Skye will accept anyone who comments and leaves their emails up to Mar 1. So you can have a chuckle and and a chance for great prizes at the same time.
Wow!
Today we
have a very interesting interview with
S.D. Skye, author of The Seven Year Itch,
a romantic/suspense/mystery/espionage novel.
What makes Skye
so unique is that she’s spent 20 years supporting counterintelligence,
intelligence, and military missions in the U.S. Intelligence Community so she
actually knows what she’s talking about. And, here’s the really, really weird
part, she’s a comedian too.
I wanted to do
a hard-hitting interview, but upon learning about Skye’s background, I admit I’m
a little afraid to give her a hard time. (Comedians are scary people.)
But then
another part of me insists she wants me to be bad, because she writes so many
provocative statements that I can take out of context. So we’ll just have to
wait and see how I go on this:
Good and Live Liza
or
Bad and In Trouble Liza.
And if that isn’t reason enough to read this blog,
then how
about this:
S.D. will be
awarding a Kindle Fire to a randomly drawn commenter at the end of the tour.
(US/CANADA ONLY)
Liza: Skye,
may I call you Skye? The initials SD could stand for Sudden Death, which I don’t
want. I’m happy being alive.
Skye: Skye is
fine.
Liza: So let’s
start with a safe question. What is your favorite part of writing?
Skye:
Freedom. I’ve never felt so free as when I’m writing a novel. I can go anywhere,
do anything. There are no limits. I can kill my ex-boyfriends and/or send them
to prison depending on how charitable I’m feeling in any given moment. I don’t
feel there are any limits to what I can do.
Liza:
I really wish you hadn't said that. *dives under coffee table*
BREAKING
FOXLIKE NEWS STORY—NO TIME TO FACT CHECK
SD
Skye declares she can kill or send to prison whomever she likes. There are no
limits. She is the mastermind of the world!
Skye:
Liza... *taps on glass coffee table*
Liza:
*looks up through the glass* Don’t kill me. I just want a job at Fox News.
Skye:
Can we continue this interview, please?
Liza:
*returns to chair*
Skye:
You do realize that a glass coffee table ranks as one of the worst hiding
places you could chose? Not only could I see you, but your legs were sticking
out the end.
Liza:
And yet I live. *brow furrows* I do get to live, right?”
Skye:
Your chances are about 50/50 right now. Can we continue this bizarre interview?
Liza: Is there anything you don’t like about
being a writer?
Skye: I don’t like that I can’t clone myself so that I can turn
out books a little more quickly. Understand that when books are left
unwritten and in a writer’s mind, the
characters hang around in your head and become extremely restless until you get
them down on paper. So, I have a zillion people talking in my head at any given
time, all trying to escape through my keyboard and I don’t have time to get to
them all as I would like.
Liza: No! Not again! *dives under the rug*
BREAKING FOXLIKE NEWS —NO TIME TO FACT CHECK
Skye has become a mad scientist.
She hears a zillion people talking to her in her head and intends
to clone herself-alot.
Skye: *Lifts up the rug and glares at Liza* That's a ga-zillion people. You must'v learned how to count at Fox News. Now stop with the breaking news and do your current job, which is interviewing me.
Liza: I will on one condition.
Skye: What’s that?
Liza: You’ll stop lobbing up such tempting floaters. They’re
irresistible. *settles in chair* So what's the
best piece of advice anyone has ever offered you about writing?
Skye: Ann Lamott, in her book Bird
by Bird gives writers permission to write crappy first drafts—or as she
calls them “Sh!tty First Drafts.” It was one of my most
liberating moments because I am such a perfectionist and hate to make mistakes.
I want everything perfect the first time, but trying to do that you will never
finish your work. On my first book, I was too naïve to know that I was writing
crap. But after you go through your first round of critiques, you get zapped
back to reality. So, giving yourself permission to be imperfect on the first
(and sometimes second) drafts ultimately means allowing yourself to have a writing
career.
Liza: Wow, I didn’t know I needed permission to write a
crappy first draft. Oh crap…not again…
BREAKING FOXLIKE NEWS – NO TIME TO FACT CHECK
ACCORDING TO THE FBI YOU MUST GET PERMISSION FROM ANN LAMOTT
TO WRITE CRAPPY FIRST DRAFTS.
Skye: *shakes head*
Liza: Sorry about that. Where was I? Oh yes: What part of your book
took you most out of your comfort zone?
Skye: In order to build this J.J. McCall series, going the romantic
suspense/mystery/espionage route seemed like the most natural progression given
my professional background in the US Intelligence Community. However, the plots
are so much more complex than those in romantic comedies and there are multiple
points of view—whereas in chick lit I write in first person. Then too writing a
suspense novel that is more plot versus character driven was very new for me. But
I’m really enjoying the challenge of finding a good balance.
