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Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Blog Tour- THE CAIT LENNOX: FEMME FATALE Series By Roderick Donald With An Interview & Giveaway!




I am stoked to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for THE CAIT LENNOX: FEMME FATALE Series By Roderick Donald! I have an interview with Roderick to share with you today check it out and enter to win the giveaway below!

About The Books:




Title: THE AWAKENING (Cait Lennox: Femme Fatale Series Prequel)
Author: Roderick Donald
Pub. Date: July 7, 2019
Publisher: Roderick Donald
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 304
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonKindleB&NTBD

A violent bashing; a life destroyed. But why has such an obscure occurrence touched so many lives?

When twenty-three-year-old Cait’s lover is brutally and randomly murdered, this violent assault has far-reaching effects not only for Cait, but also for her baby boomer parents, their close friends and business acquaintances, plus their millennial children.
In her darkest moments, Cait’s shamanic mother introduces her daughter to the Otherworld, a Druidic realm that parallels the world around us. Cait’s ancient bloodline whispers to her enticingly from the other side, bestowing amazing paranormal powers of insight and perception upon herthe power of The Gift.

But will Cait accept this strange multi-dimensional world? Or is it just New Age mumbo-jumbo?

The Awakening is a contemporary urban adventure peppered with a touch of the paranormal. It’s an insightful tale about family, friendship, love, sex, beliefs, and personal growth. It follows Cait’s personal journey, along with that of her family and close friends as they change, grow, and adapt to the challenges placed in front of them after this random and senseless attack.

This must-read tale is the scene setter for Cait's later exciting adventures as her amazing paranormal powers of insight and perception grow and develop.

Start reading the first book in this exciting series today!

Title: THE MIND CONTROLLER (Cait Lennox: Femme Fatale Series Book 1)
Author: Roderick Donald
Pub. Date: July 7, 2019
Publisher: Roderick Donald
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 302
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonKindleB&NTBD
A lover brutally murdered; a violent kidnapping; a female scorned. And no closure. Insights from the Otherworld shed light on a case going nowhere.

When twenty-three-year-old Cait is violently kidnapped by her lover's murderers, her once-pleasant life is shattered. She's haunted by terrifying, evil nightmares-apparitions that are really a calling card from the Otherworld.

The cops are making zero headway locating the perpetrators, so she takes matters into her own hands. Cait demands payback.

But first she must overcome her scepticism. In the face of overwhelming odds, Cait unknowingly transforms into a dangerous femme fatale; a ruthless Otherworld being with the power to read minds and control the world around her.

Will this be enough to conquer the vile beast pursuing her in her prophetic visions?

If you love contemporary urban fiction, mystery and action, exotic Asian locales and paranormal forces you'll devour this second book in Roderick Donald's page-turning series.

Download The Mind Controller today!

Title: THE ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE (Cait Lennox: Femme Fatale Series Book 2)
Author: Roderick Donald
Pub. Date: August 2019
Publisher: Roderick Donald
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: ?
Find it: Links coming soon!

It’s time to panic. The Gatekeeper is about to cut you’re beating heart out and steal your soul . . .

When Cait’s younger brother Dec is mortally injured by a terrorist’s deadly car bomb during a chilled-out family holiday in Sicily, Italy, she is totally devastated. Distraught. And determined to chase down the perpetrators. But happy-go-lucky, congenial Cait is not a person to cross. Especially when it comes to family. They’re sacrosanct, and the line in the sand was crossed when the bomb exploded.

Cait demands payback. And retribution.

But how? She’s in a foreign land, the odds are totally stacked against her, and she’s on her own. Or is she?

Voices from the OtherworldCaits ancient Shamanic grandmothersare constantly in her ear as she wanders between this and the Otherworld, coaching her, guiding her, protecting her. An innocent fourteen boy who was ritually sacrificed, his soul then stolen by the evil Otherworld beast Soran, the Gatekeeper of Lost Souls, constantly haunts Cait as the child drifts aimlessly in an ethereal no-man’s land, half way between Heaven and Hell, searching for release and a life in the next dimension.

