Monday, June 8, 2015

Courage Resurrected by R. Scott Mackey (VNBtM, guest post, excerpt and GIVEAWAY) Goddess Fish Tours



I have the pleasure of having a guest post by author R. Scott Mackey today, answering one of the questions I am always curious about.



ELF:  What is one of your hobbies and how has it enriched your writing?




RSMI like to cook. Oh, I’m not a great cook.  You can’t throw me into a kitchen, give me a dozen ingredients and expect me to whip up something dazzling.  Chef Ramsey would burst a blood vessel and toss my ass out of Hells Kitchen in eight seconds.  But I do find the process of preparing a meal satisfying.  And, if it’s dinner time, preparing a meal gives me an excuse to crack open a beer or pour a glass of wine.



Cooking and food play a significant role in my Ray Courage Mystery series.  Ray likes to eat.  And drink.  When he’s not finding a killer or busting a thief, he’s concocting a Mexican Bean soup or grilling salmon fillets, usually while downing a pale ale or a stout.  When he’s not cooking he’s dining out.  Sometimes that’s with his sidekick Rubia, who weighs maybe a hundred pounds but can out-eat the offensive line for the San Francisco 49ers.  Her appetite and its assault on Ray’s pocketbook (Ray usually pays her for her help in meals not cash) is a constant source of humorous conflict between the two of them.  Most of the restaurants where Ray dines are real or based on real restaurants, mainly in Sacramento and a couple in San Francisco. In an upcoming book he will be eating in Carmel and Monterey.



I’ve received so many inquiries from readers about Ray’s recipes or the food he orders at restaurants that I’ve actually written a Ray Courage No-Nonsense Cookbook.  I’ve taken most of the meals in the first four books in the series--Courage Matters, Courage Begins, Courage Resurrected, and Courage Lies Beneath (coming fall 2015)--and created recipes for them.  There are something like seventy recipes, everything from starters like crab cakes, papaya shrimp salad or tomato bisque to entries filet mignon with red wine reduction sauce, chicken saltimbocca and eggplant parmesan. I worked with a nutritionist to develop the recipes.



Of course the book includes a list of “no-nonsense cocktails” and some of Ray’s favorite beers.  These are perfect choices for savoring while reading one of the Ray Courage mysteries.

(ELF:  Wow, what a great idea, sounds like a great accompaniment to the book!)



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Courage Resurrected

by R. Scott Mackey

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BLURB:

Ray Courage’s wife Pam died thirteen years before in a car accident. Or did she? Ray’s world is turned upside down when he receives a series of e-mails from someone claiming to be his dead wife, accusing him of attempting to kill her and vowing revenge. Ray sets out to find the identity of the e-mailer only to discover the circumstances of his wife’s apparent death appear to be all but accidental.

Soon Police Detective Carla Thurber comes to suspect Ray of killing his wife, and of a subsequent murder of Pam’s confidant. Meanwhile, a murderous predator who does not want the facts of Pam’s death to surface aims to stop Ray. In the greatest challenge of his life, Ray must outrun the police and elude those who are out to kill him as he seeks the truth about his wife’s death.





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Excerpt:

After she left I took out my phone and opened the email from Pam1111, fully intending to delete it after a quick glance. Instead of some offer for an erection booster or the chance to aid a Nigerian princess, the message gave me an immediate chill:

Ray,

How could you have done that to me 13 years ago? Me, the person you said you loved? Well, it didn’t work. I’m not dead and I am going to make you pay after all these years. Better look over your shoulder.

Pam





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AUTHOR Bio and Links:


Scott Mackey lives in Northern California, where he writes both fiction and non-fiction. His first book, Barbary Baseball, achieved critical acclaim from baseball historians for its quality research and writing. He followed that with two young adult novels. His popular Ray Courage Mystery Series includes Courage Begins, Courage Matters, and Courage Resurrected. The fourth book in the series, Courage Lies Beneath, is scheduled for release later in 2015.

Scott's career arc has included stints as a corporate communications manager, college professor, copywriter, bartender, and youth sports coach. In addition to obsessing over punctuation and grammar, he cares about his family (including his dog and cat), the San Francisco Giants, and his rather sad golf game.


