Objects in the Rearview Mirror by F.E.Feeley Jr

Literary Nymphs Interview

Title:  Objects in the Rearview Mirror

Author: F.E.Feeley Jr

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: Feb/March

Do you write in more than one genre?

I am a writer of paranormal romance. I’ve tried contemporary, but it hasn’t worked out yet mainly because I like the shadows and the dark and the ability use spirits metaphorically to drive a plot.

What if any, is the hardest part of writing for you?

Writing is a personal process. Its harder than most people think and I’m not talking about sitting down, gathering ideas, and shutting the world away.   You have to pull from your own life, your experiences, fears, hopes, desires, and do so in such a way that the reader can connect to you. Because that’s what writing is all about isn’t it? Communication, an exchange of ideas, saying something is hard.

What inspired the story?

People inspired it. And I’ll leave it there.

Objects in the Rearview Mirror is about a married couple Jonathan David, a novelist and Eddie Dorman a psychologist.  Jonathan has been on the run from his past for as long as he can remember and his husband Eddie has been along for the ride.  When a great book sale leads to an easier life, both decide to settle down in the little town of Clay Center, Kansas to start life over. 

However, upon moving in both men begin to experience strange events that threaten to tear both men and their marriage apart.  Now, time is of the essence, can Eddie save his husband before its too later? Or will Jonathan succumb to the nightmare world that has brought the shadow of the past, back into his life?

EXCERPT:

Jonathan lifted his head. “Sounds like a plan. I think I am going to go sit outside for a little while longer. I’ll come up to bed soon,” he said as he crossed over the kitchen and kissed Eddie on the forehead.

Eddie closed his eyes and leaned into Jonathan’s strong body. Jonathan placed his chin on Eddie’s head and held him close. Eddie could smell a hint of the cologne he wore mixed in with the smoke and sweat.

Jonathan let go and walked over to the fridge, pulled out another beer, popped the top, and put it up to his lips.

Thump.

Eddie started to say something, but stopped short when the noise came again.

Thump.

They both raised their gazes to the ceiling as Jonathan walked over to the wall for his baseball bat. He didn’t believe in owning guns, and he figured this would give him more pleasure without all the cleanup necessary in dispatching someone with a firearm. He wrapped his hand around the base of the bat as they both listened intently, hearts beating.

Thump. Thump. Thump. It sounded like heavy feet walking across the floor above their heads.

Their gazes locked, and Jonathan mouthed someone is upstairs.

Eddie nodded and reached for his cell phone, which was plugged in on the counter. The two of them moved from the kitchen to the staircase. They had both been standing in view of the front door and knew there was no way someone had simply walked in. As silently as they could, they made their way up. Jonathan led with the bat over his shoulder, and Eddie follow behind, having already typed tapped 911 into the phone, He hesitated on pressing the send button, wanting to make sure it wasn’t a squirrel or a raccoon first. He didn’t want the embarrassment of having the police show up because of a furry home invader.

They crept up a stair at a time and were nearly at the top when they heard the sound of footsteps again. It sounded as though whoever it was, was heading toward them from the back room. Jonathan pushed himself further, feeling a burning sensation in his gut as his trembling legs fought to hold him up. The three steps to the landing were the most difficult three steps either of them had ever taken. One, breathe, two, hesitate, breathe, three, and they were there. The first thing they noticed was that all three doors were shut, including their bedroom door. Jonathan pressed his hand against Eddie’s stomach as a sign to stay put as he approached the door. Eddie stood watching, ready to hit the send button.

The door swung open to a dark room. Eddie’s nerves were on high alert, his heart hammered hard in his chest, his mouth was dry, and his palms were sweaty. Jonathan walked in.

“Jon—” Eddie began, but he was silenced when his husband turned around and held up his hand, signaling him to be quiet. He shut his mouth with a click but kept his gaze glued to what Jonathan was doing. Jonathan disappeared into the dark, and from somewhere inside, clicked on a light. Eddie breathed a sigh of relief when Jonathan came walking back out giving him a silent shrug.

Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound came directly from one of the empty rooms down the hall. The relief Eddie had felt suddenly froze under his skin, making him tense up again. Jonathan rolled his eyes. He was getting sick of this. Instead of creeping down the hallway like he had up the stairs, he charged down the hallway and Eddie chased after him. Jonathan flung the door of the room on the left open. Nothing, He reached out and flung the middle door open. Nothing, finally he grabbed for the last door and hesitated. Instead of turning the knob, he pressed his ear to the door.

