April In The Back Of Beyond by p. m. terrell

Please welcome p.m. terrell author of April In The Back Of Beyond

p.m.terrell will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

April in the Back of Beyond

by p.m.terrell

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GENRE: Romantic Suspense/Ghost Story

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BOOK TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7TpMk4StYI

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INTERVIEW

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

   I began writing in the 4^thgrade with encouragement by the school principal. I had just moved to the Mississippi Delta from New Jersey; my father was transferred there by the FBI. The principal saw how lonely and isolated I was and encouraged me to write stories. Later, my eighth grade English teacher also took a special interest in my writing, which spurred me on to write full-length books.

2. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

   I knew when I began each book that it was for publication. I’d wanted to be a published author since the first time I wrote a story and it was well received. When I wrote Kickback, my first published fiction, it took me nine drafts and a lot of editing before I was ready to submit it to a publisher. I felt by that point that I had polished it as much as I could.

3. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

   The worst advice I ever received was being told to stop writing. I have always led a busy life, and someone suggested that I was too busy and I should give up my writing. Writing has kept me sane over the years, helping me to process events, places and people around me.

   The best advice I ever received was to write for myself. Though identifying a target market is crucial to sell any book (and it’s sold at least three times—to the publisher, the retailers and the reader—four if a literary agent is involved), I discovered I never had writer’s block when I was writing for myself. I develop characters I could be friends with, an enemy that would frighten me, a setting I could live in for months, and a storyline that completely captivates me. If I can hold my own attention, I have a much better chance at holding the reader’s.

4. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

   I do not complete an outline but I know three points in the story: where it begins, where it will end and a pivotal scene in the middle of the book. Too often stories get bogged down in the middle, so I have developed a formula by which I have almost a climactic scene in the very middle of the book. From the beginning to that point, things move quickly as all the pieces are put into place. Then once that middle scene is over, events speed toward the ending, suspense is ratcheted upward and the climactic scene must be larger and more compelling than the middle scene.

5. Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

   Before I became a full-time author, I founded two computer companies. My clients included the Secret Service, CIA and Department of Defense. In my earlier books, I used a lot of technology and computer crimes based on my computer expertise and knowledge.

   Then I began breeding angelfish and I added it as a front to CIA operatives in my Black Swamp Mysteries Series. I found that every time I talked about my fish, everyone’s eyes would glaze over. I thought that would be the perfect front for CIA operatives because they would be working by themselves (outside of an office environment) and everyone would think they were terribly boring. Little did they know what was really going on!

   I also have fostered and adopted a number of rescue dogs. As an animal lover, I enjoy placing pets into my books. I once auctioned off the role of a pet in one of my books, The Banker’s Greed, and the proceeds went to the Robeson County (NC) Humane Society.

6. Do you have an all-time favorite book?

   I’ve found my taste has evolved over the years, so my favorite book tends to change. I once loved books such as Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, or anything written by Daphne du Maurier. I’ve found though that my own writing becomes more verbose when I read those works; today’s audience wants events to move quickly with little backstory. Now I gravitate toward dual timelines, stories that are set both in the current day as well as during a major historical event, and I love anything set in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

7. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

   The working title of my next book is The Struggle for Independence, about a woman named Independence Mather who comes to the conclusion that she has created the perfect life with the wrong man. She finds herself swept up in the ill-fated Easter Rising of 1916, which led to Ireland’s independence from Britain. She must choose between the British loyalist she has married with the comfortable life he offers, or the man she truly loves who is fighting for Irish independence, has little to his name, and becomes a wanted man when the Easter Rising fails.

8. Who is your favorite actor and actress?

   I will watch anything that Tom Hanks stars in. His range of talent amazes me. I’ve enjoyed him in everything from Forrest Gump to Saving Private Ryan to Sleepless in Seattle. I also love Cate Blanchett; she’s a chameleon, becoming any character she plays. My favorite role, however, is when she played Kate Wheeler in Bandits. I absolutely love that oldie but goodie.

9. Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book?

   Hayley Hunter is a writer who has rented a cottage in Ireland, only to discover the cottage is haunted. She becomes mesmerized by the woman, April Crutchley, that haunts her and she is determined to uncover what happened at the nearby ruins where April’s two sons were murdered, and why April refuses to leave even after death. As she uncovers the final piece, the hauntings and current events begin to come together in a terrifying episode in which a fire starts in the cottage and Hayley must not only escape the cottage, but escape the villagers that are coming for her.

10. Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to write a series?