Liza: What part of your book was the hardest to
write?
Skye: The plot. When I wrote my romantic comedies I was decidedly a
pantser and wouldn’t write an outline if you paid me. I have heard it said so often that when you
outline or plot in advance, you take control from your characters, thus your
story won’t reach its full potential.
Well, whoever said that probably hadn’t tried writing a complex
espionage plot with multiple points of view. When I finished my first draft, my
plot had more holes than the south side of the moon. I wrote no fewer than
27,000 drafts (only a slight exaggeration) trying to fill them in. At that
point, the whole pantser thing went out the window. No, it was hurled out of
the window with Hulkian force. I decided to compromise with my characters and I
allowed them to drive the outline and the scenes, but we will plot or die.
Breaking Foxlike News: Mad scientist, FBI agent Skye
develops hulkian strength and hurls drafts out of window burying unsuspecting
pedestrians below. Search for survivors continue.
Liza:
Just ignore those breaking news. I’m sure my readers are. Now, how'd you come
up with this story?
Skye: I spent 20 years in the U.S. Intelligence Community and I’ve had a
very interesting career to say the least. I’ve worked in places and done things
many people will only read in books. So,
I absolutely tapped into my vast experience for the foundations on which to
build plots for this series. Each book will feature agencies and situations in
which I’ve worked to some degree or another.
Liza: *sighs* Can I become you?
Skye: Yes, but you'll need a binding spandex unitard with an "S" on the chest. On second thought, maybe not.
Liza: But you’re amazing.
Skye: Back to the question at hand. The largest chunk of my career
was spent working in FBI counterintelligence, but I’ve had the opportunity to
work with or for just about the entire alphabet soup of agencies (CIA, NSA,
DIA, at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff, etc.).
Just like so many spies or special ops personnel-turned-authors, I
wanted to spin some page-turning tales but we really have to draw a clear and
distinct line when we’ve been in the business and could compromise ongoing
operations. So, I am extremely careful to pull out the bits that I know that I
can use from my professional experience and then let my imagination take over
from there. For the reader, I hope that’s a seamless integration and that they
find it difficult to draw the line. That’s when I’ll know I’ve done my job well.
Liza: Since we haven’t a clue what you guys really do, we’ll
believe anything you write. Especially since the movie ARGO came out. Now, no
matter how stupid and unbelievable the plot sounds, if you write it, we’ll buy
it.
Skye: If you mean that literally, then my job here is done. *gets up to leave*
Liza: Don’t go. I have a lot of Breaking News to make up
for.
Peeps, get your thumbs off your cameras so I can see you.
Good, you’re still with me. No skimming. This is an author you’re going to want
to buy.
Oh one more question: How much do you cost?
Skye: My book?
Liza: No you. I want to buy one of your many clones to keep as
my best friend.
Skye: Sorry, not happening.
Liza: *huffs* Well, then let’s focus on your novel, The Seven
Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch
(A J.J. McCall Novel – the FBI Series)
by S. D.
Skye
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Her Family Was Vexed With a Generational
Curse. Now for Lie Detecting FBI Spy Catcher J.J. McCall, the Truth is in The
Seven Year Itch.
FBI Special Agent J.J. McCall is a born lie detector who recruits
foreign spies to catch American traitors. She and co-case agent Tony Donato
have lost two of their most critical Russian sources in the past two years, and
they may lose another in just a few short days if they don’t catch him, The ICE
PHANTOM, a rumored insider spy more insidious and elusive than Ames and Hanssen
combined. They suspect he might be burrowed deep inside FBI
counterintelligence—and his body count is going up.
Drawn into an unsanctioned mole hunt, they have a week to catch him,
save a key source’s life—and their own. While J.J.’s lie detecting ability
helps them narrow down the list of suspects, the lie she tells to herself may
help the ICE PHANTOM defect to Moscow and get away with the murder of the man
she loves.
Skye's debut FBI Series, filled with mystery, espionage, romance, and
suspense, will keep you burning through the pages until J.J. catches the very
last spy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
J.J searched for serenity in bottom of a Belvedere bottle.
The wait for his sugar-coated lies had dragged on for too long, and she’d lost
patience. After glancing around the small reception area to ensure no one was
watching, she removed from her purse a silver flask and smiled. It was filled
to the brim with relief. One small gulp and the soothing burn slipped down her
throat, calming her prickly nerves. Inside she felt on the brink of
dissolution. The 10 am swallow was just a necessary evil. It would get her
through the meeting, until time for her next dose of repose.
Another dead source. She couldn’t stomach the thought of his
demise. Two had been more than her fair share. The unceasing cycle of loss had
worn her resolve thin. She’d refused to let another family suffer that pain if
she could in any way prevent it. J.J. wanted to tell the FBI where to stick her
badge and gun, but she had promises to keep. Promises to Viktor. Promises to
herself. No matter what Cartwright said, she’d see her case through until the
end. And the end was as near as nightfall because the op was simple and would
go off without a hitch.
