First Chapter Reveal: White Rogue

Title: White Rogue
Genre: Spy Thriller
Author: Dr. David R. Fett, Stephen Langford & Connie Malcolm
Publisher: CreateSpace
Pages: 254
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1481995510
ISBN-13: 978-1481995511
Purchase at AMAZON

Cold War era biological experiments are resurrected and after Boston experiences a seemingly inexplicable bio-terrorist attack, the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Davie Richards and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Paula Mushari once again join forces to uncover who is behind it. An obscure reference to a Dresden project found amid crash site evidence marks them both for execution. Paula and Dave are forced to leave Boston in the middle of the night and head to Washington, D.C.,where they soon find that anyone they contact also becomes the target of assassins. When the daughter of the CDC’s director is taken hostage, Dave and Paula come face to face with an evil that forces them to question the very nature of duty and service to country. With the help of one man, they learn the true meaning of dark operatives while they desperately try to stop another bio-attack from happening.

First Chapter:

There was a chill in the morning air.  A marine layer had moved into the Bay Area of San Francisco, creating a soft mist off in the distance as Anna looked up the street.  Anna Wheat was late to her job at one of the downtown branches of Bank of America.  She so wanted to be on time that she wished she could just jog the rest of the way, but her three-inch heels made that idea more comical than practical.  She had been a teller for the last two years and had been in line for a promotion, but like most things in the last few days, it had stalled.  Anna knew it wasn’t just her bosses were who preoccupied.  It seemed as though everyone in the country was distracted with the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Coworkers chatted about the evening news instead of last weekend’s football games.  Married friends told her of their concerns for their kids. And she too felt on edge from the constant news bulletins that came across the radio and filled the morning and evening TV news reports.  Anna just wanted to concentrate on her work, start her new job, and be preoccupied with something positive.

She knew the bank’s human resources division in Los Angeles was waiting for the paperwork to expedite the change in her employee status from Grade 1 to Grade 3.  Anna had done an amazing job that she jumped a pay grade, something that barely had been achieved in the bank’s history and even more rarely by a woman.  The bank’s manager, John Kiley, often cited Annie’s accomplishments to other employees, saying that hard work made anything possible and they should all reach for the stars.  He was fascinated with the NASA astronauts, and the Space Race with the Soviet Union inspired his language.  He would remind any employee that would listen that Americans didn’t like settling for anything, and setting goals was the surest way to focus a nation’s, or a company’s, energies.  President John F. Kennedy had set a goal for the country back in 1961, he would remind his staffers, and soon after, on May 5^th, Alan Shepherd became the first American in space.  The Soviets beat us there, but we were catching up, Mr. Kiley would say.

Mr. Kiley’s cheerleading and holding up Anna’s promotion as an example didn’t go over well with other employees, especially other women.  Anna was very young, attractive, and ambitious.  And while she liked the attention she earned for her work, she hated the unpleasant glances from the other young tellers and the ashen-haired head teller with the droopy eyelids.  Some of the young women would whisper despairingly behind her back, lewd suggestions on how she had moved up the corporate ladder. Anna tried to ignore them and do her job.  She wasn’t going to let them have the satisfaction of knowing they upset her.  

That morning, as she walked along the street, Anna passed a newsstand that featured papers emblazoned with warnings about the Cuban Missile Crisis.  There was a palpable fear in the fear in the city and across the country that the missiles placed in Cuba by the Soviet Union and now aimed at the United States would lead to nuclear war, if not by intent, by some accident or miscommunication. Anna’s sister in Virginia was so panicked about it that she packed up her kids and drove across the country to Monterrey, California, in order to live with their mother and father until the crisis ended. Anna’s personality was the opposite of her sister’s. In fact, it was her cool demeanor that made her a perfect fit for the banking world. She always managed to stay calm no matter how upset a customer was.

