Showing posts with label Killing Time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Killing Time. Show all posts

Friday, 13 August 2010

Author Spotlight week - Excerpt from Killing Time


Mindy knew exactly what he meant. No matter how hard she squeezed her eyes together, the tears flowed, hot and stinging. Her make-up was melting away, but she didn't care. All that mattered was the moment in time where another human being understood her suffering.

Mindy had never felt so comfortable with a man, but yet so vulnerable for baring her soul. He handed her a napkin from the table and she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. When he did likewise, she wondered if he'd been crying, too.

"And, then there's Renee. That's a whole other story. Just when I find her, she's murdered. I'll find out what happened to her if it's the last thing I do." The tears came full force then as if a dam had burst.

Stone encircled her in his arms, his touch comforting. She felt his breath on her cheek.

Mindy wiped her eyes and sat up straight. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said, reaching up to wipe a stray tear from below her eye.


"I'm sorry to be such a cry baby. I don't know what's got into me."

He placed his hands on the sides of her face. The setting was perfect. The atmosphere was romantic and the night was warm.
"You are so beautiful," he said, looking into her eyes as if he could gauge her soul.

Her heart swelled in response to his words. A shiver of delight tickled her spine.

His face moved toward hers as he asked, "Can I kiss you?"

The heavy rhythm of her heart beating in her chest took Mindy's breath away. She leaned away ever so slightly and said, "There's one thing I have to know first."

"What?"

She grinned and said, "You know my name, now what's yours?"

"Drew," he replied as his lips met hers.

***
Killing Time is avail at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony Ebooks, Kobo, Apple ebooks, All Romance Books, and the Desert Breeze website.

Tuesday, 10 August 2010

Author Spotlight Week - K Dawn Byrd shares her passion for Inspirationals


Inspirational authors could just as easily write for the secular market if they chose. After all, a story is a story. I choose to write for the inspirational market because I'm a born again Christian and like to bring the fact that even Christians aren't perfect into my writing. For example, when my heroine in, Killing Time, is wrongly accused and incarcerated, she becomes angry with God. Haven't we all been there at some point? It doesn't do us much good, but it's human.

I enjoy reading good, clean books and I know when I choose to read inspirational novels, the story will be free of the sex, smut, and gore of the world. We're bombarded on all sides with it, but I can choose what to fill my mind with when I read. When I write, my goal is to provide a clean story that's suitable for all readers while entertaining them at the same time.

Since I write mainly suspense, my characters are plunged almost instantly into danger and intrigue. Sometimes the obstacles seem insurmountable. There are times when their faith in God is all they have. I like to show in my plots that even though God doesn't always rescue us out of the middle of the storms, He's there to lead us through it.

Monday, 9 August 2010

Author Spotlight Week - Q&A with K Dawn Byrd


Desert Breeze welcomes author, K Dawn Byrd in the spotlight this week. Her latest released is "Killing Time." Welcome K Dawn!

STEPH: What's the inspriation behind your story, "Killing Time?"

K DAWN: I've always been an avid reader and planned to write a book "one day." When I began work as a counselor in a jail, I thought that would be a neat setting for the book. I began to jot down notes about the environment such as sights, sounds, and smells. Before I knew it, my heroine had formed in my mind, begging me to tell her story.


STEPH: I don't know much about the book. Can you tell us a little about it?

K DAWN: I began to wonder what would happen if a strong Christian woman was wrongly accused and incarcerated. Would she lose her faith? Would she crack under the pressure? Here's the blurb from Desert Breeze Publishing:

Mindy McLaurin, thinks it's the end of the world when she's incarcerated on trumped-up embezzlement charges. While in jail, she investigates the death of an inmate who allegedly died of an overdose. Mindy suspects foul play when her cellmate dies and she learns that both women had ingested the same drug. Mindy trusts no one, including Drew Stone, the handsome counselor she can’t stop thinking about. She faces many challenges, including constant interrogation by the Major and emotional abuse from the other inmates. Upon release, someone is stalking her and framing her for the murder. Can she prove to Counselor Stone that she’s innocent of all charges before she loses him forever?

