Fasten your seat belts because you're in for another wild ride with p.m. terrell's, Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, on tour now at the Virtual Book Tour Cafe'. I'm chatting with p.m. today about her book and she's offering you a chance to win her Black Swamp Mysteries Prize Pack, which includes some goodies from the town of Lumberton where the Black Swamp Mysteries is based. Enter using the Rafflecopter below, and enjoy!
Welcome p.m.! So glad you could join us today.
MM: Many authors relate their
characters to people they know. Is this the case with your
characters and do you see yourself in any of them?
Each of my characters is unique, just
as people are in real life. So I take bits and pieces of
personalities and physical characteristics from people I know but
when combined with other personality quirks and traits, they end up
not resembling any specific person. I also try hard to keep each
character within each book very different from the others they
interact with; I enjoy pitting opposites together, for example. My
characters tend to be much larger than life than I am, which is a
good thing!
MM: Who is your favorite character in
your book and why?
Dylan Maguire, hands down. Dylan is an
Irishman who comes to America in Vicki’s Key, the second
book in the series. In Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, he is on
his first CIA assignment. On one hand, he is definitely the kind of
man you’d want protecting you; he is resourceful, opportunistic and
capable of killing. Yet there is another side to him that can be very
gentle and very attentive. When I created his character, it was
important for another character, Vicki Boyd, to fall for him hard and
fast. So I did quite a bit of research into what women like. I
learned they were most turned on by Scottish accents, followed by
Irish accents and then Australian. I decided to make him Irish
because their language is more melodious and softer than the Scots.
He has a five o’clock shadow, which many independent surveys showed
really appealed to most women, thick hair (for running fingers
through) and of course, he is muscular and fit.
MM: Who is your most favorite
character from any book of all time?
That is a really tough question. It
would have to be Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind. He is
actually very much like Dylan Maguire; the biggest difference is
Rhett Butler was American, through and through!
MM: If you could dive into the pages
of any book, which book would it be and what character would you be?
That is another toughy because I would
want the romance without the drama and suspense! My friends and
family all know that I like no drama in my life—only in the pages
of my books. So, having said that, I love the romance between Ramses
the Great and Julie Stratford in Anne Rice’s The Mummy. I
would be Julie Stratford and Ramses would look like Russell Crowe in
Master and Commander. Yes, I would fall in love with a mummy.
But it’s Ramses the Great and he’s worth it!
MM: If your book was to become a
movie, which actors/actresses do you see playing the parts of your
characters?
Alan Duggan and Antonio Cupo both have
the appearance of Dylan Maguire. Could either of them handle an Irish
accent? I’d love to find out!
I can definitely see Amy Adams playing
psychic spy Vicki Boyd.
And Lindsay Lohan would be awesome as
bad girl computer hacker Brenda Carnegie.
Robert DeNiro is who I patterned Sam,
their CIA boss, after, so of course no one else could play the role!
MM: What can we expect from
p.m.terrell in the future? Any new projects?
Secrets of a Dangerous Woman is
my 14th release. The 15th, Dylan’s Song,
is scheduled for release in the spring of 2013. I am currently
working on the final edits for that book and have started the next in
the Black Swamp Mysteries series for release in 2014.
In Dylan’s Song, Dylan Maguire
and Vicki Boyd travel to Ireland on a CIA mission: to locate and
rescue a missing CIA operative using Vicki’s psychic spy abilities
and Dylan as leader of the ground operation. While there, Vicki
learns why he left his native Ireland—while harboring a secret of
her own.
I have also started a new Ryan
O’Clery series, which follows a homicide detective with a touch
of the paranormal and romance; I think of it as Robert B. Parker
meets Nicholas Sparks. I do not yet have the publication date for the
first in that series but I am currently writing the sequel.
MM: Where can readers connect with
you?
My website: www.pmterrell.com
Twitter: @pmterrell
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/author.p.m.terrell
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Dangerous-Woman-p-m-terrell/dp/1935970054/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351788035&sr=1-1&keywords=secrets+of+a+dangerous+woman
(paperback)
Thank you so much for taking time to
chat with me today. It's been a wonderful pleasure.
p.m.
terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of
more than 16 books in four genres: paranormal romantic suspense,
suspense/thriller, historical adventure/suspense and non-fiction.
Vicki's Key, the second book in the Black Swamp Mysteries series, was
a finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards (one of only five in
the mystery/suspense category) and River Passage won the 2010 Best
Drama & Fiction Award. She has been a full-time writer for more
than ten years. Previously, she founded and operated two computer
companies; her clients included the CIA, Secret Service and
Department of Defense. Her work in detecting computer white collar
crime and computer intelligence inspired many of her books. She is an
avid dog lover and advocate for animal rights and founded the New
Leash on Life program in Robeson County, NC, which rescues dogs and
places them in the prison system for obedience training and adoption.
She also co-founded The Book 'Em Foundation, whose slogan is Buy a
Book and Stop a Crook; their mission is to raise awareness of the
correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She
co-chairs the Book 'Em North Carolina Writers' Conference and Book
Fair each year in Lumberton, NC, which raises money for literacy
campaigns in our communities.
Genre:
Suspense
Publisher:
Drake Valley Press
Release
Date: September 2012
Blurb:
Irishman
Dylan Maguire is back in Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, reuniting with
psychic spy Vicki Boyd. In his first mission with the CIA, he must
interrogate recently captured Brenda Carnegie. But when she escapes
again, it's obvious she's had help from within the CIA's own ranks.
With Vicki Boyd's psychic assistance, Brenda is back in his custody
again. And now he must find out why some in the highest branches of
government want her dead - and others will risk everything to help
her. And when he discovers her true identity, his mission has just
become very personal.
Excerpt:
Something
grasped Dylan’s ankle and he recoiled as he stared downward. Sam
had rolled toward him, grabbing his ankle with desperate strength.
His bloodshot eyes were open, revealing his misery.
“We’re
gettin’ you out o’ here,” Dylan said.
Chris
raced through the doorway to peer over the banister at the floor
below.
“No,”
Sam croaked. His voice was dry and his fingers tightened around
Dylan’s ankle, tugging him into coming closer.
Dylan
knelt.
“I’m
not going to make it,” Sam said laboriously.
“You
won’t be the judge o’ that.”
“Leave
me here.”
“I’ll
not be leavin’ you.”
Sam’s
fingers tightened around his pants leg. “Go to Vicki. Save her,
Dylan.”
Dylan
stared into Sam’s eyes at the mention of her.
“She
needs you,” Sam said, his fingers loosening as if the mere effort
of holding on was too difficult. “Tell her—tell her I love her. I
always have.”
Dylan’s
jaw dropped. “I refuse to tell ‘er,” he heard himself saying.
“You’ll be tellin’ her y’self.”
“I’m
a dead man,” Sam said, his hand dropping back to the floor. “Leave
me. Save yourself. And save Vicki.”
“They’re
coming in,” Chris said in a stage whisper.
Dylan
rose, glancing at Sam as his eyes closed once more before rushing
into the open hallway. “Which door?”
Chris
pointed.
“Then
take these stairs. We’ll go out the side door. We’ve got to get
to the girls.”
Chris
glimpsed into Sam’s office, where his body lay still, before giving
Dylan a fleeting look. Nodding, he rushed to the top of the stairs,
Dylan on his heels.
Dylan
had taken one step downward before he froze. In a fraction of a
second, he hurled around and dashed back to Sam’s office. Sliding
one arm under his knees and the other under his torso, he lifted the
man in his arms and carried him to the stairs. Glancing down as he
descended, he was met with Sam’s open eyes, questioning and
baffled. “I’ll not be leavin’ you,” Dylan said simply.