“What is it?” Eddie whispered.

“Shhh,” Jonathan said.

Eddie leaned in closer to the door and listened with Jonathan. Jonathan motioned for him to back up before turning the knob and trying to push the door open. Partially open, it hit something and stopped. Eddie jumped back. Surprised, Jonathan let go of the handle and the door swung shut and slammed hard in his face with a loud bang. Jonathan backed up a step and then grabbed the knob again. This time it wouldn’t turn.

“Whoever the fuck is in there, I’m coming in to beat your ass!” Jonathan said, and he twisted the knob with all of his might. Whatever or whoever was on the other side was struggling to keep the door closed. Eddie brought his phone up to call for help, but the phone was dead. Jonathan struggled with the door and finally lost his temper. He backed up a few steps, dropped the bat, and charged the door with his shoulder. Instead of meeting resistance that he had expected, the door burst open and slammed against the wall. Luckily, Eddie had been hot on his heels and kept him from going headfirst out the closed window directly across from the door. To their surprise, the room was empty.

Author Bio:

F.E. Feeley Jr was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and lived there for twenty years before joining the military. He is a veteran of the US Armed Services; having done a tour in support of Operation Iraq Freedom in 2002-2003, he turned college student, pursuing a degree in political science. He now lives in Southeast Texas where he is engaged to the love of his life, John, and where they raise their 1½ year old German shepherd, Kaiser.

As a young man, reading took center stage in his life, especially those novels about ghosts, witches, goblins, and all the other things that went bump in the night. His favorite authors include such writers as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice, whose work allowed him to travel to far off places and meet fascinating and scary characters. As a gay man, he wishes to be able to write good fictional literature for those who love the genre and to write characters that readers can relate to. All in all, he is a cigarette smokin’, whiskey drinkin’, rock and roll lovin’, tattoo wearin’ dreamer of a man with a wonderful partner who puts up with his crap and lets him write his stories.

Where can we find your website?

You can find me on the internet at several places https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntingOfTimberManor

I ramble on this blog and post excerpts from things I am working on, here: www.fefeeley412.wordpress.com

And you can find me on amazon and Goodreads by searching for my books.

With Silent Screams by Steve McHugh

With Silent Screams 

The Hellequin Chronicles, Book 3

Steve McHugh

Release on February 18th

Silent Screams Blurb:
His name is Nathan Garrett, but he’s also known as Hellequin. And murdering one of his friends and trying to blow him up is a good way to get this centuries-old sorcerer’s full attention…
An old friend’s dead body, a cryptic note, and an explosion that almost costs him his own life propel Nate headfirst into a mystery involving a new threat from an old foe. Now he must piece together the connections between a grisly series of tattooed murder victims, an imprisoned madman, a mysterious alchemist, and a deranged plot to usurp the throne of the hidden realm of Shadow Falls, rival to the power of Avalon.
Can Nate avert the coming slaughter, or will he become the latest to fall in this clandestine war?
With the story careening between modern-day New York and Ontario and 1977 Maine, With Silent Screams continues the gritty and action-packed mix of urban fantasy and ancient mythology that mark Steve McHugh’s popular Hellequin Chronicles.

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Screams-Hellequin-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00EDUFTI6/ref=pd_sim_kstore_6

About the Author:
Steve McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing video games.

Website http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hellequinchronicles
Twitter https://twitter.com/stevejmchugh

Snapped by G.A. Hauser

Blurb for Snapped:

Bryce Hayes thought when he left the military and joined the Seattle Police Department; there would be nothing he couldn’t handle. He’d seen it all; the worst of what mankind could do to each other.

But the Seven Deadly Sins had yet to rear their ugly head. Bryce was about to encounter them all embodied in one man; Field Training Officer Kohl Abbott’s inconceivable corruption. As a thirty-nine year old ‘rookie’ paired with the senior officer from hell, Bryce had no idea when he was told to ‘stay put’ in the patrol car, that his training instructor Abbott was breaking fingers and kneecaps for protection money from the small local businesses.

While in the Special Forces, Bryce was taught to shut up, to not reveal information. But this time when the net came down on the corruption he was caught in the snare. Bryce was tossed out of the department with the garbage, but was not prosecuted. He never knew why.

