The Scoloderus Conspiracy, By D. A. Blankinship

Posted by Dan Janal, Your Fearless PR Leader | August 4th, 2008

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Young and older adults. It has particular appeal to people who are familiar with the military, higher education, government, or large hospitals (these are the principle characters and settings in the story)

Q: What is the book about?
A: The Scoloderus Conspiracy is a non-stop thriller set 300 years in the future when the United Americas Trade Federation rules the known world. The Libre Voyageurs have fought this formidable government for decades, only to suffer one disastrous defeat after another. They now have a daring plan that will annihilate their enemy. Scoloderus is a three-day journey of abduction, deception, betrayal, and devastating revenge.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: This book dramatizes the tensions that occur when the military and academia cooperate in a joint project. It also serves as a thinly veiled metaphor of the concerns we should all share about military research and development, and the many uncontrollable realities of implementing large-scale deceptions. I worked as a research psychologist for the U.S. Army. I also worked as a U.S. Department of Defense consultant and worked in higher education and academic administration where I conducted research on academic excellence and faculty support and evaluation.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: This book is about ideas and the extraordinary ways we can get information when we think we have no options. This book is also about the excitement of having several very bright and capable people trying to foil each other’s plans and not being caught.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book moves quickly; however, one cannot read it quickly. It has many characters and these people will not conform to the reader’s expectations of them. No one knows how this story concludes until reading the last two pages (guaranteed). See www.ScoloderusConspiracy.com for more information.

In the Arms of the Enemy, By Patricia A. Guthrie

Posted by Dan Janal, Your Fearless PR Leader | July 31st, 2008

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Mystery lovers, horse lovers, romance and suspense and lovers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: When the death of a racing stable’s prize horse and his trainer is blamed on the stable’s owner; his son, Adam Blakely, goes undercover convinced that the trainer’s partner, Maggie McGregor is the killer.

Determined to leave the tumultuous world of horse racing, Maggie returns home to try and find peace. When a handsome horse owner moves his horse into her father’s boarding stable and asks Maggie to train his horse, family finances dictate that Maggie accept–and that’s when the accidents begin.

Drowning in deception and lies, Maggie and Adam search for a killer and uncover an insurance scam so insidious, it threatens to rock a horse racing empire and bring the killer to their doorstep.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The seed of this story came from a scandal that happened in Northern Illinois about a decade ago. (The Horse Mob) Race horses and show horses were being murdered for insurance money, then the heiress, Helen Brach, disappeared. I had horses up in the same area and knew some of the people who were involved. In the Arms of the Enemy is an entirely different story, none of the characters even remotely resemble any of the people involved. This is a work of fiction. But, I thought the premise of the story needed to be told.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The only books I know that come from this situation are non-fiction works. I’m sure there are mysteries that have similar themes, but I’m not familiar with them.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?

A: This book is dedicated to those horse lost to man’s greed and inhumanity and to those humanitarians who make it their mission to serve and protect them.

This is my first published novel.