Wednesday

Author Spotlight, Excerpts & Interview : Jeffrey Perren (Historical Fiction/Mystery)

Author Spotlight


Jeffrey Perren

Book Blurb & Info
"Professor Thomas Payne didn't intend to wind up dead on his caving vacation to Wales, and in truth he wasn't the victim. But proving his identity to the police becomes tricky after they pull his passport off the body and conclude the deceased is Dr. Payne, no doubt.

Things go from bogus to baffling when a mysterious phone call at the crime scene leads to the arrest of the young scientist. His fate seems sealed when the victim's fingerprints match the professor's work visa and his employment records disappear altogether.

A tart-tongued American with no identity looks like a pretty good patsy to the detectives eager to close the case. Being accused of killing himself presents the brooding inventor with an interesting puzzle, but taking time to solve it from jail will threaten his deadline to file a patent worth millions.

Intervention by the smitten police captain's sculptress daughter frees Thomas to search for clues to prove his innocence before his invention goes up for grabs. So, it's off around the UK with Terri, one jump ahead of the authorities — and his estranged sociopathic father, a lapsed Quaker who may be the real killer. One slip and claustrophobia will be the least of his problems.

Thomas' journey soon becomes as much about healing his troubled past as recovering his present self. Along the way, he'll battle betrayals by his envious staff, romance the rebellious artist, and suffer harrowing misadventures at historic sites in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Travel — even to find yourself — was never so perilous."
Death Is Overrated Excerpt


EXCERPT - DEATH IS OVERRATED – A MYSTERY BY JEFFREY PERREN

“She opened her eyes again and searched discreetly for the man who had invited Thomas to the island.

She was determined to appear casual, to keep her observer off guard. But the strain of waiting was taking its toll. With every muscle taut, she was beginning to tire. Relax, girl, just relax, she told herself. He’ll get here. And his face will tell you somehow whether he’s the one who put Thomas in the path of the police by false implication.

She was glad now she’d stopped at a shop in Glasgow to pick up a change of clothing. The bikini top and shorts suited her purpose much better than her business suit. She flicked a look at the lowering sun and hoped she would still be glad in a little while. The weather in the Hebrides could change from bright to stormy on a whim.

She tipped her head back and slowly moved her face from one shoulder to the other, like a delphinium following the sun. But she took no pleasure in it this time. It was a feint so she could look around again without seeming obvious. She was sure she would recognize the man who sent the email, though she could not have explained why. She saw no one nearby.

Even during the summer, in late evening there were but a dozen people on the island that held Fingal’s Cave. This day, two were sunning themselves, but far from her. Most of the rest were clambering over the rocks, leaving the cave, trying to avoid slipping off the basalt columns and into the sea. A couple were already waiting at the shore. There was less ten minutes before the last boat left.

Terri debated whether she should check inside the cave. If she stayed where she was much longer she’d miss the boat and camping on Staffa overnight could be suicide. She looked at the dark clouds in the distance and judged that trouble was on the way. Then she measured again how low the sun was. She’d give him another few minutes to show.

When he didn’t, she looked at the boat anxiously, checking her phone’s clock for the fourth time. To avoid being reported by the tour boat captain she watched from behind a boulder as the boat left, then ambled back to her previous spot and lay down.

Unseen, a man lying on his stomach watched her from the flat, tan bluff atop Fingal’s Cave.”
Book Blurb & Info

"How far can one man go for his freedom?

Rebellious Breutier Armande, a rising young civil engineer in Paris, is drafted into the Grande Armeé on the eve of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign.

On a scouting mission in St. Petersburg he meets Kaarina, a Finnish mathematician and daughter of the counselor to Tsar Alexander I. The pair soon fall in love. But Kaarina is betrothed to Agripin, a vicious Cossack and a favorite of the Tsar.

When she refuses him, Agripin kidnaps her, aided by Kaarina's envious twin sister, Kaisa. At a time of Europe's brief, uneasy truce Breutier deserts Napoleon's army and the Tsar's employ to reclaim Kaarina. Dodging the vengeance of the world's most powerful rulers sends Breutier on a perilous quest to hunt down the era's most ruthless Cossack.

Interweaving the characters' personal dramas with the epochal events of the following two years forms the core of the story. Historically accurate, the novel climaxes at the moment when, for the first time in 400 years, foreign armies invaded France, leaving behind Cossacks in Paris."

Buy Links:
Amazon US
http://www.amazon.com/Cossacks-Paris-Napoleonic-era-novel-ebook/dp/B00ADRAQJK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1389131043&sr=1-1&keywords=cossacks+in+paris

Amazon Canada
http://www.amazon.ca/Cossacks-Paris-Napoleonic-era-novel-ebook/dp/B00ADRAQJK/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1389131094&sr=1-1

Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cossacks-Paris-Jeffrey-Perren/dp/1484835107/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389131002&sr=1-1&keywords=cossacks+in+paris

Createspace
https://www.createspace.com/4252020
Cossacks In Paris Excerpt


EXCERPT OF COSSACKS IN PARIS – HISTORICAL NOVEL BY JEFFREY PERREN

Breutier stood panting in a corner outside the palace, nestled between some holly bushes and a wall just higher than his head. It was not a safe place to hide for very long, he knew. It would take only a single guard to glance down the length of the wall and he would unquestionably be spotted. There were many possible hiding spots around the grounds, but between the nighttime weather and lack of water he wouldn't last long. He had to assume orders had been given not to let him pass any gate, and he couldn't possibly scale the surrounding wall.

He looked around, hot for an escape route.

