THE AGE OF DESIRE by Jennie Fields
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Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Guest Author: Kurt Kamm
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL - The Fourth Firefighter Mystery Novel
by Kurt Kamm
Bucky Dawson is a HazMat Specialist with Los Angeles County Fire Department HazMat Task Force 103. His station is in Lancaster, CA—an area populated with meth labs and outlaw motorcycle gangs, as well as some of the smartest people in the world at Edwards AFB, NASA, and at top-secret aerospace facilities.
Bucky—divorced and lonely—struggles with a painkiller addiction. One night Task Force 103 is toned out to support a Sheriff's raid on a meth lab in the Mojave. On scene, Bucky thinks he sees his sister at the door of a double- wide trailer just before it explodes.
Bucky's life is in chaos and he is unable to kick his Percocet habit, which threatens his career with the fire department.
While he searches for answers to his sister's death, he is drawn into a mystery which involves the Vagos, an outlaw motorcycle gang; the death of several endangered desert tortoises; and Dubkova, a top-level aerospace and drone engineer, who lives in a converted 747 in the desert.
Bucky soon discovers that the fate of his sister, the source of the meth being sold in the area, and the death of the desert turtles are all related.
A confrontation with the Vagos leaves Bucky severely injured. A confrontation with Dubkova, leaves Bucky mentally shaken.
The novel twists and turns, bringing together firefighters; Dubkova the sinister aerospace engineer; the Vagos—led by the Dwarf, their seven foot tall Sergeant at Arms; and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The rarified world of high-tech aerospace and the brutal world of low-tech meth manufacture and motorcycle gangs are not far apart.
There is a surprise ending you will not anticipate but you will certainly enjoy.
Hazardous Material won the 2012 Hackney Literary Award for best (unpublished) novel, and was a finalist in the 2012 Dana Awards
Author: Kurt Kamm
Mass Market Paperback and Kindle Edition - 222 pages
Publisher: MCM Publishing May 1, 2013
Amazon Link
About the Author
Malibu resident Kurt Kamm has used his contact with CalFire, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department and the ATF, as well as his experience in several devastating local wildfires, to write fact-based firefighter mystery novels.
Kurt Kamm has built an avid fan base among first responders. Each of his firefighter mysteries features a firefighter in a particular expertise (wildland, arson investigation, paramedic, hazardous material response, and search and rescue). His first novel, One Foot in the Black (2008) has become a favorite of firefighters. Subsequent novels, Red Flag Warning: A Serial Arson Mystery (Aberdeen Bay, 2010) and Code Blood (MCM Publishing, 2012) have won numerous fiction awards.
Visit Kurt Kamm's first responder/author website www.kurtkamm.com to see some stunning fire pictures and for free chapter downloads and information about all his novels.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Guest Author: Steven Manchester
by Steven Manchester
I suppose I discovered the writing world by accident – or perhaps it discovered me. I’d just returned home from Operation Desert Storm, and was working as a prison investigator in Massachusetts. Needless to say, there was great negativity in my life at that time. I decided to return to college to finish my degree in Criminal Justice. During one of the classes, the professor talked about police work but nothing else. I finally raised my hand and asked, “The criminal justice system is vast. What about the courts, probation, parole – corrections?” He smiled and told me to see him after class. I thought I’d finally done it! In his office, he explained, “There’s no written material out there on corrections or prisons, except from the slanted perspective of inmates.” He smiled again and dropped the bomb. “If you’re so smart,” he said, “why don’t you write it?” Nine months later, I dropped the first draft of 6-5; A Different Shade of Blue on his desk. From then on, I was hooked. I was a writer.
I’d written a lot at my job (report writing), but it all started with my college professor’s challenge. Perhaps because of my age and experience, I understood right away that writing is a craft that takes time to evolve; to mature, so I spent the next several years PRACTICING my chosen craft. Under the pen name, Steven Herberts, I wrote in every venue of print I could get my name in: newspaper, magazine, etc. I also penned two collections of poetry, and wrote drafts for two more books. After five solid years of writing, I finally believed that I’d found my voice; MY STYLE – and was ready to contact an agent.
It has taken thousands of words, hundreds of pages, before I finally identified with a particular genre. I decided that my voice was a more sensitive one: a male perspective to a female audience.
Now that I have nearly two decades of writing and getting published under my belt, I enjoy trying to help new writers break in. My advice is always the same:
o Be true to yourself, always.
o Write constantly.
o Keep the faith!!!
o And NEVER, EVER, EVER quit. Most people in this industry would agree that more than talent or skill or even luck, perseverance is the one trait that will always get the job done.
o Knock on every door you can, and keep knocking. I promise that eventually someone will open and the warmth you feel on your face will more than validate every hour spent alone in the darkness.
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