Interview: Terri Herman-Ponce :In This Life, Book 1 in the Past Life Series $50 Amazon GC #giveaway

Today I’d like to welcome Terri Herman- Poncé to my blog. She has written a fascinating mystery/suspense which includes a past life experience. I love reading (and writing) stories with past lives so once I read the blurb I had to have her on. 

Terri will be awarding a digital copy of IN THIS LIFE (Book 1 of the Past Life Series) to a randomly drawn commenter at each stop during the tour, and a Grand Prize of a $50 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

NP: Please tell us a little about yourself.

THP: Hi, Nana. Thanks so much for having me here! I’ll start by telling you that I’ve got a romanticized, overwhelming fascination with ancient Egypt, which serves as the backdrop for In This Life. In fact, there was a period of time when I watched every show on TV that I could that dealt with the subject. I also adore red wine and a fine scotch, but was also recently introduced to sipping tequila. Ever try it? It’s nothing like I’ve ever had before. I’m the last of five children and I live with my husband and son on Long Island, and I’m a huge New York Yankees fan. In my next life, I’m coming back as an astronomer, because I’m as fascinated with the night skies as much as I am with the ancients!

NP: I like my tequila mixed in margaritas. Yummy. How did you get into writing?

THP: Oh geez. Everyone laughs when I tell this story. Years ago, I had a huge (HUGE) addiction to Star Trek: The Next Generation. So much so, that I started writing ST:TNG fanfiction. When I did it, I developed an equally huge crush on a certain character, but I wanted to write him the way I wanted and not the way the screenwriters did. Soooo…long story short, during this time I also met my current best friend who became my beta reader. And I wrote a story about having the flu and going to bed and then waking the next morning on board the Enterprise. As time passed, my best friend said to me that maybe it was time to spread my wings and write something mainstream about characters who were all mine. She even suggested I use that fanfic story as a place to start. You know, the whole “what would happen if reality wasn’t what you thought it was?” Then I got to thinking about past lives and what it might be like to have a second chance, and I mixed the two storylines together. And voila! In This Life was born.

NP: I also love Star Trek: TNG. I’m curious to know which character you rewrote. Do you remember the episode where they were all tired because—  Sorry about that, back to the interview.  Of all the places you could have chosen in the world for the story to go why Egypt?

THP: As I mentioned above, I’ve got an absolute fascination with the ancient Egyptians and the pyramids, and their whole view of life and the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians were big on body oils and perfumes (two of my favorite things), and wine and beer (two other favorite things), and I’m fascinated with how they depicted their life and their concept of afterlife through hieroglyphs. To me they’re an enigma because there’s only so much history available about them. And the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was more to these people than we give them credit for is equally intriguing. I mean, how did they build those amazing structures when so-called modern man can’t? Like I said. Fascinating.

NP: The people from ancient Egypt were an intriguing people.Do you believe in past lives?

THP: To tell you the truth, I’m on the fence about this. The emotional part of me wants to, but the logical part of me fights the idea. However, I DO believe in second chances, and if Buddhism is true in its belief of rebirth, then I’m all for it. It’s another concept I find fascinating. I’m also a true believer in karma. What we are is truly dependent upon what we think, and good will always beget good, in my mind.

NP: Interesting philosophy. We’ll have to chat more on this another time because I’d like to hear more o your opinion. Tell us one reason why people should read your books.

THP: I truly hope to entertain. To bring the reader to another place, another time, and so totally wrap them up in another world that their current one disappears. I’ve been told that In This Life is a fascinating, thought-provoking, and un-put-downable read, so my hope is that others will read the book and enjoy it as much. In This Life was a book from my heart and soul, and my wish is to share it with the world.

NP: Sounds like a book I’d enjoy reading. I like loosing myself in the worlds authors have created. Please give us an analogy of what writing is like for you.

THP: Analogy? What’s an analogy? (kidding!) Hmm…gotta think on this. Thinking…thinking…okay, I’ve got it. Sometimes writing feels like I’m trying to boil the sea. I start with an idea that I lovelovelove, and then when I get about one-third of the way into the book, I stare at the page and think, “What the heck was I thinking and how the heck am I going to get to the end?” So therein lies the sea boiling. But once I get past the middle hump, it feels more like “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” because, at that point, I’ve remembered (as I do every time I go through this process) that it’s the small steps that lead me to the big ones, which is finishing the book. And eventually I do!

Wow. That was an amazing answer. I’m not usually one to do flash questions after my big analogy question, but I can’t resist.  Which did you like better?

Happy Days or Three’s Company?

Happy Days! Total lovefest with The Fonz

Clark Gable or Cary Grant?

