FEATURED AUTHOR: GARY GROSSMAN

 ABOUT THE BOOK

In the midst of a heated presidential campaign, Secret Service Agent Scott Roarke gets an assignment that turns his world upside down. His investigation uncovers a plot so monstrous it can change the course of America's future and world politics. Roarke discovers that presidency is about to fall into the hands of a hostile foreign power. The power play is so well-conceived that even the U.S. Constitution itself is a tool designed to guarantee the plot's success. With the election clock ticking, Roarke and Boston attorney Katie Kessler race at breakneck speed to prevent the unthinkable. But they also know that it will take a miracle to stop the takeover from happening.



Praise for the Executive Series:

“Executive Actions is the best political thriller I have read in a long, long time. Right up there with the very best of David Baldacci. [A] masterpiece of suspense; powerfully written and filled with wildly imaginative twists. Get ready to lose yourself in a hell of a story.”
-Michael Palmer, New York Times bestselling author

“Break out the flashlight, and prepare to stay up all night . . .  Once you start reading Executive Actions you won’t be able to put it down.”

-Bruce Feirstein, James Bond screenwriter, and Vanity Fair Contributing Editor

INTERVIEW WITH GARY GROSSMAN

Gary, how long have you been writing, and how did you start?
As I look back, I think I really began writing in 5th Grade. Mrs. Seymour’s class at 4th Street School in Hudson, New York. I started a class newspaper with friends. That was my introduction to journalism. But as a freshman in high school, I wrote a letter to the general manager of our local radio station recommending that WHUC put on school news and rock music. Apparently, I crafted my letter well enough to earn a call back. The station GM told me I would start on the air the following Monday as a teenage DJ and high school news writer. (May I add, with really no experience! Fortunately there are no tapes of my first months!)

I suppose it’s safe to say that the power of writing launched me. From there, college and documentary films and local TV news. Later I became a freelance writer, a columnist for a Boston newspaper, a TV historian, a documentary TV producer, and now political thrillers.

What inspired you to write Executive Actions?
I was in New York City on 9/11.  I remember the ambulances and firetrucks heading downtown and only pedestrians covered in ash walking back. I remember their blank, horrified stares. I remember the quiet. I remember the realization that nothing would be the same. I remember the realization that investigations had likely begun minutes after the attack. I remember thinking we’d never be able to completely protect ourselves.

My trip to New York was to pitch TV programs to networks. I returned to Los Angeles thinking about writing a novel that would consider how anyone could possibly incubate a deadly plot for so long, with such patience, and in hopes of gaining a great political victory.
    
Executive Actions came out of that experience, and now more than a decade later, with the news of Russian tampering in American elections, let alone others around the world, the plot resonates more than ever.  

It certainly does! What do you hope readers will get from this book?
This is a remarkable question. What will readers get from Executive Actions? I believe they will get an understanding of Russia’s scheming, the depth of the sleeper spy networks that go way beyond the TV series The Americans, an awareness that we have to continue to think the unthinkable, and that there are brave, smart, dedicated people in the intelligence community, law enforcement, and government who recognize the real and present dangers we face. 

In the real world, these people are not headline makers or headline chasers. In fact, they prefer that their successful work will keep terrible news out of the papers and off the air.  They’re real people who help me shape realistic characters. 

They’re my father, who worked in law enforcement. My mother, who ran political campaigns. And they’re people like you and me who often find ourselves in situations we could have never imagined.  
    
Ultimately, I hope readers will relate, enjoy a thrilling read, and come away more awareness.

I see from your bio that you've worked in television, newspapers, magazines, and even teaching at the college level. Do you currently have another job outside of writing thrillers?
I’m principally a television documentary producer. My work has been on History Channel, A&E, Discovery, National Geographic, NBC News, and more than 35 other networks. I’m also a journalist, contributing editor to Media Ethics Magazine, a college teacher at Loyola Marymount University, and a TV historian. 
    
That’s lots of hats, but they all intertwine, almost on a daily basis. My TV research always works into my novels. My novel plots lead to TV documentaries. My teaching brings the debate forward, and my media criticism helps me focus on the world. 
    
Just today it’s all comes together answering your terrific questions, editing a TV presentation, preparing a school syllabus, as well as walking the dogs, cleaning the house for dinner guests, and thinking about the three pages of new novel writing I’ll be doing before going to bed. 
    
All in a day’s work.

How would you describe Executive Actions in a tweet?
A sleeper cell plot building 30 years and an assassin to pull off the biggest political coup in the world. Executive Actions, an all-too real, stay-up all-night read.

Do you outline or write by the seat of your pants?
I do outline, but then the craziest thing happens. Other authors have likely told this to you, too. It’s like a Twilight Zone episode. Once the characters take form, they take over. I mean they really take over. They literally have me make room for them at the computer. They take control of the keys, and they tell the story. It happens all the time. Sometimes I’m not even aware of a new character coming to mind. He or she just appears and launches into a scene. In fact, some of the best, most colorful characters have entered the plot that way.

My only struggle is trying to tell them they’re not in the outline and they’re taking the story in another direction.
    
I haven’t won any of those arguments.  The characters are always right.

I love when that happens. For me, that's the best part of writing. Who are your favorite authors?
I’m a member of ITW, the International Thriller Writers Association. Every year, we have a conference in New York called ThrillerFest where I, along with other writers and readers, get to meet and interact with the best of the best. I’m like a kid in a candy store. I participate in panels, run discussions, and I get to meet my favorite authors. Over the years they include (and this won’t be a complete list by any means) Lee Child, Brad Meltzer, Steve Beery, KJ Howe, John Lescroat, Dale Brown, Lisa Gardner, Nelson DeMille, David Morrell, Michael Palmer, Daniel Palmer, Steve Martini, and more. 

