Guest Author and Giveaway with Gordon Kelssler!!

Today I welcome author Gordon Kessler who is celebrating Brainstorm, chilling a sci-fi thriller. Please give Gordon a warm Book Junkie welcome and I hope you enjoy the interview.... don't forget to enter the contest as well at the bottom!

1. If someone were writing a story about Gordon A. Kessler what would your blurb say?

Leaving a small town, a man seeks his own identity through adventures and romances, but he never forgets his past. He learns that the good guys aren't always the ones wearing the white hats, and that the bad guys are always there to take advantage when you least expect it. Through life-threatening confrontations, scalding hot romances, trials and turmoil, he becomes—a leader of men, lover of women, teacher of children and friend of beasts. He is—a legend in his own mind! A little much, isn't it. Well...you did ask.

2. Can you tell us a little about your newest release BRAINSTORM that isn't in the blurb?
Without my experience in the USMC, BRAINSTORM, as well as DEAD RECKONING could not have been written. With BRAINSTORM, in order to give the feel of realism, I used this background in the feel, sound, appearance and even smell of weapons, military equipment and explosions. I also used my interests in the CIA's dabbling into psychic talents and the paranormal, as well as developments in nonlethal weapons, in order to build the story detail.

3. What was your inspiration behind the creation of BRAINSTORM?
Besides what I said earlier, I can't say much more—can't reveal my main inspiration behind BRAINSTORM, because it would spoil the story. I have a fear of what our future holds, and this story hints at—foretells of—that fear.

4. What was your favorite scene to write in BRAINSTORM?
I have several scenes I'm proud of in BRAINSTORM, many of them with terrific, intense action. But, if I had to pick only one, it would be near the end of the novel when our hero and heroine are escaping (maybe) and the protagonist has visions of what the future holds--again, I can't say too much without letting the proverbial cat out of the bag. Also, once the story gets rolling, I really had fun writing the scenes where the male and female leads banter back and forth.

5. Are there any other genres you want to tackle?
I'm thinking of making all three of my thrillers (BRAINSTORM, DEAD RECKONING and JEZEBEL) into series. Thrillers (like many other genres) take considerable time to write when you take into account all the research required, so I'd have to set them aside for a while if I decided to try another genre. But I enjoy the romantic suspense aspects of what I've written, so maybe.... Also, I've written a sort of coming-of-age romantic short story called "Jack Knight" that I really enjoyed and am considered novelizing.

6. If you could trade places with one of your characters, would you want to and who?
Uh...maybe. Although the main character has it all, beautiful wife, daughter, money, he's a tormented soul, with a darkness living deep inside his mind that can easily dominate his thoughts. I don't know that I could live like that.

7. What accent is sure to make you swoon?
Well...I don't know that I've ever swooned. But, perhaps I've come close when hearing a lovely woman speak with a smooth French inflection.

8. What was the most challenging thing you’ve done in the name of research that might have been out of your comfort zone?
I'd say when I was doing research for my thriller JEZEBEL and I climbed past a restricted area in the tallest building in Kansas as it was still under construction. I went to the very top and stepped out onto the roof where no parapet or guardrail were yet installed, and I peeked over the edge from 23 stories up (that's high for Kansas). I've never felt the rush I felt then (perhaps close during my first parachute jump in the Marines), not from the top of the World Trade Center or even the Sears (Willis) Tower. I used that adrenaline shot the experience gave me and the layout of the roof of the Epic Center in Wichita for one of the primary, intense action scenes in the story.

9. Please share with us something that readers would be surprised to learn about you.
I love adventure, but I'm not up to it like I was in my "younger" days. I've tried about everything, at one time or another. From early adulthood, I decided I'd challenge all of my childhood fears and overcome them: heights, deep water, speed, the dark and the opposite sex--not necessarily in that order. I was successful in overcoming all of them. In that time, and up until now, however; I still have great respect for all those things I once feared. In my thriller novel DEAD RECKONING, I took on another aspect of overcoming that fear of the opposite sex by trying to better understand it—writing most of the novel from the female lead's point of view. It was a challenge, fun and eye-opening. I learned a lot from that experience, and I believe I gained consider understanding. I'd recommend all male writers try doing the same thing.

10. How can the readers stay in touch with you online?
Please contact me! I love to hear from readers and other writers. I'm on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/gordon.kessler1 , Twitter at www.twitter.com/gordonkessler and at http://www.linkedin.com/ and by my blogs on my websites: http://www.gordonkessler.com/ , http://www.readersmatrix.com/ , and http://www.writersmatrix.com/ . Of course, you can always drop me an email at gordon@gordonkessler.com . If you're an "indie" writer, you might also enjoy following me at http://www.indiewritersalliance.com/ .

11. If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be?
I'd like to compile a consensus, especially from your female readers, about why so many women seem attracted to the bad boy. What parts of the bad boys' personas give the redeeming quality necessary to make them attractive? Why would I like to know that, you might ask? Why, to help develop an anti-hero in my next novel that readers are more likely to enjoy and follow in a series.

Thank you for this opportunity. Happy Reading!

