Spies – Lit World Interviews

Book Review of Dead in the Water by Mark Ellis.

Where to begin? Dead in the Water is a story of 1942 WW2. London with ramifications beyond. London has been bombed to a shell of itself with Anglo-Spanish DCI Frank Merlin continuing to his mission to protect the city from not only the criminal element within but any such characters that wander in from outside the nations borders.

A body found floating in the Thames. Missing art. Stolen or otherwise. Who’s to know? That’s Merlin’s job.

There are many layers to what Ellis has done here. You have the married couple of Frank Merlin and his wife with their young son. You have families that have sought refuge in London from Poland and Germany.

There are deserters from armies, gangsters willing to take advantage of any situation.

And all of that’s just the obvious on the surface elements.

Of course you then have the spies. Who all do they work for? Where do they come from?

You read reviews about how a writer weaves the different stories in a book into one overall story. That’s not one of my favorite ways of describing a book but in this case… unless I use a thesaurus, weaving is what Ellis has done.

The seemingly separate story lines, some are separate, obviously, but many will at some point link together as you might expect in a mystery like this. If not, then all those sub plots would be useless. But here, pay attention and you start to piece things together.

There are surprises to be experienced, not just by the reader but by the characters as well. A bit of Agatha Christie if you will.

As for the setting for the book. WW2 history is my specialty. It’s what I primarily studied and taught. There is a lot to learn from what Ellis gives us in Dead in the Water that you won’t necessarily learn in a classroom. You don’t get what life was like on a daily basis in London during this time. You don’t consider that life goes on, crimes happen, police have a job to do. Love happens, betrayal, affairs. Anything and everything. And you don’t consider that during wartime on an island nation like Britain that some would take advantage of their fellow suffering citizens.

Dead in the Water is not only entertaining and good paced read, it’s also a learning experience.

I give it a 4 out of 5.

About the Author:

Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister and entrepreneur.

He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist.

Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War. His father served in the wartime navy and died a young man. His mother told him stories of watching the heavy bombardment of Swansea from the safe vantage point of a hill in Llanelli, and of attending tea dances in wartime London under the bombs and doodlebugs.

In consequence Mark has always been fascinated by WW2 and in particular the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Murder, robbery, theft and rape were rife and the Blitz provided scope for widespread looting.

This was an intriguing, harsh and cruel world. This is the world of DCI Frank Merlin.

Mark Ellis’ books regularly appear in the Kindle bestseller charts.

He is published by Headline Accent, an imprint of Headline.

He is a member of Crime Cymru, the Welsh crime writing collective, and of the Crime Writers Association (CWA).

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markell1/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkEllisAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkEllis15

2 PAPERBACK copies GIVEAWAY! Gary Gatlin-93 Year-Old First Time Author of Reluctant Hero, first in a WWII Trilogy.

THIS GIVEAWAY EXPIRED November 11, 2019 as noted in the body of this post, in red bold type.

Reluctant Hero: World War Trilogy Book 1

(Clicking the image or title will take you to the Amazon Page to pre-order the book to be released Nov. 5.)

Entries Through Veteran’s Day! (Nov. 11)

Author ROYALTIES from book sales WILL BE DONATED to the nonprofit organization ANGELS ON THE BORDER.

To enter the GIVEAWAY for one of two books, just fill out the form below. All email addresses will be deleted following the drawing of the two winners, with the exception of the two winners for contact purposes.

I do ask that you consider putting a review on Amazon and/or GoodReads.

Author ROYALTIES from book sales WILL BE DONATED to the nonprofit organization ANGELS ON THE BORDER.

His forthcoming novel, “Gary Gatlin: Reluctant Hero” (Dudley Court Press) is set in April of 1939. As 20-year-old Gary Gatlin travels from Los Angeles abroad, he cannot know that he will singularly influence the outcome of WWII. Gatlin, a friend of Japanese-immigrant farmers in California, finds himself in Formosa to learn about Japanese fruit cultivation. When he arrives on the lush island, war is in the air, and his presence begins to raise suspicion. Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Gatlin finds himself called upon by the U.S. Navy in an unpredictable battle of allegiances.

WWII veteran Carl Haupt is a first time author at 93 years old, who spends his days helping Central Americans displaced by famine and poverty at the U.S.-Mexico border, despite his advanced age and physical handicaps.

Carl F. Haupt

Author Biography

TUCSON, Arizona – Carl F. Haupt, a 93-year old retired military veteran on a government pension, has become a philanthropist who feeds the starving refugees at the U.S. border in Arizona. From a wheelchair, he works to make life tolerable for those in limbo. Just as he helped to liberate Europe during WWII and fought in the Asian Theater on the other side of the world, today, he and his wife continue, after more than 17 years, to personally help those fleeing poverty and internal strife within their home countries.