But it all started for me when I read Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II. I got hooked on political thrillers. I sure love it when readers get hooked on me.  They can write me anytime at gary@garygrossman.com. 


Do you have a routine for writing?
My drill is easy. Three pages a day. Do the math with me. That’s 90 pages a month. Multiplying that out, 180 after two months, 270 after three (if I’m really diligent). Of course, that doesn’t mean every word, line and page is a keeper. I’ll spend as much time rewriting, adding to my research, continuing to do interviews with experts, and discovering where I have holes in the plot to fill.  

However, if I get away from the plot for more than a few days, invariably I’ll have to re-familiarize myself with some elements because so much is swirling around. 

My plots are intricate with strong research, relevant history, and principled characters whether or not they are hero or villain. The more I write, the more I’m able to listen to them.

If you could only keep one book, what would it be?
It’s so interesting you ask this. Often when I teach, I borrow the conceit from Fahrenheit 451 where characters have to memorize a book. I ask my students what book they’d choose. 
    
Surprisingly, I’ve never been asked the question in return. So thank you. Now I have to think . . . 
(10 minutes later) . . . still thinking.  
(30 minutes later) . . .
(an hour later) . . . I’ve got it. It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. Written it 1935, it has tremendous impact today. In fact, elements from it somehow find their way into a character or a plot line of much of my writing. 

It Can’t Happen Here chronicles a populist political movement that sweeps the electorate and catapults a power-hungry man into the White House. With him comes authoritarian changes, concentration camps, incarcerations of political foes and the press, and a singular corporatist approach to government. There’s a great hero and an all-too believable villain. 
    
Yes, that’s the book I can’t live without and would have to memorize in a Fahrenheit 451 manner, take to a desert island, and put in every school library in America.  (Hopefully it’s already there.)

Do you ever get writer’s block?
Again, another great question. I answer it with other questions. Do carpenters get carpenter’s block? Do electricians get electrician’s block? Do truck drivers get truck driver’s block. I’d say no. Well, my job (at least one of them) is to write. It’s my job, my passion, my goal. I can’t get writer’s block. Moreover, my characters don’t let me. My only block is a starting block. I take time off between books and getting started can be something of a challenge. But now in my sixth novel, it’s getting easier.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
Let me answer with two favorite quotes.

Mark Twain:  “A lie can travel half way around the globe while the truth is putting its boots on.” 

Echoes of this astounding quote were heard in the McCarthy Era, and it’s a political reality that continues to echo today in the world of 24/7 news, which too often is little more than 24/7 dangerous noise.

The second quote is from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 1: “Whereof what’s past is prologue.”
    
We better learn from the past. It’s not the way back, but the way forward.  
    
Okay, I have one more. A corollary to the last quote:  Again Mark Twain:  “History never repeats itself, but it rhymes.” 
    
With that, it’s back to It Can’t Happen Here.  Enough said.

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? (Don’t worry about the money. A publisher is paying.☺)
I love Positano, Italy. I love the sight of it. My wife and I discovered it in the rear view mirror of our people. And yes, I routinely set a scene at a favorite Positano restaurant, Chez Black.  It’s right on the beach and I’ve had spies, heroes, and villains eat there. They keep going back, so we do, too.

What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished a collaboration with another author, international hotel executive and anti-terrorism expert Ed Fuller. It’s a thriller titled Red Hotel. And I’m nearly finished with the draft of a new thriller in my Executive series which, of course, begins with Executive Actions.
    
I tackled another Executive book for two reasons.  Readers wrote and told me to do it, and the characters knocked on my door and said they wanted to get back to work. So who am I to disappoint savvy readers and demanding characters?

Wise choice!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Grossman is a multiple Emmy Award-winning network television producer, a print and television journalist, and novelist. He has produced more than 10,000 television shows for 40 broadcast and cable networks including primetime specials, reality and competition series, and live event telecasts.

Grossman has worked for NBC, written for the Boston Globe, Boston Herald American, and the New York Times. He is the author of four bestselling international award-winning thrillers available in print, eBooks, and Audible editions: Executive Actions, Executive Treason, Executive Command, and Old Earth. (Diversion Books, NYC) and two acclaimed non-fiction books covering pop culture and television history – Superman: Serial to Cereal and Saturday Morning TV.

Grossman taught journalism, film and television at Emerson College, Boston University, and USC and has guest lectured at colleges and universities around the United States. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Emerson College in Boston and he serves on the Boston University Metropolitan College Advisory Board. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers Association and The Military Writers Society of America.

Connect with Gary:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  

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FEATURED AUTHOR: ANNA LOAN-WILSEY

ABOUT THE BOOK

Traveling secretary Hattie Davish is taking her singular talents to Washington D.C. to help Sir Arthur research his next book. But in the winding halls of the nation's capital, searching for the truth can sometimes lead to murder . . .

Hattie is in her element, digging through dusty basements, attics, and abandoned buildings, not to be denied until she fishes out that elusive fact. But her delightful explorations are dampened when she witnesses a carriage crash into a carp pond beneath the shadow of the Washington Monument. Alarmingly, one of the passengers flees the scene, leaving the other to drown. The incident only heightens tensions brought on by the much publicized arrival of "Coxey's Army," thousands of unemployed men converging on the capital for the first ever organized "march" on Washington. When one of the marchers is found murdered in the ensuing chaos, Hattie begins to suspect a sinister conspiracy is at hand. As she expands her investigations into the motives of murder and closes in on the trail of a killer, she is surprised and distraught to learn that her research will lead her straight to the highest level of government . . .



