Cody Thompson

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a book is very hard work. But it’s great hard work, and I love every single second of it. The book is still in its pre order phase, and it has already been more rewarding than I could have imagined. It’s a dream come true.

Do you have a favorite character you’ve written? Has there been a character that’s been hard to write about?

Super cliché answer, but it’s still true. I loved writing all of the characters in Bone Saw Serenade. It honestly took a while for me to be able to break away from them for my second novel, which luckily, is now complete. Maybe because I loved writing for them, or maybe, because it was my first completed novel, they will always stick with me like a first love. Hard to say, really. Each one is so unique with their flaws, strengths and what makes each one themselves. But if I had to choose one, writing for Angus, the lead detective in Bone Saw Serenade might have been my overall favorite. Readers thus far seem to really enjoy who Angus is, and I loved creating a world for him to exist and bring him to life.

How do you come up with the title to your books?

I don’t know if I have a set formula for this. For Bone Saw Serenade, I had the idea and plot points planned out in my head well before I had a title chosen. I racked my brain for something that I thought would work. But not just work, stand out and have some strength behind it. Not only do I want to story itself to be strong and intriguing, but I want the title to hit hard. Something that when a reader sees it, maybe it will stir up some emotion or fascination. My second book, which releases in March, that title came to me while going through a tough time in life, and it was something I said to myself many times in an attempt to be prepare for what I knew would ultimately come. So, I guess this is a very long-winded way of saying I don’t really have a set formula for titling a book or story. I really just wait for something to grab me and shake me a bit. Once it does, I definitely know. And when I can’t ignore it, I know I made the right choice. Besides, someone already asked if they could use this title for a band name, so, I guess I did OK.

What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?

Probably that I didn’t truly love most horror when I was younger. It’s more of an adult realization for me, to love all things horror. I was always interested on comedy/ horror when I was younger. Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Night of the Creeps type stuff. But now, I am all in and can’t get enough. There really is something beautiful about the horror genre. It’s not all gore and nastiness, or doesn’t have to be, I should say. It can be poetic and intriguing and fantastic. Also, although maybe not surprising, one of my favorite things in life in Back to

the Future. I even have a full sleeve tattoo based on the movie. My band when I was 15 years old released a cassette on an actual record label. That’s pretty surprising.

Which comes first, the plot or the characters in the planning stages?

For me it’s usually the plot. When the idea was born for B.S.S., I thought of potential plot points, twists and actions, and as those came to life, so did the characters. As the story grew, so did the characters. Their strengths, weaknesses, flaws and everything else that makes them who they are came to life along with the story. I let the situations sort of guide them on their way, and allow them to grow as human beings based on experiences within the story. But for me, the story idea

What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?

I’ve been hosting a podcast for over a decade. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily say its any more or less relaxing. They can be a lot of work, too. I love to read stories and books. I have recently taken up oil painting, which is something that has quickly become one of my favorite relaxing activities. It’s so freeing, and like writing, I am able to create a whole new world that otherwise didn’t exist. I enjoy cooking, which for some reason relaxes me. And when in season, I strongly follow MLB and NBA. Mainly, the Golden State Warriors and San Diego Padres. I also enjoy visiting local breweries with buddies and playing Galaga whenever I can.

If you could have one all-year season, which would it be and why?

Definitely fall or winter. I have always preferred colder weather. Although, being born and raised in Southern California, I may not have a firm grasp on what true “cold” actually means. California cold, I guess you could say. Spring is beautiful in California, too. Really anything but summer. I don’t enjoy the heat or humidity.

Do you prefer ebooks, audiobooks or physical books? Are you reading anything now?

I have always been a physical book fan. I absolutely love the feel of a physical book and smell of fresh pages. It’s something I have always loved. When my copies of Bone Saw landed, the first thing I did was smell the pages. It’s such a comforting, beautiful thing to me. Though recently, I have fallen for ebooks. For me, it’s all about the ability to store so many in one tiny little device is helpful when stacking up TBRs. But, I would always prefer a physical copy. I recently finished my second novel (Releasing in March) and am about to dive in to book three. In between writing I love to dive

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into some of my TBR stack. Most recently I read “You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood” From Eric LaRocca which was absolutely phenomenal. And not long ago I purchased the brand-new horror anthology released by an author I love, Spencer Hamilton. I really look forward to jumping into those stories.

What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I just hope that people who find, share and read Bone Saw Serenade, my second book (releasing in March) or anything else I create enjoy the stories. This is lifelong dream of mine, to have words published on pages for people to read, and I really more than anything hope that people enjoy the books. When asked as kids what we wanted to be when we grew up, I always said “writer.” Or, professional pinball player, maybe. So, this is truly a dream realized. Even being interviewed about a book I wrote is a dream come true. Thank you to everyone who is interested in my work. You can follow me on all social media @CodyWritesBooks. Hopefully, I will have a lot more coming for everyone.