Twenty-eight year old Joel Vandergrift lived on Capitol Hill in Seattle, worked as a photographer and taught literature classes at night. But his real love was writing. Having his first few novels hit the bestseller lists, Joel was gaining recognition and finally thought earning a living as a writer was a possibility… until his apartment is broken into, and his computer with all his work on it, is stolen.

A day later, Joel sees his latest bestseller being sold, but under someone else’s name.

The irony of just having met a bartender named Bryce Hayes, whose behavior was suspicious to Joel, made Joel believe Bryce had a hand in the treachery.

But Bryce knew the reality.

 What at first had been an ultimatum for Bryce from Abbott to find something nasty to discredit Joel as a top writer, had changed. Secrets, lies, and disastrous decisions that were impossible to take back, push Joel and Bryce together. And it isn’t until one of the men finally has had enough that fate takes over.

SNAPPED!

Lust, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony- The ‘Infamous 7’ change one man from a cynic into a killer. And Bryce sees first hand, how war is not only fought on the battlefield; it is also drawn from the mighty pen.

Sample chapter for Snapped:

Abbott had written a ‘tell all’ novel about his years as a dirty, nasty pig of a cop on the street, but he lied on his biography?

Bryce slouched in the chair of his small kitchen table, one with four chairs, simple and unadorned, and looked at the wooden cabinets as he thought about what he was learning.

Abbott’s whole image was based on a house of cards.

Bryce didn’t know much about the writing industry, but obviously, Abbott’s publisher, in order to soften the truth about the kind of nasty creature Abbott was, is, had created a background of complete fiction.

The irony was killing Bryce.

The novel was an accurate account of Abbott’s life as a cop on the take, but his bio? Pure fabricated nonsense to paint a portrait of a man with sympathy. Bryce knew the truth about Abbott. He should know. He was stuck in a fucking patrol car with the pig for a month during his first phase of FTO training, and got caught in the round up from the task force of crooked cops.

Bryce grew so enraged at the cheap shot at gaining sympathy from readers, he stood up from the table to stare out of the window at the street below. He had to calm down.

The thought of helping Abbott destroy a legitimate author in order to pump himself up? It brought the bile to rise in Bryce’s throat.

But…

Abbott held dirt on Bryce. Was Bryce as guilty as Abbott?

Bryce leaned on the window frame, watching the traffic on Lake City Way.

Guilty because he wasn’t a rat

Guilty because he didn’t ‘beef’ another cop

Guilty he had looked the other way.

His ‘omission’ of actions made Bryce feel as if he had committed the same crimes Abbott had.

His conscience was guilty, but his peers, his cop brothers, found him innocent in their own ‘judgment court’. That was why they frequented the bar, associated with him, and considered Bryce their friend.

Only Bryce knew he had made a deal with the devil. A demon named Kohl Abbott.

And when Kohl left for Portland? Bryce thought he had finally washed his hands of that filth. But perhaps the blood never does wash off.

Did he have a choice?

No. When they took his badge, Bryce had lost his choice.

Having not been convicted of a crime, Bryce did however keep his concealed permit to carry a weapon. Most days he did not, being capable of fending off attacks without it.

As he stared at the street below, he thought about the young thugs attacking the woman. Five on one. How many men would be bold enough to stand up like that? Most would turn the other way, or hide in the shadows and call 911, which, in most cases was doing nothing.

No one knew better than he did how understaffed the police department was. And an emergency call, unless it was ‘help the officer?’ response time was usually too late.

Bryce looked at his open laptop and sat back down.

His Intel; Abbott was a lying piece of shit, and he was on the hunt to take down an innocent victim.

Nothing changes.

Abbott never did.

~

Joel Maywood Vandergrift tapped keys at his computer.

In his apartment on Capitol Hill, the shrinking gay district of Seattle, he faced a window which overlooked Broadway Avenue and worked on his newest novel, Rock-it, Dear. The income for his first few books was slowly growing but he kept teaching classes to hold onto a steady income. No longer employed by the public school in Rainier Valley, Joel worked for an adult learning center three nights a week. Once the middle school found out Joel wrote gay romance, they politely asked him to resign, saying it wouldn’t ‘look good’ if the parents of his kids found out.

The staff knew he was gay, but now that he was writing about men making love? Well…

Joel didn’t want the headaches of any accusation of his behavior. He didn’t need to be branded a sexual deviant by the right-wing conservatives who expressed how timid they were as it was that an out ‘gasp!’ gay man was teaching English literature and grammar to their kids. He knew even if an allegation arose regarding his contact with the students, Joel could kiss both his teaching and writing career goodbye.

