AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Terry Poole

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.

Today, Terry Poole – Terry makes her home between the two massive lakes that bisect Manitoba in central Canada. She’s always written in one form or another. Her very first book, at age five, consisted of stick figures drawn upon a roll of adding machine paper. When Terry isn’t writing (which isn’t often), she can be found crocheting, making handmade soap or hanging out on Facebook.

Thanks so much, Terry, for joining me!

Giveaway

Terry is giving away an eBook copy of either “Web of Secrets” or “Seeing is Believing”. Comment on this post for a chance to win.

J. Scott Coatsworth: Describe yourself using… ( a food, a book, a song, a movie, an animal, a drink, a place etc).

Terry Poole: Stonehenge. I’m the rock, the calm in the storm. Everyone comes to me with their troubles and I’m always ready to listen. I don’t speak much but I observe everything around me. I have hidden depths – there is more to me than meets the eye.

JSC: When did you know you wanted to write, and when did you discover that you were good at it?

TP: I’ve always told stories in one form or another. I discovered I was good at in high school. I had the same English teacher for several years and she saw something in my stories. She encouraged me to never give up.

JSC: If I were a Hollywood producer about to put your book on the big screen, who would you want me to cast as the leads? Why? And can we have pictures to drool over?

TP: Web of Secrets or Price of Secrets. I see Nathan being played by Benedict Cumberbatch (in his Sherlock persona) and Jensen Ackles as Kelly.

JSC: How would you describe your writing style/genre?

TP: I write suspense and paranormal and I’m a huge fan of complicated story lines.

JSC: If you could sit down with one other writer, living or dead, who would you choose, and what would you ask them?

TP: H.G. Wells. I would ask him how he was able to come up with his amazing stories considering the technology at the time.

JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.

TP: My first published work was a piece that appeared in The National Enquirer in the 80’s. It was about the hidden danger of thimerosol, a preservative used in contact lens solution, which was damaging to the eyes.

JSC: Tell me one thing hardly anyone knows about you.

TP: I’ve always wished I’d been born a man.

JSC: What’s your writing process?

TP: I like to first write my stories in notebooks because of the convenience of always being able to add to it when I have an idea for a scene. Then, I type up the stories on the computer so I can refine and edit them.

JSC: Tell me about a unique or quirky habit of yours.

TP: I cannot wear a watch because I drain the batteries in days. This was scientifically proven on a dare. I held a dime cell battery in my palm and we measured the charge in it every fifteen minutes. I drained it in four hours. I also do weird things to tablets and phones. Yes, I am a mutant.

JSC: Were you a voracious reader as a child?

TP: Surprisingly, no. I hated reading. Then when I was eleven years old, I spend almost a month in bed with pneumonia. My mother bought a book Tom Swift and His Rocket Ship for my brother. He hated and gave to me. I loved it. That started it. I read the entire series and moved onto the heavy stuff. Tolkien, Sherlock Holmes, Andre Norton, Mercedes Lackey, H.G. Wells, Jules Vern and even Shakespeare. And…comic books. Shhh

JSC: What action would your name be if it were a verb?

TP: Imagine.

JSC: What fantasy realm would you choose to live in and why?

TP: I would live on Pern and be a dragonrider. I have always been fascinated with the concept of a bond with another sentient being.

JSC: What pets are currently on your keyboard, and what are their names? Pictures?

TP: Stubbs, Libby and Oz. All three were rescues. Stubbs has only half a tail and is missing several toes. Oz, his brother has three breaks in his tail and is also missing toes. Libby was fostered with dogs and thinks she is one.

JSC: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

TP: Asked a very tall man, how tall he was and if I could stand beside him to get a feel for his size. He was very good natured about it.

JSC: What’s your greatest weakness as a writer?

TP: Fear and procrastination. I never thought I had a fragile ego but when I started writing, I discovered just how fragile it really was. What helps is having other authors to talk to and knowing I’m not so different.

JSC: What are you working on now, and when can we expect it?

TP: I just finished the sequel to Seeing is Believing, tentatively titled Seeing is a Curse and hope to have it available in June. I’m also working on a reindeer shifter story.

And now for Terry’s new book: The Price of Secrets:

An old FBI case of Kelly’s returns with a vengeance. The traumatic case that nearly ended his life left him with both physical and deep emotional scars. Kelly needs to finally conquer his inner demons when Nathan, his fiancé, is kidnapped by the wife of a drug lord and used as bait to bring Kelly to her.

With little time left, Kelly must assemble a highly specialized team to rescue the love of his life from a drug lord’s compound in the remote jungles of Columbia. Nathan’s life hangs in the balance as the mother of a murdered child fulfills her plans to exact revenge upon Kelly for accidently killing her son during the drug bust a year ago.

Unexpected treachery and betrayal follow them until not only their lives but the lives of their entire family are threatened.

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Excerpt

Reluctantly, Kelly drew back. “I’ll see you later for lunch…or something,” he added with an evil leer and wink.

Nathan’s eyes grew large and he swallowed hard. “Yes, please.”

Feeling his pulse quicken and arousal pool in his belly, Kelly seriously entertained the thought of dragging Nathan from his car and back upstairs to their bedroom. From Nathan’s blown pupils and flushed skin, Nathan was probably considering it too.

“Damn it.” He slapped the car’s door. “I’ve got to behave or neither of us will get anything done today,” Kelly grumbled.

“You? The voice of reason? Will wonders never cease.”

“Hey, it’s been known to happen.” Kelly gave Nathan a shiteating grin. “On occasion.”

Nathan snorted as Kelly straightened. He stood in place until Nathan gathered himself together enough to pull the car from the drive.

A sudden chill raced down Kelly’s spine as he watched Nathan’s car turn and head down the street. Kelly had the intense urge to run after Nathan, to stop him from leaving. Foreboding washed through him, turning his stomach, and a heavy ball of dread settled into Kelly’s middle. Something was in the wind and it wasn’t good.

Quickly tugging his cell from his pants pocket, he dialed Nathan and impatiently bounced up and down on the balls of his feet until Nathan answered.

“Hey, baby. What’s up?” Nathan sounded tinny from the car speaker.

“Do me a favor and text or better yet, call me, when you get to the condo.”

“Um, sure, okay. Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. Listen, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll quickly finish up what I have to do at the office and meet you there at the condo instead.”

Kelly noticed his hand had started to shake. What the hell?

“Sure. That sounds great. It’ll give me a chance to say good-bye to Mrs. Rosario.”

“Thanks, love. Good idea. Better yet, wait at her place for me.”

“No problem. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, Kelly climbed into his SUV. He squeezed the wheel with both shaking hands and took a deep ragged breath before starting the vehicle. Without warning, Granda’s distinct aftershave filled his nose and Kelly shuddered.

“Granda, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Author Bio

Terry makes her home between the two massive lakes that bisect Manitoba in central Canada. She’s always written in one form or another. Her very first book, at age five, consisted of stick figures drawn upon a roll of adding machine paper. When Terry isn’t writing (which isn’t often), she can be found crocheting, making handmade soap or hanging out on Facebook.

Her mind has been compared to a train station filled with runaway trains. The trick is to catch one and hang on. So many stories, so little time. Her epitaph will consist of only two words – What if…?

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