Thursday

Spotlight, Excerpt, Guest Post & Giveaway : Stray Ally by Troy Lambert


Book Blurb & Info

A strange accident on the freeway, accusations of murder, and an encounter in the Idaho wilderness all propel Todd Clarke into a new friendship with a dog named Sparky. But Sparky is no ordinary dog, and there is more going on than Clarke could have imagined.

A military commander he investigated for Aryan activity and links to domestic terrorism is after him, and he’s not sure why until another chance encounter provides the answer.
With Sparky and the help of his canine friends, will he be able to figure out the Colonel’s plan and stop him in time? All Clarke knows for sure is none of it would be possible without the help of his Stray Ally.

Buy Link: http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Lambert_Troy/stray-ally.htm
Book Excerpt

I know you are a nice dog, but can you act mean? I shot the thought at the dog, hoping the telepathy really worked.

A single sharp bark. Does that mean yes?

Are you a cat?

Two sharp barks. Okay, that settled that.

Abrams looked nervously at the dog.

"What's the matter? Not an animal lover?"

"Clarke, he's trained to..."

"To what?"

He shook his head.

"Sic?"

Sparky growled and nipped toward Abrams exposed crotch. Teeth bared, foam gathered at the edge of his lips, he looked vicious.

"No! No!" He tried to rock back, to flee, but his actions only set him rocking back and forth, each forward motion bringing him closer to Sparky's snapping jaws. I started to wonder if the dog meant it.

"Okay, okay, call him off! Jesus!"

"Sparky, sit."

Instantly he stopped barking and settled back on his haunches, watching me.
Guest Post
What's In a Name?

Almost every time I write something, I start out with a theme and a title in mind. I started to write Stray Ally with a theme, but no name. An odd predicament for me.

A few years ago there was a big flap over an article in Writer’s Digest. In the piece, the author mentioned that often writers are horrible at coming up with book titles, and jokingly mentioned publishers were seeking talented “Title Writers.” The response, of course, was overwhelming. Thousands of writers from all over quickly wrote in to explain why they wrote wonderful titles, and publishers were flooded with resumes for a clearly non-existent position.

As I worked on Stray Ally still untitled, I thought back to that article, and imagined I might need to employ the services of one of these fictitious freelancers. Instead, I turned to my fans. I posted a blurb, and a brief summary, and asked them what they would call the story.

The response was overwhelming. In the end, I had several titles to choose from. But how should I pick? I let my fans vote.

Stray Ally was an early favorite of mine, and it turns out won the vote hands down. In two words, it summarizes the story. A big shout out to one of my fans, Bethany Clayton, for coming up with this one. So if you ever look at a book and wonder where the name came from, it’s probably just something the author came up with on the fly.

But every now and then, titles are chosen in a more democratic fashion.
Author Info

Troy works as a freelance writer, researcher, and editor. He writes historical site characterization reports for those performing remediation on former resource extraction sites, software instruction and help guides, and edits the research of others as well. His true passion is writing dark, psychological thrillers. His work includes Broken Bones, a collection of his short stories, Redemption the first in the Samuel Elijah Johnson Series, Temptation the sequel to Redemption, along with the horror Satanarium, co-authored with Poppet, a brilliant author from South Africa and published by Wild Wolf Publishing. His next novel, Stray Ally, will be published March 4th by Tirgearr Publishing. The final in the Samuel Elijah Johnson Series, Confession will be published May 1st.

Troy lives with his wife of twelve years, two of his five children and two very talented dogs. He is a skier, cyclist, hiker, fisherman, hunter, and a terrible beginning golfer.

Author Links
Author Website: www.troylambertwrites.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authortroy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Troy-Lambert/191932724173411?ref=hl
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Troy-Lambert/e/B005LL1QEC
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Authrotroy
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AuthorTroy
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/troy-lambert/2b/650/5a3
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/authortroy/
~Giveaway~

Best story of a dog (Stray Ally) that you rescued or that helped you through a hard time sent to author@troylambertwrites.com by March 29th wins a $25 Amazon gift card. Winner and story shared on my blog Monday, March 31st. Share your story today
Tour Info

1 comment:

  1. KemberleeMarch 20, 2014 at 2:53 AM

    Awesome story. Highly recommend it for anyone who loves dogs . . . oh, and edge of your seat reading ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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