Follow him:

Twitter: @smackey17
Facebook
Goodreads

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GIVEAWAY

R. Scott Mackey will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here



Previous titles in the series:

 
                                        

 

 

39 comments:

  1. This sounds like an awesome mystery with a lot of twists and turns. Love the sound of it.

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    1. Glad you like it, Jane. Thanks for visiting!

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  2. First of all I would like to thank The Reading Addict for hosting this week. I'm very honored to be a participant on your blog.

    And thank you MomJane for your comment. If you like a good mystery with engaging characters, I think you will enjoy Courage Resurrected.

    I'll be stopping in all week, so if other readers have questions or comments, please feel free to post them.
    Scott

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    1. You are very welcome, Scott. I apologize for my tardy hospitality! It does sound like an intriguing story. Thanks so much for taking the time to interact with my visitors, it is greatly appreciated!

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  3. I like the blurb. Sounds like a great read.

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    1. It does, doesn't it, Rita? Thank you for dropping by!

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  4. The story appeals, and so do the recipes!

    Trix, vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com

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    1. Recipes are always appreciated and glad the story appeals to you, Trix. Thank you for taking the time to visit and comment!

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  5. Enjoyed the post, sounds like a really good book, thanks for sharing it.

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    1. You are very welcome, Eva. Thanks for popping in!

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  6. Eva, 79b and Rita,
    Thank you for the comments. Good luck in the drawing as well.
    Scott

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  7. fun to include recipes

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    1. I like recipes, bn. I'm only brave enough to try them when they are VERY simple, as I tend to be absent-minded, lol. Thanks for visiting!

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  8. Thanks for the giveaway! I like the excerpt. :)

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    1. Glad you liked it, Cali. Thank you for popping in!

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  9. I love that your hobby is cooking and that you created recipes for your character - I have to admit it's not something you hear male authors do very often - I love thrillers and mystery books and have no idea how I have missed your series but it sounds great and I'll definitely start with the first book (I'm OCD that way...lol). Thanks for the giveaway

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    1. I like starting at the beginning, Maria. It's even better when there are several in the series out so I don't have to wait, lol. Thanks for visiting!

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  10. Maria,
    Glad to hear you're planning to start in on the series. I actually wrote Courage Matters first. The novella, Courage Begins, is a prequel to that so you may want to start with it. Good news: It's free at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.

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  11. I've been trying out a lot of new recipes so I might not be able to come up with something dazzling, it would at least be edible. This sounds like a very interesting book, thanks for letting us know about it.

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    1. I definitely don't do dazzling...occasionally, I do tasty, most of the time....edible, lol. Thanks for dropping by, Mary...and you know that I am always happy to spread the word about books!

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  12. Would love to answer any questions today if readers would like to ask.

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  13. Which of the recipes is your favorite, Scott? And, how do you decide which to include in the story? Is it what you were having when you wrote that particular scene?

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  14. I like the Mexican bean soup recipe, which Ray makes in the first chapter of Courage Resurrected. I didn't happen to making it at the time I wrote the chapter. In the cold-weather months I like to make slow-cooker recipes. I work at home and its nice smelling something wonderful cooking and knowing all the prep for dinner has already taken place. Most of the other recipes in the book--whether cooked by Ray or eaten at restaurants--conform to my own preference. My wife always gives me a hard time because I'm always thinking 1, 2 or even 3 meals ahead of time. It's just the way I am.

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  15. Replies
    1. Glad you thought so, Mary. Thanks for dropping by!

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  16. Just wanted to let everyone know that my Kindle or $119 Gift Card contest is now live at http://www.rscottmackey.com. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks for letting us know, Scott, what a generous giveaway! Hope the tour is going well! (and yum, I bet the scent of the Mexican bean soup must make you hungry throughout the day, lol)

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  17. Really enjoyed reading the guest post, thank you!

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    1. Happy you enjoyed it, Nikolina. Thank you for taking the time to come by and read it!

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  18. Thank you, ELF, for having me this week. It was a please communicating with you and your readers.

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    1. You are quite welcome, Scott. I hope the tour has gone well, and I really appreciate that you came back and chatted with folks!

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  19. If you didn't like writing books, what would you do for a living?

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  20. Sounds like a book I am really going to enjoy reading - thanks for sharing!

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  21. I really enjoyed the excerpt and the interview! Thank you!

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  22. Wheres your favorite place to write?

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  23. Sounds like a great read. Adding this one to my TBR list

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