A Book and a Chat with Luke Murphy

My guest today is Luke Murphy one time ice hockey starlet and now lighting the writing world as the author if adventure thriller “Dead Man’s Hand”.

Born in a small rural community in Western Quebec his dream growing up in a location where you learned to skate before you could walk was to become and ice hockey star.

When his mother lost her battle with cancer he decided to out his mind to his dream. The fact he was only 5’9” and weighing 160 pounds in a time when ice hockey was looking for big bodies on the ice did not put him off and he won many awards before using his one ice talent to get a hockey scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology where he gained Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing with a Minor in Sociology.

He went on to get called upon by the Florida Panthers and though he got to play only four games in the NHL he had a career all be terminated early through injury, he had a carrier in the minors terminated by an serious eye injury.

Knowing that dream had come to the end he returned to his home town and not only started a career as coach but also writing for a local paper, so began his drive to becoming an author.

Several years later and after first learning the craft of a writer he has produced a wonderful murder suspense novel “Dead Man’s Hand”

About “Dead Man’s Hand” (taken from Imajin Books)

From NFL rising-star prospect to wanted fugitive, Calvin Watters is a sadistic African-American Las Vegas debt-collector framed by a murderer who, like the Vegas Police, finds him to be the perfect fall-guy.

…and the cards don't fall your way?

When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years.

The book has received many great reviews, several remarking that the book which is in the style of James Patterson or Rick Mofina, does not have the feel of a debut book.

As one reviewer put it…

I loved how the book kept me in the dark right till the very end! The author made me sympathize with his protaganist Calvin Watters through excellent character building, and I was definitely rooting for him! I believe the author took some serious time doing research for this novel, it was educational AND entertaining for me! A terrific debut! I look forward to more work from Luke Murphy in the future.

Well another book is already underway reviewer, and as we discussed during the show perhaps then a follow up on “duck duck goose”….
 

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Luke Murphy

Barry
Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Luke Murphy

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Luke Murphy"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Luke Murphy - Dead Mans Hand"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Jennifer Cervantes

Today on “A Book and a Chat”, I’m chatting with Jennifer Cervantes, author of middle grade novel Tortilla Sun.

While Jennifer is a native of San Diego, California with Spanish/Mexican heritage her background includes a blend of German, English, French and Irish. This, as Jennifer shared with us, not only produced a wide range of food choices but also enabled her to grow up with stories with a lot of diversity.

As we found out in what was a really entertaining as well as educational sixty minutes, we have to thank Jennifer’s daughter Jules for pushing her mother to open the flood gates of Jennifer’s obvious talent that has lead to this her first book, but I’m sure not her last.

Tortilla Sun, as mentioned is a middle grade book, but far more than just that. It is beautiful story that's also filled with some elements of magic. The characters and the description of the life’s and locations are like an artist painting a picture, in Jennifer’s case using words rather than brush and paints.

Tortilla Sun

The story is about a tender, magical story about 12 year old Izzy Roybal who is sent to spend the summer in her nana’s New Mexico village where she is soon caught up in the foreign world of her own culture, from patron saints and soulful food to the curious and magical blessings Nana gives her tortillas. In Nana’s village she meets Mateo, the adventurous, treasure seeking thirteen year old boy who lives on the other side of the bolted door in Izzy’s bedroom and six year old Maggie who is raising her cat, Frida, as a dog and sees marshmallow ghosts float out windows. When the wind begins to whisper to Izzy, she is soon led on an adventure to learn about her father’s mysterious death, who she really is, and to connect the hidden pieces of her past.

During the show we discussed about the issues and challenges of not only writing a novel but what happens after the novel is produced, the waiting for the final copy and then the work that starts after that. The discussion ranged across how the book and the story transcends across groups and ages, and how the characters almost write the book themselves.

From ghosts to making Tortilla, from NFL to Jennifer’s next projects the sixty minute show, as always when you are enjoying chatting, just flew by.

So why not sit back and lsiten to "A Book and a Chat with Jennifer Cervantes" or else down load the show and listen at another time.

Barry

Direct link to the show
"A Book and a Chat with Jennifer Cervantes"

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Jennifer Cervantes"

You can find out more about my guest and their book at:
"Jennifer Cervantes - Tortilla Sun"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry