Saturday, August 4, 2012

Interview with Dale Meyer



Happy Saturday! Today, as part of a virtual tour, I'm interviewing Dale Meyer! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the interview, and please leave us a comment, saying you were here!

Hi Dale! Welcome to my blog. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!

Tell me about yourself, and your writing.

I'm a writer, single mom of four, and all five of us live in a crazy world where work and family life, along with maintaining my sanity, is a constant challenge! I'm also a prolific writer and write nonfiction, adult fiction and YA fiction. I love being a full-time author. It satisfies the creative urge inside and allows my strong business sense something productive to focus on. It's a great balance!

How long have you been writing? How many published books do you have, and what genres?

I've been writing for 12 years. I have 3 traditionally published nonfiction books in resume writing, gardening and the US mortgage system. In the Indie side of publishing I have 13 books published in everything from nonfiction (4 titles), YA (4 titles in urban fantasy, paranormal, contemporary) and 5 adult titles that are mostly romantic suspense with titles with and without paranormal and one crazy fun romantic comedy with a canine sidekick!

Do you write in multiple genres or just one? If just one, do you ever consider straying outside your genre?

I write in multiple genres. I write the story that comes to me, regardless of what genre it is and so far that journey has crossed into most genres.

Are you a plotter or do you write from the seat of your pants?

I write from the seat of my pants – always!

What is a typical writing day like for you?

I'm always up early, do my emails, blogs and check out the headlines while I tank up on coffee. Then I start with the priority of the day. If I'm writing, I start by getting my 2,000 words down. Then I move onto edits and revisions. I find my days are full doing all the other things that go along with being a writer. As well I'm a single mom of 4 and find that my good intentions often get sidelined by family responsibilities! I often work in the evenings to play catch up.

Who do you love to read? Favorite authors, favorite books?

I love to read romantic suspense and thrillers. I've been rereading old favorites from my keeper shelf. In particular I'm going through Jayne Ann Krentz's Harmony series.

What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?

Have my backlog of books published and having a chance to ease back my schedule!

If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?

I'd love to fly. I'd escape for mini holidays to the beach, or Paris or hop over to Egypt for fresh dates!

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

One of Jayne Ann Krentz's dust bunnies! Of course a tiny witch to help make my life happen would be great too!

Tell us a little about your latest release.  

Maddy's Floor is the 3rd book in the Psychic Vision series. It's a wild ride that deals with medical intuitive, healing and senses beyond what the ordinary person uses. It's a romantic suspense, with paranormal aspects and a who-done-it-ending.
This series has become very popular and so far, this book has been incredibly well received by my fans! :)

What is something that you absolutely can't live without? (Other than family members)

The Internet!

Could you ever co author a book with someone? If so, who would you choose, and what would you write?

I don't know that I could. I write hard and fast and pour out stories. I'm not sure my muse is interested in cooperating with another muse. Mine is also very controlling! :)

If you could spend a day with anyone from history, dead or alive, who would it be, and what would you do? What would you ask them?

I'm not a big fan of history. If you'd asked about an movie character, maybe an adventure with Laura Croft, or travel in space with Ripley is more my style

What are some of your other hobbies outside of writing?

Gardening, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, watching movies and of course, reading.

If you were on the staff to have a book adapted to movie, what would you pick?

Maddy's Floor! LOL

What is a talent you wish you had, but don't?

Write clean copy the first time I write a book :)

Favorite color?

Yellow

Weather: Hot or cold?

Cold

Favorite place to read?

In bed.

Favorite meal

Chicken – any way and with anything!

Favorite non-alcoholic drink.

Coffee – injected if I could! :)

If you could travel anywhere and do anything, no limits or money holding you back, where would you go?

On a six month cruise around the world! Where I could relax, get waited on and...write!


Title: Maddy's Floor (Psychic Visions, Book 3)        
Author: Dale Mayer
Publisher: Valley Publishing
Length: 90,000 words
Genre: Romance
Sub-Genre Romantic Suspense
Sub-Categories: (Action, Mystery/Thriller)
Heat Level: Steamy (Hot sex scenes/language, but not explicit)

Blurb:
Medical intuitive and licensed MD Madeleine Wagner thought she'd seen every way possible to heal a diseased body...then patients start dying from mysterious causes in her long-term facility.