At age 15, along with a reported 1 million other boys across the country, Haupt left home during The Great Depression. He was homeless, hitching rides on freight trains, sleeping on the ground and going hungry for days at a time. Eventually, he landed in Los Angeles. In 1944, he joined the United States Navy and served his country for 22 years, including more than a decade in the United States Air Force. He retired in 1966 as a Master Sergeant.

In 1992, with his military life behind him, Carl began helping locals in Mexico with his wife, Sarah. They worked in Agua Prieta, a city across from Douglas, Arizona. Remembering his time as a homeless teen, Carl helped build over 100 homes and moved 25 donated mobile homes to families in Agua Prieta, delivering food and other necessities to struggling families.

Haupt is a first time author at 93 years old. His novel, “Gary Gatlin: Reluctant Hero” (Dudley Court Press, November 5, 2019), was inspired by a strange situation in 1987 when he woke up one morning compelled to write for 13 straight hours the story that had come to him through a dream. Now, decades later, Dudley Court Press has acquired his story for release in 2019. All author royalties from “Gary Gatlin” will be consigned to the non-profit organization Angels on the Border.

Historical Accuracy Must Come First: The Real History of The English Patient and Operation Condor

Historical Accuracy Must Come First: The Real History of The English Patient and Operation Condor

By Samuel Marquis

In May 1942, just before German General Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, launched his offensive to drive the British Eighth Army out of Egypt and take the Suez, the German Intelligence Service (Abwehr) sent a two-man espionage team to Cairo. Operation Condor, as it became known, proved to be the most legendary and historically misrepresented intelligence operation in the WWII North African campaign.

In Lions of the Desert: A True Story of WWII Heroes in North Africa, I tell the tale of the famous Operation Condor and 1941-1942 Desert War between Rommel’s Afrika Korps and Eighth Army, based on recently declassified British and U.S. Military Intelligence records. The romantic Condor story has been told many times before—most famously in Michael Ondaatje’s 1992 Booker Prize winning novel The English Patient and the 1996 Oscar-winning film of the same name—but until recently virtually every fictional and factual account has been historically inaccurate. That is precisely why I had to write my book.

The reason that the Condor story has been shrouded in mischaracterization and embellishment is simple: prior to the 2006 public declassification of large numbers of WWII government documents, the only historical records on the subject available to the general public were those written by the main protagonists, who had access to only limited information and were not privy to the larger military-intelligence picture. In addition, records have conclusively shown that these participants, despite laying down a solid foundation of verifiable facts, have in a number of critical places distorted and embroidered the Condor narrative to enhance their own role in history or embroider the story, making it difficult for subsequent researchers to separate fact from fiction. I had no idea of these shortcomings when I set out to write my book—but once I discovered them, the opportunity to set the record straight and tell the true Condor story became my raison d’être for penning my work.

The narrators of these early first-hand accounts included: Anwar el Sadat, the Egyptian Army officer, nationalist, and later President of Egypt (Revolt on the Nile, 1957); Lieutenant Johannes Eppler, the German spy in the Operation Condor affair (Rommel Ruft Cairo, 1960, later translated as Operation Condor: Rommel’s Spy, 1977); Leonard Mosley, a British war correspondent in Cairo at the time of Operation Condor, who conducted extensive interviews of Eppler prior to the German spy penning his own version of events (The Cat and the Mice, 1958); and Major A.W. Sansom, the head of British Field Security in Cairo who played a prominent role in the capture of Eppler and his espionage cohort Heinrich Gerd Sandstette (I Spied Spies, 1965). While accurate in many respects and unquestionably entertaining, these subjective first-hand accounts have one fatal flaw in common: they exaggerate the espionage accomplishments of several of the key players in the Condor story and, consequently, draw conclusions that are not supported by reliable historical documents.

Without access to the declassified materials and thus the bigger picture, subsequent writers on the subject—Anthony Cave Brown, Bodyguard of Lies (1976); David Mure, Practice to Deceive (1977) and Master of Deception (1980); Nigel West, MI6 (1983); and Richard Deacon, ‘C’: A Biography of Sir Maurice Oldfield (1985)—could not help but fall into the trap of relying heavily on the embellished accounts of the main protagonists. Following in a similar vein, the bestselling historical fiction novels by Ken Follett (The Key to Rebecca, 1980, made into a 1989 TV movie) and Len Deighton (The City of Gold, 1992) used both the original sources and the subsequent embellished works as the basis of their books, making for great entertainment but questionable historical accuracy with regard to the significant details of the North African campaign and Operation Condor.

