In Face/Mask many of the minor, household problems that my main character confronts were drawn from my own life. But this character is not a very nice person (I like to think I’m a bit nicer than him), so what I did was imagine myself reacting to these problems in the worst possible way, and that’s what I wrote in the book.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies, pets or stories you would like to share?
Nope. I’m a boring guy, which is why I write fiction. If my life were more interesting I’d write a best-selling memoir, but that’s unlikely to happen. (Did I mention that I’m a huge fan of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team? But in Montreal that isn’t a hobby, that’s a religion unto itself.)

Favorite places to travel or visit?
Any place where there is sun and a beach. We had our first snow storm this year in mid-November, so you can believe me when I tell you that by January the only thing anybody will be thinking of is getting away to sunnier climes. Ask me this again in June, I might give you a better answer.

And now, before you go, how about a snippet from your book that is meant to intrigue and tantalize us: (Include links to where we can find your work)


Blurb:
Montreal in the year 2039. Like most major cities, the air is poisonous. On the other side of the planet, the war on terror rages with no end in sight. A devastating attack on Canadian soil leads to the installation of a militaristic administration. Civil rights are curtailed and the justice system is rife with corruption. In the middle of this decaying world lives Allen Janus: husband, father, bureaucrat and backstabber. In a moment of petty vindictiveness he will betray the people who love him, setting the lives of everyone in his family on a tragic course.


Face/Mask can be bought on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Face-Mask-Mr-Gabriel-Boutros/dp/1500994383/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
or on Amazon.ca at: http://www.amazon.ca/Face-Mask-Gabriel-Boutros-ebook/dp/B00Q644AWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420063513&sr=8-1&keywords=face%2Fmask+boutros

You can read about all my fiction on my author site at: http://storiesbygabrielboutros.weebly.com/
Or follow me on Facebook, at:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stories-by-Gabriel-Boutros/1727472844143732?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Review of Killshot by Aria Michaels

Killshot
Aria Michaels

Losing a parent is rough at any age, let alone losing both. Olivia and her little brother Beans is experiencing that pain at the ages of 17 and 8 years old. They were both separated and sent to live with foster families. As Liv moves thru the motions of day to day life she has 3 goals, get thru school, get a job and get beans and leave town for a new life for them both.

Liv's best friend and foster sister Riley keeps her going day to day. Riley is what Liv needs while working towards her goal, she is spunky and full of energy ! Riley has organized a rooftop party to view Icarus solar flare, its a once in a lifetime kinda of view. Riley has set Liv up with Zander, when their eyes meet they hit it off. All troubles are set to the back burner. . . . . for just a short moment. . .  .

A massive solar eruption hits, a solar storm causing sweltering hot heat, radiation and a virus. Liv and her friends are seeking shelter in the school basement, but will soon need to venture out and see who has survived this nightmare. Her thoughts are with her brother, beans, did he survive and will they survive . . .

First thing I have to say is when you start this book, be prepared to finish it !  I started it and had to put it down and it was rough! Aria writes us into a world with hot smoldering flames and destruction everywhere. Its not hard to picture the world at its most destructive time. My heart went out to each and every character has they fight to survive. This novel is as real as they come ! My heart stopped many times, it was so real I felt myself sweating ! LOL ! Great read and well worth the time in reading it :)

5 heat felt stars
Wende