7 Minutes With... Brett Battles

Welcome my good friend Brett Battles to the blog today! Brett was one of the very first people I met in publishing. We were in the same debut class, talking online about how we were going to make a roar with our debut novels, and ended up co-founding (with Jason Pinter and Sandra Ruttan) a marketing group called Killer Year, which has now morphed into the ITW Debut Authors program. He was also long-time member of Murderati. He makes me feel like quite a slacker, as he's written 20 novels to my 15, and he's become one of the most successful indie published authors out there. His Jonathan Quinn series is one of my favorites, and I'm so excited to have him here today. Without further ado....

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Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?

 “La Soledad” performed by Pink Martini

 Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?

Relaxing! It’s Sunday…tomorrow I dive back into the next book in my Project Eden series.

 What’s your latest book about?

 REWINDER concerns the consequences of one’s actions, and the choices one makes in a reality where time travel is possible.

 Where do you write, and what tools do you use?

Believe it or not I write in my kitchen (which is not large), on my iMac which sits on a rolling, butcher block topped cabinet. I wheel it into the center, sit on a stool, and work. This way I have views out both the kitchen windows and those in the living room.

 What was your favorite book as a child?

 Hmmm….I had many. I remember loving A WRINKLE IN TIME. I also couldn’t get enough of the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigator series. Wait, the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov was also a huge favorite, and…okay, I’ll stop.

 What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?

 If you wait for inspiration to strike before you write, you’ll never get anything done.

What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?

Keep trying until I can’t go on, then give myself the rest of the day off. Sometimes you just need a day away.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Being a good dad and friend.

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More About REWINDER (Available Now)

You will never read Denny Younger’s name in any history book, will never know what he's done.

But even if you did, you’d never believe it.

The world as you know it wouldn't be the same without him.

Denny was born into one of the lowest rungs of society, but his bleak fortunes abruptly change when the mysterious Upjohn Institute recruits him to be a Rewinder, a verifier of personal histories. The job at first sounds like it involves researching old books and records, but Denny soon learns it's far from it.

A Rewinder's job is to observe history.

In person.

Embracing his new life with enthusiasm, Denny witnesses things he could never even imagine before. But as exciting a life as this is, there are dangers, too. For even the smallest error can have consequences.

Life-altering consequences.

Time, after all, is merely a reference point.

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Brett Battles is a Barry Award-winning author of over twenty novels, including the Jonathan Quinn series, the Logan Harper series, and the Project Eden series. He’s also the coauthor, with Robert Gregory Browne, of the Alexandra Poe series. You can learn more at his website: brettbattles.com

Buy REWINDER:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1sU1zfK / Trade Paperback: http://amzn.to/1q6ZEnO

7 Minutes With... Meg Gardiner

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I have the distinct honor of having one of the coolest chicks in crime fiction on the blog today. Meg Gardiner has written twelve exceptional crime novels, and her latest, PHANTOM INSTINCT, simply blew me away The opening scene literally left me with my mouth hanging open, and the premise (against the backdrop of Fregoli Syndrome) is awesome. Her writing is sharp and intense and wildly descriptive, elements that are hard to find in a single title. Plus, she's smart, funny, gorgeous, and great company on panels, and now has Nashville ties, so we get to catch up. If you're not reading her, you need to rectify that immediately. 

I give you the divine Meg Gardiner!

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Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?

“The Heart of the Matter,” Don Henley. Oh, man, is this a great song to come up. It’s world-wise, heartbroken, and hopeful. “Baby, I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter… and I think it’s about forgiveness… forgiveness…” When I was writing the ending of China Lake, I would put this on repeat, unleash an emotional typhoon, and let it all pour onto the page. 

Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?

I’m trying to come up with a nickname for a villain. Something sharp, memorable, and portentous. So, probably not Fluffy the Slayer. 

What’s your latest book about?

Phantom Instinct is about two survivors of a catastrophic shootout who work together to stop a killer. They have to, because nobody else believes he exists. 

Harper Flynn is tending bar at an L.A. club when gunman invade and open fire, killing her boyfriend. Aiden Garrison is the L.A. Sheriff’s Dept. detective on the scene. He takes down two shooters before being severely injured. A third shooter escapes in the chaos—but only Harper and Aiden see him. The problem? Harper is an ex-thief, and the cops don’t trust her word. Worse, Aiden has suffered a traumatic brain injury that leaves him with Fregoli syndrome. This is a kind of face blindness that can cause him to think the person he’s looking at is actually somebody else in disguise. He can think his worst enemy is coming at him, camouflaged as a friend, family, or bystander. He can’t trust his own eyes. 

But the killer is back, and stalking survivors. The more Harper and Aiden learn about the shootout, the more dangerous things get. The more they’re drawn to each other. And the more each of them fears that the other might betray them. They have to choose whether to trust their hearts and their instincts. Because the killer is closing in, and wants to put Harper and Aiden—and those they love—in the line of fire.

