GIVEAWAY!

This one is with Goddess Fish Promotions, and author Renee Pawlish! We've got an interview, a flash fiction piece, and an excerpt and a giveaway!

Oh, this is a good one.

Enjoy, and don't forget to follow the tour at Goddess Fish to increase your odds of winning. Commenters are entered for the giveaway drawing, so speak up!

The interview:

Please tell the readers a little about yourself:

I live in the great state of Colorado – it suits me as I love to ride my bike and hike in the mountains.  I’ve been writing steadily for almost twenty years, and I love incorporating Denver and the mountains into my stories.

How about your latest release?

This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies is the first in the Reed Ferguson mystery series (Reel Estate Rip-off is the second in the series, and I’m writing the third now).  This is a mystery novel with a fresh take on the murder mystery.  For one thing, there isn’t a murder in this book (you’ll have to read it to find out what the mystery is).  Readers are enjoying the tidbits of film noir in the books as well.

What was your primary inspiration for this book?

I love to tell stories.  I got the idea of a woman sitting in an office, talking to a detective about her missing husband.  In my head I was picturing the old detective movies, where you see the man with the fedora through the office window.  That was the inspiration for bringing in the film noir feel, and then I just modernized the story and brought it into the present day.  But I had my detective pay homage to film noir because he’s such a fan of the genre.

Do you have any muses?

Not really.  I find that if I’m stuck in a story, a hike does wonders.  I’ll get out in the air and as I walk, I think through the story and pretty soon I’ve figured out where I need to go with the story.

Do you control your characters or do they flog you into shape?

That’s a great question.  I once saw Elmore Leonard speak and he said that the characters tell him what they are going to say and do, and he just writes it down.  I feel the same way – characters take on life, and I take dictation from them.

When you write, is there a special routine you follow?

I’m too scattered to have a routine.  When I’m in the midst of writing a novel, I do try to work on it every day, even if it’s just to go over what I wrote the day before.  I do this because I want the story to stay fresh in my mind.  Sometimes I have to force myself to write because the story isn’t working, but in doing that, the kinks get worked out.

If you could be one animal, person, or at a place for a day what/who/where would it be?

I’ve always wanted one day where I could be about eighteen and living in the South, and I’d go to see Elvis in 1955 just before he hit it really big.  He was so sexy then, and I would be one of those screaming girls, swooning over him.

Five random facts about you:

I love ice cream – if you have a bad day, ice cream.  A good day, ice cream.  It’s sunny – ice cream, it’s rainy…you get the idea.

I’m a huge sports memorabilia collector – I have thousands of autographs.

I love music, almost any variety.  If a hike doesn’t solve a writing problem, listening to music likely will.

I play guitar and dream of being in a band.

The most remote place I have ever been is Oman.

Are you working on any new releases later this year?

I’m working on the third Reed Ferguson mystery, and then I’m going to finish the Nephilim trilogy (book one, Nephilim Genesis of Evil is getting great reviews, and my readers are demanding I finish the next two).

Anything else you’d like to say?

Thanks for letting me hang around and bug you all.  And please go buy my books so I can afford all the ice cream J

Contact info (Facebook, Twitter, website, blog):

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/reneepawlish

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/reneepawlish.author

Blog:

http://tobecomeawriter.wordpress.com/

Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/reneepawlish


A little flash fiction:

He darted into the alley and I was right on his heels.  I dove at him and missed.  My gun clattered off into the darkness.

He grabbed a ladder rung and scrambled up the fire escape.  I hauled myself to my feet and chased after him.  My lungs burned for air.  I looked up.  He had reached the top of the building.  He stared down at me for a second and then he disappeared.

“Damn,” I muttered, hurrying up the fire escape.

When I got to the roof, he was gone.  I started for the door that led inside the building when he darted out from behind air-conditioning ducts.

“You’re quite the pest,” I said.

“It’s over for you,” he said as he pushed me backwards.

I tried to bear hug him, and we struggled.  The edge of the roof loomed nearby.  I propelled him in that direction.

“If you kill me, you’ll never know how I hid the money,” he snarled.

“Maybe I don’t care.”

I shoved him hard.  He lost his balance and stumbled.  A surprised look crossed his face.  His hand flailed out.  I grabbed it.  His feet scraped for purchase on the edge of the roof.

“Without me you can’t get to the cash,” he said, his voice desperate.

“I’ll figure out a way.”

He shook his head.  “It’s too late.  Everyone will know you scammed money from the company.”

“How?” I asked, still clutching his hand.

“I wanted the money for myself so I ratted you out.  I sent a letter to the paper.  You’re finished.”  He glanced over his shoulder and laughed nervously.  “It’ll be all over the news.”

“Then so will this,” I said and let go.


Excerpt:

“I want you to find my dead husband.”

“Excuse me?”  That was my first reaction.

“I want you to find my husband.  He’s dead, and I need to know where he is.”  She spoke in a voice one sexy note below middle C.

“Uh-huh.”  That was my second reaction.  Really slick.

Moments before, when I saw her standing in the outer room, waiting to come into my office, I had the feeling she’d be trouble.  And now, with that intro, I knew it.

“He’s dead, and I need you to find him.”  If she wasn’t tired of the repetition, I was, but I couldn’t seem to get my mouth working.  She sat in the cushy black leather chair on the other side of my desk, exhaling money with every sultry breath.  She had beautiful blond hair with just a hint of darker color at the roots, blue eyes like a cold mountain lake, and a smile that would slay Adonis.  I’d like to say that a beautiful woman couldn’t influence me by her beauty alone.  I’d like to say it, but I can’t.


About the Author:

Renée Pawlish was born in California, but has lived most of her life in Colorado. When she's not hiking, cycling, or chasing ballplayers for autographs, she is writing mysteries and thrillers that include the Reed Ferguson mysteries, Nephilim Genesis of Evil, the first in the Nephilim trilogy, Take Five, a short story collection, and The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within, a non-fiction account of a haunted house investigation.

Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents' cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim: Genesis of Evil.

website:  http://www.reneepawlish.com

on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/reneepawlish

on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/reneepawlish.author

on her blog:  http://tobecomeawriter.wordpress.com/

or Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/reneepawlish