J.J. stiffened her back and squared her shoulders as the
elixir took effect. Her posture mirrored that of the powerful yet graceful
eagle perched atop her FBI badge. She’d eyed it, waiting for the carefully
choreographed denial and deception ritual to begin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liza: That reminds me. I had a few questions about your
book. Describe the
hero in five words.
Skye: Determined.
Honorable. Loyal. Stubborn. Macho.
Liza:
And your heroine?
Skye: Clever. Sensitive. Caring. Vulnerable. Loyal.
Liza:
I understand you like troublemakers.
Skye:
Yes. Grayson “Six” Chance, J.J. McCall’s former beau. He’s gorgeous, arrogant, a know-it-all, full of
himself, and he is going to be the source of some major dissention between J.J.
and Tony as they attempt to find a comfort zone in their relationship. I love
troublemakers and he’s makes a darn good one. He will be the character everyone
hates to love and loves to hate.
Liza:
If your main character had been allowed to write the novel rather than you, how
would the story have been different?
Skye: There would be nothing in the story about her alcohol
addiction because she’s still in complete denial that she has a problem at all.
The irony about the character is that she can detect when others tell her lies
due to a generational curse, but she cannot detect when she lies to herself. And
it’s those lies that may end up costing her someone very dear to her if she
isn’t careful.
Liza: This sounds like a
great novel written by a very interesting person. Here’s some more details I
uncovered about Skye:
S.D. Skye is
a former FBI Russian Counterintelligence Program Intelligence Analyst and
supported several key cases during her 12-year tenure at the Bureau. She has
personally witnessed the blowback the Intelligence Community suffered due to
the most significant compromises in U.S. history, including the arrests of
former CIA Case Officer Aldrich Ames and two of the Bureau's own--FBI Agents
Earl Pitts and Robert Hanssen. She has spent 20 years supporting
counterintelligence, intelligence, and military missions in the U.S.
Intelligence Community.
Liza: I am SOOOOOO jealous!
And now it’s time
for the links.
BUY
LINKS
And SD
Skye links:
Now my
peeps, you know I’m always looking out for you. So to have a chance for the
Kindle Fire LEAVE A COMMENT and include your EMAIL address. Otherwise, how will
Skye find you?
Peep: She’s
FBI. I’m pretty sure she can find anyone.
Liza:
That’s probably true, but we want to make this easy on her, so leave your
email.
Peep:
Okay. I really want that kindle.
Liza: Then
make sure you stalk her tour. I've put the link below for her schedule where she’ll be
and when.
Peep: She
won’t arrest me for stalking her will she?
Liza: Not
as long as you blog stalk you’ll be fine and possibly the owner of a new Kindle
Fire. Now when you reach the blogsite, page down once and you’ll find her tour
schedule. Good luck peeps!
Link to
Skye’s Blog Tour
so you
can
My posts are disappearing on my screen so I apologize if this shows up more than once. Thank you so much for hosting the first leg of my virtual book tour. If any of the commenters has a question, please don't hesitate to ask. And the Kindle Giveaway is my fourth annual e-reader giveaway and also includes a $25 gift card to kick off your kindle collection so post early and often for more chances to win! I'll be poking my head in throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteHave you alerted the FBI about the missing posts? I'm sure they'll help you. They just ignore me when I send the alerts to crimes I believe are occurring. I suspect my emails go straight to Lunatic bin. Can you confirm they have a lunatic bin? Or is that classified?
DeleteThank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Liza... you had me laughing out loud (which is VERY embarrassing because I work in a library!!!!) Great job on the interview--and I'm looking forward to reading this book :-)
ReplyDeleteSorry for disturbing your readers' peace, but they're probably watching porn instead of referencing the library dewless list. (I miss the old cards. Now I cant find anything because creepy guys hog up all the computer stations...watching porn or porn light if the library has a parent filter.) But laughter makes you live longer, so this had to worth 7.8 seconds of additional life.
DeleteI LOVE the bad Liza interviews! Great to *meet* you, Skye! I think it's fabulous when authors can include their own experiences in the stories they write. And if I could have a clone of myself for more time, I'd take one, too. All the best!
ReplyDelete~Jessica
jessicasubject.writer at gmail dot com
Skye, if there's some secret gov program making clones, and you're taking orders (Jessica seems to think so) I want one too. But DO NOT let it get loose in the lab or you'll have no ends to trouble.
DeleteBad Liza interviews are such fun, aren't they? *laughs crazily* Ahem. I want to be you when I grow up, S.D.
ReplyDeleteThis was fun. Except when Skye threatens to shoot me. She edited that line--to my detriment. I want Skye to be my best friend and email me nightly to tell me about her day, but then they'd probably have to kill me. But it would be so interesting while it lasted.
