Aloha to Terry Ambrose and PHOTO FINISH

Wednesday may be Hump Day, but every Friday is Aloha Friday in Hawaii!  Let's celebrate with Terry Ambrose's PHOTO FINISH - Trouble in Paradise.  From Terry's bio,

Terry Ambrose is a writer at heart. He started out skip tracing and collecting money from deadbeats and quickly learned that liars come from all walks of life. He never actually stole a car, but sometimes hired big guys with tow trucks and a penchant for working in the dark when "negotiations" failed.

A resident of Southern California, he loves spending time in Hawaii, especially on the Garden Island of Kauai, where he invents lies for others to read. His years of chasing deadbeats taught him many valuable life lessons including--always keep your car in the garage. 

Sprouting Horn Blow Hole, Kauai

Kim:  Kauai! What is your favorite sight, sound, and smell?

Terry:  My favorite sound and smell are easy. It's the sound of the surf. Whether gentle or strong, the surf is a reminder of the power of the ocean. The plumeria plant is my favorite smell and, for me, is almost an aphrodisiac. If I had to pick one favorite sight, it would be the sunrise at Nukolili Beach, where we have our condo. The colors as the sun rises through the distant clouds are awe-inspiring.

Plumeria outside my door!

Kim:  Your skip tracing experience must be great for character development! Can you share an "over the top" moment from your professional life? 

Terry:  An "over the top" skip tracing moment would actually involve the repossession of a car in Northern Idaho. Two of us went to a remote mobile home owned by the debtor, who lived on some acreage miles from the nearest town. We drove halfway up a small mountain on a dirt road with several switchback turns, where we found the mobile home and the car that one of us was going to drive back. The debtor's wife opened the door. Her rifle leaned against the wall next to the open doorway. In that moment, I remembered every switchback turn and how we'd be crossing in front of the mobile home on our way out. We made it out and didn't get shot, but don't think I didn't wonder how many bullets she had and how good of a shot she was as we drove down that mountain.

Kilauea Lighthouse, Kauai

Kim:  Tell us about McKenna in PHOTO FINISH!  What inspires him to write a blog?

Terry:  The idea for PHOTO FINISH came about years ago during a trip to Kauai. For me, McKenna's transformation from "grumpy landlord" to "someone who cares" was as much a part of the story as the mystery. On our last trip to Kauai, I started thinking about what Sue Grafton said when I interviewed her for my National Crime Fiction column on Examiner.com. She described how she'd once gone for months, unable to write, because her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone, wouldn't talk to her when Sue wanted to clean up Kinsey's language. Sue says that she eventually gave in to Kinsey's demands so she could write again. It was at that point that I decided, "If the characters want to talk, let them." McKenna interviewed one other fictional character, Dee DeTarsio's Jaswinder Park, and has a request from another Honolulu mystery character to do an interview. McKenna's not someone that I can let out of the box all the time, because he'd easily dominate what I do. And I don't want to wind up an old grump like him, even though he can be a pretty funny guy. As he says, "It's not easy being a smart ass every day."

The "Wicky Wacky Bookstore" on Kauai -
a unique experience in open-air,
beachfront book shopping.

Kim:  What's next for Terry Ambrose and McKenna? 

Terry:  McKenna's second adventure will be on Kauai. That book is mostly complete and, depending on how he's received in the marketplace, may get finished sooner, rather than later. He'll keep blogging and, in fact, his blog is going to become a part of that second book. One of the challenges he'll face in that book will be what I call the "author stalker." One of my pet peeves is authors who spend their days pounding everyone they know with the same message—"buy my book!" For McKenna, the stalker will be someone that he helps to promote a book one time and who then starts stalking him to gain more media attention. And, just for the record, those author demands were the inspiration behind the photo I used to launch the marketing campaign for PHOTO FINISH.

I posted my review on Amazon at this link and Goodreads at this link:

Wilson McKenna’s newest tenant is hot, gives great hugs, and just saw a dead body being thrown from a plane. McKenna’s not one to get involved in other people’s problems, especially those of a woman half his age, but before he knows it he’s volunteered to find the plane and its owner—and found more trouble than he’s ever seen in his life. He’s uncovered an island drug ring, pissed off a sociopath, and set himself up as the victim in a beautiful woman’s con that could cost him his life.

If only trouble didn’t have such great legs. 

Terry is giving away an electronic copy of PHOTO FINISH to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,


1.  Leave a comment about Hawaii - what unusual fact do you know ... or have learned from me?


2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.


3.  Comments are open through Saturday, August 11, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, August 12.


Mahalo,


Kim in Hawaii


To learn more about Terry's books and McKenna's blog, check out his website at terryambrose.com.


To learn more about Hawaii, check out my pictures posted at ALOHA ON MY MIND at this link.

Barking Sands, Kauai - a great place to read
PHOTO FINISH.