Interview and Giveaway with Kathryn Bain

THE WINNER FOR "BREATHLESS"

IS

ANITA
(Anita will have one week to respond then a new winner will be picked)

Please welcome Kathryn Bain to Sleuths and Suspects. She has graciously offered an e-book giveaway of her latest novel "Breathless." Without furthur ado lets get started!

Lydia Frederickson is afraid to answer her telephone. Widowed and alone, she only wants to get through another anniversary of her husband’s death without falling to pieces, but a stalker isn’t making that goal easy. The disturbing calls are becoming increasingly personal and threatening, and everyone who knows her is suspect. The only person she knows isn’t making the calls is her new ponytailed, tattooed—and breathtakingly handsome— minister, Matthew Winters.

Former narcotics agent-turned-minister Matthew Winters knows he’s not what the town expected in their new pastor, but he’s up for the challenge. What he doesn’t expect is the sudden attraction he feels for parishioner Lydia Frederickson. When he discovers she’s the victim of a stalker, he feels God’s intervention has led him—both a cop and a preacher—to her. Matthew knows he’s falling for the beautiful widow, but a secret from his past may undermine their future.

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Kathryn J. Bain has been writing for over ten years now. Her first release Breathless came out January 13, 2012. Her novella Game of Hearts was released on March 1, 2012. Her third book Catch Your Breath will be released later this year. She has two daughters, and is the former President of Florida Sisters in Crime. Currently, she is the Public Relations Director and Membership Director for Ancient City Romance Authors. To survive and pay bills, she has been a paralegal for over twenty years and works for an attorney who specializes in elder law. She moved from Idaho to Jacksonville, Florida in 1983 and has lived in the sunshine since.                                                            

INTERVIEW WITH KATHRYN:

 1.       Tell us a little about yourself. I’m an old white woman who sits around her house all day writing books and hanging with a dog. Okay, okay. I’m also a paralegal so I do get out some. I’m a transplanted Idahoan. I came to Florida and the white beaches to get away from the cold. I’ve been writing for ten years and finally got a contract in 2011. For a while, I thought I might be wasting my time. I’m also very comma challenged, so please excuse my misplaced commas, or commas that don’t exist in places they should.

2.       Tell us about your most recent book/or the book we are focusing on. My book Breathless is a romantic suspense book starring a widowed heroine who has a stalker and a motorcycle riding tattooed preacher who was a former DEA agent.

3.       Why did you choose this particular genre? I love suspense and mystery. It’s my favorite thing to read. And throwing in a guy on a motorbike just made it all that much more fun for me.

4.       What was your journey to publication like? Long. I first started doing screen plays, but I wasn’t any good. Then I figured I’d do children’s books. They’re only 30 pages, how hard can they be to write? Some days I need to screw my head on straight. Finally someone said to write what you read, and a light bulb appeared above my head.

5.       What is a couple of your favorite books and what are you reading now? I’m a Janet Evanovich fan. I love the Stephanie Plum series. I still laugh when I reread the books. I also enjoy C.J. Box. His Joe Pickett series is wonderful. I just finished reading The Face of Fear by Dean Koontz. I told someone I wanted to read something that put me on the edge of my seat and they suggested this book. I’ve never read Mr. Koontz before, but am now an instant fan.

6.       What are you working on now and can you give us a little peek inside it? I have a humorous mystery going through my critique group right now. Her name is Trúble. That’s “trouble” with a French twist. Here’s my first paragraph:

Why does this always happen to me? It’s hard enough to keep God’s commandments, at least the easy ones, without running into someone who’s died. It’s like I attract them. Maybe I should find a support group. “Hi, my name is Trúble Lawrence, and I find dead bodies.”

7.       What advice would you give authors who are on their own journey to publication? Join a writing group. They’re invaluable for information and learning.

8.       Do you have any books or websites that have helped you with your writing that you could share with us? One of the best books I’ve ever read is a short one called “First Chapters” by Elizabeth Sinclair.  It’s very helpful in telling how to keep a reader interested from the first line.

