Romantic Suspense
Date Published: September 2013
Detective Ryan O’Clery is working a series of homicides when he discovers a journal kept by an uncle five generations earlier, detailing the same type of murders as the Night of the Big Wind swept the Atlantic Ocean across Ireland in 1839.
As Hurricane Irene barrels toward the North Carolina coastline, Ryan discovers even the killer’s description matches exactly. And as he falls in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, he begins to wonder if she is the reincarnation of Caitlyn O’Conor, the woman lost to the killer as the storm raged in Ireland—and if he is the reincarnation of Constable Rian Kelly.
Now he’s in a race to rescue Cathleen before the killer finds her—or is history destined to repeat itself?
A provocative story of a love that spans centuries, of soul mates found, lost and reunited… and the lengths to which one man will go to change their destinies.
One of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, cross-genre category and a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards
Romantic Suspense
Date Published: September 2013
Detective Ryan O’Clery is working a series of homicides when he discovers a journal kept by an uncle five generations earlier, detailing the same type of murders as the Night of the Big Wind swept the Atlantic Ocean across Ireland in 1839.
As Hurricane Irene barrels toward the North Carolina coastline, Ryan discovers even the killer’s description matches exactly. And as he falls in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, he begins to wonder if she is the reincarnation of Caitlyn O’Conor, the woman lost to the killer as the storm raged in Ireland—and if he is the reincarnation of Constable Rian Kelly.
Now he’s in a race to rescue Cathleen before the killer finds her—or is history destined to repeat itself?
As Hurricane Irene barrels toward the North Carolina coastline, Ryan discovers even the killer’s description matches exactly. And as he falls in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, he begins to wonder if she is the reincarnation of Caitlyn O’Conor, the woman lost to the killer as the storm raged in Ireland—and if he is the reincarnation of Constable Rian Kelly.
Now he’s in a race to rescue Cathleen before the killer finds her—or is history destined to repeat itself?
A provocative story of a love that spans centuries, of soul mates found, lost and reunited… and the lengths to which one man will go to change their destinies.
One of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, cross-genre category and a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards
P.M. Terrell
p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than twenty books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer how-to and non-fiction.
Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence.
Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee and her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tempest Murders was one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, cross-genre category, and a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards.
She is also the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She is the organizer of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime. For more information on this event and the literacy campaigns funded by it, visit www.bookemnc.org.
She sits on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library and the Robeson County Arts Council. She has also served on the boards of Crime Stoppers and Crime Solvers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.
For more information visit the author’s website at www.pmterrell.com, follow her on Twitter at @pmterrell, her blog at www.pmterrell.blogspot.com, and on Facebook under author.p.m.terrell.
Interview:
What inspired you to write your first book?
My first book was published in 1984, and ironically the publisher pursued me. I'd been writing for various magazines and apparently they liked my style and began mailing me. I thought they were a subsidy or vanity press, so I kept throwing their letters in the trash. When they finally reached me, I discovered they were a leading traditional publisher of college textbooks, and they wanted me to write computer books for them. I felt pretty silly - and very thankful they'd been so persistent.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I do. I believe that suspense should keep the reader on the edge of their seat. They should never want to set the book down and if they're forced to, they should want to pick it up again as quickly as possible. I am often told that once readers begin one of my books, they find themselves losing sleep until they've finished it.
How did you come up with the title?
The Tempest Murders takes place against two major storms - The Night of the Big Wind in 1839 Ireland, and Hurricane Irene along the North Carolina coast in 2011. Because the Irish storm was not called a hurricane, I needed to think of a term that would encompass them both. And because murders took place against the backdrop of both storms, The Tempest Murders became a natural title.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I always want readers to come to their own conclusions.
How much of the book is realistic?
I hope the entire book is realistic. If readers can not place themselves in the roles of the main characters, believing everything that happens to them and why, then the author has failed. Both of the storms in the book actually did take place, and I researched both in minute detail. In fact, I lived through Hurricane Irene - one model had it coming directly over my house, but thankfully it stayed further to the east. The town where Detective Ryan O'Clery works is a real town - Lumberton, North Carolina - a town where I actually live. Many of the residents here helped me with technical aspects of the book, such as police procedures.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
The main character, Detective Ryan O'Clery, an Irish immigrant to the United States, is based on someone I know - but I'll never tell who. (But then, my mother always said "never say never" ...) I have been in tornadoes and hurricanes many times in my life, including driving through Alabama between tornadoes that devastated the Birmingham area as well as south of it. So when Ryan is driving through the hurricane to reach Cait before the killer, that came directly from my own personal experience driving through Birmingham on Interstate 20, trying to outrun the tornadoes.
What books have most influenced your life?
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale is the most influential book I have ever read.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I have never had a mentor so I suppose I am incredibly fortunate to have remained in this industry for thirty years.
What book are you reading now?
Twin Powers by David Pereda. I have an advance copy; it will be released later this year, and it is incredibly suspenseful. It is a suspense/thriller that takes place against the backdrop of Cuba, Dubai and the United States, and has so many delectable twists and turns that it's been difficult for me to stop reading long enough to do anything else.
What would you like my readers to know?
