John W. Mefford - An Author Interview at the HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author John W. Mefford. He writes Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller novels. John is the author of the Alex Troutt Series, BOOKER Series, and the GREED Series.

Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Suspense

Website: John W. Mefford
Twitter: @jwmefford
E-Mail: jwmefford@gmail.com
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Google+: Check Out Google+
Facebook: Check Out Facebook

Amazon Author Profile



Author Description:
A veteran of the corporate wars, former journalist, and true studier of human and social behavior, John W. Mefford has been writing his debut novel since he first entered the work force twenty-five years ago, although he never put words on paper until late 2009.

John writes novels full of intrigue, suspense, and thrills, but they also evoke an emotional connection to the characters.

When he's not writing, he chases three kids around, slaves away in the yard, reads, takes in as many sports as time allows, watches all sorts of movies, and continues to make mental notes of people and societies across the land.

John lives in Frisco, Texas with his beautiful wife, three curious kids, and a feisty fat cat.


SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author

Congratulations on your book: At Bay. What do you have on the drawing board next? Rumor has it that you have another book on the horizon called AT Large. Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?

AT Large is the second book in the Alex Troutt Thriller Series. Still wondering if the FBI is the right fit for her and her new life, Alex is thrust into a bizarre string of murders. She partners with a CIA counterpart, and together they chase the killer up and down the east coast. But in the end, Alex must battle her own demons if she has any hope of stopping the brutal killings. AT Large is due out on March 11.

You have a good following on twitter. How important have your social media relationships been? How did you build your following in your niche? Do you see a carry over to your writing success?

I love connecting with readers, and social media in general has been a cool way to do that. Facebook tends to be easiest method to share more about my books, my motivations and my upcoming plans. I've recently started experimenting with creating short videos...just to give my readers a different flavor of me and my upcoming projects.

Do you do any book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances? If so, when and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?

I've recently been interviewed on two podcasts. Both Stephen Campbell and Alexandra Amor were wonderful hosts and we had a great time discussing more detail around my Alex Troutt Thriller series, as well as my writing process, my inspiration, and a host of other fun topics. Here are the links: Stephen's podcast, CrimeFiction.FM - http://crimefiction.fm/john-w-mefford/
Alexandra's podcast, It's A Mystery - http://alexandraamor.com/multiple-mystery-series-and-writing-strong-female-characters-with-john-mefford/

I really enjoy interacting with readers through various means. My Facebook page is probably one of the easier ways to connect: https://www.facebook.com/JohnWMeffordAuthor/

And then my website will always have my latest release information. On the home page you can sign up to my email list and get two of my books for free. That's right…for free.: http://www.johnwmefford.com/


You have great covers. They carry a theme and your brand with them for each of your series. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?

I have a great partnership with my cover artist. I create the overall marketing concept and vision for the series, and then he reads my manuscripts and comes up with the basic ideas for the series. Once we agree on the high-level design, then we get into the details of each cover, carefully considering which elements to carry across to the other books in the series. I really enjoy the collaboration and I'm really excited about the covers he has created.

You have written a novella called Jack Daniels and Associates using Kindle Worlds. How did the process work and would you recommend it to other authors? Can you tell us if it has had an impact on the sales of your novels? Do you feel short reads are a product of our email and smart phone age?

I was a big fan of Joe Konrath's Jack Daniels' novels. And, long story short (no pun intended), I wrote up a novella full of sass and suspense that allowed me to use Joe's characters and my characters from the Booker series. It was a blast to write. I think some readers are always looking for shorter pieces of work to determine if they want to invest more time.

I like the idea of bundling a series of novels. You have put together a set of your novels for each one of your series. What was the impact on your other sales? What was your main objective in bundling your novels?

Buying habits of readers are very complex. Some like to read a novella, others are looking for the discount of buying in bulk. So, I gave it to them. So far, they're eating up the Booker Box Set #1 (Streets of Mayhem, Tap That and Hate City).

Between your book writing, marketing, family and all the other things that can get in your way, how do you manage your time? Do you have a set schedule or do you sort of play it by ear?

Managing my schedule is critical to get through all of my tasks in a given week. I might work 60-70 hours on my writing and marketing, but it's time spent on my passion. It's the most fulfilling thing I've done in my life.

What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?

At different times, I've given away the first book in each of my first two series (GREED and BOOKER) to give readers a chance to see if they enjoy my work. If they get hooked, and thousands have, then I have another long-term reader. And that's what it's all about.

What is the objective for your Reader's Group newsletter? Do you try to build a list of readers? Do you see a carryover to the sales of your novels?

Building an email list of readers who enjoy my work, even some who shout it from the mountain top, has had a profound impact on establishing myself as an thriller author. It's made a world of difference because it has created a dialogue with readers that I can't get on any other platform. I answer all of my emails myself and I truly the discussions.

What is your method of getting reviews for your novels? Do you seek professional reviews, use social media or do you rely on your reading audience to supply them?

I gotten a few professional reviews, but most of them are just normal readers who love my work. I wouldn't be where I am today without my readers.