Where do you write, and what tools do you use?

In an office looking out at live oaks and a southwestern sky. I use my MacBook Pro, with MS Word for Mac. And when I need to flesh out and connect fragmentary ideas, I write by hand on white typing paper. Using a Rollerball Fine Point pen, of which I have many. Many, many. My precious. 

What was your favorite book as a child?

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle.

What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?

Figure out what the chase is, and cut to it. This will help you (a) eliminate flab in your work, (b) yank backstory and infodumps from the start of your story, (c) speed up the pace, and, most important, (d) discover WHERE YOUR STORY STARTS. It should start in the middle of the action, and as close to the ending as possible.

What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?

Read, hike, swim, eat, nap… let me rephrase that: meditate. Shutting out all distractions and closing your eyes in a quiet room allows submerged ideas to swim into focus.

And finally, vitally: sit my butt down at the keyboard and write anyway.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Being a good mom, a good wife, a good friend, and writing stories that stay with readers. Also: being the first person to walk on Mars. Might have to wait for my next life for that one.

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Meg Gardiner is the author of twelve acclaimed thrillers. Her award-winning novels have been bestsellers in the U.S. and internationally and have been translated into more than 20 languages. They’ve been called “nailbiting and moving… intelligent escapism at its best” (Guardian), “simply a fantastic story, told at breakneck speed” (Associated Press), “as fast-paced and nailbiting as a season of 24” (Florida Times-Union), and “riveting… a book you just can’t put down” (Chicago Sun-Times).

The Evan Delaney novels feature a journalist from Santa Barbara, California. Stephen King calls them “simply put, the finest crime-suspense series I’ve come across in the last twenty years.” China Lake, the first novel in the series, won the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.

The Jo Beckett series features a San Francisco forensic psychiatrist. The Dirty Secrets Club was chosen one of Amazon’s Top Ten thrillers of 2008, and won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Procedural Novel of the year. The Nightmare Thief, featuring both Jo Beckett and Evan Delaney, won the 2012 Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the year. The Shadow Tracer was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2013.

Meg’s new stand alone thriller, Phantom Instinct, has been named one of O, The Oprah Magazine’s “Best Books of Summer.”

Meg was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School. Before writing novels, she practiced law Los Angeles and taught writing at the University of California Santa Barbara. She and her husband have three kids. She lives in Austin, Texas.

About Phantom Instinct (out now):

In Edgar Award–winning author Meg Gardiner’s new stand-alone thriller, an injured cop and an ex-thief hunt down a killer nobody else believes exists.

When shots ring out in a crowded L.A. club, bartender Harper Flynn watches helplessly as her boyfriend, Drew, is gunned down in the cross fire. Then somebody throws a Molotov cocktail, and the club is quickly engulfed in flames. L.A. Sheriff Deputy Aiden Garrison sees a gunman in a hoodie and gas mask taking aim at Harper, but before he can help her a wall collapses, bringing the building down and badly injuring him.

A year later, Harper is trying to rebuild her life. She has quit her job and gone back to college. Meanwhile, the investigation into the shoot-out has been closed. The two gunmen were killed when the building collapsed.

Certain that a third gunman escaped and is targeting the survivors, Harper enlists the help of Aiden Garrison, the only person willing to listen. But the traumatic brain injury he suffered has cut his career short and left him with Fregoli syndrome, a rare type of face blindness that causes the delusion that random people are actually a single person changing disguises.

As Harper and Aiden delve into the case, Harper realizes that her presence during the attack was no coincidence—and that her only ally is unstable, mistrustful of her, and seeing the same enemy everywhere he looks.

7 Minutes With... Jeff Abbott

I'm so delighted to have my friend Jeff Abbott on the blog today! I have been a huge fan of his for years, starting with his novel PANIC, which I picked up and read because Harlan Coben called it one of the best novels of the year, and he was absolutely right. I was blown away, and immediately began gobbling up all the books I could find with Abbott's name on the spine.

And then, as life has its strange little quirks, we met at a conference in Omaha, where I went all sorts of fan girl all over him. Wine was drunk, bread was broken, alliances formed, and lo and behold, we became friends. Jeff is one of the most talented writers working today, and his books just keep getting better and better. I'm in utter awe of him, and am so blessed to be able to call him my friend. He's one of the good guys. (And he totally looks like a spy. Totally.)

OK, enough of my gushing. You need to read him. STAT. INSIDE MAN is his brand new Sam Capra thriller. Get it. Right now. Go, go, go.

Done? OK. Let's get started, shall we?  

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Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?

The melancholy, spacey song “Twilight Zone” by Dr. John, from his Babylon album from 1969. I admire his career longevity. 

Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?

