1/15/2013

Welcoming Back Melanie Atkins

I'm so please to be bringing back an author who has visited us before. She's got a brand new book out and took the time come and tell us a little about it as well as answer a few new fun questions for us.  I hope you'll welcome Melanie Atkins and enjoy reading about "Written in Blood."
  Title:   Written in Blood
Publisher:  Desert  Breeze Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61252-249-4

"WRITTEN IN BLOOD" - STORY BLURB

Detective Tripp Broussard longs to show his bad cop, ex-con father that he's a good cop, but time is running out. His father is dying. So Tripp risks his own life to go after a gruesome serial murderer -- anything to prove he's a better man than his dad.

Angel Saint-Martin, a blood spatter expert on loan to the department, needs her father to accept her choice of a non-traditional career, and cracking this case will show him she can handle herself in a man's world. Driven by a common bond, Tripp and Angel band together to solve the case and put the notorious Vincent Delgado back behind bars… and along the way, they fall in love.
EXCERPT
He bled, so they will bleed. Profusely.

"Someone took their time with this," Angel Saint-Martin murmured, tracing the neat rusty brown brush strokes without actually touching them. The words emblazoned on the light green wall in blood, not ink. Blood from a homicide victim. "He knows what he's doing. No drips, no extraneous marks, no spatter. Just long, deliberate strokes, like at the other scene."

"So... you're saying he's an artist?" Detective Tripp Broussard shot her a dubious look and shoved his pad and pen into the inside pocket of his coat. "Come on, Angel. He murdered that poor woman in cold blood."

"Doesn't mean he can't draw. Maybe he's a sign painter. I mean, look at that perfect loop in the L -- it's too precise for him not to have done this more than just a couple of times."

"That makes this murder even more eerie." Tripp put his hands on the leather holster slung across his narrow hip, and the edges of his dark blue coat flared out. "Especially finding the victim wrapped in a painter's tarp. I helped Mitch and Jonah on a serial case with that signature a year or two ago -- the papers called the guy the Handyman -- but he didn't do all this slicing and dicing or leave any messages. That dirt bag, Vincent Delgado, is in prison now anyway, doing life for strangling those women. So maybe this is a copycat... of sorts."

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions this early in the game, Detective." She glanced at his handsome profile, and a tingle slid through her. Of all the detectives who could have caught this case, it had to be him. The one night stand she'd rather forget. Just ignore him and keep it professional. Don't let him know he's getting to you.
He turned to face her. "Is that what I'm doing?"

"I-I don't know." What the hell did I even say? Heat filled her cheeks, and she forced herself to recall the last crime scene she'd visited in Hunter's Bayou, before her infamous night of shame. That scene had been pretty much identical to this one, but with more blood spatter because that victim had fought back. Angel turned away from the wall and dug into her case.

"Just keep in mind this might be an inventive son of a gun who's good with his hands."

"Uh-huh." The detective's warm mocha eyes gleamed with mysterious lights. "You once told me I'm good with my hands."

"My God, Tripp," she gasped, startled he'd brought up their unfortunate liaison. She spun to face him with a piece of contact paper in her hand. "That's not why we're here."

"Well, duh." He sent her a caustic look. "You did say that, though. Remember?
 



 A LITTLE ABOUT MELANIE:
Melanie Atkins a multi-published author of romantic suspense, a fan of crime dramas, and an avid reader. Writing is more than an escape for her -- it's a way of life. She grew up in the Deep South listening to tall tales and penning stories about her cats. Now she writes gripping stories of love, suspense, and mystery with the help of her furry little feline muses.

MELANIE ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS



LIZ: How do you celebrate the upcoming holidays—what’s your favorite tradition?
MELANIE:  I love baking Christmas cookies. I used to do it with my two boys when they were young, and this year I'll renew the tradition with my two year-old granddaughter. I'm sure we'll make a big mess, but we'll have fun!
 


LIZ: What’s the most exciting trip you’ve ever taken?

MELANIE: I've been to London three times, but the first time was the best because I was there for six weeks and had time to really explore. I love the city and would love to go back again one day.




LIZ: What’s your very favorite way to relax?

MELANIE:  With coffee, either at home with my laptop or iPad or in a coffee shop. Just so I have caffeine.




LIZ: Tell us your favorite pet story.

MELANIE:  I had a cat once that talked -- or rather, meowed -- our new kitten out of a tree. I kid you not. That cat sat by the tree meowing to the kitten until the kitten finally turned around and backed down the tree far enough for it to jump down. Now that's being helpful!




LIZ: What one thing about your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine drives her hero nuts?