Author's Book List
AT Bay - An Alex Troutt Thriller, Book 1
Alexandra Giordano never knew she had it so good. Until it was all gone in an instant.

As she begins her daunting quest to uncover the black spots on her memory, what she finds isn’t sweet or charming or even pleasant. And that’s when she begins to question everything, including herself.

Her work as a Special Agent for the FBI is only a distraction, serving as a mental metronome…anything to crank the gears of her feeble mind.

And then it happens—a bizarre, ritualistic murder. She loses herself in her work, fully immersed in the investigation. Unable to recall even her own kids, she’s somehow able to formulate coherent theories on what type of person could pull off such a sickening act.

As her mind slowly plugs a few memory gaps, her emotions are scrambled by the reality of her worlds colliding. And the resulting explosion tears her in two.

Can she pick up all the incendiary fragments to solve the twisted crime while she clings to some semblance of sanity?

One woman can only keep so much…AT Bay.


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


BOOKER - Dead Heat - A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense - Volume 6
A new breed of killer has hit Dallas. The victims? They bleed blue. And the brotherhood is calling in the cavalry: one Booker T. Adams, PI.

Excommunicated from the Dallas Police Department for refusing to overlook conduct unbefitting an officer, Booker has every reason to slam the door shut when the chief pleads for his assistance. But Booker can’t turn his back on the community he’s always felt drawn to protect, even if it means getting in bed with someone who tried to ruin his life.

As pandemonium floods the city from the inside out, Booker chases an invisible plague. He can’t stop what he can’t see. And then the unthinkable happens. Another killing…and this one guts him.

Driven by an eternal camaraderie he’d once shared with his long-time partner, Booker shifts into overdrive to end this sinister game, some sort of sick vigilante justice.

A vengeful fury of his own takes hold. And the damned can hear him coming.


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


BOOKER - No Más - A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense - Volume 5
No more deception.

Brought to the Caribbean island of Dominican Republic on the premise that he could finally close the chapter on the darkest moment of his life—and rid the world of a cold-blooded killer—Booker T. Adams instantly finds a far different scene. Set against the backdrop of a city consumed by the rising fear of terrorism and a brutal drug lord, a woman -- seemingly with two lives and even two faces -- uses her hypnotic charm to get what she wants, sending Booker on a mission to rescue a teenage boy held hostage.

No more lies.

Befriended by a fired cop and a homeless kid with nothing to live for, Booker struggles to understand fact versus fiction, while staving off wild boars, snakes, terrorist traps, and a past that has haunted him for almost thirty years. Is he dealing with people believing their own hypocrisy, or have they simply perfected the art of betrayal and treachery?

No more killing.

The all-powerful rule with brute force, killing women and children like they’re swatting flies. It’s a savagery that Booker can’t comprehend, let alone defeat. With the smell of death stuffed down his throat, the man with everything to lose puts everything on the line—because he can take…

No more.


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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


BOOKER - Blood Ring - A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense - Volume 4
Her dimpled smile and alluring gaze wouldn’t work this time. Neither would her charm, curves, or effervescent youth--qualities that had always kept her moving in all the right circles. The high life.

Not this time. This time was terrifyingly different.

Shackled by her own regrets and the hell delivered by her captors, she struggles to find a sliver of hope where there is none. Time ticks . . .

Having made a name for himself in just a few short months as a Dallas PI, Booker T. Adams yanks the brake on everything once the sister of his business partner and friend, Alisa Lopes, goes missing.

Meanwhile, a family grieves for the loss of their child, another teen who thought she could have it all. Hired to find her killer, Booker treads through a layer of slime, trying to uncover who could be preying on a generation blinded by the hyper-active pursuit of fame and fortune—someone who enjoys it far too much.

With time running out before another shining star turns up in a body bag, Booker chases an invisible executioner, grasping at any shred of evidence to find the young beauty.

For Alisa. For the grieving family. For every girl plucked off the street never to be heard from again. It has to stop. Today. In Dallas.

Booker will either succeed or die trying. And so will countless others.


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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


BOOKER - Hate City - A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense - Volume 3
After a life filled with destruction of others and himself, and his body ravaged by disease, there's only one thing left for Javier Calero to do. Leave a legacy that will finally bring meaning to his life—and to the death of an American president more than fifty years ago.

The CEO of a green energy company is murdered behind his million-dollar estate, his neck nearly severed in two. Recruited to aid the widow and find a savage killer, Booker finds himself in the middle of a family train wreck.

Days later, thrust into the crossfire of a deadly sniper, Booker eludes sure death with the uncanny arrival of a young woman who only wants to save her father from harm. But she can't do it without Booker's help.

Joining forces with a Latin spitfire, Booker and his new sidekick, Maggie, embark on a twenty-four-hour quest to hunt down a killer determined to make an indelible mark on history—just like the one that struck down John F. Kennedy a half-century earlier, which launched a cascade of assassination investigations and theories.

BOOKER - Hate City weaves a historic tale of thrills and suspense, examining the justifications of the unjustifiable.


