Check out this interview with the character Alex from Dianne's book:
Hi, I'm
Alex from Dianne's new novel, The Shed. Come join me out here on the patio. The
sun's shining and Jane's garden is in bloom. The breeze in the pines is also
keeping the temperature out here just right.
Don't worry! I know its been rumored that I'm psychic, but
I don't read minds or anything like that. I mostly see impressions given off from
extreme emotion, feeling and seeing what that person is experiencing.
This is how I was able to help
the police track down a serial killer last summer. I'm also hoping to help them
with this new crime, God willing. At the moment I have no control over these
visions or how I react to them. But my counselor Dr. Reid is helping me to tell
when a vision is coming and then control how I act on it. Right now I'm more
like a puppet going wherever the images take me.
I'm sorry, would you like some
coffee or tea? I tend to babble when I'm nervous. I've been a little worried I
might get a vision while you're here. Hopefully Jane will finish her painting
in the studio soon and will join us, you know, to keep an eye on me.
My visions lately have been
terrible. I see a boy trapped down a well, unable to climb out, and I don't
know where he is. There's also another boy missing in the forest. And there's
this shed close to the well. I haven't seen inside it yet, but the image of it
terrifies me. Something terrible is in there, I just know it. Scott Reid is
working with me to help me focus my thoughts, try to see more in my next vision
that might help us find the boys before it's too late for them.
On that note, here's a little
snippet from The Shed that might explain things a little better to you. Thanks
for stopping by!
EXCERPT:
“Hey Alex…” Justin’s voice
trailed off, and he put the coffee pot on the warmer and went over to him when
the man didn’t respond. Scott joined them, leaving his computer on the table as
he passed. Alex’s eyes were wide, unfocused as he stared out the window. His
breath came quickly and sweat beaded his forehead.
“What do you see?” Scott asked,
voice mild, placid.
“It’s hot here. Grass is dry.”
Alex’s whispered words sent a shiver through Scott. He sounded…detached. “The
forest is dark across the way. Crows circle above the trees.”
“Alex, where are you right now?”
Scott made the question a demand.
A shudder ran Alex’s lean frame.
“I’m in your office, Dr. Reid. I see the garden through the window. But I’m
also here, in this empty field. Talk to me! I want to come away from here.”
Scott touched his hand. “Come
home, Alex.”
“It’s hard. Something’s drawing
me to the forest. God! I don’t want to go in there.”
“Jane would want you to come
home,” Scott said firmly, using the ace up his sleeve. For a second he didn’t
think even the deep love Alex had for his wife could draw
him back, but then he blinked his eyes into focus, and gave Scott a slight smile.
him back, but then he blinked his eyes into focus, and gave Scott a slight smile.
“Thank you. That’s a terrible
place.”
“Is it a real place, do you
think?”
Alex’s expression turned bleak.
“Yes,” he whispered. “The crows were the ones from my dream this morning, and
they had this.” He pulled the soft cloth holding the silver watch from a pocket
and showed it to Scott. “It came in the mail a few days ago. No note. And now
it shows up in my dreams. There’s a connection…somehow.”
He turned the watch over and
showed Scott the engraving on the back. “There’s a picture of a man and woman
inside as well, but no way to identify them.” Alex made a discouraged sound.
“Who would send this to me? God, Scott, I don’t want go through this again. Can
you make it stop?”
Scott drew a quick breath,
feeling panicked, out of his depth. Was Art Peters right? Could he help this
special man or would he cause even more emotional damage? He swallowed a sigh.
There was no one else and Alex desperately needed hope to keep him sane during
the madness of his visions.
He exchanged a look with Justin,
who poured them all coffee while Scott pulled a chair from the table for Alex.
Alex sat and tangled a hand in his hair, dragging the bangs down to cover his
eyes. He snorted when Scott brushed them to the side as he sat beside him.
“Janie doesn’t let me hide,
either. I suppose you want details.”
“If you feel up to it.”
“Hell with that.” Justin took the
chair opposite Alex and leaned toward him, saying firmly,
“Spill.”
Alex nodded. “The dreams are
different but I’m sure it’s the same place. In this one I was standing in that
field looking at the forest. The one this morning, I was in the forest.”
“And?” Justin prompted when Alex
stopped and they watched a shiver run through him.
“And the crows led me along a
dark path. I smelled something rotten, found a child’s grave. And something
else. An old shed that terrified me for some reason.”
Justin’s eyes narrowed. “What are
you leaving out?”
“Hell, Justin! Let me tell this
my own way.”
Scott watched the two friends.
Alex glared, clearly furious, but Justin gave him a cool look in return,
unruffled. Slowly the flush left Alex’s face, leaving it pale, his blue eyes
enormous. “Bastard,” he muttered, but his voice lacked heat. “The child tugs at
me. The grave would suggest he’s dead, but I don’t think so. Oh fuck, Justin. I
thought it was over! I thought I could give Jane a normal life, be a good
husband to her. If the visions are coming back…”
Alex covered his trembling lips
and looked away from them. Scott’s heart squeezed with pity but before he could
say anything Justin slammed his hand on the table, making them jump.
“We’re not playing it this way,
Alex,” Justin informed him. “You tried to push us away two months ago. You’re
trying again. Pre-emptive strike. But I’m not going for it. I know Jane won’t
either. Now man up and we’ll see what the good doctor here suggests we do next.”
Scott blinked as two sets of eyes
turned to him, hope in one, caution in Justin’s. What did they expect him to
do? He wasn’t a detective. He couldn’t solve a crime, if any had been
committed. The pain when he bit too hard on his bottom lip recalled him from
the edge of panic.
“First things, Alex,” he said
gently. “Just now at the window, did anything warn you that a vision was coming
on?”
The strain left Alex’s face and
he tilted his head, thoughtful. “I think so. These last few times I’ve noticed
that everything becomes clearer, more focused, sometimes almost painfully
bright.”
“Any scents involved? A certain
odor?”
Alex looked startled, then shook
his head. “I don’t think so, though I can smell as well as touch the things in
the vision, as if I’m really there.”
“Maybe you are,” Justin put in.
It was Scott’s turn to be
surprised by an idea, but Alex scoffed. “Hardly, Justin! Let’s not add astral
projection to my weirdness.”
“You’re not weird,” Scott and
Justin said in unison, then the three of them burst out laughing, easing the
tension that had been building in the room.
THE SHED: Where to Buy!
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-shed-dianne-hartsock/1119716446?ean=2940149418244
Solstice Publishing: http://solsticepublishing.com/the-shed/
Overview:
As a Certified Mental Health
Therapist, Scott Reid has his share of interesting experiences, though nothing
compares with the time he spends with the psychic, Alex Elson. Plagued by
terrifying images and dreams, Alex turns to Doctor Reid in the hopes of
learning to control his visions. Instead, Scott is pulled into Alex’s world,
where dreams and reality mix and nightmares are real.
Two young men, brothers, have
been abducted from the lake outside of Oakton without a trace of who took them.
That is, until Alex receives a silver pocket watch in the mail belonging to the
elder brother, a taunt from the kidnapper for Alex to come find them. Alex’s
visions turn at once into nightmares. Images flash in his mind of an abandoned
well and a terrified, lonely boy slowly dying at the bottom. The shed looms
close by, holding a horrifying secret, a dark place Alex’s frightened mind
refuses to go.
With the help of Scott Reid, Alex
endeavors to control his visions and find the brutalized victims before death
claims them. But the watch is ticking away and time’s running out.
About the Author:
After growing up in California and spending the first ten
years of marriage in Colorado, Dianne now lives in the beautiful Willamette
Valley of Oregon with her incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the
endless hours she spends hunched over the keyboard letting her characters play.
Dianne is the
author of m/m erotic romances, both contemporary and fantasy, the psychological
thriller, and anything else that comes to mind. Oh, and a floral designer. Which is the perfect job for her. When not writing, she
can express herself through the rich colors and textures of flowers and
foliage.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/diannehartsock
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Dianne-Hartsock/e/B005106SYQ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1361897239&sr=8-1
Thanks so much for having me over today!
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