Wednesday, January 7, 2015

NBtM: Interview & Giveaway - Gypsy Hunted by Andrea Drew

 

Gypsy Hunted

by Andrea Drew 

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BLURB: 

Reluctant psychic Gypsy Shields—she prefers the term "intuition consultant"—finds herself in trouble when, on her way home from a blind date, she interrupts a kidnapping in progress. She attempts to intervene, and her heroics are repaid with a collision between the attacker's van and a brick wall. She awakens in the hospital, paralyzed on her left side and unable to speak. This also means she's unable to share her vital information as a witness. Fortunately, she is able to use her telepathic connection with her niece to throw a line out to a police detective she knows: Connor Reardon, her blind date.  

Connor will do anything to protect Gypsy, and he listens to her claims of psychic power willingly, as he's concealing certain powers of his own. Nor are they all he's concealing. Gypsy senses a part of her new ally's mind is closed to her—what she cannot know is that Connor suspects the kidnapper is someone close to him, and the kidnapping victim holds secrets that will tear through Connor's department, putting careers and lives at risk. Including Gypsy, still in hospital and vulnerable as the attacker turns his sights on her once again.  

Can she use her powers to track down the perpetrator and prevent her own murder?
 

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EXCERPT:

As a telepath, I pick up on feelings and instinct more than most. Other people like to call me a psychic medium, but I’m not really comfortable with the label.  Apart from the fact that I do it for love, not money, I’m sure once someone learns I’m a telepath they conjure up images of dodgy fraudsters on stage at mass events, feeding grieving families what they desperately need. I’d rather not expose myself to more ridicule than necessary. My abilities happened almost by accident—apparently my grandmother was ‘fey,’ as my mother enjoyed mentioning.

I was sure the pinging, nagging doubt had something to do with Aaron’s home life. “What about you, Gypsy? What do you do?” Connor relaxed his posture, the glass poised before his mouth. He had taken on a different look, probably from the wine, or even better, from unfulfilled lust. 

“I write business plans. I’ve also been told I have pretty damn good intuition.” 

That seemed to spark Connor’s interest.  He pulled at the other earlobe. 

“Oh yeah? What does your intuition tell you about me, then?” 

“That you seem like a nice enough guy.” 

Connor moistened his lips, which quivered with what I suspected was amusement as he sat legs wide apart 

“And?” 

“And you’re fishing for compliments that I’m not going to give you just yet.”  

Connor threw his head back, indulging in a belly laugh. The rich, throaty sound filled me with pleasure. A smile I couldn’t suppress burst through.  

“That’s a fair call, Gypsy, fair call.”

The silence was a comfortable one, our shared joke establishing the early threads of friendship.
 
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Let's learn a little about author Andrea Drew:
 

What is your writing environment? 
The corner of my home office.  It is old fashioned but it is mine, green carpet tiles, brown curtains and everything.  I’ve tried writing at the laptop at other locations, but I am so comfortable in my little corner of the world that I would struggle if I had to change it.  I get a nice view from the window and I’ve spent hundreds of writing hours here.
Who is your perfect hero and why? 
Martin Luther King. He struggled against unbelievable prejudice and threats upon his life but managed to lead a group to be the pioneers in gaining human rights for a minority group.  I also love the fact that he was a flawed hero (his personal life left a bit to be desired so I hear) but he is the type of person I strive to be.  Not sure if I am quite the person that he was, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
What authors have caught your interest lately and why? 
I’ve been reading paperbacks lately and I usually always read eBooks on my kindle ereader.  I’ve been browsing second hand stores, and when in there I gravitate toward the bookshelves of course so I’ve been reading some older paperbacks, thrillers and hardboiled detective novels which are my favourite genre.  This includes Dick Francis (Come to Grief and For Kicks) James Patterson (the 9th judgment) and Michael Connelly (The Gods of Guilty) I’ve also started reading a fantasy novel, Queen of the Tearling by Erica Johansen
What type of book have you always wanted to write?
I didn’t have an idea of the type of book or genre that I would write, but I did know that it would be something I would love to read.  I am not a very patient reader, and like the pace to be action packed, so I ended up writing a fast paced thriller with traces of romance, and the paranormal in it, which is exactly what I like to read.  It’s been satisfying to learn that other people like reading it too!
 
