Mmm...first encounters. I love it when characters in both movies and novels meet for the first time. It sets the tone for what's to come. Sometimes there's snap, crackle, sizzle...or maybe there's that slow burn of borderline contempt that you just know is gonna be fun to watch.
Tina Traverse is visiting with her novel, "Let There Be Blood." Let's take a look!
Tina Traverse is visiting with her novel, "Let There Be Blood." Let's take a look!
Aaron Brooks is the star of the
highly successful TV show, Let There Be Blood.
He attends glamourous parties, wears the finest clothes, and can have any woman he wants.
Aaron Brooks has the world at his fingertips.
He attends glamourous parties, wears the finest clothes, and can have any woman he wants.
Aaron Brooks has the world at his fingertips.
Every night, he is tormented by the same reoccurring nightmare. Every day he tries to forget by immersing himself into his work and celebrity obligations.
When he is reunited with his estranged best friend, his life settles into comfortable normalcy.
Aaron's torture subsides.
Then his cast mates start being murdered around him. The nightmares aren’t over. They’re just beginning.
Let There Be Blood was born from an idea on how I was going
to attract followers to my blog, Writers on the Wharf. http://writersonthewharf.wordpress.com/
which promotes not only my work, but my fellow authors. I decided to promote my
blog by hosting a blog series, where I would post a story I would write, and
post one chapter at a time once a week for a month. Kinda like a tv mini-series
except with words. I normally write erotic thriller suspense and figured this
would be a good theme for my series. The plot was inspired through my
friendship with an actress who is friends with an well known actor. In between
taking acting classes, working and family life, she hosts a fan page for her
friend where she spotlights his professional life. This sparked an idea. What
would happen to a person if the price of fame became too much? I wanted to
write a story that went beyond the all too common celebrity break downs were
they go wild with drugs and alcohol and reckless behaviour as their methods of
coping with the pressures of sudden celebrity. I wanted to explore an extreme
reaction to the pressure. Let there be Blood was born. The story centres around
an actor of an insanely famous YA television show who has survived a traumatic
event and suffers from nightmares. He has to push past the trauma in order to
fulfil his celebrity obligations. The actor finds peace when he is reunited
with his estranged best friend and soon
the nightmares die away, but not for long. He discovers that his demons are not
going to be so easily abandoned.
Why what happens to my main character is dramatic and
extreme, I wanted to show that a celebrity's life is not all glamour and is
never easy.
The series met with positive feedback and I decided to turn
it into a novel to reach a wider audience.
Their first meeting…What do you think? Is it love or lust at first sight?
“And the
winner is… Katrina Murphy!”
With the
sound of the mayor’s voice, Aaron snapped out of his trance and back to the
present. He scanned the sea of people to find Katrina Murphy, but he was
unprepared for what he saw. As the mayor escorted her across the stage, he
shielded his eyes from the lights and flashing cameras.
The high
school senior was a vision.
Her fiery
red curls cascaded down her back, stopping short of her narrow waist. Katrina
gazed up at him for only a moment, just long enough for Aaron to see that her
lapis lazuli eyes matched her off-the-shoulder satin gown. The young woman’s
alabaster skin was so fair that she appeared to glow under the fluorescent
lighting.
Aaron
offered his hand to Katrina, and she accepted it, pressing her soft hand in
his. Katrina smiled shyly at him, averting her gaze from his as she shook his
hand.
“Nice to
meet you, Katrina.”
“Nice to
meet you, Aaron. You’re my favorite actor. I love your show!” Her voice was so
soft that he barely heard her above the applause and catcalls.
“Thank
you, Katrina. Would you like to go somewhere quiet after our photo session and
talk?”
“Actually,
my Mom was wondering if you’d like to escape to our house for a cup of coffee.”
That set
off alarm bells in Aaron’s head. He prayed that the beautiful girl’s mother
hadn’t been the same woman who’d practically raped him in the stairwell.
“I, ah…”
“Tell him
that I also make a mean apple crumble. I know that’s his favorite. At least, it
was when we were in high school. Or are you all health conscious now, Aaron
Brooks?”