The terminally ill fight to get into her ward. Once there, many miraculously...live. So when her patients start dropping and she senses an evil force causing their deaths, she calls on her friend and mentor, Stefan, for help. Together, they delve beyond the physical plane into the metaphysical... Only to find terror.

She wants to save everyone, but are some souls not meant to be saved?

Detective Drew McNeil has two family members in need of Maddy's healing care, but his visits to her facility leave him wondering - who cares for Maddy? Bizarre events on her floor raise his professional curiosity. And the more time he spends with Maddy, the more personal everything becomes. When the deaths on Maddy's Floor intersect with one of his cold cases, he realizes an old killer has returned - and Maddy's standing in his path.

How can these people stop something that no one else can see, feel or even believe?

Excerpt:
Jansen Svaar's room came next. With the renovations, Jansen's bed had been shifted. He was not quite in the new area, but not as cozy as he'd been before. 

Jansen hadn't minded. The big Swede had enjoyed every one of his seventy-eight years and wasn't ready to jump off yet. Big and robust in his prime, his physical body had withered to one battling diabetes that defied control, and cancer that defied remission. Yet, he was still here and looking so much better than when he arrived. Even his thick head of hair had returned with rich brown color. His last tests had come back with very positive indicators. So much so, Jansen wanted to stop his treatments. According to him, he was all better. If it were possible to heal by his word alone, then he'd see it done.

Maddy grinned as she recalled the many conversations they'd shared in the past. 

At the entrance to his doorway, she stopped to survey his bed. 

Something was wrong.

Purple energy hovered over Jansen; a thick blanket of colored haze covered his midsection. Frowning, Maddy studied the odd essence. Energy had a signature – like DNA, the energy was unique to each person. It just wasn't as easy to identify.

She'd worked with him long enough to know it wasn't his aura. 

The smoky blanket moved. 

Who or what did the energy represent? Her gaze swept the rest of the room before striding forward. The activity over Jansen did not shy away; it increased. She narrowed her gaze. The eerie silence of the room magnified the unearthly scene before her. 

It wasn't what she'd experienced the night before, racing through the hallway into chaos. She expected noises of some kind. Not this hushed silence, as if sound would shatter the intensity of whatever was going on. She frowned. A struggle of some kind was going on. 

She shook her head, panic stirring inside. Could energy fight with itself? With someone else's energy? Is that what happened to Eric? She studied the energy again. This time she saw it. The blanket of malevolence was moving over the bed and occupant, spreading and growing every minute.

 Underneath, Jansen was suffocating. 

His energy, tiny and thin, struggled to remain separate and distinct from the purple amoeba-like entity sucking the life force from him. 

Fear shot through her. This couldn't happen again. Maddy raced to the bedside. "Stop," she cried out hoarsely, not wanting to disturb the other patients. "Leave him alone." 

The purple energy quivered in place but did not dissipate.

Maddy wafted her hands over Jansen's body. Her fingers slipped into and through the mist, neither feeling it nor dispersing it. She fed her own energy into Jansen's heart chakra, giving him her strength and will to hold on. At the same time, she closed her eyes and surrounded herself and, by the extension of her hand on his, Jansen's body with white light. The old answer to keeping oneself safe and balanced.

The energy shifted, cooled.

She opened her eyes to find the energy still wiggling in place, the purple haze malicious in appearance. Then slowly, like fog blowing in the wind, the haze thinned before sending tendrils into the darkness.

Maddy reached out and checked Jansen's pulse. Her medical training took over on the physical level as her medical intuitive training took over on the energy field. She observed the thread-like cord of light stretching far out of Jansen's body, gently pulsating in a reassuring rhythm. Maddy coaxed his system to relax a little more, then to wake up gently.

"Dr. Maddy?" His paper-thin lids opened to reveal rheumy blue eyes blinking in surprise.

"Yes, it's me, Jansen." Maddy studied his face. "How do you feel?" He appeared fine, normal but surprised.

"Christ, I don't know. I had the most horrible dream." He coughed slightly and shifted position in the bed, tugging at his covers as if chilled.

"Oh?" Maddy kept her voice calm and soothing. "What was it about?"

"Like someone was pulling my soul from my body, one inch at a time." Fear filled the old man's eyes. His thin hands grasped hers nervously. "I don't know what the hell it was, but I felt on a precipice between life and death. It was like meeting Peter at the pearly gates himself, and him not being too happy to see me."

"Shhh." Maddy stroked his hands, noting with clinical detachment that his liver spots had begun to fade. "It was just a dream. Not to worry. It's over. I'm here, and you're safe. Go back to sleep."

Relief washed over his face. "Thanks, Doc. Don't know what I'd do without you."

Shifting sideways, Jansen closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

Maddy walked to the doorway, turned around and glanced back.

No sign of the purple grim reaper. Jansen was safe. 

For now. 

She shuddered. What the hell was happening at The Haven?

Posted reviews from satisfied readers! (4.9 star rating on Amazon across 17 reviews!)
Dale Mayer created a book that combined romance, suspense and paranormal elements so well that it should appeal to readers of all of these genres. (Debra)

Dale Mayer did an outstanding job with this book. I have really enjoyed the whole series and highly recommend it to everyone. The characters were well developed and the story was fantastic. I plan to read other books she's written and can't wait for the next book in this series. (Bizzybee)

I have only become interested in paranormal and psychic fiction in the last couple of year and this author ranks at the top of the list when it comes to combining this genre with mystery and romance. All three books in this series were so riveting I could hardly put the kindle down until I'd read all the way through (which meant some very late nights but it was worth it). (Raven)

I couldn`t put my kindle down! This series was number 1 in psychic thrillers. i couldn`t read it fast enough but didn`t want it to end! Can`t wait for the next book. (Lala6)

Maddy's Floor is the third book in a psychic phenomenon trilogy and although I enjoyed the first two, I thought this last book was the best of the three. Dale's characters are well defined and the story has just the right amount of suspense, romance and action. I liked that Maddy was comfortable with her talent as a medical intuitive and that the character who wound his way through the three books played a larger role in this one. (Janet Fedor)

About the Author:   
Dale Mayer is a prolific multi-published writer. She's best known for Tuesday's Child, Hide'n Go Seek, her romantic suspense novels that was one of the final four in the Kensington Brava/Romantic Times contest this last year. Besides her romantic suspense/thrillers, Dale also writes paranormal romance and crossover young adult books in several different genres.  To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series . All her books are available in print format as well.

To find out more about Dale and her books, visit her at http://www.dalemayer.com. Or connect with her online with Twitter at www.twitter.com/dalemayer and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dalemayer.author.


BOOKS BY DALE MAYER:

Psychic Vision Series
Tuesday's Child
Hide'n Go Seek 
Maddy's Floor

Single Title Romantic Suspense/Thrillers
Touched by Death – out now!

Novellas
It's a Dog's Life- romantic comedy

Young Adult Books
Dangerous Designs – Book I
Deadly Designs – Book 2 – out soon!
Vampire in Denial – Book I of Blood Ties
Vampire in Distress – Book 2 out soon!
Gem Stone Mystery Series- out soon!
In Cassie's Corner- soon

Non-Fiction Books
Career Essentials: The Resume
Career Essentials: The Cover Letter
Career Essentials: The Interview
Career Essentials: 3 in 1


15 comments:

  1. Dale, you are one busy author! We're not worthy! Congrats on your release!

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    1. I apologize! I had two tour blogs and a computer crash. I thought I'd caught up on all the blogs with comments - and I missed this one! So sorry!

      Thanks for the congratulations! And I am way too busy. Lol.

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  2. Wow, you are so busy. LOL, your life makes me feel like I'm a slug compared to you.
    Your excerpt was great!
    Congratulations on all your success!

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    1. Thanks Brenda! I am crazy busy - but it should ease once the kids return to school :) Thanks for the congrats!

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  3. Very nice excerpt! Congratulations on your release, Dale!

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  4. Congrats on the release, Dale! :) Great interview! I couldn't live without the internet either!! ;)

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    1. Thanks Karen! I love the Internet - when it works! Lol. Sorry for the delay!

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  5. 2,000 wordds a day - I'm goingto go climb under a rock. Congrats on release.

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    1. Lol - don't do that! I am prolific, but it takes time to get here. Just a little more everyday and you'll get there in no time! Thanks for the congrats!

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  6. My goodness! So prolific! I wish I wrote that fast. Nice excerpt, Dale. Now I'm intrigued! (Oh, and beautiful cover too!)

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  7. Wow, that's a lot of books. Congrats and intriging cover

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    1. Thanks! It is a lot of books! I have 4 more releases this year to go. :)

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  8. Four kids, and write? I am impressed!

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