Criminal Minds at Work: PTSD in Law Enforcement: FIREWALLS

Criminal Minds at Work: PTSD in Law Enforcement: FIREWALLS: I didn't set out to write a novel about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It's not as if I saw the recent spate of headlines an...

Get hooked on a series for $0.99!

Releasing a book is a very exciting time for a novelist, and nothing makes that experience sweeter than when the new  book is a sequel in an on-going series. So I’m finding with FIREWALLS, the third novel in my BackTracker series.

FIREWALLS: only $1.99 during this promo

Not only is the launch of FIREWALLS a culmination of years of hard work in its own right, but it breathes vigor and life into the stories that came before it. The characters’ past traumas in THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR  that by necessity stopped short of having a full impact on their lives, come back into play with an intensity not foreseen. Problems once resolved, resurface as the BackTracker characters  grow in understanding. The years slowly turn knowledge into wisdom for some and fearlessness into caution. And for others, pain morphs into rage.

The characters that my fans and I love, come back to us, full of promise. Like Katrina—now on the cusp of adulthood. Intelligent and powerful and with the means to right her wrongs—or avenge someone else’s evil. Which will it be? Some, like Shrug, have secret pasts driving their behaviour, secrets we hope to uncover with the new novel. Some characters are gone. Dead. Other’s perhaps soon to face their mortality.

And then...there’s love. 

Yes, the wonderful thing about a series that marches its characters through time, is that it caters to our ability to connect deeply with the story because, after all, life doesn’t just end as novels do—all wrapped up and over. It goes on. We know that.

We’ve been there. Grown through the trials of childhood, lived through traumas, wallowed in sorrows and celebrated successes. Grown older, braver, stronger and sometimes more gentle. We long for our characters to have the same opportunities we had to get over things, get past things, nurture dreams and make dreams come true. In fact, we want our characters to be even more successful at living than we have been—so that we can learn something from them. So they can guide us to overcome our pasts and seize our futures.

That’s what FIREWALLS does for us. And when we’re finished reading it, we not only want to know what happened next, but we ponder all that came before. Everything that happened in THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR becomes important to us once more.

In celebration of the launch of FIREWALLS, we have put THE TRAZ and THE TRAZ School Edition eBooks on for a special price, for a few days only, on Amazon. 

Come on! Give it a go--get hooked on a series for only 99₵  £0.64! 

 

THE TRAZ: viewBook.at/B007JW8RMA

FATAL ERROR: viewBook.at/B009P593YU

FIREWALLS: http://mybook.to/firewalls

Although the special pricing is only available from Amazon, all my novels are available in paperback and multiple eBook formats from all fine online bookstores. If you can’t find them on the shelves of your local bookstore or library, you can ask to have them ordered in for you.

Lonely, eerie echoes...The setting for my BackTracker Series

THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR  are set in my home province of Alberta, Canada. This is where the characters dictated to me that their adventures were to happen and who was I to argue?

I’m not sure why they chose the vast Alberta prairie to pit cops vs bikers and sully the sensitivities of a 13-year old girl. As the characters originally intended their stories to be therapy for me, perhaps they thought setting them in such a familiar locale would make their messages more timely and relevant.

Or perhaps, they understood that the familiar scenes would be intensified by my knowledge of the scents and sounds permeating them. When Shrug alit from his bike, torn apart inside and seeking wisdom from beyond the far horizon, I'd know the exact slant of the September sun on the harvested wheat field over which he gazed. 

I would know how to tell the readers what it was like for Katrina on the park bench that autumn when she suddenly realized that her secrets were not safe--the red berry bushes along the banks of the North Saskatchewan river, the chuckle of migrating geese. The musty smell of poplar leaves beneath her feet. 

I know the setting in my novels intimately. The slow March melt, when Katrina hit puberty. The warm, noisy fury of a December Chinook when she almost, almost got rescued from the gang. I know the edible mushrooms Katrina might gather...and the poisonous ones. I know where she might hide and where bikers might ride. 

I’m a farm girl--I know the lonely eerie echoes that haunt metal sheds on the vast Alberta prairie.

 _______________

"Lonely, eerie echoes..." is brought to you by:

 FIREWALLS

 Book III in the BackTracker series.

 "Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions..."  

"Packed with humanity, crafted with insight."