She passed a TV store as she headed up to California: one of San Francisco’s steeply inclined streets. The brisk morning walks kept her quite fit, but this morning, she didn’t seem to have the same vigor she usually had.  It had been difficult to get out of bed, and she had to skip breakfast because she was running late.  No food, no coffee—that was the problem, Anna thought. She really wanted to push past the fatigue and be on time for work.  She believed punctuality was important, especially if she wanted the men she worked with to take her seriously.

Anna was determined to be the first woman to become bank manager at her branch. She wasn’t like all her high school friends, who also were working, but whose long-term goals were marriage, a house, and kids.  She wanted those things too, but she knew she wanted something more.

Anna looked in at an appliance store window as she passed by, and all the TV screens displayed news coverage of President Kennedy in a press conference. The president looked tired and unusually grim. She had been a Richard Nixon supporter and felt he would have been better at handling such a dangerous confrontation with the Soviet Union. Anna continued walking, reached the top of the street, and had to stop to catch her breath. That’s unusual, she thought, and then noticed her hands trembling. She remembered there was a donut shop near the bank, and she planned to stop in there and get a coffee and something to eat.

She stopped again.  There was something more ominous going on than low blood sugar.  She wiped her forehead. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. She was perspiring. She tried to catch her breath but started coughing up thick, bloody mucous. A passerby showed concern. She held up her hand to signal that she was fine.

Anna straightened up and made her way another half a block to her Bank of America branch.  She reached for the door, but severe vertigo prevented her from grasping the handle. Her legs became wobbly, and she fell in a heap in the doorway.

Mr. Kiley came running out to her. “Anna. Anna. Can you hear me?”

She didn’t answer.

Mr. Kiley asked the other employees who had gathered around to stay with Anna as he rushed back into the bank to phone for an ambulance. Anna just lay on the sidewalk, semiconscious, vision blurred.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 White Rogue Blog Tour Information:

About the Authors:

DR. DAVID FETT, a board certified ophthalmologist, received his BS and Masters from MIT before earning his MD from Dartmouth Medical School. He now runs a private practice in Los Angeles and serves as an assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Randi, and their four children.

STEPHEN LANGFORD is a veteran writer/producer of over 150 hours of primetime television. He has also ventured into screenwriting and fiction. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Sandy, and their two daughters.

CONNIE MALCOLM is a recovering journalist who worked on The Globe and Mail in Toronto. She has worked previously on ten books of nonfiction authored by her husband, Andrew. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and the youngest of their three sons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Book:

Cold War era biological experiments are resurrected and after Boston experiences a seemingly inexplicable bio-terrorist attack, the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Davie Richards and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Paula Mushari once again join forces to uncover who is behind it. An obscure reference to a Dresden project found amid crash site evidence marks them both for execution. Paula and Dave are forced to leave Boston in the middle of the night and head to Washington, D.C.,where they soon find that anyone they contact also becomes the target of assassins. When the daughter of the CDC’s director is taken hostage, Dave and Paula come face to face with an evil that forces them to question the very nature of duty and service to country. With the help of one man, they learn the true meaning of dark operatives while they desperately try to stop another bio-attack from happening.

Purchase your copy at AMAZON

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.

Character Guest Post: White Rogue Interview with Geneva Scott

Character Interview

White Rogue Interview with Geneva Scott

Steve Langford, one of the authors of White Rogue, has agreed to help us interview one of the more unusual characters from the novel, Geneva Scott.

SL: Geneva, why don’t you give us a little background on how you got into the business of working under contract for the CIA?

Geneva: Are you %#$*%* kidding me? I told you there are some questions I can’t answer. Ask me another one like this and you’ll have trouble leaving here.

SL: Okay. Okay. How long have you been a contractor?

Geneva: I’ve been doing this for about 7 years on and off. It’s pretty fulfilling work.

SL: Are you telling me that you get satisfaction from killing people.