Then Sergeant Tony ‘Ice’ O’Donnell enters Cait’s world: terrorist hunter, trained killer, assassin. A fractured SAS soldier of fortune and an Australian Security Intelligence Organisation field agent who operates on the edges of legal. Together they stumble across a secretive and dangerous sect dating back to the Crusades: The Brethren of the True Believers. Ruthless tyrants and captains of commerce and industry who are under the control the Gatekeeper.

Somehow this is all inter-related. But how? Will Cait manage to locate the terrorists and extract the revenge that she so desperately wants to mete out? And will she beat the odds and save the next child to be ritually slaughtered?

Cait’s paranormal powers of insight and perception are pushed to the max. But will this be enough to survive the mayhem and onslaught?




Now on to the interview!

Hey Roderick! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books I’m glad you could stop by for a chat! THE CAIT LENNOX: FEMME FATALE Series sounds AWESOME and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

Hi there, and thanks for the chance to have a chat. I’ve put my thoughts down below in answer to your questions.
Cheers,
Rick

For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about the THE CAIT LENNOX: FEMME FATALE Series and the characters?

Great question.

This series was a long time coming and grew organically after my first book, The Awakening, was penned over a seven-year period from 2011 onwards. I was travelling constantly at the time both onshore and offshore for my work as a Senior Technical Writer in the Oil and Gas industry and found myself with extended periods of downtime between destinationsin airport lounges, alone in my digs, wherever in the world I happened to be, or during my two weeks off every month.

And that gave me the luxury of free time. A rare commodity these days! Gradually The Awakening emerged, except it was titled With the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wing back then. However the book was shelved and never published, as I felt there was a bigger story hidden amongst its pages somewhere, so I left it to percolate for a few years.

Fast forward to 2018 and Cait started calling me from the pages, softly at first, then building to a yell as she screamed “Let me loose. I’ve got a journey to pursue”. And that was the embryonic start of the Cait Lennox: femme fatale series. I knew she had a great story, but so did the other characters in The Awakening, so this book was subsequently rewritten as a prequela scene-setter and a place to introduce the actors who were important in Cait’s life and who would reappear from time to time in later books after she discovered her paranormal powers.

Cait was never meant to be the lead player in the prequel. Rather, all the characters, from her immediate family to her millennial friends, and extending out to their close and long-term associates, were all given a voice. In many ways, a chapter or two was devoted to each person, as opposed to just concentrating on Cait.

So the final version of The Awakening saw the novel transition into a backstory for all the main characters in Cait’s life, with the single linking factor being the ripple-effect of Rishi’s death on each player.

Then after Cait experienced a few passing glimpses of the Otherworld in The Awakening, she emerged as the lead character in book #1, The Mind Controller, and the Cait Lennox: femme fatale series was born. This is where she was exposed to, and then finally accepted, her amazing paranormal powers. And it’s why The Awakening has been kept as a prequel; a character back-story you might say.

For those of you who would like to find out more about Cait and who she was actually based on in reality, I have detailed all this and more in a blog that you can access here.

How many more books are planned for the series?

Book #3 of the Cait Lennox: femme fatale series is in the pipeline as you read this. I have a really gripping and exciting story running around inside my head that is gelling the more I think about it. I’m currently narrowing down locations around the world that the story will be set in and fine tuning the plot enough for me to hopefully put something down on paper within the next month or so.

Rest assured, Cait’s amazing paranormal powers will continue to grow and mature as she seamlessly moves between current reality and the Otherworld. So in book #3 you will see more of Cait trying to go about a normal daily life but as is her way, also 
being sucked into a new and dangerous adventure.

You see, trouble just seems to follow Cait around, and unfortunately those who dare 
to cross her usually either suffer the consequences, or end up dead.

