Book Spotlight/GIVEAWAY: Love, Lies and Bad Guys

Discover the world of author Bill Blodgett in Love, Lies and Bad Guys. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC from the author. Tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions and you can find all the tour stops HERE.

Talking with author Bill Blodgett about Love, Lies and Bad Guys

Thanks for stopping by to talk a little about your writing! Let's jump right in. When did you begin writing and why?

I tried to write a book once in high school, but I didn’t get too far with it. Later, while taking an English Literature course in college we began to dissect some of the works of history’s famous authors including Shakespeare. I was amazed when I learned that beneath the main storyline of the play or novel there was something more. I was so intrigued by it my professor tried to steal me away from the math and sciences by suggesting I change my major, but I was an adult learner and needed the math and science degree to further my career and pay for the necessities of family life. I keep in touch with that professor from time to time and share my books with her.

Do you have a favorite genre? Is it the same genre you prefer to write? 

I like Sci-Fi, but I don’t write it. It’s captured my imagination since I was in grade school in the 1960’s, probably because of the emphasis on landing a man on the moon. While in grade school we stopped everything and the teacher would roll out the TV so we could all watch the blast off. It was new, novel and exciting. I’ve tried to write Sci-Fi, but it just doesn’t work for me. Even though my background is in the sciences I tend to be drawn to writing about contemporary issues that everyone can relate too.

Do certain themes and ideas tend to capture your writer’s imagination and fascinate you? 

Human issues tend to direct my writing even though I don’t look for issues to write about. They seem to come naturally. For instance, when doing research for Love, Lies, and Bad Guys I became aware of the Downwinders issue that I wrote about earlier. That part of human interest kept the book moving and really made the characters come to life for me. I expanded the Downwinder issue to share a common cause to the heroine, KC. With this common ground I think the characters are more lifelike and not two dimensional.

How do you balance long-term thinking vs. being nimble in today's market? 

Sorry, I don’t try to balance those two goals. To be honest, I don’t have long term goals attached to my writing. I don’t want the writing to become a chore. I want it to be an enjoyable experience so I try not to daydream about being a bestselling author. That’s not why I write. I write only because something presents itself to me.  I don’t go looking for a  story. Even my Vampire books were based on an occurrence in my real life. I think if I were to pound out story after story they would become flat and probably meaningless to me and my goal of writing from the heart.

How do you find readers in today's market? 

I try to get my books out there on various blogs or review sites like this one and hope someone notices. I contract with a site like Long and Short Reviews to help get me in touch with readers. PR work is the hardest thing for me. It always feels like bragging and I’ve never been one to brag or focus on my own accomplishments. It seems too self-centered. I understand it really isn’t a bad thing to do, and many authors find their own way to do advertising. I don’t Facebook much about my books because my friends don’t want to hear about that every day. I do let them know that I have a new book out and have a contest just for them, but after that I don’t continue to barrage them with countless posts about my new book. In my mind the right thing to do is to attract people with a sincere interest in reading.

Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook? 

I first come up with the event... a bombing, a car crash, the need of a family to understand their gay family member, a magical sword or whatever comes to my mind that seems like it could fit my needs to become a book. Then I outline the general storyline from beginning to midpoint, black moment and the conclusion. Lastly, I begin to create the characters. I don’t feel I can create characters unless I know what they will have to go through. With all of that known I begin to write the book.

How do you create your characters?

Many times my characters are an extension of myself. No, not the action packed stuff, but the interior emotions they are dealing with  because of the conflicts they are going through. If I can feel the emotion then I think I will be able to write it so it will ring true with the readers.

What's on the top of your TBR pile right now?

Two of my friends, Emma Cane,  and M.J. Compton, are coming out with new books soon so they are on my TBR list.

Tell me a little about the characters in Love, Lies and Bad Guys. 

Jay is a US Marshal and is the son of a Downwinder. His father died due to a cancer caused by the radioactive fallout that blanketed their Shoshone reservation during the test of the atomic bombs in the 1940’s and the 1950’s. Jay is driven by his father’s death and his tribal beliefs that protecting his Mother Earth is his personal responsibility. KC is a NYPD detective and her parents died from an accidental exposure to radiation at their place of work, the Indian Point nuclear energy plant just outside NYC. She is driven in her cause to inform the world of this clear and present danger.

Where’s the story set? How much influence did the setting have on the atmosphere/characters/development of the story? 

The story is set in both Waldorf, MD and Astoria, NY. Hence the title Love, Lies and Bad Guys – The Waldorf Astoria Connection. The down home and laid back setting in Astoria makes it possible for Jay and KC to let their investigation differences fade away which, in turn, allows them to develop the love they share for each other.

