POOR BRETT !!

It appears more and more obvious, as time goes on, that leading the life of a SUPREME UNSCRUPULOUS BASTARD has its definite disadvantages!


Several months ago, a gentleman who had just finished reading "BRETT GETS HAMMERED" told me in a private e-mail that, at one point in the novel, Brett made him so angry that he felt like punching him right in the face !!!


Now -- in this recent review of "WEDDING BELLS FOR BRETT" -- a young woman makes this statement at the end of her review:


"I really liked this book, as it was filled with humour, and had me laughing right till the end. I'd like to wring Brett's neck and bring him down a peg or two!"   (Italics mine.)


Poor, poor Brett! One person wants to punch him right in the face, while another person would like to wring his neck!

And to think:   I created this monster!


Brett's response: "What do I care, when it's just so great, being me!"

DOUG PETRIE LOSES IT IN BRETT'S OFFICE (from "Brett Enters the Square Circle")

Here's the 2nd half of Chapter 23 of "BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE" (Brett Cornell Mystery #5), in which Brett delivers the report to his client (Doug Petrie) regarding the missing girl he's been hired to locate.

The paragraphs below (as usual) are told in the first-person, from Brett's point of view:

     And so, after arriving back home to shower and trim the old mustache, muss up the curls a little bit to give them that natural, unruly look, and everything else that needed to be done before leaving the apartment, I got back in the car and drove on over to my private office downtown. Then, upon getting my fine derriere ensconced in the old swivel-chair, I leaned back in utter comfort and relaxation, held the phone to my ear, and soon found myself speaking to good old Doug Petrie.

    “You’re back? Already?” the man exclaimed, quite astonished when he heard my voice and I told him that our “mission” had been accomplished.

     “Why act surprised, little guy?” I retorted. “This is Brett Cornell you’re dealing with here, not some two-bit private eye who don’t know his ass from his donkey.”

     “So? What – what can you tell me?” he said, and I could tell immediately that “nerved-up” was to be the emotion of the day, as usual, for Officer Petrie. Whereupon I told him to calm down, take a chill pill, and come on over to my office, so I could deliver my official report to him in person.

     “Well, can you at least tell me –“

     “Woops, gotta hang up! The two F.B.I. agents I contacted last week are on their way into my office right now to consult me on a top-secret government assignment we’ve recently been collaborating on, so give me another hour or so, then come on down.” And I dropped the receiver onto its hook, then straightened out the hairs of my mustache as I complimented myself on my ability to lie so convincingly and on the spur of the moment, too. Of course, in dealing with gullible saps like Doug Petrie, it was a lot easier to do than usual.

     And so, almost sixty minutes later on the dot, Petrie poked his head in, gave me a weak smile, and waited for me to finish blowing out just one more smoke ring before mashing out my cigarette, then I motioned him to come in and even invited him to take a seat.

     “That’s O.K., Brett, I’ll remain standing,” he said, twisting his cap nervously about between the fingers of both hands in front of him. (What else was new?) “I’m kind of – anxious – even worried about what you’re about to tell me – you know – about Stacey.”

     “Fine, just stand there then,” I told him,” but if I see piss start rolling down the side of your leg and out the cuff of your pants, I’m gonna make you lick it up off the floor before I let you leave this office.”

      “And? So?” Officer Petrie prodded me, uttering each word in a soft, but shaky voice.

      “In a word –“ I said to him, and then paused for sweeping dramatic effect, “ – I’ve found Stacey Ashton for you!”

      Instantly, instead of revealing an increase of nerves, the guy stiffened up, and he stared at me in disbelief – or so it seemed to me at the time.

      “You found her!” he finally blurted out. “You found her? Where? Where did you find her?”

      “Why, in Philadelphia, you stupid little Dumbelina!” I told him with a sharp, brittle laugh. “That’s where she told Melanie she’d be, and that’s where she told the old biddy she worked with she’d be, and sure enough, that’s where I found her.”

      “But how – that is, how could you possibly have known where to look for her?” the guy wanted to know, his brows knit but his hands holding tightly onto his cap without twisting it around in his fingers.

