Tag: giveaway

No rest for the wicked they say.

The answers can only be found in The Castle: A Bud Hutchins Thriller.

The threats are plenty. The stakes are higher. The tasks nigh impossible.

Time to grab your favorite monster-slaying weapon, raise your torch, and storm the Castle walls.

THE ELIXIR:
Maeve moved further into the cemetery and ascended the hilltop towards the mausoleums at the crest. There were trees up there. The
scent grew stronger. She reached the top of the hill and down the path saw a police squad car. Parked. No lights were on. Maeve quickly
dropped on all fours, bounded off the path and used the tombstones for cover as she approached. The squad car’s passenger door and rear
passenger side door were open. Maeve stood back up and examined the car closely. There was an unconscious police officer inside, leaning
on the passenger door. Another officer’s head rested on the steering wheel. Maeve noticed their sidearms were missing. Normal chatter and
codes burst forth from the radio. The rack that usually held a bigger weapon was bent and broken. The shotgun missing.
The source of the odor had to have been here. It was strongest in this area.
A piercing, booming, sound resonated in the cemetery and rattled Maeve’s sensitive ear drums. A bullet smacked up against the front
passenger door, which Maeve stood behind. Another shot hit the window. It cracked. Maeve ducked behind the cover of the door. She waited
to see if another shot would ring out. Nothing. She surmised that the gunman was near the mausoleum closer to the entrance. She bounded
back to the tombstones for cover. Then she saw him–a man dressed in a cream trench coat and a suit that matched the jacket. He wore a
fedora cocked to the left. The man’s face bore a large scar. Al Capone had risen from the dead. The notorious world-famous gangster and
king of Prohibition lived again.

Inside the barn, Satan, back in his true form, rubs his snake-like scales. “Don’t rush things,
Sheldon,” he hisses. “All in good time.” His voice changes to Frank Sinatra’s and he sings,
“I’ll do it my way.” Satan laughs. “My theme song.”
Satan loves the portal in Sheldon’s barn. Thousands of years ago, he passed through the
portal and entered the world of the Shawnee tribe of Native Americans. But they only hunted
in this area, and they avoided the portal as if it were a charging herd of mad bison. Satan
figured the portal was a waste of time– until the Scotch-Irish arrived. Their descendants
accepted a harsh, legalistic Christianity that Satan liked.
Once I twist their religion to my liking, Satan thinks, I can snag any soul I want. The
Spriggs have been good feastings over the years.
Sure, I have to put some effort and creativity into it. Sheldon was easy to snag, but not so
easy that he became boring like Hollywood actors. Make them lust, their faith goes bust.
There are others who make actors seem hard to tempt by comparison: lawyers, journalists,
politicians, artists, college professors, and the easiest of all, college administrators. But the
Sprigg family, they’re refreshing. They require me to use my imagination, and when I finally
ensnare a Sprigg, he tastes so good, like a pig roasted on a spit. Time for a good Sprigg
pickin’.
Satan laughs. Sheldon’s legalism is his downfall, he thinks. God, I’m brilliant—you were
such a fool to kick me out of Heaven. Now I’ve created my most brilliant idea yet; to shape-
shift into some silly nineteenth century artist’s view of Jesus and convince Sheldon that I am
Jesus. It was almost too easy, though I softened him up for six months before I finally
appeared to Sheldon. The stupid fool forgot that Jesus was a Jew and not the western
European in those – ha ha ha – “God- awful” paintings. Sheldon and I will have so much fun
in hell. There I won’t look like his European Jesus.
Satan follows the curve of his lip as he traces the perpetually sarcastic smile plastered on it.
First things first. I’ve set ole’ Sheldon on the path to killing Ginny. She’ll hate him when she
dies, so I’ll snatch her soul, too. Sheldon needs a little more persuasion before he gathers the
will to kill Ginny, but this man’s soul is in the bag.:”
I guarantee it,” Satan says, his voice one of some sleazy salesman on a bad TV ad, “or your
money back.”