But even at this early stage I can let you into a secret. On the recommendation of 
fractured ex-SAS soldier of fortune, Tony ‘Ice’ O’Donnell, she is picked up by ASIO as 
a specialist undercover operative. Cait ends up their go-to person when all else has 
failed and they are at a dead end with a case going nowhere.

This new book will be the usual mix of paranormal fiction in a normal reality. You’ll 
see Cait turn into a kick-ass female with attitude as she joins forces with Ice to take 
out the bads that regular law enforcement can’t touch, can’t explain or simply can’t 
account for.

Expect to see some of the characters in The Awakening make an appearance again, 
with the likes of Irish, Steve and Kylie maybe dropping by. And of course G, Jools and 
Dec will be there. You may even be given an insight into Cait’s ancient Shamanic 
lineage, and find yourself back in the time of the Druids in Cait’s visions.

Then book #4? Well, let’s get book #3 written and published first! Cait will continue to find herself constantly evolving as she follows her Otherworld destiny, so who knows where she will end up? Whatever, Cait and Ice will be in the thick of it. You will be able to easily follow their trail by simply stepping over the dead bodies and carnage that lies in their wake.

Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

Absolutely!!!

This is such a commonly asked question by people who know me: “Am I in the book this time?”, or as recently as a few weeks ago when I was contacted by a friend, “Tony reminds me of a guy we used to sail with. Is he based on XXXXX?”, or “I can really see XXXXX in Sean. Is that him?”.

In fact, there are snippets of many people who have crossed my path as I have wandered the world over the years. Some of the characters are more recognizable than others, but they’re certainly there in a mixture of fiction and fact. Often it’s an exaggerated avatar, or a mixture of personality traits. I really have fun developing my characters, and as you no doubt realize, they’re always evolving or revealing snippets of themselves.

And Cait? Well, I have to say that there are resemblances to my daughter in her that are all too familiar to be able to dismiss outright. As I mentioned before, if you would like to delve deeper into Cait’s real life background and leanings, then read the blog about her here.

Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?

Loved Cait of course! She’s such an enigma. One minute she can be innocent and care-free, the next she turns on dime and is a ruthless assassin. Even I don’t know where she is going to end up sometimes, as she has such a strong-willed character that she leads herself. In many ways, I’m just the scribe who is recording her adventures.

And G and Jools. They are just so real, so normal, with life’s unexpected issues crossing their paths and altering the flow of their lives. Together they are a proxy for modern life in Australia in the twenty-first century. They love each other and their family dearly, but are also independently minded and aware of the world around them. They deal with life’s setbacks, are pleasant and caring, intelligent, well-travelled, sagacious . . . but they’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. They both have their faults, idiosyncrasies and dark secrets that they keep hidden in a box that has been shoved to the back of their memory banks.

In many ways, G and Jools could actually be my wife and myself and our two millennial kids. Or maybe our next door neighbors. Or any one of a dozen couples who come to mind. But more realistically, G and Jools are an amalgam of all of these characters. And then some more.

So yes, I really found it easy to build the story around the Lennox family. They were a no-brainer!

The characters I least liked were also the ones whom I loved building up from the jig-saw traits that I had sitting in my head. They represent all the frustrations that I have with certain people. I mean, how could you possibly like Small-Man-Syndrome Tony, or Paul’s wife Kaz from The Awakening. Or Frog or Boss-man from The Mind Controller? Or maybe Three Fingers Marco or Tareq from The Assassin’s Apprentice? They were just the most horrible people, but unfortunately in many ways they are actually real as well. People like them exist in the big, wide world. I gained just so much satisfaction from constructing their personalities. It was almost cathartic.

What is your favorite passages/scenes in THE CAIT LENNOX: FEMME FATALE Series?

