Monday Morning Musings

First I want to invite you to visit the Bookbrowsing blog by PJ Nunn, where I am a guest today. I wrote about my experience collaborating on the mystery, Doubletake - the challenges and the fun. 

Next, I'm excited to share some news from Terry Odell, author of several mystery series. I especially like her Blackthorne, Inc. series and her latest, Windswept Danger, is available for preorder. To celebrate, she's offering Windswept Danger at a low introductory price of 99 cents. When it goes "live" on October 26th, it'll be $3.99. But if you'd like to have the book ready and waiting on your Kobo, Kindle, iPad or other compatible device, you can order it now.  You can read a sample chapter on her Website, and then decide if you want to order the book.

Buy at Kobo * Buy at Amazon * Buy at Apple

In case you missed my announcement last week, the revised edition of my YA  novel Friends Forever  is also available for preorder. Preording helps improve the book's ranking on Amazon, which is so important as we try to gain visibility for our work.

What I'm Reading: A fascinating book about the oil industry in South America. Law of the Jungle will be published on Sept 23 by Crown, and I was sent an ARC for review. It, too, is available for preorder. The book is about the 20-year legal war between indigenous tribe members in the rain forest in Ecuador and the multinational oil company Chevron. At the center of the tale is Steven Donziger, an American lawyer whose campaign on behalf of the Ecuadorians and the Amazonian environment went horribly awry.

I will be doing a review late in October, and so far I am finding the history and the facts quite intriguing.

What I'm Dismayed About: We hear a lot about the Keystone XL Pipeline and the dangers it poses in pushing Tar Sands Oil through pipes across the middle of America, but we don't hear enough about other pipelines that have already been approved, such as one by Enbridge that will go across Illinois. According to Doug Hayes, an attorney with the Sierra Club, “There’s been a pretty deliberate attempt to try and avoid the permitting process and public involvement. While everyone was paying attention to Keystone, there were all these other projects being approved behind closed doors.”

What I'm Happy About: We are only into our second week of full rehearsals for the original play "Bonnie & Clyde in Winnsboro" that I adapted and am directing, and already the cast is starting to get into character. Here is the Barrow Gang.

Clyde in front, Bonnie to his R. Brother Buck behind on R, Hank on L and Blanche on Hank's L

Now the Joke For the Day
A young man goes into a drug store to buy condoms. The pharmacist tells him that the condoms come in packs of three, nine, or 12, and asks which ones the young man wants. "Well," he says, "Ive been seeing this girl for a while and she's really hot. I want the condoms because I think tonight's the night. We're having dinner with her parents and then we're going out. Once she's had me, she'll want me all the time, so you'd better give me the 12 pack!"

The young man makes his purchase and leaves.

Later that evening, he sits down to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents. He asks if he may give the blessing and they agree. He begins the prayer, but continues praying for several minutes. The girl leans over and says, "You never told me that you were such a religious person."

He leans over to her and says, "You never told me that your father is a pharmacist."

Book Review - Night Train Express by Ed McGinnis

Night Train Express

Ed McGinnis
File Size: 442 KB
Print Length: 263 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00LBVPIYU

BOOK BLURB: Jack Harrington—actor, Vietnam veteran, business associate of Los Angeles underworld figures--finds himself in a precarious position: at least two people are trying to kill him. He knows who one of them is. But the identity of the second would-be killer is shrouded in mystery and that killer is targeting others as well.

The deaths seem unrelated to one another and to an earlier attempt on Harrington’s life…at first. Until Jack Harrington connects the crimes and races against time to follow the bloody, serpentine trail back to its very unlikely genesis: the chaotic Southeast Asia of nineteen years earlier and the involvement of Harrington and others in a fateful--and fatal—subplot of the Vietnam War.

The Night Train Express, carrying a bizarre cast of fellow travelers with fatally conflicting agendas, is gathering speed. Jack Harrington will require all of his intelligence, charm and acting skills, his connections in both high and low places and his hard-earned street smarts—as well as a great deal of luck--to avoid being crushed beneath its wheels.

As long as the story stayed with Jack, I really enjoyed it, but the POV switches a lot and it takes a long time to meet all the characters in the story. Then keeping them straight is a bit of a challenge. 

Once I got the characters all straight in my mind, I realized that I was really not liking some of the characters. I know the bad guys are the bad guys and we are not always supposed to like them, but the rogue police officers were way too ruthless for my taste and their scenes were so lengthy that I skip read a lot of those. Other readers might not have a problem with the graphic, ruthless scenes. What we enjoy reading is just a matter of personal taste, and the book is well-written.

