Dear Readers, I’ve
been friends with Beth since before she was published. At one time, she
attended the critique group that meets in our home. I love her writing. My copies
of the two featured books haven’t arrived yet, so I can’t give a review of
these stories, but her suspense novels always capture my attention. I’m sure
these two will as well. When they
arrive, they’ll be the next two books I’ll read.
How did the book Buried come about?
I saw an article about a search for a killer on a mountain.
A helicopter pilot wanted to warn some campers about the danger so he wrote on
his Styrofoam coffee cup and threw it down to them. I thought that sounded
intriguing so as the way of stories goes, it morphed into search and rescue
story set in Alaska
and starting with an avalanche. Of course, there is a dangerous man on the
mountain.
Tell us about the
book’s cover and what makes it unique.
I’ve received a lot of compliments on the cover for BURIED. It depicts a mountain and an
avalanche, which I think is both beautiful and scary.
Please explain and
differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.
Mountain Cove is a fictional town I set in southeast Alaska just north of Juneau. I thought it would be easier to
create my own town, but base much of what happens there off other towns in the
region. The weather and the way people live, eat, heat their homes, all of it
realistic for the area. The only way in and out of town is by floatplane or
boat. Fact for the region. There’s an off-grid cabin in the story, and I based
everything about the cabin off a real cabin in that region. There’s no
electricity unless you want to use the generator, and solar power isn’t viable
because half the year is dark, though I did have the owner of the cabin make an
attempt. The avalanche experience was also taken from someone’s experience.
How much research did
you have to do for this book?
A ton of research. I was fortunate to make contact with
three people living in the region—someone from the forest service, search and
rescue, and an avalanche specialist—who were extremely helpful with every
aspect of the story. In addition to my experts and the internet, I leaned
heavily on books I purchased about my topic.
What are some of the
most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to
use in the story?
There is always more research than one can fit into a story
without making it turn into an informative journal. Honestly, I wish I could
have put more into the story about search and rescue. How hard they work and
how much they sacrifice to help others, and since most of them are volunteers,
all the training and assistance they do at their own expense.
What inspired and
surprised you while you were writing the book?
I’m always inspired by the beauty and the force of nature,
especially mountains. I enjoyed reading about the Juneau Icefield and looking images
of Michael’s Sword and Devil’s Paw which are nunatak spires (exposed peaks free
from snow or ice) coming out of the field. I loved researching everything about
glaciers. It’s all very fascinating to me and if it were up to me, I’d write
stories set here forever.
What do you hope the
reader takes away from the story?
That it’s all about God. In Him, we live and move and have
our being. Through life’s struggles, we have to hang onto God.
What is the next
project you’re working on?
I’m working on book five in Mountain Cove, which I hope to
hear from my editor soon that she wants to buy it. It’s the story of the bush
pilot introduced to readers through the first four books—the bush pilot and the
missing Warren
sibling. I’m having a lot of fun writing this one. I’m also getting ready for the 2nd book in the
series to release. UNTRACEABLE releases in March.
What do you do when
you have to get away from the story for a while?
I work out, go running. Shopping or cleaning the house. It’s
amazing how much housework I can get done because I’m procrastinating writing a
story. I love to bake bread too. And I’m hoping to learn to knit or crochet as
another creative outlet that has nothing at all to do with writing.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Mountain Cove, Alaska, North of Juneau
Gasping for breath, Leah Marks ran for her life, working her
way through the deep snow from last night's winter storm, the semiautomatic in
her pocket pressing into her side. What she wouldn't give for a pair of
snowshoes.
How had Detective Snyder found her here?
At least she'd seen him from a distance, giving her a few
more precious seconds to make a run for it. She had to escape. She wouldn't use
her weapon against him unless she had no other choice. Shooting a police
detective, even if he was a dirty cop and a killer, wouldn't win her any points
no matter which way you looked at it.
Approaching Dead
Falls Canyon,
she left the tree line and took the biggest steps she could, her hips aching
with the effort. She couldn't outrun him this way, but she reassured herself
with the fact that he struggled with the same obstacles.
The deep snow would hide the hazards, and Leah counted on
that. As she made her way, a snowcapped Mount McCann
loomed in her peripheral vision. She'd spent enough time on the ski patrol in
the Cascades during her college days to recognize the avalanche risk was high.
As she entered the danger zone, a glance over her shoulder
told her Snyder was gaining on her. As strong as she was, she couldn't keep up
this pace, and as if to confirm the thought, she stumbled headlong into the
powder. Leah grappled and fought her way out, gulping panic with each breath.
With her fall, she'd have to turn and face him much sooner
than she'd hoped. Leaving town and hiding in an off-grid cabin in Alaska hadn't bought her
enough time. Hadn't bought her safety.
