Friday, October 26, 2012

Lilly Allen Has Brains, Beauty, And A Trust Fund.

Please welcome Terri Talley Venters  author of Carbon Copy.

Terri will be awarding bookmarks or magnetic bumper stickers to randomly drawn commenters at each stop and a $10 Wild Child Publishing GC to a randomly drawn commenter at the end of the tour.

Please leave a comment!


Carbon Copy 
by Terri Talley Venters




INTERVIEW:


1.What or who inspired you to start writing?
Terri: My mother, Leslie S. Talley, is a writer. In fact, her debut novel, Make Old Bones, is coming soon from Wild Child Publishing.

2.How did you come up with ideas for your books? 

Terri: For years, people would tell me they knew someone who looked exactly like me. I’d respond, “I must’ve been cloned!” Then ideas for my story poured into my head, and Carbon Copy was born.

3.What components are necessary for the genre of this novel?
Terri: Suspense. I love writing a great forward pointer/twist at the end of each chapter to keep the reader turning the page.

4.What expertise did you bring to your writing?
Terri: My stories contain a sense of place. I’ve been to all the places in my books.  Carbon Copy is set in Manhattan and contains scenes in Key West, Disney World, and “The Swamp” in Gainesville. The sequel, Tin Roof, is set in Charleston. Body Of Gold is set in Chicago. Copper Cauldron is set in New Orleans and contains scenes in Munich, Nuremberg, and Capri. I’ve been to all of these places.

5.What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
Terri:  I love, love, love football! In fact, I’m answering these interview questions during the commercials of the Jacksonville Jaguar game. We have season tickets to my beloved Florida Gators.  And we go to several Jaguars games each year. We’re Dallas Cowboy fans. And like most Gators, we’re huge Tim Tebow fans and we watch whatever NFL team he plays on, first the Broncos and now the Jets. I’m still furious with Jacksonville for not drafting Tim Tebow in the first round draft when they had the chance.  And if that’s not enough football to follow, both of my sons play flag football. Luckily they both play for the Gators. 

6.Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
Terri: I’m in a critique group of 2, my mother and I. Having someone who eagerly reads my work and provides constructive criticism is a fantastic motivation to keep writing.

7.What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
Terri:  Best: My mother told me a tip she’d read to avoid writer’s block: “Stop when I know what will happen next.”
Worst: Don’t join a writers’ group because you might get bad advice from a bunch of unpublished writers.

8.Do you outline your books or just start writing?
Terri: I jot down the main ideas so I don’t forget, but I mostly just write. 

9.Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you've gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?
Terri: Yes, my sons and I are Second Degree Black Belts in Taekwondo. In my romantic/suspense, Body of Gold, my heroine is a hedge-fund manager and a Black Belt who falls for her karate instructor.

10.         Do you have an all time favorite book?
            Terri: Gone With The Wind

11.         Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?
Terri: Have I ever! I’m currently writing, Silver Lining, the final book in the Carbon Copy trilogy. Plus, I have 3 more books under contract with my publisher: Tin Roof, the sequel to Carbon Copy; my romantic/suspense, Body of Gold; and my most creative book is Copper Cauldron. Here is a blurb from Copper Cauldron:

 Penelope Manchester, a good witch with one green and one blue eye, awaits her destiny: a warrior of God with the face of an angel, the heart of a saint, and eyes which match her own. St. Michael the Archangel flies into her life and sweeps her off her feet. Meanwhile, an evil sorcerer captures witches, steals their powers and most of their nine lives, and shrinks them to the size of a doll--a Nuremberg doll. But when he turns two of the Manchester witches into dolls, the Manchester clan fights back with St. Michael and divine intervention. Armed with the legendary copper cauldron, a fire breathing dragon, and an arsenal of spells, good battles evil.


12.         Do you have any family traditions or recipes you might like to share?
Terri: We always host thanksgiving dinner for both of our families: 16 adults and 4 kids. My wonderful husband cooks everything, including all the pies:  pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, mile-high apple pie, and my favorite, Pirate’s rum Chocolate mouse pie!

13.         What is your favorite reality show?
            Terri: Survivor.

14.         Who is your favorite actor and actress?
Terri:  Impossible to pick just one: Matthew McConaughey, Brad Pitt, Ewan McGregor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman, Eric Bana, Joe Manganiello, Chris Hemsworth, Johnny Depp, Bradley Cooper, Chis Pine, Josh Duhamel, David Duchovny, and Daniel Craig.  Can anyone guess what they have in common?

15.         If you were a casting director for the film version of your book, who would play your lead roles?
Terri: Matthew McConaughey would play Grier Garrison and Eric Bana (with blue contacts) would play Joe.