     “Well, this is the thing, man,” I replied with a slight shrug of my shoulders. “From the very beginning of this whole business, I got the impression that you and your slut sister never really had enough confidence in my abilities as a private detective. Am I right, or am I right?” I naturally didn’t give him time to answer that, neither was I the least bit curious as to how he’d respond to the question, anyways. “You just paid me a fair amount of money to go to Philly and locate this gal, I did just as you asked, and now you’re finding it hard to believe, ‘cause you don’t see how I could have possibly done it?” Then, without giving him any time at all to consider that question either, I took the photograph of Stacey Ashton out of my shirt pocket and tossed it across the room in his direction, knowing damned well that he’d reach down and pick it up from the floor as soon as he saw it land there. “There you have it, man. There’s a photograph of the gal in question.”

     Petrie, upon bringing the photograph closer so as to examine it as completely as he needed to, slowly ended up lowering it back down and, looking across at me with utter seriousness, he said to me,

     “Where did you get this?”

     “Is it her?” I shot back at him, just to avoid answering his question a little longer, thus increasing the odds of his actually wetting his pants while I did that.

      “Yes, it’s her – but that doesn’t answer the question: Where did you get this?”

      “It don’t matter where I got it. It’s her, right? Of course it is. You just admitted it.” Then I shifted my weight around slightly in my swivel-chair and smiled quite broadly at him. “But it don’t matter, either, if I tell you where I got it.” The guy seemed to perk up on the spot, so I told him,” I got it from her cousin.”

      “Her cousin?”

      “Don’t stand there, looking like such a damned idiot!” I couldn’t help saying to him. “Yeah, I got it from her cousin Vera, who lives in Philadelphia. I spoke to Vera, and I spoke to Stacey – and that’s about the size of it.”

     “And – Stacey’s all right? Nothing’s happened to her?” the guy asked me, and there was a slight glimmer of hope starting to come into his eyes right then and there.

     “She’s fine, man, and as loose as a goose in a noose – in a manner of speaking, of course,” I assured him. “The only thing is: She says she ain’t ever coming back here to Rhode Island.”

      Almost as though he hadn’t really heard what I’d just told him – or possibly it hadn’t really penetrated his thick skull, the man bit his lip for a moment, then smiled a bit weakly, and said to me,

     “So, she’s all right, you say. Nothing’s happened to her, right?”

      “Uh, I’m sorry I neglected to get her to sign a sworn affidavit to that effect, pal,” I retorted, starting to grow tired and impatient with this whole scene that was being enacted in front of me.  “You should be happy, though, knowing that she’s fine and nothing’s happened to her. Right?”

      Then, after a brief pause during which time Petrie didn’t seem to have the nerve to actually look me in the eye, he gradually put a smile on his face, agreed with me that he now had every reason to be happy, and then turned and went out the door.

      Feeling a bit exhausted, but slightly amused by the way the guy continued to carry on every time he stood in front of me in my office, I almost absent-mindedly took out another Marlboro, and then a match to light it with –

     -- and then Doug Petrie suddenly came storming back into my office.

     “You’re a goddamned liar!” he shouted at me, and then he rushed right up to my desk and flung the photo of Stacey Ashton on top of it. “I don’t trust you, man! And I don’t believe you! You’re just telling me all this, just to get me out of your hair!”

     “Get the –“ I started to tell him, without even raising my voice or getting the least bit perturbed.

     “She’s not in Philadelphia!” he then cried out, raising his voice in such a way that it went off-pitch and sounded almost strangulated. “She’s in Manhattan – visiting her father! She’s there, I just know it! – And I’ll pay you a thousand dollars to go there and find her and bring her back! A thousand dollars, Brett! Just think what you could do with all that money!”

       “Get out of my office,” was all I could think of to say to him. Well, on second thought, I toyed with the idea of suggesting that he find himself a good shrink who might be able to help him find his way back down to Planet Earth, but in all honesty, the guy was starting to creep me out.

