Tuesday, May 29, 2018

THE TIDE OF TIMES - C Kevin Thompson - One Free Book

Welcome back, C Kevin. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?
Completing the Blake Meyer series, working on my young adult series, working on the screenplays for The Serpent’s Grasp and The Letters, and anything else God allows me to complete. I also have a sequel series foreshadowed in the Blake Meyer series that will cameo Blake and focus on a fellow FBI agent, Julee Scarfano.

Tell us a little about your family.
I’m married to Cindy, my wife of almost 37 years. We have three daughters. Two of them are married, and we have five grandchildren. We have a rescue dog named Tiny. We live in the house I grew up in, but we’re looking to move in the next couple of years. We’ve lived in Florida twice, Western New York, Jackson, Missippi, Haltom City, Texas, and Des Moines, Iowa. We’ve never been west of I-35, but want to see the western half of the U.S. soon.

You were almost a neighbor when you were in Texas. I live in Hurst. Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?
Some. I read a great deal more research material than I used to. But that’s about it.

What are you working on right now?
I’m completing Book 4 of the Blake Meyer series, titled When the Clock Strikes Fourteen. Should be done any day now. Plans are for it to be available this fall. In my spare time, I’m writing a young adult series with the characters starting off in 6th grade. My writers critique group has told me that it’s the best stuff I’ve written so far. That’s a good sign.

Yes, it is. What outside interests do you have?
I play the drums and percussion, love college football, and like to spend time with family. When I want to relax, my Laz-y-boy and the remote are my friends.

How do you choose your settings for each book?
The settings are based on the storyline. So, I guess you could say the plot drives the setting. When I come up with a story, I spend some time examining where the best place for it to take place would be. Then, I take to Google Earth and scour the streets (if I can’t get there myself) to get to know the town/city. I also look at websites of local places within that town to get a feel for it.

If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?
William Shakespeare. He was light years ahead of his time. We still use so many of his writings, his themes, and writing methods today.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?
That all publishers are not created equal. And even though some publishers have grand ideas, plans, and rhetoric, following through on those things are more important.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?
How to live on less. That all the bells and whistles of American Dream living is a wasteful way of living. For example, we dropped cable and use Roku and an HD antenna now. We get almost everything we had before, and it costs us about $150 a month less. The life of John Wesley has challenged me. He lived on three percent of his income and gave away the rest.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?
First, write. Then, write more. Then, write even more. Most authors never publish their first work. Usually, their first published work is manuscript three or more. But you cannot get anything published if you never finish it. So, write. Second, become a student of the business because that is what you are becoming, a businessman or businesswoman. Writing is a business, more so than ever for the writer these days of being as much a marketer as you are a writer. Third, when you build your brand, be true to who you are. Make sure you can live with yourself when it becomes that business we talked about earlier.

My first novel was published, but my second never made it. Tell us about the featured book.
Here’s the Back Cover Copy:

A Perverse Tale. A Precarious Truth. A Personal Tribulation.
Supervisory Special Agent Blake Meyer is at an impasse. Bound and beaten in a dilapidated warehouse halfway around the world, Blake finds himself listening to an unbelievable story. Right and wrong warp into a despicable clash of ideologies. Life quickly becomes neither black nor white. Nor is it red, white, and blue any longer.

Every second brings the contagion's release closer, promising to drag the United States into the Dark Ages. Tens of millions could be dead within months.

Every moment adds miles and hours to the expanding gulf between him and his family. What is he to believe? Who is he to trust?

For in this tide of times, his most trusted allies must be condemned. His most feared enemies must be trusted. And those he loves must be found before the world’s generals cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war.

Please give us the first page of the book.
Highway 116
Wonderwood Drive
Greater Arlington Area
Jacksonville, Florida
Supervisory Special Agent-in-Charge Julee Scarfano and SSA Williams raced toward Chicopit Bay from the west. Smoke spiraled into the sky like a barber’s pole. Scarfano listened in as an emergency helicopter circled the scene and relayed to first responders on the ground informa­tion from a bird’s eye view. Three local news station choppers hovered at a safe distance, forming a makeshift triangle of aerial observation and no doubt streamed the scene live to the world.

Julee’s eyes widened in horror. Oh, my. “It looks like a war zone.”

“Reminds me of my first combat mission when I was over in Iraq,” Williams said. “That didn’t turn out so well.”

Julee turned and gave Williams a look of concern.

With their emergency lights embedded within the grill of the vehicle, flashing blue and red, Agent Williams slowed their black Ford Expedition as they approached the now severed bridge. A state trooper’s cruiser, parked at a forty-five degree angle, blocked the entrance to the crash site. The officer stood outside his car, holding out his left hand, motioning for them to stop.
Agent Williams rolled down his window and flipped the SUV into Park. He retrieved his credentials from his pocket. Julee did the same and held hers up.

“I’ll need to see some—” The trooper interrupted himself. “Oh, good. You’ve already got them out.”

Wow. You really left us hanging there. How can readers find you on the Internet?
They can find me in these locations:
My website:                www.ckevinthompson.com
Blog:                           www.ckevinthompson.blogspot.com/
Facebook:                   C. Kevin Thompson – Author Fan Page
Twitter:                       @CKevinThompson
Goodreads:                 C. Kevin Thompson

Also, check in soon to my website for the links to my new Pinterest page and Instagram page!

Thank you, C Kevin, for sharing this new book with us. I am eager to read it. So are my readers by now.

Readers, here are links to the book.
The Tide of Times (the Blake Meyer Thriller series) (Volume 3) - Paperback
The Tide of Times (the Blake Meyer Thriller series Book 3) - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

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13 comments:

Shelia64 said...

Sounds like a interesting book! Shelia from Mississippi

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Shelia, Thanks for stopping by! I think you'd like the series. Wishing you the best!

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Shelia, we used to live in MS. In Jackson area. I went to seminary there.

Vera Godley said...

The premise of the book sounds fascinating and scary. I'd love to read it. Here's is hoping I can be the winner.

I'm from the middle of North Carolina but grew up on the wonderful coast of this great state.

Melanie Backus said...

I am intrigued by this one. Melanie Backus, TX

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Vera, thanks for stopping by. NC is beautiful. Used to vacation up there as a kid in the Western side of the state.

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Melanie, thanks for throwing your hat in the ring. Where in TX? We lived in Ft. Worth area for six months when I was in seminary.

Caryl Kane said...

Sounds intriguing!

Caryl K in TEXAS

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Caryl, good luck!

Connie Porter Saunders said...

Thanks for sharing about this intriguing book!
Blessings!
Connie from Kentucky
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Thanks for stopping by, Connie from Kentucky!

Sharon Bryant said...

Enter me!!
Conway SC.

C. Kevin Thompson said...

Thanks for stopping by, Sharon! Good luck!