Then his view landed on a pipe running up a wall to the third floor. He estimated it to be about twenty meters further from where he thought the library was. From the design, he guessed it was of French design. Engineers from Europe had been working in Russia for over a hundred years, but this pipe was new. Obviously, someone had installed indoor plumbing recently in at least one part of the palace. And he had a hunch who had suggested it. He used the pipe to climb the wall.

The moisture on the pipe made the climb difficult, but he had good toe holds from the wall brick. Now all he had to do was make it all the way up without being spotted from below. He had reached the second floor

when on his periphery he noticed a guard rounding the corner. Fortunately, the man hadn't thought to look up to find him. Yet.

Breutier's muscles strained to hold his position while the guard sauntered away. When he rounded the other corner, Breutier scrambled the rest of the way up like a panther after a doe.

At the third floor he raised a leg sideways and just managed to get his boot's toe onto the parapet of the balcony. He wouldn't be able to hold on to the pipe and slide the other foot onto the base. All he could do was push off and hope to generate enough lateral momentum to reach.

He had to avoid going too far, since jumping off the low wall onto the balcony floor would alert anyone on the other side of the French windows. But if he didn't push hard enough, he'd tumble down the three stories to the stone below.

He took a deep breath and shoved as hard as he dared. It proved more than enough to get him onto the parapet, but too hard to prevent him falling onto the balcony floor. To soften the noise he tucked his head and rolled over onto his back.

It hadn't been soft enough. He could see a figure behind the thin curtains move toward him. He had nowhere to hide. The tall glass doors covered the entire width of the balcony.

Kaarina opened the doors as Breutier backed against the balcony rails, whipping his head left and right to seek an escape. He had no way of knowing of her attempt to block Agripin. She was Finnish and, so far as he knew, loyal to its ruling Russian regime. He spun around and looked over at the pipe, debating whether to jump for it.

"Desya, come inside, quick!" she whispered harshly.

He spun back and looked at her eyes, gray now in the fading evening light. Only the candlelight from inside illuminated the gold streaks. But he could see well enough to make out the smile beneath the concerned expression in her eyes. He moved away from the balcony's edge and into the room as she backed away from the door frame.

"My name is not Desya," he said in a normal tone of voice in French. "It's Breutier. I'm an engineer in Napoleon's army."
Interview

Tell us about yourself

I was born in Independence, MO right around the corner from Harry Truman's house. But, then, at the time everything there was right around the corner from Harry Truman's house. Right now I live in Sandpoint, Idaho with my wife. With her I share a love for Golden Retrievers and maintain a healthy friendship with a neighborhood Belgian Shepherd. I was educated in philosophy at UCLA and in physics at UC Irvine.

I wrote my first short story at age 12 and went on to win the Bank of America Fine Arts award at 17. I've had short stories published at the award-winning sites Apollo's Lyre and Mystericale.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Devising an engaging plot from scratch, from a blank sheet of paper, so to speak. I struggle mightily with that — to keep the story interesting in every scene, to build a progression of greater and greater obstacles that are, nonetheless, still plausible-seeming to the reader.

It helps to start with characters that one finds interesting, but letting them be the drivers through events that keep the reader engaged from the first page to last is a tremendous challenge. Tremendous, but very satisfying when done well.

One always hopes, of course, that the readers find the journey equally interesting.

How many books you have published.

I've published two novels to date.

My debut novel is “Cossacks In Paris,” an historical adventure set in Napoleonic Europe. The hero in this novel, Breutier, was inspired by a real solider who participated in the Battle of Paris in 1814.

My second novel is a mystery set in contemporary UK, including exotic Staffa Isle and Fingal's Cave in the Hebrides called "Death Is Overrated."

Do you plan any subsequent books?

Oh my, yes! I have a third – Clonmac’s Bridge– in the final stages of editing.

Here's a short blurb to whet your appetite:

“A maritime archaeologist raises a medieval monastery span from the mud of the River Shannon, sunken for 1200 years... and finds it perfectly preserved.

What could account for this astounding longevity? And why are his colleagues, the Irish government, the media, and the Church conspiring to prevent him learning the secret?

Griffin Clonmac will go through hell to find out.”

Next up, I'm writing a short novel based on the William Tell legend - with a twist I think readers will find interesting.

Then, I'm moving on to a 19th century medical drama of a young Irish woman who emigrates to America to become a physician, something very difficult to do at the time.

Long term, I have a trilogy planned which is set in the Age of Discovery – that period when seafaring European explorers were just learning how to navigate to India, South America, and elsewhere. It will cover first the Venetians, then the Portuguese, and finally the Dutch — all through the adventures of the distaff half of three generations of merchants.

If you were stranded on a deserted island with all the published works of just one author, who would you choose?

The author of "How to Build a Great Boat Without Tools."

Seriously, I doubt I could pick one, but if limited to just one I'd have to say Alexander Dumas.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Well there is the trite but true: write every day, as many hours as you can. As importantly, I’d say: try to lead an interesting life and be a careful observer as you go. I’ve had many adventures over the years and it has helped shaped my mind and values. That can’t help but bleed into your writing.

It’s not enough to be a good writer. You must write something interesting, and to do that you have to make good selections of what to write and how. Any novel is made up of dozens of such choices. Good novels are made of good choices.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Yes. I’d like to say a very heartfelt thank you to anyone who has read and reviewed my work and to you for this interview. Also, an even larger Thank You to my wife, for being the divine woman she is and, yet, still choosing me.


Find Jeffrey Perren
http://www.amazon.com/Jeffrey-Perren/e/B00B7PTTKO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6851798.Jeffrey_Perren
http://jeffreyperren.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cliostory?ref=hl

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)