DEAD RINGER - V B Tenery - One Free Book

Readers, we have another new author today. I met her when I was a speaker for a book club in East Texas, and I'm thrilled to introduce her to you. I can't wait to read this suspense novel.

Bio: Author V. B. Tenery lives with her family in East Texas. Her passion is writing inspirational fiction with shinning characters, settings, and plots so exciting readers come away feeling delighted with the experience. Not content to stay in one genre, her novels range from contemporary suspense and supernatural suspense, to an upcoming historical suspense set in WWII England. When not writing she enjoys reading, hiking, and tube-floating down rivers in the Texas Hill Country.

God’s child trying to make Him proud.

Welcome, Virginia. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

I never see myself as one of my characters, but my values and spiritual beliefs are reflected in most of the main characters, both male and female.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I let a friend talk me into entering an Arthur Murray dance contest. I’m still not sure how we did it, but we won a bronze metal in the tango. I was so nervous I didn’t remember anything from the moment we began until it ended—a total blank.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

In my teens, I wrote a lot of poetry, but it wasn’t until about twelve years ago that I realized I had a passion for storytelling. A friend and I took a creative writing course at a community college, and the professor gave me a lot of encouragement. He made me believe I could do it. That was the beginning of my first novel. Which, by the way, I rewrote about a gazillion times before it was published in March.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

My range isn’t large, I mostly enjoy suspense, but I’m not limited in the sub-genres. I like contemporary, historical, even speculative fiction as long as it isn’t too far out. I read to escape into an exciting place with characters I want to know. I have two favorite novels: In fiction, To Kill a Mockingbird and in non-fiction, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, the greatest book on faith I’ve ever read.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

By accepting my limitations as a human being. I can only do so much, and I don’t beat myself up if I don’t get everything done. I try to walk every day, preferably outdoors to appreciate the world God gave us. It lifts my spirits. In bad weather, I use the gym but it isn’t the same.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

It’s really odd, but the main character names just come to me when I begin a new novel. With secondary characters I look up names by their ethnic origin. I’m big on building a strong cast of supporting characters. I have one secondary character that is getting larger and larger. LOL. I think she wants the lead in her own novel.

I’m sure she does. What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Raising my daughter to be a woman of faith and being the caregiver for my three grandsons whom I adore.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

I can’t think of an animal I would want to be, but if I had to be one, I’d want to be a dog. After all, the dog is man’s best friend. Dogs are sensitive and loving; they don’t complain; and they gaze at you with adoring eyes. All they ask is an occasional pat on the head or an evening stroll.

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Telling rather than showing was my nemesis. Learning the techniques of deep point of view helped me overcome most of it but it’s still a struggle.

Tell us about the featured book.

Dead Ringer is the story of Mercy Lawrence, just out of college and recovering from an accident. When airport facial identification security cameras mistakenly identify her as Tracy Wallace, a notorious missing model, her life is upended. Tracy’s husband, Thomas Wallace, believing Mercy is his missing wife, abducts her and takes her to his private island to care for their ill son. An orphan, Mercy deals with the emotions of abduction and immediately bonds with the little boy. Not the least of her problems is the discovery that her double had made enemies who want her dead.

Thomas is lured into a covert mission to rescue a CIA asset and uncover a government mole, leaving Mercy isolated on the island. Thomas finds himself stranded on foreign soil with a compromised mission and a wounded agent. He must escape alive and rescue Mercy and his son before assassins finish the job they started.

Please give us the first page of your book.

Hamilton, Bermuda

Friday, May 5

Mercy Lawrence wouldn’t have noticed the large man standing by the silver Mercedes except for the way he was dressed. Unlike the tourists on the sidewalk, he wore a light gray business suit and tie. Sunglasses hid the upper portion of his face, and the grim set of his mouth detracted from his otherwise handsome appearance. He stood beside the car’s open back door, arms crossed as if waiting for someone.

Not wanting to stare, she tore her gaze away. In jeans, T-shirt, and sandals, she blended easily into the vacationers along the boulevard. She’d spent the last five months in this wonderful country, recuperating from a head injury. Most of her memory remained intact after the accident, but dark recesses still refused to reveal their mystery.

But tomorrow, like a good soldier, she would return to Houston and report to her new job at Sabine Oil. The fulfillment of a goal she’d worked toward for the past six years.

The city’s main drag ran four lanes wide with a palm-tree-lined median. The sea on one side, shops and hotels on the other. A soft wind filled the air with the scent of sea kelp and brine, mixed with a light floral fragrance from the purple bougainvilleas hanging on the walls along the walkway. Seagulls swept low over the water, looking for lunch out past the rolling surf.

She shook her hair loose from the confines of its ponytail clip and turned her face to the balmy sunshine—mainlining vitamin D.

Her path took her within four feet of the parked car.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Website: www.vbtenery.com  

www.agatharemembered.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/teneryherrin

Thank you, Virginia, for sharing your new novel and part of your life with us today.

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Dead Ringer - Christianbook.com
Dead Ringer - Amazon Kindle and paperback

Christian Book Store

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