Pump Up Your Book Chats with Steve DeWinter, author of “Inherit the Throne”

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Steve DW Author Steve DeWinter’s goal as a writer is to transport the reader to fresh and exciting worlds that not only take them on a white-knuckle ride, but leave them hungry for more. He has made a solemn promise to the reader. He will continue to satisfy their never-ending desire for more. So keep reading! When one story ends, another begins.

Steve’s debut thriller is Inherit The Throne. http://www.amazon.com/Inherit-The-Throne-ebook/dp/B004V9GKNW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1307149362&sr=8-2

You can visit his website at www.stevedw.com. Connect with Steve on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/stevedw, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mythmakersdw and Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/stevedewinter.

Thank you for this interview, Steve. Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later? Do you remember your first published piece?

A: And thank you, I’m so glad to be here and share with everyone my thoughts and my book. I have always had the writing bug and when I was growing up my favorite classes in school were the creative writing classes. Once I graduated high school, I followed with everyone else around me and started looking for real work and writing books on the side. Life got in the way and it wasn’t until very recently that I decided to take back control and focus more on my writing as a career. Inherit The Throne is, I’m almost ashamed to admit, my first published work. I really should have done this much sooner. But, onwards and upwards. No regrets. Only pressing forward.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

A: The most frustrating side of being a published author is — nothing. I am thrilled and excited to have made the decision to self-publish now rather than wait for my big break with an agent and traditional print publisher. I am not alone in feeling that we are truly entering into a new era for publishing; a mini gold rush, if you will. With the success stories of indie-published authors like Vincent Zandri, who also toured with Pump Up Your Book, they have shown that the old way of publishing is not the only path to becoming a successful author.

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life? Do you have support?

A: My wife and six-year old are my biggest supporters. They know to give me the space and time I need when I snarl “I’m writing” with my back to them as I hunch over the computer keyboard. I wanted the flexibility that being an author could afford me so that I could spend time with my family. And despite having to work a regular job to pay the bills, I haven’t lost sight of my ultimate goal (family time) and still take the time to play with my son and spend quality time with my wife, unfortunately at the expense of writing more than I do at present, which is just not fast enough to get the next book out as quickly as I want.

Can you tell us about your latest book and why you wrote it?

A: Inherit The Throne is an action/thriller that pits the little guy, or gal in my book’s case, against a larger and more powerful adversary. And despite all the odds against her, she succeeds in saving the United States from falling prey to the desires of a select few at the expense of the general populous. I wrote this novel out of a strong desire to see more lead female characters in thrillers that weren’t the victim and could be the one to save the free world from a maniacal tyrant.

Can you share an excerpt?

A: Of course, I would love to. Enjoy!

Andrew perched on the edge of the back seat and watched as the dimly lit buildings of Washington, DC at night blurred past the limousine window. He felt like he was standing still, and the rest of the world was streaming by. When that first egg hit the top of the car he almost jumped out of his skin. It had sounded so loud; like a gunshot. Then more followed, hitting the sides and the top. Andrew was immediately pressed backward into the soft leather seat by the sudden acceleration as the motorcade sped away from the scene.

Well, they got that part right. This meant that the rest, no matter how incredible it sounded, was most likely true. It was probably the most overused plot in low-budget sci-fi movies, but Andrew knew that somewhere, out there in the night, there was an intelligent robotic killing machine looking for him. There was nothing left for him to do but sit back and wait.

Knowing the end was drawing near, Andrew naturally reflected on his life. But all he could focus on was the whirlwind year he was about to complete. Ten months ago, after the surgery, Andrew learned the informal medical term “new lease on life”. He set out to make his bucket list, the list of things he always wanted to do but never took the time. And now he finally had the time.

But when a sharp stabbing pain forced an emergency evacuation by helicopter from the peak of Half Dome in Yosemite, Andrew learned a new medical term only six months into his “new life”. Metastatic cancer. What this meant for him was that not only had the cancer come back; it came back in more places than it had started.

And now, four months later, here he was.