As it turns out, the Condor story needs no embellishment. The real-life protagonists, while admittedly more prosaic than their highly fictionalized doppelgängers, are still fascinating in their own right. That became my overarching goal in Lions of the Desert: to tell the real story—a story that has captivated the minds of authors, historians, and filmmakers for the past three-quarters of a century but that, until quite recently, virtually no one has been able to get right due to lack of access to the full truth.

With that in mind, I told the story through the eyes of six of the main historical figures who lived through the larger-than-life events in Egypt and Libya in 1941-1942: Scottish Lieutenant Colonel David Stirling, founder and leader of the Special Air Service (SAS), a brigade of eccentric desert commandos that raided Axis aerodromes and supply lines; Rommel, who as commander of the legendary Afrika Korps very nearly succeeded in driving the British out of Egypt; Egyptian Hekmat Fahmy, the renowned belly dancer, regarded as a Mata-Hari-like German agent in previous accounts but in fact a far more intriguing and ambiguous character in real life; Colonel Bonner Fellers, the U.S. military attaché in Cairo, who was privy to critical Allied secrets in the North African theater and inadvertently played an important role in intelligence-gathering activities for both sides in the campaign; and Sansom and Eppler, who played a game of cat-and-mouse and whose real-life stories are finally told.

Of the above historical figures, Eppler, Sansom, and the Egyptian belly dancer Hekmat Fahmy have been the most grossly distorted in previous accounts—primarily because of Eppler’s and Mosley’s embellished stories that set the tone but also due in part to the security chief Sansom’s self-serving recording of history in his own book. History has shown that Eppler was not quite the master spy portrayed in his own imagination or in books and movies; Hekmat was no Mata Hari at all but was a legendary entertainer and important member of Cairene high society; and Sansom was not the Sam-Spade-like sleuth who solved the case but one of several diligent British intelligence officers who helped catch the two German spies. In fact, Operation Condor ultimately proved to be more comical farce than an intelligence success story; in the end, the German operatives that have been portrayed as virtuoso master spies in books and the silver screen for several decades emerge with little credit from the affair. But it is precisely the sloppily real and deeply flawed human element that makes the Condor story so engaging.

From my standpoint, therefore, it was critical to present Eppler and Fahmy not as the ruthless master German operatives and Sansom as the master British sleuth of previous highly fictionalized accounts, but as the people they truly were with warts and all. To accurately portray the historical figures in the book, I placed the characters where they actually were during a given recorded historical event and use, to the extent possible, their actual words based on recently declassified British and American case files, contemporary transcripts, trial documents, memoirs, and other quoted materials. Like Michael Shaara in his excellent historical novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, I did not “consciously change any fact” or “knowingly violate the action.” The interpretations of character and motivation were still ultimately a part of my overall imaginative landscape, but the scenes themselves and the historical figures were deliberately rendered as historically accurately as a non-fiction history book.

Why? Because truth in historical fiction is paramount and not something to be compromised. Because all the other important things in a novel—sympathetic characters, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and unexpected twists and turns—spring from portraying ones beloved heroes and villains in all their glory and infamy just like the real-world, flawed historical figures they were in life. The bottom line is that history itself provides plenty of conflict, tension, and drama, and does not need to be consciously changed to generate more excitement. For Lions of the Desert, I felt it was up to me as the author to select those scenes of historical significance and bring them back to life in vivid color, while filling in between known historical events with scenes that shed light on the historical figures’ true motivation and character as revealed from the recently declassified documents and latest research.

While recently declassified government files form the backbone of Lions of the Desert, the original eyewitness accounts of Sansom, Eppler, Mosley, and Sadat have still proved useful—but only where supported by other eyewitness accounts, government records, or wireless decrypts. As David Mure, author of Master of Deception, states, “The Condor story has been told many times, always with new dimensions and variations; it is a tangled web indeed.” Not anymore. With the relevant declassified WWII records now available, the true Condor story can now be told—and that is precisely what I have done. Because telling the truth and getting the story right matters in historical fiction.

In fact, nothing matters more.

Biography

The ninth great-grandson of legendary privateer Captain William Kidd, Samuel Marquis is the bestselling, award-winning author of a World War Two Series, the Nick Lassiter-Skyler International Espionage Series, and historical pirate fiction. His novels have been #1 Denver Post bestsellers, received multiple national book awards (Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, American Book Fest Best Book, USA Best Book, IPPY, Beverly Hills, Next Generation Indie, Colorado Book Awards), and garnered glowing reviews from #1 bestseller James Patterson, Kirkus, and Foreword Reviews (5 Stars). Book reviewers have compared Marquis’s WWII thrillers Bodyguard of Deception, Altar of Resistance, and Spies of the Midnight Sun to the epic historical novels of Tom Clancy, John le Carré, Ken Follett, Herman Wouk, Daniel Silva, Len Deighton, and Alan Furst. Mr. Marquis’s newest historical novel, Lions of the Desert is the true story of the WWII 1941-1942 Desert War in North Africa and Operation Condor based on recently declassified British Secret MI6 files and U.S. Military Intelligence records. His website is samuelmarquisbooks.com and for publicity inquiries, please contact JKS Communications at info@jkscommunications.com.

