Suspense / Thriller
Date Published: January 23, 2023
Publisher: MindStir Media
She's Paris Pennington.
A lovely workaholic about to be confronted with adversity and chaos, with challenges leading her to restlessness, uncertainty, and questioning her life choices and her current path. The fabric of her life begins to be picked apart as people around her start dying.
A crossroad leads her to make a change and promises to fulfill her dreams while an embattled personal war between past and present comes together, testing loyalty and the forces of envy that may prevent tomorrow from coming.
Rhonda Parker Taylor's most exciting suspense thriller fictional character ever.
INTERVIEW
Hobbies and
Other:
Nature: Parker loves all things
outdoors. Animals, birds, water, mountains.
Music: All genres but no
extreme of any of them.
Food: She loves cooking for others (cooking for others is her love
language) and exploring different foods and recipes.
Reading and
Writing:
All things reading and writing, from Academic to Fiction and Poetry
Traveling: Parker has traveled
throughout North America, Extensively visiting almost every region. She has
traveled abroad to England, Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Italy,
Mexico, and Canada. She would love to join the Travelers’ Century Club.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My story of reading and writing is
simple. It matched my maturity level. Looking back at family pictures, most had
me reading a book, listening to music, or playing a musical instrument. However,
I was never a “good student” in English, Reading, and Writing. It was quite
the opposite. I struggled with the Victory Drill Book and McGuffey Readers. The
phonetic concepts escaped me as a child.
I was drawn to books such as the
Encyclopedias placed on my family’s books shelves with a colorful world to
learn about or books such as Carmen, which was based on the Famous Opera turned Graphic Novel. These
books were about the real world and daring young women to live their lives in their way. In other words,
these books opened my eyes to a new and exciting world and took me on a journey
away from the small town of Noblesville.
Books and reading exposed me to a world where, with a glance into the pages, I could be another person or go on a voyage through time.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read anything I can get my hands on. The last books read are:
The Making of the West, People, and
Cultures, Volume 2 by
Hunt, Martin, Rosenwein, and Smith. The Making of the West is a history
textbook that follows mostly European history Since 1500. I selected this book
to understand more about the history of my ancestry to assist in expanding my
knowledge of my ancestral past. It is also an excellent text to assist in
learning the risks of not having religious, political, and economic tolerance.
One can learn a lot about human behavior from history.
Another
book I highly recommend that I recently read is “When the Hart Speaks: Whimsy and Wisdom
from the Little House on the Alley" by Janet Hart Leonard, a local author and journalist from
Noblesville, Indiana. This book and the author inspired me to dust off my
manuscript and share it with the world. I learned from Janet's book that one
has to get out of own’s own way and stop holding oneself back out of fear of
rejection. Janet's memoir points out that God has a better story for your life.
“When the Hart Speaks" shares
personal stories encouraging one to remember that faith is not found in the
good times but in the struggles.
Of
course, I wouldn't be a fiction reader/writer without sharing the most recent
fiction and my go-to reading for entertainment: the master of suspense, Dean Koontz.
The book I last read was Devoted. Nothing gets one's heart pounding like
Koontz. Kipp is a lovable character to which I became attached and left wanting
more. When I need to feel good, l I read Danielle Steel.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Crossroads
is the product of passion, determination, and commitment. It took me a year to
write and 20 years to introduce it to the world. My writing career started through academics first. I was a
business student that had to author paper after paper. Then, I received my
bachelor's degree in business science management. Afterward, I earned my MBA
from Indiana Wesleyan University. When attending the University of Phoenix for
my doctorate in management, I wrote my first academic paper on emotional
intelligence and, as a multi-national leader, presented it at the Union Global
Compact Committee.
My fiction writing has been a love
since 2002. I would write and save the manuscripts in a variety of ways. Yes,
this manuscript was on a flop disc, and a printed copy was on mine. At first, it
was more about authoring the stories than sharing them with others. I loved
creating the character learning more about their motivations, and developing a
story. One day, I was doing my file checks on the various fiction manuscripts.
I lost one of the manuscripts to a corrupt disc. For days, I had images of
having to retype the manuscript. Finally, I realized it was time to step out on
faith and share the characters and stories with others, not just my writing
partners. I did not want the stories lost; I had become attached to the
stories, lessons learned, and characters. I did not want to be one of the
people whose family found the manuscript in a closet. I had to share, which
meant I had to make myself vulnerable to others.
Summary of the
Book:
Crossroads is a journey in the central character's life, Paris
Pennington. The setting is Indianapolis, Indiana, in the early 2000s.
Indianapolis is the twelfth largest city in the United States and is best known
as the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Where the Indy 500 Race is held
annually. The downtown area is well organized, with many hotels and restaurants
around all the major attractions. But crime is a social problem that does not
lend itself to analyzing or treating a city's face-lift for tourists. The main
character, Paris Pennington, is a type-A, non-nonsense powerhouse in the
financial community in Indianapolis. However, she is forced to fulfill her
civic duty and participate in a murder trial as a juror in a case involving the
death of a 15-year-old girl. The case and being nominated as jury foreman
created a landslide of harrowing events. The first betrayal is the perceived
mistake of a judge giving out the jury foreman's name (Paris Pennington). The
consequence of this event is that Paris Pennington's life is turned upside
down. She is introduced to the world of drama, illness, death, and betrayal,
which her well-organized life is ill-prepared for, and her life begins to fall
apart.
The lesson of
the Book:
Everyone should live their life to the
fullest. Enjoy the life one is given, and do not compare yourself to anyone.
Crossroads keeps readers engaged in Paris's personal life and the
world of murder, tragedy, death, and hope for justice, keeping you at the edge
of your seat and wondering what the outcome will be. "Crossroads" is
a powerful read and spurs reflection on how we think about our own lives. In the
end, anger and envy are
powerful destructive forces, but Envy Makes The Bones Rot…..At The Deepest
Level—The Bones. And Like Cancer, It Had Metastasized to the point that one
cannot enjoy the life they are given.
About the Author
Rhonda Parker Taylor is an American writer, entrepreneur, and academic researcher. Rhonda Parker Taylor was born in Noblesville, Indiana, on October 18, 1964. She is the second youngest of five children born to Anita and William Parker, founders of a midwestern steel manufacturing company in Noblesville. Rhonda spent her childhood in their two-story home surrounded by cornfields and cows and attended Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis. After graduating from Heritage, she attended Bauder Fashion College in Arlington, Texas. After graduating from Bauder with a certificate in fashion buying, she returned to Indiana. Parker initially found work at Educational Financial Services in Indianapolis. Her friends and family suggested that she try her hand as an author. Rhonda took their advice and wrote her first book, Crossroads, in 2002. It took a decade for her to publish it due to her academic explorations. She attended the doctoral in business program at the University of Phoenix and received an MBA and a bachelor’s in science management from Indiana Wesleyan University. Parker’s writing ranges from educational to fiction. She is best known for her study on emotional intelligence and as the multi-national leader presented at the Union Global Compact Committee. She loves writing, consulting, and teaching. However, she has spent her business life encouraging others through career and academic development programs, including being a campus president for National College and founder of Intelligence Solutions. After years of assisting others in pursuing their dreams, Rhonda follows her passion for writing as she lives a peaceful life raising her three dogs and living with her husband, Dana.
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