INTERVIEW WITH ANNA LOAN-WILSEY

Anna, how did you get started writing?
I’ve been writing on and off my whole life. I wrote poems and short stories from elementary school through college. After that I focused more on technical writing than creative writing. It was only after my job was downsized several years ago, and I had the time, did I attempt to write a novel.

What's your favorite thing about the writing process?
I love being immersed in the story so deeply that I forget that I’m writing and not simply watching the story evolve in front of my eyes.

Do you have a writing routine?
I write in the morning as soon as my daughter is off to school. I try to work until it is time to pick her up again. As my brain is mush after 4:00 or so, this works out nicely.

What do you wish you’d done differently when you first started the publishing process?
I wish I had connected with more with fellow published writers. When I first started the process, I did everything on my own. Much of the invaluable information and lessons I’ve since learned from other writers would have helped ease the way.

What’s more important – characters or plot?
Definitely characters. Great characters can drive a weak plot, but if a reader doesn’t like the characters, they won’t care about the plot, no matter how great it is.

How often do you read?
Every chance I get, which these days isn’t very often.

What books do you currently have published?
I have five books in the Hattie Davish Mystery series: A Lack of Temperance, Anything But Civil, A Sense of Entitlement, A Deceptive Homecoming and, the latest, A March to Remember.


Is writing your dream job?
Absolutely! When I was little I envisioned a scene from my future—I was in my study in my home on Beacon Hill, Boston, writing diligently at my typewriter (yes, I’m that old) with a Basset Hound at my feet. I am lucky enough to say I’ve had two of the three dreams come true! (I may someday still get to live on Beacon Hill!)


Beacon Hill is a dream of mine too. If you could only watch one television station for a year, what would it be?
That’s an easy one-PBS. With few exceptions, it is the only television station I watch.

What’s one thing you never leave the house without (besides your phone)?
I never leave without a tissue, a packet of tissues, if I’ve planned ahead. I have allergies and am ALWAYS in need of tissues.

What’s your favorite beverage?
I have two favorites: tea and seltzer water. I prefer black tea but have tried and like a wide spectrum of different teas. I usually have a nice cuppa in the afternoon in one of my antique tea cups. Seltzer water is something I crave and drink plain throughout the day, every day.

What is your superpower?
I find things. Truly, if there is anything missing, lost, or misplaced in my household, I’m the one who finds it every time. And if there is a piece of information someone needs, I’m the go-to person. It helps that I’ve been trained as a biologist and a librarian. But inquiring minds beware. One cannot idly mention a need for information, for, like many with superpowers, I feel compelled to use my powers whether they asked for it or not! But fear not, I’m very careful to use it for good.



What do you like to do when there’s nothing to do (nothing lost, missing, or misplaced!)?
I love to binge watch BBC TV mysteries. I’m currently watching WPC56 about the first woman police constable in England’s West Midlands in 1956.

Do you give your characters any of your bad traits?
Of course! I think every writer “borrows” traits, good and bad, from people they know. And who else do they know better than themselves? (You don’t expect me to tell what they are though, do you?)

Of course . . . um . . . not! What’s your most visited Internet site?
When I’m writing, the site I visit the most is the Online Etymology Dictionary. I am constantly having to check whether a word or phrase is appropriate to my book’s time period.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?
To be honest, one of my favorite quotes is one I wrote myself completely by mistake! It happened in the course of writing an essay in French for French Literature class in college. I wanted to use the word “regardless” but couldn’t remember the French translation. I wrote myself a note on a post-it and stuck it to my lamp. A friend came in while I was still writing and said, “Wow, that’s such a great quote. I love it!”  I had no idea what she was talking about and told her so. When she read the note out loud, I realized her wonderful mistake. It read: "Look Up Regardless." I’ve tried to take my own inadvertent words to heart ever since.


What’s one thing that very few people know about you?
My first job out of college was training monkeys named Billy, Bob and Hank. Hank was by far my favorite. He never bit or scratched me once.

How do you like your pizza?
Growing up in Upstate New York, I definitely have a preference for traditional New York style (with mushrooms!). But who am I kidding? I’d eat almost any kind of pizza. In Montreal, I had some of the best “white” or garlic pizza and when I lived in Finland, I even ate pizza with corn and tuna fish on it!

What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
A slideshow of all my family photos. I just checked and the picture was of my dog lounging by the fire pit in the backyard followed by a picture of my daughter “helping” me bake. Every picture makes me smile.

What’s your biggest pet peeve about writing?
Having to get through that first draft. It is always awful and such a chore. I love it when I’m finally done and can go back and fix everything!



What are you working on now?
I’m working on developing a new mystery series. Stay tuned to find out more.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna Loan-Wilsey, biologist, librarian, and author, writes the historical Hattie Davish Mystery series featuring a Victorian traveling secretary who solves crimes in every historic town she visits. The first in the series, A Lack of Temperance, set in 1890’s Eureka Springs, Arkansas, (an Amazon #1 bestseller) was followed by Anything But Civil (set in Galena, IL), A Sense of Entitlement (an iBook #1 bestseller set in Newport, RI), and A Deceptive Homecoming (set in St. Joseph, MO, Hattie’s hometown). A March to Remember finds Hattie caught up in the political intrigues surrounding Coxey’s Army and the first “march” on Washington, D.C. Anna lives in a Victorian farmhouse near Ames, Iowa with her family where she is happily working on new mystery adventures.

