Please welcome Claire Plaisted, mystery and suspense author of Hidden Secrets.
Blurb:
Hidden Secrets in
the first book in the Garrett Investigations. A private company
based inn New York.
Anastasia Belaruski
is the best agent within the company, getting her work done, never
letting the side down – well until thing start going wrong on her
assignments. It seems someone is out to kill her. Along the way
Anastasia discovers some Hidde Secrets about her birth. Who is she
really and why does her boss Malachy Garrett start getting under her
skin, making her desire more than she should.
Read
this fast paced mystery murder romance with its twists and turns in
the most unexpected of places.
Excerpt:
Extract from Hidden
Secrets – Malachy is in hospital, Anastasia rushes to his side…
“He became part of
a shootout ending with his car exploding. He had a slug in his
shoulder, lost lots of blood which explains why he’s still here
fretting away,” Yuri grinned.
“He’s
never good with hospitals, may I go in.”
“Yeah
sure, make it quick though Ana.”
Quietly
opening the door, she looked over at the bed. His shoulder and chest
were strapped up with bandages, scrapes and cuts along his arms; the
drip made her smile. She knew he hated them, mainly having a needle
in his arm. Closing the door behind her, she approached his bed
thanking God he was all right, she’d not realised they’d attack
so soon. Kissing his forehead, he woke drowsily at her touch.
“Hmm
you smell beautiful Anastasia,” Malachy reached up his hand to the
nape of her neck, drawing her closer, “Just one kiss Ana, help make
me feel better.”
Before
she could move back, he kissed her gently but firmly nibbling his way
across her lips, nipping her bottom lip to gain access to her mouth.
Ana moaned returning his kisses, teasing and tasting. His hand fell
away from her neck, bringing her back to her senses, pulling back
heart pounding; she stood looking down at his drowsy face, sighing
sitting in the chair beside him.
“So
you’re not too bad then Mal. What the hell happened?”
“Did you come
rushing back Ana,” he asked in sleepy amusement.
“Of course I did,
it wasn’t funny when I realised it was you and not some idiot.”
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Bio:
Claire Plaisted
lives with her husband and three children in beautiful Rotorua, New
Zealand. Claire is a Family History Researcher, researching and
formatting books for family, friends and clients.
Whilst waiting for
information for a Family History Book, Claire accidently discovered
her skill of writing novels of different genres. Though having to
re-learn some grammar skills, her books are a great read.
Since this time,
Claire has also started a formatting business to help Indie Authors
get their books online with a professional style that looks great.
Claire has published
11 of her own books though at present one series is undergoing
changes and is been re-released over the coming weeks. All her books
can be found on Amazon and Smashwords, with a few also in print.
Interview:
It looks like you write in several
genres. Do you have a favorite? I'm curious what books and authors
influenced your writing.
I love them all. My first book was a
Regency Mystery Romance which I have yet to publish. It was a great
learning curve and still needs a bit of work. Next I went with an
Investigator Series, then I wrote a young children’s, to prove I
could write without doing sex scenes. I think I must be trying all
genres out still so at present I don’t have a favourite. The books
I have loved over the years or should I say authors are Elizabeth
Goudge, C S Lewis, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain the going on to Lee
Child, Nora Roberts, Clive Cussler etc. I have no idea if or how
they may have influenced me, though I do love the saying from C S
Lewis that a great children’s book is one that can be read by any
age. I try and do that with mine, though at present only one is
published.
Tell me how you got started in your
formatting business and how you balance your time between that and
your own writing.
Part of it was sheer frustration with
Publishing Houses. It is so hard to get in the door and so
frustrating when they say…” Not right for us,” without any
further details. So I went about learning to format and publish
online. Taking my books to my local writers group, one author asked
me to format his book – this is how the business came about. By
July 2014 I had a registered company and I have been building my
client base ever since. Work is generally done during the week and
writing at the weekend and nights unless I’m not busy, then I may
write for a few hours. I’ve not written much this year though I
have a lot of drafts to finish.
Have you always wanted to
self-publish or did you try and find an agent or publisher first?
I looked for an agent and publishers.
I didn’t take to either. Self-publishing is easier if you know
how. Today I help publish other Indie Authors and it’s great to
see them smile.
What have you learned since
publishing your first book that you wish you had known when you first
started?
Oh my, what I lot I have learnt. If it
wasn’t for my friend Tina I’m not sure I would have continued.
She taught me POV, First & Third person, and helped me with my
grammar which over the last three years has improved greatly. I have
met many other writers who also helped me along the way. I also had
help from Sharon another friend who caught me using the wrong tense
of certain words. So I wish I’d had more knowledge at the
beginning, though learning it on the go means I retain the
information much better.
Tell me three great things about
Hidden Secrets, something that might convince a new reader to give
your book a try.
At the moment ‘Hidden Secrets’ is
in the top 100 in two categories on Kindle and has been for over a
week now.
The story is fast paced with lots of
twists and turns you may not be able to work out until you read it
all. I love to make people think. The reviews I’ve had just
blow me away; several readers love the first book they were demanding
more. I can’t wait to finish uploading the series and publish book
Six. Just so you know ‘Hidden Secrets,” was previously called
‘Malachy’s Unit,” of the Garrett Investigation Bureau. Malachy
is gorgeous and falls for Anastasia, while she tries to push him
away.
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