Hey lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host p.m. terrell and her new book, “Cloak and Mirrors”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the
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Tree of Life. Also, come back daily to
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fabulous giveaway!
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Cloak
and Mirrors
by
p.m. terrell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Suspense
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
CIA
operatives Vicki Boyd and Dylan Maguire are back in the 6th book of the
award-winning Black Swamp Mysteries Series. Vicki and Dylan journey to Ireland
for their honeymoon and while they are there, they agree to pick up a package
from a Russian spy containing plans for Russia's latest stealth technology. But
when the Russian decides to defect, they find themselves trying to get him
safely out of the country. They also discover the Kremlin has uncovered their
identities and now Vicki and Dylan flee across the island. With breathtaking
descriptions of Ireland's rugged coast and the Northern Lights, romance and
suspense come together again.
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EXCERPT TWO:
The
winds whistled and swirled in the frosty night like a chorus of apparitions
dancing and bobbing, leaving soft whispers against Dylan’s ear, enticing,
cajoling, flirtatious and deadly. Ah, but they could drive a man insane on a
night like this, he thought, pulling his collar tighter about his ears. He wore
an Irish tweed cap and still the winds licked at his hair like fingers running
through it, soothing, insistent and treacherous.
The
horse’s mane was grasped as well by the same invisible force, the long strands
stretched as though they were being combed by an otherworldly creature that
would not let go. They were nervous tonight and he imagined given their heads,
they would turn about and leave the eerie foothills of the Blue Stack
Mountains. He kept a firm hold on Dougal’s reigns as the horse snorted, the
sound unnaturally shrill.
He
could read a horse like he could read a man’s face, and tonight it didn’t bode
well. Dougal’s ears were stiff and pitched forward, a sign of unease for sure,
and every now and again they twitched and trembled as his haunches dipped low.
Dylan peered through the shadows at the other horses, both as spirited as his;
and yet their tails were clamped low, their voices constant.
In
contrast, the men were hushed as they had been since leaving the manor house,
the silence broken only intermittently as Jack announced a change in direction
or a distant landmark for which he was aiming. Even then, his statements were
terse as if he was reluctant to speak in the eerie terrain.
The
ground beneath the horses’ hooves was uneven and unpredictable. As the night
sky began to brighten with the first vestiges of the aurora borealis, he began
to see why their progress had slowed since entering the mountain range; the
horses had to pick their way around craggy rocks, the tall grasses obscuring
whether the land was firm or soft until their hooves either landed on solid
ground or they felt the disconcerting descent into boggy earth.
He
inched the horse forward until it was nearly even with Jack. He rode a silver
mare with a jet black mane and tail, a beautiful animal to be sure and under
the stars her coat was mesmerizing as if it was aglow.
“Are
you certain this is the way to Innisbarracar?” Dylan asked.
Jack
glanced in Alexei’s direction before shifting his attention to Dylan. “You said
you needed weapons, did you not?”
“Aye.”
“Then
we’d be taking a bit of a diversion.” He pointed at the mountain’s highest
peak.
“Innisbarracar
would be on the other side through the pass. We’ll be headin’ in that
direction—” he pointed slightly to the left of the mountain “—where we’ll be
arming ourselves first.”
“Ah.”
They
rode for a few minutes in silence before Dylan asked, “And what type of weapons
would you be havin’ there?”
Jack
looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Whatever kind you’d be needin’.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
THE REAL PSYCHIC SPIES
I
enjoy sifting through the CIA’s declassified files. Often stories from the Cold
War will inspire me and I frequently will take two or more plots and weave them
together into an updated story of suspense. I had frequently received requests
to write a series but had resisted because I didn’t want to become known as a
formula writer where readers could easily guess the plots and twists. All of
that changed when I came across information regarding the United States
Government’s Psychic Spy Program.
During
the Cold War, our government intercepted information regarding the Soviet
Union’s psychic spies. Our Intelligence community went before Congress and
requested funding to explore the possibility of astral travel or astral
projection. They didn’t know at the time whether it was all hocus pocus or if
there could be something of substance to psychic phenomena, but they didn’t
want to find out twenty years down the road after the Soviets had perfected the
science of psychic spies.
In
the Black Swamp Mysteries Series, I introduce a CIA psychic spy, Vicki Boyd.
The process she undergoes in her psychic missions is modeled on genuine
feedback from real psychic spies: a process similar to hypnosis in which the
soul feels as though it is leaving the body and traveling around the world.
With our government program, there were strict controls and all facts were
verified by ground operatives. There was also a series of controlled
experiments with increasingly more difficult missions and only the best of the
best made it into the full program.
For
example, at the first level someone may be placed in a room and told to report
what they saw in a room down the hall. A person might be in that second room
pulling one card after another from a deck and laying them face up or face down
on the table. It is the psychic spy’s mission to describe the individual, the
room and the exact cards that are pulled.
At
more advanced levels, they may be asked to describe a place, people and events
halfway around the world. Other government operatives would file their own
report of their actions and the psychic’s experience would be compared to real
events.
Psychic
spies were responsible for reporting that hostages taken during the Iran crisis
of the 1970’s were being held together and they also knew of plans to separate
them, which prompted then-President Jimmy Carter to attempt a rescue mission.
In more recent times, psychic spies reported that Saddam Hussein was hiding
underground and pinpointed the area where he could be found. Some of the
administrations were convinced that it worked and others remained dubious.
In
introducing psychic spy missions in the Black Swamp Mysteries Series, it has
allowed me to write about dangerous missions around the world, placing Vicki
into remote locations such as an isolated village in Afghanistan, a cargo ship
in the middle of the ocean, a deserted beach in South America and even in an
underground bunker in the Irish bogs. In Cloak and Mirrors, she infiltrates a
meeting among Russian operatives and discovers, much to her surprise, that they
have discovered her psychic abilities and are making plans to capture her.
Do you believe in psychic phenomenon?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell,
the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 20 books in
several genres, including suspense, historical and non-fiction. Prior to
becoming a writer, she owned two computer companies in the Washington, DC with
a specialty in combatting computer crime. Her clients included the CIA, Secret
Service and Department of Defense. Technology is often woven through her suspense
thrillers. Terrell is of Irish descent, and Ireland often figures prominently
in her books as well. She has been a full-time author since 2002 and currently
travels between her home in North Carolina and Northern Ireland, the home of
her ancestors. She is also the founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina’s Writers
Conference and Book Fair (http://bookemnc.org) and The Novel Business
(http://thenovelbusiness.com).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH
p.m.:
Website:
Blog:
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LinkedIn:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
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Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
INFO:
p.m. will be awarding a Celtic necklace
containing the Tree of Life – USA only to a randomly drawn winner via
Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and
Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea of psychic spies is fascinating. I couldn't help but wonder, though, how you get access to the CIA's declassified files. I've done some fascinating research for my own books, but never would have thought to Google the CIA files. I wonder if that would result in a red flag on my email account (??)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Fran. I'm a big fan of your books! Obtaining declassified information is easier now than ever before. It's right on the CIA's website: https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/home In "the old days" I had to complete requests via the Freedom of Information Act, but today the CIA posts so much information online, it's the perfect spot for plot ideas for any writer of political suspense.
DeleteThank you for hosting me here today. I'll be checking in later and answering any questions anyone might have for me. And I'd love to know: what do you think of the use of psychic spies?
ReplyDeleteAnother great blog stop! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for following the tour, Christie! I'm glad you're enjoying the interviews.
Delete