No, folks, S. D. Skye is not
a victim of the seven-year itch. She has a new romantic suspense titled THE SEVEN
YEAR ITCH, the first of her J J McCall series, and will share it with us today after I grill, um, I mean ask her a
few questions. S.D. Skye is a former FBI Russian Counterintelligence Program
Intelligence Analyst and supported several key cases during her 12-year tenure
at the Bureau. She has personally witnessed the blowback the Intelligence
Community suffered due to the most significant compromises in U.S. history,
including the arrests of former CIA Case Officer Aldrich Ames and two of the
Bureau's own--FBI Agents Earl Pitts and Robert Hanssen. She has spent 20 years
supporting counterintelligence, intelligence, and military missions in the U.S.
Intelligence Community.
S.D.
will be awarding a Kindle Fire to a randomly drawn commenter at the end of the
tour. (US/CANADA ONLY)
Now to cross-exam her:
Caroline: Tell us something
about growing up and your deepest personal secrets.
SD: I’m one of the
Washingtonians who was actually born in Washington. But I spent my high school
years and my first two years of college as a Buckeye in a small town in the
Ohio Valley. That’s where my mother and her family were from. It was culture
shock for a city girl, but I loved my time there.
In school, I’d like to think
I was a cool nerd, as I was an honor roll student without a pocket protector.
But I think the fact that I played the tuba in the band puts me squarely in the
bookworm/major nerd category.
Now, I’m a single mom of one
precocious…I mean er…precious 12 year old son who has somehow managed to trump
me with his sense of humor and perfect comic timing. Funniest kid I’ve ever
met…said the biased mom.
Caroline: All moms should be
biased toward their kids. Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?
SD: My tastes are completely
random and eclectic. I read everything from Jane Austen to Stephen King. I used
to be a major chick lit fan but I haven’t found one in a long time that hasn’t
irritated me. Now, I read a lot of non-fiction, biography type books. I like
reading how people overcome challenges in their journeys to success. In
fiction, I’ll read any book with an engaging character and a story that won’t
allow me to put the book down. If I can’t put it down, I won’t put it down.
Caroline: Don’t laugh at the
next question, since you have a preteen: What’s your favorite way to relax and
recharge?
SD: I haven’t had the
occasion to do much relaxing and recharging in a few years. Come to think of
it, I don’t think I’ve had a vacation since I started my writing career. I’ve
been on a writing and promoting bend ever since the writing bug bit. But when I
do relax, I’m a true Aquarian in that I love to be near the water. Not
necessarily in the water, but I love
the sound of the ocean. I also like taking long drives and howling to the
radio. The noises that emanate from my mouth could not constitute singing.
Caroline: Oh, I also have to
sing when alone. Otherwise, people come running to see how badly I’m injured. ☺Do
you have a favorite quote that sums up how you feel about life?
SD: Experience is the only
teacher that gives you the test first and the lesson later. This is the story
of my life, a text book lesson in learning from error and trial. I should be
the smartest person on the planet, but I’m not even close. But I’m much smarter
than I used to be, so I’m making progress.
Caroline: Great quote. How
long have you been writing?
SD: I’ve been writing since I
was about 7 or 8. My mom used to buy me those diaries with the key lock on
them. I’ve been keeping journals ever since. Every now and then I’d go back and
read my entries and I truly cracked myself up. My entire writing career is
based on a self-indulgent need to make others more entertained by laughing at
my life than I am. For some reason I kept talking myself out of writing a book
though. Gave myself a lot of excuses, like “I don’t have a degree in English,”
or “No one will ever read it.” When I hit the big 4-0, somehow I got the
courage to do it. I wrote my first novel, after a break-up, in about four
months. I haven’t looked back since.
Caroline: Journaling is a
good habit for writers. Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music,
solitude?
SD: Even though I have an
office with a door (a luxury to many writers), I mostly write at my dining room
table. My office sits on the back my house so I get little natural light in
there, and sunlight energizes me. I’m one of those people who get depressed
during the winter months because of the shorter days. But light pours through
my dining room window so I’m at home there.
My writing conditions change
depending on my mood. Sometimes I need quiet, other times I need white noise.
Sometimes, I can write with music. Other times I can’t. As of late, I’ve been
in this weird phase where I can only write if Harry Potter movies are playing
in the background. My 12 year old son is enjoying this phase. I love Harry and
have read all the books, some twice, but I’m looking forward to getting over
this.
I have two laptops and two
desktops, but I mostly use my dining room desktop because it has a 23 inch
screen and I’m blind as a bat.
Caroline: Do you use real
events or persons in your stories or as an inspiration for stories?
SD: Absolutely. Every book
I’ve ever written contains little pieces of me. THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, my current
release, is actually based on an FBI agent with whom I worked during my 12-year
tenure at the FBI.
Caroline: Wow, 12 years in
the FBI is very impressive. Do you set daily writing goals? Do you get a chance
to write every day?
SD: Since my job involves
writing, I have no choice but to write every day. But I usually go with the
flow. Some days, I might write for 12 hours and others I may write for 12
minutes. Some days I might work on my novel, and other days, if I feel a little
blocked or short on ideas, I might work on one of my blogs or promotion. Baby
steps or big steps, my primary goal is to make progress and move forward.
Caroline: That’s all we can
do, isn’t it? What do you hope your writing brings to readers?
SD: Entertain, enjoyment,
lots of laughter, and maybe a few life lessons. I think all of my books contain
all of these elements, some to a greater degree than others.
Caroline: What long-term
plans do you have for your career?
SD: I plan to write until I
have no more stories to tell, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Ideas are constantly coming to me and if I cloned myself twice I’m not sure I’d
have time to get them all written. Right
now I have a slew of crazy people running around in my head that are begging to
have their business shared with complete strangers. I will indulge them for as long as I can.
Caroline: Would you like to
tell us what you’re working on now?
SD: I’ll be spending the next
two years finishing up the J.J. McCall FBI Series. In book two, SON OF AN ITCH, Russian intelligence plants a bug in the
White House Situation Room walls and J.J. has to identify the culprit who
helped them. In the meantime, J.J.’s
nemesis plots to kill her and defect to Moscow. It’s turning out to be fun book
to write, lots more romantic tension in the sticky triangle, a few love scenes
(can’t say who is involved),and I’m not sure I could come up with a more
exciting ending. Can’t wait until it’s done.
Caroline: Sounds like a
terrific book and I love the title’s word play. What advice would you give to
unpublished authors?
SD: First, don’t try to
follow trends. Write the story that is in your heart and soul to tell.
Secondly, don’t get hung up on making perfect first drafts. They are supposed
to be crap and everything can be fixed. If you want to have a successful
career, the key is to FINISH.
Caroline: What’s something
about you that would surprise or shock readers?
SD: If you’re not shocked by
now, I’m pretty sure nothing else in my life story would do the trick.
I was once on the news show
60 Minutes and got my 15 seconds of fame. They did a feature on an art theft
case that I supported while I maintained the FBI’s National Stolen Art File,
before I got into counterintelligence. That same week I was featured in U.S.A.
Today for the same story. I know what you’re thinking…art theft too? Yes, I’ve
had a pretty storied career.
Caroline: You have had a
career to keep you writing for a lifetime. Can you give readers a blurb about
your book?
SD:
Her Family Was Vexed With a Generational Curse. Now for Lie Detecting FBI Spy
Catcher J.J. McCall, the Truth is in The Seven Year Itch.
FBI
Special Agent J.J. McCall is a born lie detector who recruits foreign spies to
catch American traitors. She and co-case agent Tony Donato have lost two of
their most critical Russian sources in the past two years, and they may lose
another in just a few short days if they don’t catch him, The ICE PHANTOM, a
rumored insider spy more insidious and elusive than Ames and Hanssen combined.
They suspect he might be burrowed deep inside FBI counterintelligence—and his
body count is going up.
Drawn
into an unsanctioned mole hunt, they have a week to catch him, save a key
source’s life—and their own. While J.J.’s lie detecting ability helps them
narrow down the list of suspects, the lie she tells to herself may help the ICE
PHANTOM defect to Moscow and get away with the murder of the man she loves.
Skye's
debut FBI Series, filled with mystery, espionage, romance, and suspense, will
keep you burning through the pages until J.J. catches the very last spy.
Caroline: How about an
excerpt?
SD: Excerpt of SEVEN YEAR
ITCH
Monday Morning in Moscow…
Mikhail Polyakov was murdered
in a Solntsevskaya-owned cottage located in Lobnya, a small village just
outside Moscow. It was a Russian organized crime death chamber. A hulking
Mafioso known only as Maskov hovered over his mangled corpse. The ax in his
massive hand dripped with the blood of a traitor. He would not live to betray
his country another day. In the safe house basement, he lay on the concrete
floor. A pool of crimson surrounded him, and his flesh had been gashed and
hacked beyond visual recognition; death’s stench thickened the air. In order to
serve its only noble purpose, his right hand, which bore a crescent-shaped
birthmark, was left untouched.
A sliver of light shone
through an undersized window revealing the wicked grin that parted the
executioner’s cigarette blackened lips. Colonel Anatoliy Golikov. A Russian
intelligence officer, he was a member of a cadre of Russian Foreign
Intelligence Service—SVR officers—from the First Department. His professional mission
had been recruiting people who sold U.S. secrets, but his personal mission was
to kill anyone who betrayed the Motherland.
His skinny eyes, slight
frame, and borderline gaunt face colored him weak, but his iron-fisted will and
suffocating persona made him a man few crossed. Even fewer had lived to brag
about it if they had. The son of a former hardline KGB General who executed
Russians spying for the West, he’d filled his father’s sadistic shoes well.
Left nothing in his wake except a trail of dead American sins against Russia.
Caroline: Where can readers
find your books?
SD: SEVEN YEAR ITCH, a JJ
McCall Novel, is available in print and ebook from Amazon at:
Caroline: How can readers
learn more about you?
Don't forget to leave a comment to qualify for SD's generous drawing of a Kindle Fire. You can increase your chances by following her tour and commenting at each stop. Her tour stops are listed on her website, given above.
Thanks for stopping by!
