JKS Presents: THE KILLING GAME by The Black Rose (Showcase & Interview)

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Killing Game: A seductive story about corruption, sin, lust, and redemption The series opens as Ives Andrich, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the FBI, is confronted with investigating the woman he has waited a lifetime to find. Because of her more than accurate novel about an Italian crime lord, the Bureau, against Ives’ wishes, asks for her help in infiltrating the internal organization of the nation’s most nefarious Mafia don. When the Bureau’s plan fails, and she becomes dangerously entangled in the private life of the United States’ most wanted criminal, Ives tolerance for Bureau mishaps vanishes. No holds barred, he puts everything on the line to save the woman he loves in the first book in The Killing Game Series, a suspense thriller series by The Black Rose.

BOOK DETAILS:

Series: The Killing Game Series
Paperback: 504 pages
Publisher: Andrich Publishing (August 22, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0997947411
ISBN-13: 978-0997947410

PURCHASE LINKS:

THE BLACK ROSE

The Black Rose is an author, photographer, and filmmaker. Born in Chicago, she currently resides in New York with the love her life, her Hokkaido Dog, Kuma. She began writing at the age of seven and dabbled until she woke up one day and simply had to write a novel. She has two 5-Star reviewed novel series.

She categorizes her writing very directly – interpersonal relationships: people’s feelings, thoughts, emotions, and the intimacies between two people that truly love each other despite the circumstances surrounding them. “I write about love, honor, and doing the right thing, even when it seems disadvantageous, even when it’s not the popular path to take.” She sees her writing as a gift from God, and appreciates and learns from her stories.

Her writing passion stems from her immense love for art, which began with drawing at age five and moved into oil painting by age eight. Her love and study of photography soon became a professional passion, and she spends hours photographing and laying out her book covers. Her photography can be found at theblackrosenyc.com in the Photography section. Readers can also find on the site “Privé with The Black Rose” to showcase behind-the-scenes insights into her writing, novels, characters, photography, and films. She films and produces her book trailers, and will soon produce short films (details coming on her newly created website thepenandthesword.com dedicated to screenplays, film, book trailers, book adaptations).
Connect with THe Black Rose at these sites:

WEBSITE TWITTER

Q&A with The Black Rose

Welcome and thank you for stopping by CMash Reads.

On Writing and Reading:
Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
Most definitely! I think some of the best stories are based on personal experiences. That is the common denominator to which people relate. Personal experiences can be very intriguing if told with the right spin. In fact, the way The Killing Game series began is exactly how it happened to the heroine of the series. A man, I did not know, approached me in a small public library and enquired if I would write a book about illegal sports gambling and the mob. Thirty days later, I had. As it is said, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” My novel The Yugoslavian, is based on the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the siege for Sarajevo in the early to mid-1990s. That war so affected me that I had to write about it.

I have often categorized my writing as the non-fiction, fiction. The basis for my stories can involve current events and how these events affect the main characters. I find that if I have something to say about a current event, the least offensive way to express myself is through my stories. It is not my intention to offend anyone with anything I write, only to reveal how I see things as an alternative point of view, which, hopefully, is accepted as just that and respected.

When starting to write a story, do you start from the beginning and see where it takes you or do you know what the conclusion will be and plot in reverse?Sometimes yes and sometimes no. If a specific scene is playing in my head, I write it. It might be at the beginning of a story, or it might be at the end. I usually know where a story is going from start to finish. If one day I feel inclined to write a death scene or a love scene, I write that. However, since my stories have developed into series, I mostly write from beginning to end.

Are any of your characters based on people that you know?
Yes, in part. I have met and know some interesting and intriguing characters. The more people you meet, the more real life human traits you can add to your characters. There is a catch, though—to capture anyone’s actual personality, you have to listen to them when they talk. You have to hear their stories and ask questions when appropriate. By doing this, you better understand their thought processes and then you can incorporate those thought processes into your characters to make them more believable.

One of the greatest compliments I receive is when someone reviews my stories and says, “I know these characters” or “I’m worried about this or that character! I can’t wait to see what happens next!” By these comments, the reader has accepted the characters into their family, so to say. That only happens by creating believable characters that readers trust. And when they trust your characters, they trust you as an author.

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
I don’t have a particular routine. I’m always writing because my mind is always reviewing my stories. I sit down and physically write as often as I can. But since I spend so much time thinking about my stories, when I do get to my computer, the story flows quickly (sometimes faster than I can transcribe it) so all that psychological reviewing pays off.

I do have one habit; I sleep with my iPad next to my pillow. I often wake up in the middle of the night and make a few notes to myself (or sometimes write an entire chapter) and email what I wrote to myself for incorporating into a story the following day.

Any Idiosyncrasies? I think all writing is idiosyncratic by nature. In a way, it’s a bit odd to want to display your personal experiences and innermost thoughts for others to read. Writing is so permanent versus speaking your thoughts, which often are forgotten by others rather quickly.

Tell us why we should read your book?
Despite all the personal experiences and interjections of my opinions, my books are great escapist entertainment. But at the same time, they are educational as well. I work very hard to make the storyline complete and comprehensible while introducing my readers to the different situations my character’s experience. My characters and the situations they endure are relevant. Their feelings are significant to humans in general. We all have needs, wants, and desires, and for each of those, there is always an opposition. Most readers will find something in my stories that hits home with them.

Are you working on your next novel? If so, can you tell us a little bit about it?
I’m always working on next novels. The next novel to come out will be the fourth book in The Killing Game series. I think most readers of the series imagine the next book is a direct continuation from book three, The Lost Days. I’ve thrown in a little twist I hope readers will appreciate. However, it is still the continuation of the story of Ives Andrich (the romantic hero), Special Agent in the FBI, and how he manages the situation he is faced with in finding Allina, his wife, who is presumed to be dead.

The next novel titled The Last Hope, will fill in the blanks to some unanswered questions and give more detail to what Ives will face in the future as well as provide reasons as to why this current situation has happened to begin with.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Most authors from The Bible are my favorites. But my absolute favorite author from that immensely excellent book is John, the Apostle. My favorite two books from it are The Gospel of John and The Book of Revelation. In more contemporary fiction, my favorite author would be Harper Lee.

What are you reading now?
Always rereading The Bible because there is so much to learn from it.

Whether it’s bad or good, I don’t often read other authors work. I mostly read for research. My latest studies have been on the Roman Empire and about the occupation of Eastern Europe by the Ottomans, both for future novels.

Fun Questions:
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
From the performances I’ve seen recently, I am a bit partial to Henry Cavill as a match for Ives Andrich. Not so much because he might resemble the character physically, but because of the emotions he has portrayed in some of his performances, especially in the series The Tutors. I really don’t know whom I would cast for the heroines or the villains. I need to do more research on actors of today.

Favorite leisure activity/hobby?
Spending time with the love of my life, my pup, Kuma. Despite being work related, I enjoy photography and spend a good amount of time designing my book covers and creating book trailers. One day, I hope to return to painting.

Favorite meal?
My taste in food is quite simple. I most enjoy poached wild caught fish with steamed vegetables. However, my mainstay and all-time favorite is not a meal but a beverage—whole milk.

CHECK OUT BOOKS 2 and 3 IN SERIES

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