We’re pleased to welcome author Michele Micheal Rakes today, on the tour for his new novel Trainwreck. Also, be sure to check out the Rafflecopter giveaway for the chance to win one of the following prizes:
A $15 GC, an e-copy of Trainwreck, or a Saving Kane/Fourth and Long gift pack.
Good luck!
Lisa: Hi, Mikey, thank you for stopping by today. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Mikey: I live in the Pacific Northwest and its wet but beautiful here. I want to live in Scotland someday, and I think I’m probably pretty well acclimatized from living here all my life. I’m the baby of three children. My wife recently passed on and I’m dedicating Trainwreck to her memory. She adored this story, although she always wanted the cover to be Vince on his Harley wearing his flip-flops and Hawaiian shirt looking out over the beach and ocean at sunset. I couldn’t quite make that happen.
Lisa: I’m so sorry for your loss. Our deepest sympathy to you and your family. I’m sure she loves that you dedicated the book to her.
Will you tell us a little something about Vince’s friends.
Mikey: Vince really only has a few close friends: Greg and Grayson, a gay couple he met some years ago. The friendship/relationship withered when Grayson died of leukemia. Greg and Vince couldn’t sustain their friendship without him. Mainly because Greg had fallen in love with Vince, but Vince was heterosexual. Mica, Vince’s wife, is his best friend, and his foster brother Nick, who is also his partner on the force. Originally a narcotics detective, Vince was the lead in a six man crew, so he has work relationships, but he’s always remained aloof in all his interactions, even with Mica.
Lisa: What’s your character’s favorite meal? Favorite dessert? Favorite snack food?
Mikey: He likes olives. He puts them on his niece’s fingers and she eats them like that, so he kind of spoils her. At Thanksgiving, they eat all the olives.
Lisa: What activity does your character absolutely hate?
Mikey: Therapy.
Lisa: What other author’s book do you think your character would be good in?
Mikey: Vince would be a good guy to protect Christy in Omorphi. I would’ve felt safer reading that book if Vince had gotten a hold of that bastard. No one would’ve found much of the guy. Vince thinks all kids should be protected, and he’s willing to kill to keep them safe. Of course, Vince didn’t kill the guy beating his five-year-old, only because Nick was there to stop him from killing the man. He beat the shit out of him though.
Lisa: What’s your favorite decade and why?
Mikey: The sixties. Great music. Free love. Fantastic clothes. The civil rights movement was populated with great people trying to do the right thing. Things that happened in the sixties paved the way for events today. It wasn’t a perfect, idealized decade, but it wanted to be. I see events similar to what happened in the sixties unfolding around us. Groups fighting for social freedoms, while others are fighting just as hard and dirty to deny them.
Book recommendation: Chickhawk by Robert Mason. It’s about his time as a “huey” pilot in the Vietnam war. A worthwhile read.
Lisa: Thanks again for dropping by, it was great to have you hear with us. Will you share where readers can find you on the internet?
Mikey: Facebook || Facebook Author Page || Twitter: @MicheleRakes || Blog
Blurb: Detective Sergeant Vincent Sweetwater hates dead bodies. That’s why he’s an undercover narc and not a homicide dick. So why is he standing on a sandy beach in California staring at a lifeless body—oh yeah, the suicide attempt. Lieutenant Hanson is making a statement. Something about life worth living. Shows what he knows.
As Vince examines the tortured body, he feels an empathy and déjà vu for the victim, her wounds are similar to scars he has only a vague memory receiving. An intense desire to find her killer fills his queasy belly as a dark game of cat and mouse begins.
The young woman’s death forces Vince back into a secret life dominated by sex, perversion, and sadomasochism. Estranged from his wife he still loves and longing for the man who possessed him once, Vince buries his torment deep inside meaningless sex.
*Warning: This book contains adult content and situations. NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
Buy the Book: Amazon || Amazon Int’l
THE GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
Tour Dates and Stops:
17-Feb || Book Lovers 4Ever, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
24-Feb || Love Bytes, Mikky’s World of Books
2-Mar || Full Moon Dreaming, Man2ManTastic, Bonkers About Books, Bayou Book Junkie`
9-Mar || BFD Book Blog, Velvet Panic, My Fiction Nook, Gay Media Reviews, The Novel Approach
16-Mar || Happily Ever Chapter, Hearts on Fire
23-Mar || Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Three Books Over The Rainbow
30-Mar || Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, KathyMac Reviews
6-Apr || Havan Fellows, Jessie G. Books
13-Apr || Cathy Brockman Romances, Inked Rainbow Reads
20-Apr || Divine Magazine, Prism Book Alliance
27-Apr || Molly Lolly
4-May || Dawn’s Reading Nook
11-May || Alpha Book Club
18-May || MM Good Book Reviews
25-May || Louise Lyons
1-Jun || Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings
The Fine Print:
*Entrants must be 18 years or older to qualify
*All comments must be relevant to the author’s prompt to be eligible (when applicable)
*The Novel Approach will not be held liable for prize delivery unless otherwise specified
*Void where prohibited by law
The Novel Approach Reviews 
Congratulations on the new release, Michele. It sounds good!
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Thanks.💋
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Congratulations on the new release. It looks heavy.
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Thanks. Yes, it is a dark story, but there’s also the character’s redemption at stake, so I think some readers will find it intriguing. Definitely not a story for everyone.
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Hi Michele.
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Hello Shorty, how are you?
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Hello, Michele! Question for you: What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the world-building within this book?
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A lot of the world was built during my formative years through my own life experiences with the darker side of the human perspective. On the outside, I wanted to place Vince in Hollywood, a place that people outside of it might consider it glamorous, but instead there was abuse and darkness. In Trainwreck, I wanted the hero to be from the wrong side of the tracks. I didn’t want a billionaire spoilt brat. I wanted the dark and the dirty and my themes generally revolve around some kind of past abuse for the hero, or at least one of them.
I wanted Vince to be conflicted not only about his sexuality, but whether or not he was a good person. So I wanted the setting to be a backdrop of that conflict, with sunny weather and smog, beaches that present death. Beauty that is in turn very ugly.
So, in essence, I built the world from Vince’s mind. Which I guess, in turn, is my mind. There is a lot of me in Vince. Greg and Mica are an amalgam of my husband and my dear wife Mary, who died of cancer in October.
I hope this answers your question and thank you for asking.
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