Today Thrillers ROCK Twitter presents an interview with author, Rick Chesler, author of the thrillers, Tara Shores, novels full of action, adventure, intrigue, and suspense intermingled with cutting edge science and technology!
TRT - Where are you from? Tell us a little bit about yourself!
RC = I currently live in Los Angeles, where I grew up, but have also lived in different places around the country including Hawaii and the Florida Keys. I have a degree in marine biology and have always been fascinated by the natural world, the ocean in particular.
TRT - Do you have a day job as well?
RC = Yes, right now I work as a research project manager at a major university.
TRT - As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
RC = Be a marine biologist and explorer.
TRT - What do you do when you are not writing?
RC = Spend time with my family. I also enjoy boating, scuba diving, going to the beach and, of course, reading.TRT - Tell us your latest news.
RC = My newest novel, BLOOD HARBOR, about a small seaside town thrust into terror, has just been crowd-funded on Kickstarter, and will be published in February 2013.
TRT - When and why did you begin writing?
RC = I first started in my late 20s, influenced and inspired by the works of Michael Crichton and Clive Cussler, as well as my own studies of and experiences with nature.
TRT - How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
RC = I’ve lived in some different parts of the country, done a bit of travelling, so that exposure to different cultures and areas I’m sure has shaped my views on things. My degree in marine biology, scuba diving and boating experiences also play a role.
TRT - How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
RC = The Tara Shores series books tend to be pretty high concept, where the title is usually known to me before I start writing. The forthcoming SOLAR ISLAND, for example, is about events that take place on a floating solar energy installation. Wired Kingdom is a play on the classic television nature show, about a whale tagged with a webcam that broadcasts a murder at sea. So the titles, so far at least, have naturally followed the underlying premises.
TRT - Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
RC = I can’t say there’s an intended message, other than there are a lot of remarkable topics out there to explore, many involving science, technology and nature, and the ways humans interact with their world. First and foremost, though, the novels are meant to be thought provoking entertainment, hopefully the kind of books that are perfect for the beach or a long plane ride, but that also get the reader thinking.
TRT - Are your works based on someone you know or events in your life?
RC =No, the novels are purely fiction, but people I’ve known or have come across throughout my life may influence my characters in the little personality traits and quirks they have, or things they say.
RC =Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
TRT - Not really, no. I only have a set amount of time to write each night, and I know that whatever I’m going to write, it has to get done during that time, so I can’t afford to waste it. Outlining helps in that regard. If all else fails, skipping ahead to write the next scene I am sure of will eventually “unlock” the previous section I was uncertain about. The key is to keep moving forward somehow, putting words on paper and pausing occasionally to evaluate them critically.
TRT - Who is your favorite author and why?
RC = Michael Crichton, for astonishing premises crisply executed.
TRT - How long does it take you to write a book?
RC = The first one took longer, but now I can comfortably write one novel per year working part time on it, outside of a full-time day job.
TRT - What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
RC = I don’t know how interesting it is, but I write usually late night by dim light—one of those blue or green colored party bulbs in a desk lamp and that’s it, and lots of times with headphones on playing music.
TRT - If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in any of your books?
RC = Only very minor details that don’t affect the overall tone and spirit of the story experience. I’m happy with the novels I’ve released so far. I think any book length work can always be improved at least a little bit, but at some point you have to say enough is enough, and for me that point is reached once they’re published. I look forward rather than back.
TRT - Hypothetical question #1: You’re going to be stranded on a desert island but are allowed to bring one book. What book do you bring?
RC = Desert Island Survival and Rescue Tactics
TRT -Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you
TRT - Do you have cops or others in a field of expertise who read your stories before you publish them?
RC =
On occasion I have consulted directly with scientists who are experts in a field I’m writing about, such as whales or genetic engineering. Also, for insights into the life of a female FBI agent, I have read a couple of biographies by real-life agents.
TRT - Is there anything additional you would like to share with your readers?
RC = The third Tara Shores thriller, SOLAR ISLAND, will be published this December (2012) from Seven Realms Publishing. Then, in February 2013, my first standalone suspense novel, BLOOD HARBOR will be released.
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Thanks very much for having me as a guest on the always awesome Thrillers Rock!
Happy reading,Rick Chesler
Rick Chesler holds a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and has had a life-long interest in the ocean and its creatures. When not at work as a research project manager, he can be found scuba diving or traveling to research his next thriller idea. Author of kiDNApped and Wired Kingdom, he currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, son, and some fish.
A priceless biotechnology, an FBI agent, and an unspeakable act of familial betrayal collide in a tropical kidnapping more twisted than a DNA double helix. When a renowned scientist with a solution for global warming is kidnapped at sea, FBI Special Agent Tara Shores must unravel a high-tech trail of S.O.S. messages encoded into the DNA of living cells. As each decoded message brings Tara nearer to the missing genius, it also takes her farther from help than she ever thought possible.
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When a blue whale tagged with a web-cam designed with stolen defense technology broadcasts a brutal murder at sea as part of a television nature program, Special Agent Tara Shores finds herself navigating an ocean of manipulation and deceit in a deadly race to reach the 100-ton creature roaming the Pacific before an unknown killer can destroy the digital evidence it carries.
As Shores dives deeper into the case, what she initially dismisses as a publicity stunt for the glitzy reality series soon sweeps her out to sea in a riptide of greed, intrigue, and high-tech crime.
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Carmen Caine is the member of Thrillers Rock Twitter where she is happy to coordinate author interviews in between writing Scottish Medieval Romances such as "The Bedeviled Heart". For more on Carmen Caine, please visit: www.CarmenCaine.com
