Rogue's Angels Present Revenge for Hire by Natalie S. Ellis

Please welcome Natalie S. Ellis author of Revenge for Hire.

Natalie will be awarding an eCopy of Revenge for Hire to 3 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour, and choice of 5 digital books from the Impulse line to a randomly drawn host.

Revenge for Hire

by Natalie S. Ellis

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GENRE:  Contemporary Fiction

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INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

I knew I wanted to be an author in 4^th Grade and wrote for fun all the time. The thing that made me get serious about publication was my disappointment with reading material when I was in my mid to late twenties. I quickly read through everything my favorite authors wrote right when the book came out, then I couldn’t find anything else I liked. That made me start thinking about what a perfect romance novel would look like. I wrote a couple of those and let my brother-in-law take a look. He was professor who was also trying to get a book published. He hated the first book, but really liked the second. About then I took a class taught by an author who had just signed a publishing contract after she’d written about 7 books. I was sure I wouldn’t have to write even 5 books before I was published. Yeah, right. Twenty years and 7 books later, I finally got my first offer.

2. What elements are necessary components for this genre? A good romantic-suspense, I believe, needs to have romantic elements seamlessly intertwined with unanswered questions that will keep the reader turning pages. Usually the questions have to do with a crime, but adding questions about the romance only adds to the fun! The characters have to be people the reader will care about, maybe even fantasize about. Those are the necessary components, but I strive to kick my books up a notch and deliver more—more twists and turns, more heroism, more unusual scenarios like cars crashing through second story windows and the driver disappearing.

3. How did you come up with your idea for your novel? The idea for REVENGE FOR HIRE was less spontaneous than my other books only because I finally had a book published. In the past, I’d just wait for some cool idea to pop into my head—I even dreamed an idea once. This time, I thought about what my FEAR FOR HIRE readers would like next and I already had an idea for the third book, so REVENGE had to be the perfect middle book. For years, I’d wanted to write a book about a powerful business owner dating one of his employees—I just liked the idea of the conflict that would result when that perceived sense of authority intruded on such a personal relationship. I didn’t know what the mystery was going to be until I read an article about someone crashing a car into the second story of a house. I crafted the mystery around those two main ideas.

4. What expertise did you bring to your writing? I write about TV news because I worked behind the scenes in the industry for 16 years, literally doing every job you can imagine that wasn’t on the air. When I decided to write suspense, I wanted my main characters to be different—not just cops or detectives—so having news reporters and field photographers embroiled in dangerous situations was the perfect way to write something I know about, and also a great way to share some of the fun/crazy/scary things I experienced while I worked at the TV station.

5. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio? It took me twenty years to reach my dream of being published by a traditional publishing company—HarperCollins. I think I was rejected as many times as Stephen King! I didn’t save my rejection letters, though, because they were too depressing. It doesn’t matter what your dream is, you can do it, if you stick it out, reevaluate periodically, then jump back in there. I’m proof.

6. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? I have one or two more romantic-suspense novels dying to be written, but after that, I may try my hand at Women’s Fiction and maybe even young adult.

7. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) Wow, there’s been a lot of both. First, I need to say that I truly believe that a good story will get published, even if your sentence structure isn’t always perfect. (I do advise taking a basic grammar course to refresh your memory if you’re constantly getting feedback about your sentences not making sense, though.) As for bad advice, I once had someone who claimed to be a professional editor tell me that I used “he” and “she” too often at the beginning of sentences. Maybe I needed to mix it up a little, but that was the only advice this particular editor gave me. And someone else wanted me to take out every single “was” because it made my writing too passive. Sometimes you need to use “was” because your writing will really get wonky without it. The best advice I received was to make Jack in FEAR FOR HIRE more compassionate while he held Molly captive. The original Jack had a good reason to scare some sense into Molly, but I discovered that I was scaring the readers too much. So, I beefed up Jack’s wry sense of humor and deepened his POV. In his head, he was thinking that even when he was a cop, no one had looked at him with such fear. That thought held him in check—made him treat her gentler. Then the reader knew Molly would be okay and they could enjoy the story.

