Is there ever a wrong time to meet the right person?
Welcome to the August 9th stop on the blog tour for Quiet the Waves by Michael Ross with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
Did you have a minor character who insisted on playing a larger role in the story. If so, please tell us about it. And if not, please tell me how you get the characters in your head to behave.
Stephanie Bowen was a character who sneaked into the book via the back door and initially I thought she would be of passing interest to me, however, as the story progressed, she began to intrigue me. I had no back story in mind for her, before she suddenly appeared on the page she did not exist.
Almost everything she does happens away from the text, so my imagination would start wandering; how did she get to where she is when we meet her?
Stephanie is an investigative journalist – by choice or circumstance?
Is she ruthless in her search for the truth? Do I trust her, do the book’s characters trust her? Is she just a device to help the story move along or something more?
As a character who is ferreting away, mostly in action removed from the text, there is so much more to discover and she has all the potential to be a lead character in her own right. She bounces back at the end of the novel in a blaze of glory which came as a complete surprise to me. I’m wondering if there are one two novels with her as the main character rocking around in my head somewhere.
About the Book
Quiet the Waves
by Michael Ross
Published 3 July 2024
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Page Count: 177
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
For Ryan Gould it’s just another pay day, collect a car from Portugal deliver it to the UK. Nothing too complicated – until he decides on an unscheduled stopover in Northern France, in the city of Rennes, a quiet drink in the town square, where life would have turned out so differently if he not noticed the girl sitting on the bench was sobbing her heart out.
From there onwards his life twists and turns out of control until he finds himself in police custody charged with abduction and a journey to get to the truth. The girl on the bench, Claire, had misled him from the very beginning; who was she, and how had she managed to wreak so much havoc in his life?
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Excerpt
What the hell is up with me? Have I no mind of my own? I kneel on the cobblestones and throw her my most sympathetic smile. Hopefully she recognises the sincerity.
For the first time she lifts her head and looks me in the face, well in the eyes actually – and I’m smitten. She is attractive with piercing light grey eyes that meet mine head on. I was right she is no more than thirty years old, with jet black hair that does not quite match her very pale skin.
I ease myself up to a standing position. “Look, if nothing else, let me buy you a drink. I’ll bugger off if you want to be on your own. I’m not hassling you, just trying to offer a bit of support.” I do my best to sound earnest because it’s the truth. Her pain is so obvious it is impossible to ignore. All at once I remember I have an almost full pack of tissues in my pocket. I take a couple out and pass them to her along with the rest of the pack.
“Here. Blowing your nose wouldn’t hurt just now.” Her angry expression dissipates when she sees the smile on my face.
“I tell you what,” I say “I’m going to get a Coke at the café over there. If you want to come and share a Coke or something, that would be great.”
Her head drops and she mumbles incoherently.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“A large latte would be good.” Her voice is both delicate and cultured.
“No problem. Come over whenever you want.”
I walk back to my table, fully aware that for some crazy reason my heart is beating as if I sprinted across the square. I purposely sit facing away from her direction, the last thing I want is to come across as a stalker.
About the Author
Born and raised in Bristol, England I now live halfway up a mountain in the Welsh Valleys, with my partner Mari and our rescue dog Wenna. I have a BA in English Literature from Bristol Uni and after creative writing classes at Cardiff Uni I won prizes for short stories. I write with a smile on my face.
I have self-published (including Quiet the Waves) five short story anthologies and five novels
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Giveaway Alert!
The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
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Thank you so much for featuring QUIET THE WAVES today.
This looks awesome!
This sounds like something I would enjoy reading.
The book details sound like a great action read.