The fifth Sam Capra novel. Sam Capra is a former CIA agent who owns bars around the world, and continually finds himself drawn into the dark, shadowy world of international crime. Sam is very much a guy who comes to the aid of those in need. He’s tough and smart, but he’s also rather young—in his mid-twenties—and he isn’t quite as experienced as he thinks he is.

 What’s your latest book about?

INSIDE MAN is the fourth Sam Capra novel, where Sam goes undercover into a criminal family in order to find out the truth behind a friend’s death. Shakespeare’s King Lear was a clear influence on this story: the leader of the family is dividing his business empire between his three very different children, and if Sam makes one wrong move, he’s dead. Of course nothing goes as he plans—and nothing about this family is as it seems. I wanted to write a big international intrigue story that was wrapped up inside a big family drama. I hope I succeeded. INSIDE MAN was an Oprah, the O Magazine pick for its summer reading list. 

Where do you write, and what tools do you use?

I write in my home office. I write the first draft in Scrivener, and subsequent drafts in Microsoft Word. When I want to be away from the office, I write on an Alphasmart Neo, which is a text processor with no web functions. I get more done unplugged. I keep all my notes on paper, in a Clairefontaine notebook.

What was your favorite book as a child?

Madeleine L’Engle’s A WRINKLE IN TIME. 

What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?

Finish what you start. You can’t keep going back and rewriting what you have. You cannot edit a blank page. So stop rewriting your partial manuscript (people seem to do this a lot, at those who ask me for advice), and finish that first draft. You will have a much better idea of what rewriting needs to happen if you’re working with a complete manuscript.

What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?

Go for a walk or a swim. Read a favorite classic story. Play with my dogs. If I am quiet soon enough the words will come back.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Being a good father and husband, and for being a writer who delivered an entertaining and thoughtful read.

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Jeff Abbott is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of many mystery and suspense novels. He has been called “one of the best thriller writers in the business” (Washington Post). His novels have been called “compulsively readable” (Chicago Sun Times), “outstanding. . .genuinely moving” and “fresh, original… intricately woven” (Publishers Weekly), “nail-bitingly suspenseful and totally original” (Irish Independent), and “extremely compelling” (Associated Press). He is published in many languages and has been a bestseller in the US, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Australia, Portugal, and other countries.

His novel Adrenaline was a Summer Great Reads choice by both The Today Show and Good Morning America. Jeff is a winner of the Thriller Award (for The Last Minute) and was nominated for the Thriller Award forPanic. He is a three-time nominee for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award and a two-time nominee for the Anthony Award. Jeff’s first novel, Do Unto Others, won both the Agatha Award and the Macavity Award.

His novels Adrenaline, Panic, and Collision have been optioned for film and are in script development.

Jeff graduated from Rice University with a degree in History and English. He lives in Austin with his wife and two sons.

More about INSIDE MAN (July 1, 201):

Sam Capra’s friend Steve has been murdered, shot dead in the rain outside of his Miami bar. The only lead: a mysterious, beautiful stranger Steve tried to protect. To avenge his friend, Sam goes undercover into the Varelas, one of Miami’s most prominent and dangerous families.

Now on the inside, playing a part where one wrong move means death, Sam faces a powerful, unstable tycoon intent on dividing his business empire between his three very different children, who each may hold murderous secrets of their own.

Sam is relentlessly drawn into this family’s intense drama, amplifying painful echoes of his own shattered relationships as a son, brother, father, and husband. And just when he thinks he understands why the family is self-destructing, he discovers a lethal secret so shocking that the Varelas cannot let him walk away alive . . 

6.19.14 - On An Interview from SOKY Bookfest

I swear I am not as startled as I look in the stills. (Actually, I think that's my Hermione, oh oh oh I know the answer to that question face.) Whilst at the Southern Kentucky Bookfest in April, I was interviewed by the lovely Barbara Deeb of PBS, and we talked about my political background, character building, and co-writing. Give it a listen.

It was a day of editing, plotting, and housework, yoga and a bike ride, reading and very little new writing. 360 net. I spent the afternoon making major adjustments to a plot thread that needs to disappear, which of course was laden throughout the first 100 pages in snips and snaps. I think I have them all out now, so tomorrow I can sally forth again. I may try for a 10K day tomorrow (or at least a 5K) to jump start things. Who's in with me?

7 Minutes with…Laura Benedict

Ah, Laura Benedict. I could write thousands of words about this girl. I've been a fan for years, since her incredible debut, ISABELLA MOON, then a long weekend conference in Chicago many moons ago cemented for life an already burgeoning friendship. Over the years, she has been editor, confessor, friend, golf partner, cheerleader, and so much more. She's all class and sass, and a very gifted writer.

