Round 2 with Lachesis Publishing author, Jacqui Morrison Jacqui has written a suspense thriller for Lachesis Publishing – The Vigilante. Her book delves into the gritty underpinnings of society.

What was your favourite book as a child and why?

The Nancy Drew Series. Nancy had it all, a great boyfriend, good friends, and she solved mysteries.

Who was your favourite teacher growing up and why?

Mrs. Hawley, she was an English teacher at my high school. She ran the creative writing club and strongly encouraged me to continue writing after I finished school. I reconnected with Mrs. Hawley when she was in her late 70s and we visited once or twice a year.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Why?

I morphed into becoming a writer. As a youth I wanted to be: a lawyer, a travel agent, a hotel manager, a journalist and an entrepreneur. I wrote a weekly newspaper column for two years in the mid-nineties. Then I did some paid business articles and I had a short story published. It was not until Lachesis Publishing published my first novel that I called myself a writer. Now, in an obscure way, I can do all of the professions that I dreamed about as a teenager, through my prose.

Who in the writing/publishing world do you admire and why?

Writer extraordinaire Jodi Picoult is admirable because she writes books on brave topics. After I’d read any of her books I think about the moral implications for weeks afterwards.

Tell us about your daily writing routine – what do you typically do every day?

I’m a nighthawk. I write after dinner for about an hour. I’ll then spend weekends writing until one or two in the morning. I know writing late into the night isn’t healthy but that’s when the magic happens for me.

What is your favourite snack or guilty pleasure food that you (may or may not indulge in when writing?

Cappuccino and chocolate

What does “writing voice” mean to you? Describe your own writing voice.

I write in third person omniscient and I try to incorporate my own personality into my writing voice through humour, quirkiness and by playing with turns of phrases.

What do you want to accomplish in the next five years in your writing career?

I want to do more speaking engagements (book talks) and write more books

Tis the season to be jolly. What is your favourite thing to do over the holidays?

I have a wonderful two-year-old granddaughter and I will be spending time with her over the holidays, reading books together, watching movies and enjoying ourselves.

Shortbread cookies or gingerbread cookies?

Neither – sorry – Chocolate Yule Log that my mom used to make

Connect with Jacqui Morrison on her web site, and on facebook and twitter.

You can purchase Jacqui’s books on the Lachesis Publishing site. You can purchase The Vigilante on amazon.

Follow Lachesis Publishing on twitter and like our facebook page.

Today’s sneak peek is from the suspense thriller The Vigilante, by Jacqui Morrison.

What it’s about:

It isn’t safe for men who work in the porn business in the city of Toronto.

When porn producer Sal Turbit is found dead in his apartment, no one seems to care. No one, that is, except Detective Lynette Wilton. Lynette has been a homicide detective for only three months, and has yet to earn her stripes. Murder is murder no matter who the victim is—and Lynette is out to catch a killer.  Could the killer be Wanda Chambers, a mentally ill woman who hates the “scumbags” who prey on the vulnerable? Wanda’s beloved sister, Cathy, was one such woman. Cathy became a porn actress and then took her own life when her sleazy manager/boyfriend, Gil Lee, wouldn’t let her go.

Lynette’s sergeant doesn’t think it’s possible. Wanda has a debilitating illness. But Lynette believes that Wanda’s hatred and harsh childhood make her a prime suspect, and she proves it by catching Wanda in the act of attempting to shoot Lee.

Renowned defense lawyer Maxine Swayman takes on Wanda’s case; Maxine has a different view of the accused. She wants to help Wanda get the help that she needs, and it’s not going to happen in a prison cell.

As the trial proceeds, will Maxine prevail and save Wanda, or will Lynette be able to tie Wanda to Turbit’s murder as well?

Morrison knows how to create suspense! She brings readers on a roller-coaster ride that leaves you breathless from start to finish! —Trey Anthony, star and producer “Da Kink in Da Hair”

EXCERPT:

“Hey,” Sal said, “come on in. You’re right on time. Good to meet ya.” He left the visitor in the living room of his shabby apartment in a grungy, low-rent building, and slipped into the kitchen. The metallic pop of a beer bottle opening echoed in the other room. Then another.

Six empty beer bottles, a heaping ashtray, and assorted marijuana paraphernalia were already strewn across his table. The grandfather clock struck four times. Sal stumbled back into the room. “I got you a beer.”

Glassy-eyed, Sal said, “I’ve got lots of great products for you to move today.” He showed the visitor the cover of a DVD. “This one is new. It’ll sell out. She’s a real sweet thing. Told me she was eighteen ’n had the ID to prove it. Likely just some little tramp from nowhere-ville. Came to the big, bad city for excitement––”

The metal felt cool as the visitor pulled out a gun.

“What the hell?” Sal screamed, just before the bullet penetrated his skull.

He fell onto the sofa, blood oozing out the back of his head. His face was contorted, almost angry looking. Certainly surprised.

The spent cartridge from the handgun ricocheted against a metal garbage can––reminiscent of the pop of a beer cap––and then landed on the carpet.

The murderer studied the victim’s splayed body, feeling a sense of elation and satisfaction. Out came a Swiss Army knife, and the killer wordlessly hacked off a section of Sal’s hair, stuffed it into a small plastic bag, and then threw it into a knapsack. The killer then picked up the half-spilled beer that Sal had been handing over when the shot was fired. Perfect. Grinning, the murderer chugged the beer, retrieved the spent cartridge, and smugly looked at Sal Turbit’s still body, now surrounded by pooling blood.

