Joining us today on Insecure Engima is G.L. Drummond, a prolific independent author, who has recently released a new book entitled Code Walker. I asked her to give us some insight into the book and then asked her a few specific questions, so have a look at what this talented lady had to say:
Code Walker overview:
In the fickle worlds created when cyberspace and reality overlap, it’s all too easy to blur and shift lines…moral lines, lawful lines, lines of code and destiny, until the surreal becomes real. Walking those lines back to the source, and rebooting the system, isn’t exactly a job for a girl who plays nice - but it does pay extremely well.
As Riley Cabot never qualified as a ‘nice girl’, life as the Code Walker is sweet.
Only thing about codes is that they break.
Excerpt from chapter Bold Moves:
Around ten AM that day, after a few hours of heavy sleep, Riley checked her mail and grinned maniacally while reading:
Subject: Re: Loose Ends
Message Body: We have an even bigger problem now, princess
"Oh, 'we' do, huh? Not from where I'm sitting, Green Eyes." A moment's thought changed her grin to a smug one, and she typed a reply.
Subject: Problem?
Message Body: From my seat in the peanut gallery, looks like it's all your baby, Green Eyes.
Less than twenty minutes later, she received a reply that made her laugh out loud, bringing TJ out and into his surf boy Avatar. "What's so funny?"
"Seth Monroe, Teej. He seems to think we have a problem." Riley grinned, brown eyes gleaming with amusement. He read the emails over her shoulder after quirking an eyebrow for permission. The AI smiled as he read:
Subject: Re: Problem?
Message Body: You owe me for Chinese, princess. I have a bad habit of collecting on debts.
"What are you going to do? That's like a challenge to your honor...a bold move, Mr. Monroe." TJ looked at her wicked grin, his changing to match it. "You've tracked him down."
"He's at the Shanghai AP right now, waiting for his flight. That tells me that Green Eyes is anal about punctuality, because his flight doesn't leave for another two hours. He'll arrive in Baltimore tomorrow. Has two layovers." Her grin faded as she blinked, then came back strong. "I owe him for Chinese? Dude, let's see about that."
Author Interview:
Tell the readers a little about yourself; Name, location, life behind the computer and all those other details!
My name’s Gayla Drummond, writing as G. L. Drummond. I live in the big ol’ state of Texas, in a small town where everyone thinks I’m nuts because I’m a writer. Heh.
When not writing, you can usually find me slaving away to fulfill the needs of several furry people, as I have a horse and five dogs. Oh, a House Hunney and a couple of kiddos too. =)
And…[leans forward to whisper] I play World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft? Really? Hey...that's okay. I play Super Mario Brothers. Obsessively. Like twice a day. Ahem, moving right along...how old were you when you began writing?
My first attempt at a book was when I was 11 years old. I wrote, illustrated, and bound a book about different horse breeds. Then I gave it to my youngest brother, who promptly ate it.
Fame, it’s so fleeting. =)
Well, his eating your book could manifest into a good thing, if you look at it the right way. He ingested all the knowledge you presented, and hopefully something good came from it! :) So tell us...what motivated you to release Code Walker independently, as opposed to trying your hand at traditional publishing?
I’ve released all my works independently, and to be honest, haven’t considered going the traditional route since I was 11 years old, and thought that I wanted to grow up to be a writer. Since I didn’t become serious about writing fiction until I was almost 37 years old, doing that whole ‘write and wait’ game didn’t appear extremely attractive to me.
What benefits do you find in independent publishing that are not available to traditionally published writers?
The biggest benefit is control of your finished product. You write it, you decide who to hire to edit it, who will design your book cover and exactly how it will look, where you want to distribute it and how much you want to set the price at.
Traditional publishing doesn’t give you any of those options, plus I’ve read that they often force title changes, covers that don’t suit the story, and well, pretty much everyone knows they don’t bother marketing and that few books earn out their advances.
Though you've made quite a name for yourself as an indie author, there might still be a few out there that have never heard of or read anything by you before. What might they expect if they picked up one of your books?
I’d say a fun, entertaining read for most of my stories. A few are darker, but they’re meant to be, so that’s good for those who like dark. One of the things I’ve received the most compliments on by readers is the dialogue. I do it snappy. =)
When pitching movies or TV shows to producers, writers often describe them in "high concept" terms ("It's Die Hard, but on a Tram!" "Think Pretty Woman meets Blair Witch Club!"). So what's your high concept pitch of Code Walker - in less than ten words?
You had to go and ask me something I’ve never even thought about! Yikes. Uh, “Think The Matrix, just more fun!”
Crap, I failed. That’s only six words. And it’s not that great of a pitch anyway, LOL.
What is the nicest review you've gotten, for this or any other story?
All of my reviews have been nice (yes, I mean those that take a ‘this worked, that didn’t work’ approach too) – so far. I’m certain somewhere along the way, some negative ones will happen, but I’m not going to obsess over them. Not everyone has the exact same tastes in anything.
One that surprised me was the reviewer’s compliment that I write like Heinlein. That totally made my day. =)
That is a high compliment indeed! So what do you hope readers will say about Code Walker?
I hope they say it’s a fast-paced, fun ride with likable characters. Because if that’s the overwhelming consensus, the Code Walker crew could return for a second adventure. I do have an idea and a few bits written towards that possibility.
And finally, the most important question: where can our readers find this delightful ebook of yours?
It’s available at Smashwords, Amazon, and will be available at several other sites in the next few weeks. Takes a bit of time for a new release to propagate everywhere.
Thanks so much for appearing on Insecure Enigma today, Ms. Drummond!
Thanks for having me, Bex! =)
Ms. Drummond has graciously offered up a free ebook to one of the commenters on this post. All you have to do is comment to enter the random drawing, so do it now! Winners will be announced exactly one week from today!