When I first read BLISS HOUSE, I was floored. The opening page sets the scene so perfectly, captures the voice of the book impeccably, and I knew I was in for a ride. Laura's writing has only improved with time. Always smart, it is now so polished and sophisticated it takes my breath away. BLISS HOUSE is the book of the summer, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I love it so much I'm giving away a copy today - just leave a comment to be entered.

So. On to the interview with my darling friend and sister-in-arms, Laura Benedict. 

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Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?

Julie London singing Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer’s “Blues In the Night.” It’s a classic, and I love London’s velvety, swinging take on it. (it was followed by Elvis Costello’s “(I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea.” Talk about a strange juxtaposition.)

Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?

I’m coming in on the end of a short story about a woman whose husband has thrown her out of the house because he’s come to believe she’s a murderer. Unlike my novels, it’s a straight crime story and has no supernatural elements.

 What’s your latest book about?

BLISS HOUSE tells the story of Rainey Bliss Adams, who has brought her daughter, Ariel, to live in the Bliss ancestral home in Old Gate, Virginia. While at first the house seems to help Ariel heal from the tragic accident that badly burned her and killed her father, it begins to reveal its true nature and horrific past after Ariel witnesses a spectral scene that results in a very real dead body in Bliss House’s grand front hall. The house has secrets that it—and the residents of Old Gate—are reluctant to reveal. But only their revelations will save Rainey and Ariel. 

Where do you write, and what tools do you use?

I can’t bear to be tied to my desk all day. It’s one of the reasons I left the corporate world and never looked back. I compose fiction on my laptop, for the most part, and usually park myself on the couch or even in bed (I know. It’s totally decadent!) after everyone is gone from the house in the morning. But I edit my fiction and type blogs, interviews, research questions, etc. on my desktop iMac in the afternoon. I do my plotting and daydreaming in big hardcover spiral journals using a plain old pencil. Never mechanical pencils though. My kids love them, but they seem too fragile, too impermanent for me.

 What was your favorite book as a child?

The Poky Little Puppy was my first favorite. I know he eventually had to fall into line to get dessert, but I secretly loved his rebel nature. I never have been good at respecting authority, even though it meant I was often in trouble. I’m convinced he was ADD, like me. Also, I loved the implication at the end that puppies could read the sign: “NO DESSERTS EVER UNLESS PUPPIES NEVER DIG HOLES UNDER THIS FENCE AGAIN!”

What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?

“All writers know you must hurry to your work in the morning before being derailed, seduced, entranced by another, irresistible “voice.” –Joyce Carol Oates

I took this quote from her twitter feed. I’m especially attracted to the “All writers know…” admonition, which implies that we’re all as single-minded as she is. I very much wish I were. Perhaps that’s why I find it so motivating.

What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?

If I’m stuck I’ll pop outside for a walk with the dogs, or take a catnap. Either really clean out the cobwebs and let me move on.

What would you like to be remembered for?

My rapier wit. (Subject to opinion, of course!)

I can attest to that! Don't forget to leave a comment for Ms. Benedict to have a chance to win her book - I'll draw a winner Friday evening, so don't delay.

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Laura Benedict’s latest dark suspense novel is BLISS HOUSE (Pegasus Crime), praised as “Eerie, seductive, and suspenseful,” by Edgar award-winning author, Meg Gardiner. Laura is also the author of DEVIL’S OVEN, a modern Frankenstein tale, and CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS and ISABELLA MOON, both originally published by Ballantine Books. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, PANK, and numerous anthologies like Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads (Oceanview), and Slices of Flesh (Dark Moon Books).

A Cincinnati, Ohio, native, Laura grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and claims both as hometowns. She currently lives with her family in the southern wilds of a Midwestern state, surrounded by bobcats, coyotes, and other less picturesque predators.

Visit www.laurabenedict.com to learn more about her and her books.

More about BLISS HOUSE (Coming June 15th, 2014)

Death never did come quietly to Bliss House…

Amidst the lush farmland and orchards in Old Gate, Virginia, stands the magnificent Bliss House. Built in 1878 as a country retreat, Bliss House is impressive, historic, and inexplicably mysterious. Decades of strange occurrences, disappearances and deaths have plagued the house, yet it remains vibrant. And very much alive.

Rainey Bliss Adams desperately needed a new start when she and her daughter Ariel relocated from St. Louis to Old Gate and settled into the house where the Bliss family had lived for over a century. Rainey’s husband had been killed in a freak explosion that left her 14 year-old daughter Ariel scarred and disfigured.

At the grand housewarming party, Bliss House begins to reveal itself again. Ariel sees haunting visions: the ghost of her father, and the ghost of a woman being pushed to her death off of an upper floor balcony, beneath an exquisite dome of painted stars. And then there is a death the night of the party. Who is the murderer in the midst of this small town? And who killed the woman in Ariel’s visions? But Bliss House is loath to reveal its secrets, as are the good folks of Old Gate.