In Brainstorm, Gold Rush seems to be just another sleepy little Colorado community full of friendly, caring citizens, quaint cottages, and a sort of quiet peace, held gently by the picturesque mountains that surround it. However, something isn't right in Gold Rush, and early on a Monday morning Robert Weller awakens with a cautioning and insuppressible voice inside his head. He soon finds a secret behind every door, a motive with every glance, and a lie beneath every spoken word.

After meeting a strange but beautiful woman named Sunny who insists they were once lovers, people begin dropping dead around him and his world twists upside down as paramilitary teams hunt him, and his own wife and friends turn against him. Weller is thrown into the middle of a military mission to rescue thousands of the town's citizens from a plot to destroy the Free World.

Time is running out: Weller, Sunny and thousands of innocent citizens are facing nuclear devastation. Major “Jax” Jackson and a U.S. Air Force Para Rescue team are their only hope—but how can Jax and his PJs save them all, armed only with nonlethal weapons?

“...as exciting and fast-paced as a thrill ride on a dive bomber, a maelstrom of action, violence, murder and mayhem, way too much fun to put down...based on an actual black CIA program known as ‘Project Stargate. Kessler...really knows his stuff. An outstanding novel.”— Douglas Preston, bestselling author of The Codex, Relic and Book of the Dead and many more.

"...a wild ride into the reality of human consciousness...a kickass adventure story that will have you thrumming through the pages well into the night...handled with stunning effect."— James Rollins, bestselling author of Black Order, Sandstorm and Map of Bones as well as many others.

EXCERPT:

“He left you behind to die, like he did several thousand other folks. You don’t have anything to fear from me. You probably passed my little group in the stairwell. We just want to get out of here, just like you.”

Again they eyed each other. This time one of them said, “I told you. I told you they were going to blow this place.”

“Shut up,” said one of the guards in the middle. I figured he must be in charge.

“Come on, Top,” the first guy said. “We don’t have much time.”

“All right,” the leader said. “But we’re going to kill this ass, first.” He raised his gun, and I felt like I’d run out of options. They all wore the copper-lined helmets—my psychic gift would be useless.

I yelled out to my zombies in a bottom-of-the-barrel attempt, “Get them.”

The few of my night-shirted morons that I could see standing on the other side of the stairwell doorway window stood motionless, but it bought me a second as “Top” glanced back toward my group of blanks.

His head cocked and he grinned. He turned back to me, his rifle barrel aimed at my chest.

* * *

Fast forward, Harvey says.

And I go into future mode.

The world is in slow motion. Although my thoughts shift to high gear, I cannot move faster than my adversaries. But I see their movements in advance and know when they will make them.

As the gunman squeezes the trigger, I lurch to one side. Two bullets exit the muzzle of his gun, spinning out with smoke and nitrate debris. My body edges to the side, feeling as cumbersome as a huge aircraft carrier, and the tiny missiles, like torpedoes in the water, come at me. The first will clearly miss. The second bullet becomes a tremendous concern, for I see its green tip and know that the leader’s weapon is loaded with armor-piercing rounds. Guessing what I now wore was likely the latest generation of armor, it still wouldn’t guarantee against penetration from a zippy little 5.56 X 45 mm round at close range, let alone armor piercing. Ten feet away, I twist my torso, a fast jerk in real time, a snail’s crawl in my fast-forward vision. And the projectile zips to me, my side twisting back mere centimeters to avoid it, and it strikes me. The bullet enters the body armor, and although the blood is yet to flow, the blazing pain yet to be felt, I know that it has found flesh.

Hoping it has not ruptured a vital organ, I continue the twisting into a spin, getting out of my assailant’s aim, then leaping toward the initial gunman.

The entire group begins to bring their guns to bear on me.

Author bio:

Gordon A Kessler is a former US Marine parachutist, recon scout, and Super Squad team leader, with a bachelor's degree in creative writing.  He is a Master Instructor for Johnson County Community College, National Academy of Railroad Sciences, and the BNSF Railway.  He has taught novel writing for Butler County Community College, English Composition for Hutchinson Junior College and has previously indie-published the thriller novels Jezebel and Dead Reckoning, and a book about the novel-writing craft, Novel Writing Made Simple.  He is a founder and former president of the Kansas Writers Association and tries to stay connected to writers and the writing industry by doing speaking engagements at writers conferences and for writers organizations, and has does his own "The Storyteller" seminar in Wichita, Lincoln (Nebraska), Kansas City, and other Midwestern cities based on his Novel Writing Made Simple book. His websites, www.WritersMatrix.com and www.IndieWritersAlliance are landing pages for writers to help them in their writing endeavors.

http://www.readersmatrix.com/ ; http://www.writersmatrix.com/ ; http://www.indiewritersalliance.com/ ; http://www.facebook.com/gordon.kessler1

***GIVEAWAY***

Gordon will be giving away the winner's choice of a basic Kindle, Kobo, Sony Reader or Nook to one randomly drawn commenter.

Contest ends Aug 8th

To ENTER: Answer Gordon's questions above