Sitting in a limousine posing as the Vice President of the United States.

Waiting to die.

He reflexively winced through every intersection as the convoy of vehicles screamed through at high speed. At this hour there was almost no traffic, and every cross street provided ample opportunity for a high-speed side-impact collision.

This was taking way too damn long.

Andrew suddenly glanced up at the roof of the limousine. An overpowering desire to live washed over him. He knew why that first egg sounded so loud. Maybe he could reach it? Pull it off and throw it out into the street? There were other treatments he could try. He didn’t have to die right now, did he?

Andrew shook his head as his vision blurred slightly. He knew that this euphoric thinking was a direct result of the opiates in his system caused by the breakthrough pain medication.

Still, he had a lot to live for, didn’t he?

Of course he did.

That settled it.

Andrew leaned to his left and fingered the controls to roll down the back window. A strong wind immediately blew around inside the cabin of the limousine. They must’ve been traveling at least seventy miles an hour.

With the window rolled down all the way, Andrew sat with his back to the window and reached up behind him to grip the door frame where it met the roof. With a single motion he lifted himself up and out and sat down on the edge of the closed door. The wind threatened to pull him the rest of the way out of the limousine, and he splayed his legs on opposite sides of the door’s interior to create an anchor for himself.

The wind buffeted him fiercely.

He squinted against the harsh conditions and scanned the roof of the limousine for what he knew must be there. And then he saw it. The tiny magnetic transponder sat just this side of dead center on the roof.

If he could just reach it.

Clamping his legs to the frame of the car he pushed a little higher, to give himself a longer reach. Flashing lights from his right drew his attention away from the tiny device. He glanced over at the Chevy Suburban filled with Secret Service agents. They were frantically flashing their headlights at him.

What did they think that would achieve?

Did they think that he didn’t know what he was doing?

He returned his full attention back to the device that sat, mockingly, just out of his reach. Losing leverage but gaining more reach Andrew pushed up ever so slightly with his legs.

Just a little further.

He almost toppled out of the limousine when a motorcycle officer appeared on the opposite side right into his field of view. The loud roar of the wind rushing past at over seventy miles an hour made it almost impossible to hear the officer, but not quite. “Get back in the car!”

With his left arm splayed forward on the roof to provide additional stability Andrew made one final push and gripped the tiny object with his fingertips. A second motorcycle officer joined the first, and they took turns hollering questions and commands at him. Andrew tugged at the device. It resisted slightly before releasing its magnetic grip and came free into his fingers.

He had done it!

He waved the device in front of him showing it to the two motorcycle officers with a big smile on his face. “I got it!”

And then his face fell as he looked past the two motorcycle officers to see the blurred grill of an SUV heading straight for them at impossible speed.

As soon as the Audi Q7’s bumper made contact with the second motorcycle, the collision detectors triggered the shaped C-4 charges, which focused all of their explosive power directly at the limousine right in front of it.

It happened so quickly that Andrew never even felt the end of his life.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

A: I use an iPod Touch with a bluetooth keyboard as my primary writing tool. This means that I am free to move about the house to find the most comfortable spot for my writing at that moment in time. I am just like my cats, always looking for that sunny spot.

What is one thing about your book that makes it different from other books on the market?

A: In the thriller genre, there just aren’t too many female heroines who can kick butt with the best of them. I wanted to show that a female main character could hold her own in a male dominated genre, without losing her femininity.

Tables are turned…what is one thing you’d like to say to your audience who might buy your book one day?

A: I have worked hard to write a story that I would love to read, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thank you for this interview, Steve. Good luck on your virtual book tour!

A: And thanks again for having me. This was fun!

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Aiken Brown, SON OF A SOLDIER

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Miri Leshem-Pelly, SCRIBBLE & AUTHOR

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Shami Stovall, KNIGHTMARE ARCANIST

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Bacon Press Books

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Lee Papa, TEMPLE OF ALL KNOWING

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Karen-Anne Stewart, ASH TO STEELE

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Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

-- Sheila Roberts, Author of Winter at the Beach