DeleteThank you everyone! Yes, Ann! This was truly one of the most fun blog interviews I've done and it's very unique. @Jessica, yes, I think I've taken the term "write what you know" to a whole new level, but I hope that lends some authenticity to the stories and the relationships. Thank you for checking it out, Judy!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Skye. After the movie "Argo" you can write anything and I will believe you.
DeleteSounds very entertaining!
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(dot)com
I loved the interview, so much more fun and I really feel like I learned a lot about the author
ReplyDeletefencingromein at hotmail dot com
I learned she has a wonderful sense of humor and a great deal of patience.
DeleteThis was great... I was laughing the whole time. The more I hear about this book, the more I want to read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks again Liza for the interview. And thanks SD for NOT killing when you had the chance.
kvmatlock(at)gmail(dot)com
Yeah, I'm kinda of glad Skye didn't kill me too. Glad you had a great time. Don't forget to stalk Skye through her tour to increase your chances to win the goods.
DeleteVery fun interview. Congratulations on your new series. I tweeted.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tweet. I'll send you a pet...how many do you have now? Your imaginary pet house must be stuffed with them. I'm glad you stopped by. Since this was a tour blog, I had intended to be nice, but I couldn't. So I got special permission to be so bad that I'm good. But thank Skye. I sent her a Good Liza and Bad Liza draft and she not only chose Bad Liza but made it even funnier.
Deletecrazy interview - book sounds fantastic. I tweeted
ReplyDeleteNice. Call me crazy and Skye an excellent author...
DeleteJust because its true...
Would you like be interviewed. (laughs wickedly)
Thanks for tweeting, but I fear what you said:
Lunatic interviews Fabulous author Skye.
I can live with that.
Thanks for commenting, I don't really mind being called 'crazy', now call me 'boring' and there'd be fisticuffs.
Interesting.
ReplyDeleteAh, you've taken to ignoring me entirely. Fine then. I'll let Skye talk to you. sniff.
DeleteSounds like a fabulous book. And I loved the interview, possibly the most creative I've seen
ReplyDeletecarrie dot rogozinski at gmail.com
Thank you for stopping by Carrie! Liza's definitely got a winning blog here! If you like you spy stories with a heap intrigue with a dab of romance, you might enjoy it. :)
DeleteThanks Carrie. I value humor over professionalism, so even when I'm behaving I drag in an assortment of crazy into my interviews. However, Skye was very brave and selected a Bad Liza Interview. She probably thought owning a gun and being an FBI agent would rein me in, but in fact, it just made behave all the worse.
DeleteThanks Liza for doing the wonderful interview, and Thanks, Skye for putting up with her, and making it wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by Tony! You've gotta love it when a blog host encourages you to cut up a little. :)
DeleteAnd thank you for reading it. It takes all three: Crazy interviewer, Funny obliging guest, and chuckling readers to make a blog. I'm happy to say the three mixed together and created the perfect interview extravaganza.
ReplyDeleteGREAT NEWS PEEPS: If you arrived late to Liza's funny interview of Skye, not a problem. You can still leave your comment and email address up until Mar 1 and be in the run for the Kindle Fire and $25 gift card. So feel free to tell me you like my blog, tell Skye you love her book and have purchased it, and if you are really brave, follow or subscribe to my blog so you get more of my silliness to lighten your day.
ReplyDeleteVery nice interview.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thanks, bn100. I once had a friend named bn100, only I left it outside and it rusted. Silly Robot.
DeleteI absolutely loved the interview!!! I'm glad Skye went with Bad Liza. It's great to be finding out about this series with the first installment. Usually I discover a book series at about the 4th book and have to go back and read the first three before I can read the newest one OR I read the newest one and then have to go back and read the others because I want to know the back stories.
ReplyDeleteI was glad she chose Bad Liza too. I'm glad you loved the interview. That always makes me happy.
Deletethis interview was too funny, looking forward to getting the book. Even better if i can read on the kindle when I win it!! #fingerscrossed# holmes_tonya@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThanks. Best of luck. But if you don't, buy the book anyway.
DeleteHa! Omigod Lisa...this is the first time I've been to your blog and you are CRAZY! I love it :) I will have to stop by more often if all your interviews are like this :)
ReplyDeleteandralynn7@gmail.com
Glad you enjoyed it. To be honest Skye kept throwing out such tempting comments that I couldn't help myself. The two of us together was truly hysterical. It's my highest read blog--ever. I normally put up a new blog every two days, so stop by all the time. I kidnap authors, I interview badly, I interview nicely, I interview seriously, and I host people for Goddess Fish Tours. However, Skye was a Goddess Fish Tour so I should have behaved and you see how that went. I'm trying to make my blog as predictable as my books. NOT.
Delete