#Book #Review of Counterpart by @HSchussman.

I’ve reviewed H. Schussman’s work here before. It was El Tiburon and I gave it 4 stars. You can even read the interview I did with her by clicking here.That was her second book. Now I’ve read her first novel which you can get on Smashwords in any format you like.

Her first book is Counterpart. In this outing we get to meet Schussman’s characters CIA Agent/Travel Agent SEAN MCGEE and Doctor JANET “SPORT” WARRICK. The book starts off with Sport picking up a friend at work in a jewelry store when a robbery takes place. She foils one of the bad guys who doesn’t see her at first. Then the owner shoves a box into her hands and tells her to get it to Sean McGee. A chase ensues by the main bad guy but Sport gets away. I’m not spoiling it for you. If she were caught there wouldn’t be much of a story, now would there?

The story itself is very good. Great pace, if I had started this book during the morning after breakfast I would likely have finished it before bed. There are details about Sacramento that hint at first hand experience. Also other travel experiences that are obviously pulled from the author’s own extensive travel life. Trust me, she knows about the Americas, north, south, and central.

Once Sean and Sport meet up it is one thrill ride after another with CIA agents, FBI agents, Secret Service, and more. Even the California Highway Patrol gets involved. And don’t get me started on the Club Med moments.

My favorite character is Sport. She comes by the name for good reasons, which are revealed in the book, so I won’t tell you here. She isn’t a short girl to mess around with, even though Sean really wants to. Both find there is an unexpected attraction that neither really knows what to do with, what with a CIA agents life style and a young doctor’s not being all that great for starting a relationship. The question is, do both survive the whole thing to make it to a relationship at all?

Fast paced, guns, chases, assassinations, bad guys, Russian doubles, political look-a-likes. This one has it all. Oh, and there is even some kissing involved. I had to mention it for the tough guys reading this. We can’t even get a good shoot ’em up book without kissing thrown in. (Just kidding. I wrote a romance.)

This one is good for all types of readers. Enjoy it. It’s only $1.99 at Smashwords right now. I will say that there are some editing moments that were missed, but they don’t take away from the reading experience. (I edit books so I pick them up.) Get the book, then check out El Tiburon on Amazon.

Click the images to go and check out the books. And follow her on twitter @HSchussman for her latest happenings.

Save

#BOOK REVIEW BY @COLLEENCHESEBRO OF “Silent Cats – Deadly Dance,” BY AUTHOR @THESILENTCATS

Title: Silent Cats – Deadly Dance
Author: J. D. Wallace
File Size: 1143 KB
Print Length: 501 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN:
Publisher: Short on Time Books
Publication Date: October 19, 2015
Sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0153POH9Q
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13:
Formats: Paperback and Kindle
Goodreads
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Spies, Politics, Romance

*The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, which follows.*

From the Future…

Enjoying the day in Tel Aviv, Kat, a known Mossad assassin, and her two young daughters are brutally killed by a car bomb placed there by an unknown assassin. Kat’s husband, Pantera, identifies the bodies of his wife and daughters. Vowing revenge on the killers, Pantera takes you on a journey back in time to when he first met Kat in 1989. Hang on to your hat! It’s about to get good!

…And Into the Past

This story tells the tale of a tragic romance between Kat and Pantera that is filled with necessary lies wrapped in half-truths and subterfuge. At the first meeting, Pantera and Kat do not know the shadowy truth of each other’s employers. Kat pretends to be a model while Pantera’s cover is that of a medic in the Special UN Forces. Nothing could be further from the truth.

JD. Wallace, the author says,

“Deadly Dance is based on the life of the youngest Kidon Katsa agent in the history of Mossad and her husband, the fabled Chief Black Site Interrogator, who worked under such special access programs as the Operation Copper Green (created under Donald Rumsfeld), the United Nations Security Council – Special Operations Group (UN-SOG), and Task Forces 88 and 121.”

Recommendation:

This is the perfect book for men and women! It offers a deep relationship type romance for the ladies and enough mystery and suspense to satisfy the men in your life. I was hooked from the first chapter! It was a longer read than my usual fare which I am glad to say transported me into a world of which I had no true knowledge of. Talk about exciting! Wait until you read it!

The characters are written with such a depth of understanding and knowledge that you simply realize the author had to be involved in military special forces himself or served with one of our own spy agencies. This background knowledge propels the story along taking the reader on a rollercoaster of events, romantic interludes, torture, combat, and death. Some of these scenes will boggle your mind. Some will make you question your own core beliefs.