"Leah!" he called, his voice much too close.
Heart hammering, she turned to stand her ground. Stared into
his stone-cold eyes. Breathing hard, he flashed a knife as he approached;
smirking because he'd finally cornered her.
Dressed to kill, he was in black from head to toe—a dead
giveaway against the white-carpeted mountains.
So that's what death looked like.
Funny that she'd worn white camouflage hoping to remain
hidden, for all the good that had done.
Cold dread twisted up her spine. She thrust her hand into
her pocket to reach for her weapon.
It was gone.
No! She must have lost it when she'd fallen. Snyder now
stood between her and the snow she'd crushed with her tumble. Between her and
her gun.
"Give me what I want, Leah." His dark eyes flashed
from the opening in his ski mask.
"Why? So you can kill me like you killed Tim?" She
had no idea what Snyder wanted from her, what he thought she had, but she'd
witnessed him commit murder. No way would he let her live.
A thunderous snap resounded above them. A crack appeared in
the white stuff beneath Leah Marks's boots.
The ground shifted.
Before she could react, before she could think, the
avalanche swept her away—swept Snyder away, too—along with everything she'd
been taught about how to survive. Carried away by a daunting, crushing force,
heavy and swift to kill, she was helpless to stop the power that gripped her
with icy fingers.
Roared in her ears.
Terror seized her as the megaton of white powder ushered her
along to a frozen grave, an untimely death, as though she was nothing more than
a twig. One brutal way to die had been exchanged for another.
And then…
Her body slowed before easing to a stop. The snow settled
and held her inside.
Frozen silence encased her, shrouded her in muted gray
light.
Think. What did she do now? Something. There was something
she must do and she must be quick. To act before the snow compressed around
her.
Fear temporarily gave way to determination as survival
tactics filled her thoughts. She took in a breath to expand her chest, give her
breathing room. With her left hand near her face, she scooped snow away from
her mouth and nose before it hardened completely. These things she did while
thrusting her arm toward the surface in what she thought was the right
direction. If only she could breach the packed snow and force her hand through.
Before she could complete that one last task, increasing her chance of
survival, it was all over. There was no more give to the snow—it had locked
into place.
Buried alive. She couldn't move.
Wow, Beth. I can
hardly wait to read this one. Now let’s talk about the other featured book. How
did this book come about?
UNTRACEABLE is
the second book in the Mountain Cove series, so it was just a matter of
brainstorming to come up with exciting and adventurous stories, and I watched
several mountain climbing movies that inspired me.
Tell us about the
book’s cover and what makes it unique.
The cover is a crevasse—which is a crack in ice or a
glacier, not to be confused with a crevice, which is a crack or fissure in the
earth. My characters had to cross a glacier. From the air or in pictures you
think ice, right? Glaciers look beautiful and smooth, but they’re layered with
crevasses, deep and small and some hidden out of sight. Very dangerous
traveling and not for the faint of heart.
Please explain and
differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.
To create the man-against-nature part of the conflict, I
drew from a true story of a man who kept getting snowed under by blizzard after
blizzard during the spring in and around the Juneau Icefield. I always like to
find a story that’s true, so I can base my fictional story on something that
really happened. A large part of the geography of my story is purely fictional,
though based on the southeast Alaska
Coast Range,
and of course the Juneau Ice Field.
How much research did
you have to do for this book?
I spent as much time on research as I did on writing.
What are some of the
most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to
use in the story?
Staying alive in arctic temperatures during a blizzard and
traversing a glacier are complicated aspects of the story that I felt would bog
the pacing down if I got too technical, so for the most part I gave the reader
what they needed to know and skipped the technical. There are many issues with
crossing a glacier that I wanted to put in for details, and I found
fascinating, but not only would it slow the story down, but would push my word
count over the publisher’s limit.
What inspired and
surprised you while you were writing the book?
I was surprised by the spiritual theme that arose in the
story. It stems from where I was in my own spiritual journey, and then as I
wrote, my characters had to dig down deep to find the strength to survive. I
found the spiritual payload surprising, and there was a takeaway for me—the
kind of thing I hope readers will get.
What do you hope the
reader takes away from the story?
Ah, now we come to the question I almost answered above.
Here’s a snippet from my Dear Reader letter at the end of the story, which says
it all:
“As Christians we can struggle with the need to know and
feel that God is here with us, and we might feel untraceable—that even God has
lost us. But in the end, we find out that He was here all along.
Psalm 139 says it so much better, but no matter how far away
from Him we might travel—either physically, emotionally, or spiritually—He is
always here. I pray that you sense His presence in your life today!”
What is the next
project you’re working on?
