Straight Chatting from the Library: Bill Blodgett

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READ THE INTERVIEW

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

Without a doubt it was Little House on the Prairie. I was in third grade and our teacher would set aside time almost every day to read from it and when it looked like she wasn’t going to read we’d all beg for just a few more pages. The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family captured my imagination and when the television series came out we watched it, as a family, and borrowed it from the local library so I could share my elementary school reading and listening experience with my daughters.

One book at a time or multiples?

I have to read only one book at a time. I like to binge on it over the weekend to become totally immersed in the settings and characters. I’ve tried to read two books at a time, like some of my friends, but I felt it spoiled the experience of both books for me.

Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)

Bookmark. I have a favorite bookmark given to me by my wife that she bought for me while we were on vacation once in Boston. In those days I would pore over the books in the romance section of any bookstore we went in and search for books authored by my friends and fellow members of my romance writers group, CNYRW, in Syracuse, NY. The bookmark is a laminated picture of the Starship Enterprise with a ribbon attached. I read a lot of Star Trek when I was younger and it seemed only fitting that I carry a part of that with me as I ventured into, at the time, the unknown world of romance.

Least favorite book you've read this year?

The Partner by John Grisham. I liked the book right up to the ending. That’s when the whole thing fell apart. Being accustomed to happy endings in all of the romance books I had been reading at the time the ending just spoiled the book for me. I stopped reading Grisham at that time.

Favorite book you've read this year?

The Apple Blossom Café by Emma Cane. I have to confess, I know Emma, but that isn’t why I liked this book. I just love the way Emma writes and the characters she creates. She also writes as Gayle Callen and I also liked her historicals, but when she moved to contemporary I was really hooked.

When do you do most of your reading?

Mostly when I’m on vacation when I can’t be distracted by work and chores around the house. With nothing else vying for my attention I can dig into a book and really enjoy it, especially while at the beach with my Kindle. If I read at bedtime I fall asleep almost instantly and have to reread the same few pages over again the next evening.

Favorite genre?

I have two favorites, Sci-Fi and romance, including romantic Sci-Fi. I enjoy them because they take me away from the real world that can sometimes be filled with unhappy endings, especially now that the Coronavirus is turning our world upside down. I don’t like books with sad endings. I read to be uplifted not depressed.

Keep books or give them away?

I keep all of my books, or at least the books written by my friends. I like seeing them on my bookshelf because they inspire me to continue on with this crazy and sometimes stressful world of writing. I keep my own books right there with them so when I begin to doubt myself I can turn to the bookshelf and realize, time after time, that I need to keep on task in order to finish the book I’m working on. Truthfully, sometimes I’d rather clean house than write!!

READ THE BLURB

When US Marshal Jay Stonewalker sees a possible terrorist comment in a chatroom frequented by anti-government radicals suggesting a nuclear threat to New York City, specifically the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, he can’t get it out of his mind. Against his boss’s orders he heads off to NYC to investigate on his own time. While there he follows a suspicious character into a secluded recess of the New York Subway system and foils what he believes is the terrorist event. In a shoot-out with his suspect he’s wounded and calls the NYC PD for backup. When he sees NYPD Detective KC Daviau and other uniformed officers slipping into the darkness from the subway platform he’s relieved, but to his surprise he’s met with resistance and disrespect by Detective Daviau. Against his objections, KC takes custody of the evidence and leaves the scene. When Jay asks an officer if she is always that way he’s told that, “Since her parents died, she’s been… let’s say… a little cold.” When they are assigned to work the case together, KC’s icy exterior soon begins to melt away as they begin to fall for each other, but KC has to hold back. She has a dark secret and knows he can’t ever know her truths because if he did he would hate her just as she hates herself for what she’s about to do.

READ AN EXCERPT

Because the Waldorf Astoria in New York is their flagship and it’s the symbol of everything that is America. They tried to bring the towers and the World Trade Center down in an unsuccessful attempt in nineteen ninety-three, but managed on September eleventh, two thousand one. What makes you think they won’t try something again? Their hate runs deep.”

“Jay, let it go. Maybe it’s just a disgruntled guest that had a bad experience after spending oodles of money there. Please let it go for your own sanity.” She pleaded and hated herself at the same time. How can I make such beautiful love with this man yet still lie to him? There must be something drastically wrong with me, but it’s too late to turn back now. She knew it wasn’t a terrorist’s threat. It was just her and her merry band of anti-nuclear activists making the world safe. She began to lather up his chest with a loofa body puff and watched as he closed his eyes.

“Just let it go, Jay,” she repeated.

He opened his eyes slowly. “I can’t just let it go. Maybe Gary wasn’t involved with the original chatter I found, but maybe he was. Maybe it’s a whole other source of crazies wanting to take a shot at the Big Apple. Maybe it’s the Russians….” Her heart skipped a beat while she tried to rationalize that Sergei and what Jay was alluding to was just a coincidence. Sergei was fighting the good fight. She was sure of that.

MEET THE AUTHOR

I still live in the community where I met and married my lovely wife, Janice. Actually, she lived around the corner from me and we both ignored each other until our teen years when the hormone thing kicked in and we suddenly realized that the cute little girl skipping rope and that goofy boy riding a bike had both grown up.

We are the proud parents of April and Lindsay; both of whom are now married. April married Darren and they have two beautiful boys, Brian and Owen. Lindsay married Tim and they have two beautiful children: Kailyn and Evan.

I enjoy hiking, kayaking, camping with my family, golfing, making candles, and restoring my antique European sports car, a 1972 MGB.

They say to write from what you know, so I do. I write of love, life and relationships. In addition to the romantic plot we all expect from a Romance novel all of my books deal with a real-world issue as a sub-plot that we all have had to deal in some manner in life, but not in a preachy way. I find that including this sort of theme helps me identify with my characters on a personal level. My hope is that the reader will also feel that connection with my characters.

I have four other published novels. Dead Or A Lie and Saint’s Sword are vampire Romances. Unrequited is a contemporary novel with romantic elements and received 4 stars from Romantic Times Book Review magazine. The Last Prejudice is a family saga that deals with the issues a family must address when a family member comes out.

I have been a member of the RWA and the Central New York Romance Writers since 2004 and have held various posts in my local group. By day I am a construction inspector for an engineering company.

Website: http://www.billblodgett.com
Email: bill@billblodgett.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorbillblodgett
Twitter: Twitter

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Lies-Bad-Guys-Connection/dp/B084DFQWWB/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Love%2C+Lies%2C+and+Bad+Guys+by+Bill+Blodgett

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