SECRETS OF A DANGEROUS WOMAN By pm terrell

Welcome p.m. terrell to the blog!She will be awarding a Celtic Open Knot necklace to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. But first, p.m. answers my ten.

 

Follow the tour and comment; the more they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/05/name-before-masses-secrets-of-dangerous.html

 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Woohoo! You are a published author. Describe a strong character trait you possess, good or bad, and how it helped you become a published author. I believe the one character trait that helped me more than any other was my determination not to give up. I’d wanted to be a published author since I was nine years old, and even though my life took turns I never could have imagined, I never gave up on that goal. I found that writing the book was the easy part; finding a publisher was a daunting, challenging task. My first book was published in 1984, and now, looking back at more than 18 books and more in various stages, it’s been a ride I am very glad to have taken.

 

Sometimes an author begins writing a story before they are aware of its genre. Did you choose your genre, or did it choose you? I’ve written in four genres, and three of the four chose me. My first books were non-fiction computer books; the publisher sought me out after reading some of my articles in computer magazines.

But I’d always wanted to be a writer of suspense, so that was definitely the genre I chose. It’s been the most difficult to break into, though, as there are so many books being released in the suspense and mystery categories.

I’ve also written two historical suspense based on the true story of my ancestor, Mary Neely, who was captured by Shawnee warriors in 1780 in what is now Nashville, TN. My family begged me to write those books to preserve the story of Mary’s courage and will to survive, and those two (River Passage and Songbirds are Free) have consistently been my bestsellers.

Then a few years ago, a publisher asked me to write a book on promoting fiction, because I was doing so well at it.

 

The plot thickens, or does it? Which one are you, a pantser or a plotter? I am definitely a plotter, but I don’t write down outlines or have masses of index cards. I plan the crime first, and then I determine what the fatal flaw will be in carrying it out, and which character is best for the telling of it. In my Black Swamp Mysteries series, I have several main characters I go back and forth with: a computer hacker, a CIA psychic spy, a CIA operative, and a political strategist. Depending on the crime and the plot, I pick one of those as the main point of view, and go from there.

 

Fear 101: As writers it is our duty to make our characters face their fears. Have you ever included one of your own fears in a storyline? I do have a fear of being abducted, though oddly that fear largely went away while I was writing of my ancestor’s true capture by Shawnee Indians. As a child, I was constantly in fear of being kidnapped. Today, I can’t read anything that deals with brutality directed at a child or an animal, or anything involving torture or captivity.

 

Fear 102: Yes, deadlines are terrifying. Have you conquered the juggling act between writing and the rest of your life? What do you do when it feels like the balls are dropping all around you? I’ve been a full-time writer since 2002, and the way I look at it is many people have full-time jobs that they must go to regardless of what is happening in their lives. When I am facing deadlines and I know there are others in the chain dependent on me meeting my deadlines—from the editors to the graphics artists and marketing department—I know, whatever happens, I will have to pull through. I also have become adept at compartmentalizing.

 

Where is your favorite place to write? Add that one comfort food that you can’t do without. My favorite place to write is in a recliner across from one of my aquariums, in which I have a number of ten-inch tall freshwater angelfish. There is something very soothing in the way they move. Sometimes that isn’t possible, so I can always fall back on my office, which is separated from my house, and my desk.

Regardless of where I am writing, I always find I do better with chocolate!

 

Writing inspirations? I find inspiration everywhere, from the people I meet to the places I drive past, to the stories I hear and the newspaper articles I read. My challenge is not having enough time to write all the stories that swirl around in my head.

I will frequently peruse declassified documents, also, when I am working on a CIA-based plot. Truth is always stranger than fiction, and it’s amazing some of the missions that our government and others have been involved in.

 

I’ve gone mad – why don’t you come with me? Some people just don’t understand us writers. Name a quirky, writer-thing you do that friends wish you didn’t. Nobody has complained to my face but I’m sure I’ve raised a few eyebrows by thinking of the characters in my books as real. They have to become real to me in order to convincingly write about them. In my earlier work, the characters fell by the wayside after each book—like houseguests who only visit once. But with the Black Swamp Mysteries series, they’re like roommates who have moved in permanently!

BLURB:  

Dylan Maguire is back and in his first mission with the CIA he must interrogate a recently captured Brenda Carnegie. But when she escapes again, it’s obvious that she’s had help from within the CIA’s own ranks. With Vicki Boyd’s psychic help, he must locate her again—and find out why some in the highest levels of government want her dead while others will risk everything to help her. And when he finds out her true identity, his mission has just become very personal.

EXCERPT:  

Dylan placed a hand on each knee and pulled her legs apart to reveal a slim, homemade knife holder wrapped around her thigh. Inside the sheath had been a serrated nylon composite knife, but one of the rivets had popped loose, allowing the knife to come through the sheath. Now he could clearly see nearly two inches of the blade embedded just underneath her skin.

He looked back at Brenda’s face. She’d grown pale and was watching him.

“You’re supposed to wear these just below the knee,” he said calmly.

“Pull my pants down a little bit further.”

He complied, revealing two empty knife holders, one at the top of each calf.

“They took the knives,” she said.

He turned his attention back to the knife embedded in her. “I don’t normally see a nylon knife worn like this.”

“It won’t set off metal detectors.”

“How long has it been like this?” he asked.

“Four days.”

“And you’ve been sittin’ here like this ever since?”

“Well, not here,” she said. Beads of perspiration had popped out across her arched brow.

He looked at the table and then back at her. He glanced toward the door but it didn’t open and Sam didn’t join him. “I’m goin’ to cuff you to that table there. You’re goin’ to lie there and I’m goin’ to pull this thin’ out o’ you. It’s not goin’ to be pleasin’ and I can’t give you anythin’ for the pain.”

She nodded.

“Think you can handle that?”

“I can handle anything you want to throw my way,” she said.

He retrieved the handcuff keys and when he returned to her chair, he leaned over her so his face was just inches from hers. “You can’t escape this room,” he said. “You and I both know there’s only one way out.” He nodded toward the door. “And we both know we’re bein’ watched. And once I take these cuffs off your legs, if you try to kick me, I can’t help you. And I guarantee the next person through that door won’t be helpin’ you, either. You’ll just make thin’s worse for yourself.”

She looked at him blankly.

“Are you understandin’ me, Woman?”

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

p.m.terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 18 books in 4 genres. A full-time author since 2002, she previously opened and operated two computer companies in the Washington, DC area. Her specialties were in the areas of computer crime and computer intelligence and her clients included the Secret Service, CIA and Department of Defense as well as local law enforcement. Computer and spy technology are two themes that recur throughout her books. She is the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness of the link between high illiteracy rates and high crime rates. And she founded the annual Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair which takes place each February.

 

Author’s website: www.pmterrell.com

Author’s blogs: www.pmterrell.blogspot.com and www.vickisangelfish.com (inspired by the angelfish “front” used by the CIA in the Black Swamp Mysteries series)

Twitter: @pmterrell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.p.m.terrell

Amazon Links: Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Dangerous-Woman-p-m-terrell/dp/1935970054/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366639398&sr=8-1&keywords=secrets+of+a+dangerous+woman  Ebook: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Dangerous-Woman-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008RAYYWU/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1366639398&sr=8-1

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/210269

Nook (Barnes and Noble): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-of-a-dangerous-woman-p-m-terrell/1106764783?ean=2940044754027

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/secrets-of-a-dangerous-woman/id550852837?mt=11