Book Tour: Tainted Waters By Maggie Thom

Title: Tainted Waters
By: Maggie Thom
Publication Date: April 30th, 2013

Blurb:

He didn't commit suicide but who's going to believe her... Frustrated at being fired from her latest job and overwhelmed by her consolatory family, Sam decides to move to the family's cabin at the lake. A place she hasn't been since her dad committed suicide there twenty years before. Or did he? Snooping is something she's good at but someone seems to be taking offense to her looking too closely at what has been happening at the lake. What she discovers is shocking. Now she must uncover what's real and what's not. All that she learned growing up, may be false. Keegan who has recently moved to the area to finish his latest book is also trying to find out if his grandfather, who'd passed away ten years before, died of natural causes or was murdered? The descendants of the four families who own the land around the lagoon are dying off. Since Sam and Keegan are the only ones questioning the deaths, they find themselves working together to seek the truth. Are people being murdered? Who would benefit from their deaths? Why would there be barricades and armed guards at the north end of the lake? To stay alive, Sam and Keegan must find the answers and convince others, before more people are killed... including them.

"This is a book that will have you on the edge of your seat. Just when you think the story is over, think again." Read Your Writes Book Reviews

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Author Interview:

The Avid Reader: What inspired you to write 'Tainted Waters'?

Maggie Thom: The idea for Tainted Waters really came from a vacation gone bad. My family and I had gone to this lake to camp. It was a little further than we normally went but we also knew that it was a lot quieter than most campgrounds. We got there to a sunny, gorgeous day and only a few other campers. We quickly unloaded our canoe and spent the day playing in the water or canoeing and doing a bit of hiking. It was an awesome day. But then night time came and we figured out why people did not camp there. Big trucks drove up and down the gravel road all night. And they seemed to be going to a plant that we could clearly hear, so it couldn't have been more than a mile or so away. Aaaaaaaaaahhhh. How had we missed this all day? Needless to say we didn't get much sleep and when I don't sleep I'm a little grumpy. So after thinking all kinds of nefarious things I'd do to those trucks, what better thing to do then to create a story around that incident. So in Tainted Waters, I imagined the trucks were carrying much more sinister stuff then water. Drugs was an easy choice but what about a blackmarket for organs? What about unsolved murders? What about two unlikely people having to work together to solve that mystery? The story grew from there.

The Avid Reader: When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Maggie Thom: For as long as I can remember. I know that at about the age of 4 or 5 I was really fascinated with words, such that I would cut them out of books. Cat In The Hat was never the same much to my mother's dismay. The age of nine is when I really remember starting to write. It really has been a lifelong commitment and dream.

The Avid Reader: What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?

Maggie Thom: Hard to say, by the age of five maybe. I think my first book was probably See Spot Run. :)

The Avid Reader: What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

Maggie Thom: I have a very eclectic range that I like to read. I love suspense/thrillers, throw in a little romance and I'm hooked. Probably why I like writing that kind of book. But I also love a good fantasy, women's fiction, espionage, crime, mysteries,nonfiction… give a good story and I'm into it. I read a lot so I always try to mix up genres so that I get a different kind of story every now and then.

The Avid Reader: What is your favorite book?

Maggie Thom: I have a few but if I can only pick one, I'd have to say it was The Thomas Covenant White Gold Wielder Series by Stephen R. Donaldson. It's one of those series that I read a long time ago but it has stuck with me. I think I enjoyed it so much because the hero of the story was a very different character and it was incredibly well written. It was one of those books where the scene came alive, the characters came alive and you felt like you were right there living it.

The Avid Reader: You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

Maggie Thom: I have several. Besides Stephen R. Donaldson, I'd say Robert Ludlum, his espionage books not only told a great story but they taught me the elements of what makes a story compelling, how to introduce several characters and give a bit of their stories and build the suspense that keeps you wanting to read to see what happens. And then there is Sandra Brown. I think I've read just about all of her books and I really didn't like a lot of her really early novels but once she started crossing genres and started writing suspense & murders with romance I truly became hooked on her books. She's who inspires me to write the types of books that I do.

The Avid Reader: If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?

Maggie Thom: Oh wow wouldn't that be so cool? I think it would be hard to pick a time but if I have to I'd say… I think I'd like to go back to the 1800's when women started to demand changes and to be recognized as persons and be able to vote and have a say… the women who really got the suffrage movement going. I'd love to be able to thank them because what they did then opened the doors that I now take for granted today. I'd also really love the meet The Famous Five in Canada who in the early 1900's made a huge difference for women. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be considered a nonperson - no say, no rights?

The Avid Reader: When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?

Maggie Thom: Writing comes easy to me, it hasn't always but I've really worked at it and I changed how I approach writing. I don't worry so much anymore about what I'm putting down the first time. I know that if I get it down then I have something to play with. I also know that not all my writing is done while I'm sitting at the computer. I allow my mind to play with plots and ideas until I like what I'm getting, then I sit down and write it. It's really the plotting and pulling the story together so there are no plot holes or inconsistencies that is the work.

The Avid Reader: Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

Maggie Thom: I have a dog, party husky and part black lab, her name is Shadow. She is eight and a half. Sadly our cat, Sneakers just passed away. So in the spring we will look for a new cat.

The Avid Reader: What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?

Maggie Thom: You know that has really changed over the years but the one thing that I truly enjoy but do really try to avoid is Cheesecake. Why do I avoid it if I love it so much? Because it's one of those things that when I start I can't stop. :)

The Avid Reader: Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?

Maggie Thom: Don't worry so much about the rules, there are so many of them in the writing and publishing field. Write what feels write to you and then figure out how to make it work. On top of that read and write because without doing both of these you'll find that your writing doesn't progress. Know that what you write the first time will probably need work and may end up nothing like it started out but that's okay. Writing is work but enjoy the journey, it's worth it.

Book Soundtrack:

1. Life After You by Daughtry
2. Reflection by Christine Aguilera
3. Put Your Records On by Corrine Bailey Ray
4. Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top
5. Drops of Jupiter by Train
6. Someone's Watching Over Me by Hilary Duff
7. Love Somebody by Maroon 5
8. Wanted by Hunter Hayes
9. Rumors by Fleetwood Mac
10. The Guilty Will Pay by Steve Dawson
11. Love Will Keep Us Alive by the Eagles

Playlist:

I love listening to music while I write. This is some of the songs that I played while writing it. The list would be too long if I wrote them all out. :)

1. Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert
2. The Power of Love by Celine Dion
3. Something's Got a Hold on Me by Christina Aguilera
4. Blown Away by Carrie Underwood
5. Water in the Well by Spirit of the West
6. Brown Eyed Girl by Jimmy Buffet
7. If You Leave Me Now by Chicago
8. Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon and Garfunkel
9. Early Mornin Rain by Gordon Lightfoot
10. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) by Beyonce

About The Author:

Maggie Thom took the challenge and leapt off, leaving a full time twenty year career in management, to write full time. After her initial panic that she might need a straight jacket, she published her first book Captured Lies, October 2012. And now is excited to release her second novel, Tainted Waters, April, 2013. Her third book, Deceitful Truths (sequel to Captured Lies) available fall of 2013. An avid reader and writer her whole life, she decided to break the monotony of wishing to be an author by making it happen. Married to her best friend, she is learning that humor, love and patience help her navigate her way through her twins' teen years. Her motto: Escape to read and Read to escape. "Maggie Thom writes a fast paced thriller laced with romance that keeps the reader interested and on edge!" InDtale Magazine

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