Connect with Anna:

Website  |  Blog  |  
Facebook  |  
Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon  | Barnes & Noble  |  iTunes  |  IndieBound 

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Featured Author: Mark Gilleo

The Story Plant brings Mark Gilleo here today to talk about his novel, Favors and Lies, a mystery/thriller set in Washington, D.C.

About the book:

Dan Lord is a forty-year-old private detective with a law degree working the blurred line between right and wrong in the Nation’s Capital. As a self-employed solutions broker and legal consultant, he works for a very select clientele. He doesn’t advertise and only takes cases on referral. But when two people close to him are murdered, Dan's work becomes very personal.



With the assistance of a newly hired female intern, extracting clues from a ladder of acquaintances, Dan bounds through both the underbelly and elite of society, each step bringing more questions and yet ultimately taking him closer to the answer he seeks. A bail bondsman, a recluse hacker, a court clerk, a university student, an old-school barber, a high-class madam, an intelligence officer, a medical doctor, and a police detective are among the list of people Dan must cajole for help. 

His quest will lead him to discover things he never wanted to know, and put him in the position to reveal things that important people would prefer remain unrevealed.



Tense, ingenious, and filled with the unforgettable characters that have become a Mark Gilleo trademark, Favors and Lies is the most thrilling novel yet from one of the great new voices in suspense fiction.

Excerpt from Favors and Lies

The cab pulled to the curb on one of the city’s myriad one-way streets and Dan spoke through the holes drilled in the security glass. “What’s the damage?”



“Nineteen even.”



Dan stepped from the back of the cab and slipped a twenty through the front passenger window. “Keep the change.”



“Thanks, big spender,” the burly driver replied, shoving the cash into the front pocket of his sweaty shirt.



Dan bent at the waist, his manila folder in hand, and peered into the open window. The glare from Dan’s light-blue eyes melted the driver’s bravado, bringing long-sought momentary silence to the interior of the car. The cabbie muttered something unintelligible and the car pulled away from the curb into evening rush-hour traffic.



Dan straightened his dark blue suit and his red tie before heading down H Street. The business side of the White House sat just beyond Lafayette Square to his left. As a white male in a suit, within spitting distance of the White House, Dan was perfectly camouflaged. Despite the changing face of American society and the dual terms of President Obama, those making the rules remained largely as it always had been – lily white. An hour watching C-Span was the only proof needed. 



Dan walked deliberately to the corner of H and 16th streets and silently mingled with a half-dozen like-minded suits waiting for the light. The pedestrian signal changed from an illuminated red hand to the depiction of a person walking. The crowd moved. Dan took three steps toward the street and then froze at the edge of the curb. He scanned his environment for a mirror reaction from anyone in the vicinity. Sometimes the best way to see if you are being followed is to stop. It was a standard counter-surveillance move, likely perfected a hundred thousand years ago by an animal on the Serengeti trying to avoid becoming dinner.



The sidewalk around Dan emptied as the pedestrian signal on the far side of the street began to count down. Dan swiveled his head slowly, finishing with a glance over each shoulder. No one, he thought. At least no one on foot. Walking against traffic on a one-way street mitigated most of the possibilities of being trailed by car.



He waited until the countdown on the pedestrian signal reached five and then crossed the street illegally in the opposite direction, dissecting a group of lawyers and think-tankers on their way to a local watering hole to finish their briefs and pontifications for the evening.



On the far side of the street Dan turned right and headed back in the direction from which he came. Once again he checked for surveillance. Nothing.



Near the end of the block, with a taxi queue ten yards ahead, Dan checked his watch with a casual glance and turned left down an alley without looking back.



He passed several dumpsters and looked up at the darkening sky framed by the buildings on both sides of the alley. A light scent of urine wafted through the air. Under a fire escape near the corner of the building Dan turned again. He followed a staircase downward, his hand running along a worn metal handrail, his shoes trampling cracked concrete steps. Three stories above the urban crevasse, room rates started at eight hundred a night. 



Dan forced himself to relax. Feeling out of place was the single greatest contributor for being spotted in an area where one had no earthly business. But with the appropriate behavior and movement, a man in a suit in an alley was no more out of place than a man in overalls in the lobby of an office building. Properly portrayed, every appearance could be overlooked.



Dan reached the bottom of the stairs and admired the collection of discarded cigarette butts thrown half-heartedly at an empty coffee can resting just outside the door. He took one more calming breath and pushed through an unlocked metal door that read “Exit Only” in neat white print.



Unlocked doors were goldmines. Half the buildings in the Nation’s Capital were circumventing million-dollar security systems with propped open doors. A brick here. A doorstop there. If you knew where to look, an employee with a smoking habit could be better than a week of surveillance. Not to mention cheaper and less risky than paying off a doorman. 



Inside the building, Dan entered an elbow-room-only foyer facing another door. He watched the light under the closed door and waited for the telltale movement of people on the other side to subside. When the timing was right and the movement ceased, he pulled the knob.



An attractive blonde in an off-the-shoulder red dress took a breath of surprise. Dan muted his response and without pausing pointed towards the men’s room with his chin. “Wrong door.”



The lady in red smiled and Dan followed through on his impromptu ruse and entered the restroom. 



“Shit,” Dan whispered, looking into the mirror over a granite sink with gold fixtures. He had rules. One adjustment in the plan was standard. Two put him on notice. Three unforeseen adjustments to a plan and he aborted – immediately and without exception. There was little he could do about the woman in the hall so he pushed it aside. That’s one, he thought. A little early for an adjustment.