Stay Connected Enjoy an excerpt from

Bone Saw Serenade

Bone Saw Serenade Cody J. Thompson Crime Thriller Releases October 27

Everyone loves running into and reconnecting with an old friend. Someone you have lost touch with for any number of reasons over the years. It can stir up a cocktail of euphoric emotions through feelings of nostalgia, amusement, hope and love. That is exactly how Emma Goodwin felt when she ran into her high school best friend Charlie Claymore after they found one another randomly after a decade of not seeing or speaking in a small coffee shop in Seattle.

Soon after their reunion, Emma’s husband Eddie goes missing without a trace of evidence linking anyone to the disappearance. Anguished, she spirals into her old ways with Charlie. When Detective Angus Pratt is assigned to the case, Charlie is determined to stay by Emma’s side, casting a dark veil over her he calls protection.

As they close in on the truth, a sinister plan is revealed that is darker and more terrifying than the vast, uninhabited woods that lay on the outskirts of town. Angus will stop at nothing to find the truth, and Emma may learn the hardest truth of them all. That the flames you hold the closest always burn the worst.

Excerpt

They watched as Johnny and Reggie left. Eddie could see through the windows that Johnny had turned left, heading down into the dark alleyway. Reggie had not followed Johnny into the darkness, choosing to make his way to the main street illuminated by street lights

and teaming with people who hoped to begin their night of partying as this group retired for the night.

“Let me ask you something,” Courtney said. “You and Johnny hate each other, right?”

“Why would you say that?” Eddie asked.

“I heard some things.”

“We’ve had our issues in the past. But I think we have turned a corner on all of that.”

“Didn’t he push you up against a wall or something before I started working at the theater?”

“Well, I mean,” Eddie said, stumbling over his words. It might have been the beer, or maybe the embarrassment. Maybe a decent mixture of both. “Don’t be so embarrassed,” Courtney said with a giggle. “I’m just asking for the facts, not attacking your manhood or anything.”

“My manhood?” Eddie laughed. “Yes, he pushed me up against a wall. But that was long ago. We are very much past all that.”

“Hey, I’m not worried,” she confirmed. “If he tried that on me? I would end his ability to have children.”

“If he did that to you, I would end his ability to have children,” Eddie said.

Just then, Courtney’s cell phone, which was sitting on top of the table mixed in with the empty beer glasses and saliva drenched bones, chimed. She lifted it from the table as her eyes shot open in surprise.

“Ah,” she said, flicking her thumb over the screen.

“Everything OK?” Eddie asked, taking another sip of beer.

“Not really,” she said. “It looks like the wifi at the theater just dropped. Dammit, I need to head back.” She said, tucking her phone into the back pocket of her jeans.

“Can’t you just deal with this tomorrow?” Eddie asked.

“That means our camera system dropped, too. I don’t want it to be down all night,” she said, standing up from her stool. “I guess this is goodbye for me. Are you ready to head out? We can walk back together.”

“Nah, you go ahead,” Eddie said. “I need to settle up my tab and hit the restroom.”

“You sure you don’t need any protection as you walk down the scary alley? Just in case someone else tries to put you up against a wall?”

“Very funny,” Eddie said. “Get the hell outta here. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Not if I see you first,” Courtney yelled back as she threw the door open and exited the bar.

“I need to close out, please,” Eddie said to the bartender.

The bartender retrieved Eddie’s credit card and dropped it onto the bar top with a receipt. Eddie scribbled his name “before pushing it back across the bar. At the end of the bar in the far back of the room were two doors with an old-fashioned jukebox sitting between them. The right with a “Men’s” sign, the left with a “Women’s.” He entered the restroom to handle his business.

He pushed open the door leading to the alleyway. The alley was cold, dark and the fog in the air made everything damp like a wet, shaggy dog had shaken himself silly. The dampness forced all kinds of unappetizing smells up into the air from past inhabitants and visitors who had called the alley home. He continued down the path, making his way past the back of the Paramount Theater.

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The alley splintered off in different directions, allowing access to the main street as they cut past the various buildings making up Downtown. When he reached the edge of the theater building, he turned right. This branch of the alley spilled out into the main drag, which led to a parking garage where Eddie’s car was parked. The Paramount stood tall in the damp alley, and three open dumpsters sat pushed up against the theater’s exterior wall. As Eddie walked, he heard his phone chime in his jeans pocket. He pulled out the phone to see a text message from his wife, Emma. Emma had flown to San Diego that afternoon with their daughter Sophie and the incoming message was a sweet text letting him know they had arrived safely.

Having done this walk many times, he didn’t look up from his phone as he walked. He passed the first dumpster, then the second, locked in on the glow of the bright screen. Just then, the enclosed alley echoed with a loud whack sound as Eddie’s world went completely black. It was inaudible to anyone passing by as the sound was swallowed by the car noise of the busy street, loud music blaring from various clubs and too many young people hooting and hollering as they went about their business, unaware of the vicious attack that had just taken place. He fell to the ground, letting out a throaty gasp as the air flooded from his lungs. His cell phone dropped and bounced away onto the wet asphalt. Standing over Eddie’s lifeless body was a man dressed head to toe in black, his face covered by black cloth. In his right hand, he held a hammer. He stepped over Eddie’s limp body and picked up the phone, deleting everything Eddie had written to his wife, and tucked it into his back pocket. He then pulled a syringe from his pocket, removed the cap, and sank the needle deep into Eddie’s arm. He lifted Eddie from under his arms and dragged him across the wet asphalt, dumping his body between two of the dumpsters before he turned and walked towards the street. There Eddie sat, blood gushing out of his head. He was barely breathing, clinging to the scraps of life left in his body.

robinhosking.com

Pamela Levin M.D.

