Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: THE JADE HUNTERS by A.B. Michaels @ABMichaelsBooks @GoddessFish

The Jade Hunters

by A.B. Michaels

GENRE: Romantic Suspense

BLURB:

Award-winning jewelry designer Regina Firestone is proud to exhibit her famous grandmother’s multi-million dollar “bauble” collection at the grand re-opening of The Grove Center for American Art, known among the locals as “Sinner’s Grove.”

The fact that she’s considering modeling the jewels in the nude like her grandmother did infuriates photographer Walker Banks, a co-owner of The Grove who’s in charge of the exhibit. Neither is willing to admit the real reason for the sparks between them.

Their argument takes a back seat when Reggie discovers that one of the most compelling pieces in the collection is not at all what it seems. Tracking down the truth will take the couple into the dark heart of a quest that’s lasted more than a century, one in which destroying human lives—including Reggie’s and Walker’s—means nothing in the pursuit of a twisted sense of justice.

The Jade Hunters is Book Three of Michaels’ contemporary series, “Sinner’s Grove Suspense.” The series follows the descendants of characters introduced in Michaels’ historical fiction series, “The Golden City.”

Excerpt:

“The Pursuit”

By the time he made it to the room, Regina was standing at the opening of what looked like a submarine hatch.  Of course.  They were near the water.  She was catching her breath and waiting for him.

“Come on,” she said. “She’s getting away.”

“Where does that lead?”

“To a cave,” she said. “It’s got to be an exit; otherwise they would have boarded it up.” She held out her hand. “Please, we can’t lose her. Let’s go.”

“I can’t,” he said.

                               

“You can. Come on.  We’re losing time!”

The panic that was never far away at times like this reared its ugly head.  “I can’t do it. I told you I can’t handle small spaces. I can’t ...”

Regina placed her hands firmly on the sides of his face as she looked deep within him. “This is not a long cave; it can’t be, because it’s very close to the water and is subject to the tides.” She pointed to the other side of the hatch. “You can see the tide is coming in. We must go and I need your help.  You have always been there for me and I know you’ll be there for me now.  Just as I’m going to be there for you, every step of the way. I will not let you go, I promise.”

Walker stared at Regina’s beautiful, earnest face. It had all come down to this. It was too important for her to stop, and too dangerous to let her go on her own. She needed him, and he wasn’t going to let a crippling phobia stand in his way.  

Interview with A.B. Michaels

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? 

Definitely the elephant—I even collect elephant carvings.  They symbolize wisdom and strength, but they’re also family-oriented and are gentle unless provoked.  

How many hours a day do you put into your writing?

It depends on the day.  When I am in the midst of writing a draft, it can be as many as twelve hours; I feel driven to get to where I want to go with the story.  But in between projects, I won’t necessarily put any new words down (although I always seem to be editing something).

Do you read your book reviews? If yes, do they affect what you write in the future? 

I confess, I do read them, and of course I remember the negative ones. Fortunately, those are few and far between, but perhaps that’s why they stick in my mind.  I will sometimes imagine talking to the person who wrote the review to explain why I wrote what I wrote. In general, though, it’s the overwhelmingly positive reviews that impact me most: they let me know I’m on the right track and to keep writing!

Do you leave hidden messages in your books that only a few people will find? 

Once in a while I do – mainly stuff that my family will pick up on. For example, the phobias I touch upon in The Jade Hunters are familiar to my family members.  They know I don’t like heights, for instance. Over the years I’ve passed on many thrilling helicopter or small plane rides; I’m content to wait on terra firma until my husband/kids/siblings/friends come back to earth.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Jade Hunters?  
The protagonists of this story were introduced to readers in Book One of my Sinner’s Grove series and I’ve been waiting to get the two of them together!  They are both artists (Reggie’s a jewelry designer and Walker’s a photographer) and they’re both unpretentious people.  In many ways they’re alike, but that causes some problems, since “stubborn” is an apt description for both of them. I like the fact that even though Walker disagrees with a number of Reggie’s decisions, he still supports her.  It’s definitely not a case of “his way or the highway.” He must have figured out pretty quickly that Reggie would never put up with someone like that!

Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future? 

Since half of my books contain mysteries, I’ve come to realize that I enjoy the challenge of writing them. So, I’m hoping to launch two different mystery series that feature characters from my books.  One will be a straight historical, taking place at the turn of the twentieth century.  It’ll star one of the characters from The Price of Compassion—the attorney Jonathan Perris.  The other series will be contemporary and star Dr. Leo Brunt, whom readers meet in The Jade Hunters.  Those books will be particularly fun to write because they’ll include time travel!

Do you allow yourself a certain number of hours to write or do you write as long as the words come? 

I tend more toward the latter, I’m afraid. I don’t multi-task very well, so when I’m in the midst of writing, I just like to keep going until there’s a logical break.

Do you have a certain number of words or pages you write per day? 
Nope.  An extremely good day for me would be two thousand words; I just can’t imagine writers who crank out five to ten thousand words at a sitting. I’m one of those writers who continually tweaks as I go along, so that by the time my first draft is finished, it’s in pretty good shape—at least my editor tells me it’s in good shape before she begins to point out all the flaws in it!

What inspires you to write? 

Good question. I would say it’s because I have a lot of stories inside me that I’d like to tell, and now that I know I can get them down in some coherent form, it’s a constant pull for me to do that.

Would you rather

Read fiction or non-fiction?

It depends on my mood.  I love history so I read a lot of non-fiction, both for pleasure and for research.  But I absolutely adore losing myself in a well-written, page-turning story; it’s my treat at the end of the day.

Read series or stand alone?

Definitely a series, as long as I like the characters.

Read science fiction or horror?

Neither, but if you made me choose, I’d say science fiction.  Having said that, my son is trying to get me to read horror and I’m going to give it a whirl because I’m sure those writers can teach me a lot about creating dramatic tension.

Read Stephen King or Dean Koontz? 

Neither, but probably Stephen King.

Read the book or watch the movie?

Nine times out of ten, the book’s going to be better, but if it’s a book I should know about but don’t really want to read and it’s being made into a movie, I’ll watch the movie so I’ll know what everybody’s talking about. And if it’s a book I absolutely loved, I’ll want to see the movie to see how faithfully they stuck to the book.

Read an ebook or a paperback?

I’d say half and half.  I buy a lot of used books as research material for my books and it’s much easier to take notes from a paperback. But ebooks are wonderful, especially when traveling.

Be trapped alone for one month in a library with no computer or a room with a computer and wi-fi only? 

What a great question! I would probably be more productive in the library, but knowing me, I’d no doubt go bonkers after a day or so and beg to have the computer and wi-fi.  How sad is that?!

Do a cross-country book store tour or blog tour online? 
I much prefer the online blog tour because I have a fear (maybe it’s another phobia!) of sitting at a book signing and having no one stop by! But if that’s what it took to get the word out about my books, I’d go on the tour.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A native of California, A.B. Michaels holds masters’ degrees in history (UCLA) and broadcasting (San Francisco State University). After working for many years as a promotional writer and editor, she turned to writing fiction, which is the hardest thing she's ever done besides raise two boys. She lives with her husband and two spoiled dogs in in Boise, Idaho, where she is often distracted by kayaking, playing bocce, and trying to hit a golf ball more than fifty yards. Reading and travel figure into the mix, leading her to hope that sometime soon, someone invents a 25+ hour day. Her historical fiction series, “The Golden City,” explores America’s Gilded Age and its effect on characters, both actual and fictional, while her contemporary series, “Sinner’s Grove Suspense,” follows descendants of The Golden City as they navigate today’s equally treacherous waters. She is currently expanding both series.

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Buy Links:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble/Nook ~ Kobo ~ Google Play

Giveaway:

$30 Amazon/BN GC

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