But Joel had one more interest that had become another source of income. Photography. He loved anything creative.

So his life was busy. What had become two hobbies, writing and picture taking, had now grown to potential careers.

With the outreach of the internet, Joel’s popularity had gained momentum, and seeing his first gay romance novel, top the prestigious charts of The Times? Followed by two more he’d written within three months, he was stunned. As far as Joel knew, his books were the first gay romances to become number one best sellers in the mainstream newspaper. He was up there with the ‘big boys’ now. And he simply didn’t know how it had happened. He didn’t have an agent, or a publisher, merely publishing on his own under his umbrella company, Maywood, LLC which included his new photography company as well. And, that too, was growing.

Joel worked hard. Very hard. When he wasn’t teaching he was writing, or setting up photo shoots. He didn’t have an assistant to do all the extras for him. He did everything himself.

The men he photographed became his cover models. Another great buddy from his staff at the school in Rainier Valley? His editor. From then on, it was all him. Promoting, arranging book signings…finding handsome guys to pose for his work…and even selling his erotic photos to gay magazines, his beautiful male nudes.

Within three years, Joel had gone from scrounging and eating pasta and cupped instant soup, to being able to affording rent on a studio space in Ballard for his photography.

If people assumed part-time night school teachers made a lot of cash, they assumed wrong. Especially in an overinflated area of the country like Seattle, where rents and mortgages had hit the roof and seemed to be immune from the economic downturn.

He reached for his coffee mug and sipped it as he typed, on a roll, getting the words onto the page quickly. The coffee had gone cool, but it didn’t matter, he still drank it.

Working hard for three hours straight, Joel headed a new chapter and stood, stretching his back and giving his ass a break from sitting. He walked to his front window after putting his empty mug into the sink to see people bundled up in the drizzle of Seattle’s long, dark, wet winters. High suicide rates, depression, and the silly rumor that a child of ten could identify thirty shades of gray…that was Rain City.

He smiled. If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.

His phone hummed. Joel picked it up off the kitchen counter to see it was a friend, Dion Snead. He answered. “Hello, babe!”

“Hey…am I catching you working…wait, don’t answer that. You are always working.”

Joel laughed and sat down again in front of his computer. “I was actually taking a mini break. What’s up?”

“Did you see the review someone posted on your book?”

“I don’t read them. Why?”

“Man, someone really hates your guts.”

Though it stung, Joel shrugged. “Whatever. You can’t please everyone.”

“No. I mean, they didn’t rate the novel. It was a personal assault.”

“Huh?” Joel saved his work and asked, “Where is it?”

“I’ll send you the link.”

“Okay.” Joel waited as Dion emailed it, then he opened it up. It was on one of the major distribution sites and recently posted. He could see his novel received one star, and that was why he never read reviews. There was no way you could be liked by everyone, and putting yourself out there had risks. Every Hollywood star, every recorded singer, every artist, had critics. It was the nature of the beast.

“Did you get it?” Dion asked.

“Yeah. Do I want to read it?” Joel didn’t.

“Read it.”

Sighing, Joel clicked on it and read, ‘This book is simply the worst piece of shit ever written by someone who shouldn’t even be allowed access to a computer keyboard, let alone a publisher. Maywood, LLC is desperate if they allow any monkey to put out this kind of trash. Sorry I bought it- Will never buy another book from this moron again!’

Joel was a little stunned. “Wow.”

“What an ass!” Dion sounded furious.

“Okay, look, forget it.”

“I clicked on the profile, ya know, for the reviewer’s ID and your book is the only one this shit head reviewed!”

“Dion. Calm down.” Joel could see his new book was still number one, and had around fifteen reviews, all reasonably favorable.

Buy Links

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Snapped-G-Hauser-ebook/dp/B00I9IQCWA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1391634034&sr=1-1&keywords=snapped+hauser

B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/snapped-g-a-hauser/1118530598?ean=9781495278907

Are https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-snapped-1406006-148.html

Bookstrand http://www.bookstrand.com/snapped

One winner at the end of the tour will receive a signed DVD of G.A.'s movie Capital Games.

3 Winners at the end of the tour will get a 2014 calendar featuring G.A.'s book covers

One winner at each stop will receive a copy of Snapped! Winner will be drawn by blogger hosting G.A. from comments.