       As it happened, though, I didn’t have to repeat my request that he leave my office. In fact, I didn’t really get a chance to speak another word to him, as he suddenly got a blank look on his face, and then he started backing away from my desk. Then, looking right at me but without really seeing me – or so it seemed – he kept backing away and said to me,

      “Just stay away from me from now on. I don’t trust you. I – I’m afraid of you -- and I’m afraid of what you might do to me –“

       Then he shut his lips tightly together, got a kind of stoned look on his face, and turned around to sort of stumble his way out of my office.

       I deliberately allowed a full sixty seconds to pass by without even making another move, in the event that he should suddenly decide to come back inside my office and launch another verbal attack against me --and if that were to happen, I’d immediately and personally put in the necessary call to the nearest psych ward and have them send somebody on over to take him away.

       But the sixty seconds passed, and I finally struck a match and lit the cigarette I’d placed between my lips when Petrie had left my office the first time around. Then, with my surroundings perfectly still and quiet, I smoked my butt in peace.

       But I certainly wasn’t at ease, as it slowly was beginning to dawn on me that I might never be able to put this whole affair behind me, since it was becoming more and more apparent that I might never figure out where Stacey Ashton’s body had been stashed.

       And yet – standing in the April sunlight a few months later – I realized that I should have known. I should have figured it out a lot sooner than I actually ended up doing.

Ciao for now, folks!

DAVE

BRETT/GINGER CONFRONTATION (from "DON'T MESS WITH BRETT")

Since serious moments hardly ever take place in the various comedy-mysteries that comprise the Brett Cornell Series -- and comic moments abound, certainly! -- I thought I'd highlight an unusually dramatic scene from DON'T MESS WITH BRETT (the last completed Brett book, so far).

After not having come face to face with each other after the moment, several months back, when he told her he hated her more than anyone else in his entire life, Brett and Ginger finally come face to face, when she appears unexpectedly in his private office.

As always, the writing is in the first-person (Brett's point of view).

It goes like this:

    She looked the same as ever – yet different, insofar as her hair was pulled back instead of hanging loosely the way I was used to seeing it. Her face looked whiter than usual, and there was hardly any make-up on it – not that she ever overdid the mascara and rouge and all that other crap, since she never needed to do that, given the fact that she possessed a natural beauty that never failed to take my breath away, whenever the moment would seize me – unexpectedly – and I’d realize that I was in the presence of one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever laid eyes on. And I had even come to regard her as a woman who was much too good for a lousy unscrupulous bastard like me, a woman who deserved a guy who would treat her like the golden beauty she actually happened to be – until Bailey’s words shattered that whole image on me and sent my spirits crashing down, down, down as far as they could go.

    I expected her eyes to convey the deep sadness and hurt that I’d been told she had experienced after my words of hate and rejection had cut deep into her very soul – but instead, I saw that those same dark eyes were alive with emotion. Could it be anger? Possibly even contempt? In any case, I still let slip out from between my lips the words that were the only ones I could utter just then.

    “You look – absolutely beautiful,” I said to her, forgetting for that one moment in time that I was the guy whose every feeling of any value had always remained buried so deep inside of me, that I never even knew such a one existed. But then – based on what happened after those words slipped out – I began to regret ever having betrayed my innermost convictions by expressing how I actually felt upon seeing her for the first time after all those months had passed by us.

    “I know I’m supposed to keep out of your sight – forever, as you put it,” she said to me, her voice sounding louder than mine had been when I told her how beautiful she looked. “And I know that you hate me more than anyone else you’ve ever hated in your entire life – which must be quite a lot, considering your shitty attitude towards everyone you ever meet –“

    “Ginger –“ That’s all I had a chance to say.

    “But that’s neither here nor there,” she continued. “Since you already hate me so much, I figured I’d might as well come over here this morning and tell you exactly how I’m feeling right now.”

    “I feel bad, too – “ And again, she interrupted me!

