Wednesday, May 20, 2015

DOWN & OUT: Desert Winds, Book One by Marcy Dyer

 Suspense, Romantic Suspense

Going home again can be deadly.

Suddenly jobless, enterprising Candace Downs returns to the parched and dusty oil-town of Odessa, Texas as a trainee for her cousin's towing company.

Rejecting the romantic obsessions of a maniacal stranger intent on capturing her heart throws her life into a terrifying spiral downward.

As the clock ticks, and her hunter ups the ante, the charismatic, handsome security consultant, Josiah Bradley, is determined to keep her alive – at any cost.

Will they win this harrowing cat-and-mouse game? Or will the unrelenting stalker bury them both deep in the desert?


TIP: Do you have a trailer for this novel? How did this trailer come about? Give a link. 

Marcy: Several years ago I took an art appreciation class in college. One of the assignments was to take photos of your hometown. Since Down & Out is set in Odessa, Texas, I thought it would be fun to use some of the photos I had taken in the trailer. At the time I wrote the book, I had a tri-color Border collie, Since there is a tri in the book, I used Scooby's photo in the trailer.


The video can be viewed here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sqO8LewZ1Q

TIP: Do you write exclusively in one genre, or do you "cross-over" to other genres? What draws you to the genre(s) you write in? 

Marcy: I primarily write suspense. I have written a women's fiction short story, but my favorite genre to read is suspense so when I started writing novel-length fiction, suspense seemed the natural genre for me. 

TIP: How do you get inspiration for your stories (plots, characters, etc.)? 

Marcy: I find inspiration in life. Sometimes I'll see a news article or watch a true-crime show and think "what if". I love putting my characters in impossible situations and then ramp up the tension to see how they'll handle it. 

TIP: Can you give us a sneak peek or preview into the next work in progress (WIP) you're working on? When do you expect to release it? 

Marcy: I have a few things in the works. The fourth book in the Desert Winds Series, Lies & Alibis, will release in November of this year. In it, when a home health nurse finds a murdered couple in their home, the killer sets his sights on her and makes her life unlivable as he stalks her. 

An excerpt from Lies & Alibis: 

She knocked on the back door and twisted the knob. Unlocked as promised. Andrea pushed it open. "Mr. Dodd? It's Andrea Simmons, the nurse," she called out. When she didn't get a response, she started through the formal dining room. She continued to call to Mr. Dodd until she reached the island that separated the kitchen from the living room.

 The gruesome scene before her couldn't be real. She blinked trying to make sense of it. 

Two people lay sprawled on the floor. Both of them covered with blood. Her heart hammered as hard as snare drum at a rock concert. Fear rooted her in place for several seconds. She grabbed a pair of gloves, dropped her bags, and rushed toward the bodies. If they were still alive, they needed her help. 

When she reached the nearest, the man, she leaned forward and pressed her fingertips to his carotid artery. Was this Henry Dodd? Her hands shook, so she took a couple of calming breaths. 

Marcy: I also have another series set in the Big Bend area of west Texas. Big Bend is a rugged, mountainous desert area in the far west Texas. It's beautiful and can be deadly. When we visited the area, I knew I had to use Big Bend as a backdrop for a series of suspense novels. Another series I'm working on asks the questions "what if weaponized rabies was unleashed on the world?" With the zombie craze, I watched an interview with a scientist who talked about the possibilities of the rabies virus causing zombie-like actions by infected people. I took it a step further and researched weaponized rabies. Then, I unleashed it on an unsuspecting population

I don't have release dates or titles for the first books in these series.