Top 3 things on your bucket list: 
Write a novel and get it published (done)
Travel to USA and to Egypt (not done)
Make money writing books for a living (not done) 
I’m hoping that within the next 1-2 years I can cross off number three and two in the above list.  I do have a plan in place, but it involves lots of writing in 2015 so I can finish book number two and three in the Gypsy Shields series, spend some time marketing that series, then get started on the next series.
How did you get the idea for this particular novel? 
I’ve always wanted to write a novel, but three children and a busy life got in the way.  A friend who also has children and also loves to write suggested we meet up every few weeks to motivate each other.  We agreed that initially we would write short stories and enter them in competitions.  I learned of a competition with the theme of “time” I came up with the idea of a person who had suffered a brain injury and using some type of psychic abilities to tell others what had happened to them.  The initial idea also incorporated going back in time.  After talking about the idea with my friend Eve, I started writing the short story Gypsy Hunted.  I found I was so enthusiastic about the story and characters that I wanted to keep writing and so the short story became a novel.  Many months later, Gypsy Hunted was finished.
What is your favorite scene in your new release?
My favourite scene is when the woman, that has been abducted is found.  It was fun to write, and I also enjoyed writing one of the more obnoxious characters, Ian Robson, a police detective and one of the main characters partners.  Writing smart ass, annoying, crass characters can be fun!
 
What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available?
I am working on the next in the series now, Gypsy Cradle and am making excellent progress.  I’ve received new motivation recently as I received my first ever fan mail which was a real buzz.  I’m looking at having Gypsy Cradle available for pre order end Jan 2015/early Feb 2015, and available around April for release.  Between February and April I plan on writing the first draft of the final book “Gypsy Curse” and will also put this up for pre order on amazon around April for release in July 2015.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
 
I know it is probably a boring answer, but I love to lie around and read whenever I can.  My favourite place to read is my bed, I have a heated water bed which is seven feet by seven feet and huge.  Perfect place to read.
What would you consider a perfect date?
Of course it would have to be a night out with my husband without our three children in tow.  This doesn’t happen very often as our children are youngish (16, 9 and 6) so that in itself would be perfect.  But a night of dinner, followed by gold class tickets to a movie (in an ideal world this would be the movie version of my book Gypsy Hunted!) would be the perfect date in every way.
 
What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know? 
I am very tall for a woman at 188cm or six feet two.  There are tall women and men in my family going back four generations, I tracked them down and was given photographs.  My seven sisters are all equally tall.  My husband is also six feet five and not a small man at all (he makes me look little which is just what I like) and so it stands to reason my children will be gigantors.  My sixteen year old son is over six feet four and still growing.
 

 
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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Andrea Drew has been a commercial copy writer and resume writer for over a decade.  

She's written for celebrity stylists, assisted business coaches and start-ups, written grants for not for profits, delivered marketing presentations to business owners, and attends Australian writing conventions. 

Her self-published book "Pro Resumes Made Easy" has been downloaded over 40,000 times. 

Andrea has one husband (more than enough), three kids, a pet rock (her daughters not hers), and a house in the suburbs, where she's hard at work on the second novel in the Gypsy series.  

Email her at andrea@andrea-drew.com.  

Gypsy Hunted her first fiction novel (her first suspense thriller set in her home town of Melbourne Australia) is available for pre-order on Amazon prior to release on October 28 2014.
 

Social Media LInks: 


 
Blog: http://andreadrewauthor.wordpress.com/

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Buy Link:
 
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Giveaway:
Andrea will be awarding a $20 amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Follow the tour HERE 
 
 
 

18 comments:

  1. I liked the interview

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  2. Replies
    1. You are so welcome! Good luck on your wonderful book tour!

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  3. Sue,

    Thanks so much for hosting our book tour today! We really appreciate the support!

    Enjoy the day and thanks again.

    Kurt and Jess

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  4. I liked the interview.

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  5. Love the blurb, sounds like a fabulous read.

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  6. Thanks for sharing the excerpt and interview. I like reading about authors and learning about them :)

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  7. Nice interview, it sounds like an interesting read too! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  8. I loved the author's interview and bio. This sounds like a wonderful book!

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  9. I liked the interview. Thank you for the intro to Andrea Drew

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  10. I really enjoyed the interview! Thank you

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  11. I liked the interview best and then the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read. I will totally have to add this book to my "to-read" list.

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  12. I have enjoyed learning about the book. Thanks for sharing it.

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