CHARACTER INTERVIEW with SHANE MASTERS From Master of Chaos, The Unredeemables, Book 3 (Prequel Scene)   Shane Masters has been held captive for many months by scheming, despotic billionaire Owen Halliwell. He was abducted for the access codes for SmokeScreen, Shane’s genius brother Ethan’s immensely powerful algorithm. Halliwell needs it to execute his megalomaniacal plans. In this scene, Shane is being interrogated by Halliwell. Since the standard torture techniques have not worked, Halliwell has turned to truth serums, and sensitive instruments to measure Shane’s physiological responses, and then using his own cutting edge AI processor to analyze the data, and basically read Shane’s mind. He means to pry SmokeScreen out of Shane if it’s the last thing he does. Apologies to Fresh Fiction for using their innocent interview sequence for such a diabolical purpose!     Shane Here we go again. I stared through the glass wall of my cell at that bastard Halliwell, who was sporting a wide, gloating smile, his overly whitened teeth gleaming in his bony face. His shock of white hair stood straight up, and his white Uncle Sam goatee straight out. His big, pale green eyes glittered, hot with anticipation.   That smile boded no…

Interviewer enters the reception area of Ethan Masters’ corner office, looking around in confusion as Amos and Darius Drake stare at her menacingly: Ah…am I in the right place? I’m Delilah Miller, and I’m here from Wild Card, an online magazine? To interview Ethan Masters? Amos, one of Ethan’s bodyguards, squints at her suspiciously: Let me see your driver’s license. Interviewer hands it over, bemused: If you like. I’m not usually put through a background check. Amos studies it, then sits down and types into a database. He looks up, makes a brusque gesture:  Go wait over there. I’ll let you know when I’m done. Interviewer, irritated: Come on, you guys. What do you think I’ll do to him, anyway? It costs you nothing to be polite. Amos snorts: Polite, hah. That’s real funny, lady. We have learned, to our cost, that just because you’re a girl doesn’t rule out the possibility that you’re a psycho maniac who wants to eat his liver. So excuse us if we cover our asses. Okay? Interviewer stares at him, alarmed: Um. Okay. Amos gestures toward the couch in the waiting area again: Sit there, until we’re sure of who you are. If you…

Book: IN FOR THE KILL, by Shannon McKenna Subject: Svetlana Ardova and Sam Petrie   Interviewer, startled: Oh, my gosh! Um…so you’ve both arrived together? I hope I didn’t miscommunicate when I gave you the times of the interviews. I scheduled Detective Petrie at 10 AM. (She turns to Sveti.) I meant for you to come in at eleven, because I thought maybe we could grab lunch together afterward. My treat, of course, since you were the one who put me in touch with these fascinating interview subjects for my journalism project. I will be indebted to you forever, you know. (Sam and Sveti stare at each other in naked alarm, speechless.) Sveti: I am very sorry. I am sure that it was my mistake. It is the kind of thing that happens to me often, with the English not being perfect, you see. I still have these lapses now and then. I will just go, then, and get a coffee, and come back in an hour. Sorry, Delilah. Sam: No, no. Stay. Talk to the two of us together. It’s no problem.   Interviewer: A dual interview? That could be interesting. I mean, you guys are friends, right? Or…

Book: FATAL STRIKE, by Shannon McKenna Subject: Miles Davenport   Interviewer: Thanks for coming in on such short notice, Mr. Davenport. I know Sveti roped you into doing this for my journalism thesis project as a favor, and I am really grateful to both of you. Particularly after I read the articles about the Greaves Foundation event! Wild stuff. I’m so glad you got through it all right. And I would love to learn more about your incredible adventures! Miles, looking dubious: Uh, yeah, I guess. I don’t know how they covered it in the newspapers, so I can’t speak to what they said about what happened.   Interviewer: Well, they told the truth, right? Did they not? And if not, what did they miss? Or fudge? Miles: No clue. I was in a coma when they were writing about it. I’ve been trying not to think about it ever since. So, I’d rather refrain from questions about that. If you don’t mind.   Interviewer, crestfallen: Okay, I guess. Well, then. (consults notes) Then let’s just get back to basics. Say, how would you describe your family? Your childhood? Miles, shifting uncomfortably on his chair: My parents were great. They…

