Saturday Author Spotlight: Rhys Ford #Interview #Giveaway

I fangirled. I did. WHen I asked Rhys to be my Saturday spotlight and she said yes... I fangirled! It wasn't at all professional! It's difficult to introduce Rhys Ford because I feel like everyone already knows her in this genre. She's a veteran and a pillar in this community. But, I will do my best.

*Clears throat*

This Saturday, for you, I have the exceptional author of such books as: Cole McGinnis Series, Sinners Series, Murder and Mayhem, and Fish Stick Fridays. She has entertained us for quite a long time and to have her on Diverse Reader today is an absolute honor.

We have a terrific interview, we will look at her work, and we will wrap it up in a sweet giveaway. So, let's do this.

There’s a dead man in Miki St. John’s vintage Pontiac GTO, and he has no idea how it got there.

After Miki survives the tragic accident that killed his best friend and the other members of their band, Sinner’s Gin, all he wants is to hide from the world in the refurbished warehouse he bought before their last tour. But when the man who sexually abused him as a boy is killed and his remains are dumped in Miki’s car, Miki fears Death isn’t done with him yet.

Kane Morgan, the SFPD inspector renting space in the art co-op next door, initially suspects Miki had a hand in the man’s murder, but Kane soon realizes Miki is as much a victim as the man splattered inside the GTO. As the murderer’s body count rises, the attraction between Miki and Kane heats up. Neither man knows if they can make a relationship work, but despite Miki’s emotional damage, Kane is determined to teach him how to love and be loved — provided, of course, Kane can catch the killer before Miki becomes the murderer’s final victim.

Cole Kenjiro McGinnis, ex-cop and PI, is trying to get over the shooting death of his lover when a supposedly routine investigation lands in his lap. Investigating the apparent suicide of a prominent Korean businessman's son proves to be anything but ordinary, especially when it introduces Cole to the dead man's handsome cousin, Kim Jae-Min.

Jae-Min's cousin had a dirty little secret, the kind that Cole has been familiar with all his life and that Jae-Min is still hiding from his family. The investigation leads Cole from tasteful mansions to seedy lover s trysts to Dirty Kiss, the place where the rich and discreet go to indulge in desires their traditional-minded families would rather know nothing about.

It also leads Cole McGinnis into Jae-Min's arms, and that could be a problem. The death of Jae-Min's cousin is looking less and less like a suicide, and Jae-Min is looking more and more like a target. Cole has already lost one lover to violence he's not about to lose Jae-Min too.

When his Uncle Mortimer died and left him Hoxne Grange, the family’s Gilded Age estate, Tristan Pryce knew he wasn’t going to have an easy time of it. He was to be the second generation of Pryces to serve as a caretaker for the estate, a way station for spirits on their final steps to the afterlife. The ghosts were the simple part. He’d been seeing boo-wigglies since he was a child. No, the difficult part was his own family. Determined to establish Tristan’s insanity, his loving relatives hire Dr. Wolf Kincaid and his paranormal researchers, Hellsinger Investigations, to prove the Grange is not haunted.

Skeptic Wolf Kincaid has made it his life’s work to debunk the supernatural. After years of cons and fakes, he can’t wait to reveal the Grange’s ghostly activity is just badly leveled floorboards and a drafty old house. The Grange has more than a few surprises for him, including its prickly, reclusive owner. Tristan Pryce is much less insane and much more attractive than Wolf wants to admit and when his Hellsinger team unwittingly release a ghostly serial killer on the Grange, Wolf is torn between his skepticism and protecting the man he’d been sent to discredit. 

Dead women tell no tales.

Former cat burglar Rook Stevens stole many a priceless thing in the past, but he’s never been accused of taking a life—until now. It was one thing to find a former associate inside Potter’s Field, his pop culture memorabilia shop, but quite another to stumble across her dead body.

Detective Dante Montoya thought he’d never see Rook Stevens again—not after his former partner’d falsified evidence to entrap the jewelry thief and Stevens walked off scot-free. So when he tackled a fleeing murder suspect, Dante was shocked to discover the blood-covered man was none other than the thief he’d fought to put in prison and who still made his blood sing.

Rook is determined to shake loose the murder charge against him, even if it means putting distance between him and the rugged Cuban-Mexican detective who brought him down. If one dead con artist wasn’t bad enough, others soon follow, and as the bodies pile up around Rook’s feet, he’s forced to reach out to the last man he’d expect to believe in his innocence—and the only man who’s ever gotten under Rook’s skin.

Interview

I can’t thank you enough for being my spotlight author this Saturday. I am such a huge fan and quite a bit in awe of you. I have some questions for you and I’m sure they will jump around and make you think I’m batty. I apologize in advance.

Aw, thank you for having me. I really am happy to visit with you! Much Hugs.

First I’d love to wish you a Happy New Year and ask you how you spent the holidays?