Excerpt from Zondura: Silver Tears Book 2
The two guards shook their spears at her again and spouted something out that Nakiata took as
meaning, ‘Put down you weapons and surrender.’ Nakiata laughed, entered SOT, ducked and
moved quickly to her left avoiding spear tips that had been thrust where she had just been
standing.

Nakiata quickly killed the closest two guards by stabbing them in the chest. She then moved
through the middle of the confused guards and cut the head of the next one. Nakiata then cut a
leg off of two separate guards simultaneously then moved back as several guards ran to the aid
of the injured. Nakiata then launched her next attack and decapitated a guard who had knelt
down to help one of the injured guards.
The guards continued the efforts to help their injured comrades while Nakiata picked the helpers
off one by one. As their numbers began to thin, the leader of the guards yelled something out
and only two guards stayed to help the fallen, leaving five guards standing around the room
waiting for Nakiata to strike at one of the two guards who were helping the fallen.
Nakiata giggled at their tactics, which alerted the guards to her location. She easily moved out
of harm’s way as several of the guards threw their spears at that spot. Nakiata then leapt off a
dead body, sliced the throat of the next guard and as soon as she hit the floor she changed
course so that she went in almost the opposite direction. As the remaining four guards lunged at
her supposed landing point, Nakiata thrust one of her kharak blades deep into the chest of an
oncoming guard. Before the guard’s body hit the floor, Nakiata had changed direction again.
Placing a foot on another fallen victim, she launched herself into the air and this time she
decapitated two of the guards and then immediately stabbed the final guard standing in the
chest.
The room was now almost void of movement with the exception of the two guards who were still
attending to the two guards missing a leg. Nakiata slowly walked over to the first helper and
stuck her blade into the back of the helper’s neck and when Nakiata pulled her blade back out
the guard fell over dead. Nakiata then ran to the other guard who stopped attending and was
grabbing a spear when Nakiata’s blade sliced cleanly through her neck allowing the guard’s
head to fall away from her body.
Nakiata reappeared in front of the two fallen guards covered in the blood of their sisters. Both of
the guards started pleading with Nakiata in their native tongue. Not understanding a word,
Nakiata walked over in between the two guards as they continued to plea and with considerable
force Nakiata made a downward thrust and stabbed both guards in the chest.
The room was now silent and all motion had ceased, allowing Nakiata to look around the room
for anything she could use to clean herself up. She then noticed a couple of barrels in a corner
of the room; one was empty but the other was full of what appeared to be water. Nakiata then
cut a clean piece of cloth away from one of the dead guards and proceeded to clean herself and
her gear. She then cut out another sizeable piece of cloth and dried herself and her gear off.
Once she and all of her gear were clean and dry she entered SOT, went over to the outer door
and slowly opened it.

