Countdown to

FORCE OF NATURE

8/2/07

12 days (and counting to FORCE OF NATURE, in stores on August 14, 2007)

Romance Novel TV

Note from Suz:  The countdown is in full swing now!  (Remember to click the above link to see today's video clip from Romance Novel TV!  There'll be a new video clip over at Romance Novel TV for every day of the Countdown to FORCE OF NATURE!)  

And a reminder:  INTO THE STORM is out in paperback from Ballantine, as is the 2-in-1 reissue of STAND-IN GROOM/TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE from Bantam!

Day two of the Countdown -- let's talk about this book, the 11th installment in my Troubleshooters series!  

Here is the official list of (some, not all) characters who appear in FORCE OF NATURE.  (You didn't really think I'd reveal EVERYthing, did you?)

POV characters are highlighted in YELLOW.  (Click here if this makes you go "Huh?")

FORCE OF NATURE's Cast of Characters:

Enrique "Ric" Alvarado, private investigator.  Our hero.  Formerly a detective with the Sarasota PD, Ric has been working out of his own private investigations office for about a year when Chapter One begins.  Ric first appeared in the Troubleshooters series in Gone Too Far.  (He was the police detective who came to investigate when Gina's motel room was broken into.  He has since shaved off his soul patch.)  Ric thought working for himself would be an improvement, but he's still restless and unsatisfied with his life.

Annie Dugan, his best friend's "little" sister and Ric's new assistant.  Our heroine.  Usually vivacious, funny and upbeat, Annie's had a really rough year providing hospice care to a good friend.  The experience has left her searching for something more than a 9-to-5 office job provides.  Annie first met Ric when she was eleven and he was fifteen, she hasn't seen him in years, but now he's offered her a job.  Annie wants to work with Ric out in the field, but he wants her in his office, behind a desk, doing paperwork.  Even back when she was a kid, Annie was never one to sit contentedly on the sidelines.  Ric is crazy if he thinks she's going to starting doing that, especially now...

From Max Bhagat's FBI CT unit:

Jules Cassidy:  Openly gay, Jules puts the fabulous in FBI.  A gorgeous twenty on a scale from one to ten and quite possibly the funniest, sweetest guy in the world, Jules is assigned as agent-in-charge when a Sarasota, Florida crime lord is suspected of smuggling terrorists into the U.S.  Of course his visit to Sarasota coincides with the Sarasota Film Festival, and of course, a certain movie actor he's avoided for years in also in town...

Max Bhagat:  Jules's immediate superior and good friend.  

Deb Erlanger:  A top notch FBI agent and highly skilled member of Max and Jules's team.

Joe "Yashi" Hirabayashi:  Deb's partner.  A slow-talker, Yashi likes to take his time and keep his pulse rate low.  Yashi's got a good sense of humor, and a healthy helping of respect for Jules.

Peggy Ryan:  Peggy and Jules and have clashed in the past.  She's still uncomfortable with his sexual orientation despite his attempts to gain her respect.

Other Players:

Robin Chadwick:  A Hollywood star, Robin's promoting his latest movie at the Sarasota Film Festival.  Romantically connected to Jules Cassidy in Hot Target, the two men parted ways at the end of that book.  Now it's years later, Robin is still deep in the closet and partying way too hard.  His career is about to catch fire with the release of Rip Tide, a movie in which he plays a Navy SEAL.  

Martell Griffin:  Ric's best buddy.  A tall, handsome African-American man.  Also formerly with the Sarasota PD, Martell is now a lawyer.  Like Ric, he's not so sure he's happy in his new career.

Pierre: Annie's adopted dog.  He's a poodle mix, with separation anxiety issues.

Ben Webster:  A Marine Captain who lives his life in the shadows because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.  He very much wants to be more than Jules Cassidy's friend.  Currently stationed in Iraq.

Dolphina Patel:  One of Robin Chadwick's handlers when he's out on the road, going to film fests.  She works for Don, Robin's agent.

Lillian Lavelle:  One of Ric Alvarado Investigation's more gorgeous and mysterious clients.

Gordon Burns:  Sarasota's most powerful crime lord.  Burns is a supporter of the arts, and a film buff, to boot.  He's a sponsor of the Sarasota Film Festival.

Gordie Burns Junior:   Gordon's son.  Something of a trouble magnet.  Pushing thirty, acts twenty.  A skinhead.  Has a new get-rich-quick scheme.

Karen Valdez Alvarado:  Ric's mother.  An artist, painter.  Still happily married to Ric's dad, jazz pianist Teo Alvarado.

From SEAL Team Sixteen:

Chief Cosmo Richter:  Robin Chadwick's brother-in-law.  

Jane Chadwick:  Cosmo's wife, a Hollywood writer/producer.  Robin Chadwick's sister.

From Troubleshooters Incorporated:

Sam Starrett.  Yes, that's right -- Sam's back in a couple of key scenes!  

Note from Suz:  POV is writer's code for point of view.  I use something that I call "deep point of view" in my books.  This means that I get deep inside of the characters' heads and tell the story through their eyes, using their voices -- their words and thoughts -- as well as their interpretations of various events.  I stay in one single character's POV for each scene in this book (and in other books in the Troubleshooters series, too).   FORCE OF NATURE is told through five different character's POVs.  Those characters' names are highlighted in yellow on the list above.  (Back to top)

That's all for now!  Be sure to come back for tomorrow's installment in the 
Countdown to FORCE OF NATURE!

Note from Suz:  I'm going to try to post each new day's countdown page before noon eastern time.  Please be patient if I'm a little late...

See you tomorrow!

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