The lower level back door at the Hay Adams Hotel was a direct line into the living room of the elite. Off the Record – the appropriately named bar in the basement of the Hay Adams Hotel – boasted a history as long as its client list. It was where the rich blew off steam. People with faces too famous to enjoy a quiet drink in Georgetown or along Connecticut Avenue. Faces from the morning paper and evening news. Off the Record embraced customers who didn’t mind overpaying for drinks or the forty bucks it cost to valet their cars. Money was rapidly becoming the last legal barrier for keeping out the riffraff.



The Hay Adams Hotel, and its subterranean watering hole, was public. Dan could have chosen to walk through the lobby. He could have nodded at the bellhop and doorman as he strolled in unquestioned and unmolested. He could have slowly crossed the ornate wood-paneled entrance and past the polite scrutiny of the front desk as he made his way to the stairs. But why announce your arrival when you didn’t have to? Especially so close to payday.



In the mirror in the bathroom, Dan checked his watch, his hair, his face, his glasses, his teeth, his fingers. He peeked inside his manila folder. He exited the room and walked through the lone swinging door into the bar. He located his target before his first foot hit the deep burgundy carpet. He completed his room assessment by the time his second foot landed. Nine men and four women, he calculated, parsing his headcount before anyone noticed he was in the room. Five men at the bar, two of them seated together, most likely coworkers. Two women alone at a table on the far side of the room in similar black dresses. Waiting for dates, he thought. A table of three huddled in the opposite corner, far enough away to be out of most contingency scenarios. Dan added two more to the headcount for the bartender and waitress, and one more for the lady in red who was now in the bathroom.



Dan stepped from the dark corner near the bathroom and approached a man in his early fifties sitting alone at a table, his hand caressing a glass of Maker’s Mark.

“

Judge McMichael,” Dan said, sitting quickly without invitation.



The judge tried not to look surprised but the corner of his eyes betrayed him as they danced towards the entrance of the bar.



“The back door?” the judge asked.



“Bathroom window,” Dan replied straight-faced.



“Am I at the correct table?”



“Yes. Thank you for following instructions.”



Dan didn’t take his eyes off the judge. The judge looked older than his pictures in the press. More stately. Fifty and fit with large hands and sharp eyes. The lighting at the table was romantic – enough light to see the judge, but dark enough to erase cosmetic imperfections from across the table. Perfect call-girl ambiance.



The judge stared back across the table at a short grey mop of curls and wild blue eyes dancing behind thick black-framed glasses. The judge’s eyes dropped to Dan’s hands and the manila folder on the table. Dan noticed the judge’s attention and he covered one hand with the other, both on top of the folder.



“Why don’t we both agree to keep our hands on the table,” Dan suggested before getting to work. “See the two guys at the far end of the bar?”



The judge turned his head slightly.



“They are with me.”



The judge nodded.



“I will make this short and sweet. Your wife has divorce papers for you to sign. She also has an agreement regarding alimony and the custody of your stepson and stepdaughter. She says you have been refusing to sign these documents and have threatened her and her children.” 



“Do you know who I am?”



“Yes. Judge Terrance J. McMichael. Born in Naperville, Illinois. Educated at Princeton. Law School at Dartmouth. Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit… also known as the D.C. Circuit. Wife is named Cindy. Stepdaughter is Caroline. Stepson is Craig.”



“And you are?”



“Someone willing to ruin your life. Your wife hired me to make a request on her behalf. You are a highly intelligent man so I’m going to assume you heard my request the first time and that I don’t need to repeat myself.” Dan paused for effect. “You are going to sign the papers.”



“Do you have any idea what I can do to you?”



Dan slid the manila folder into the middle of the table and opened it. The first photograph showed the judge’s wife with raccoon eyes, her nose broken, swollen to twice its normal size. Her torn and blood-drenched clothes were on full display next to her. The photo was taken in a bathroom, the reflection of the cameraman, the judge’s stepson, clear in the mirror.



“She fell,” the judge said.



“Well, as convenient as that explanation may be, I think sympathy will wane when the public sees the next pictures.”



The judge waited for Dan to turn the next photo in the stack. Sweat beaded on his forehead.



“Those are bruises on a ten-year-old girl. Your stepdaughter.” Dan flipped to another photo. “If you notice, there is a telling shoe print on her back, which I imagine is a little bigger than your wife’s size.”



“What do you want?”



“I told you want I want.”



“Whatever she is paying, I’ll pay more.”



“It’s not about the money . . . well, not entirely. Besides, whatever she pays me is your money anyway.”



“You motherfucker,” the judge quietly hissed. The veins in his neck bulged.



“Certainly all those years of schooling must have linguistically prepared you better than that.”



The judge took a sip of his drink, his hands shaking slightly. Dan stole a glance of the room as the judge’s eyes dipped beneath the edge of the upturned glass.



The judge returned his glass to the table but didn’t release his grip. “You are aware that blackmail is illegal.”



“I’m asking for your cooperation. I’m not asking for money. Though, now that you have offered money, it wouldn’t be blackmail if I accepted.”



“You won’t get away with this. You don’t become a D.C. Circuit judge without friends. You don’t serve on a court that has bred more Supreme Court Justices than any other without knowing people.”



“Don’t let pride get the better of you. You’re not the first person I’ve made a deal with. You won’t be the last. Not in this city.”



Dan let the statement sink in before he continued. 