8. Do you outline your books or just start writing? I outline my books very loosely. Figuring out the goal, motivation and conflict (internal and external) for each main character is essential. When I don’t know a character’s GMC, I get stuck, or have to revise when the book is finished. As for outlining, what I do is list ideas for scenes in chronological order—just a brief sentence like: “Man answers phone in the middle of the night and it’s his 8 year old daughter, hiding from bad guys in her closet.” Once I have about 20 ideas for scenes, I can start writing, knowing that some of those scenes won’t be written, or they’ll be changed quite a bit.

9. How do you maintain your creativity? I take a lot of bubble baths. If I can’t figure something out, or need a new, creative idea, I take a bath. By the time the water cools, I have the answer. Taking a walk is helpful too. Relaxing and clearing the mind works wonders.

10. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why? My favorite character in REVENGE FOR HIRE is Savannah, Billie’s five-year-old niece. She was a blast to write because she’s so sassy and stubborn, but has a sweet side that really melts Nolan’s heart. She’s Billie’s mini me. I hadn’t planned to make Savvy so colorful until my husband and I were on a flight to Arizona in the seats behind a mother and her daughter. The little girl—around 4 or 5--had never flown before and had a lot of questions about what was going on. She sounded so sweet and curious—like an angel—then suddenly turned into a demon child. She didn’t want to put on her seatbelt. She didn’t want a snack. She didn’t want to sit in her seat—she plopped down on the floor. Then she decided she didn’t even want to be on the flight. And, of course, everything she said was in a very loud, very obnoxious tone of voice. I loved that kid, but I was also a little worried that it was going to be a very long flight.

Here’s a short excerpt from a scene with Savannah:

Savannah was in the tub, fully clothed in a black velour sweat suit. There was so much wet dog hair all over the outfit that she could have passed for a baby bear.

“Did you take a bath with Linus?” Billie asked.

Savannah grinned. “He was dirty.” She held up Linus’s dog brush. “I did his hair too.”

BLURB:

North West Side Chicago. A man's phone rings at 3am, and it's every father's worst nightmare - his little girl is in danger.

Fort Wayne, Indiana. Belinda 'Billie' Chapman is working the overnight shift at WVOX-TV when she's called away to photograph a car that's crashed into the second story of a house. But when a little girl is spotted in the house across the street, the aggressive behaviour of her guardian piques Billie's curiosity.

Nolan Voss has come to Fort Wayne to check on WVOX-TV, the station he owns. Rich, uptight and deliciously hot, he can't keep away from the fiery Billie, and that means being dragged into her plan to help the young girl.

Each step closer to finding the truth leads them to a dangerous plot that has come all the way from Chicago. Will the danger only fuel their irresistible attraction to one another? Or will one of them get burned?

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EXCERPT:

Near West Side, Chicago

April 15th

The first blast of music jerked Chris Panyard from a 3 am fog. Stupid ringtone. His hand felt like a dead weight as it flopped around the nightstand to locate his cell as the second round of music blared. Finally on the third round, he managed to fumble the smartphone into his palm and swipe the screen.

“’Lo,” he grunted.

Nothing.

“Who the hell is this?” he croaked more than yelled.

He recognized the tiny, high-pitched whimper immediately.

“Jilly?”

“D-da—”

“Jilly, what’s wrong?”

The muffled sob made him sit up, wide awake now.

He softened his voice. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong, punkin’.”

“B-ba ... B-bad,” the seven year old managed between gasps.

“Do you have a bad tummy ache again?”

“N-noooo. H-hurt.”

“You hurt somewhere else? Your head?”

“M-m-mommy!”

“Good idea. Go get Mommy, honey.” He was surprised Joelle hadn’t heard her crying.

