Sunday, September 16, 2012

Tour ~ Bone Wires by Michael Shean with Interview!



This tour is brought to you by FMB Blog Tours!


Title: Bone Wires
Author: Michael Shean
Genre: Dark, Mystery, Science Fiction,
Publisher: Curiosity Quills/Whampa, LLC
Paperback/Ebook
Pages: 380 (paperback)

Purchase:


Book Description:

In the wasteland of commercial culture that is future America, police are operated not by government but by private companies.

In Seattle, that role is filled by Civil Protection, and Daniel Gray is a detective in Homicide Solutions. What used to be considered an important - even glamorous - department for public police is very different for the corporate species, and Gray finds himself stuck in a dead end job. That is, until the Spine Thief arrives.

When a serial killer begins harvesting the spinal tissue of corporate employees all over the city, Detective Gray finds himself plunged into the first truly major case of his career. Caught in a dangerous mix of murder, betrayal and conflicting corporate interest, Gray will find himself not only matching wits with a diabolical murderer but grapple with his growing doubt toward his employers in the dawning months of the American tricentennial.

A thrilling mystery set in the same world as the Wonderland Cycle, Bone Wires is a grim trip into the streets of the empty future.

INTERVIEW

How long have you been writing?
I've been writing full on since 2007, but I've been writing off and on before that since I was a little kid.  As early as second grade, I was trying to write detailed stories.  Always wanted to be a writer.

What jobs did you have before you became a writer?
Well, I still have a day job.  I’m in IT, and that’s boring as hell, but it pays the bills - I can always hope that it won’t last forever, right?

Tell us a little about your book.
My novel is called Bone Wires, and it’s a detective novel set at the far end of the century - in 2076, just in time for the American tricentennial.  It’s about a detective, Daniel Gray, who works for the Seattle police force; only in the future, the police force is entirely under the direction of a private corporation called Civil Protection.  Homicide is basically the worst sort of job; citizens are all contract-holders, and murders mean the company gets paid less.  Gray’s unhappy with his lot, and he wants to climb the corporate ladder and get into a new department - and the only way to do that is with a really high-profile case.  He gets what he’s looking for when people start ending up dead with their spines removed.  the investigation that follows will put him right smack in the middle of a firestorm of murder, betrayal, and corporate politics; survival, with or without his career intact, will take something of a miracle.

What is one book you could read over and over?
William Gibson’s Neuromancer.  I know, I know - very much a stereotype for the genre of books I’m currently writing, but I loved it growing up.  Punk futurism is the best futurism; between him and Philip K. Dick, well...let’s just say I like my future visions with a very dark, believable edge.

What do you do in your free time?
Writing, writing, writing.  My job keeps me busy most of the day, so when I get home it’s time with the wife and trying to get a thousand words out of the hopper.  Once my third book is done, though, I think I’m going to take my wife out and start dance lessons again.  We learned to waltz for our wedding, which was only a year ago, and frankly I’d like to take her out on the floor again.


Awww, that's sweet!

How do reviews, good or bad, affect you?
Honestly I got over bad reviews very quickly.  I’ve been fortunate that there haven’t been very many, but my dayjob has a lot of creative requirements and so I’ve had plenty of practice dealing with people not liking my work.  I’ve kind of gotten over that.  Besides, I’ve long held that bad reviews are just as helpful as the good ones, if only because it ensures that people know that you’re not clogging the pipes with your friends and family.

When writing, do you plot and organize, or do you write scenes then fit it all together?
I’m an extremely organic writier.  Usually I know what’s going to happen, start to finish, but the way it’s going to happen, the way the events are going to come together, all of that happens entirely on the fly.

What is one thing you absolutely cannot do without while writing?
I have to have something playing in the background.  Music, TV, whatever - I can’t abide real silence in my creative process, or at least not for very long.  I just need some background noise, though sometimes it’s a little more distracting than I’d like.

If you could visit any place, where would it be?
At the moment?  The bottom of the Sakhalin-I Odoptu OP-11 Well.  Deepest hole in the world.  I want to see the deepest place ever dug by a man, just so I can say, ‘Well, this is the closest to Hell we’ve ever been with a shovel.’



Do you have any hidden talents?
Uh, I used to sing and act.  Musical theater, plays, that kind of thing.  

Favorite food?
Big-ass rare steak.  Pittsburgh rare if I can get it. Makes people crazy.

Cat or dog?
Both.  Had dogs, had cats, love both.  Share more in common with dogs though.

Favorite color?
Blue.

Beach or mountains?
Mountains.  Was raised among them, so I’m most comfortable there.


Coffee or tea?
Coffee.  All the way.

Anything you would like to add?
Just what I’d say to any other writer.  Write.  Write, write, and never stop.  Writers are like sharks; the moment we stop moving (or writing, in this case), we die.

I really appreciate you taking time from your schedule to answer these questions.
My pleasure!  Glad to answer anything else you or your readers have to ask in the post comments.




Michael Shean was born amongst the sleepy hills and coal mines of southern West Virginia in 1978. Taught to read by his parents at a very early age, he has had a great love of the written word since the very beginning of his life. Growing up, he was often plagued with feelings of isolation and loneliness; he began writing off and on to help deflect this, though these themes are often explored in his work as a consequence. At the age of 16, Michael began to experience a chain of vivid nightmares that has continued to this day; it is from these aberrant dreams that he draws inspiration.

