Thank you, Abyrne Mostyn, for tagging me in this wonderful Author Event that allows authors to talk about a current work in progress. To participate, I have to answer 10 questions about the book I am currently working on - and I needed to select a few outstanding authors who will carry the torch into next week.
And before I begin - here's a shout-out to my son Mike, who turns 38 years old today!
10 Questions About My Work in Progress
1. What are you writing now?
I am currently writing the fourth book in my Black Swamp Mysteries series. It’s entitled Dylan’s Song and it takes Dylan Maguire and Vicki Boyd to Ireland for a CIA mission.
2. Can you give us a peek into the mission?
In Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, Vicki learns toward the end of the book that a CIA operative was on the trail of a terrorist as he criss-crossed Europe. He followed him from Germany to Great Britain and then to Dublin, where the operative and the terrorist both disappeared. Dylan’s Song picks up with Vicki using her psychic gift to try and locate the operative and verify whether he is alive or dead.
3. If Vicki is able to see the operative through remote viewing, why is it necessary for her to go to Ireland?
As Vicki is working on this mission, Dylan receives a call that his grandmother—a woman who helped to raise him—is on her deathbed. He doesn’t want to return to his homeland but Vicki and their boss Sam convince him he should go. In addition to seeing his grandmother before she passes away, he’s been given an assignment: to extract the operative and bring him back to the States. Vicki goes along because she wants to know where Dylan is from and to see the place of his birth and early years.
4. Why was Dylan so reluctant to go home again?
Dylan had a hard-scrabble childhood; his father abandoned him and his mother when Dylan was just three years old. His mother was an alcoholic who truly didn’t provide the mothering and comfort that he should have been able to expect. Plus, Dylan is hiding a secret—the real reason he left his homeland for the United States.
5. What happens to Brenda Carnegie, Vicki’s sister and a computer hacker?
Brenda is released into Vicki’s and Dylan’s custody while awaiting trial on a multitude of computer crimes. Because special CIA transportation is arranged to take them to Ireland, Brenda is allowed to accompany them. And as you can imagine, the last thing she’s going to do is stay out of trouble while she’s there!
6. What happens to the fish operation while they’re in Ireland?
Sam is recovering from injuries sustained in Secrets of a Dangerous Woman so he’s unable to accompany them to Ireland. He stays behind to care for the fish—which shows a side of Sam readers have never seen before!
7. So does Vicki discover Dylan’s secret?
Not only does Vicki discover why Dylan really chose to flee Ireland—but she is harboring a secret of her own that is even more explosive.
8. Are there more books in the Black Swamp Mysteries series in the works?
Yes. While in Ireland, something occurs that rocks Vicki’s and Dylan’s world. It sets them up for the most important mission of their lives, which unravels in the book following Dylan’s Song.
9. When will Dylan’s Song be released?
It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2013 which means my deadline is fast approaching!
10. Are you concentrating solely on the Black Swamp Mysteries series?
No; I’ve begun another series as well, featuring an Irish homicide detective, Ryan O’Clery, who works for the Lumberton, NC Police Department. I don’t have a release date yet for The Tempest Murders, the first in the series. But once I finish with Dylan’s Song, I’m set to write the next book in that series.
Five Authors to Follow!
Next week, these authors will be discussing their current Work in Progress.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Christie Silvers
Bonnie Watson
I hope you’ll visit their blogspots to see what they’re working on! All of these authors will be at Book ‘Em North Carolina next February 23 – so come by and see us all! More information on the event is at www.bookemnc.net.