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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


BOOKER - Tap That - A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense
A performance for the ages.

Courtney Johnson brings the house down in the heart of the vibrant Dallas Arts District. Later, shrills pierce the hallways of Wyle Theater when Courtney, a budding Broadway musical star, is found dead, a single bullet to the head.

Driven to find the killer before panic tears apart the arts community and all those who support it, private investigator Booker T. Adams discovers evidence of a professional hit, then uncovers a lovers ' triangle that takes him all the way to the mean streets of Boston.

And then it happens again. Another performer killed, someone Booker had met. Rocked by the shocking murders, performers and patrons alike fear that a serial killer is on the loose, and no one knows when and or where another dead body will show up.

But professional obligations quickly morph into personal vendettas. Running against an unforgiving clock, Booker is forced to solicit the help of a crime boss, The Shark.

With his life threatened at almost every turn, and his heart being put through a meat grinder, Booker taps into every resource at his disposal to stop more than just a killer.


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


BOOKER - Streets of Mayhem - A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense
On a cool October afternoon, the majestic blue sky above Dallas is polluted with swells of gray smoke, carrying shattered memories of fifteen people, mostly children, who've just been killed by an explosion on a bus. A white supremacist group claims responsibility, opening old wounds, turning neighbor against neighbor--fracturing the community.

A Southeast Dallas native, Booker T. Adams couldn't be more invested in the city…in the people he'd served for the last seven years as a beat cop for the Dallas Police Department. Without warning, it becomes personal for Booker on so many levels. And as panic grips the city, he must decide how much he's willing to sacrifice to end the chaos.

With his career called into question and his family in the crosshairs of one terrorist act after another, Booker invests every fiber of his being to protect a broken community, and to stop the brutal, senseless slayings.

If he fails, terrorism will reign in the city of Dallas.


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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


GREED MANIFESTO - Greed Series #4
Everyone needs a guardian angel—except when that angel is cloaked in vengeance, immune to human qualities of remorse or compassion, seemingly carrying a torch for justice, yet driven by a tenacious indignation.

Set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of San Francisco and all of its fleeting secrets, Michael Doyle attempts to reboot his life, only to see death drop inches from his feet. Awakened from a seemingly catatonic state and emboldened by a spirited friendship from his past, the former journalist is compelled to chase down the truth behind a murder--and the natural beauty connected to it.

But what he uncovers isn't what it appears to be on the surface. He discovers innocent lives around the globe are marked with a deadly price tag.

Robbed of his memory, beaten to an inch of his life, yet unwavering in his quest to cease an act of terror, Michael races against time to pursue an enemy bound by an unspeakable cause.

GREED MANIFESTO spins a tale so wickedly conceived, you won't believe what you've read. Until you do.


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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes


WICKED GREED - Greed Series #3
What happens when Mr. Right is Everything Wrong?

A twisted email lands at journalism outlets across the south, referencing innocent little animals, primal urges, Hollywood movie stars, and women of a certain ilk…tearing flesh from bone. The haunting note tests newspaper publisher Michael Doyle’s over-protective nature.

Is the email just a prank from a sheltered computer geek, or a prophetic sign of a future heinous act?

Deadly brutality swallows up one beautiful young lady after another…and it seems no one can stop it. What force is behind this chain of sadistic killings, pulling the strings, toying with pretty girls who want nothing more than to meet Mr. Right? As Michael and his team track a series of bizarre murders in southern college towns—slowly piecing together what the FBI cannot—a savage monster strikes close to home.

The greed of the wicked pervades all who touch it—by choice or by circumstance.


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Amazon
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KOBO
iTunes


LETHAL GREED - Greed Series #2
Seduced by an insatiable urge to escape reality, North Texas teens are falling prey to the one weakness parents fear most—the use of illicit drugs. And North Texas is just the tip of the iceberg. With his city under siege by a series of drug deaths and a kidnapping, recently hired newspaper publisher Michael Doyle and those closest to him are sucked into a twister so toxic and destructive, no one will be the same in its wake.

From the jagged mountains and alluring beaches of Mexico to the suburban concrete jungle in North Texas, Michael defends an entire drug-ravaged generation against ruthless killers who attack on every front possible. And just when you think the dragon has been sleighed, a vile act of cruelty threatens to shred his own family.


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KOBO
iTunes


FATAL GREED - Greed Series #1
Behind the façade of every corporate takeover executives pull levers this way and that, squeezing the last profitable nickel out of the deal. But no one knows the true intent of every so-called merger.

No one knows the secret bonds that exist.

An Indian technology giant swallows up another private company that has deep roots in North Texas. For one unassuming man the thought of layoffs, of losing his own job to a bunch of arrogant assholes feels like a kick to the jewels.

Until the day Michael's life changes forever.

Perverse alliances. An affair of the heart. A gruesome murder. A spiraling string of events thrusts Michael into a life-or-death fight to save a tortured soul and hunt down a brutal killer...one who lurks closer than he ever imagined.

Greed knows no boundaries.


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Amazon
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KOBO
iTunes


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