Guest blogger Today! Kim Richards!!

THE FINE PRINT:


Be sure and leave a comment. For each comment,
your name is put into a weekly drawing for prizes such as pdf copies of
either book, tshirts, music from the band, Children of a Lesser God (who
provided the music for the Death Masks video book trailer) and more.

Kim will be visiting the blogs so feel free to ask any questions you may
have. It's all about having fun and talking about books. Consider yourself
invited!


TOUR DATES:

June 19, 2008 Eternal Press Blog http://eternalpressauthors.blogspot.com/
http://www.eternalpress.ca

June 20, 2008 Lisa Haselton
http://lisahaselton.tripod.com/reviewsandinterviews/
http://lisahaselton.tripod.com

June 23, 2008 Pamela K. Kinney http://PamelaKKinney.blogspot.com
http://fantasticdreams.50megs.com/

June 24 2008 Diana Castilleja http://dianacastilleja.blogspot.com
http://www.dianacastilleja.com/

June 25, 2008 Val Griswold-Ford http://www.vg-ford.com/blog.html
www.vg-ford.com

June 26& 27, 2008 Joyce Anthony
http://joyceanthony.tripod.com

June 28, 2008 Glenn Walker www.monsura.blogspot.com
http://www.comicwidows.com/

June 29, 2008 Sheri McGathy http://sherimcgathy.com/sheri/content/blog/
http://www.sherilmcgathy.com/

June 30, 2008 Arwen Spencer
http://labingi.livejournal.com/
http://www.starmerrow.com/

Other places promoting the book tour. Please patronize them for their
kindness.
Jordan Dane http://www.jordandane.com
Kathy Ptacek @ Gila Queen http://gilaqueen.us/
Starmerrow http://community.livejournal.com/starmerrow/
http://www.starmerrow.com/
Karina Fabian www.fabianspace.com
WritersChatroom www.writerschatroom.com
Carolyn Howard-Johnson www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com.


THE BOOK:


THE AUTHOR:

Kim Richards www.kim-richards.com

Death Masks by Eternal Press : www.eternalpress.ca

http://www.eternalpress.ca/deathmasks.html

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2zpDNMfmM

Thriller 978-0-9804739-4-0 $5.95 U.S.

THE BLURB:

Bill Cristo takes up walking as per his doctor’s orders to lose weight and improve his health. While at the metro park, he witnesses an assault. The assailant turns on him and he wakes in the hospital with a nasty bump on his head, wondering why he isn’t dead.

The news reports nothing on any attack in the metro park but Bill can’t let it go...not when he realizes there are other young men missing from the same area. He digs up what he can on his own, drawing further attention from the murderer. Will he be able to figure out who the killer is before it reaches his live-in girlfriend?


THE HARD QUESTIONS:

What is a death mask?

Throughout the ages, man often made masks of the deceased faces. It is a way of honoring the dead and, before photographs became available, to preserve the visage of the deceased person for the living to view. There are many in museums around the world including some famous people such as Agamemnon, Cromwell, Edison, Newton and Volaire. During my recent trip to Germany I discovered several in museums including the last Teutonic Knight Hochmeister, Archduke Eugen, and two rulers: Frederic II and Frederic Wilhelm IV. .

I made a plaster cast of my own face to use for promoting Death Masks and the detail of the features surprised me. The death masks I had the opportunity to see also had great detail. FYI: the one I did of myself is technically called a Life Mask since I am still living.

What does a death mask have to do with the book?

One thing many serial murderers have in common is collecting something from their victims. In this story the killer makes a death mask of each victim. It’s also intended to be a play on the words since there is something unexpected about the murderer revealed at the very end so the fact that the identity remained hidden is a kind of mask.

Why a story about a serial killer? Aren’t those overdone (SPOILER ANSWER)?

I decided early on I wanted my protagonist to be someone different than those you find in a lot of thrillers. Bill is an IT computer support tech instead of a detective or someone with law enforcement experience. His curiosity keeps him on the trail but his lack of experience causes him to make mistakes.

The murderer is female. Her sex isn’t revealed until the last chapter. In the opening scene it is left unclear she is even human.

Why a female murderer? (SPOILER QUESTION)

Women serial murderers tend to be better at killing than their male counterparts. They go for longer periods of time before being caught, with higher body counts for several reasons: they seldom talk about their crimes to anyone, they tend to take choose less violent ways of death, and for women—many of their killings are viewed as mercy deaths and therefore more acceptable to society. For example: the woman whose elderly relatives die in her care. The rest of her family may not realize she poisoned them, thinking they passed on of old age. I find that concept extremely chilling.

Why did you decide to publish Death Masks with an e-book publisher (Eternal Press)?

I find every path to publishing valid in one form or another. My first book came out as under a print on demand format because I had the opportunity to do it free. I do editing for Eternal Press and so took the opportunity when offered to me to try my hand at an ebook. It may not be the best choice for every book but I believe a good one for this story. I prefer to form my own opinions about such things with a little of my own experience.

What are you working on now?

I have a horror novel tentatively titled, Holy Blessed Homicide, which I am revising. It is also out in submission.

I am also in the first rewrites of a story about the Amazon warrior women from the region of Turkey. It was my 2007 nanowrimo project but I have two more in the series planned. The first of which is brainstormed and the first few chapters written.

A full interview with Eternal Press:

http://eternalpressauthors.blogspot.com/2008/05/interview-with-kim-richards.html

Thanks for spending your day with us here Kim! Wishing you loads of success and sales on your new release!