    “Oh, I don’t feel bad at all,” she came back with,” not nearly as bad as I did these past several months. No, Brett, darling, what I’m feeling right now is a combination of anger, scorn, and sheer indignation over the thought that you could have been so horribly STUPID as to believe what that animal told you when he had you up against the ropes at the end of the second round of that boxing match you had that afternoon.” I guess I looked like I was about to say something, because she immediately raised her voice at me and yelled,” Yeah! Stupid! You actually believed that grade-A piece of crap when he told you that he and I were having sex – Instead of trusting me and believing in what we had together, you immediately jumped to the conclusion that the words coming out of that stinking mouth of his were true – Instead of having faith in me, you were willing to put all of your trust in the words of a man you knew to be despicable, evil, and rotten to the core! I always knew that you could be headstrong and stubborn and downright impossible to deal with on many levels and on many, many an occasion, but I never thought you could be so incredibly STUPID!”

    “Hey, babe, what else could I think when he –“ (Yeah, I know, I got interrupted once again and probably deserved it.)

    “What else could you think?” she argued, and then she actually smiled; but it was an evil, gloating type of smile that churned my stomach when I saw it on her, of all people! “What else could you think, when you knew – when I told you – when I thought that there couldn’t be any doubt in your mind whatsoever that I was completely in love with you, as you were with me, as well?”

    I had no chance to be interrupted, because I was temporarily speechless.

    “That’s right, Brett. Don’t deny it. You were just as much in love with me as I was with you. I could feel it in the warmth of your embrace, in the touch of your hand upon mine, in the way you held me close to you after we’d solidified our passion for each other countless times in the privacy of our bedroom. But most of all, I saw it in your eyes every time I stepped into your line of vision. I saw and was moved by the expression of child-like delight that radiated from your eyes every time my eyes met yours. I knew you loved me, even though you wouldn’t say it and wouldn’t even admit to yourself that you loved me every bit as much as I loved you.

    “But you were willing to throw it all away,” she went on after a pause during which I said nothing, and we both turned away from each other. “You told me you hated me, and you never wanted to see me again, and I guess I’ll never forget that moment in time when the man I loved with my total soul directed those blistering words of hatred at me, and without even giving me the opportunity to find out what it was I was supposed to have done, let alone the chance to defend myself or tell my side of the story. You threw it all away – like it was all expendable, like it was utterly meaningless – what we had – together.”

    Was she crying? I looked back in her direction, but I remembered one of the things about Ginger that made her so different from Lola and most other women in my life: Ginger didn’t cry. Or, at least, she would only let the tears show visibly on ultra-rare occasions – like the time she first told me that she was in love with me.

    “And so today I finally learned what it was that I supposedly had done, that had earned me so much hatred from you,” she eventually continued, but unlike me, she refused to return her gaze in my own direction. “And besides the anger I initially felt over how stupid and foolish you were to have such little faith in me, I also felt tremendous sorrow over the fact that, because of it, we both have lost so much – so much that was so very, very precious – to the two of us -- Brett.”

    As weird as this may sound, I really needed a cigarette just then. I mean, my whole body was yearning for that nicotine fix which I erroneously believed would somehow alleviate the tension I was feeling at that time.

    But most of all? I needed to walk over to her and hold her in my arms and tell her I loved her.

    No! There was a good chance that I’d end up regretting such an action – big time! And besides, I’d be revealing a part of me that I’d vowed would always remain hidden, ever since I was just a little tadpole. . .

    But then the mood got broken when Ginger suddenly threw her head back and laughed with a mixture of contempt and insanity.

    “So, today was the day I finally found out why the supreme unscrupulous bastard of them all decided to ruin my whole life!” she exclaimed, and her eyes seemed to dance with a kind of demonic frenzy. “Today was the day a young cop by the name of Wes Lomax dropped in to see me – actually, to flirt with me while I was at work at the old dress shop not far from here – and when I rejected his amateurish advances, he came out with the horrible insinuation that I was known by most of the cops on the force as being free and easy, so why was I acting like such a damned prude, right? ‘Everyone knows you let Gil Bailey bang you the whole time you were going out with Brett Cornell,’ he says to me – and then, little by little, I get to learn the particulars about how you supposedly didn’t know anything about it, but how Bailey blurted it out during that fight, and that’s why you lost your cool and ended up attacking the referee and – “

    “Wes Lomax?” I snarled, and I came out from behind my desk.