I’m continuing with more Mountain Cove stories, two more to
be exact making a total of six (here’s to hoping my editor will buy them) and
then I’m onto a new series with Love Inspired Suspense. In addition, I’m
putting up a series called Redwood
Coast, starting with Hearts
in the Mist—one of my Heartsong Presents stories that I was able to obtain the
rights back from Barbour Publishing.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
"Off rappel!"
Heidi adjusted her night vision goggles at her brother
Cade's call up the rocky cliff face from below. The snow-covered, mountainous
landscape looked green and black, but at least she could see instead of
stumbling around in the dark and falling to her death. Even though the moon was
out in full force, this side of the mountain remained in the shadows.
The helicopter had dropped them off as close as possible to
the summit, but they'd still had to hike another two hours to get to the place
where they would rappel down to the trapped climbers, at least one of them
injured, or so the three rescuers—Heidi and Cade Warren and Isaiah Callahan—had
been informed.
As a member of North Face Mountain Search and Rescue—like
the other Warren
siblings—this was only the second time Heidi had climbed at night, and she
shoved aside the unpleasant memory of the first. There was enough tension
between her and her brother Cade, and unfortunately their friend and coworker
Isaiah—who usually flew the helicopter—that she didn't need to tack on anything
more to an already heavy load. And it wasn't just the emotional and mental
burden. The pack on her back weighed her down, too.
Drawing in a cold breath, she hoisted the hefty pack—loaded
down with climbing, medical and camping gear for spending the night—and
rappelled the cliff. Cade, ever the protective brother, had insisted on going
first, though Heidi was the trained technical climber of the three.
She'd made it halfway to the next rap station and paused for
a rest, when gunfire ricocheted off the mountain. Heidi jerked and lost her
balance. Her overfilled pack pulled her over, flip-flopping her. Now hanging
upside down, her heart pounded.
She was the technical climber here.
She was the expert they counted on to assist in getting
these people out.
She hadn't wanted to come. Not after what had happened last
summer. But there'd been no choice. Two other daunting rescue operations were
ongoing and they needed the manpower. If only she weren't out of practice.
All her fault. This was on her, and she knew it.
Heidi was a wreck, but she couldn't afford to give in to her
emotions right now. Those climbers stranded in the saddle between the summits
couldn't afford her messing up.
No way would she call for help, though. The last thing Cade
and Isaiah needed was a rescuer who required rescuing. Besides, she'd assured
Cade she could do this, but even if she hadn't, he'd pretty much insisted that
she try. Isaiah had been the one to protest. He hadn't wanted her here. Whether
because he personally didn't want to work with her after distancing himself for
some unknown reason or because he didn't trust her abilities, she wasn't sure.
Either way, his attitude stabbed her like an ice ax.
"What's going on up there, Heidi?" Cade asked over
the radio.
"Nothing."
"You need help?" Now Isaiah. Great.
And the incident command center would hear their
conversation, too. Over the years, they'd developed their own radio-speak, and
didn't use the more technical terms. Cade always wanted them to talk plainly.
Worked for her.
"Heidi, I asked if you're good?" Isaiah again.
At the very least, she would prove to Isaiah she was back.
She could do this. "I'm rapping down. You're distracting me."
With all the strength she could muster, she grabbed the rope
and inched her way up, righting herself. Then she breathed a sigh of relief.
But what about the gunfire she'd heard? Heidi used her night
vision goggles to scan the mountain and the saddle below, but saw nothing of
concern. Was it someone chasing off a bear somewhere? Cade and Isaiah hadn't
mentioned it. Had she imagined it? Or was it simply echoing from miles away?
She wouldn't bring it up. All she needed was for them to think she was hearing
things. As always, Isaiah and Cade were packing weapons in case they came
across a bear, so she wouldn't worry.
Following Cade down, she rappelled, careful that the
unusually heavy pack wouldn't throw her off balance again. She met him at the
second rappel. A glance down revealed a beaming flashlight and a small fire
burning nearly four hundred feet below.
Voices resounded from the camp. The climbers must have
spotted their rescuers. Cade rappelled again. Heidi watched and waited before
she followed. She glanced up but couldn't see Isaiah from here. He was likely
growing impatient to hear her call.
Heidi looked down at Cade and saw him swinging over,
creating a new path.
"Be careful. There's a vertical ice wall and a sheer
drop," Cade told them over the radio.
Negotiating the terrain would be difficult enough under the
circumstances, but with the expected inclement weather, even in April, things
could only get worse.
As with Buried, I can hardly wait to read Untraceable. How can readers find you on
the Internet?
Or twitter. http://twitter.com/bethgoddard
Thank you, Beth, for sharing these two new books with us.
Readers, here are links to the books. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Buried:
Buried
Buried (Love Inspired Suspense\Mountain Cove)
Untraceable:
Untraceable (Mountain Cove)
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