Aaron’s
breath caught in his chest as he followed the voice. Then he saw her. Her
auburn hair was longer and her figure was softer, but she was still the most
stunning woman he’d ever known. Aaron’s heart skipped a beat for more than her
stunning beauty. It stopped because he was scared. He prayed she wouldn’t
remember him from the nightmares.
“Martina
Murphy! It’s so good to see you!”
“Likewise.
Well, handsome, are you just going to stand there and pretend you don’t know
me, or are you going to give your best friend a hug?”
“Of
course! How neglectful of me.”
He pulled
Martina into his embrace. It felt so good to be in her arms again, feeling her
warmth, breathing in her delicate honeysuckle scent. When she pulled away, he
felt strangely empty.
“I
believe my girl invited her favorite star to our house for coffee, so how about
it? Do you want to get away from this crowd?”
“Do I
ever! How do we leave without someone noticing us?”
“I know a
way out through the kitchen. That should keep you away from the zealots! Follow
me.”
A bonus excerpt to further wet your appetite for this delicious book!
Aaron stepped out the shower feeling rejuvenated and
relaxed. He slipped underneath the sheets and before long he fell into a deep
sleep.
The sweet smell of fresh-baked
cookies beckoned him to the kitchen. The promise of warm gooey chocolate and
cold milk made it hard to resist. He glided barefoot towards the kitchen, where
his mother would have set a plate filled with cookies and a glass of milk on
the counter for his afterschool snack. He loved to sit and talk to her as she
diced up the vegetables for supper. This was his favorite time of day; just him
and his mom alone, talking.
He called her name as he neared
the kitchen, but was met with silence. He called again and again, with no
answer. Frantic, he searched the house with no luck. He wandered back into the
kitchen and slipped on something warm and wet, catching himself on the counter.
Looking down, he saw a large pool of blood and his mother and father lying in
each other’s arms, a bullet hole in their foreheads.
Hysterically screaming, he fell
onto his parents’ bodies and wrapped himself in their lifeless embrace. Closing
his eyes to stave off the burning tears, he heard a faraway voice calling to
him.
“Aaron, please help! Help me,
Aaron, I need you!” Looking up Aaron saw his best friend standing naked before
him, her hands tied behind her back and blood pouring from between her legs.
Aaron sat up in bed, covered in sweat, with Martina
still begging for help echoing in his ears. Thirteen years, and his mother and
father’s senseless deaths still haunted him; two years after the living
nightmare, Aaron could not erase his wife’s voice from his mind. It was a vicious, endless torment that
served as punishment for the sin of his neglect.
Let There Be Blood Buy links:
Ebook: Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/383673
Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/4537997
Amazon: http://getbook.at/LTBBnovel
Social Networks aka How ye gets a hold of me:
Facebook: Let there be blood page:
Writers on the Wharf(my blog or the place where I can talk
to myself without it looking weird)
Forever, Christian(the page dedicated to the light of my
life, my son)
Author page:
Twitter:
De blog:
Amazon Author page:
Just for fun:
Let There Be Blood teaser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU5Q1tjWFU8
About the Author
This love grew into a
passionate affair and has been ongoing for thirty years; and there are no signs
of it waning.
Though, she admits, when she
was pregnant with her son Christian, the affair cooled.
Tina’s desire to write came
calling once again when she needed to find a way to cope with heartbreaking
news.
Christian was diagnosed with
autism in 2010.
Her method of coping was to
write a story about his journey called Forever, Christian.
Tina likes to joke that a
girl can only write about real life for so long without jumping back into the
world of make believe.
She loves to venture into the
world of the supernatural; vampires and witches are her favourite!
Tina enjoys all sorts of
vampires but admits that she is fascinated with the modern romantic vampire
(think Twilight and The Vampire Diaries).
She is currently working on a
vampire series based on her first published book, Destiny of The Vampire and
has other projects in the works.
When Tina is not at the
computer creating her exciting, magical worlds, she is kept on her toes by her
two sons, Christian and Brandon.
Sometimes the author manages
to curl up in her favourite chair with a good book.
A note from Tina:
Dear reader, if you wish to
find out more about me and/or my work please contact me:
Blog:
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