What was the inspiration behind Hostile Takeover?

Not everyone knows it, but history is filled with hundreds of different mythologies, and each one is bursting with a plethora of monsters and legends. It’s a fascinating subject.

Now imagine if all these legends were real, if all these gods were alive… somewhere. That’s the idea I’ve been toying with for a few years now.

What was one of your favorite scenes?

Any of Vale’s encounter with Death. She’s a very interesting character to write. I love writing characters who aren’t humans, because their behavior is much different from ours.

Will we see these characters again?

Yes, Hostile Takeover is the first book in the Vale Investigation series. I have many more planned.

On what are you currently working?

I’m currently editing the second book in the series and working on the outline for the third one. You can expect the next Vale Investigation book to hit the shelves in 2019.

What is your writing routine?

Writing a book takes me about a year. Outlining and doing the research takes me about a third of the time, then another third is spent writing, and the last third is for stuff like editing, proofreading, cover art and promotion. Normally, I’m always working on two books in parallel. One that I’m outlining or writing and another that is at the editing stage.

What is the best writing advice you ever received?

You’re the only one who can kill your dreams.

What are you currently reading? Up next on your TBR?

I’m almost done with the second book in the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson. Next on my list is Barry J. Hutchison’s latest book: The Sidekicks Initiative.

Let’s say I’m coming for a visit to your area. What are some must-see places?

The closest city is Lausanne. The lake shore area is quite lovely and the CIO museum is just a short walk from there. Next, you can take the underground to go to the center of the town and go shopping. If you’ve got a car, Geneva is only an hour away; it’s also a nice town to visit. Or you can cruise the Leman Lake if you want.

What is something on your bucket list you have accomplished?

Something that I’ve done already is publishing a book.

Something that I have yet to do is going to America and visit the Grand Canyon. It looks so awesome, I’d like to see it with my own two eyes.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

On my website, I have two prequel novellas that you can download for free. “Redemption Road” is a prequel to the Vale Investigation series—it’s the story of Vale and Death’s first encounter.

The second is “Personal Favour” and that one is set in my series of cozy mysteries The Neve & Egan Cases.

Hostile Takeover

P.I. Bellamy Vale isn’t your everyday investigator. Moonlighting as Death’s earth-bound envoy, he specializes in the weird, wacky, and slightly unhinged.

When a mysterious beast savagely mauls random residents of Cold City, the police assume that these are the killings of a rogue wolf. But experienced private investigator, Bellamy Vale, is unconvinced.

Ordered by Death herself to investigate, Vale has no choice but to obey, for his boss is not someone to disappoint—if he wants to keep breathing, that is.

With friend and computer hacker Zian, nosy journalist Candice Kennedy, and homicide sergeant Melanie Ramirez by his side, Vale has no choice but to end the killings or face the wrath of the demon who holds his life in her hands.

Read an excerpt from Hostile Takeover

I’d just got out of the shower when she showed up. Same entrance as usual. One second she wasn’t there; the next, she sprawled languidly on my bed. That always gave me the creeps. And how in all the hells could she always have such perfect timing? But I knew better than to question how she appeared from nowhere, disappeared without a trace, or knew the things she knew.

We were old acquaintances and she had seen into my soul and beyond. I had no problem with her seeing my nakedness. And even if I did, I was too worn down to care anyway. I flicked the bedside table lamp on, walked past her, ass-naked, and reached for a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Someone else may have tried to educate her on social behavior, but I’d long ago given up on the hope that she would ever come to grips with a concept as trifling as privacy.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight,” I said as I shrugged the clothes on. My sore shoulder protested and I winced.

“Why would you?” she replied with a slight accent that was impossible to place.

I glanced at her for clues. Her hair was loose and dark brown again. She had a little makeup on, looked to be anywhere between twenty-five and forty. Her feet were bare and she wore a long and oh-so-thin black dress.

I recognized the look. It was the one I’d dubbed “the Mediterranean” and I knew what it meant. She sat up and her gaze darkened to a coal shade as she took a good, long look at me.