“You have one week to sign the papers and file them with the court. If I don’t hear from your wife by then, I will release the story to the press and to certain people at the Justice Department who may not share your enthusiasm for unmitigated power. Certain people who believe the oath they took means something. I should also mention if something should happen to your wife between now and the filing of the papers, the photos and taped testimony from your wife and children will go public. If your wife mysteriously changes her mind in the next say, month or so, the photos and her testimony still go public.”



“How do I know you won’t go public after I sign the papers?”



“You don’t.” Dan paused. “Are you familiar with the Lady Justice Statue, the one with a woman holding a set of scales?”



“I am a judge.”



“I appreciate that sentiment, but given your non-judicial behavior on other fronts, I didn’t want to take anything for granted.”



“Your point?” Judge McMichael grunted.



“The Lady Justice Statue depicts your current situation. On the one hand you have the possibility of me going public if I don’t hear from your wife by next week. The weight of this possibility is driving down one side of the scale in Lady Justice’s hand. On the other side of the scale is the possibility I will go public with your information regardless of what you do. I would consider this side of the scale far lighter than the other.”



The judge glanced quickly at the front door of the bar. “I can’t do it in a week. I need more time for my attorney to review the documents before they are filed.”



“Judge McMichael, a man of your talents can have this done before you get up from your seat.”



The judge finished his drink and he set the glass on the table with a thud. “Anything else?”



“One thing.” Dan pulled out the last photo in the folder. “I recognize the woman in this photo, so I’m sure you do as well, particularly given the lack of clothing both of you are displaying. Except for the socks. Your partner’s knee-high, red fishnets are very naughty. So before you do anything rash, remember it’s more than just you and your ego at stake.” 



The judge brooded, his anger visible in his eyes, the corner of his lips quivering. 



Dan continued. “I’m offering you the path of least resistance. I suggest you take it.” Dan took another look around the room and waved at the two men at the bar who waved back in a look of inebriated recognition before turning towards one another and resuming their conversation. The rest of the bar was still in their respective places. All systems checked. Nothing out of the ordinary.



Dan readied to stand and added another condition. “And if something happens to me in the near future, before or after the documents get filed with the court, the photos and taped testimony go to the press. I have a secure website with some unique programming. If I don’t login in pre-determined increments, well, you get the picture. And so will everyone else.” 



“Are we done?”



“Follow the rules and you will never see me again.” Dan stood. He gestured towards the folder on the table. “You can keep those copies for your records.”



#



When Dan left the table the judge frantically removed his cell phone from his pocket and made a call to the off-duty police officer posted in the lobby upstairs. Then he waved over the waitress and ordered another drink. A double. 

The judge was still in his seat when the plainclothes policeman briskly crossed the floor of the bar minutes later.



“Did you find him?” the judge asked.



“Nothing.”



“How long did it take you to get to the back alley?”



“Thirty seconds. Ten to get outside. Another twenty to run halfway around the block. Plus the few seconds it took to take the call.”



“Wonderful.”



“How would you like to proceed? I didn’t call it in, per your instructions.”



“Let it go for now,” the judge said. “Check those two guys at the bar and see if they know the man who was just here. I doubt they do. I’ll let you know if I need anything else.”



“Yes, sir.”



The officer spoke briefly with the two men at the bar and then shook his head in the direction of the judge. The judge raised a hand and dipped his head. The officer nodded and left. The judge removed the digital voice recorder from the inside pocket of his jacket. He pressed play, listened for a moment, and then hit delete.




Praise for Mark Gilleo and Favors and Lies

“Some of us spend decades learning how to write. Mark Gilleo is one of those rare naturals – or at least it seems that way. Love Thy Neighbor is a shockingly good debut, fascinating and gripping from the first page to the last. It belongs between Ludlum and Forsyth on your shelf.” 
– Jeff Stein, columnist and National Security Editor, Spytalk



“A riveting story, filled with suspense, Love Thy Neighbor will stay with you long after the last page has been read.” 
– Single Titles



“Awesome. Chilling.” 
– Simply Stacie on Love Thy Neighbor

“Sweat is a political thriller that will engage any and all readers. Very well written and highly recommended!” 
– Crystal Book Reviews



“Once again Mark Gilleo has hit the ball out of the park.”
 – The Top Shelf on Sweat

About the author:

Mark Gilleo holds a graduate degree in international business from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in business from George Mason University. He enjoys traveling, hiking and biking. A fourth-generation Washingtonian, he currently resides in the D.C. area. His two most recent novels were recognized as finalist and semifinalist, respectively, in the William Faulkner-Wisdom creative writing competition. 



Website | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Featured Author: John Fitzgerald

"I couldn’t understand why Nixon didn’t burn the tapes." That question prompted John Fitzgerald to research the "Watergate mess" and ultimately write Watergate Amendment. This political thriller will leave you with one question: Is it true? In this historical fiction novel, John examines the coincidental passing of the 25th Amendment that sheds new light on the Watergate scandal.

About the book:

Richard Nixon. America’s sole president to resign from office. His decision stemmed from the scandal that involved breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Although the scandal rocked the American public, while there was a huge outrage regarding the scandal itself, few have delved into the events surrounding the 25th Amendment and Nixon’s close relationship with Nelson Rockefeller.

Except for author John Fitzgerald, that is. After conducting intense research, Fitzgerald’s book, Watergate Amendment takes a closer look at the events surrounding Nixon and Rockefeller’s friendly relationship, especially in correlation to Rockefeller’s coincidental vice presidency. Focusing on the 25th Amendment that enabled a vice-president to take temporary office, Fitzgerald weaves a convincing conspiracy theory. The plot surrounds the story of Jude Thaddeus, a patient that has been hidden away in a mental institution for years. But Jude’s former life is soon revealed to have been that of a mastermind behind the events surrounding Watergate and the 25th Amendment. The resultant mystery behind the 25th Amendment unfurls itself so convincingly that you’ll have to ask yourself whether the story is indeed fact or fiction.