The mystery and intrigue were compelling, and I did like some of the secondary characters. Penny the District Attorney was a complex personality, as was Anne, the neighbor who isn't as harmless as she first appears. There are touches of humor throughout the story, mostly from Jack's POV, and that made him an even more endearing character. 

I found the genesis of the title a most interesting plot line, and wanting to know what the Night Train Express meant to Jack kept me reading.

I think folks who like a sweeping story with lots of characters, several plot lines, and on-the-page violence, would enjoy this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ed McGinnis is the author of the novels Night Train Express, The Blue Route and Wildwood. He grew up in the shadow of the Blue Route, on the deceptively mean streets of suburban Philadelphia, where he encountered the sort of real-life characters that inhabit his fiction: shady politicians, pragmatic cops, outlaw bikers, drug dealers, gamblers, mob figures, murder victims and killers. He has worked as an ad agency copywriter, technical writer and editor, in market research and in various capacities in the hospital and health care industry. Ed lives in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. You can connect with Ed at his  Facebook author page his personal website  or his  Amazon author page and follow him on  Twitter 
  

Author Interview - J.H. Bogran

Today I am over at The Blood Red Pencil with some writing tips from the comic strips. Come on over and join the fun, but first say hello to mystery author, J.H. Bogran, today's Wednesday Guest at It's Not All Gravy. He's here today as part of his blog tour to celebrate the release of his latest story, The Assassin’s Mistress

Welcome to this little corner of cyberspace, Jose. Please tell folks a bit about yourself and what you write.

I’m J. H. Bográn, well, José for friends. I was born, and still live, in Honduras; a five-star country right in the center of the American continent. I grew up reading Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle among others. Then the works of Clive Cussler, Ken Follett, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and many other consummate professionals made be believe writing would be easy. Yeah, right. Anyway, it was too late to go back since I found the love talking—and paying attention—to my muse. My preferred genres are suspense and thrillers; however, I can’t help myself and always tinge my stories with a measure of romance.

1. If you could go back in time, what one thing would you change about yourself?

“If I could turn back time, if I could find a way, I’d take back those words that hurt you, and you’d stay.” I know it’s a song performed by Cher. The tune stuck in my head since I read the question so now I just passed the curse to you. Ha! 

Although I feel sorry for some of the mistakes I’ve made, I think I’ve learned from every single one of them. Yes, I’d like to go back and correct a few things, but I’m afraid those decisions would affect me and then I’d be someone entirely different and I guess I would still have regrets—albeit different ones—but regrets nonetheless. So, you know what? I just realized this is a trick question!

For the sake of argument, I’d go back and work harder to improve my school grades.

2. What was the first thing you ever had published?

The very first was a lame poetry dedicated to mothers for a newspaper contest. I was around eight years old at the time. At least I think the stuff was lame now, however, it won the third place. Go figure! My prize consisted of gifts from the sponsors, including a couple of 45 rpm vinyl records. Now go do the math on my age! : - )

3. What is the most unusual or interesting research you have done for your books?

I just came from a visit to The Big Easy. A cousin of mine lives in New Orleans, and he arranged a grand tour of the city, the night life, the wild life (I mean the swamps, of course). It was the first time I willingly walked into a police station to search for a cop. I met with the Sergeant in charge of the homicide division. With the help of some contacts, I was let in to a guided tour of the city morgue. Yes, this new novel has plenty of dead bodies.

4. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I’d love to go backpacking through Europe. Why? Well, like most people, I have my bucket list.

5. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Besides finding an agent and publisher? The initial rejection letters. They are form letters, but they hurt like hell. When I was starting, as a naïve and insecure amateur, I invariably tried to read between the lines and find codes or hidden insults. This was a mistake, of course (Can we go back to the time travel question). 

Now I understand the letters just meant I wasn’t ready. Once that settled in, I took the time to read and learn, hone the craft. Eventually, some of the form rejections changed or came with feedback. Then, when I least expected, a couple of “yeses.”

6.  What do you do for fun?

I’m a huge movie fan. Particularly "Star Wars", any movie with superheroes, "Star Trek",  the James Bond movies, and "Indiana Jones". Some of the dialogue I know by heart, and sometimes I catch myself quoting from them. 

Once I began a family, playing with my kids became a fun endeavor. One that has morphed from playing on the floor with cars and castles to going outside to play ball. They are also good at kicking my butt   in video games.

Music is the other companion in my life. I enjoy good performers: Frank Sinatra, Adele, Julio Iglesias, Alejandro Sanz, Eminem, and even some new stuff I got exposed to through my kids.