There are many, but if I had to narrow it down to a single passage of text, it’s from The Assassin’s Apprentice when Ice is looking at Cait, his soon-to-be new partner:
O’Donnell looked on from the distance and smiled. He’d chosen well. His new field operative was a natural. Normally he prided himself on being a good judge of character, but he had been way off the mark with Cait. Maybe that’s why Cait’s getting through to Aziz. Because she’s not what she seems, he thought to himself.
This girl’s an enigma, he realized, someone who manages to hide her true character under the guise of being an innocent, complicit and seemingly naive young girl. How wrong he was. And rue the day that other people make the same mistake.
Cait was as dangerous as a lioness in a cub’s skin.”

What kind of research did you have to do for the story?

Research? I pay particular attention to transporting you, my readers, to the placethe moment so youre are actually there alongside the characters in the story. I want you to smell the cordite of a gunshot as a bullet wizzes past just inches from your head; feel the gritty sand between your toes as you walk down a deserted beach; taste the bitterness of a freshly brewed coffee; feel the heat on your back of the burning Sicilian sun.

All this is just so important to me, and I hope a real strength in my writing style. And to get the moment correct it requires research. And then more research. And drawing down on my own experiential memory bank. I actually travelled to, and lived in, Sicily for a month to make sure that I had all my facts down off pat in The Assassin’s Apprentice. I have visited SE Asia many, many times and have lived there on numerous occasions, so I hope the realism of travelling from Pakse in Laos to Siem Riep in Cambodia was an overload of bells and smells for you.

In fact, to date I have travelled to and lived in 67 countries, so all the places in the world that I set my tales in are also places that I have visited and know well. I hope that this fact alone brings a realism to my stories that many other authors can’t provide.

Who is your ultimate book villain?

There are many, but I find myself drawn to the bad-ass characters who not only have an edge and who are fractured in some way or another, but who also have a hidden softer, well-meaning side to their nature. And unfortunately many of these characters are males, which in many ways is why I chose Cait as my lead instead of her brother, Dec.

So characters such as John Wick, Jack Reacher, John Milton and Beatrix Rose drawn me in, but also in my laconic Australian way I like the underdog characters who are totally flawed and often quite hopeless, but they get things done. My character ‘Irish’ in The Mind Controller is a great example.

What inspired you to write this series?

As mentioned previously, having sufficient time on my hands that allowed me the privilege of a bit of serious navel gazing was a good start. Then once the story-telling snowballed and started rolling down that proverbial literary hill, well, the inspiration was self-generating, until it arrived at a point of obsession. And that was the point of no return. After that precipice was crossed I couldn’t eat, sleep or drink without contemplating the story of the current novel I was working on.

And this inspiration to pen what was in my head would last for months on end. I frequently found myself boring my wife, my family, and even my friends by sitting behind a screen for hours wherever I happened to be at the time: on vacation; out to dinner; at family gatherings, BBQs and social get togethers with friends; even at the movies. Wherever. If something popped up in my headas it frequently didout would come my computer or my iPhone and I would tap away.

Lightning Round Questions

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

Two Mark Dawson thrillers: The Cleaner and Twelve Days, and there are a few paranormal stories that I have my reading eye on.

Twitter or Facebook?

FB, although I’m not excessive about it. Because I’m now involved in cyber security and counter terrorism in real life, I can’t really have a personal page, so it’s either my FB Author Page, FB Messenger, or nothing.

Twitter? Not a huge fan but I’m on it.

Favorite Superhero?

Not really a superhero, but you can’t go past Rick Deckard in Blade Runner (love Ridley Scott), although I kinda like Wolverine as a mythical character.

Favorite TV show?

Don’t watch much TV. I far prefer Netflix or Stan as series draw me in, and I hate sitcoms or similar with a passion. It’s a bit wrong, but I loved Breaking Bad, enjoyed Bloodline, like Shetland, just started watching the new series of Poldark, finished Lambs of God last night, and more recently enjoyed The Loudest Voice.

Sweet or Salty?

Neither unfortunately. I’m a savory type of guy, with lashes of uber hot chili somewhere in the dish, and washed down with a cold beer or a bottle of good Aussie shiraz.

