Five Quick Questions with Will Lavender

Will Lavender's debut novel, OBEDIENCE, is a psychological thriller that has reached the New York Times Bestseller List. OBEDIENCE has been praised from the likes of David Baldacci, Lisa Unger and Karin Slaughter (just to mention a few).

Will has kindly agreed to answer five quick questions.

What's one thing we may not know about Will Lavender?

The one thing people may not know about me is that I am a rabid college basketball fan. Here in Kentucky I follow the University of Kentucky Wildcats in an insane, demented, almost shameful manner. I follow them on road trips sometimes, for goodness sakes. I visit the message boards. It's really pathetic -- but I wouldn't stop it even if I could.

What television show would you like to make a guest appearance on?

JJ Abrams' Lost, clearly. I could play Gary Troup, come back from the dead.

What's your greatest sporting moment?

My greatest sporting moment is when I played high school baseball and did something-or-other. It must have been grand, though I can't quite remember the details. In the recurring dream I simply celebrate like a blurry madman and point at the scoreboard.

What's your ideal holiday destination?

Somewhere in the American northeast in a log cabin. In the driving snow. With the threat of bears outside. With a set of spine-ravaged, 1970s thriller novels left by other travelers on the plank bookshelves. And with blizzard warnings coming over the shortwave -- my only companion. In this fantasy I am always wearing animal furs and growing a beard that is taking on a life of its own. Ken Follett's The Eye of the Needle is on the table beside the bed.

How many comments to this blog post would I need to have you read and comment on my first thriller, The Interrogator?

0. Love to do it. But I have to warn you that any comments I made would likely be meaningless to the bottom line. My novel has sold in quite a few countries, but Australia isn't one of them. Maybe if beside my blurb Random House put something like --Will Lavender, Aspiring Wiggle.

Please check Will's website for all of the details of his writing. Thanks Will.

JJ

New Release - Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch

Simon Haynes, author of the best-selling Hal Spacejock Novels, has launched the fourth book of the series - Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch.

To celebrate the launch of the book, Simon is offering book one of the series for download absolutely free. http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Download.html

Do yourself a favour and check out Simon's website http://www.spacejock.com.au/. It's loaded with information for writers and readers alike. Competitions, giveaways and much more.

Enjoy.

JJ

Two-Book Deal with Random House

Doesn't seem that long ago (it wasn't really) that I started with the goal to write a novel. I did and found a brilliant agent - Sophie Hamley of the Cameron Creswell Agency.

Sophie produced a great proposal and dispatched it for the first round of submissions. I have to admit I thought it would be around six months before we heard back from any editors. And then we would have to send the proposal off for few more rounds. Sophie was confident that we would find a great publisher to work with. Me, not so. I knew the odds were against me as a first time author securing a deal with any of the big publishers.

Three weeks later we received a two-book offer from Random House Australia. After picking myself off the floor, I asked a dozen questions or so that I can't remember. It just didn't seem that real. Sophie arranged a phone call with the acquisition editor at Random House, Larissa Edwards.

Larissa is wonderful to speak to and I can't wait to meet her in person. We had a great connection and she answered all of my questions in a very professional manner and outlined their plan for my novels. After the call I contacted Sophie and let her know that I definately wanted to work with Larissa and the team at Random House.

I would have never had made it this far without the wonderful support of the dedicated members of the Absolute Write Forum. And of course my critique partners and BETA readers. Thank you all and I look forward to keeping you updated on our journey to publication.

The next challenge is getting Lee Child to read Interrogated and to write a blurb that we can stick on the cover. Anyone have Lee's number?

Cheers team.

JJ