Oh dear. I’d have to say Clark Gable. There’s something about a dark-haired man with facial hair…

Sears or Woolworths?

Woolworths brings back wonderful memories for me.

Vinyl or cassette?

The horror in even asking such a question! V-I-N-Y-L

Michael Jackson’s Thriller or Beat it?

Thriller.

Slice or Jolt?

Neither! Gave up soda eons ago…I’m an H20 kinda girl.

WOW. That was fun! Thank you again for hosting me, and for giving me the chance to share some tidbits about myself and In This Life. SO appreciated.

I’m glad you took the time to come on. Now let’s learn a bit about Terry’s new release.

BLURB:

   

Hidden memories. Buried secrets. Resurrected revenge.

   

Psychologist Lottie Morgan knows something is wrong when she relives memories of a lover she's never had. At first she attributes them to fever-induced dreams. But when the fever disappears and the visions don’t, Lottie realizes something else is going on.

   

Then she meets Galen. Their first encounter is as intense as it is eye-opening, and his revelation that they shared a passionate relationship thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt entices Lottie into wanting to learn more about her past. Her decision, however, comes at a price. Galen may hold the answers but he could destroy the devoted, lifelong relationship Lottie has with her current lover, David.

It also could mean her death—again.

   

Someone is protecting millennia-old secrets, determined to keep them buried while exacting a revenge on Lottie for a mistake made a very long time ago. A mistake she could be destined to repeat.

   

Take a trip to mysterious ancient Egypt, where Lottie becomes caught between two lifetimes, two men, and long-buried deceptions. Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity-winning author, calls this paranormal suspense "Inventive, original and thought-provoking; this mystically romantic mystery will instantly intrigue."

Excerpt:

“Doctor Morgan?”

Galen’s voice soothed me into a strange calmness that intrigued and scared me. I nodded because I couldn’t find my voice.

“I am Galen Briscoe,” he said.

He held out his hand and I took it, unprepared for the heat that surged between us, and the images came hard and fast—sweaty, intertwined bodies, his hungry mouth on mine, and a desire so desperate, so insatiable, it devoured everything we were.

I tugged out of Galen’s grip, breathless and overheated and unhinged. I stared back at him and swore I could see the two of us in the depths of his sand–colored eyes. With a pounding heart, I headed for the window. I needed space and time to think, not to mention a good dose of cool, calming air.

“Take a seat,” I said, unable to restrain the huskiness in my voice. Whether he took the seat or not didn’t matter. In fact, I didn’t even care that he may have considered my immediate disregard of him as rude, and when I opened the window and felt the fresh summer breeze rush in, it did little to temper my overheated body and the fine sheen of sweat that covered it.

“Doctor Taletta Morgan,” he said, reading my diplomas from the other side of the room. “Unusual name.”

Once again his voice blanketed me in a calm that eased my alarm as quickly as his touch ignited it. It was deep and refined with a hint of an accent thrown in, and I would have asked him to continue talking just so I could keep taking pleasure in it. I closed my eyes, determined to fight the startling and primal effect he had on me, and didn’t face him until the restlessness in my body subsided.

“Taletta is a derivative of Taletha,” he said, peering over at me. “Did you know that?”

I shook my head, still unable to find my voice while some baser part of me took pleasure in his, wanting more. “No,” I said after clearing my throat. “I didn’t.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued browsing around my office as if it were his own. I tracked his lean body and long legs, and the form–fitting silk T–shirt and black slacks that accentuated it. Understatedly wealthy. Supremely self–confident. And an unexpected enigma to me.

“It’s a biblical name,” he went on. “Taletha is Aramaic for little girl and is taken from the phrase taletha cumi, meaning little girl arise. Jesus spoke the phrase to bring a little girl back to life.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Terri looks for any opportunity to make stuff up. She thinks anything that can’t so easily be explained is worth an extra look and often makes a great story. She loves red wine, scotch, sunrises, Ancient Egypt, the beach—and a host of other stuff that would take too much real estate to talk about. The youngest of five children, Terri lives with her husband and son on Long Island. And, in her next life, if she hasn’t moved on to somewhere else, she wants to be an astronomer. Terri’s fascinated with the night skies almost as much as she’s fascinated with ancient Egypt.

Terri is a member of member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and you can read about her at http://terriponce.com/.

If you love social media, you can also find Terri on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Terri.Ponce.Author and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TerriPonce. Come visit. She’d love to hear from you!

Links:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Terri-Herman-Ponc%C3%A9/e/B009FMZV3K/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1394838446&sr=1-1

Make sure to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: 

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/03/virtual-book-tour-in-this-life-by-terri.html