Meet a Real Life Character from a Future Faces of Evil Book!

Welcome to the Weekly Briefing! Be sure to leave a comment today! One lucky commenter will win a copy of Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places as well as an Arab, Alabama Polk Salat Festival t-shirt! So let’s talk people!

Life takes us on a journey. Of course it’s a different journey for everyone but there is one certainty on  most of our journeys–we meet lots of folks along the way. I have been very blessed. I’ve met many wonderful people on my path! I’ve had the opportunity to live in several states as well as in Europe (my husband was an Army man) and I’ve learned much from the folks I’ve come to know . Every move, whether across the ocean or across town, brings a new neighborhood and new faces. Each new acquaintance is a new adventure!

The same can be said for a fictional world. Each character has his or her own journey and it’s important to introduce new folks along the way, particularly in a series. Book four in the Faces of Evil series, RAGE, is out now and books five and six, REVENGE and RUTHLESS, will be out this summer! In each you will follow along in the journey of the charactesrs you have already come to know and you’ll meet new ones–good and bad! One upcoming character scheduled for book twelve, TORMENTER, is a real life person! We’ll call her Dr. Linda. You’ve seen her often right here as a commenter and on Facebook where she tells all how much she loves the Faces of Evil series!

[image error]Since it’s important that I know a character well before bringing her to life on the page, Dr. Linda has agreed to answer a number of questions for me and for you!

Deb: Tell us about you, Dr. Linda.

Dr. Linda: I have been a veterinarian for 17 years now and currently work in a predominantly small animal practice where I also do some rescue work.  My job takes up a lot of my time but I have managed to carve a few small niches into my life. I have recently taken up photography again as a hobby. I don’t get to go out as often as I would like but when I do I mainly photograph wildlife and nature. I really like to cook, which is good since I live with my aunt that does not like to cook. I have multiple pets that are all cats at this time but would like to get a dog again. I am not marriend and have no  human children, but I am close to my nieces and nephews.

Deb: What does your reading library look like?

Dr. Linda: My reading library is so varied. I have sci/fi fantasy that I have read since college and just finished an awesome series by Robert Jordan [image error]this year. I have a lot of mystery/suspense that range from Allison Brennan to Elizabeth George to Karin Slaughter. I have most of your books except the Colby series. I only have the last three of those. I have romance ranging from historical to paranormal. And there are some classics that shock people: Chauncer Cantebury Tales, Shakespere, Wuthering Heights and so on. Then there are the text books!

Deb: What real life villain do you consider the most memorable?

Dr. Linda: I think it is Ted Bundy. When he was the most active I was just old to follow and understand what all of the stories meant. As a young teen it fueled an active imagination and mind.

Deb: What aspect in a mystery or suspense novel keeps you reading in the genre?

Dr. Linda: It is the mystery itself and the puzzle of trying to figure it out that brings me back. Two other authors like to put a twist in their stories like you do, Karin Slaughter and Lisa Gardner. There are times when I think I have the story figured out and then the end turns me upside down with something I did not see coming.

Deb: What do you like best about the Faces of Evil series? Who would you like to see play the roles of characters if it were a tv series or a movie?

Dr. Linda: It is not just one thing about theFaces of Evil  books but a compilations of things. First the age of both Jess and Dan resonates with me. The flaws the two of them have and the struggles that they are going through to find their way back to each other makes me both root for them and want to slap them upside the head. Each book so far has had a mystery/crime that keeps me trying to figure it out. The first book had me guessing the whole way through and still did not see the twist coming! So each book makes me want to see where you are going and how you get there with the motives that you have chosen.

Deb: Tell us about a great book you’ve read.

Dr. Linda: You really want me to just pick one… hmmm for an avid reader like myself that might be a little hard to narrow down.  There are a few that stand out but one in particular that made me wish the next book was available right away was Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot in the Sand. Lacey’s story touched something in me and the friendships of the women in the book reminded me of two of my friends and myself.

Deb: What book or movie from your childhood still haunts you.

Dr. Linda: The one book that scared the every living daylights out of me was Stephen Kings Tommy Knockers. I don’t think even having read Edgar Allen Poe’s tales scared me as much as that book.

Deb: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Dr. Linda: If I could go anywhere? This is a toss up between touring Europe, starting in England and then going from country to country until I got to Italy, and Africa. The two places are different in so many ways but both have things I would love to see and photograph. Europe for all of the historical sites. Africa for all of the amazing natural sites and wildlife.

Deb: Tell us about your pets (now or in the past).

Dr. Linda: I cannot remember a time in my life that I have not had a pet. The majority of the animals that have come into my life in the last 20 years have been rescues of one kind or another. But there is one point in my life when I had to say goodbye to one and another that came into my life that sticks out to me as poignant and shows God will give you what you need. A couple of years ago Bengal, my 17 year old cat that had been with me since vet school, was not doing well. He had diabetes that was managed at that point but he was painful and still vomiting. So I took him to work to do some testing. He had a mass in his abdomen, that I could not tell if it was in his spleen or pancreas from the x-rays. So I decided to do surgery to explore and see if I could take out the mass. Once I opend him it became apparent that he had pancreatic cancer. The hardest thing I have ever done was to close him up because the cancer was all through the abdomen and there was nothing for me to do. I decided as tears ran down my face that I would not let him wake up from the surgery. But here is where God took care of me. Three weeks earlier one of my employees had brought in a young cat that someone had put a rubber band on his right front leg. This had cut off the circulation to the lower part of the leg and killed off the tissue and there was an infection where the band sat. I had to amputate the leg. My plan for Zippy, that is the name I gave him, was to find a home for him. He was still at the clinic when I brought Bengal in.  Zippy was accustommed to spending a lot of time with me in the office, so as I sat on the futon holding Bengal as he was given his last injection, Zippy came onto the futon. He did not try to displace Bengal from my lap instead he reached up with his remaining front leg and patted my face, then curled next to me. I decided then that Zippy was supposed to come into my life. He did not replace Bengal, he helped me heal from the loss of a dear friend. Oh and in case you think poor Zippy is handicapped or disabled, he would tell and show you differently.

Deb: Tell us about the best day in your life so far.

Dr. Linda: The best day in my life so far…that one has to be a tie for the day I got my acceptance letter into vet school and the day I got the results of my board exams (passed them on the first try!) Celebrated both times with champagne and did major happy dances and walked on cloud nine for most of the day/night. That could have been because of the champagne but will just say that I was exstatic both days.

Wow, is this lady a hero or what? I am so proud to have her staring in one of my books! Thanks, Dr. Linda! Feel free to give Linda a shout or to ask a question of your own about books or being a vet! Thank you so much, Dr. Linda!

Remember, you have to comment to win!

Deb