9.       Is there anything you’d like to tell us we haven’t covered? No, I think that about covers it, especially the old white woman part.

10.   Please let us know where we can find you on the web. www.kathrynjbain.com and I have a fan page on Facebook under Kathryn J. Bain.

Kathryn thank you so much for visiting us. I've learned more about you and as always it pays to be persistant. I'm sure many people will enjoy "Breathless."

Deborah Malone

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                                                  HAPPY READING!

Interview with Diane Moore/Review of Love Thy Neighbor

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO START WRITING?

My parents' love for travel and adventure inspired my love for writing. Beautiful landscapes combined with  meeting all sorts of people motivated me to want to share those experiences. Also growing up in a diverse multicultural home -- my paternal grandparents were from Germany and my maternal grandparents were from Italy -- made me hyper aware of different cultures, allowing me to understand and to enjoy variety and want to share the good and different of each culture. In college, I studied abroad in Mexico City which again gave me an appreciation for a different culture.

WHAT AUTHORS HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING STYLE?

John for his simple writing style that covers a broad range of topics, and I get a kick out of how he refers to himself as "the one Jesus loved most"; Patricia Cornwall for her attention to detail and great storytelling; Franz Kafka for his ability to create bizarre scenarios from what otherwise appear to be normal daily tasks; and Woody Allen because when I read his book, I felt like he was in the same room with me narrating the whole time.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING AUTHORS?

Make your top priority telling a good story, attend the ACFW conferences and join writers' groups that offer positive networking experiences.

HOW HAS YOUR JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE INFLUENCED YOUR FICTION WRITING?

My journalism experience provides an abundance of material for my fiction writing. As assistant editor for the San Antonio Medical Gazette, I was the lead investigative reporter. Working with forensic psychiatrists, medical examiners and following nurse and doctor impostors taught me a lot about the criminal mind. As the saying goes, "truth is stranger than fiction," so some of my characters' personality traits are gleaned from those experiences.

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND IN RESEARCH BEFORE YOU WRITE A STORY?

I spend at least one third of my time in research before writing a story and an additional one third during writing.

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN? 

Three and a half, but only two that are currently published. "Love Thy Neighbor" and I co-wrote a non-fiction book entitled "Ridding Yourself of Bad Breath."  I'm halfway done with my next book in this series, which is set in Florence, Italy. Deirdre and Stuart work together to solve a murder mystery entangled with a conspiracy that pours into Europe's centuries-old wineries.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME WHEN YOU'RE NOT WRITING?

I like to spend time with family and friends and to meet people and help them feel good about themselves. As a practicing cosmetologist and skincare specialist, I do that everyday. My husband and Family Love to read, worship and travel together, recently we returned from Spain and Morocco and are heading to Hawaii.  I have two active and athletic teenage daughters and two active and athletic adult sons, so when I'm not watching them play sports, we are usually doing something athletic or nature-bound together.

HOW CAN READERS CONTACT YOU AND/OR LEARN MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR WRITING?

www.dianemoorewriter.com

Or my salon at www.beautiwithdiane.com

REVIEW OF LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

Love thy Neighbor is the story about a newspaper reported named Deirdre Morgan who is the prime suspect in the murder of her neighbor, who was found stabbed to death. Along the way, Deidre encounters Detective Stuart Beaumont, who is on a quest to unravel the details of the murder. As the case progresses, so do romantic feelings between Deirdre and Stuart. 

I enjoyed the characters and appreciated how the author wove her personal knowledge of martial arts into the story. Also, I liked how the author wove her subplots together.

Love thy Neighbor is written by Diane Moore and published by Parson Place Press.

For more information on the author, please visit her Website, http://www.dianemoorewriter.com/. Specifically, to read an excerpt from the book, please visit http://www.dianemoorewriter.com/3.html.

Please note that I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own. 

 The authors of this blog are Amazon.com affiliates. Sometimes, we will include links in our blog posts. When visitors to this site purchase items from Amazon.com using links in our posts, the authors of this blog earn a percentage of the sales.