    I must have looked pretty damned threatening just then, on account of Ginger backed away from me and put her arms out as if to shield herself from my imminent attack. So, I brought myself to a halt a few feet opposite her, but the anger and adrenaline were pulsating in every vein of my body the whole time I stood there opposite her.

    “Wes Lomax told you all that? And he tried making a pass at you?”

    “Oh, my God!” Ginger retorted, and again, there was something sinister about the way she suddenly broke out in laughter right after she said that. “Why should you be upset over that young cop making a pass at me? You were quick to believe that Bailey and I were having an affair –“

    “Wes Lomax is dead meat!” I told her, and I raised my right fist in front of me and then shook it practically right in her face. “I swear, I’m gonna kill that mother –“

    “That’s it!” Ginger railed at me, and then she actually pushed my fist back and away from her with a lot more force than I would have imagined her to be capable of using. “Get angry! Get mad, and take it out on Wes Lomax! Show me how much you care about me, Brett – how much you care about me and my honor and what we once had – But it’s too late, Brett! It’s too little too late!”

    “Ginger, I don’t care what you –“

    “That’s right! You think I don’t know that? You don’t care – about anything except your stupid anger, your stupid revenge, your stupid macho pride – You care about everything, don’t you, except the damage you’ve done to me and to what we once had!”

    “Ginger, no! I –“

    “It’s too late!” And now she was crying. For real! “It’s too late – I’m still hurting – and I don’t think I could ever love you or anybody else ever again –“

    “Ginger, listen!” I told her, but when I reached out with both hands so I could hold her and somehow stop her body from shaking with sobs just then, she let out a sharp cry and darted away from me as if being touched by me would be instantly toxic for her; and seconds later, she was out the door.

    I didn’t realize at first that she was really gone, and that she had actually left the entire building in the space of the next couple of minutes. All I was aware of was that both my hands were shaking – partly from anger, but also partly from an emotion I couldn’t really accurately categorize – and I needed a cigarette even more urgently than ever. So, I went back to my desk and plopped my weight down in the swivel-chair, hoping that my heart would soon stop pounding and I could return to a state of normalcy.

    I took out that cigarette, but my hand was shaking so much when I went to strike a match to light it with, that I gave up the whole idea of smoking, for the time being, at least.

    Then it hit me, when I raised my head and looked around the empty spaces of my private office and saw that Ginger was gone.

    Not only that, but also that I might never see her ever again.

Comments are most welcome!

Thanks!

DAVE

"PRECIOUS EMBRACE" -- COVER REVEAL !!!

CHECK THIS OUT !!!

Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17731156-precious-embrace

Cover Designer: Okay Creations http://www.okaycreations.com/

Precious Embrace Tagline:  “A new love, a missing child, a family found.”

Precious Embrace Synopsis: (Precious Embrace is Book Two in the Embrace Series)

