Today on the tour, we’re going to meet Karina Gioertz and pick her brain on various things writing related.  All of Karina’s books are available now on Amazon as well as other fine online retailers.

1. Are you a fan of the genre that you write in?

Karina: Sure

2. Are you a pen and paper author or do you use a computer to write?

Karina: Both actually. But the bulk of my writing I do on the computer.

3. If you couldn’t write what would you be doing instead?

Karina: I would work on a horse ranch. My family had a ranch when I was younger and part of me is always tempted to go back to that lifestyle.

4. What about this business surprised you the most?

Karina: How wonderfully supportive everyone is. Meeting and learning from other authors has been the greatest blessing.

5. Do you blog?

Karina: Yes!

6. Are you on social media?

Karina:  I am.

Do you enjoy it?

Karina: Eh…most of the time….other times it feels like a necessary evil.

7. The house is on fire, which do you save, your laptop or your book collection?

Karina: Laptop…my books can be replaced.

8. The publishing industry is changing, do you think this is good or bad time for authors?

Karina: I think it’s an amazing time for authors who are willing to learn and grow with the industry.

9. How do you promote your books?

Karina: I’m always looking for new ways to promote my books. I’ve done interviews like this one on other blogs, had my books featured by book reviewers, done free promotions through KDP Select, etc. I’m pretty open to giving different things a shot at least once. The only thing I haven’t done yet is actually pay for advertising.

10. Your editor says you have to kill a character, which one would get the ax?

Karina:  Which book? Alright, let’s go with COUNTRY GIRLS…terribly sorry Private Investigator Fallon.

Excerpts from Country Girls

Chapter 5: The Call

 

It was dawn by the time Brady’s truck was driving up in front of our house. As Eli and I crawled out of the passenger side door, Harry came walking out onto the front porch. He looked angry. I assumed it was because someone from the sheriff’s office had called and filled him in on the nights events, but I was wrong.

“Where the hell have you two been? I’ve been trying to find you for hours!” he growled at us. Then he turned to growl something at Roscoe, who had been howling since we pulled into the driveway. Now that Brady had left again there was certainly no reason for him to still sound the alarm. Finally he stopped and plopped down at Harry’s feet.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Eli was tired and I could tell she wanted to get past whatever it was that was putting Harry between her and her bed. The look on Harry’s face shifted from anger to concern and immediately I became worried.

“I don’t know. Evey called late last night. She wouldn’t tell me anything. She just kept saying that she needed to talk to Em. Something’s wrong. You need to call her!” He looked helpless. We had never seen him that way.

“Oh my God” was all I could say as I ran up the steps and into the house to use the phone. Eli was still standing in the same spot. Frozen. Anxiously awaiting her next emotion and whom she would be directing it at.  Harry could tell, so he snapped her out of it by talking to her.

“Where were you?”

Eli still didn’t move but she replied, “Jail.  And I may be going back if that son of a bitch

 

laid even a finger on her.”

 

“Now don’t go jumping to conclusions. We don’t know anything yet.”

Eli’s face was turning red. “Like hell we don’t! The only reason she would insist on Em is because she thinks Em wouldn’t actually kill him.” Both of them looked up towards the door when they heard the sound of my feet scrambling across the hardwood floors in our living room. I came rushing back through the front door as fast as I had entered it, this time my keys in hand.

I was focused only on one thing, “I’m going to get her.”

Eli fell into step behind me, “I’m going, too.”

I stopped. “No, she specifically said you couldn’t come.”

She threw her hands up at me. “Since when does anyone listen to Evey? Let’s go!” And we both went to get into my old Bronco.

Harry stood there in the same place watching us leave. “Just bring her back home. We can figure things out after she’s here!” he called after us as we were pulling out.

“Fine.” That was exactly what I had intended to do.

“Eli!” Harry was almost yelling, but Eli said nothing. She just stared back at him as we drove away.

