Blog Tour: A Jealous God by Dee Wilbur ~ Excerpt ~ Author Interview !!!

A Jealous God by Dee Wilbur

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Virtual Book Tour Dates: 11/1/13 to 11/29/13

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Medical Mystery, Beach Read

Blurb:

Compellingly told from multiple points of view, A Jealous God follows Emma on her labyrinthine journey in search of the truth at all costs.  A brilliant attorney with unflappable focus, she becomes consumed with learning who is responsible for several similar birth defects originating in her hometown.  Her quest introduces her to a number of colorful characters.  One of these is Jon, the local attorney whose largest client—Hays Chemical—is the target of Emma’s investigation.  Jon embarks in pursuit of answers of his own, only to come to the realization that the suffering heaped upon these children dates back far further than he, Emma, or Hays Chemical could have ever imagined.  It was, in fact, foretold in the oldest book of all.

“A Jealous God … dishes up a fast-paced mix of mystery and intrigue.”
New York Times best selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh

“A thought provoking formula that will haunt your daydreams.”

Herman W. Brune, national award winning author

Excerpt:

After a few minutes, Emma re-entered the room. She was wearing a blue negligee of the thinnest silk Jon had ever seen. Jon looked at her perfectly formed breasts through the silk. All Jon could think was Ol’ Doc Coleman certainly got his money’s worth.  The negligee stopped short, leaving her long graceful legs uncovered.  It was all that Jon could manage to set his beer down without dropping the bottle. He hoped that he wasn’t actually drooling.  He stared and tried to remember that she was a woman with a mission, not a table dancer. 

       Emma whispered softly as she sat next to him on the couch, “I’ll do anything to get that information, anything!  You don’t have to show me the files, just tell me.  Talk to me, Jon.”  She ran a beautifully manicured finger up and down his thigh.  Jon’s pulse doubled, then kicked up again.  He closed his eyes briefly and then turned to face her, putting his hand over hers to still it. 

       “Hello, Mr. Miller.” Emma said extending her hand.  “I used to be from Richmond. I sometimes think it’s a good place to be from. I’m from Houston, now.  I still do some tax work for the Albert Foundation.”   By mentioning one of Texas’ largest private foundations, Emma hoped to establish her position within the firm. She watched Jon’s face closely to see if he got the message.

     “Very pleased to know you, Mrs. Anderson,” Jon answered, shaking her hand while Grace hung possessively on the other arm.  

       Bill walked up at that moment and handed Emma her drink. “Bill, this is Jon Miller. He belongs to Grace tonight.”

       “Actually I don’t belong to her. She’s just rented me for the evening.”  Jon’s smile took the cut out of the words. He and Bill shook hands. 

       “My name is Emma Anderson, and I’m calling to see if I can come to talk to you about your recent pregnancy.” There was a loud clunk followed by a dial tone.

       Emma re-dialed the Dallas number of Rachel Davis. As soon as there was a pick-up, she said, “Please don’t hang up until you hear what I have to say. I’m carrying a baby diagnosed with the same abnormality that affected your pregnancy. I have to talk to someone. I obtained your name and number from the office of the doctor who has the national registry. Please let me come and talk to you!”

       “I’ll talk to you, but there are conditions. One: my husband must know nothing of this. Two: I will only meet with you in a public place. Three: there will be only one meeting.”

       “Agreed.”

        “As you understand, rachischisis is a fatal, pre-natal condition,” he continued looking pointedly at her mid-section, “that is caused by a defect on the thirteenth chromosome. I’m very close to determining the exact location.” Emma was taken aback by his frank perusal of her body, especially the fact that he slighted her trophy breasts where some men directed their entire conversation and attention.

     “Dr. Singh,” Emma began to move away from the discussion of her specific pregnancy.

       “Please call me Raj.”

       “O.K. Raj. I’m Emma. This defect on chromosome thirteen, what causes it?”

Author Interview:

You’re gonna get double your money’s worth—there are two of us. Dee Pipes and Charlie Yates write under the penname Dee Wilbur, a combination of our middle names.

And before we get to your regular questions, we’ll answer the question we always get, “Are you married?” Answer: “Yes, but not to each other.” Now to your questions.

1.       Tell us about your favorite one among the characters of your own book? What special qualities make the particular character your favorite?

Dee:  Maureen is my favorite character, because she’s seen it all and done a lot of it.  She is very comfortable with her role.  I like that she has enough experience to recognize some cycles in Richmond.  She acts as the stabilizing influence in the office, and every office needs one of those.

Charlie: My favorite character is Daphne. She’s bright, saucy, and opinionated. She doesn’t take any guff from anybody, but underneath she’s thoughtful and kind. Daphne is also very funny. Daphne is black, but she doesn’t let it stand in her way or serve as an excuse. Daphne is a wonderful mother for her kids.

2.       Your least favorite character from your book and why?

Dee:  Dr. Wornat, Emma’s doctor.  He makes conception medicine like animal husbandry.  He’s enough to make a good Texan become a vegetarian. Sure, he doesn’t have the most likeable patient, but his behavior and comments make him my least favorite. 