MELANIE:  Tripp drives Angel crazy because he knows that deep down, she likes him, and he uses that knowledge to his advantage every chance he gets. Angel gets back at him by playing hard to get.



Blood testing supplies
LIZ: Name three things that are, at this moment, in your heroine’s purse, satchel, reticule, weapons belt or amulet bag (or whatever she carries).

MELANIE: My heroine in Written in Blood, Angel Saint-Martin, carries contact paper, evidence bags, and chemicals for the presumptive testing of blood, just to name a few things. She's a blood spatter expert.



LIZ HAS GOTTA ASK: What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever put in one of your books?

MELANIE’S GOTTA ANSWER: That's really hard to determine. Several of my heroines have owned cats, and I'm a cat lover. One owned a coffee shop, and I'm addicted to coffee. Other than stuff like that, I really don't get too personal. Does that make sense?

LIZ: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

MELANIE:  Coffee. 



DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

Yes. Do you prefer e-books or print books?



(I will be giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter today.)
 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?

Blood Bound, a single title suspense set in New Orleans, comes out February 1 at Desert Breeze Publishing. I don't have the cover art for this one yet.

                                 PREVIOUS RELEASES:Skeleton Bayou.” and "Haunted Memories."




 
CONTACT MELANIE:


Website: http://www.melanieatkins.com
Facebook: http:// ww.facebook.com/melanie.atkins
Twitter: http://twitter.com/melanie_atkins
Blogs: http://melanieatkins.wordpress.com





19 comments:

  1. Hi Melanie!
    Welcome back to GLIAS! Thanks for the fun interview and for letting me be your host this time around. Hope you enjoy your day here -- can't wait to check out your book!

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  2. Hi,

    even though I have a Kindle I think I will always prefer print books.

    A great post thank you.


    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  3. Melanie, welcome back to Get Lost in a Story. Oh, shoot, my poor pocketbook. Another one of your great books to download. This one sounds fascinating. And it's so obvious you've painstakingly done your homework as usual. Love the story about the cat talking the kitten out of tree. Off to tweet that you're with us! Happy New Year

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  4. Hi!

    There's nothing like holding a book in my hands. I do have a kindle but not my first choice.....

    Congrats on your book!

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  5. I prefer print books and will never give them up. I love to see my books on the bookcase and choose one to read. I like to hold a book in my hand.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  6. I guess I should answer your question too. I love print books for the reason Ingeborg mentioned, but I love Kindle and other e-methods because of the immediacy factor. Can I be fickle and say both?

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  7. Glad to hear from all of you! I love print books, too, but prefer my Kindle because it holds so many books. Just my personal preference. I still have books on my shelves, though.

    Donnell, I got most of my info for Written in Blood from the Sirchie DNA Labs evidence collection course I took last summer. Five days of lifting fingerprints, learning how to do a presumptive blood test, making shoe impressions, learning how to recover a buffed off serial number from a weapon, etc., etc., etc. It was a fabulous course.

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    Replies
    1. Melanie, I need to talk to you about this course!

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  8. Forgot to say thank you all so much for hosting me again! I love visiting this blog.

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  9. Awesome interview. I knew about the coffee love and the London thing we have in common and I adore the kitten out of a tree story! adorable

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  10. Written in Blood sounds great and I loved the interview!!

    I so prefer print. I'll read ebook...I have Nook that's unresponsive right noe but I love the feel of a book, the smell if brand new pages, being able to look at the cover at the flip of the hand....I know I'm crazy, LOL.

    I feel I connect better with prints. Is that kookoo?

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  11. I enjoyed the interview. I prefer print books.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  12. Cool, Jillian. We do have a lot in common.

    Jovon, thank you! I appreciate your stopping by. And no, it's not crazy to still prefer print. A lot of folks do.

    bn100, thank you for reading my guest post!

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  13. I read both! I read print books for a while which is what I am reading right now. Then I will get on an ebook kick. I do prefer print books with a little bigger print. If it is real small print I have problems with them. Normal size print is fine. I guess the advantage to ebooks is that you can increase the print size but I still like the feel of a book in my hand and love having the beautiful cover to look at.

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  14. Caffeine rules! Thanks for joining us again!

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  15. Yes! Caffeine rules! I'm having some right now. Thanks so much for allowing me to guest blog again.

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  16. I definitely prefer print books. It's easier to carry around e-books and faster to buy them, but they have nothing on the smell of new books and the feel of the pages while you hold them, so it's worth waiting longer for them and paying for the delivery. :)

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  17. CONGRATULATIONS Mary Preston
    you won Melanie's give away.

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  18. THANK YOU!! I have replied to the email received.

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