If you had to write your memoir in five words, what would you write?
Believer in Live, Laugh, Love.

How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?

Most of the time my muse  leaves me alone when not writing except while I’m driving or when I go to bed for the evening. It’s during those times that I am susceptible to her influences and I allow her to direct my thoughts about the book.

What do readers have to look forward to in the future from you?

Hopefully, the sequel will be my next book published unless something else presents itself and it really calls to me. Now with the coronavirus orchestrating our public life I may have more guilt free time to write. As it so often happens I guilt myself into doing something that should be done rather than what I want to do. But then don’t we all?

GENRE:   Romantic Suspense

Buy link:

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Lies-Bad-Guys-Connection/dp/B084DFQWWB/

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Love%2C+Lies%2C+and+Bad+Guys+by+Bill+Blodgett

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BLURB:

When US Marshal Jay Stonewalker sees a possible terrorist comment in a chatroom frequented by anti-government radicals suggesting a nuclear threat to New York City, specifically the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, he can’t get it out of his mind. Against his boss’s orders he heads off to NYC to investigate on his own time. While there he follows a suspicious character into a secluded recess of the New York Subway system and foils what he believes is the terrorist event.  In a shoot-out with his suspect he’s wounded and calls the NYC PD for backup.  When he sees NYPD Detective KC Daviau and other uniformed officers slipping into the darkness from the subway platform he’s relieved, but to his surprise he’s met with resistance and disrespect by Detective Daviau. Against his objections, KC takes custody of the evidence and leaves the scene. When Jay asks an officer if she is always that way he’s told that, “Since her parents died, she’s been… let’s say… a little cold.”   When they are assigned to work the case together,  KC’s icy exterior soon begins to melt away as they begin to fall for each other, but KC has to hold back. She has a dark secret and knows he can’t ever know her truths because if he did he would hate her just as she hates herself for what she’s about to do.

Excerpt Two:

Because the Waldorf Astoria in New York is their flagship and it’s the symbol of everything that is America. They tried to bring the towers and the World Trade Center down in an unsuccessful attempt in nineteen ninety-three, but managed on September eleventh, two thousand one. What makes you think they won’t try something again? Their hate runs deep.”

 “Jay, let it go. Maybe it’s just a disgruntled guest that had a bad experience after spending oodles of money there. Please let it go for your own sanity.” She pleaded and hated herself at the same time. How can I make such beautiful love with this man yet still lie to him? There must be something drastically wrong with me, but it’s too late to turn back now. She knew it wasn’t a terrorist’s threat. It was just her and her merry band of anti-nuclear activists making the world safe. She began to lather up his chest with a loofa body puff and watched as he closed his eyes.

“Just let it go, Jay,” she repeated. 

He opened his eyes slowly. “I can’t just let it go. Maybe Gary wasn’t involved with the original chatter I found, but maybe he was. Maybe it’s a whole other source of crazies wanting to take a shot at the Big Apple. Maybe it’s the Russians….” Her heart skipped a beat while she tried to rationalize that Sergei and what Jay was alluding to was just a coincidence. Sergei was fighting the good fight. She was sure of that.

GIVEAWAY

Bill Blodgett will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I still live in the community where I met and married my lovely wife, Janice. Actually, she lived around the corner from me and we both ignored each other until our teen years when the hormone thing kicked in and we suddenly realized that the cute little girl skipping rope and that goofy boy riding a bike had both grown up.

We are the proud parents of April and Lindsay; both of whom are now married. April married Darren and they have two beautiful boys, Brian and Owen. Lindsay married Tim and they have two beautiful children: Kailyn and Evan.

 I enjoy hiking, kayaking, camping with my family, golfing, making candles, and restoring my antique European sports car, a 1972 MGB.

They say to write from what you know, so I do. I write of love, life and relationships. In addition to the romantic plot we all expect from a Romance novel all of my books deal with a real-world issue as a sub-plot  that we all have had to deal in some manner in life, but not in a preachy way.  I find that including this sort of theme helps me identify with my characters on a personal level. My hope is that the reader will also feel that connection with my characters.

I have four other published novels. Dead Or A Lie and Saint’s Sword are vampire Romances. Unrequited is a contemporary novel with romantic elements and received 4 stars from Romantic Times Book Review magazine. The Last Prejudice is a family saga that deals with the issues a family must address when a family member comes out.

I have been a member of the RWA and the Central New York Romance Writers since 2004 and have held various posts in my local group. By day I am a construction inspector for an engineering company.

Please visit my website: www.billblodgett.com   or email me at  bill@billblodgett.com You can also find me on Facebook at @authorbillblodgett and Twitter @bill_blodgett