Geneva: Are you stupid? Do you think I’m going to tell you that I have killed people? Let’s just say that I like variety in the assignments that I take. I like the power, the rush I get from manipulating my targets and bringing my best assets into play in acquiring the desired result.

SL: Are you telling me that you use sex to trap guys?

Geneva: You figure it out.

SL: How has your work for the government impacted your life?

Geneva: Since there’s no shortage of bad boys in the world, I manage to make a decent living and that’s important to me because I’m married and have two great kids.

SL: Really? How does your husband handle what you do? I mean …

Geneva: Listen, Steve, you may be a good writer but don’t think you can figure out everything there is to know about me. My family, my husband are my business. I think we’re done here. Now you tell everyone to get White Rogue and read about me; after all, I am one of the most intriguing characters.

White Rogue Blog Tour Information:

About the Authors:

DR. DAVID FETT, a board certified ophthalmologist, received his BS and Masters from MIT before earning his MD from Dartmouth Medical School. He now runs a private practice in Los Angeles and serves as an assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Randi, and their four children.

STEPHEN LANGFORD is a veteran writer/producer of over 150 hours of primetime television. He has also ventured into screenwriting and fiction. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Sandy, and their two daughters.

CONNIE MALCOLM is a recovering journalist who worked on The Globe and Mail in Toronto. She has worked previously on ten books of nonfiction authored by her husband, Andrew. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and the youngest of their three sons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Book:

Cold War era biological experiments are resurrected and after Boston experiences a seemingly inexplicable bio-terrorist attack, the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Davie Richards and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Paula Mushari once again join forces to uncover who is behind it. An obscure reference to a Dresden project found amid crash site evidence marks them both for execution. Paula and Dave are forced to leave Boston in the middle of the night and head to Washington, D.C.,where they soon find that anyone they contact also becomes the target of assassins. When the daughter of the CDC’s director is taken hostage, Dave and Paula come face to face with an evil that forces them to question the very nature of duty and service to country. With the help of one man, they learn the true meaning of dark operatives while they desperately try to stop another bio-attack from happening.

Purchase your copy at AMAZON

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.

Book Spotlight: A Sixties Book

Title: A Sixties Book
Genre: General Fiction
Author: Damon Galeassi
Publisher: iUniverse
Pages: 198
Language: English
ISBN – 978-0-59522-378-7

SPIDERWORT: noun, Tradescantia. The people’s radiation monitor; fifty times more sensitive than a dosimeter.

Chuckle with nostalgia and outrage as you relive the Sixties. From Woodstock to Three Mile Island, this book is fast becoming a çult classic’. During the construction phase of Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, an angry Viet Nam veteran and a stoned hippie are paired together in the work force, and a jack Amishman weighs the potential benefits of technology against his love for the land. The fury of hurricane Agnes, charged by an added dose of surrealism, LSD style, becomes a catalyst to expose the bigger-than-life nemesis of the nuclear peril.

This is a horror novel. The monster is frighteningly real. The zero tolerance necessary to achieve nuclear power combined with man’s unlimited capacity for error make for a reading thrill that will captivate all.

“Bravo! A Book that should have been written.” — C.R.O.W. Magazine

Purchase your copy

ABOUT DAMON GALEASSI

After graduation from Penn State University with an engineering degree in 1970, Mr. Galeassi soon found himself working in the Quality Control Department at Three Mile Island. Then along came hurricane Agnes which devastated central Pennsylvania, among other places. The magnitude of possible catastrophe from this conflict of man versus nature turned the author against the idea of nuclear power as a safe energy source. It lead to the writing of this, his first, novel. It seems hurricanes continue to play a role in Mr. Galeassis life, as he later helped rebuild Miami in the aftermath of hurricane Andrew. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife, Nadia. A second novel and a collection of short stories are soon to be released.


Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Post: The Story Behind The Black Song Inside

I started out with the idea of writing a mystery and wrote one in first-person and finished it, but it wasn’t quite right. It was solid but nothing special. After reflection, I realized I had hampered myself by sticking to the restrictions of a first-person story and that I was more suited to writing a mystery thriller because it’s more fun to have multiple POVs to show “all sides of the story” and portray the good and bad characters on a collision course.

So then I needed some antagonists who were very compelling because for me the less a reader root for a character to succeed the more entertaining that character should because cookie cutter villains are snoozeville. So then I dreamed up, or rather nightmared up, The Priest. My wife, also an author, was a big help here because she slapped down any cliché aspect that appeared in his character keeping him fresh and frightening.

Finally, I had it all done and professionally edited  but I knew from previous experience that it takes years to get an agent and then years to sign with a big publishing house if that’s what you want to do. By then (October 2012) I had been studying the rise of self-publishing and the birth of Thomas & Mercer and I deduced that I would be better off going Indie since, not having an agent, I had no way to approach Thomas & Mercer. So in November I self-published to moderate success.

Then out of nowhere on May 31^st I received an email from a senior editor for Thomas & Mercer stating that he’d read The Black Song Inside and that he loved it and wanted to re-publish it as a Thomas & Mercer title. Naturally, I was thrilled.

The fact that Thomas & Mercer paid travel, room, and board for every one of their authors who had a novel published in 2013 and who wanted to come to Seattle and participate in theOn The Lam conference for a weekend confirmed for me that I was with the right company. At the conference I got to meet people I’d been reading for years like Barry Eisler anddecades like Aaron Elkins who both said an all expenses event like On The Lam was unheard of.

I was unique as the only author at On The Lam who didn’t have either ridiculous self-pub success or an agent. How they found The Black Song Inside is, ironically, a mystery as they won’t reveal their trade secrets as they call them, but obviously I’m thrilled they did. Regardless I was, and still am, just some yahoo who chased a dream and had a bit of luck.

Thank you for hosting me!

Book Spotlight: "Secrets and Lies"

Title: Secrets and Lies
Author: Christine Amsden
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Pages: 270

Purchase at Amazon

Cassie Scot,still stinging from her parents’ betrayal, wants out of the magical world. But it isn’t letting her go. Her family is falling apart and despite everything, it looks like she may be the only one who can save them.

To complicate matters, Cassie owes Evan her life, making it difficult for her to deny him anything he really wants. And he wants her. Sparks fly when they team up to find two girls missing from summer camp, but long-buried secrets may ruin their hopes for happiness. Book 2 in the Cassie Scot Mystery series.

Excerpt:

“I faced my former father for the first time since he had announced his intention to disown me. He looked just as he always had, with straight dark hair, brown eyes, a long, angular face, and a wide, curving mouth – curving downward into a frown, that is.

If Victor was the last person I had expected to see in the diner that morning, then my former father was the last person I wanted to see. Even now, with Victor explaining my part in his unusual scheme for revenge, I didn’t want my former father nearby. I didn’t want his help. I only hoped Nicolas and Juliana hadn’t broken their promise and told him about the life debt, or I would never hear the end of it.

The air crackled with visible tension. Sparks of shimmering red fire danced around my father’s head. Behind the counter, Mrs. Meyers twisted her hands together anxiously, as if afraid her diner might burn down. Her fears were not unjustified.

I stepped boldly between them, facing my father. “What are you doing here?“

“We need to talk,“ he said.

“I have nothing to say to you. You disowned me, remember?“

The color seemed to drain from his face as he stared past me, at his oldest enemy.

Victor raised his water glass in a mock toast. “I’ve known for some time. If it makes you feel any worse, so does everyone else in town who hasn’t been asleep for a week. Or at least, they guess.“

“I don’t care what you think you know. Stay away from my daughter.“With that, he grabbed my arm with a hand hot enough to leave a reddened imprint on my skin, and dragged me through the kitchen to the employee room at the back. Only then did he release my injured forearm.”

Rafflecopter Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway