If you haven't read any of these, get thee to a book dealer and dig in. They're...well, they're to die for.
Name three things
you’re scared of.
Deep
water, heights, and fire ants (I’m allergic). The main character in my books,
Jamie Brodie, is an excellent swimmer because I wish I was.
You’ve been offered
a guest spot on your favorite TV show. What is the show, and who is your
character?
Dr. Who – I’d be the Doctor’s new
companion.
You are planning a
fundraiser for a charity. What is the charity? What does it mean to you?
The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is
a charity that I’ve supported for several years now. They provide a home on
20,000 acres for retired, sick, and/or abused zoo and circus elephants.
Elephants are such fantastic animals and we shouldn’t use them for our own
entertainment. The sanctuary gives them a chance to be elephants again, living
in the open and forming their own family groups.
You’ve been tapped
to organize a sports team for an LBGTQ youth shelter. What is the name of the
team, and what is the sport?
It would be a rugby team called the
Rainbow Warriors. I’m much too wimpy to play rugby myself, but I love watching
it.
Blurb:
And their favorite suspect
is Jamie.
Excerpt:
I went to circulation for a book cart,
wheeled it to the elevator and rode up to the third floor. The books on my list
were toward the far corner of the room.
I rounded the corner of the DS shelf and
nearly tripped over something.
Someone’s foot.
I jumped back a step, startled, then
looked closer. The foot was attached to a body, clothed in tight white pants
and a lime green shirt.
Austin Sharp.
He was sprawled on his back, a couple of
books scattered at his side. I leaned toward him as far as I could without
moving my feet any further. “Austin?” I kicked at his foot a little. “Austin.
Wake up.”
He didn’t move. He wasn’t breathing. His
face was blue-purple, his eyes were bulging and his tongue, also purple, was
poking out between his lips.
He’d been strangled.
Oh God. There was a sound in my head
like a distant swarm of bees. Shit.
Fainting would be bad.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned
to see Andy from circulation coming up behind me. “Jamie? What’s-” He stopped
and gasped. “Fuck. Is that Austin?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you call 911?”
“No.” I patted my pockets. “I don’t have
my phone.” Where was my phone? Oh, yeah – it was locked in my office. I never
brought it with me into the stacks.
“I’ll do it.” Andy pulled his phone out
and dialed.
I backed against the wall for support
and thought about not fainting. At one point Andy knelt by Austin’s ankle,
touched him, and said, “He’s cool to the touch. I don’t feel a pulse. Okay.” He
hung up as the stairwell door banged open and the cops arrived.
They were UCLA police. I’d seen both of
them around – Don Greene and Antonio Jenkins, congenial guys retired from
municipal departments, not used to finding dead bodies on campus. Jenkins knelt
by Austin’s feet and touched him then stood back up. Greene walked up beside me
and stared at Austin’s body. “Damn. Do you know who it is?”
Andy said, “His name’s Austin Sharp.
He’s one of our work-study students.”
“And this is how you found him?”
I said, “Yeah. I didn’t touch him.”
“Good. I’m going to call LAPD. Tony, you
want to clear this floor and call in some reinforcements?”
“Sure.” Jenkins went to round up anyone
else in the area.
I was concentrating on breathing slowly
and Andy was answering Greene’s questions when I heard a familiar voice. Jon
Eckhoff and Tim Garcia turned the corner. They spotted me and Tim said, “You found the body?”
“My lucky day.”
The buzzing was louder. I was starting to feel weak in the knees. Don’t faint. Don’t faint.
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Buy link: http://goo.gl/2Sq8Ly
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Twitter: @MegPerry2
