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Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

The Enigma Gamers Book Interview & Book Tour Giveaway

The Enigma Gamers – A CATS Tale (The Enigma Series Book 7)Has today’s technology advanced to the point that the line between the real and cyber worlds has vanished? If so, will this unchecked digital landscape provide new social predators with opportu cities, big businesses, air traffic, and even emergency systems hostage to terrifying digital ransom demands.






Has today’s technology advanced to the point that the line between the real and cyber worlds has vanished? If so, will this unchecked digital landscape provide new social predators with opportunities to unleash terror and pain on unsuspecting victims, while avoiding detection from anywhere in the world? How does anyone find the culprits holding international cities, big businesses, air traffic, and even emergency systems hostage to terrifying digital ransom demands

Julie and Juan’s cyber assassin technology services team are immersed in these outrageous cyber-crime events occurring at multiple locations around the world. The CATS team is the next generation of hunters in the find and fix contest of cyber warfare, unlike any seen to date. How will they prove that the of 21st century video game playing has evolved beyond the that simple after-school distraction for children? With Supercomputers, the adage ‘bigger toys for bigger boys’ takes on a whole new definition. These Gamers may be after far more than just points.
George, Ty, Ernesto, Mercedes, EZ, and even Juan—travel to and investigate their respective assignments where they find they are undermined by organization’s leadership unwilling to listen to reason, playing the part of victim. Tampering with automated processes, driven by today’s explosion of technology use, is only the beginning of the competitive nature of these players. Cyber bad guys always think they can’t be caught or stopped.
Award-winning authors, Breakfield and Burkey, take their fans into this grittier story of The Enigma Series to explore virtual hacking within our technology dependent world. Book 7 of the series, The Enigma Gamers, A CATS Tale, is focused on misguided technology using Julie and Juan’s talented and tenacious team of professionals committed to finding and punishing evil achievers in every corner of the real and virtual worlds.
You may find yourself trying to rewrite the ending to match how you see the world, or how it should be.

Kindle / Paperback Audio


Award-winning authors, Breakfield and Burkey, take their fans into this grittier story of The Enigma series to explore virtual hacking within our technology dependent world. In book 7 of the series, *The Enigma Gamers*,
The CATS Team, led by Julie and Juan, is committed to avenging and administering justice to evil doers in every corner of the real and virtual worlds.
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Interview - 



1.      What was your hardest scene to write?

Throughout the series, Breakfield and Burkey have several complex scenes which can take longer to come together. When a complex scene doesn’t fit it may take several back and forth exchanges between us to get it right.
We outline our stories in advance and have the overall direction we wish to take the story. All of the characters which contribute to the story, or all the locations, or even all the barriers to the goals are not in place before we write. These elements of the story unfold as the chapters are written and characters decide what they want to do.  This is why for us a key element of putting a story together involves literary ping pong where we share the story back and forth until it has the right balance.
In The Enigma Always we had a chapter which was created really early in the story’s writing but had no place in the outline of where we thought it might go. It was moved, as we recall, at least 20 times before it was placed in the right area of the story. Yet it provides a lesson learned element for one of our favorite returning characters, Petra. Your followers can certainly let us know when they listen or read that portion and provide feedback on the placement of that chapter.

2.      Do you Google yourself?

Sometimes following a marketing campaign or a book tour, we will Google our names or the book targeted in the effort to see if we are visible sooner. Not often though as we are so busy trying to complete our tasks or write the next chapter.
Google and other elements of the Internet are a unending sea of Big Data. The various algorithms Bots used by all the vendor tools are updated and refined continually. We believe that Big Data and machine learning to allow better automation may be directing more than just our buying choices as we move forward. Toward that end Breakfield and Burkey are exploring some of the technology landmines we may be creating for ourselves with technology adaptation in the next story of the series with our working title, The Enigma A.I. Wars.
Technology is moving so fast and adopted by people across industries in differing ways. The results can vary as much as the people using it. It is an exciting time with endless possibilities but also a terrifying time with unwanted consequences. The question becomes how much control in choice will each of us have in the near future.

3.      What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

This part of the problem of balancing a professional technology career with storytelling. Each of these activities actually feed the other to one degree or another. At this point Breakfield and Burkey just want it all!
Okay, one exception if the series was pick up for a serious movie deal and we were required to be a part of the production, traveling all over the world, and meeting people, Breakfield and Burkey agree to give up their regular professional careers.

