Author Michael Hervey: Saturdays in the South and Giveaway!

Please welcome author Michael Hervey to the blog today! His first novel, Soundkeeper, is currently available for Kindle. It will be available as a nook- and iBook by the end of March, and in paperback by the end of April.

“They went back outside and Silas locked up the office. Persimmon clouds with cinnamon edges seemed reluctant to surrender to the twilight. The beauty of the sunset was too sensational to rush past, even as hungry and tired as he was. While Hall loitered on the dock, he wondered if the display was a salute from God, a final tribute to someone who cherished His creation and looked after it so well.”

We don’t always get to choose where we live. Careers, family, and dozens of other factors come into play when we choose where we will spend our lives. As a writer, however, I am not limited by such practical constraints. The characters I bring to life are free to live and play wherever I want them to, perhaps in places I wouldn’t mind living.

My home is in the Piedmont of North Carolina, in beautiful green and rolling countryside a short drive from the coast. But in Soundkeeper, my characters get to breathe in the heavy smell of the salt marsh every day and experience sunsets each evening that are more entertaining than anything man will ever create.

Is it a good thing for an author to be jealous of their characters? I’ve been fortunate to spend a lot of time in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where Soundkeeper is set, but I’ve always dreamed of living there. A place where I know the tides better than the TV schedule, and seclusion and adventure await beyond my dock. Flip-flops and khaki shorts would be my new uniform, and everyone at the bait shop would greet me by my first name and ask me what was biting.

When I read, I want to be diverted from reality by the story. When I write, I want my characters to entertain me. When I am writing well I just follow wherever they lead me, and try to accurately describe what they experience. It is no surprise to me that I have followed them to a place I love.

What started out as an ordinary day for Soundkeeper Gale Pickens takes a dreadful turn when she stops a barge that is polluting the pristine waters off the coast of Charleston. Beaten and left for dead, one of the polluters kidnaps her and she cannot bear to think about her captor’s intentions.

Hall McCormick, a reluctant Refuge Enforcement Officer, is learning the ropes in his new job, which he hopes is only temporary while he waits for the marine biologist job he really wants. He is sad that the beautiful young environmentalist he dated briefly has mysteriously disappeared. While pursuing poachers and keeping the shoreline safe for all animals, he finds kills of marine life, due to someone dumping toxic chemicals into Port Royal Sound.

After Gale’s boat is found deserted and drifting to sea, will anyone keep searching for her? Will the criminal polluters be caught in time to save Gale’s life? Will Hall learn to appreciate his job as much as being a scientist? As he races against time, Hall needs to find Gale’s would-be killer before it’s too late.

Soundkeeper is a taut new thriller in the vein of C.J. Box and Nevada Barr. Filled with accurate details of the fascinating world of the South Carolina coast, this is a perfect mystery for a day at the beach.

Michael Hervey has been a police officer for over twenty-seven years and was the former outdoors editor for the Stanly News and Press. He lives with his family in the Piedmont of North Carolina and enjoys all manner of outdoor recreation in his spare time. Banks, the family’s chocolate lab, says that any resemblance between him and Belker is completely coincidental. Fool’s Gold, the sequel to Soundkeeper, has already been written and edited.
Find Michael on his website and his blog.

Michael has kindly agreed to give two lucky readers a copy of his book! It is in Kindle format, but if you don’t own one you can read it on your computer or phone using one of these free Kindle apps.  Just comment below to enter! Thank you, Michael!

Readers, where would you live if personal and/or work ties were no consideration? My choice changes daily. I’m happy where I am. But some days, when I’m feeling particularly brave, I think I’d like to try European living, like Rome or Lucca (two places I’ve been). Other days, I think I’d like to be in the absolute middle of nowhere up in the Rockies–in the summertime. I barely tolerate snow, and then only because I have to. Speaking of snow, when it’s cold and snowy, I daydream about life in the Pacific, like Hawaii or Fiji.

I’m still looking for authors of Southern Literature to participate in this feature. Please click the button for details if you’re interested!

I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s, my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.