Danita Minnis

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Austin S. Camacho will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

 

Austin Camacho Interview

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

I write thrillers and mysteries because I love to read them. I have been a big fan of action and suspense stores since I devoured the Tarzan books and James Bond in high school. What inspired this book was being invited to submit to an anthology called Insidious Assassins. The character I created for a story in that book, Skye Maddox, was so interesting to me, I had to give her a novel, which will grow into a series.

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

I am an only child which gives me a specific view of society. I am comfortable working alone, as are most of my lead characters. I also think that being an only child with two working parents made me very independent and self-reliant. I have also heard that only children often have above average communication skills. Maybe that’s how I turned out to be a writer.

3. Where is your favorite place to write?

I do most of my writing in my small office at a big, antique desk which was a gift. The desk is special because it has a number of hidden, locked compartments. On the walls are a number of awards from my military and federal service (Good to see when I start to doubt myself) a painting of a beach I once vacationed on (very calming) and a painting from a special friend of the home of my fictional detective Hannibal Jones.

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

When I write a first draft I let it flow naturally. Sometimes that results in prose I’m very proud of. It also occasionally results in words and even paragraphs that don’t advance the story or reveal characters. When I do the rewrite I am merciless about removing anything that doesn’t advance the story. A pretty turn of phrase can kill the pacing. However I never throw anything away. I have a file in which I save these snippets because they can come in handy in another story.

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

I don’t have one favorite author and I’ve met most of those on my favorites list: Jeffrey Deaver, Gillian Flynn, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, S.A. Cosby, Val McDermid, Karin Slaughter… One I haven’t met is Dennis Lehane. His books often hinge not of action but on moral questions. I would love to ask him about his own past, and how that plays into the moral dilemmas that drive his plots.

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

Most of the things that no one knows… there’s a reason no one knows them. But one thing I am willing to share is that I was a broadcast journalist in the army. During that time I made a lot of connections in the Special Operations community. Writing military news I was often briefed by them on what I could NOT report. When I started writing thrillers these people turned out to be valuable resources, not just about techniques and weapons, but about how certain situations feel.

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

A multi-blade knife. It’s like carrying a complete tool kit.

A length of nylon rope. It makes building a shelter and animal stares a lot easier.

A flare gun. I don’t intend to be stranded forever and when a ship goes by I want to make sue they know I’m there.

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

I would want the ability to heal anyone’s injuries and illnesses, including my own. This way I could live a long healthy life and keep my friends and loved ones with me for some extra decades.

9. Favorite snack?

Potato chips. NOT barbecue, jalopeno, dill, salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, cheddar, seaweed or any of the other perversions potato chips have been subject to. This snack doesn’t need anything but a little salt. They just need to be thin and light.

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

My standard highway speed is five MPH over the posted limit. Unless someone speeds past me. Then I follow him. If he zips past a cop I just slow down and let him get the ticket.

Skye Maddox is a contract assassin driven by both personal demons and professional discipline. Hired by grieving father Milo Williams to hunt down the chain of men responsible for his son’s death, Skye takes on a mission that escalates into a war with Washington, D.C.’s most dangerous underworld figures led by a man known only as Hetman. As she climbs Milo’s ladder of revenge, Skye uncovers a web of corruption that links drug dealers, judges, mobsters, and even international crime syndicates.

The story escalates through brutal shootouts, betrayals, and psychological games, as Skye pushes deeper into Hetman’s empire. Each success makes her a bigger target. In the end, she must weigh the cost of finishing Milo’s revenge against the danger of becoming just another expendable weapon in someone else’s war.

Read an Excerpt

When Jayla stood, Skye raised a palm to stop her. “Yes. Yes, all right. I just finished an assignment, but it was part of a larger contract so I’m feeling like both the situations you mentioned. I’m on the job, and I just took a player off the board.”

Jayla jotted in her notebook. She always collected the euphemisms Skye used for her profession. “So, tell me about this latest assignment. How do you feel about this player you’ve taken off the board? Was it, in your mind, a just action?”

“You always want to go there,” Skye said, shaking her head. “What did I tell you? The first rule of the assassin’s doctrine. The target has got to deserve it.”

“Oh, yes,” Jayla said with a half-smile. “Your job, while criminal, does have rules

“I misspoke earlier,” Skye said, sliding a slim dagger out of her boot. “It’s not a job. It’s a profession. All professions have their rules. For doctors, rule number one is ‘do no harm’, right? For an assassin, it’s that the target has got to deserve it.” Skye began to absently flip the dagger in the air, catching it by its tip each time. “In this case, this bastard kidnapped my client’s son. I don’t know how they got him. My client kept his family totally under the radar. But once he got the ransom demand, the client agreed to pay, and the ransom money was in transit but not fast enough to suit the kidnappers. They killed the boy, I think just to make a point. Just to be snotty. The action took place overseas and no way the police would ever have gotten close to the killer.”

Jayla nodded. “I think I understand. So, you were hired to…”

“Correct the balance,” Skye said, standing.

About the Author:

Austin S. Camacho is the author of eight novels about Washington DC-based private eye Hannibal Jones, five in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the detective novel Beyond Blue. His short stories have been featured in several anthologies and he is featured in the Edgar nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. He is a past president of the Maryland Writers Association, past Vice President of the Virginia Writers Club, and one of the creators of the Creatures, Crimes & Creativity literary conference.

Website: https://ascamacho.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572508767550
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ascamacho135
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-camacho-1a5a622/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FV6FYVZK
B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/true-target-austin-s-camacho/1148461145?ean=9798988533351/br>