Oh, sitting in front of a laptop writing chapters for the next Kai novel and listening to auditions for Fish Stick Fridays. Drinking lots of coffee and um…more writing. I live such an exciting life. I might go get some pho with friends on Sunday if we can work out a time.

Cole McGinnis is one of my most favorite characters, ever. Of course Kim Jae-Min cracks me up when he banters with Cole. Those two are hilarious. How would those two be spending the holidays and their New Year?

Probably with friends and family. Cole and Jae are very family oriented. There’d be a tree and lights strung up on the outside of the house. Hell, probably volunteering at soup kitchens and gathering toys for kids. It’ll be a good time for them because it’s something they can share with one another.

Fish Stick Fridays was absolutely fantastic. A serious adrenaline ride. Do you have a set number of books for that series, and do we follow the same characters or new ones each time?

The Half Moon Bay series will be new couples each time but there will be a little interweaving so you’ll see some of the other characters. But they’ll be standalones for each couple. I’ve been asked when West will have a book so I’m going to say maybe on that. *grins*

Miki St. John, he brought out the mama bear in me. I must say. Throughout the Sinners series every time Miki made an appearance I braced myself for his quick wit and fantastic attitude. I felt like he was the central piece of the entire series. Am I wrong, and also, has this series reached its completion?

Miki is the central pivot of the series so you aren’t wrong. But it hasn’t reached its completion. There’s a transition book called Absinthe of Malice I’ve just finished which is about the guys being on the road, strengthening their bond and working through some stuff. After that is the final book, Sin and Tonic which will focus on Miki and Kane.

Who are some of your favorite authors and books?

Wow, so many. Mary Calmes, TA Moore, Jordan L Hawk, Jordan Castillo Price, Donald Kingsbury, Karin Lowachee, Lynn Flewelling, Jonathan Kellerman, Mercy Celeste, Josh Lanyon, Charlie Cochrane, Charlie Cochet, Amy Lane, Josephine Myles, JL Merrow…. Okay I’m running out of brain. Really, so so many. ZAM, James Buchanan, Piper Vaughn. Hell, just say yes to books.

My favourite book of all time is Courtship Rite. I’m currently beta reading TA Moore’s Dog Days and snippets of Lay It Down when Mary Calmes sneaks them over the fence to me. 

After you write one of your amazing books, how do you celebrate?

Sleep. I dunno about Amazing per se. I want to entertain. I usually post an image I made called the screaming camel of happiness then fall over for a few hours. Depending on the book. I mutter a lot at the end of the books. So many words. It’s an odd process. Kind of like scraping the rice pot for any loose grains. Just make sure it’s all out and served.

Will you be attending any conventions in 2016?

I will be visiting Austin for a book signing thing which I’ll have more details as I know them. I’ll also be doing Yaoi Con in San Francisco and GRNW in Seattle. Both of those are in September. I’m shoving a lot of travel into my past couple of years so it’s been a bit crazy.

Do you believe in writing outside of your comfort zone, and would you or have you ever?

I do try to stretch into different directions and try new “voices” as it were. Since I write genre—mystery, suspense, paranormal, and urban fantasy, I’ve got a pretty big playing field but each series has to have its own flavour. I try to play around with that. For instance while the Cole McGinnis series and the Murder and Mayhem series are both murder mysteries and set in Los Angeles, Cole’s books are more 1970s cop shows while Rook and Dante are more LA Noir.

Writing Fish Stick Fridays was a stretch because I don’t write children. Since FSF is pretty much dependent on Zig as a main character, I needed to make sure she fit into the voice of the series, sound like she was from the underbelly of Long Beach but still be an 8 year old little girl. That was totally outside of my comfort zone but it was fun doing it.

Can you tell us what projects you are currently working on and what we can be expecting from you soon?

Well, Absinthe of Malice was turned in so that’s under review for publication and I’m working on the second Kai Gracen book right now. Dirty Heart, the final Cole McGinnis book will be out in March—such a bittersweet but happy thing there—and I’ll be working on the next Hellsingers and the next Murder and Mayhem book after that. So I’ll be a bit busy…and tired.

How can you fabulous fans follow you? Twitter, FB, website?

Hah! I’m pretty easy to find.

My Blog: www.rhysford.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhys.ford.author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhys_Ford

Just follow the trail of cat videos and food porn.

Thank you, Rhys, for letting me harass you. You’ve been an amazing sport! I really do wish you a wonderful 2016.

No no no, thank you! Really. I am very honoured you had me here and so grateful. Have a great and fantastic New Year!

Giveaway

Rhys Ford is doing a Reader's Choice Giveaway!!!

All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter below.

Contest ends on January 15th! Winner will be contacted via email so please check your spam.

Thank you to Rhys for being here today and good luck to you all.

a Rafflecopter giveaway