Any Phobias?

Not heavily into excessive heights, and snakes aren’t exactly my favorite reptile.

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

Kashmir, by Led Zeppelin. I found it on my iPhone buried amongst my 1500-odd songs and now it keeps rattling around in my head. I even heard it as a flash back tune on the radio in my car the other day. How uncanny.

2019 Movie you’re most looking forward to?

John Wick 3


Thanks so much Roderick for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read THE CAIT LENNOX: FEMME FATALE Series!




About Roderick Donald:
 
But first, call me Rick all my friends do!

Rick is the creator of the breakout contemporary paranormal Urban Fiction series detailing Cait’s dramatic journey from a happy-go-lucky, 23-year old millennial to a powerful and ruthless femme fatale.

When Rick initially wrote The Awakening in 2011 it was a stand alone book. However, as soon as he finished it he sensed that there was an even bigger story wanting desperately to emerge, so he put the book aside to percolate and it was never published.

Then one day, in a blinding flash of the obvious seven years later, Cait started screaming at Rick from the pages of his novel: “Let me loose. I’ve got a journey to pursue”. Her remonstrations led to the second book in the series, The Mind Controller, being written over a three month period in 2018. To tie the two books together, The Awakening then required revisiting and totally rewriting. All up, it took a further four months for Rick to put the whole series together from nose to tail.

While the first two books were being prepared for publication, a third book in the series quickly followed as Cait had another adventure to embark on. The Assassin’s Apprentice is a nail-biting urban adventure where Cait’s powers of insight and perception are stretched to the max. as she travels the world, chasing down the murderous and illusive secret sect, Brethren of the True Believers.

Book number four is currently gelling in Rick’s head and will be out in early to mid 2020. Cait’s amazing paranormal powers continue to grow and mature as she seamlessly moves between current reality and the Otherworld. On the recommendation of fractured and secretive ex-SAS soldier of fortune, Tony ‘Ice’ O’Donnell, she is picked up by ASIO as a specialist undercover operative. Cait ends up their go-to person when all else has failed and they are at a dead end with a case going nowhere.

Rick is a bit of an adventurer, a sometimes adrenalin junky and a world traveller (67 countries and still counting). He’s into competitive bay sailing, ocean racing, road bike riding, scuba diving, natural health and keeping fit. Rick lives in Melbourne, Australia, with Sandi, his wife of many years, and is the proud father of two thirty-something millennial children. There are also two beautiful young grandchildren in the mix who Sandi and Rick spoil to excess!


Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive signed finished copies of their choice of book in the CAIT LENNOX:FEMME FATALE Series, US Only.




Tour Schedule:
Week One:
7/29/2019- K.L Novitzke Author- Excerpt
7/30/2019- My Creatively Random Life- Review
7/31/2019- Country Road Reviews- Excerpt
8/1/2019- Books a Plenty Book Reviews- Review
8/2/2019- Jaime's World- Excerpt

Week Two:
8/5/2019- Parajunkee- Excerpt
8/6/2019- Colorimetry- Excerpt
8/7/2019- Mythical Books- Excerpt
8/8/2019- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt
8/9/2019- Smada's Book Smack- Excerpt

Week 3:
8/26/2019- PopTheButterfly Reads- Excerpt
8/27/2019- Book Briefs- Review
8/28/2019- Cindy's Love of Books- Review
8/29/2019- A Dream Within A Dream- Excerpt
8/30/2019- A Gingerly Review- Review

Week 4:
9/2/2019- Simply Daniel Radcliffe- Review
9/3/2019- the suburban lifestyle- Review
9/4/2019- Daily Waffle- Review


Week 5:
9/9/2019- BookHounds- Interview
9/10/2019- The Tired Buyer- Guest Post
9/11/2019- Two Chicks on Books- Interview
9/12/2019- Good Choice Reading- Excerpt



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