A second divorce and a new baby wasn’t the vision Alison Hayes had for her future. Now a single mother with two young boys, she wants to focus on her kids and what’s left of her stagnate career.
When Detective Johnny Rhay Bennett breezes into her life with his country-boy accent, she wants to run. She doesn’t need another man in her life, or another reason to make people talk. But when her worst nightmare becomes a reality, Johnny is the only person who can pull Ali out of her despair, forcing her to stay strong and not give up hope of finding her missing child.

~~~

Who falls in love after a one-night stand? Johnny Rhay doesn’t believe it’s possible until it happens to him. With Nashville in his rear-view mirror, he’s determined to convince Alison she loves him too, even if it means moving to the West Coast.
Ali’s not easy, and she’s living on just this side of bitter after her divorce, but Johnny doesn’t care. He’s up for the challenge. At least, he believes he’s up for it until baby Micah is stolen right out from under his nose. Now Johnny has to keep it together and get that sweet little boy home safe before his dreams of having a family vanish too.

Links for Book One: Dangerous Embrace (if you want to post them)

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15748836-dangerous-embrace

Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Embrace-The-Series-ebook/dp/B009KVHBQG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_FA0Q

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dangerous-Embrace-The-Series-ebook/dp/B009KVHBQG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360097146&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dangerous-embrace-dana-mason/1113029974?ean=2940015543834

Kobo http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Dangerous-Embrace/book-jeum4whWsUC6ztBJnc6uSg/page1.html?s=nQxAYtDIO0at2UW7h6k7kg&r=1

Author info:

Dana Mason starting writing to prove to her computer geek husband and her math & science geek kids that she actually has a brain; it’s just a right functioning brain instead of a left. She’s lived all over the country and uses that experience in her writing and character studies. Her debut novel, Dangerous Embrace is the first in a contemporary romance series about a group of friends from Northern California who learn just how short life can be when you don’t hold on to what’s important.

When not writing, Dana specializes in professional development and training. She’s also a board member on the local Art’s Council and does what she can to support the art community.

Author Links:

Website: http://danamasonromance.com/

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/danamasonromance

Twitter: https://twitter.com/danamason06

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Dana-Mason/e/B009MDSGH0/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Publisher Author Page: http://www.sapphirestarpublishing.com/danamason

BEST REVIEW EVER !!!

When a book reviewer mentions you and your writing "in the same breath" as F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck, you just know that you're either DREAMING or you're reading the most wonderful review you could ever hope to be awarded as a writer!


The review in question is for "Why She Left Us" and can be seen on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, & also here:


http://3throughhistory.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/the-great-american-novel/

A candidate as "Great American Novel"  ??? 

Stranger things have been known to happen in one's life, so only time will tell!!!

In the meantime: A big THANK YOU to Ronald Fischmann who read the novel and wrote the review!

"WHY SHE LEFT US" -- March 9 Review

Although not a part of the Brett Cornell series of comedy-mysteries, my novel "WHY SHE LEFT US" has recently been receiving a bit of attention from the reviewers --

And so, here's the latest review that was posted on Amazon, written by a reader in New York, who gives it 4 stars and writes the following:

A Haunting Story of Love, March 9, 2013

By 

Mareena McGirr (Albany, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why She Left Us (Kindle Edition)

It was the summer of 1985, and Betsy, as the oldest of three sisters, was still young and inexperienced. However, she was longing to love someone and to be loved in return, when Wayne entered her life. Quiet, painfully shy, and lacking in proper social skills, he came across as a shady person to others because he was unable to look anyone in the eye. At the same time, while Betsy was desperately seeking the love and approval of a mother who never wanted her in the first place, events totally beyond her control claimed Betsy as their victim.

In the wake of these catastrophic events, those who were left behind are unable to cope with the enormity of her absence. 'Why She Left Us' is written as a series of diary entries, the events seen through the eyes of several different people. But at its center, 'Why She Left Us' by David Dennis is a love story that chronicles a romance that transforms the lives of two people who, for too brief a period of time, experienced the greatest happiness they had ever known.

After experiencing minor trouble getting into the story because of the multiple points of view, as well as the shifts back and forth in time from the summer of 1985 to the winter of 1986, I really started to enjoy this book. My difficulty with reading the story only lasted for the first couple of chapters or so, and then I got into the style of writing and was completely drawn into the story. I have to say that while reading this book I found exactly three characters to be entirely likable - the rest were characters that I became infuriated with, and wanted to slap or shake some sense into - figuratively, of course - at various points in the story.