In 2001 Michael left West Virginia to pursue a career in the tech industry, and he settled in the Washington, DC area as a web designer and graphic artist. As a result his writing was put aside and not revisited until five years later. In 2006 he met his current fiancee, who urged him to pick up his writing once more. Several years of work and experimentation yielded the core of what would become his first novel, Shadow of a Dead Star (2011). Michael is currently signed with Curiosity Quills Press, who has overtaken publication of Shadow of a Dead Star and the other books of his Wonderland Cycle.

Find the Author:


Follow the Bone Wires Tour!

Sept. 1st- A Dream Within A Dream (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Sept. 2nd- Laurie's Non-Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews (Interview/Excerpt)
Sept. 3rd- Books & Beauty (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Sept. 4th- The Avid Reader (Excerpt)
Sept. 5th- Tricia Kristufek (Guest Post)
Sept. 6th- Turning The Pages (Promo Post)
Sept. 7th- Reading with Holly (Excerpt)
Sept. 8th- A Few Words (Guest Post)
Sept. 9th- The Bunny's Review (Interview/Giveaway)
Sept. 10th- The eBook Reviewers (Excerpt)
Sept. 11th- The Other Shelf (Promo Post/Giveaway)
Sept. 12th- Lizzy's Dark Fiction (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Sept. 13th- Holly Adair (Promo Post)
Sept. 14th- Kaidans Seduction (Promo Post)
Sept. 16th- I am, Indeed (Review)
Sept. 17th- Chaotic Book Corner (Review)
Sept. 17th- Red Headed Book Worm (Interview)
Sept. 18th- A Bit of Dash (Excerpt)
Sept. 19th- Books & Beauty (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Sept. 20th- Words I Write Crazy (Review)
Sept. 21st- FireStarBooks (Excerpt)
Sept. 22nd- Day Dreaming Book Reviews (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Sept. 23rd- DVonThaer (Interview/Giveaway)
Sept. 24th- Book Lovin' Mamas (Promo Post)
Sept. 25th-  Proserpine Craving Books (Excerpt)
Sept. 26th- Sweeping Me (Guest Post/Giveaway)
Sept. 27th- Abbey Ann's Bookland (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Sept. 28th- Books Down My Pillow (Review/Giveaway)
Sept. 29th- For The Love Of Film And Novels (Promo Post/Giveaway)
Sept. 30th- Community Bookstop (Excerpt)
Oct. 1st- Grasping for the Wind (Excerpt)
Oct. 2nd- Off the Page (Author Interview)
Oct. 3rd- Bookluvrs Haven (Review)
Oct. 4th- Darlene's Book Nook (Guest Post/Giveaway)
Oct. 5th- Writing to be Read (Review)
Oct. 6th- The Insane Ramblings of a Crazed Writer (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Oct. 7th- Kristy Centeno (Promo Post)
Oct. 8th- Beauty in Ruins (Review)
Oct. 9th- My Seryniti (Author Interview/Review)
Oct. 10th- The Cover (And Everything in Between) (Interview/Giveaway)
Oct. 11th- White Sky Project (Review)
Oct. 12th- Mallory Heart Reviews (Review)
Oct. 13th- The Book Diva's Reads (Review/Excerpt)
Oct. 14th- Book Briefs (Excerpt/Giveaway)
Oct. 15th- Cocktails and Books (Promo Post)
Oct. 16th- Fighting Monkey Press (Excerpt)
Oct. 17th- Juniper Grove (Interview)
Oct. 18th- Cabin Goddess (Excerpt)
Oct. 19th- Persephone's Winged Reviews (Review)
Oct. 20th- Laurie's Non-Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews (Promo Post)
Oct. 21st- Simply Infatuated (Interview)
Oct. 22nd- Bookishly Me (Review)
Oct. 23rd-  Reading on the Wild Side (Promo Post)
Oct. 24th- Starry Night Book Reviews (Promo Post)
Oct. 25th- Cabin Goddess (Review)
Oct. 26th- Juniper Grove (Excerpt)
Oct. 27th- Full Moon Bites (Review/Giveaway)
Oct. 28th- Beach Bum Reads (Review)
Oct. 29th- whoopeeyoo :D (Excerpt)
Oct. 30th- The Self-Taught Cook (Review)


4 comments:

  1. My family is from West Virginia. My father, uncles, grandfather and brother were coal miners! What part of West Virginia are you from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey! I'm actually from Beckley, so right there in Raleigh County. It's more of a service hub now, lots of hospitals and therapy centers and such for miners, and a lot of restaurants - which in a way is pretty sad when you consider it. Lot of low-paying work with high overhead and a guaranteed workbase as people claw at each other to get employment. I know, I'm a sunshine-and-rainbows kind of guy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My family is from McDowell County. Bartley and Raysal to be exact. They are just little hole in the wall towns. At one time booming with Coal Mines, but now, it is barren. It's sad to see. I have seen some news pieces they have done on that county and it broke my heart. Unfortunately, this place was going down hill before the economy went south. Just thought I would throw my unicorns in there with your sunshine and rainbows! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh yes, I know McDowell County very well. Gah. Well, at least you know where some of my writing comes from now, right?

    ReplyDelete

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