BLURB:

Lilly Allen has brains, beauty, and a trust fund. She's living in New York City and her career as a reporter is taking off. She's hoping the love of her life, Grier, will propose soon. She has it all, or so she thinks.

Grier Garrison, Create Life executive, is running the company while his father, Dr. Michael Garrison, is in the ICU awaiting a heart transplant. Grier knows the truth about Create Life and its shady side business. He fears Lilly and her twin brother, Luke, are in danger.

While working on two unrelated stories, stolen newborns and cloning, Lilly discovers a shocking connection. Horrific things are happening, but who is behind it all?

EXCERPT:

As she opened the door to his apartment, Luke’s cat, Soli, meowed at her. The cat cried as loud as her tiny vocal chords allowed. Lilly never heard such a loud cry. Summer appeared at Soli’s side and began licking her sister’s face to placate her twin. 

The cats must have entered Luke’s apartment through the cat door Luke built between the shared walls. The cats liked to be together when the apartments were empty. 

Soli’s cries grew louder. Something terrible had happened to Luke! But how much did this ten-pound feline really know? Did Soli see something awful enough to upset her this much? Or did she simply miss her owner? 

Soli looked at Lilly and headed towards the hall. It appeared as if she wanted Lilly to follow her down the hall. As she trotted towards Luke’s bedroom, Summer and Lilly followed her. 

Lilly paused at the door to Luke’s bedroom, scared to open it, scared of what she might find on the other side. She took a deep breath and opened it. As she entered Luke’s bedroom, she scanned the room. It looked empty. 

Soli cried again, even louder than before. Lilly looked over. The cat scratched at Luke’s closet door. She stared at Lilly, scratched the closed door, and cried again. Then Lilly smelled something funny. Her nostrils didn’t recognize the strange odor, but a shiver of foreboding swept over her. 

Lilly braced herself, yet again, for another dramatic door opening. Yanking the door open, she stared into Thelma’s face and screamed. Thelma sat upright on the floor of Luke’s closet. Her eyes were closed, and her faded “I’m with stupid” t-shirt showed a bullet-sized hole in it. A circle of coagulated blood surrounded the hole in the middle of her chest. Although Lilly wasn’t an expert in medicine, she knew someone had shot the maid.  



AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Terri received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Master’s degree in Taxation from the University of Florida. She is a licensed CPA and a Second Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with her husband, Garrison, and their two sons.

Carbon Copy is the 1st thrilling novel in the Elements of Mystery Series. The title of each novel will contain an element from the Periodic Table of Elements. Terri recently finished writing Tin Roof, the sequel to Carbon Copy, coming soon from Wild Child Publishing. And Terri’s romantic/suspense novel, Body of Gold, is coming soon from Freya’s Bower. For more about Terri’s upcoming releases, please visit her website http://www.elementsofmystery.com/ Terri is the daughter of Leslie S. Talley, author of Make Old Bones which is also available from Wild Child Publishing.

On the first of each month, Terri also posts free short stories on her blog. Follow her at http://www.territalleyventers.blogspot.com/as she weaves her way through the Periodic Table of Elements. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Terri received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Master’s degree in Taxation from the University of Florida. She is a licensed CPA and a Second Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with her husband, Garrison, and their two sons.

Carbon Copy is the 1st thrilling novel in the Elements of Mystery Series. The title of each novel will contain an element from the Periodic Table of Elements. Terri recently finished writing Tin Roof, the sequel to Carbon Copy, coming soon from Wild Child Publishing. And Terri’s romantic/suspense novel, Body of Gold, is coming soon from Freya’s Bower. 

For more about Terri’s upcoming releases, please visit her website http://www.elementsofmystery.com/ Terri is the daughter of Leslie S. Talley, author of Make Old Bones which is also available from Wild Child Publishing.

On the first of each month, Terri also posts free short stories on her blog. Follow her at http://www.territalleyventers.blogspot.com/as she weaves her way through the Periodic Table of Elements.




Like Facebook Fan Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carbon-Copy-by-Terri-Talley-Venters/167383506064

Follow Terri on Twitter - http://twitter.com/TerriVenters


5 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting today.

Terri Talley Venters said...

Thank you for hosting me today! I enjoyed the interview =)

Christine Young said...

Welcome to my blog. Hope you have a great tour.

bn100 said...

I enjoyed the interview. Sounds like a good book.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel said...

Hi, Terri! Using one of the elements in each of this series sounds interesting! And I love that you've been to all the places in your books. Good luck with your tour!