"Schuh has created a character worthy of being called a hero."

"A tale of comfort and hope that we, too, can slay our own dragons."

"A gritty, fast paced thriller"

Mission: NYT BestSeller

Join the army...

Today on Magic of the Muses we learn that my good friend and fellow Alberta author, Cheryl K Tardif, is on a mission...

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Author Cheryl Kaye Tardif Reaches for New York Times Bestseller Gold with SUBMERGED

 

Cheryl K Tardif

Canadian suspense author Cheryl Kaye Tardif is hoping to achieve a monumental dream this March—making the New York Times bestsellers list for her ebook, SUBMERGED. Gathering an "army" of dedicated friends and fans, she will be promoting this book with a special sale and a contest filled with awesome prizes. Pre-order today!

What's SUBMERGED about?

From the international bestselling author that brought you CHILDREN OF THE FOG comes a terrifying new psychological thriller that will leave you breathless...

"Submerged reads like an approaching storm, full of darkness, dread and electricity. Prepare for your skin to crawl." --Andrew Gross, New York Times bestselling author of 15 Seconds

Two strangers submerged in guilt, brought together by fate...

After a tragic car accident claims the lives of his wife, Jane, and son, Ryan, Marcus Taylor is immersed in grief. But his family isn't the only thing he has lost. An addiction to painkillers has taken away his career as a paramedic. Working as a 911 operator is now the closest he gets to redemption--until he gets a call from a woman trapped in a car.

Rebecca Kingston yearns for a quiet weekend getaway, so she can think about her impending divorce from her abusive husband. When a mysterious truck runs her off the road, she is pinned behind the steering wheel, unable to help her two children in the back seat. Her only lifeline is a cell phone with a quickly depleting battery and a stranger's calm voice on the other end telling her everything will be all right.

Pre-order today for only $0.99 US and receive it on March 2nd via:

Barnes and Noble (Nook): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/submerged-cheryl-kaye-tardif/1114677237

Kobo Books (Kobo): http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/submerged-6

iTunes (iBooks): https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/submerged/id701307628

‪#‎Submerged‬ ‪#‎Going4NYT‬ ‪#‎bestseller‬

 

"Mission: NYT BestSeller" is brought to you by

 

FIREWALLS 

 

"Packed with humanity, crafted with insight."

"Schuh has created a character worthy of being called a hero." 

"A tale of comfort and hope that we, too, can slay our own dragons."  

"A gritty, fast paced thriller"

Entranced by the FIREWALLS characters

Amy Chris' review of FIREWALLS just went up on Amazon and on the Weet Weets Bookshelf site. It was a different review than the usual, with the reader relating her feelings towards each of the main characters. This got me thinking...
 
The characters are what people--from my editor, to my proofreader, to my beta readers and reviewers--most often mention about this book. They've all said that the FIREWALL characters haunted them long after the story was over.

Readers' opinions of my characters are often right on with I how I see them but sometimes I'm taken by surprise. Perhaps I shouldn't be, though, because just like in real life, people's views of others differ greatly. My best friend could be someone else's nemesis and the burly biker is undoubtedly some mama's baby.

I'm not sure what it is about my writing that resulted in such strong characters in FIREWALLS , or what I did differently than I did in THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR (the first two book in the BackTracker series). 

It's not that people haven't commented in the past about my characters. However, this time it seems the characters have my readers mesmerized. Never mind the crimes they solve, the illegalities they commit, the undercover operations they pull off. Never mind the danger, the threats, the deaths, the exquisite police work and exceptionally clever investigation techniques. Never mind credibility and age differences and rough language. Never mind the plot--it's the characters, apparently, who are the story.

This doesn't dismay me. I'm very happy to have successfully brought Katrina, Chad, Shrug, Kevin, Debra and Sgt. Kindle to life for others to get to know. They have been a powerful influence over me for several years now and got me through some real rough times. It's a privilege to be able to repay them by giving them a chance to share their stories, their tears and fears, strengths, failures and inner-most hopes.

 FIREWALLS - Book III in the BackTracker Series

http://mybook.to/firewalls

"Firewall was a very interesting story."

" This is definitely an exciting action packed book."

"...left me wanting more."

"Chad is a sweetheart but a pain in the..."

"Shrug drove me nuts...But I admit I loved how he talked..."

"Kevin, I actually kinda liked..."