1–What is the title of your latest release? EXTREME DANGER, Book 5 of the McClouds & Friends Series 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Nick is on a suicide mission to take down an evil mafiya vor, and at the worst possible time his neighbor shows up to sneak a midnight dip in the pool naked. He doesn’t know if she’s a seductive assassin or a clueless innocent, but she has a target on her back now, and instead of saving his own soul, he’ll have to save Becca instead… 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It was all handed to me by the previous books! Nick was already introduced to me in the previous books. The McCloud Crowd almost all hang out in Seattle and the surrounding environs, a place I love for its amazing beauty—the mountains, the Sound, Mt. Ranier, the Olympic Rainforests, the coast, and the city itself, too….I just can’t get enough. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? The heroine? Sure. I’d love to get brunch with her. My hero? Hell, no. He terrifies me. He’s brusque and rude and would never put up…

1) What is the title of your book? EDGE OF MIDNIGHT, The McClouds & Friends Series, Book 4. 2) Give us your elevator pitch. Sean, the youngest McCloud brother, has a bad habit of running headlong into deadly danger. Years ago, he was forced to drive away his true love, Liv, to protect her from that danger. Now Fate has put her on his path once again …and the danger is back, too. But nothing on Heaven or earth will keep him away from her this time… 3) How did you decide where your book would take place? From the very first book in the series, I knew it was the Cascade Mountains. That’s where I grew up, deep in the backwoods. My parents did the back-to-the-land thing, so I gave that exact weird and complicated backstory to my McCloud brothers, times a thousand! I based all of the city plot stuff in the series near Seattle, which I think is a gorgeous town. Those colors, those skyscrapers, those snowcapped mountains, the Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier looming over it all, the misty rain, the flowers…ahhh. 4) Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Hell, yeah! Sean is…

I hate to limit myself to only five reasons. That constraint squeezes my brain like a pair of spike-heeled pumps three sizes too small. I struggle against my own limits! I want to be slim, fit, strong, smart—but I’m crazy about chocolate, and I’m afflicted with an overwhelming love of naps. And it’s so hard to figure out how to set the clock on my microwave. Fantasizing about people with fewer limitations gives me sweet relief from my own frustration with myself. Enter, the fabulous fugitive super-soldier characters from the Obsidian Files stories. My tailor-made compensation. Here are the five top good things that came out of their awful sojourn with the sadistic Midland researchers back in the day. All that torment had to be good for something. Super strength. The convenience of it. Need to move a refrigerator? No problem. A grand piano needs to be taken down five flights of stairs? He won’t even break a sweat. Need to push a van? Uphill? He’s your guy. And he’ll never, ever throw his back out. That’s pure gold. A couple years ago, I read an online article about gene-splicing in mice for muscle strength, and it blew my mind….

It’s June and the Texas heat has settled in for the summer. If I’m not out the door by 6:45am, we skip the trip to the dog park because it’s just too hot. So, fun means indoor and air-conditioned activities. Movies, television, shopping, and going to the gym are all on the list. Of course, my favorite activity is curling-up in bed with a good book. Now that I have a new mattress (what took me so long?), napping and reading are my two favorite ways to relax. This month, there are some great choices in romantic suspense to keep you entertained while you stay cool. FADE TO MIDNIGHT McCloud Shannon McKenna Kensington; $20.95 I can’t wait to read McKenna’s latest addition to the McCloud series which answers the question—What happened to Kevin? Davy, Connor, and Sean mourned the loss of their brother, Kevin, in Edge of Midnight, Out of Control, and Standing in the Shadows. When the McCloud brothers discover Kev is alive, they won’t rest until they find him. Beaten and tortured almost to death, Kev Larsen was found eighteen years earlier in a warehouse alley. He survived his brutal ordeal, but his memories before that night were…