    I’ve written one series, Black Swamp Mysteries, which currently comprises six books, along with several others that had a sequel. I enjoy writing series because I feel like I am visiting with old friends; I become familiar with the relationships, their quirks and traits, and I must up the ante so they keep progressing forward. When I am not writing a series, I tend to feel a little lost when the book ends, like saying good-bye to houseguests that have been with me for months.

BLURB:

Writer Hayley Hunter has arrived in Ireland to complete a book on Irish history. When she discovers the old carriage house she is renting is haunted, she is determined to uncover the truth behind the burned ruins of a nearby manor house and the abandoned British barracks it overlooks. With the assistance of Shay Macgregor, an Irish historian, her quest will take her to 1919 and the Irish War for Independence, exposing the murders of two young men and why their mother, April Crutchley, refuses to leave the back of beyond even in death. With a budding romance and the opportunity to begin life anew, Hayley finds her own life is now in jeopardy as she gets closer to a truth the villagers have long sought to bury.

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EXCERPT:

When I heard the soft sobs, I realized I had drifted off once more and in my half-awakened state, I thought the cries were connected to my discordant dreams. I lay there with a groan on my lips not quite ready to spill out and wishing I could simply sleep peacefully before it was too late and I would be forced to arise for the long day ahead. I felt the bedcovers slip away from my bare shoulders and I fought to open my eyes.

When they finally did open, I discovered that I was completely uncovered. The bedcovers had been pulled to the foot of the bed and were shivering inches from my feet as they lay heaped into an unkempt triangle about three feet in height. I blinked once and then twice, my mind not grasping what my eyes were witnessing, for surely it must be a trick of the eyes to think the covers were still moving.

It was then that I realized the soft sobs had continued even after I had fully awakened and they were not part and parcel of my overactive dream state but they were real and they were coming from the direction of the blanket.

“You don’t understand,” came the sound of a woman’s voice, wracked with anguished sobs. “They are still here.”

“No, sweet darling,” returned a weary man’s voice that sounded so close I nearly jumped out of my skin. “They are with God now.”

“I’m telling you they are not,” the woman answered, her weeping growing more tormented. “They’ve never left. They’re still here.”

Within the space of a single heartbeat, I saw myself just a few nights ago, convinced the voices came from outside my window. Then I was pulled into the present to fight the horrifying realization that I was sharing my bed with two apparitions.

I slid my feet away from the covers in excruciatingly slow progress, afraid at any moment my movements would alert the phantoms of my presence. I tucked my feet and knees close to my torso as I came to an uneasy seated position, almost fetal in an attempt to occupy as little space as possible.

The room had become an icebox despite the radiators and I found myself shivering almost in tandem with the blanket. I had no idea how long I sat there, curled against the headboard and pillows, watching the foot of the bed and listening to the disembodied voices that filled the air. But then something seemed to snap inside me, fully awakening me to the present time and despite my fear, despite my trepidation, I grew impatient with myself. I reached a trembling hand toward the bedcovers, intent on pulling them over me to fight the chill as well as reassure me that they were not wet.

But at the precise moment I felt the dampness under my fingers, the sobbing stopped, replaced by a gasp that was not my own. I yanked the covers to the side, determined to discover what mechanical device lay beneath. The material jerked away from me as though I was engaged in a tug-of-war and the gasp was replaced with a woman’s blood-curdling scream and a man’s shouts.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 23 books in multiple genres, including contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer instructional, non-fiction and children’s books.

Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in the detection of white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence.

A full-time author since 2002, Black Swamp Mysteries was her first series, inspired by the success of Exit 22, released in 2008. Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee, and The Pendulum Files was a national finalist for the Best Cover of the Year in 2014. Her second series, Ryan O’Clery Suspense, is also award-winning. The Tempest Murders (Book 1) was one of four finalists in the 2013 International Book Awards, cross-genre category. Her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. Songbirds are Free is her bestselling book to date; it is inspired by the true story of Mary Neely, who was captured in 1780 by Shawnee warriors near Fort Nashborough (now Nashville, TN).

She was the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She was the founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in the town of Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime and served as its chairperson and organizer for its first four years. She also served on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County (NC) Public Library, the Robeson County (NC) Arts Council, Virginia Crime Stoppers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.

For more information, book trailers, excerpts and more, visit the author’s website at www.pmterrell.com.

Website: https://pmterrell.com/

Twitter: @pmterrell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pmterrell.author/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pmterrell/

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

p.m.terrell will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3120