Rogues Angels ~ Binary Witness by Rosie Claverton

Please welcome Rosie Claverton author of Binary Witness.

Leave a comment for a chance to win. Enter using the rafflecopter code below.

Rosie will be awarding to randomly drawn winners during the tour one of the following items: a "@" pendant, an engraved Floppy Disk Keyring, a Cardiff City Typographic Mug,a £10 Amazon voucher, 3 Binary Witness ebooks.

Binary Witness

by Rosie Claverton

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1.    What or who inspired you to start writing?

I’ve always written, ever since I can remember. When I started nursery school, the teacher used to exclaim her shock and dismay at all the terrible things that happened to our family – which my mum had to explain were all fantastical products of my imagination. The crocodile on the beach is my favourite Tall Tale from that era.

My professional writing, however, really kicked off towards the end of medical school. I think it was the prospect of Not Writing while this other profession took over my life which forced me to reconsider, and watching friends I’d grown up with following their own creative dreams. It’s not easy being a doctor and a writer, but I wouldn’t be the same person if I gave up on either.

2.    What expertise did you bring to your writing?

I’m a psychiatrist by day, so I meet a lot of fascinating people. As a doctor, you see people at their worst, when their emotions are running high and they’re struggling to cope with devastating illness. It can be very draining, but it also gives insight into different people’s lives. I also try to create a sensitive and accurate portrayal of mental health problems in my work – one of my protagonists, Amy, has agoraphobia and depression. Her ability to delve into a mystery while battling these crippling diseases is one of the things I love most about her.

3.    As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

I’m just finished edits on Code Runner, the second book in The Amy Lane Mysteries, due for release in September 2014. Jason is framed for murder and Amy has to fight to prove his innocence. I’m cooking up plots for the third book, and contemplating an historical urban fantasy mystery (quite a mouthful!). I’m also a screenwriter, so I have a few projects in various stages of development on that front.

4.    If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?

When the local cops are stumped, they call in an external profiler from the Metropolitan Police called Eleanor Deaver. She is smart, cutting and rubs everyone up the wrong way, but I absolutely adore her. She just saunters in, fixes a few things, and exits gracefully. And she’s named for one of my favourite crime writers.

5.    Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

I belong to a group for my screenwriting, which is called Kites and Violence. The group takes a “no holds barred” approach, which I find really refreshing, though we often descend into bickering. Writers are an opinionated bunch! As for my novels, my only critic is my husband. He’s very annoying, because he’s usually right.

6.    When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

Submitting Binary Witness was a bit of an impulse decision. I had just returned home from a night shift and I saw something on my Twitter feed about #carinapitch, which is Carina Press’s pitch event. I scheduled a tweet, went to bed, and woke up to a manuscript request! Unfortunately, I hadn’t actually looked at my novel for months, so the next night shift was filled with some hurried editing – especially because I discovered I’d abandoned my last edit halfway through. I must’ve done something right, however, as my editor Deb Nemeth loved it. I wasn’t so lucky in my hunt for a literary agent, but I learned a lot through that rejection process and I think my writing improved as a result.

7.    How do you maintain your creativity?

Plot ideas burst out of me without warning, often at inappropriate times. I think it’s a symptom of having such an analytical day job. I also turn my hand to card making, cross stitch and photography. I can’t, however, draw to save my life. If I need a layout or a map for my plotting, it is produced in Paint. For example, Amy lives in a very confusing building and I had to change the layout during edits, which led to some very messy colour-coded line diagrams of the various floors. In the second book, I complicated it further, so that was another set of “drawings”.

8.    Who is your favorite character in the book? Can you tell us why?

While I love my protagonists equally and inseparably, I think my favourite character has to be Cerys Carr, Jason’s little sister. While she serves to needle and provoke, as younger siblings are wont to do, she messes up in this book and changes because of it. I think she really grows into her own in the second book and I’ve spent a lot of time with her recently, so I’m harbouring a bit of a soft spot.

9.    Are your plotting bunnies angels or demons?

Demons, definitely – but I’m on their side. I’m never happier than when one of my protagonists is suffering. Jason is particularly put through the wringer in this book; I had to make a running tally of his injuries because he got into so many fights! It’s all character building, of course – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, eh?

10. Anything else you might want to add?

Characters, like good friends, often surprise me – I never know exactly how they’re going to react until I put them in a situation.

Thanks the Angels

Police detectives rely on Amy Lane to track the digital debris of their most elusive criminals--when she's not in the throes of a panic attack. After two students disappear in Cardiff, Amy uncovers photographic evidence that they've been murdered. From the safety of her computer, she looks through the city's digital eyes to trace the steps of a killer.

Amy's investigation requires footwork, however, and the agoraphobic genius can't hack it alone. She turns to her newly-hired cleaner, ex-con Jason Carr. Jason is fascinated by both Amy and the work, and can't refuse even when she sends him into situations that risk returning him to prison.

The killer strikes again and again, and Amy and Jason are the only investigators closing in on him. But Amy's psyche is cracking under the strain, and Jason's past is catching up with him. To stop the next murder, they must hold their unconventional partnership together at any cost.

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#3 Amy hacks the forum

Bryn flipped open his notebook over his fingers, worn wedding ring outside the shield of soft black leather. His ex-wife must be speaking to him this week. He read out the web address as she typed, and it loaded in seconds.

“Band fan forum. Nu metal.” Generic BB template, basic customisation—poor effort. She could’ve knocked together a better site in fifteen minutes.

She could feel Jason leaning over her shoulder and tried to control her urge to tense, to move. He was a big guy, intimidating, a skinhead with old-fashioned tattoos wound around both his arms. But he could’ve been any guy, really. It didn’t take much to spook her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him scan the text, tongue slightly protruding from between pink lips. He scratched absently at a smattering of light brown stubble on his chin—he was probably one of those guys who had a five o’clock shadow at midday. His dark brown eyes flickered across the screen faster than she expected. The educational attainment of the prison population wasn’t exactly renowned.

“Crash and Yearn? They’re more punk pop.”

Bryn looked at him with amusement. “This is what you bring to the table, boy?”

Jason scowled at him. Amy felt like the referee on some bizarre American wrestling show.

“The original post is down,” Amy said, scanning the forum. “Not the ‘dead naked girl’ types. I’ll find the archive—you got that before it went dark?”

Her simple yet thorough methodology for profiling and password trawling involved a lot of social networks and a bit of hacker’s intuition. The old science fiction trope of advanced technology seeming very like magic unfolded before her audience.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Rosie Claverton grew up in Devon, daughter to a Sri Lankan father and a Norfolk mother, surrounded by folk mythology and surly sheep. She moved to Cardiff to study Medicine and adopted Wales as her home. Her short film "Dragon Chasers" aired on BBC Wales in Autumn 2012. Her debut novel Binary Witness is due for publication by Carina Press in 2014. Currently exiled to London, she lives with her journalist husband and their pet hedgehog.

 Links

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/binarywitness

Series website: http://amylanemysteries.com

Blog: http://rosieclaverton.com

Twitter: @rosieclaverton

Buy links

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I66AA3W

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/binary-witness-rosie-claverton/1118476689?ean=9781426898334

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