It is worth mentioning that there are sexual and violent scenes. In other words, this is not a book for children or teenagers.

I really loved the idea that neither character really knew what the other was doing as their true profession but accepted their love for each for what it was – a gift. Rarely, do you read about the lives of those serving in the capacity of assassins or interrogators where they seem like real human beings with wants and needs just like everyone else. The fact that this story is based on real-life events and people heightened my enjoyment even more.

However, Kat is a genius, the product of a genetic program in Israel while Pantera is a sociopath who says he cannot feel empathy for his fellow man. His flaws make him a skillful interrogator. It was striking then that he held such a deep love for Kat and their children. I liked the fact that he wasn’t perfect, it made him seem more lifelike and real.

J. D. Wallace employs a unique storytelling technique in this tale. He takes the time for the characters to speak to one another but allows them to share their feelings and emotional reactions to the other character’s words. The reader gets to see and feel first hand with the characters.

For a debut novel, I would say J. D. Wallace has the makings for an excellent series. If you are looking for excitement on a dull evening at home, step into the world of Kat and Pantera. I know I can hardly wait to find out what happens next since this first book seems to be in large part dedicated to Kat and her life with Pantera. From what I now know of Pantera, his revenge should know no bounds!

My rating:

Character Believability: 5
Flow and Pace: 4
Reader Engagement: 5
Reader Enrichment: 5
Reader Enjoyment: 5
Overall Rate: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author, J. D. Wallace

About J. D. Wallace:

After spending the first ten years of his career with a US-based intelligence agency, Mr. Wallace went on to work for foreign intelligence agencies, law firms, political figures, royals, sovereigns and private corporations for the next twenty years.

He is considered one of the top corporate infiltrators in the world.

Between various spy contracts, JD became a student of Robert McKee (Story) and has spent nearly a decade working as a subject matter expert (SME) and technical advisor (TA) for several large movie and TV production companies (several Oscar and Emmy winners). He has also had the pleasure of functioning as a Script Reader, Script Synopsis Writer (aka, Coverage) and Consulting Writer under a number of aliases.

Mr. Wallace holds bachelor’s degrees in Mammalian Physiology and Environmental Chemistry, a master’s degree in Physiology/Biochemical Nutrition and an MBA in Finance. Currently, the widower and his Welsh Border Collie, Kelly, split time between San Diego, California, and Montreux, Switzerland.

SILENT CATS: Deadly Dance is his first novel of a possible six book series. Book two is currently under construction. Stay tuned.

Make certain to connect with J. D. Wallace through Twitter @thesilentcats, and Facebook at The Silent Cats. Find him on his blog at silentcats.com.

Book Review by @ColleenChesebro of silverthreading.com

The Tower’s Alchemist Q&A Alesha L. Escobar @The_GrayTower

RW: So let’s start this off from the beginning, I read that your husband gave you this idea for a female wizard spying for the Allies in WWII against the Nazis and basically said, see what you can do with it and you did. And you did it quite well if I may say so. Now where did he come up with that idea?

ALESHA: Thank you! He started off trying to create a fun roleplaying game (RPG) character for his sister, and when I heard “female spy” and “World War II” mixed with magic and intrigue, I immediately knew that such a character would fit well in a full-fledged story. I told him to give me that character, and she became Isabella George.

RW: People have said your main character of wizard Isabella George is another take on something Jim Butcher would have created. I have my opinion but why do you think people say that?

ALESHA: I don’t mind taking that as a compliment, because I’m a huge fan of Jim Butcher! I think people may say that because of a wizard openly practicing and offering wizardly services in modern society. When we first meet Butcher’s Harry Dresden, he is a wizard for hire (and he becomes much more). Isabella is a trained alchemist, and British intelligence hires her to spy against the Nazis; throughout the course of the trilogy, she becomes much more.

RW: Tells us why Isabella and your version of wizardry is not Jim Butcher?

ALESHA: I think the difference comes in with the magic system, as well as the fact that in the Gray Tower Trilogy, the number of people with magical abilities are declining, almost like a dying breed. There’s also going to be this unique voice and spark that will come through when you follow Isabella on her journey.

RW: You have different types of Wizards in your books. Why the divisions in abilities? Where did that come from?

ALESHA: Just as we have physical and mental talents, people who are born with magical abilities also have a propensity toward certain powers–mind control, alchemy, healing, etc. One of my characters, a priest named Gabriel, explains that these preternatural abilities were normal and widespread before the Fall of Man, but we’ve lost most of it since then. Throughout time, people like shamans, healers and miracle workers, were remnants of this legacy. The Gray Tower was founded in order to support and train these people for the good of society. They track down people who exhibit abilities (some people have only one predominate ability, others have two) and offer to train them.