4.      What are your favorite literary journals?

We tend to like Fortune magazine for the financial and economics of the planet and Dark Reading for the newest technical exploit being used by the cyber bad guys.  Webinars are also big and important sources of new technology being served up.  This helps build the literary soup we draw from when building our stories.
We have been following digital magazines that highlight books and reviews in the various media. Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/) are available on all our stories and The Enigma Source was recently featured in the yearend magazine distributed to libraries, agents, publishers, and others interested in recent books.  Audiobook Reviewers (https://audiobookreviewer.com/) has reviewed our audio books and we have been awarded multiple 5-star reviews and the ABR Choice Award. InD’tale Magazine (https://www.indtale.com/) another source we look at for capturing new book reviews has review several of our audiobooks and eBooks awarding us Crowned Heart status and even a RONE Finalist for The Enigma Factor audio book.  These are great sources to check out current releases or see what books have historically rate high with established reviewers.



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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Interview with Author Michelle Alstead

Afterloveleavesbanner
Thank you Michelle Alstead for stopping by and talking with us today. 


Please describe your book in one sentence.

 If you’ve ever been in love with the wrong guy and wished with all your heart that he could be the right guy, this is the novel for you.

Tell us a little about yourself:

I’m a
is a single, divorced mom of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, who tries to promote autism awareness and advocate for gender equality while raising Sheldon Cooper and searching for some semblance of a love life. I have a BA in English and a Masters in Education. Writing is what keeps me sane.

State a random fact about yourself that would surprise your readers.

I’m a first-degree brown belt. I’ve been told to look at me you wouldn’t think that I was.

If you wouldn’t be a writer, what you would be?

A plumber. That’s where the real money is.

How long did it taken you to write your current book?

It took approximately three months.

Do you see yourself in any of your characters?

I put a lot of myself into Zoe. I share some of her fears and her bad luck with men.

 What inspired you to write, you took any ideas from other books, movies etc.?

My inspiration to write this novel came from the kind of break up that rocks your soul and leaves you wondering how you didn’t see the train coming before it hit you. That relationship ended with a two-sentence text message that left me confused, heart-broken, and very much alone. After a couple of years passed and I realized that my former significant other was never going to give me that one last conversation that answered all of my questions, I decided to write a fictional novel where the characters get to have the conversation I never had. It gave me a profound sense of closure and peace. 

Did you know the title before you started writing?

I did know the title before I started writing. The book had to start with After because this novel is part of the After series, which are stories about second chances with first loves.

What was your favorite scene?

My favorite scene is when Zoe reads Brad’s letter on the pier where they had their first date. It makes me cry every time I read it.

Thank you Michelle! Readers, After Love Leaves is only $.99 or FREE with your KU subscription!

AFTER LOVE LEAVES
When Brad Sorenson crossed paths with Zoe O’Loughlin at a high school graduation party, the connection was undeniable. He noticed her when no one else did; she inspired him to want more out of life. But it would be years before they’d meet again…and in the most unlikely of places. Brad was looking for a good time online, not love. But Zoe was so sweet, so kind. Everything about her was perfect—until she fell in love with him. Zoe doesn’t know why Brad left her standing in an airport; he won’t return her calls or texts. With her self-esteem and dreams shattered, she can’t imagine ever loving anyone else. A single phone call changes Brad’s life forever. Now he wants just one thing: to make amends with the only woman that’s ever mattered.

Buy it on Amazon or read for FREE with KU



Michelle Alstead is a single, divorced mom of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, who tries to promote autism Michelleawareness and advocate for gender equality while raising Sheldon Cooper and searching for some semblance of a love life. Michelle has experienced a wide-range of reasons for being dumped by the opposite sex (her favorite reason of all time - "she wasn't crazy enough and crazy girls are so much fun"). She maintains that she is both Irish and Spanish and can bring the "crazy" just as good as the next woman. This author copes with the difficulties of raising her challenging child and failing at love, by eating copious amounts of chocolate, binge watching Netflix late at night, and writing novels about characters who find happy endings. Every great story has a grain of truth. Truth inspires freedom. Michelle has decided to free herself by acknowledging that life can be ugly, brutal, and wickedly unfair. Her stories aren't the typical romances or the standard young adult fare. She seeks to be honest in her storytelling rather than playing it safe. Blending in wasn't much fun anyway.
Follow her Website / Twitter / Facebook
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