Major themes in the book include:

• An in-depth look at what Rockefeller would gain from the 25th Amendment

• Questioning the events surrounding Nixon’s resignation

• Manipulated elections

• Political conspiracy

• Attempting to answer some of the unanswered involved in the Watergate scandal

Based on years of research, this political thriller will have you questioning the events surrounding Nixon, Rockefeller, and the 25th Amendment.

Interview with John Fitzgerald

John, Watergate Amendment is your second published book. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I have been writing over ten years.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

Jude Thaddeus.

What would your main character say about you?

A very interesting character.

No pun intended, right? Are any of your characters inspired by real people? Who?

David Young, who worked at the White House.

One of your characters has just found out you’re about to kill him off. He/she decides to beat you to the punch. How would he kill you?

He would kill me off and make it look like suicide.

He sounds ruthless. If you could be one of your characters, which one would you choose?

Jude Thaddeus.

With which of your characters would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?

Gala

With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?

Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

The opening, when Jude tries to sell Nelson Rockefeller on the idea of making him president of the United States.

What song would you pick to go with your book?

"To Dream the Impossible Dream."

Who are your favorite authors?

Thomas Wolf, Allan W. Eckert , Ken Follett, and Ron Chernow. 

You get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose?

Scott Brick.

I love him! What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?

Sarum...e-book.

Do you have a routine for writing?

Early each morning.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

In my office.

Where’s home for you?

Cincinnati, Ohio.

We're practically neighbors! If you could only keep one book, what would it be?

Witness by Whittaker Chambers.

You’re leaving your country for a year. What’s the last meal (or food) you would want to have before leaving?

Steak...at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

Oh my, yes. Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?

Abington Library...I wrote a book there.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

I wanted the book to be read in my lifetime.

Are you happy with your decision to self-publish?

I am happy with my decision to self-publish. It took a lot of work and some money, but I like the finished product.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?

“I hired some to do the editing. I was able to pull off one of the greatest chess maneuvers and changed history: it was so well crafted no one realized what happened.”

What’s your favorite candy bar? And don’t tell me you don’t have one!

O’Henry.

What three books have you read recently and would recommend?

Winds of War, Washington’s Crossing, Frozen in Time.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Kayaking, gardening and bicycling. 

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Oregonia, Ohio.

What are you working on now?

On a book about coal mining.

About the author:

John Fitzgerald spent 20 years researching and doing work on Watergate Amendment. He served as a paratrooper in Vietnam and then worked in manufacturing and marketing in the plastics industry, including munitions for the U.S. Navy. He has published another book, Thanksgiving Breakfast, and is currently writing a third historical novel. He currently resides in Oregonia, Ohio with his wife.

“I have spent 20 years researching and doing work on this book,” says Fitzgerald, “and it shows a different view of the events that happened surrounding the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. I take into consideration the one who benefited most from the Watergate affair and the 25th Amendment, Nelson Rockefeller. If you follow the money, the story makes sense.”

For more information on Watergate Amendment, please visit watergateamendment.com.

Watergate Amendment is available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.

Featured Author: Christoph Fischer


I'm very happy to have the talented Christoph Fischer back today to talk about his third book in the Three Nations Trilogy. On the market for less than a week, the historical fiction/family saga The Black Eagle Inn is already an Amazon best seller. Christoph is a three-time A Blue Million Books guest. He's been here to talk about the first book, The Luck of the Weissensteiners and the second, Sebastian. You can read those interviews here (first book) and here (the second).

What reviewers are saying:

-A comprehensive, entertaining historical novel that does not hold back any punches.
-Brilliant historical fiction: fascinating and entertaining.
-Simply a masterpiece.

About the book: 

The Black Eagle Inn is an old established Restaurant and Farm business in the sleepy Bavarian countryside outside of Heimkirchen.  Childless Anna Hinterberger has fought hard to make it her own and keep it running through WWII. Religion and rivalry divide her family as one of her nephews, Markus has got her heart and another nephew, Lukas got her ear. Her husband Herbert is still missing and for the wider family life in post-war Germany also has some unexpected challenges in store.

Once again Fischer tells a family saga with war in the far background and weaves the political and religious into the personal. Being the third in the Three Nations Trilogy this book offers another perspective on war, its impact on people and the themes of nations and identity.

Interview with Christoph Fischer 


Christoph, you get frequent flier points for being such a good friend to A Blue Million Books. I'm happy to have you back. Can you briefly catch us up with your Three Nations Trilogy and give us your elevator speech for The Black Eagle Inn?

In The Luck of the Weissensteiners, I showed the terror that was WWII and its effect on one particular area and ‘nation’ in Central Europe. In Sebastian, I went to a happier time before WWI to show the issues of nations and identity then. In The Black Eagle Inn, war is in the past and the people who find themselves in Western Germany have to pick up the remains from the ashes and form a new nation.

What’s the inspiration for your characters?

I got some inspiration from life and real people that I have met over the years, from Bavarian and German stereotypes and characters, from comments I overheard on a bus or a train, from stories I picked up and some from the characters themselves as they began to form their life in my book.

You just retired from your “day job.” Are you happy with your decision to retire?

Yes, totally. A lot of it is to do with the changes at the old work place, but I am also happy to have more time for my family when they need me.

Do you have a routine for writing?

