Interview with paranormal mystery author T.M. Williams

Today’s special guest to wrap up the week is paranormal mystery author T.M. Williams. She’s here to chat with me about her new novel, Clusters.

As she does a virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, T.M. Will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky random winner. If you’d like to enter for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

T.M. Williams began her writing career by accident when a song inspired a story. Once she discovered the writing bug she couldn't stop. Since starting her writing career late in 2012 she has gone on to write several more novels, including two Amazon best-sellers.

She writes experimental fiction and non-fiction. She is also a freelance journalist, copywriter, and public speaker.

Welcome, T.M. Please tell us a little bit about Clusters:

Seven year old Olivia Baxter and her dog vanish while playing in the front yard of her family's home. After a week of searching, Olivia's body was suddenly found in the closet, even after the police had thoroughly investigated the home.

Ethan Franco is a troubled journalist working for the Washington Gazette. His inability to move on from the past has deflated the passion he had for his career, causing him to lose his edge. Frustrated with Ethan Franco, but not wanting to lose his once star journalist, Editor-in-Chief, Jameson Stone assigns him a story to cover as a last chance to prove he could be the reporter he once was.

Ethan Franco begins his investigation into the mysterious death of Olivia Baxter and other unexplained disappearances, believing there may be a connection in the cases. No sooner did Franco begin his investigation then he realizes he is being tailed by government agencies.

Large footprints in the woods, strange sounds, foul stenches, and a looming government presence become pieces of the puzzle in cases of the missing.

Inspired by real events, the author of the Bohemian Grove trilogy and the Apocalypse brings forth a story that has been kept a secret for over a century -- a story that a large group of people are still trying to keep under wraps.

Excerpt from Clusters:

Just as Michael reached for the pot of coffee, replaying that scene in his head for the thousandth time, a noise from the back room stopped him. Claire was closest to the hallway where the sound came from and she spun around quickly, drawing her gun.

Deena shot up to her feet, her eyes bright with concern. “Who’s back there?” she whispered to the officers.

The Captain shook his head. No one was back there. Michael had checked the bedrooms just an hour before, like he had done every morning, hoping to find some missing clue as to Olivia’s sudden disappearance. Claire backed up to the north side of the hallway while Sean and Craig flanked the other side, their guns drawn as well.

The noise came again, clearer this time. “Is that a dog?” Claire whispered, her eyebrows drawn together in a deep V.

Whimpers filled the home, followed by – scratching? Claire narrowed her eyes as they made their way quickly down the hallway toward Olivia’s bedroom, with Michael leading. As they entered her room it was clear where the noise came  from.

“I think that’s our dog,” Deena said, wide-eyed.

The rangers all exchanged looks. The family dog had disappeared the same morning as Olivia.

Michael approached Olivia’s closet door and motioned for Craig and Sean to flank his right. He opened the door in one quick motion just as the frightened looking dog bounced out of the closet, causing Michael to stumble back at the sight inside.

Deena’s tortured scream pierced the air as she fell to the floor, crawling over to the dead body of her little girl, curled up on the closet floor.

What exciting story are you working on next?

The Bohemian Grove Trilogy, inspired by Sumerian mythology and ancient aliens is concluding this Spring. So we’re working on releasing that. I also have a psychological thriller called Children at the Window coming out this Summer and 2 more books in my Twisted Fairy Tale series releasing this summer. The first was Alice Hill in Silent Wonderland, an illustrated dark Alice in Wonderland tale.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I accidentally stumbled upon the passion of writing when I began writing at the end of 2012 and haven’t stopped since. I was offered a publishing contract 10 months later (it took me 4 months to complete my first manuscript) and you would think I considered myself a writer at that point. It wasn’t until I published my 5^th book that I actually considered myself a writer and not just some weird fluke.

Strangely, I’ve had other authors tell me they still don’t consider me a writer because it’s not the only thing I do and that I only became interested in the last few years. (My background is business and marketing and I still am very much an entrepreneur). My response to that is; I’ve never really cared what anyone thought about me anyway, so why start now?

Weirdly enough, I considered myself a novelist before I considered myself a writer. I’ve never done anything in the right order anyway.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I do write full-time. After figuring out that I love to write and am pretty good at it (it actually took me longer to figure out the latter) I ended up getting a lot of writing gigs. So I’m a full-time writer, just not a full-time novelist. I also do a ton of freelance journalism.

My work day is pretty typical of a working mother. I’m juggling a million things at once and wondering how I’m not falling apart half the time. So far, so good.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My Brand and my business is The Accidental Writer because my writing career happened by accident. The genre I write is experimental fiction and non-fiction. It encompasses pretty much everything but what makes it unique is the style of writing. I write what the story calls me to write – whether it’s in first person prose or third person epic. I don’t follow any traditional storylines and can sometimes start the story with the ending, skip linear storylines, or even have a multiple climax storyline. It just depends on the book. You’ll either love it or hate it. Fortunately, most people seem to love it so far.

If you want a predictable story that follows all the rules, then I’m definitely not your author. If you’re the type of person who likes to stick to one genre because it’s comfortable then that’s not me either. If you want a book that makes you think, especially outside the box – then I recommend my books.

I guess the easier question would be, what isn’t a writing quirk for me? I seem to break all the rules.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Important. It’s true. I think that’s why I’ve never really stuck to one course in life because I just wanted to do something meaningful and empowering. Fortunately, I’ve been able to impact people with my work and am proud of that.

But, there was a long time I really wanted to be an archaeologist. I wanted to travel the world and go on adventures discovering things. My parents said it was unrealistic and isn’t something I could live off of. So I didn’t go that route. Now I find that I’m doing exactly that through my writing. It’s interesting how we tend to come full circle.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Thanks, T.M.!

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