Dr. Pamela Lewin is a family physician and wellness consultant. For her, writing has been a hobby. She studieat the Institute of Children’s Literature and did their book course as well. Dolly Duitt & the Improbable Tasks was the outcome of that endeavor. In 2018, she self-published a book of poetry, My Life… An Inspired Journey. She sings in her church choir, and loves music, poetry, energy and laughter. She is an avid pickleball player. Like Dolly Duitt, she has had to conquer her tendency to procrastinate due to attention deficit, by being distracted, so her character was easy for her to imagine. She likes to travel and spends time with her husband, a retired physician, their two adult children and six grandchildren. She has launched a new initiative of helping to improve the lives of the underserved and children at risk, and donate her service, in Ocala, Florida, where she lives. As a Christian, she believes she is her brother’s keeper. As a wellness consultant, she helps adults “live younger” using a new technology that involves light therapy. Her next planned project will be about this phase of her life.

Procrastination or MultiTasking?

Author invites young and old alike to understand what it means to complete a task

Dr. Pamela Lewin offers both children and adults something they can relate to, which makes this very special, whimsical and hopeful. In this day and age when everyone seems to be running around in all directions, Dolly Duitt and the Improbable Tasks serves as an eye-opener to help everyone evaluate the consequences of their actions. This book is about doing first things first, and next things next, and getting them all done. Dolly is a procrastinator, but not intentionally. She simply forgets she has begun one task, then becomes distracted, and moves to another, and another, making the completion of any one of these tasks “improbable”. She forgets to water her plants, take her dog Flossie for a walk, and pay her bills. This habit creates a frightening situation for Dolly until she gets a “wake-up call” which results in the necessity for her to figure things out for herself, to her surprise and satisfaction. When Dolly notes that she forgot the most important things in life which must take priority, readers will sympathize with her and rejoice when she has that AHA! moment.

There is a lesson that awaits between the covers of Dolly Duitt and the Improbable Tasks, something all readers can learn from.

This book is available online and can be purchased at online bookstores.

Upcoming Book Event!!! 2022 Frankfurt International Book Fair WHERE: Frankfurt, Germany WHEN: Oct 19, 2022 - Oct 23, 2022

Humphrey hawksley

Humphrey Hawksley is an author, journalist, political commentator and moderator. His assignments as a foreign correspondent have taken him to crises all over the world. He is a regular panelist and speaker, and his work has appeared in most mainstream publications in North America and the United Kingdom. He is the author of the much-discussed Dragon Strike ‘future history’ series which examines conflict scenarios between world powers. His latest non-fiction book is Asian Waters: The Struggle Over the Asia-Pacific and the Challenge to American Power. His Rake Ozenna thriller series, with a unique protagonist from a remote island on the American border with Russia, has been praised for its vivid scene setting, fast pace and depth of research. The series originated from a BBC reporting assignment to the Bering Strait.

His television documentaries include The Curse of Gold and Bitter Sweet examining human rights abuse in global trade; Aid Under Scrutiny on the failures of international development; and Danger: Democracy at Work on the risks of bringing Western-style democracy too quickly to some societies.

Humphrey hosts the monthly Democracy Forum Debates on global issues and the twice-weekly Goldster Inside Story Book Show where he has lively conversations with authors about their work. He has been guest lecturer at universities and think tanks such as the RAND Corporation, The Columbia Business School, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and MENSA Cambridge.

Welcome to Humphrey Hawksley

Welcome back to Uncaged! Can you tell us more about your newest book in the Rake Ozenna Thriller series, Ice Islands?

In ICE ISLANDS, protagonist Rake Ozenna is tasked with getting information from the Kato family, a Yakuza crime organization which is turning Japan against the United States. He has identified a Japanese businessman and heads to meet him at a vineyard in the Douro Valley in Portugal. By the time Rake gets there, all at the meeting have been massacred by Michio Kato who is soon to take over as head of the crime family. Rake’s back-up asset is Sara Kato, Michio’s younger sister who has been rejected by the family. She was sent away to boarding school in England aged ten and raised by guardians. She loathes her family for abandoning her, but also craves its love. Rake is to approach her at a peace conference on the Finnish Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea. But there, assassins murder a delegate who turns out to be the secret son of the Russian president. Sara is implicated. Rake is ordered to get her out and keep her safe. The action moves from the Baltic Sea through Washington D.C. to Hokkaido in northern Japan. One backdrop of the story is the unresolved dispute between Russia and Japan over the Kuril Islands or Northern Territories