Overall, I found this book to be truly haunting and give it an A! 'Why She Left Us' by David Dennis does contain strong language, implied sexual situations and drug usage, and is not for the faint of heart. However, I do recommend this book to others and look forward to reading more from David Dennis in the future.

Full Disclosure: 'Why She Left Us' by David Dennis read and reviewed by Mareena McGirr, an avid reader and book reviewer from Albany, New York. Many thanks to the author as I received a copy of this book for free from him.


Thank you, Mareena, for a wonderful, honest review!!!

     

THE NEXT BIG THING NEW YEARS BLOG HOP

So, just what is This Next Big Thing New Years Blog Hop? Most obviously, it is a blog hop. A chance to learn about the work of independent authors (in this case, me) at one blog while being provided a few links to the blogs of others who will (also this week) provide readers with a chance to learn about their work and find a few more links to even more authors. And so on. An author’s leap frog.
And so, the way I see it, This Next Big Thing New Years Blog Hop is about us. WE, the independent authors of the world, are are out there waiting for readers to discover our books in This New Year. This sort of self-promotional chain mail is our opportunity to both toot our own horns, share our achievements, and then pass the torch on to 5 other authors to give them the same luxury.
I was tagged for this blog hop by Barbie Herrera, who has my gratitude. Barbie is an upcoming author whose facebook page can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/bfy82wo

Please note: I was unable to find authors who were willing to "hop" onto this blog. Therefore, I have no links provided to other authors. However, I have provided links to a few authors who are answering these 10 questions at the same time as I am doing this. (see below)


THE NEXT BIG THING NEW YEARS BLOG HOP QUESTIONS:

1. What is the working title of your book?

The title of the book in question is "Why She Left Us."

2. Where did the idea come from?

The idea originally came from a huge drama I wrote when I was very young, with the main plot of this new novel being only of secondary importance in the original drama. I then proceeded to focus on this sub-plot, expand it, and thus, "Why She Left Us" finally emerged.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

That's a good question. As with other books I have recently published (the Brett Cornell Series), this novel does not fall neatly into any one category. I guess one might call it Literary Fiction with a strong element of Romance.

4. Which actors would you use to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Because my main characters are fairly young, I naturally would have to select actors and actresses who are fairly young. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with that many, being of the "older generation" myself. But of those I do know, I'd probably go with Emily VanCamp as Betsy, Nina Dobrev (of "The Vampire Diaries") as Monica, and Abigail Breslin as Ellen. That would take care of the three sisters in the novel. Their mother (Jean) would be somebody quite striking, like Angeline Jolie! As for the guys, Nicholas Hoult would be perfect for Carl, and Chris Hemsworth would make a great Wayne, although he may be just a bit too old for the part at this point in time.



Emily VanCamp as BETSY



Nina Dobrev as MONICA



Abigail Breslin as ELLEN



Angelina Jolie as JEAN



Nicholas Hoult as CARL



Chris Hemsworth as WAYNE


5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your work?

A young woman of innate goodness and boundless compassion is destroyed through the insensitivity and selfishness of unfeeling and unappreciative people.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

The book is already available, and was self-published.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The first draft of my manuscript was completed at almost breakneck speed, as I felt that the lives of my main characters were being held in the balance, so that I felt a desperate need to bring closure to the fates they were about to endure.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I've been told that portions of this work "read like Jane Eyre" which I find to be very flattering!

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I suppose it was a desire, on my part, to write something that would be alternately passionate and tender and to, most of all, move the reader emotionally and intellectually.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

I think that the pace of my novel accelerates to the point where, towards the end, it practically hurtles towards its dramatic and surprising conclusion. In atypical fashion, I then deliberately slowed down the pace of the final chapter, hopefully to give the reader some breathing space, before ending the whole novel at an altogether newer level of intensity.

Facebook page link for this novel: http://www.facebook.com/WhySheLeftUs

Amazon purchase page:http://www.amazon.com/Why-She-Left-Us-ebook/dp/B00AHYQ7LA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357731415&sr=1-1&keywords=why+she+left+us



Please check out these other most excellent authors and be sure to visit their Next Big Thing blog posts. Happy New Year!

1. Steven Ramirez -- Blog: http://stevenramirez.com/

2. Author Luna Nightwyn -- Blog: http://books.nightwyn.com/node/2

3. Author Ronald Fischman -- Blog: http://3throughhistory.wordpress.com

4. Author Brian Rogers -- Website: http://www.byrogers.com/