Meet My Character: Gabriel McRay

A Blog Hop

I was invited onto this hop by award-winning author D.J. Adamson, whose novel Admit to Mayhem is a seriously great read about Lillian Dove, who struggles with alcoholism and runs across a crime she's forced to try and solve .  Good luck, right? But Lillian is stronger than she thinks. DJ has two novels due out in the fall of 2014. Visit DJ's Blog to learn more about Admit to Mayhem

Let's Now Meet Gabriel McRay

Where we first meet Gabriel

 Gabriel has his flaws.  He was fired from the job he loves (that of being homicide detective) because he couldn't control his temper and used excessive force.  His relationships with women stink -- he's divorced.  He's emotionless in the bedroom. He doesn't try to improve his lifestyle, he mostly hides from the world.  What do we like about Gabriel when we first meet him? Not much. 

But we do realize fast that Gabriel is not only hiding from life, but from something in his own past that is haunting him. Something he cannot remember.  Because of his job termination, he's mandated to see a psychologist.  That begins Gabriel's journey to try to eradicate his inner demon.  Gabriel has a strong sense of right and wrong, even if he stumbles once in a while. He is sympathetic to the victims of the crimes he solves (he does get hired back). He soon realizes he was victimized himself.  And with that knowledge, he continually tries to better himself, to be a happier man, and that redeems him in our eyes.

His psychological journey and the mysteries in the book are interwoven.  I believe that every life experience, good or bad, empowers us in some way and helps us to grow spiritually. That's why the cases Gabriel solves must impact whatever point he's at in his recovery.  It's not an easy scenario to create, but I try.

You can read an excerpt here: 

The Dark Before Dawn 

Please keep in touch with me here: Facebook or my my website

Hop on over to the extremely talented Craig Faustus Buck 

to meet his characters!

   Craig Faustus Buck is an L.A.-based author and screenwriter.   His short story "HoneymoonSweet" is the featured story in this year's Bouchercon anthology, and his short story "Dead End," is a nominee for Best Short Story at this year's Anthony Awards. His first noir novel, Go Down Hard, First Runner Up for Killer Nashville's Claymore Award, will be published by Brash Books in 2015.  He's written an Oscar-nominated short film and co-authored two #1 NYT nonfiction bestsellers.   Craig's Website and Craig's Facebook

 Thanks for Hopping Along!

 

A new publishing company

The publishing world is in an evolution and during periods of change, start-ups and independents have a chance to squeeze in between the giants who have dominated.  I decided to take an old-time approach to publishing creative artists and FYD Media is what was born of that decision.



The one thing that self-publishing has taught me is that you only have yourself to fall back on.  The other thing I learned is that you have to have an absolutely finished product, shining, beaming, PERFECT, if anyone is going to pay attention to you. 



But what if you have a great story, but you need polishing?  Of course, that's what editors do. But what if you need help with social media? That's what publicists do. An author can buy just about any kind of service now -- blog tours, publicists for $20K, editors, copy editors, but who is quarterbacking the entire process?  Who oversees each step with an eye to a brand and keeps the focus on the big picture?  You have to be a savvy brand maker AND a good author to play quarterback on your own project.  It's not easy.



I decided to follow the hit makers of old. I don't munch on a cigar with my feet up on my desk and bark orders to underlings.  I have no underlings.  But I am going to play quarterback and take authors (2 so far) through the entire process, from editing to marketing.  Daryl Glinn Tanner and Joy Ruth Mickelson have joined Team FYD.



Can you guess what FYD stands for?  Follow Your Dreams, of course!





Home

Reaching Readers - How to Sell Self-published Books on Twitter

I thought this was pretty interesting.  I usually don't give shout-outs unless I know they are really reputable, but the price was cheap enough to say, "what do you have to lose?" (49.00 US dollars)

Reaching Readers - How to Sell Self-published Books on Twitter

Interview today: Real Talk With Lee Online Radio by Whats Good Wit Goodie | BlogTalkRadio

Tune in here Real Talk With Lee Online Radio by Whats Good Wit Goodie | BlogTalkRadio and listen to me try to "wing it" on the "fly" (and if you can understand that, you can understand anything;)

A Blog Hop Between Authors

As you watch yourself grow within the writing community, your circle of friends and authors you admire continue to grow as well.  In this post I'm going to answer four questions pertaining to my own writing, and then I'd like to give a shout-out to two wonderful authors you should know about.  Here we go:

What am I working on?

I'm working on The Mask of Midnight, the 3rd in the series.  Honestly, it's done, but thanks to my critique partners, I realized it was only halfway done.  See the 4th questions for a continuation on this particular point!  Also, I'm happy to announce that my publishing company, FYD Media, has signed its first two authors, Joy Ruth Mickelson and Daryl Glynn Tanner.  I've been after their manuscripts for a while now and love their work.  

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work is heavily psychological.  I guess you're asking, "What's the difference between that and a normal psycho-thriller.  Well, in the words of another writer I admire, William Knoedelseder, (author of the NYT bestseller Bitter Brew) he says, "In her debut effort, Laurie Stevens may have created a new sub-genre of mystery novel--the psychiatric thriller.

Why do I write what I do?

I'm a fan of this type of book, so I write what I like to read.  Plus, if I dare venture in the badlands of "delivering a message," (instant frown, huh?)  I feel that a lot of folks either don't recognize how their fear is dominating their lives or they are unwilling to face their fear.  I wanted to create a character who was challenged to do both. The theme behind the series is really about his journey.

How does my writing process work?

Okay, if you take where I'm at right now on this 3rd book...   When I turned the most recent draft into my group of editors (a small but effective group), the response was lukewarm.  Even I knew that the work was incomplete, but I was stuck and didn't know where to go with it.  I put down the work, wrote a novella for publisher Stark Raving Books, a short story for a contest, and then returned to The Mask of Midnight.  The break was worth it.  I saw that I had a very linear book on my hands.  Chunks of plot laid out in a row. I knew I had to weave everything together in a tapestry.  So, I took a literary hammer and broke all those chunks to pieces.  Now I'm like a weaver, threading all the pieces into each other.  I like it much better and hope you will too when it comes out this Fall (fingers crossed).  The best way to keep in the loop is to like my page on Facebook, which I update continually.  Here's the link: Laurie's Facebook Page

Now I would like to make you aware of a couple of other authors and how to get a hold of their work.  

Take care of your physical and mental self until we "meet" again,

Laurie

and now introducing...

Craig Faustus Buck

Anthony Award Nominated short story "Dead End"the prequel to Psycho Logic, a novella 

 

   

     

Psycho Logic, a noir romp about love, murder, 

porn, psychiatry and valet parking  

Find Craig and more about his books at http://craigfaustusbuck.com

Ray Daniel

Ray Daniel writes first-person, wise-cracking, Boston-based crime fiction including the Tucker mysteries. 

Ray was born in Boston and raised in Revere, MA, a city journalists tend to describe as "gritty." He graduated with honors from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Computer Engineering and a Minor in English. His work has been published in the Level Best Anthologies THIN ICE and BLOOD MOON.

His first novel-length work, TERMINATED, will be published by Midnight Ink this summer 2014.

Find Ray at 
www.raydanielmystery.com
Twitter: @raydanielmystry
Facebook: www.facebook.com/raydanielmystery

Quotable Authors Podcast: Episode 29 -- Laurie Stevens (+playlist)