7. Where do your stories begin? With character or plot?

It depends. Sometimes I’d think of a plot, then I develop the idea and create the characters that would serve the story best.In other instances, I’d think of a character, a fully formed and defined character, then I’d agonize to find a story that would fit.

~~~~~~~~~

Author Bio: 

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist. He ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José’s genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw in a twist of romance into the mix. His works include novels and short stories in both English and Spanish. He’s a member of the International Thriller Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator.

Website  ** Blog ** Facebook **Twitter: @JHBogran

The Assassin’s Mistress

A random encounter leads to deception, love and murder. While vacationing at a ski resort, professional hitman Robert Prescott meets a strange and beautiful woman. They discover passion and embark into a dangerous game hiding their relationship from her powerful husband. Then a further twist of fate makes Robert’s occupation collide with his new found love.  

“He enjoyed his Gold Label scotch served neat ... and his victims dead. "Take my hand if you want to live!" J. H. Bográn’s well-crafted crime thriller takes you where you'd never want to go. Highly recommended for a chilling few moments of your reading life.”

~ Bonnie Turner, author of Face the Winter Naked

“José Bográn’s short story THE ASSASSIN'S MISTRESS is an unusual, gripping and surprisingly fun ride on a killer roller coaster.”

~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of The Bro-Magnet

A to Z Challenge - P is for Pat Rosemoor

Breaking from my theme again. Since I have guests frequently on Wednesdays, I thought I should go ahead and let them have their spot. Today I have Pat Rosemoor, author of more than 90 books. She is fascinated with "dangerous love" – combining romance with danger. She has written various forms of romantic and paranormal romantic thrillers, even romantic horror, bringing a different mix of thrills and chills. Patricia has won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America and two Reviewers Choice and two Career Achievement Awards from RT BOOKreviews, and in her other life, she teaches Popular Fiction and Suspense-Thriller Writing, credit courses at Columbia College Chicago.

Today she is going to share her experience doing research for her latest book, Skin. I was most interested in what she had to say since I did research for my mystery, Stalking Season, which is coming out in November at a gentleman's club, too. Although I think my experience was more tame than hers.
                                   
GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY

Thinking there was safety in numbers, I made sure I didn’t go alone on my trip to a gentleman’s club as research for my latest book, Skin. In addition to my husband, I recruited a couple of other writers and another’s husband.

We had no idea what to expect.  Dark and seedy, perhaps? Poles on every table for table dances? Old strip club atmosphere?

To our surprise, the place looked like the night clubs I’d been to eons before. It was beautifully decorated, and the bouncers wore tuxes, the hostess and waitresses evening gowns. Along the walls were semi-private areas with luxurious booths for groups. But apparently those had been reserved ahead of time. We got to sit in the middle of the main floor at a long table with strangers. A little odd, but okay.

Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, a group of us went to a couple of Rush Street strip clubs to see what they were like. Women weren’t allowed to be naked then. The wildest thing they did was twirl tassels that covered their nipples. But like everything else in the world, that certainly changed. In Chicago, “exotic dancers” have to wear g-strings if the club serves drinks – otherwise they can dance nude. This club served drinks, so they did have to wear g-strings, but that didn’t seem to matter to the sheer sexuality of the acts. Even more intense were the personal lap dances – and here I’d been sort of relieved there hadn’t been any poles on the tables.

It was really eye opening to see the intensity of the men who hired the woman for lap dances. And eye opening to see just how far those women would go for their tips. Men were not allowed to touch them, but I saw more than one woman whip both naked breasts into a man’s face while she was imitating the sex act straddling him.

The night took an amusing turn, however. The woman in our group, who was alone, had already been hit on by the hostess, who’d asked her if she wanted “company.” Of course, not being into women, she’d said no. That didn’t stop two of the lap dancers from soliciting her for dances. We all had a laugh about that one. And then the next act on stage started.

A more mature dancer, also a well-known “adult-movie” actress, did an old-fashioned strip routine, eliminating one piece of clothing at a time, including thigh-high stockings that she rolled down her legs and then threw then out into the audience. Wouldn’t you know it – one of those stockings landed in my single friend’s diet coke. With a loud “eeeooowww” that got more laughs, she slapped it out of her drink. And then the guy next to me asked if he could have it. My friend said go ahead, and we all gaped as we watched him pick it up, smell it, then stuff it in an inner pocket of his suit jacket.

Eeeeooowwwwwwwwww!

An amusing end to the evening, one we all enjoyed. And one that provided me with a lot of ideas to create the gentlemen’s club setting for Skin.

I’ve said it many times – there’s nothing like personal research to make your story come alive :)