Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: The Belle Stalker by Minnette Meador

Today we're welcoming author Minnette Meador to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for the urban fantasy thriller, "The Belle Stalker".

Remember, Minnette is giving away a small Kindle ($79) plus a Portland Tote filled with goodies to one randomly drawn commenter. So comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner above, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops) -- the more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win a Kindle and goodies!

And there's more: anyone who sends their name and address to mmeador@minnettemeador.com will be sent a surprise package of goodies!

Even better? She has a special prize for THIS blog and its commenters ONLY: One commenter will win an opportunity to be cast as a secondary character in the next GHOST OF A CHANCE book coming out in 2012.

So, don’t forget to leave a comment. How can you go wrong?

And now, without further ado, please welcome Minnette:



I see that you write in a great number of genres. Do you find it a challenge to switch gears? Do you have a favorite genre in which to write?

Sometimes.

I have very unique “voices” for each genre that I like to use. You have to focus to maintain them as you write. My acting experience has taught me every character has a different tone and rhythm. I’ve extended that to every book has its own voice, just as every character within that story has theirs. For example, the historical novels have a slow elegance of language and my comedies are quick and frisky. THE BELLE STALKER, my first thriller, has fantasy, comedy, and suspense, so the voice is quite varied. Each element adds to the texture of the story. Or at least I hope it does! LOL I always say whatever I’m writing is my favorite genre and that’s probably very close to the truth. I’ve never met one I didn’t like.

Do you write more than one thing at a time?

Someone told me once that Sagittarians are very linear people. For me that is the absolutely truth. I like balance in my art, calm in my music, and to finish one thing before going onto another. If I have incomplete projects before I go onto the next, it drives me crazy, so I plow through and get one done before another. ~sigh~

What's a typical day for you?

Since I work full time, I won’t bore you with the humdrums of Monday – Friday and the frantic rushing at night to get stuff done, but the weekends are my days to write. There is no such thing as a typical day; again, being a Sagittarius I grow bored quickly of the same old routine (while at the same time thriving on it… go figure). My ideal day is:

1. Kiss my husband, and then again if it is called for.
2. Go through email/FB/Etc. over a cup of coffee and good tunes
3. Clean up my space (I’m not a neat freak but I can’t work on a messy desk… although the rest of the house doesn’t bother me so much)
4. Write, write, edit, write
5. Write, write, edit, write
6. Have DH throw food at me from time to time.

Ah, that would be heaven. The truth of the matter is I write in spurts, knocking out 10-15K at a sitting whenever I can get the world (and myself) to shut up long enough so I can work. Then I layer and edit for hours. I wrote the last 20 chapters of Centurion over four marathon days because an agent asked for a full and all I had was a very small partial. Necessity is an absolute mother sometimes.

Share any writing quirks or habits you have.

Writing in spurts is one. I listen to music, but it has to be absolutely perfect. I’ve spent hours looking for that perfect combination for each book. I can write anywhere… buses, cars, walking (yes, walking – I write dialogue while I walk), chatting with friends. My focus to pretty good when I’m motivated. I love coffee when I write, so I’ve adopted decaf since the docs won’t let me drink the stuff after 12 noon.

Who are some authors that have influenced or inspired you? Why? How much time do you have?

Just like writing, there are very few genres I don’t LOVE to read. The classics have always inspired me; I wish we could still write like that, but these days it’s frowned upon (I would LOVE to know what today’s publishers would think of Plato, Dickens, or even H.G. Wells). I started out in Sci-Fi/Fantasy so such writers as Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Robert Heinlein (a personal favorite), Frederick Brown, Piers Anthony, Farmer, Philip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Asimov, Greg Baer, and then sci-fi comedy writers like Douglas Adams, Spider Robinson, and Terry Prichard really influenced me. Ann McCaffrey, JRR Tolkien, Mary Stewart, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers (the Lord Peter Wimsey series), and of course, one of my all time favorite writer, Rex Stout (of Nero Wolf fame). I read an eclectic assortment of books both fiction and non-fiction. I’m currently reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Haunted America, and several others. Though I can only write one book at a time, I can apparently read several at a time. It’s an enigma! Oh, and why do they inspire me? Because they are so flipping good! I mean, come on!

Do you have anything in the works we can look forward to? If so, tell us all about it!

The Egyptian Pirate (2012) - Hasani has a reputation to uphold as the world's greatest pirate; but that's hard to do when you're wasting away in a Syrian jail for making love to one of the Parthian king's daughters. For the first time in his life his luck has run out and he faces a very real possibility of losing his head for good this time. When a mysterious woman shows up and helps him to escape, he falls in love for the first time. The problem is... she is taken prisoner and swept away to Egypt, the last place he wants to be. Will he risk his life and riches to save her or follow old habits and simply walk away. There is something about this girl...

Haunted Hearts (2012) - Book II in the Ghost Series. Dyna is having a bad day... a really bad day. Her house is now filled with ghosts, the neighborhood association is trying to get her evicted, and she just found out she's pregnant with a demon child. To top everything off, a handsome cop thinks he can make it go away, but all he is doing is making it worse! What's a girl to do?

Phantom Hearts (2013) - Book III in the Ghost Series. He's suave, he's debonaire, he can say or do no wrong, the ladies love him, and life couldn't be any sweeter. That is until he finds out he's the devil's love child and strange things start happening around him. Enter a sexy, snoopy female reporter who not only seems immune to his charms but does everything she can to double his trouble. He simply can't resist her and that's where the fun begins. Will he fight the evil deeds blooming in his head or will he finally succumb to his father's wishes and "join" the family business. Only a crazy girl knows... and she's not talking.

Arpeggios In The Darkness (TBD) - Sci-Fi YA - It's hard being the first half-Alien/half-Human hybrid... Your mom and dad are gone all the time, the paparazzi follow you everywhere, and you find out your voice can kill. What's a girl to do?

Then I have several other work in the works (go here for a list). After this last tour this year, I’m heading into relative seclusion to get the next four books done.

Thanks so much or inviting me to this amazing blog site. You are an angel!

Would you share the blurb for The Belle Stalker?

The police have done all they can, but it isn’t enough. When Belle finds the mutilated body of her lover strewn across the furniture she knows only her ex-husband, Homicide Detective Mike Cranston can stop the maniac who has been dogging her steps for over a year. The only problem is the man who stalks her...is not a man at all. Belle plays a dangerous game and only hopes that Cranston can stop the monster before it’s too late.





Find Minnette and her books:

http://youtu.be/avY8W6i0rw4 Audio Excerpt

http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/p/books-by-minnette.html Written Excerpt

http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/ Blog URL

RESPLENDENCE PUBLISHING (all eFormats except Kindle & Nook):
http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/381-200-103-422-5--the-belle-stalker-by-minnette-meador.html

AMAZON BUY LINK: (Kindle)


AMAZON DIRECT LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Belle-Stalker-ebook/dp/B0064PA6LI/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321749531&sr=1-8

BARNES & NOBEL DIRECT (Nook):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-belle-stalker-minnette-meador/1107087599?ean=2940013589698&itm=1&usri=the+belle+stalker

All Romance eBooks:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thebellestalker-625303-140.html