DEBUT TOP PICK ... JANIE CROUCH

PRIMAL INSTINCT

Harlequin Intrigue

A killer stalks the city streets, and one FBI agent is determined to bring him down in Janie Crouch's Primal Instinct.

On the crowded streets of San Francisco, a serial killer watches and waits. Known only as "Simon Says," he lures his next victim while the FBI grasps for answers. Desperate, they turn to Adrienne Jeffries. Adrienne has an uncanny talent for getting inside the city's most dangerous minds. But first she'll have to get past FBI agent Conner Perigo. Skeptical of Adrienne's abilities, Conner begrudgingly enlists her help…unprepared for the powerful attraction that could jeopardize their focus. With little time, and everything to lose, they must work to find Simon's next victim—before he does.

Read a little, Buy the book

JANIE CROUCH loves to read – almost exclusively romance – and has been doing so since middle school. She learned to love Harlequin (Mills & Boon) Romances when she lived in Wales, UK as a preteen, then moved on to a passion for romantic suspense as an adult. Her favorite authors include: Linda Howard, Nora Roberts, and Elizabeth Lowell.

Janie lives with her husband and four children in Virginia. Her “day job” is teaching public speaking and communication courses at a community college. When she’s not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie-watching, knitting and adventure (obstacle) racing. She is currently training for an Ironman Triathlon (Ironman Florida, November 2014).

GETTING TO KNOW JANIE

ANGI: How often to you get lost in a story?

JANIE: In terms of other people’s? These days, not as often as I would like! I’ve had some pretty heavy deadlines over the past few months, so unfortunately, haven’t had a tremendous amount of time for reading. My TBR pile keeps growing and growing! But I will get to them. I look forward to that.

But I get lost in my own stories all the time! It’s perhaps the most wondrous thing about being a writer.

ANGI: What’s the first book you remember reading? 

JANIE: The Monster at the End of this Book (starring loveable furry old Grover). It was one of those “Little Golden Books.” I read that book over and over, and even read it to my kids twenty five years later. I love Grover at the end… “I’m so embarrassed.” 

ANGI: What’s your favorite cartoon character?

JANIE: As a mother of four kids you would think I would’ve made peace with cartoon characters. But the truth is, I really don’t like animated films or cartoons. The exception is Disney’s The Incredibles. What a great movie that was! I loved their interaction as a family.

ANGI: "Don't make me come back there."

ANGI: What do you like about the hero of your book?

JANIE: I like his confidence and his willingness to follow his gut instincts – even when he doesn’t necessarily understand where that’s leading him. Plus the fact that he’s tall, dark and ridiculously sexy, of course.

ANGI: What sound or noise do you love?

JANIE:  I love the sound of my children laughing and having fun. With four school-aged children, our house is rarely a quiet place, but that’s fine. Kids are meant to be run and be rowdy and squeal and laugh. Happy-kid noise is beautiful! But it can also get pretty loud, so you can often find me using my noise-reducing headphones when writing.

ANGI: Fairy Tale or Action Adventure?

JANIE: Action Adventure – always. The thought of being a princess passively waiting for my prince never appealed to me. I once read a book (how I wish I could remember which one it was!) where the author described the heroine: “she wasn’t a damsel in distress, she was a damsel doing damage.” That.  I love everything about that.

ANGI: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

JANIE:  I’m a huge sci-fi fan. The original Star Wars movies are what I’m known for loving. But The Matrix is my favorite movie of all time. The Mummy with Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weisz also gets an honorable mention – I love the romance and chemistry between the two of them. The Avenger’s ranks really high up there too. I should probably stop now or we might be here all day. Although I will say that every book I’ve written so far (even the ones that are coming out next year) has mentioned a movie somewhere in it.  

ANGI: Who’s your favorite villain?

JANIE: My favorite villain of all time is Sherlock’s Jim Moriarty (played by Andrew Scott). He’s the perfect villain: intelligent, confident, deliberate, mysterious. And just the right amount of crazy.

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: I know that you travel a lot, Janie. What's your favorite place you've been, why, and do you have a picture of you there to share?

JANIE'S GOTTA ANSWER:  You are so right, I have blessed to have travelled all over the world. I have dipped my toes in the Dead Sea in Israel, marveled from the top of the Eiffel Tower, stood on the edge of the harbor of the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and walked along the Great Wall of China. I’ve also visited such wonderful places as: London, New York, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Curacao, San Francisco, Alaska, Jamaica, Germany, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas (too many times to count), Key West, Scotland, Washington DC, Chicago, Vancouver, and Mexico. 

 

But my favorite place I’ve ever been to was Hong Kong. I would love to return there again someday. I’ve included a picture from my 2005 trip, my husband and I visited for just two days on our way into mainland China to adopt our youngest daughter. 

FIND JANIE:

Contact   Website    Facebook

Twitter   @JanieCrouch  

Goodreads    Pintrest    Blogs  

UP NEXT for JANIE: Next release will be in December 2014. I am currently writing a four-book series for Harlequin Intrigue about the Branson siblings (three brothers and a sister) all who have ties to Omega Sector – a covert, law-enforcement group.  These siblings have some tragedy in their pasts, but are willing to put their hearts, and lives, on the line.

JANIE is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card (to purchase PRIMAL INSTINCT, or whatever the reader enjoys!) Be sure to leave your email address in the comments or send it to GetLostInAStory@gmail.com 

EXTRA BONUS !!  LIKE Janie's FB page and receive a double entry into the drawing. Tell her in your comments below and you could double your chances.

Whoever can receive a gift card

Note: COMMENTERS are encouraged to leave a contact email address to speed the prize notification process. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

ANGI'S back on First Friday with the Crew.

UP NEXT ON GLIAS:  JODI THOMAS.

~Angi Morgan  

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JANIE WANTS TO KNOW: If you could travel to any one city in the world, where would you choose? OR… where is the most interesting place you have travelled?