RW: How many drafts of The Tower’s Alchemist did you go through?

ALESHA: More than two, that’s for sure. But it was necessary, and the process made me better and stronger as a writer.

RW: How different is the book from that first draft to what we see now?

ALESHA: Very different, which is a good thing, because it shows what you’ve put into the process and what you’ve learned from the process.

RW: Was your plan from the beginning to write a trilogy?

ALESHA: Yes, because a series spanning 10+ books? I ain’t got time for that!

RW: Were there any actual Historical elements that led you to how to approach writing The Tower’s Alchemist?

ALESHA: I definitely played upon the concept that Hitler and his followers were into the occult and wanted to use it to their advantage. In the book, though Hitler doesn’t appear as a character, he is spoken of as having formed an alliance with warlocks who would help fight the Allies and give him victory. This is why my heroine, Isabella, is hired by the British to spy against the Nazis. Is there a rogue alchemist poisoning Ally soldiers? Let’s send in that woman trained by the Gray Tower to take care of it. That’s their line of reasoning.

RW: How did you come up with the names of your characters?

ALESHA: I will not lie. Baby Names book. Sometimes I purposefully set out to find a name with a colorful flair, but I often had to be mindful about taking into account things like a character’s nationality or ethnicity (and this went for both first and last names).

RW: How did you determine what your story would be about? I mean there is a lot in WWII you could go with but for this one it wasn’t going right for the heart of the Nazis like what the next two include. I really need to start reading them.

ALESHA: Please do! I want to chat about the next two books with you. While researching WWII, I found out that female spies going behind enemy lines lasted an average of six weeks. In the story, Isabella has been at it for more than a few months—so she’s a survivor, but she’s also burned out. I wanted her to go from being jaded and tired to being reinvigorated. So the general arc of The Tower’s Alchemist is about Isabella experiencing what should have been her last mission, and how it caused her to become even more entangled in this deadly world of espionage and magic.

RW: That was a very subtle thing you did there. I didn’t even think of it like that. I just enjoyed the story and went along for the ride. Very awesome. Now, was there a temptation to make Isabella George a woman of ethnic background who is good at disguise?

ALESHA: There wasn’t, but I did want a diverse reflection of people who in real life aided in the effort against the Nazis. The character Jasmine Leon, for example, is an homage to the black singer/actress Josephine Baker, who spied for the French. Adelaide was inspired by a real Indian princess (Noor Khan) who sided with the French Resistance and did the dangerous work of radio broadcasting, sending coded messages to the Resistance. Come to think of it, there is an amazing international cast filling this story. I’m searching for a voice actor (for the audiobook) who can do several accents, because we’ve got British, German, French, Russian, American, Italian, and Irish characters.

RW: I read the Amazon Reviews for The Tower’s Alchemist, well I actually read the worst ones because I wanted to see what faults people found. To be honest two of the three were written by the same person using their own log in and a separate one under the title of Amazon customer. And I really could take the time to shoot every single one of this person’s problems down but not wasting any more of my time with that. Actually, I might do that, just not here. I thoroughly dislike amateur haters who don’t know good writing from the back of cereal boxes. When you read a review like that what do you do with it, what do you take away from it? And really what do you do with the reviews at all?

ALESHA: I just let it be. I can’t tell anyone how to feel about the story, or to like it. I respect the fact that we all have our opinions and preferences. I will definitely respond to a reader who has directly contacted me via Facebook or email, because they took the time to send me a note saying how much they’ve enjoyed the books, or they might have a question about them. I love when that happens, because I’ve been spinning stories since I was a kid, and what made it all worth it was seeing others enjoy my tales.

RW: The world The Tower’s Alchemist is set in is filled with magic somewhat openly. I feel it’s more that certain parts of society like the military and maybe the governments are more actively aware but that doesn’t mean it is an accepted thing so much. For me personally I get a since from a character or two at times that it’s like there is a slight fear of Wizards but in part because of an unknown factor and a feeling of being slightly inferior in a way. Are those feelings you were going for and if so why?

ALESHA: Definitely so. “Normal” people’s reactions to wizards are going to run the spectrum from acceptance to rejection. In the world of the Gray Tower Trilogy, people with magical abilities are in the minority, and those formally trained as wizards by the Gray Tower are even fewer in number. So the general population isn’t afraid of wizards, survival-wise, but because the hierarchy within the Tower is composed of some arrogant Master Wizards, and no one can find the actual Gray Tower unless summoned, there is an air of mystery and hesitation. This is why you also see in the story people who decide that they don’t want or need the Gray Tower, or people who see a spiritual significance in their abilities and end up turning to the Church for guidance (like Gabriel, our resident sword-wielding Catholic priest with elemental abilities). Governments and military are more in tune with wizards and what’s going on. Everyday people are more likely to view a wizard as the equivalent of a Freemason plus cool powers.

