Welcome fellow Eternal Press author, David Pereda...

Hi David, it's really nice to meet you and be part of your tour to mark the release of your new romantic suspense, "However Long The Night" - hope you enjoy your time here. Let's get started with the questions...

1) Did you set any goals for 2012?

Yes, I did. I set three writing-related goals for 2012: (1) To publish my mainstream romantic novel, However Long the Night; (2) To finish writing Twin Powers, the third installment of my Havana series of thrillers; and (3) To sell one of my books to Hollywood.

2) What is the best part of the writing process for you?

Knowing that one of the hundreds of ideas flitting through my mind is the one that’ll make a good book; and then writing that first sentence, that first paragraph and that first page.

3) The worst part?

Usually, writing the middle of the book – especially while writing thrillers – where all the plots and the subplots must come together in a satisfying manner. It’s like weaving a tapestry. If you do it right, you’ll have a beautiful tapestry; if you don’t do it right, you’ll end up with a horrendous mess.

4) What is the book you wish you’d written?

I’d like to write a western novel. When I was a kid I used to read every western novel I could get my hands on, especially those from Zane Grey and Max Brand, my heroes. The first novel I ever wrote, when I was 10 years old, was a western. Yet I’ve never written a western novel since, despite my continuing love of horses, cowboy life and wide open spaces.

5) Favourite author/s & book/s?

So many authors have influenced my style that I don’t know where to begin. Hemingway, Konrad, Shakespeare, all the Russian writers, especially Dostoyevsky and Chekov, were great influences in my life. When I was a kid I read everything written by Max Brand and Zane Grey. During recent years, the greatest influence on my writing has probably been Harlan Coben. Someone once wrote a review of one of my books and called me the Latino Harlan Coben. I was very proud of the comparison to Harlan Coben whom I consider the best thriller writer today.

As for my favorite book, I have always had a soft spot for Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, which I consider one of the best books ever written.

6)Tell us about your latest release?

My latest release is a mainstream novel, However Long the Night, which was just published by Eternal Press on February 7^th. It’s a romantic tale with a major dose of suspense, a tense love triangle, buried family secrets, corporate shenanigans and a historical background. It’s part of a trilogy I am writing from the perspectives of three different characters, one of them a woman. This is the second novel in the trilogy and spans thirty years. My first novel in the trilogy is already written and in a drawer, waiting for the right time to bring it out. As for the last novel of the trilogy, I’m still thinking about it.

6) Tease us with a blurb/short except

Summer, 1980 Port of Mariel, Cuba

Where is Sandra?

From his vantage point on the pier, sitting atop the pile of family luggage, Cid Milan scanned the chaotic crowd clogging the dirt road leading to the harbor. If she didn’t hurry, his parents would return, and he’d have to leave.

The port teemed with life. A heavy-set man stumbled under the weight of a huge cardboard box balanced over his head. A skinny woman streaked through the throng clutching a bright-red bag in one hand and the hand of a dazed boy in the other. A shirtless old man scampered after a scurrying black dog.

None of them was Sandra.

Where was she?

Cid was tired. He had a sore throat, and the stench of harbor rot and human sweat turned his stomach. The August sun blistered his skin. It was early afternoon already, and he’d been at Mariel since dawn. Now Sandra was late. Why hadn’t she come yet?

He caught the shimmer of sunlight on auburn hair and his heart thumped like a wild bongo beat. Sandra didn’t materialize from the throng. The hair belonged to a middle-aged woman wearing a canary-yellow dress, clasping a purple purse.

Cid slipped down the stack and kicked his suitcase hard. Taking a deep breath, he turned to check the marina. The sharp wharf odor prickled his nostrils. The cloverleaf-shaped harbor was as chaotic as the street. It was jammed with boats, pitching and bobbing in the rough water, all waiting for the official order to leave. Beyond them, on the hill across the harbor, he saw the outline of the Naval Academy buildings. Mariel was a small town, known for only two things--the academy and the electric power station. Why it was chosen for this massive evacuation, he could not understand. Many things were incomprehensible to him ever since a bus crashed the Peruvian Embassy gates months earlier and the twenty-five Cubans on board asked for asylum.

An enraged Fidel Castro immediately proclaimed, “Any malcontent in this country who wants to live in Peru can seek asylum too.” Within days, more than ten thousand Cubans accepted the Comandante’s invitation and crammed the Peruvian Embassy. Conditions deteriorated quickly. Food, water, medical care and medicines were scarce; sanitary facilities were inadequate. International public opinion condemned Castro’s irresponsibility.

El Comandante’s reaction didn’t take long. Overnight he opened the port at Mariel and declared, “Whoever wants to leave Cuba can do so freely.”

The response to this second invitation was overwhelming. Castro never anticipated the flood of Cubans anxious to take advantage of this new opportunity.

The potential emigrants, on the other hand, never imagined what an ordeal leaving Cuba would be. Cid could see the telltale signs on the haggard but grimly determined faces of the people milling about. He wondered if his own face looked like that.

The road to Mariel, as someone in his barrio once said, required cojones.

7) What is your favourite attribute of the hero and heroine?

The hero is honorable and the heroine is loyal.

8) What’s next?

I’m working on the third installment of my Havana Series of thrillers -- Twin Powers. The first two novels of the series are Top Secret and Killing Castro, both also published by Eternal Press. Twin Powers is a deviation of the first two novels in the series in that two of the central characters are the two now 7-year old twin girls born to the main characters, Raymond and Sonia, in the last book of the series. One of them gets kidnapped by Arabs in the middle of downtown Havana, and that prompts a worldwide search for the kidnappers which takes Raymond and Marcela, a lesbian assassin, to Dubai and Washington, DC..

9) Tell me where you write?

I write on a laptop in my studio/office at home, surrounded by books, paintings and photographs of my family and friends.

10) Where would you like your career to be in 5 years?

In 5 years, I’d like to be considered one of the top writers in the business and be on the NY Times bestselling lists on a continuous basis. I’d also like to have my Havana series of thrillers made into exciting movies, so I can try my hand at writing scripts.

11) Where can we find you?

I’m easy to find. Google my name and I’ll show up. You can also find me by visiting my website: www.davidpereda.com or my publisher’s website: www.eternalpress.biz or look for me on Amazon: www.amazon.com

Author Biography:

David Pereda is an award-winning author who enjoys crafting political thrillers and mainstream novels. His books have won the Lighthouse Book Awards twice, the Royal Palm Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, and the Readers Favorite Awards. He has traveled extensively around the world and speaks several languages. Before devoting his time solely to writing and teaching college-level courses, Pereda had a rich and successful international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Qatar, among others.

A member of MENSA, Pereda is the regional director of the Florida Writers Association and the co-founder of AWE (Asheville Writing Enthusiasts). He loves sports and has won many prizes competing in track and show-jumping equestrian events.

Pereda lives with his family in Asheville, North Carolina.

Please visit him at…

www.davidpereda.com

www.twitter.com/DavidPeredaAVL

www.facebook.com

ISBN: However Long the Night

978-1-61572-598-4 E-Book

978-1-61572-599-1 Print Book

Great having you here, David!

David is giving away a $20 Amazon GC so follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/01/virtual-book-tour-however-long-night.html.