📚 A Bookish Chat with 'Breathe In' Michelle King | Author Interview @michelle_king1 #AuthorInterview #BlogTour #Interview
Michelle King lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband Chayne and her children. She loves coffee, Superman, rollercoasters, and has an addiction to chapstick.
She works in healthcare management and in her spare time writes novels. As a multi-genre author, she has written in the categories of romance suspense, young adult, women’s fiction, and literary fiction. She has won four literary awards.
She is the author of the thriller, Breathe In.
Visit her website at https://www.authormichelleking.com/ or connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.
TWL: Welcome to The Writer's Life! How did you come up with the idea to write your book?
Michelle King: To be honest, I was in a very rough time in my life. I had left an abusive marriage, I was learning to be a single mom, I was struggling in every way possible and going through a great deal of emotional turmoil. I was sad, anxious, a little lost, and a lot angry. I was evolving as a person and as a woman. I was learning what I was made of. But boy, was it painful! I knew the best outlet for my emotions, and especially my rage, would be to write this book. The general concept had been floating around in my brain for quite a while. So, I took advantage of the fact that National Writer’s month was about to start and I started on November 1st.
TWL: Can you give us a short excerpt?
Michelle King: Eyes open. Darkness. Eyes close. Darkness. Where am I? I can’t breathe. I’m so hot. Memory floods back. Eyes open wide. The bag is still over my head. My heart thuds in my chest and my respirations increase. The humidity of my warm breath presses against my face. I really can’t breathe. Instead of flailing around, I hold still and hone in on my other senses. I’m sitting upright, and by the way my body bounces in the seat, I know I’m in a vehicle of some sort and the road is not paved. It’s rough. Over the sound of my desperate panting, I make out the hum of the engine and crunch of tires against rugged terrain. Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Where are they taking me? “Slow down, Jake. We’re bumping around like crazy back here.” I snap my head toward the left, following the sound of the man’s voice. Is it the man from the library or the other one who grabbed me from behind? Racking my brain, I think back to what his voice sounded like. I think the man next to me is the one from the library. He was in the club tonight too. So the driver must be Jake. How many are there? “Hold tight! I just want to get there already,” a man barks from the front. His tone is much sharper, deeper. Dangerous. I’m not okay, I’m not okay. Fuck. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Too fast. I’m breathing too fast. It’s too damn hot in this bag. My back and hips ache as I’m jostled about. The taste and smell of stale tequila wafts into my warm nostrils. A thick wave of nausea suddenly rises. Oh, no, I’m going to throw up. Not in the bag. I’ll choke. I can’t hold it down. Sour, vile fluid bubbles up and bursts from my mouth and nose. I gag and retch inside the sack. Feels like I’m inside a microwave that has cooked too long and burst the contents. Vomit spews over my lips and down my face and neck, pooling up at the neck where the bag is cinched tight. “Oh, shit, Jake. She’s fucking puking. Pull over.” “I’m not pulling over,” Jake yells. “We aren’t far enough out of town.” I’m trying to breathe but my nose and mouth are full of rancid phlegm. There’s no oxygen. Instinct has me groping at the bottom of the bag, scratching and pulling to get it off. Thank god my hands are free. My feet kick out and make contact with the seat in front of me. Pain sears up the front of my shins, but I keep writhing and pulling. “No, seriously, man. Pull over. She’s freaking out.” “I don’t care. We don’t have our masks on. She’ll see our faces.” “She’s already seen my face, dumbass,” the other man yells. “Who freaking cares? It’s not like she’ll be able to identify us when we’re done with her anyway. I’ve got to do something or she’s going to choke on her own fluids and then this whole thing will be a damn waste. Can’t you hear her choking?” “Well, then, take the damn bag off her head, Vance. Shit, I can’t do everything. I’m driving. Figure it out!” Hands join mine and clamber to undo the ties. “Just sit still a second. Hold on,” he demands. Desperate to get out of the bag and take a breath, I stop yanking on the ties. But I can’t stop gagging. I’m covered in vomit and fear. The bonds around my neck loosen and the material is pulled up over my face, then off of my head in a rush. A wave of cool, fresh air hits my face. Big, deep breath. Another. And another. 21 Blink. Wipe puke from my nose and mouth. Turn to my right. The man from the library stares at me, wide-eyed. Then the smell hits him and his nose puckers. He draws his hands to his nose and covers it, flinching away from me. I spot the bruised fingernails that have yet to heal and shiver. I take a quick glance at the driver, Jake. Facing front, his shoulders hunched forward, all I know is that he is large, formidable. I’m not sure about his height, but his build is thick and gnarly, like a body builder. His hands are strong, and maneuver the car with ease over the rough dirt road. It’s dark outside, and I cannot see anything more than what the headlights shine upon within twenty feet of the front of the…SUV, yes, looks like an SUV of some sort. Maybe a Jeep or an Explorer. I need to get out of this damn car.
TWL: What part of the book was the most fun to write?
Michelle King: The scenes where she kicks ass!
TWL: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?
Michelle King: The fact that it’s so dark in a few scenes. I’ve had a lot of fans say it’s more intense than they were expecting, and it triggered them. For some that’s good and for some it’s not. Fortunately, there aren’t too many scenes like that.
TWL: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?
Michelle King: Unfortunately, I’m not working on anything new at the moment. I’m trying to finish my master’s degree. However, I have lots of other published novels out there that fans can check out.
TWL: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?
Michelle King: My dedication page
says it best:
This book is dedicated to all the women of the world who have survived abuse of any kind. You have faced a darkness and fear that most have not. Your heart and soul have overcome doubt, insecurity, and hopelessness. And in the midst of it all, you dug deep and found your inner warrior. You screamed at the top of your lungs to let loose of your rage. Then, when you felt your power again, you fought and remained true to your will to survive. You are a force to be reckoned with.
TWL: Do you have any final words?
Michelle King: I’m so glad to have been able to put this story to paper. Tessa was a fun character to write and I’m so glad that readers are loving her so much too.
Title: BREATHE IN
Author: Michelle King
Publisher: Limitless Publishing
Genre: Psychological Thriller
BOOK BLURB:
Breathe in. Breathe out. This mantra gets Tessa Benson through the day. The man she loves walks all over her, and she just wants to get by without her heart shattering to pieces. If she could find her voice, she’d scream. Everything changes in one night, when she’s snatched from the streets and tied to a bed, a camera set up to capture her dying moment. And the person who paid to watch her die…is still out there somewhere. Tessa prowls dark neighborhoods in a quest for justice, but she doesn’t find the killer. Not until they strike again…in the place Tessa is least expecting, and where it hurts most.
“Dark. Disturbing. Absolutely out of character for Michelle Bellon (compared to her other books). You absolutely feel for Tessa. Your heart & soul breaks with her. You will get angry & you will cry with her. Simply amazing.” – Amazon Reader
“This story is a very, very dark thriller. It has some things in it that might upset some people. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Tessa is trying to just get through each day with the man she loves. He is not a nice man. He walks all over her, belittles her, he is a scum bag! Then she gets kidnapped one night and tied to a bed. There is a camera on her to show someone or some people just how she is going to die! Can she get away? Who would do such a thing? You will need to read the book to find the answers.” – Amazon Reader
Book Information
Release Date: November 15, 2019
Publisher: Limitless Publishing
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1640347953; 272 pages; $13.99; Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3grB5TS
The Writer’s Life
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