Q: What inspired you to write this book?
A: My story began around 1996 when I was playing a computer based game called Diablo 2. An
expansion came out and it had 2 new characters, a druid, and an assassin, which was depicted as a woman
assassin. A short time after that I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be awesome to see a story written about a
female assassin who just kills everything and yet the reader is rooting for her. That’s when I actually sat
down and wrote the first ten pages of the story. I didn’t have a title, just the beginning of the story and
that’s where it sat until about 2010.
Q: What can we expect from you in the future?
A: Well, in the near future, hopefully this year, I hope to have the fourth book in the series out, I’m
getting close to reaching the half-way point. Then hopefully a year later I will have the last book in the
series out.
Q: Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
A: I have been thinking about going back once the series is complete and writing a compendium for the
series. This will give greater detail about the various characters and locations that the reader see
throughout the series.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in the Silver Tears series of books?
A: Yes. The Silver Tears series is based on a prophecy written by an ancient alien race and in it there are
5 individuals described. Throughout the series the readers are introduced to these main characters and
follows along in their adventures to fulfill the prophecy. In the first novel the reader is introduced to
Nakiata, who is the main character throughout the series. She was born with the birthmark described in
the prophecy. In her early childhood she began her training in the Shadow of Thought mastery, or S.O.T.
(SOT). In this training she is taught how to use a multitude of weapons and various hand-to-hand fighting
skills. She is also trained in survival and a few other things. Eventually the reader comes to realize that
she is a cold-blooded killer who will stop at nothing to complete her quest. Toward the end of the novel
the reader is introduced to Dravone. He is a Morphan (basically a werewolf) who is confronted by
Nakiata and has to choose between fighting her and loosing or joining her and saving his people from her
wrath. Nakiata and Dravone’s friendship will blossom in further in the series as they are joined with the
other main characters.
Q: How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
A: I came up with Nakiata from an idea I had while playing a computer based game. I then came up with
the character of Dravone because I find werewolves very powerful beings that also have a human side
which can be quite different in nature. I also came up with the character of Ka’tia from various ideas
ranging from the computer based game to influences in some of the many movies I’ve seen.
Q: Where did you come up with the names in the story?
A: I’m not exactly sure how I came up with some of the names. I just try to make them as unique as
possible with a couple of exception for some of the secondary characters that the reader will only
encounter for a brief period of time.
Q: What did you enjoy most about writing these books?
A: I just love the story and how it’s unfolding. Seeing the members of the prophecy coming together
somewhat as a team to complete quests and fight in various battles. I think my favorite thing is writing the
battle scenes and some of the sad scenes.
Q: Can you tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?
A: The main characters are almost drawn together. They are very unique in their abilities and their
purpose in the story. Nakiata wants to see the completion/fulfillment of the prophecy so she can return
home. Dravone is similar but has a new found desire to find his people’s home world. Ka’tia is driven by
her heart. She is a bit soft-spoken, however she is a force to be reckoned with. Tyrog is the inquisitive
member, always asking questions and frankly very happy to actually be part of the group and fulfilling a
role as one of the members of the prophecy. I’m not able to talk about the last main character in the
prophecy, yet, mainly because that book isn’t available yet. I will say that the last member will be just as

unique.
Q: How did you come up with the title of your first novel?
A: I came up with the title Trouganda which is also the name of the planet where the story begins. The
name basically means “Planet of Truth” True-ganda, or could be interpreted as beautiful truth as well. The
series title I came up with based on something that will happen later on in the series, you’ll have to read
the books to find out what that is.
Q: Who designed your book covers?
A: I designed the cover for Trouganda. The cover for Zondura was done by the publisher, and Vazdrag
was designed by a professional artist, Steven James Catizone. He did an awesome job too.
Q: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
A: Not a thing. I actually like how my 3rd

novel turned out.
Q: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
A: Absolutely. I always learn new things when I write. I get a little better at it because now I find myself
looking things up to improve my writing so that I can convey the story in a much better format so that the
reader knows exactly what I was thinking and can picture it in their heads as they read.
Q: What is your writing Kryptonite?
A: Time, lol. Not having enough of it, or just having the strength when I do have time. It’s not easy
working a full time, plus overtime, job, spending quality time with the family and being able to get
quality writing time in. You have to be really good at time management, but don’t let go, try to stay as
focused as you can and always keep thinking about the story and what you’re going to write about next in
the story, that way when you do get the time you can just sit down and pump out the words.
Q: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
A: I strive to be original, however, I have put a little bit extra in the story to broaden my horizons and
hopefully my fan base.
Q: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
A: Concentrate on getting all the books done as soon as possible. Don’t waste any time, write, write,
write.
Q: What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
A: Very good question. Since at least 2 of my main characters are female, I hope I haven’t disappointed
anyone, lol. I would have to say the hardest part about writing characters of the opposite sex would be to
get their thought process correct. From a male stand point it’s easy, but to be able to write a character of
the opposite sex and have it work is definitely a challenge. So far, I feel I’m doing pretty well at it. Just
read my books, and definitely let me know, I love getting feedback from readers, it’s inspiring and
helpful.