 

The drive lasted for hours. We hardly spoke the whole way there, mostly because neither one of us wanted to fight. I could tell by looking at her that Eli wanted to scream ‘I told you so’ from the roof tops almost as much as she wanted to put a bullet in Eve’s husband. We hadn’t even seen Evey yet; we had no details, but in Eli’s mind the worst had happened and she was prepared to dish out some heavy consequences.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t ready to jump to those conclusions. I knew I would probably have to soon enough, but for the moment it felt safer to be in denial. All I was focused on was getting to Eve and bringing her home where I knew how to take care of her – where she would be safe. I was the protector, Eli was the fighter.

It was dark out as Eli and I pulled into the Tinley Park train station. Except for one lonely car in the back of the parking lot, the place appeared to be completely deserted. Both of us were straining to see anything in the dark.

“Do you see her anywhere?” I asked. Eli’s face was practically glued to the window.

“No. Wait, yes. There she is! Over there!”

Instantly I was relieved. I pulled the truck up to where Eve was standing. Eli and I got out and I ran to give Eve a hug. As I got closer I couldn’t deny what had happened any longer. Evey’s eye was badly bruised and her lip was swollen and bleeding. Instinctively I pulled her close.

“Evey! Thank God we found you.” While we were standing there I felt something else I could no longer deny. Eve’s rather large belly had been hiding under her coat, but now it was hard to miss.

“Damn.”

“What?” Nobody could do clueless like Evey.

“I was right, that’s what.” Eli had made her way around the front of the truck.

Eve frowned at me, “Emma! I told you not to bring her!”

“Listen to me. You were in trouble. Nobody was keeping me from you.” It was always that simple, especially for Eli.

Eve hugged Eli and whispered in her ear, “Just promise you won’t do anything crazy.” Eli pulled back.

“I’m not making any promises until I hear the whole story. Look at your face. Just tell me, was this the first time?”

We didn’t have time for this. The train station was so quiet and dark it was outright spooky, and not having the advantage of being on our own turf was nagging at me.

“Later. Let’s just get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.”

Eli picked up Eve’s bags. “I’ve got this.” She walked behind the truck and around to the back. She was just a few feet away when the darkness swallowed her whole and she was out of sight.

I took Eve’s hand and squeezed it. Suddenly Preston came charging out of the black night and grabbed Eve from behind. He was holding a gun and frantically waving it around while yelling, “Did you really think I’d let you get away that easy?”

We were completely shocked. I was able to speak first. “You let her go right now!” Preston just sneered at me.

“Don’t tell me what to do with my wife! You think you can just show up here and take her back to the swamp with you? You can’t!”

Eve began to plead, “Please Preston. Just let me go. I want to go back home.” She was crying now and on top of being terrified, my heart was breaking for her. Preston’s heart however was cold as stone.

“Home is with me. That’s the only place you’re going. So your sisters can just get back into their rust wagon and go back to where they came from.” He was pointing his gun at me now.

“I’m not leaving without my sister.” Little did he know it wasn’t my first run in with that end of the barrel, and I wasn’t about to cower before him just because he had it pointed at me.

Preston was about to bark another demand when Eli crept up behind him and hit him over the head with a shovel. There was a loud thud as his body hit the ground. Eve screamed. I reached down and took the gun from his limp hand. Eve was freaking out. She knelt down beside him.

“Oh my God! Did you kill him?” Eve whispered, her voice barely audible.

Eli was stunned. “No, I didn’t kill him. What is wrong with you? He had a gun to your head! Stop worrying about this piece of shit!”

She kicked his unconscious body for good measure and then bent down to help Evey back up…

Bio

Although Karina Gioertz has been writing for most of her life, it never quite registered with her as something out of the ordinary or worth pursuing, because it was so closely connected to who she was. It wasn’t until she became a stay at home mom and finally took the time to write an entire book from beginning to end, that she understood what all of those ideas she had been jotting down all those years were really for. Since then, she has written several books, including Country Girls, Lucky In Love and Blood Bound.

While writing and motherhood have become her main focus over the years, she also enjoys many other creative activities such as painting and photography. Most sunny days she can be found in her courtyard working feverishly at painting and refurbishing old furniture…that is, of course, only if it wasn’t a suitable day to spend at the beach. 😉

Karina resides in sunny Florida with her family and two dogs and can be contacted via Facebook (www.facebook.com/friedgatortail) Twitter (www.twitter.com/friedgatortail) and at www.friedgatortail.wix.com/karinagioertz