https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/10/vbt-parkers-choice-by-mike-nemeth.html

Mike Nemeth will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Author Interview: Mike Nemeth

1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?

I grew up reading murder mysteries so it was the one genre I knew how to plot. But I’ve always been fascinated by how people fall in love, how fate plays such a big role, so I tuck a love story inside the murder mystery and get a romantic mystery.

I always start a new book with a theme – what do I want to say about society, the human condition, the state of civilization. Then I concoct a plot that makes the point and finally, I cast characters to play the roles just as a director casts actors for a movie. In the case of Parker’s Choice, I wanted say something about how easy it is for law enforcement and the judicial system to get it wrong and how scary it is to be caught up in the systems’ grinding machinery. In my opinion, the justice system needs a complete overhaul.

2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle, or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?

Write what you know has always been my mantra, My life experiences have been the raw material for my stories and I’m grateful for the life I’ve lived. Hemingway said something to the effect: If you want to write about life, first you must live life. I believe that.

I was the first child and my parents definitely experimented with parenting approaches and behaved far differently with my younger siblings. At the same time, I was adventurous and constantly tested their boundaries. They had three children and we are all very different. Professionally, I was an overconfident risk-taker.

3. Where is your favorite place to write?

I read that Stephen King wrote his early novels on the washer and dryer in his laundry room because they were the only flat spaces in his house. I thought if he could do it, so could I. My first two novels were written on airplanes and in hotel rooms as I traveled the world on business. Now I have a home office and a Belgian Shepherd who lies beside my desk. I still take notes in my phone whenever ideas come to mind no matter where I am.

4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?

I’ve only literally killed a darling once and she was probably better off away from her husband. Twice I’ve metaphorically killed darlings and both times they went on to better lives.

5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?

Elmore “Dutch” Leonard was my favorite author for decades. He’s now passed but had I met him, I’d have asked how he gets readers to care about his delusional, petty crooks.

6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.

I have absolutely no handyman skills beyond taking out the trash.

7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?

A battery-powered marine radio with which to broadcast an SOS and two jars of peanut butter to nibble until I’m rescued.

8. If you could have one superpower in your existence, what would it be?

Dunk a basketball.

9. Favorite snack?

Beer. Well, okay, Cheetos with the beer.

10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit?

I’m a plotter not a pantser so I always know where I’m going.

Parker’s Choice

by Mike Nemeth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE:   Romantic Mystery

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Framed by cops and chased by crooks, a white ex-con and a rebellious black woman become fugitives. They didn’t plan to fall in love.
After serving time for a crime he didn’t commit, Parker and his wife, Paula, hide from an old enemy in an Atlanta suburb. Their fresh start is disrupted when his new boss demands his involvement in a fraudulent scheme that will replace thousands of white-collar American workers with artificial intelligence and offshore labor. Parker unfortunately suspects his secret and elusive birth father is mixed up in the fraud. Then a body is pulled from the Chattahoochee River and Parker believes Paula has murdered his enemy, but the police think Parker did it. He and his brilliant colleague, Sabrina, a woman who can trace her roots to Virginia slaves, steal the “smoking gun” that will expose the fraud and go on the run, pursued by cops and crooks. After a violent showdown in a frightening New Orleans cemetery, they connect the dots between a murder, fraud, and a man from his mother’s past. Parker’s loyalties are torn, but he must choose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

“You’re wrong, Paula, I’m not having an affair.”

“You’re lying, Parker, and you’ll regret it.”

“Your drinking has ruined our marriage. You have to get sober.”

“I should have divorced you while you were wearing pinstripes.”

“That would have saved us our current mess, wouldn’t it?”

“Screw you. I’ll figure out how to escape.”

Parker forced himself to calm down. “How long do you have to stay?”

“Till I’m sober, imbecile.”

Parker recoiled, then decided that maybe he deserved some abuse. “Ah, sure. I mean, how long is the program?”

“Twenty-eight freaking days. It’s already been a nightmare, filling out forms, stripping for a physical, peeing in a cup. It’s demeaning.”

“Hang in there, Paula. It will be worth it.”

She sucked in and exhaled smoke. At rehab, they let you substitute one addiction for another. “I’ve gotta go,” Paula said. “Group therapy session. Should be a barrel of laughs.”

“Wait. Have you heard from the police?”

“Nope. We can’t have cell phones in here, might arrange for someone to break us out, so Jordyn is holding it for me. We’re allowed one call today, like we’ve been arrested, then no more calls for the first two weeks.”

“The police will ask you about your gun.”

She paused to think about his warning. “Well, they’ll have to wait for visiting hours. It’s just like prison.”

“They recovered Grace Walker’s body from the river.”

A long pause, a smoker’s hacking cough. “Good,” Paula said. “She was evil.”

“Did you shoot them both?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Mike Nemeth, a Vietnam veteran and former high-tech executive, writes love stories tucked inside murder mysteries highlighting America’s social issues. THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY won the Beverly Hills Book Award for Southern Fiction and the Frank Yerby Prize at the Augusta Literary Festival. The novel inspired singer/songwriter Mark Currey to compose the song Who I am. PARKER’S CHOICE won a Firebird Award for thrillers and American Fiction Awards for Diverse and Multicultural Mystery/Suspense, and for  Romantic Mystery/Suspense. Other credits include The New York Times, Georgia Magazine, Augusta Magazine, Southern Writers’ Magazine, and Deep South Magazine. In 2018, I was named Atlanta’s Best Local Author by Creative Loafing magazine. Mike lives in Villa Rica with his wife, Angie, and their rescue dog, Scout.

Social Media Links:

www.mikenemethauthor.com

Facebook/mikenemethauthor

X (Twitter): @nemosnovels

Instagram: @nemosnovels

Buy Link (PARKER’S CHOICE):

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Parkers-Choice-Mike-Nemeth-ebook/dp/B0BW4XQRB2/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a Rafflecopter giveaway