Still wearing leather gloves, the murderer put the beer bottle and hot metal bullet charge into a knapsack and fled, smiling, into the dense night.

Like what you’ve read? Click here to purchase The Vigilante.

You can also get The Vigilante. on amazon, barnes and noble, kobo, and itunes.

Connect with author Jacqui Morrison online on her web site and on facebook and twitter.

Follow Lachesis Publishing on twitter and like our Lachesis Publishing facebook page.

Jacqui Morrison is our guest blogger today. Jacqui has written two suspense thrillers for Lachesis Publishing – Kaitlyn Wolf Crown Attorney and The Vigilante. Her books delve into the gritty underpinnings of society.

Today Jacqui shares what inspires her writing . . .

I am a visual person and a people watcher. The best writers I know have an extra spectator quality: the ability to be at an event and to be able to observe and participate. Once I heard that term for the first time I had an ‘ah ha’ moment, I was not alone; there were other people like me. I embraced my quirkiness as a gift.

As a child I was a dreamer and imagined entire mansions full of secret staircases and hidden rooms. Doesn’t every child dream in colour? If not they should, it’s fun. Those early dreams morphed into daydreams, which turned into detentions for not paying attention at school. I’d love to go back in time and let those teachers know that daydreams inspire my novel writing.

I saw a woman (a stranger) walking across the road in my town in northern Ontario, Canada. The stranger was of Aboriginal descent, proud, beautiful and serene. Her features, high cheekbones combined with piercing brown eyes, enchanted me. I knew one day she’d become a character. The chance encounter with the stranger, who I never saw again, percolated in my sub-conscious and she became the protagonist in my novelKaitlyn Wolf Crown Attorney. The story of an Anishnaabe woman who experienced multiple tragedies as a youth, rose above her circumstances and became a Crown Attorney only to be foiled by defense lawyer Maxine Swayman known as ‘The Barracuda”.

Maxine Swayman, my reoccurring antagonist, is a red-haired, spitfire of a woman with beauty, poise and intellectual brilliance. She’s manifested from my Irish heritage and the plethora of strong females I have known throughout my life. Maxine’s personality comes from watching lawyers on Court T.V. on television, in court in real life and from my imagination. Maxine Swayman is the antagonist in both my novels Kaitlyn Wolf Crown Attorney and The Vigilante

I’m inspired by well-known authors including: Peter Robinson the author of the Inspector Banks mysteries, Agatha Christie, Linwood Barclay, and Margaret Mitchell, to name a few.

Mysteries, my genre of writing, are like a puzzle. If you lose one or two puzzle pieces you’ll never fully complete the picture. It’ll haunt you.

Mysteries, like those enigmatic mansions I created in my mind as a child, are my puzzles. I’ll spend hours and days planting clues, and writing plot twists and when I’m stuck, I’ll spend time in nature. Nature’s beauty never stops inspiring me and after a needed break, I’ll return to my laptop ready to continue unraveling the puzzle.

Connect with Jacqui Morrison on her web site, and on facebook and twitter.

Follow Lachesis Publishing on twitter and like our facebook page.

Jacqui Morrison is our guest author today. Jacqui has written two suspense thrillers for Lachesis Publishing – Kaitlyn Wolf Crown Attorney and The Vigilante. Her books delve into the gritty underpinnings of society.

When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer and why?

When my husband and I had our little girl we could only get two TV stations. While on maturity leave I wrote a newspaper column and some fictional short stories. When I read my fictional storySelf-Imposed Isolation out loud people cried. It was then that I knew.

Describe your favourite place to write?

In the winter my favourite place to write is in a recliner in my bedroom. In the summer, I have a little cabin in our yard named WRITER’S BLOCK.  I can hear the birds as I sit in my cabin and write.

What would I find on your desk at this very moment?

I have a book on mediation for work and two or three files of projects I’m working on. It’s a real mish-mash.

What is your tea/coffee beverage of choice when you’re writing?

Coffee, coffee and more coffee.

What do you love to read?

I took some advice from another writer. He suggested I read books out of my genre. I love mystery and suspense, which are my genre. I choose a non-fiction topic each winter and read everything I can on the subject. The non-fiction helps to inspire my fiction.

What is some good advice you can give to an emerging writer?

Don’t ever give up. Follow your writing with passion. Hone your craft by attending workshops and meeting other writers.

What do you do after you finish a book? Do you celebrate or take a nap?

I put the manuscript away for at least three weeks. I’ll work on other pieces and clean my house. If you come by and my house is immaculate then feel free to ask me about the manuscript I just completed.

You have written two suspense/thrillers for Lachesis – tell us about both books and what inspired them?

I love law and justice – which do not always co-exist. I was inspired to write stories about strong women who had tremendous issues to overcome.
 
You work in the legal/law enforcement world – how has your work influenced your writing?

It was the opposite for me. Like my interest in writing, I fell into my career. I saw an advertisement to work at a crisis shelter for women and their children and although I did not have a social work background, I took a risk and applied. In time, I became the court worker for the shelter.

What are you working on next?

I am working on the follow-up to The Vigilante (Murder in the City series). Detective Lynette Wilton and defense lawyer Maxine Swayman will be back in the next book.

Connect with Jacqui Morrison on her web site, and on facebook and twitter.

Follow Lachesis Publishing on twitter and like our facebook page.