RW: Tell us about the book cover design. Is there meaning to it? Who designed it? Why did you pick the colors you did?

ALESHA: I’m one of those people who’ll unabashedly give you stick figures! I’m both jealous and in awe of artists. I knew I couldn’t do the covers alone, so I had my husband design them. He’s been doing art professionally for a long time, so I figured he’d take care of it (plus, you know, I bribed him with tacos). The symbols on the covers are alchemical ones. On The Tower’s Alchemist, I believe the symbols stand for Time, Secrecy, and Hidden Things. For the following two books, the symbols change along with the major theme of each book.

RW: Tacos? Ah, now you are speaking my dinero. Anyone else notice the word dine is in dinero? Perfect. Okay, back on track here. You have done something I really enjoy here and that is you have created something called the Cruenti and the Black Wolves which I somewhat compare to two other magical creations of sorts we all should be familiar with. Would you tell us about them and how you came about them being what they are or more about how they ended up being what they are from who they were if that makes sense?

ALESHA: Oh boy, the Cruenti. Where do I start? You know our vampire myths? In the world of my story, those vampires are really warlocks known as Cruenti. However, the difference is that they’re only interested in your blood if you’re a wizard. You’re tastier to them if you have magical abilities, plus they can steal your powers this way. Usually they’ll leave you alone if you’re Joe Normal Guy walking down the street—unless you get in their way. Another interesting thing about them is that in order to become a Cruenti, you have to make a pact with a demon. It’s not for the faint of heart, but definitely for the vain and greedy. Now, we all know how those types of pacts end—the Cruenti warlock ends up degenerating and losing his humanity until he’s physically and mentally transformed into a monster—and that’s how Black Wolves are born. Black Wolves are powerful magical creatures, former warlocks, but they are also unpredictable and irrational—sometimes they attack their own allies.

RW: You have two works coming out this year. Tell us about those and do I get a copy to review?

ALESHA: Yes! I’ve just sent off my short story, LOGAN 6, to the editor. It’s coming up in the Masters of Time anthology (July 2015) and I’m working my way through a novel as well. I’d love to send you a copy, but first you must promise me

I have no idea what I have to promise but I promise!!! Typical writer cliff hanger thingy.

RW: What is Creative Alchemy?

ALESHA: Creative Alchemy is the small media/publishing company founded by Luis [the taco loving hubby artist] and me. It’s basically a micro-press (we publish a few titles per year), and an author services company. As an independent author, there have been times when I needed things like a press release, a freelance editor, or story feedback, and I didn’t have time to search a million places. This was a great solution for me, and since I’m a lover and promoter of other independent authors, being able to offer these great services became a natural extension of Creative Alchemy.

RW: Who would you say was your biggest literary influence when you consider what you write and why?

ALESHA: Robert Jordan, George Martin, JK Rowling, Jim Butcher. They write amazing stories and create memorable characters. When I stepped out of my “I only want to read Tolkien and Tolkien-like fantasy” bubble, their stories welcomed me with open arms. Dresden Files was the first urban fantasy I had ever read, Jordan’s Wheel of Time made me love magic mashed with politics and intrigue (and apparently, detailed descriptions of what my dinner guest is wearing), Martin ripped my heart out (I’m still salty over the fate of Ned), and I first read Harry Potter while taking a Children’s Literature course in college, back in 2001.

RW: What is your favorite beverage to drink and why?

ALESHA: Coffee. It’s delicious, flavorful, and I think I’ve built up a resistance to it, so I drink more than I should. No! Why am I telling you this? Is this answer going to be part of the interview?

RW: What is your biggest writing pet peeve and why?

ALESHA: For myself, it’s all about time. I can easily get frustrated when I lack time I need to write. I wish I could say I sit down for a couple of hours and bang out a thousand words, but I’m lucky if I get in a paragraph. I’m a mom, constantly trying to convince my three year old that wearing Spiderman pajamas doesn’t mean he can jump off the furniture, or I’m driving my eldest to school or dance class. As a reader who enjoys stories, a writing pet peeve of mine is when I encounter passionless or inauthentic writing. I read books to escape, to imagine a different world, and in order to enjoy all that, I want you (the writer) to pull me in and give it all you’ve got—don’t hold back!

RW: What are two hobbies that you have?

ALESHA: I like working with my hands, so you might find me mixing a homemade hair elixir or beading a necklace. I also enjoy baking desserts.

RW: So now we see where the Alchemist comes from. Watch out Luis! What would your husband say is his favorite thing about you?

ALESHA: He feels I’m a kindred spirit and that I accept him for who he is. I love that!

RW: What is your favorite word and why?