Chris yawned, but swallowed it midstream when Jilly’s cry elevated another octave. She stifled the sound suddenly, as if she’d buried her mouth in her pillow. What the hell is going on?

“Jilly, you have to give me a clue here!”

“It’s M-mommy,” she shrieked, ending on a hiccup.

“Is Mommy hurt?”

She cried softly for a moment, then finally managed, “Yessss.”

“What happened?”

“Bad men.” Jilly took a deep, shuddering breath. “The bad m-men hurt my mmommyyy.”

Lurching out of bed, he struggled to pull on his pants with one hand as he pressed the phone to his ear with the other. He clenched his teeth to keep a stream of obscenities from escaping. “Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?”

She sniffed. “Cubby.”

Before he and Joelle split, Jilly used to hide in an attic crawlspace that she called her “cubby” whenever she got upset—like when he and her mom yelled at each other. The miniature attic door was located way in the back of Jilly’s closet, behind hanging clothes and a pile of toys.

“Jilly? Are the bad men still there?”

“I th-think so.”

“Okay, you stay right where you are and don’t make a sound, baby. Daddy will be there in ten minutes.”

“Ji-i-i-lly, where a-a-are you?” Chris heard a man through the phone, calling for his daughter in a fake, too-friendly voice. Shit! He had to be in Jilly’s bedroom to sound so loud.

“Shhh,” Chris whispered to Jilly, the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

Not bothering with a shirt, he ran for his front door. Should he put Jilly on hold and dial

911? No, it would take too long and he couldn’t risk her accidently hanging up on him. If he did lose the connection, calling back would make the phone ring and give away her hideout.

“Shhh,” Chris said again, too afraid to utter anything more, in case the man overheard.

Joelle tended to keep the volume way up on her cell phone.

A loud thump came through the phone, then a sound like hangers pinging against each other. Chris held his breath, glad Jilly was silent. The man was obviously searching his daughter’s closet.

“Show yourself, kid!” the man yelled, clearly frustrated now.

When Chris reached his car in the lot behind his apartment, he muted the phone just long enough to start the engine. He listened again and heard the man yelling, but far off in the distance.

“In your quietest voice, tell me if the man has left your room.”

“He’s gone now,” Jilly’s precious voice piped up immediately. Chris winced, remembering too late that her perception of a whisper was always louder than his.

He strained to hear any indication that the man was heading back to the closet.

“Daddy?” she whispered, softer this time.

“I’m here and on my way.” He backed up the car and pulled out of the lot. “Do you know who that man is?”

She didn’t answer.

“Jilly?” His heart pounded against his chest. Had the man returned?

“I’m s-scared.”

He let out the breath he’d been holding. “I know you are, baby. I’ll be there soon, I promise. But who are they? Who are the bad men?”

“I don’t know, Daddy.”

What had Joelle gotten herself into this time?

Chris raced down Roosevelt Road to reach his daughter. He had no idea what he’d find in that house. But as long as Jilly stayed safe, that’s all that mattered. Even if it meant tearing through ten men to get to her.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Natalie S. Ellis worked behind the scenes in TV news for sixteen years and will always miss the rush of a breaking story. But the seduction of writing a fiery romance with twisty suspense is even harder to resist, especially when she has a new curveball for the plot. Natalie enjoys living in her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and attributes her cheerful attitude to empty nesting, a supportive family, and way too many lattés.

http://nataliesellis.com/

http://facebook.com/NatalieSEllisNovels

https://twitter.com/FearForHire

Buy Links:

Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Hire-Natalie-S-Ellis-ebook/dp/B013O98XU2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443034598&sr=8-2&keywords=revenge+for+hire

BN:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/revenge-for-hire-natalie-s-ellis/1122500742?ean=9781460706480

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Natalie will be awarding an eCopy of Revenge for Hire to 3 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour, and choice of 5 digital books from the Impulse line to a randomly drawn host.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f1338