STEPH: How long have you been writing?

K DAWN: I've been writing for about three years and have written five books. Killing Time is my first book. I must have edited it a dozen times as I studied the craft. I'd learn something from a new book and tear it apart again.

STEPH: What attracts you to inspirationals?

K DAWN: I'm a Christian of the Baptist faith and even though I don't "preach" religion in my books, my faith in Jesus Christ is evident because at least one of my characters is a Christian or becomes one by the end of the book. I enjoy reading and writing clean novels that would be appropriate for all ages. This is a must for the Christian market. Even though I write primarily for the adult market, my novels are clean enough for anyone.

STEPH: Have you written any other genres?

K DAWN: I have written one romance (no suspense), but haven't tried to place it with a publisher. I'm such a suspense junkie that it was hard for me to write that one. I absolutely love suspense and it's hard for me to keep it out of my books.

STEPH: Do you cast your characters? If so, who are your lead characters?

K DAWN: I use character worksheets to develop my characters. However, I do scour magazines in search of photos that look like my characters. Isla Fisher, in my mind, looks the most like my heroine. My husband looks like my hero (and he is my hero!). If you take a look at my video trailer, that's my husband on the Harley Davidson at the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncljBid61g

STEPH: Care to share any hobbies with us?

K DAWN: I love to take long walks with my husband and our two Chinese Crested dogs. I enjoy planting flowers. My husband I both like antiques and love to scour antique shops together.

STEPH: What was the last movie you saw?
K DAWN: Shutter Island. I'd read the book and it left questions in my mind. I had to see the movie to clear them up.

STEPH: Have you read Stephenie Meyer's series? If so, Team Edward or Team Jacob?

K DAWN: I've read the first couple of books in the Twilight series. I really liked both Edward and Jacob. They each had some good qualities and they both loved the heroine. There were times I rooted for both of them. I guess I'm in equal camps on that one!

Wednesday, 4 August 2010

Featured August Release - Killing Time by K Dawn Byrd


ABOUT THE BOOK:
Mindy McLaurin, thinks it's the end of the world when she's incarcerated on trumped-up embezzlement charges. While in jail, she investigates the death of an inmate who allegedly died of an overdose. Mindy suspects foul play when her cellmate dies and she learns that both women had ingested the same drug. Mindy trusts no one, including Drew Stone, the handsome counselor she can’t stop thinking about. She faces many challenges, including constant interrogation by the Major and emotional abuse from the other inmates. Upon release, someone is stalking her and framing her for the murder. Can she prove to Counselor Stone that she’s innocent of all charges before she loses him forever?

EXCERPT:
Mitch was waiting for her in the visitation area. Mr. Blair, his attorney, at his side. Delacy ushered her to a glass-front cubicle. Mindy longed to touch Mitch, to draw strength from someone stronger than herself, but the glass made this impossible.

Mr. Blair smiled and nodded toward the phone. Mindy picked it up, anxiety making her a little light headed. She shivered as the cold hard plastic of the receiver came into contact with her ear.

"Hello, Mindy," the elderly attorney said. "It's good to see you again. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Me, too." They'd come to get her. She was going home.

"I can't represent you. I'm semi-retired and handle mostly real estate transactions. This is out of my league, so I'm going to call a good friend of mine, Bill Sands, and ask him to get in touch with you. He's a good attorney."

"Thank you." Tears threatened to overflow.

"I need to ask you some questions though. Okay?"

Mindy nodded.

"What led up to your arrest?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. Dawn Byrd has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. Her mother once said that she 'never knew she was on the place' as a child because she was always off somewhere reading quietly in a corner. She's a book collector and had over 2,000 titles at last count and even though she loves print books, she's fallen head over heels for ebooks, downloading several at a time into her Blackberry to read on the go.

When not reading, she enjoys spending time with her husband of 14 years, walking their dogs beside a gorgeous lake near her home, and plotting the next story waiting to be told. Writing everything she's plotted will take decades, leading her well into retirement. Her retirement dream is to live on a golf course near Myrtle Beach and write novels while her husband plays golf.

Desert Breeze Congratulates K Dawn Byrd on her latest release!