ALESHA: That’s tough, asking me to narrow it down. I know…I have a favorite phrase. It’s the last line of Dante’s Divine Comedy: “The love that moves the sun and the other stars.” It’s beautiful to me.

RW: Finally, why should people buy your book?

ALESHA: People should buy my book because it’s a fantastic ride. It’s a fresh, fun fantasy mash-up that will make you want to continue reading.

And now you all want to go and buy the book, right? You can’t! Why? Because it’s FREE for Kindle right now! Click here.

Make sure to follow Alesha on Twitter @The_GrayTower and check out her site at aleshaescobar.com.

And there you have it. Was I given The Tower’s Alchemist to read for this interview or for a review? No. Did I find Alesha on my own and then read her book after I got it on my own? Yes. I’ll be honest, I don’t often have the time to do that. But I did and I am glad I did. Get it and you will want the next one. I want to see whose butt Isabella kicks next!

@RonovanWrites
Facebook
Google+
GoodReads

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

#Book #Review of The Tower’s Alchemist The Gray Tower Trilogy Book 1 by Alesha Escobar @The_GrayTower

Title: The Tower’s Alchemist
Author: Alesha Escobar @The_GrayTower
File Size: 1415 KB
Print Length: 322 page
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Creative Alchemy, Inc.; 2 edition (September 28, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B005QSFXC6
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:Not Enabled
Word Wise: Not Enabled
Lending: Enabled

From my interview with author Alesha L Escobar this coming Monday.

RW: People have said your main character of wizard Isabella George is another take on something Jim Butcher would have created. I have my opinion but why do you think people say that?

RW: Tells us why Isabella and your version of wizardry is not Jim Butcher?

Now for the review.

Isabella George is not your typical spy. For one she’s a female spy in WWII sneaking in to German occupied France. Yes, there were female spies but not the norm in literature of this type. And for another thing, she’s a wizard. Her mission in this first book of the Gray Tower Trilogy is to find and bring home the wizard creating a chemical weapon for the Nazis. But would it be a book worth a Trilogy if it were that simple?

Some have compared Escobar’s book to Jim Butcher and his wizard Harry Dresden. Okay, Isabella is a wizard in the real world and works in the real world using her abilities. End of similarities. Isabella is more than a wizard. In The Tower’s Alchemist, she is a spy, first and foremost in my eyes. She just happens to be a wizard as well. Think of it as her having a specialty like someone might be an explosives specialist on a team that goes in to extract a person behind enemy lines.

Isabella is that explosive expert and boy can she explode things at times. The problem is the Nazis have their specialists as well and they are the Cruenti and the Black Wolves, wizards that use dark magic so much they slowly turn into something less than human or more than human, depending on how you look at it.

Isabella meets several members of the French Resistance, some based on actual historical figures, and runs in to other wizards hunting her long dead father. She receives a letter from her father that’s left for her in case she passes through a safe house in France. It warns her of things to be careful of. As she carries on through her mission she discovers many things are not what she thought they were and slowly becomes aware of a need to learn more. A lot more, but how? If she learns too much the wizards against her will be able to extract what she knows.

Love, hate, friends, foes, adventure, Vampires, and Nazis. What more could you ask for?

Character Believability: 5
Flow and Pace: 4
Reader Engagement: 4
Reader Enrichment: 4
Reader Enjoyment: 5
Overall Rate: 4.4

That 4.4 surprised me when it came up. Yes, I use a formula. I do an average of the 5 categories. And that number is what I post here and on Amazon and on GoodReads. It keeps me honest. But I tell you, 4.4 is misleading. I really enjoyed this book. I could tell research and a lot of effort went in to putting out a quality story.

Alesha L. Escobar is an Author and more based out there somewhere. There are two other books available in the Trilogy. Visit Amazon here for her author page to get them all. Book 1 and 2 are Free and book 3 is .99 right now. Get them before they blow up and she starts really charging for them.

Share this review by reblog or tweet or any other way you choose.

Click today and get them all!

@RonovanWrites
RonovanWrites on
GoodReads
Google+
Facebook

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

I give it a 4 out of 5.

Let Your Friends Know

Like this:

Author ROYALTIES from book sales WILL BE DONATED to the nonprofit organization ANGELS ON THE BORDER.

I do ask that you consider putting a review on Amazon and/or GoodReads.

Author ROYALTIES from book sales WILL BE DONATED to the nonprofit organization ANGELS ON THE BORDER.

Let Your Friends Know

Like this:

Let Your Friends Know

Like this:

Let Your Friends Know

Like this:

Let Your Friends Know

Like this:

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Let Your Friends Know

Like this:

From my interview with author Alesha L Escobar this coming Monday.

Now for the review.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Let Your Friends Know

Like this: