Monday, July 7, 2014

Tainted Waters by Maggie Thom Interview & Giveaway


Suspense/Thriller
Date Published: April 2013

   
He didn’t commit suicide but who’s going to believe her...
Frustrated at being fired from her latest job and overwhelmed by her consolatory family, Sam decides to move to the family’s cabin at the lake. A place she hasn’t been since her dad committed suicide there, twenty years before. Or did he? Snooping is something she’s good at but someone seems to be taking offense to her looking too closely at what has been happening at the lake. What she discovers is shocking. Now she must uncover what’s real and what’s not. All that she learned growing up, may be false.
Keegan, who has recently moved to the area to finish his latest book, is also trying to find out if his grandfather, who’d passed away ten years before, died of natural causes or was murdered? The descendants of the four families, who own the land around the lagoon, are dying off.
Since Sam and Keegan are the only ones questioning the deaths, they find themselves working together to seek the truth. Are people being murdered? Who would benefit from their deaths? Why would there be barricades and armed guards at the north end of the lake? To stay alive, Sam and Keegan must find the answers and convince others, before more people are killed... including them.

Book of the Year 2013 - Suspense and Thriller Turning the Pages Magazine
"I LOVED this book! It was fast paced and had me gripped from the start….. And talk about twists! Just when I thought I knew where this story was leading…… Bang!….. Plot twist!..." Orchard Book Club
"... Exciting story, loved the beginning introduction to Sam. She is a firecracker and had me chuckling... Another wonderful read from Maggie Thom..."Musing from an Addicted Reader
"...the book will truly keep you on the edge of your seat unable to pry yourself from it... Maggie brilliantly creates suspense and the atmosphere of unease..."The Most Happy Reader

"...What makes Tainted Waters by Maggie Thom stick out from the crowd is that you really don’t know exactly what you’re getting into..." The Queen of All She Reads



Maggie Thom

Award winning author, Maggie Thom, took the challenge and leapt off, leaving a fulltime, twenty year career in management, to write full time. After publishing her first suspense/thriller book Captured Lies, October 2012, she published her second novel, Tainted Waters, April, 2013. Tainted Waters went on to win 2013 Suspense and Thriller Book of the Year through Turning the Pages Magazine and Captured Lies won book of the Month through LAS Reviews (February 2014). She published her third novel, Deceitful Truths (The Caspian Wine Series - Book 2), March 2014. An avid reader and writer her whole life, she decided to break the monotony of wishing to be an author by making it happen. She is a wholehearted nature lover and likes nothing better than to take a book, hike to a remote spot by a river or waterfalls and read. Married to her best friend, she is learning that humor, love and patience help her navigate her way through her twins’ teen years. Her motto: Escape to read and Read to escape. "Maggie Thom writes a fast paced thriller laced with romance that keeps the reader interested and on edge!" InDtale Magazine

Interview:
What inspired you to write your first book?
Love of writing? Curiosity? I actually attempted to write my first book when I was nine. I don't think it was really all the good. The next but really the first novel I wrote was in the late 80's. I loved to read and so I thought I'd see if I could do it. I didn't do anything with it nor the next 8 novels I wrote. It wasn't until I wrote Captured Lies and I found myself crying, laughing, worried about Bailey that I knew I wanted to publish it.

Do you have a specific writing style?
I like to write the way I talk and the way I live - casual, conversational. I write so that anyone could read it and feel like it was a part of their everyday life - the words they use, the conversations they have.

How did you come up with the title?
The title Tainted Waters came to me close to the end of writing the book. I always give my books what I call a working title which is just something I can call it until I can figure out what name would best suit it. The story of Tainted Waters is centred around some happenings at a lake. Water plays very prominently in the story so that part of the title was easy. I then started to play around with words that really reflected the lies, the deceit, the blackmarket, the murders... and tainted just seemed to fit. That's how I came up with Tainted Waters for the title.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I think first to understand we all go through some tough times in life (although in my books it is to the more extreme), it's what we do that matters. Also that secrets, lies and deceit really will backfire on you. I guess the deeper meaning is believe in yourself and know that you have a strength within you that you may not realize or have tested yet.

How much of the book is realistic?
The story could be real but I highly doubt it or at least hope it isn't. Sam's dad committed suicide when she was seven, his business partner took over the business and made it very successful. There is greed, people being killed for that greed, drug trafficking, human organ trafficking... all which are things that sadly are a reality in our world.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Neither. They are purely imagination and are a culmination of things I've seen, read, heard and a few small parts may have been things I've experienced but more on an emotional level.

What books have most influenced your life most?
I think all the books I've ever read - science fiction, fantasy, suspense, thrillers, mystery, romance, real life stories, nonfiction - have influenced my life.
J Some books that have truly made a huge difference in how I see and show up in the world are: The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton, The Genie in my Genes by Church, You can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay along with several others.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I'd have to say Sandra Brown. I love her stories and I love how her stories have grown over the years from simple romances to intriguing suspense/thrillers. She added in a lot more twists and turns in her later novels and she added much more depth to her stories. I love writing real life stories that have depth and several twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

What book are you reading now?
Silent Orchids by Morgan Wylie

What would you like my readers to know?
That I love to write and I love to hear from readers/fans who love what I write. I'd also like to say, step into your dreams... don't let fear or time keep you from making the leap. It's one heck of an adventure.







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8 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting Tainted Waters and for the interview. It was interesting to do. :)

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  2. I love books that take place around lakes can be creepy or romantic so many ways to go, looks good, thanks for the giveaway

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    1. Hi Cyndi. To be honest there is a bit of both creepy (when you find out what is really going on at the end of the lake and romance in this story. Thank you for stopping by.

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  3. I love suspense novels. Creepy setting for a late night read...Perfect!
    -jamie

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    1. Hi Jamie. Glad to hear you love suspense novels, me too! :) I hope you get a chance to read it, I'd love to know what you think. Thank you for stopping by.

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  4. I love anything suspensful or creepy or both, and i no i will like this book, it looks really great, the cover is great it's just a great lookin' book!! I like to read late and night and get the heeby jeeby's!! I know that is weird but it is fun to here everylittle noise in the house and hope your not next!!! lol but that's why i love creepy books!!! thanks for the giveaway

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  5. I like suspense but I don't like scary. I am a coward :).

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  6. Love that its a suspense/thriller!

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