Four of my books have been recognized in recent years: River Passage won the 2010 Best Drama Award; Vicki's Key was a 2012 International Book Award Finalist as well as a 2012 USA Best Book Awards finalist; and The Tempest Murders was a 2013 International Book Awards Finalist (one of only four in the cross-genre category) and is a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards. The Pendulum Files, released this past spring, has been nominated for the Best Book Cover Award.
I am scheduled into the foreseeable future for two books per year, one to be released each spring and each autumn, so I hope your readers will give my books a try.
p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than twenty books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer how-to and non-fiction.
Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence.
Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee and her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tempest Murders was one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, cross-genre category, and a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards.
She is also the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She is the organizer of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime. For more information on this event and the literacy campaigns funded by it, visit www.bookemnc.org.
She sits on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library and the Robeson County Arts Council. She has also served on the boards of Crime Stoppers and Crime Solvers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.
For more information visit the author’s website at www.pmterrell.com, follow her on Twitter at @pmterrell, her blog at www.pmterrell.blogspot.com, and on Facebook under author.p.m.terrell.
What inspired you to write your first book?
My first book was published in 1984, and ironically the publisher pursued me. I'd been writing for various magazines and apparently they liked my style and began mailing me. I thought they were a subsidy or vanity press, so I kept throwing their letters in the trash. When they finally reached me, I discovered they were a leading traditional publisher of college textbooks, and they wanted me to write computer books for them. I felt pretty silly - and very thankful they'd been so persistent.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I do. I believe that suspense should keep the reader on the edge of their seat. They should never want to set the book down and if they're forced to, they should want to pick it up again as quickly as possible. I am often told that once readers begin one of my books, they find themselves losing sleep until they've finished it.
How did you come up with the title?
The Tempest Murders takes place against two major storms - The Night of the Big Wind in 1839 Ireland, and Hurricane Irene along the North Carolina coast in 2011. Because the Irish storm was not called a hurricane, I needed to think of a term that would encompass them both. And because murders took place against the backdrop of both storms, The Tempest Murders became a natural title.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I always want readers to come to their own conclusions.
How much of the book is realistic?
I hope the entire book is realistic. If readers can not place themselves in the roles of the main characters, believing everything that happens to them and why, then the author has failed. Both of the storms in the book actually did take place, and I researched both in minute detail. In fact, I lived through Hurricane Irene - one model had it coming directly over my house, but thankfully it stayed further to the east. The town where Detective Ryan O'Clery works is a real town - Lumberton, North Carolina - a town where I actually live. Many of the residents here helped me with technical aspects of the book, such as police procedures.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
The main character, Detective Ryan O'Clery, an Irish immigrant to the United States, is based on someone I know - but I'll never tell who. (But then, my mother always said "never say never" ...) I have been in tornadoes and hurricanes many times in my life, including driving through Alabama between tornadoes that devastated the Birmingham area as well as south of it. So when Ryan is driving through the hurricane to reach Cait before the killer, that came directly from my own personal experience driving through Birmingham on Interstate 20, trying to outrun the tornadoes.
What books have most influenced your life?
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale is the most influential book I have ever read.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I have never had a mentor so I suppose I am incredibly fortunate to have remained in this industry for thirty years.
What book are you reading now?
Twin Powers by David Pereda. I have an advance copy; it will be released later this year, and it is incredibly suspenseful. It is a suspense/thriller that takes place against the backdrop of Cuba, Dubai and the United States, and has so many delectable twists and turns that it's been difficult for me to stop reading long enough to do anything else.
What would you like my readers to know?
Four of my books have been recognized in recent years: River Passage won the 2010 Best Drama Award; Vicki's Key was a 2012 International Book Award Finalist as well as a 2012 USA Best Book Awards finalist; and The Tempest Murders was a 2013 International Book Awards Finalist (one of only four in the cross-genre category) and is a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards. The Pendulum Files, released this past spring, has been nominated for the Best Book Cover Award.
I am scheduled into the foreseeable future for two books per year, one to be released each spring and each autumn, so I hope your readers will give my books a try.
Website: http://www.pmterrell.com
Twitter: @pmterrell
Any Others: http://www.vickisangelfish.blogspot.com (based on the series Black Swamp Mysteries and the CIA operatives’ front as angelfish breeders) andhttp://www.bookemnc.blogspot.com (p.m.terrell is the founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina)
BUY LINKS
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tempest-murders-pm-terrell/1116800093?ean=2940045253130 (Nook)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tempest-murders-pm-terrell/1116800093?ean=9781935970163 (paperback)
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/349335 (all eBook formats)
GIVEAWAY:
The Author would like a Comment to Enter Format. She is giving away a Necklace, so please leave a comment on this post and include your email. Thanks!
Thank you for hosting me here today. I'll be checking in throughout the day and answering any questions anyone might have for me. And I have a question for your followers: do you believe in reincarnation?
ReplyDeleteGreat Premise, and thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeletedhaupt3 at gmail dot com
Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment, Debbie! Best of luck winning that beautiful Celtic jewelry.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to believe, but to be in a parallel world where that would happen would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks! for the giveaway, the necklace is beautiful.
s211n3@gmail.com
The Tempest Murders sounds like a fantastic read, and is definitely getting added to my TBR!
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I would enjoy reading this.
ReplyDeleteThank you, everyone, for stopping by and leaving comments. s211n3, Boob Attict and Renee, I'm glad you like the premise of the book. Best of luck in winning that beautiful Celtic necklace!
ReplyDelete