Giveaway

BIG BONE LICK PACK (ANTHOLOGY)

BIG BONE LICK PACK (ANTHOLOGY)

Bad Wolf & Devil Dog by Kendall McKenna

Big, Bad Bear by Jambrea Jo Jones

Shifty Fox Shenanigans by Cherie Noel

Big Bone Lick Pack is an anthology, with stories written by Kendall McKenna (www.kendallmckenna.com), Jambrea Jo Jones (www.jambrea.com), Cherie Noel (http://talesfromthewritingcave.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html). The stories take place in and around Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky, and feature a pack of werewolves, among other types of shifters. This was the first time the three of us had collaborated with one another, and it was an interesting, beneficial experience.

Partnership. Writing stories for an anthology is different than co-writing a novel with another author. Contributing to an anthology like Big Bone Lick Pack is also different from contributing to a publisher call anthology. With a publisher call they provide you a theme or a topic, and each author writes a solo story that matches the theme. Jambrea’s done a few of those. Kendall never has. Big Bone Lick Pack was different because Cherie came up with the original idea. It started with seeing pictures in a Facebook post that prompted the desire to write a story about the location, Big Bone Lick Sate Park, in Kentucky. She called on Kris Jacen, with MLR Press, to see if she’d be willing to edit. Cherie tapped Jambrea first, to participate, then she wrangled Kendall into going in with us. Getting Kendall on board was a major coup, because she consciously chooses not to collaborate, for a myriad of reasons.

Once we had the geography of the setting sorted out, and established that we were writing about shifters, we had to consult with each other to ensure our world building was consistent. Each of our stories takes place in the same place at around the same time. We borrowed one another’s characters when and where necessary. Elements in each story affected elements in the others. For instance, Jambrea’s story starts at the same point as Kendall’s, but Jambrea’s story functions as a reveal for one of the most significant events in Kendall’s story. It was necessary to make sure our world building was consistent all the way through. It was also important that none of us contradicted something said or done in one of the other stories.

We also had to coordinate our timelines. When Kendall borrowed Cherie’s character, Simon, she had to ensure to write him in a way consistent with his behavior at the beginning of Cherie’s story. When Jambrea borrowed Kendall’s character, Asa, she had to ensure that a telephone call takes place at a point when Asa is not actually on the page of Kendall’s story.

While we started out with a Google doc, listing all the vital statistics of out characters, and links to relevant research tidbits we’d each dug up, we mostly PM’d back and forth a lot via Facebook. We helped one another to determine distances between towns and cities, and what that meant in terms of drive time. Jambrea and Kendall have characters who work for the same law enforcement agency, so it was necessary to coordinate who held what rank and patrolled which beat. Kendall and Cherie had to coordinate what physical injuries Kendall’s character, Seth, had received, so that Cherie’s character could provide the correct after care.

It helps immensely work with people you have interacted with before. One of the only reason’s Kendall agreed to participate was that she’d met Jambrea and Cherie in real life, and knew she wouldn’t have to worry about them trying to dictate story elements to her. We all knew a little bit about each other, and we were pretty sure we could work well together. It’s always an experiment when individual work as a team for the first time, but we think this one worked out pretty well. The experience was collaborative, educational, cooperative, and most of all, FUN. Having fun was one of the few hard and fast rules our editor, Kris, gave us, and we took it to heart.

There’s talk of a sequel, and rumor has it that Cherie has already created a Google doc that includes actual plot bunnies. Kendall is waiting to find out the deadline for a previous commitment, to see what her writing timeline looks like. One thing is for certain, the experience of creating Big Bone Lick Pack was a positive enough one, that none of us is ruling out the chance of a sequel. Without a doubt, this was a successful collaboration.  

Blurb:

Welcome to the Big Bone Lick Pack: A more friendly and hospitable group of werewolves you’ll never meet! Visit with; 'Devil Dog & Bad Wolf', a 'Big Bad Bear' and enjoy some 'Shifty Fox Shenanigans'. Watch yourself, 'round the state park, 'cause we had a grizzly on the loose, just a bit ago. Our brave men and woman of the Boone County Sheriff's Department have everything under control. (Except maybe their own love lives!) But if you find yourself needing a doctor, head on down to Rabbit Hash clinic, or St. Elizabeth's Hospital is just up the road a piece. We hope you enjoy your stay.  

Enter below for a chance to win

an authentic Big Bone Lick State Park

tee-shirt!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

T-Shirt Giveaway