Charlie: My least favorite character is Emma. Emma is a real witch with a capital B. Everything has to be done for Emma. Yes, she’s bright and hardworking, but she’s conniving, manipulative, and nasty. In Emma’s world it’s just “me, me, me.” She has no concern for the feelings of her husband. There is sorrow for the lost infant only in how it affects her.

3.       Genres you like to read? Genres you prefer to write? 

Dee:  I read mysteries, including historical mysteries.  I also read biographies and young adult fiction including some paranormal ones.  I prefer to write mysteries, because I like doing some research and fact checking, but I don’t have the patience for historical or biographical works. 

Charlie: I like to read mystery novels, either cozy or murder mystery. I also like early history of the church. I prefer to write mysteries.

4.       When and how did the thought of this story come up?

Charlie: I was intrigued as a young child by the sight of the factory down near Thompsons, Texas. It had no trespassing and danger signs. I wondered what was made there. Through the years the thought grew that it must be making something sinister. So what was it? Obviously nerve gas! And the germ of the story was planted.

Dee:  A Jealous God was our first mystery and Charlie came to me with the general outline of the plot worked out. 

5.       How do you plan out your writing?

Charlie: I plan out the plot first—from end to beginning. I always want our stories to have a twist at the end, something unexpected. I figure out the twist and then work backwards.

Dee:  We have learned that it works best for Charlie to work out the plot and then for us to start putting side stories in and for me to flesh out the characters.  We learned this because the first book in The Trinity Bay Trilogy came from a novel that I had worked on a long time before Charlie saw it.  It took him quite a bit of work to get a clear, traceable plot in there, so he said next time we would start with a road map . . .

6.       How do you feel now that you’re a published writer? Are you satisfied with your achievement?

Charlie: We’re published! Yeah! We made it to number one in our Amazon category in Kindle sales. But we’re still a regional seller. I’d love for us to have a national profile.

Dee:  Amen. 

7.       Do you prefer self-publishing or the traditional form of publishing?

Dee:  I think I like the traditional form in the way that I imagine it to be—we get a great editor who has wonderful contacts, we have a very successful national tour and then the book goes to a movie that we love and the audiences love.  There are challenges with publishing. 

Charlie:  We have done both self-publishing and traditional publishing. There are advantages to both as well as disadvantages. With self-publishing you have to put up money up front, but then you own everything. With traditional publishing there are no upfront costs, but the publishing company owns your soul. Getting into traditional bookstores is harder if self-published, but it is possible. You make more money per book if you self-publish. Amazon is the great equalizer; it doesn’t care about your books origins. Marketing and advertising depends totally on the author no matter which route you take.

8.       Any secret or fact about you that will surprise your readers and others as well?

Dee:  I’m not sure it is a secret, but I love hearing people talk about the things they love. 

Charlie: My three deepest secrets are these: I have a fantastic stamp collection, I hate Brussels sprouts, and I love broccoli.

9.       Three most important things that an amateur writer must keep in mind while writing his first book.

Charlie: The three most important things that an amateur writer must keep in mind are these: You know your story better than anyone else. You must never give up. You must keep writing.

10.   Are you currently working on a project? If yes, would you like your readers to have a sneak peek into it?

Charlie: We are working on multiple projects: The Trinity Bay Trilogy set in coastal Mississippi after the hurricane, A Scarlet Thread, another novel in the Richmond series, Righteous in the Distance, a novella set in Richmond, and I Kept Silence, another novel in the Richmond series. The audiobook for A Jealous God has just come out, and we have to promote that.

  In The Scarlet Thread, Jon keeps his winning streak intact in criminal cases only later to discover that the man is really guilty. But Jon is able to make sure that justice is served.

Dee:  We are working on several pieces, but the key ones are:  I Kept Silence (which requires that Righteous in the Distance, the novella gets finished first) and the Trinity Bay Trilogy, which has a strong draft/working version of the first three books. 

11.   Your top three favorite books of all time?

Dee:  I have a new book on my all time favorites:  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, the gospel of John in The Bible, and poetry of Edna St. Vincent Milay.  BUT, I think that if I completed this list at a different time, other things might end up on the list. 

Charlie: My top three favorite books of all times are these: Emerson’s Essays, The Harbinger, and all the A. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.

12.   Any suggestions or advice for the upcoming writers on editing and publishing their books?

Charlie: For upcoming writers my advice is this. Polish your work as best you can. Then get as many trusted readers as you can to read it and make suggestions. (A trusted reader is one who is knowledgeable and will tell you the truth.) If you self-publish or have a traditional publisher, make sure you have someone to edit your work not only for grammar, punctuation, etc. but also for content. You can’t do it yourself. If you disagree with an editor on matter of content, and you know in your heart of hearts that you are right, persist.   

Dee:   I agree with Charlie, self publishing isn’t a way to avoid having an editor.  I have had good results on getting truthful evaluations from knowledgeable readers by being in a writing group.  Find one or start one.  Everyone needs to be focused on getting published, but they do not all have to write in the same genre, in fact a variety may serve everyone well.