When the muse drives me I just sit down and write. All I need to do is walk the dogs first or else Molly will kick my hands of the keyboards and demand attention.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

In my little office space, preferably starting very early in the morning, when it is quiet.

Where’s home for you?

I just returned from a trip to my ‘home’ town in Germany. Now I am back in the UK, home from home if you so will, and despite the lovely time I had ‘back home’ and despite the many things that make me feel like an ‘alien’ in the UK, when we got out of the channel tunnel I felt I was home.

Neil Gaiman said, “Picking five favorite books is like picking five body parts you'd most like not to lose.” So…what are your five favorite books and your five body parts you’d most like not to lose?

The Books: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng, and We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.

Body Parts: Head (never bodes well to lose it); Heart (been my partner’s for so long, I’d hate to transfer it now); Voice (how else would I be telling people about my books or tell my dogs to give me back that tennis ball); Hands (writing, preparing food); Legs (jogging and running away from danger).

You’re leaving your country for a year. What’s the last meal (or food) you would want to have before leaving?

Tofu salad.

Would you rather work in a library or a bookstore?

Definitely a library, there’d be no commercial pressure to sell anything.

Where is your favorite library and what do you love about it?

My home town library in Bavaria. I used to work there, I know the staff, and they stock my books. Tons of others.

Give us an update on your dogs!

Wilma had six puppies in February and turned out to be a great young mother. Two of the puppies, Ianto and Molly Junior, are living in the vicinity, and we get to see them often. In two years’ time we will see if Wilma wants to have another go at motherhood. Molly senior will be 9 in November and Greta is most happy at this time of the year for her love of Conkers.

Um...what exactly is Conkers?

They fall from trees like chestnuts. Brown and shiny, once out of the shell. We call Greta conker bonkers when she gets hold of one.

Ah! I see. There's no easy way to segue from dogs and Conkers to publishing, so I'll just get to it. Why did you decide to self-publish?

I was put off by the difficulties to even get an agent to take your calls. As much as I can see why that is, it did not seem a trust-inspiring start. I also hear how new authors are required to do much of their own marketing and publicity work. It seemed easier to do it myself and see where that would lead me.

Are you happy with your decision to self-publish?

I am very happy with the decision. I was fortunate enough to have an Academic partner, a designer friend, and an editor friend who were willing to work with me. I also met a few great writers who have functioned as beta readers for my books and helped me find my foot in the world of FB, Twitter and blogging. Self-publishing is hard work, but it is also great fun.

What steps to publication did you personally do, and what did you hire someone to do? Is there anyone you’d recommend for a particular service?

My partner did all the formatting, and together with Deborah Wall he did the editing.
Read my interview with Debra here.

Design artist Daz Smith.

Do you have any advice for an author who is getting ready to self-publish?

Make sure to do the best you can in terms of formatting, editing and design. People will judge you on formalities, regardless of how good your book is. But also, don’t let anyone discourage you to follow your dream (big symphonic sound track).

What marketing or promotion ideas have worked best for you?

Facebook, blogging and Twitter in combination. Since I got seriously involved on Twitter (and it was hard work to get going) my sales have doubled.

In your last interview here, you quoted Neil Gaiman as one of your favorite quotes: “Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds... Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.” Can you tell us one of your secret worlds?

I just told you about those secret worlds in my books.
Okay. I do occasionally meditate and one of my ‘happy places’ I retreat to is a dark green mossy area next to a wild mountain stream, bearing both Bavarian and Irish features, if that makes sense.

One of your characters has just found out you’re about to kill him off. He/she decides to beat you to the punch. How would he kill you?

If he is anything like me, he’d just take a hammer and smash my head. No need to beat around the bush.

What’s your favorite candy bar? And don’t tell me you don’t have one!

A German kinder bar.

What are you working on now?

A Time to Let Go, a novel about a family in contemporary England. The mother has Alzheimers and the rigid father and the chaotic daughter fight over how to handle the illness.

Excellent. And you will be back to tell us more about it--right?

Guest Post

Politics in The Black Eagle Inn

by Christoph Fischer

To write about any Nation and its generational renewal party politics are difficult to avoid, even more so in the case of Germany where for 12 years one party dictated world history. In one plotline of the book I have gone deep into the rivalry between the two main parties in post-war Germany, which exists to this day.

I must apologise for any perceived bias and any offensive remarks against either of the parties portrayed. Party politics at the time were more differentiated than I could afford to showcase them in this book. The fictional party affiliation of some of my characters in the book was determined by certain ideas they stand for and which of the actual parties at the time would have fitted their profile the most.

In my view politicians of every party can be corrupt as they can be idealists. By no means would I like to imply that I favour the politicians of one party of another. My book is not a manifesto for political ideas per se but for humanitarian ideas that should be the foundation for any type of politics.

Politics can also be a frustrating and hard business and I applaud all of the idealists who go into politics and struggle hard for their visions and beliefs. I do not have the endurance for it myself and would like to thank those who have done so and who selflessly help to form and shape Germany into a modern state that has learnt from its past.

About the author:

Christoph Fischer was born in Germany, near the Austrian border, as the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers he developed an ambiguous sense of belonging and home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few years he moved on to the UK where he is still resident today. The Luck of The Weissensteiners was published in November 2012; Sebastian in May 2013. He has written several other novels which are in the later stages of editing and finalisation.

Connect with Christoph:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Facebook/Black Eagle Inn
Goodreads | Goodreads/Black Eagle Inn | Twitter |

Buy the books:
Amazon Author page  | The Black Eagle Inn on Amazon