Book 3 of the Bloodstone Series
Historical Suspense/Thriller
Date Published: February 28, 2020
Publisher: Books to Go Now
The killer whispered-“A pretty damsel...worth a pretty risk.”
A veteran, Detective Rudyard Bloodstone has fought a brutal battle and
witnessed war horrors that haunt his nightmares. Now one of those horrors
has followed him home from Africa.
A vicious predator, the Cape cobra, can kill a man in thirty minutes. A
suspect using the snake as a weapon in robberies is terrorizing
London.
When the crimes escalate into murder, a victim’s daughter, Honoria
Underhill, becomes the focus of the killer. After several attempts on her
life, Scotland Yard threatens to take over the high profile case. With few
leads to follow, Bloodstone and his partner must now fight department
politics and catch the killer before Underhill becomes another murder
victim.
Interview
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to
grasp?
I don’t have a message
per se other than I hope you enjoy this story, this cast of characters and
their world. I truly love creating the settings, people, and situations that
surround my protagonists. For me setting is a character in and of itself in all
the books. The Bloodstone series is
set in Victorian London, a time and place that is perfect for murders. The city
is a brilliant example of extreme lifestyles, varied architecture, with a
historical overlay. The same is true of my previous series, Knights in Time. Those books were set
in both modern and medieval England. The settings influenced the lives of the
characters in many ways.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your
writing?
Yes, love scenes. I
don’t like reading extremely graphic sex scenes, nor do I have a desire to
write them. Depending on the book, I do include love scenes. I have a devil of
a time trying to make them sensual without sounding mechanical or awkward. I
have writer friends who can whiz through them. Not me, and it hasn’t gotten
easier over time. (Injecting a smile here)
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I’ve written twelve
and am working on the thirteenth. I love all of the stories. If I had to choose
one that is closest to my heart, it would be Heroes Live Forever. It has a special place because it was my first
book. My latest book, A Venomous Love,
is the third story in my favorite series of books is the Bloodstone series. My
detective, Rudyard Bloodstone, is my favorite character to write. I suppose
because he is a detective and I am a retired one that the connection to him is
the strongest.
Part of A Venomous Love is based on an actual
event told to me by a London detective friend. We were having dinner talking
funny police stories and she told of a vacation in Morocco. She was at the
hotel desk when a British couple came in hysterical as they’d just been robbed
at snake point. I tucked that unusual weapon story away thinking I might use it
down the road, if I ever wrote a book.
If you had the chance to cast your main character from
Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
I’ve always seen
Rudyard Bloodstone (Ruddy) as Karl Urban. I’ve been a fan since his LOTR days.
Ruddy has a certain look that Urban embodies. He isn’t a pretty boy type, like
Brad Pitt or Leo and I don’t mean to diminish their talent by saying that. I
enjoy Pitt and Leo’s performances. But there’s a ruggedness to Urban, that
dark-haired, sharp featured, collar
turned up on a windy cliff kind of look. I should clarify that Karl Urban is
older than Ruddy now. When I started writing Ruddy, I pictured Urban from his
Chronicles of Riddick or early Star Trek days as Ruddy is only in his
mid-thirties. Urban is in his forties now.
Just FYI, nothing
would please me more than to have any of my series made into a movie or
television series.
When did you begin writing?
I started in 2003
after I had retired from law enforcement. I had this story bouncing around in
my head for years. My husband suggested since I had the time, I should write me
story. I also knew I had to learn the craft and began taking workshops and
going to writing seminars at the same time.
How long did it take you to complete your first book?
It took me three
years. I was learning the craft while writing that book so I’d learn something
new and go back in and rewrite a scene. I had a ton of editing and I am a slow
writer in ordinary circumstances.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
A few inspired me:
Julia Garwood and her romances, Bernard Cornwell and his historicals, J.R.R.
Tolkien and his LOTR series.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
I really enjoy world
building, creating a support cast for my protagonist(s). When I write I am
deeply inside the head of my hero or heroine. I like “seeing” and “developing”
an attitude as to how my protagonist(s) chooses to react to the forces around
them.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Unique, engrossing,
colorful, humorous
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what
is in the future for your writing?
A year ago I decided
I’d like to write a novella series of World War Two romances, something a
little different than the historical suspense world of the Bloodstone series.
My first story in the WW2 series was Moonlight
Serenade. It is about a U.S. Marine on leave for three days in Melbourne,
Australia.
I’m currently in the
middle of the second story called, The
ACK-ACK Girl. It is set in
England. Ack-Ack girls were teams of women who worked in anti-aircraft units.
People thought the guns made an “ack-ack” sound when fired, thus the nickname
for the women. My heroine falls in love with an RAF pilot. I hope to have it
released right after the holidays.
After The Ack-Ack Girl, I am co-writing a
World War One romance with Jennifer Conner, my dear writer friend. And after
that, I hope to start another Bloodstone book but with Ruddy’s brother as the
protagonist.
About the Author
I was raised in Chicago. My father, a history professor, and my mother, a
voracious reader passed on a love of history and books along with a love of
travel.
I am a retired police detective. After twenty-five years in law enforcement
I decided to pursue my dream of writing. I write a historical-time travel
romance series called Knights in Time and a historical suspense called The
Bloodstone Series.
I am also working on a world war two series of novella romances. The first
is Moonlight Serenade and currently available. The second is my work in
progress at the moment and will be titled, The Ack-Ack Girl.
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