Today I’m excited to have author Tamara Jones on the
Sunday’s Author Spotlight. Tamara Jones is the author of The Dubric Byerly
Mystery series, of ‘Spore’, a new Sci-Fi/ Horror novel and many more short stories.

Learn more about Tamara Jones and her books at today’s
Sunday’s Author Spotlight!!

Where does the fever of illusion stop…

and the could truth begin?

This unique debut thriller combines forensics, fantasy, and edge-of-your-seat
suspense like never before. In a world where sorcery is illegal, someone is
murdering young women in ways that defy all reason—and all detection. Only one
man knows how to track such an untraceable killer, a man called to deliver
justice by an onslaught of…

For Dubric Bryerly, head of security at Castle Faldorrah, saving lives has
become a matter of saving his sanity. A silent killer is afoot, savagely
mutilating servant girls and leaving behind no clues and no witnesses—except
the gruesome ghosts of the victims. Ghosts that only Dubric can see.

Caught in the eye of the grisly storm is Nella, a linen maid working to free
herself from a dark past—if she can survive an invisible killer’s rampage. But
with the death toll rising and Nella under the protective wing of a man who may
be a prime suspect, Dubric must resort to unconventional methods. With the
future of Faldorrah and countless lives at stake, including his own, he can’t
afford to be wrong. And if he’s right, the entire kingdom could be thrust into
war.

This book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM, Powell’s and iBooks.  

In this relentlessly gripping thriller, Compton Crook
Award winner Tamara Siler Jones weaves together her unique blend of fantasy,
forensics, and suspense to create a world terrorized by a killer out of our
darkest nightmares. Now one man must follow a trail of savaged victims to save
an innocent life hanging by the slimmest of hopes.…

One by one, young men in the kingdom’s outer reaches are vanishing into the
dark. So far, two bodies have washed up on the local riverbank. But Dubric
Byerly, head of security at Castle Faldorrah, soon realizes there are countless
more victims…for it’s his curse to be forever haunted by the ghosts of those
whose deaths demand justice.

The latest to vanish is Braoin, a seventeen-year-old painter whose mother came
to Dubric’s aid when he most needed it. All Dubric knows is that the boy is
still alive. But time is running out, and it isn’t only Braoin’s life hanging
in the balance. If Dubric can’t untangle the twisted web of clues and lies and
find his way to the killer, one of his own pages will be the next to die.…

This book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM, Powell’s and iBooks.  

In the mage wars,
Dubric Byerly risked his life–and sacrificed the woman he loved–to catch
magic’s darkest killers. Those battles are long over–and the monsters
Dubric hunts these days are nothing more than men. Until now. A recent
string of grisly crimes has Dubric and his pages scouring the
countryside for clues that hint at the worst: that history’s most
murderous mage has come to Faldorrah.

As Dubric’s hunt leads from
secrets locked behind sanatorium walls to a hidden cache of souls
preserved in fluid, other lives are shaken: a young woman given a power
she doesn’t want, a young man inheriting a legacy he can’t understand,
and a father fighting for his memory of a daughter who may already be
lost. In the hardscrabble village of Quarry Run, the dark ghosts of the
past have come calling–and the battle for the future begins….

This book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM, Powell’s, iBooks and Google Play. 

Ten naked people walk from a cemetery into artist Sean Casey’s backyard: ten
Spore People who used to be dead. One, Mindy, stays with Sean while trying to
reclaim her life, but her ex would rather she return to her grave. Sean
struggles to protect Mindy and other Spores while battling his recurring—and
worsening—nightmares. Meanwhile, the media feeds a panicked frenzy that leads
both the hopeful and hateful to Sean’s front door.

As the Spore fungus spreads, so does the fear. When mutilated children match
Sean’s nightmares, he realizes his own worst terror may be closer than he
thinks.

This book is available through Amazon, BAM, Barnes & Noble and iBooks. 

Tell me something more about who Tamara Jones is?

My standard answer is that I’m a hyper-creative wife,
mom, quilter, and cat wrangler from small town Iowa. I am a bit more
complicated than that, I suppose. Mostly, I try to help people and make my bit
of the world a better place, plus I’m always 
making/ writing/ quilting/ cooking/ crafting something, or getting ready
to.

Also, I slaughter people on paper for money, which is
kinda cool.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve never wanted to be a writer, I just am. I started
writing fiction when I was around seven years old and it’s been fairly constant
in my life. I’ve always put my characters in tight spots and followed along as
they worked their way out. It’s not something I’ve planned, it just is.

What do you love most about being an writer?

This might sound weird, but the camaraderie. I know a lot
of writers and we tend to be a friendly, helpful bunch. I love being around
other writers, people who understand this madness we all share. It’s great
being around one’s own tribe!

Who inspired you to become a writer?

I’m probably odd in that I don’t really have a hero or
person who inspired me. My mind and motivation doesn’t work that way. It’s more
of a compulsion to ‘create this thing because I must or I’ll go mad!’ than a
conscious decision or intent to be just like someone else or achieve what
someone else has achieved. There are writers and books I’ve enjoyed, but I
don’t want to be them or achieve what they’ve achieved. I just want to create.

What are your favorite books?

I try to read Stephen King’s The Stand every year or so,
mostly for the characters. I consistently recommend Chuck Palahnuik’s ‘Rant’, ‘Push’
by Sapphire, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, all for
their unique voices and non-standard structures and plots.

What book are you reading right now?

Derelict by LJ Cohen. It’s a YA Science Fiction novel
about teenagers who commandeer a derelict ship. I haven’t had much time to get
into it, but so far so good!

What did you like the most about writing your own book?

Sending it off to my agent. My second favorite part is
when edits arrive from my editor. I LOVE being edited!

You write thrillers and mysteries, how did you come to
the idea of writing those stories? And where do you get the inspiration from?

It’s just how my brain works. I’ve been writing thrillers
(structurally, at least) since I was fourteen. I love increasing the stakes,
pulling the rug out from under my characters (and the reader)  and generally dumping a lot of trouble on my
characters’ heads. It’s pretty fun. As for inspiration, I read a lot of news
stories and there’s plenty of inspiration for thriller plots there.

Which one of your characters has stayed with you the
most? And why?

Probably Lars Hargrove from the Dubric series. He
generally lives a messed up life but continues to strive to do better, be
better, and help people. His hero in training archetype is a pretty standard
character type for me.  Sean, in ‘Spore’,
fits into that mold too, just in a different way.

What are your future plans in writing?

I have at least one more Dubric novel to finish, an
unrelated follow-up for ‘Spore’, a possible ‘Spore’ sequel, a woman’s fiction
novel (it’s finished) that still needs to find a home, and I’m awaiting edits
on a project I can’t officially talk about yet, but I can say it’s in an
entirely new genre and medium for me.

Award-winning author of the Dubric Byerly Mysteries
(Bantam Spectra), and the new SF/Horror novel ‘Spore’ (Samhain Publishing), Tamara
Jones started her academic career as a science geek, earned a degree in art,
and, when she’s not making quilts or herding cats, writes grisly thrillers as Tamara
Jones and Tamara Siler Jones. Despite the violent nature of her work, Tam’s
easygoing and friendly. Not sick or twisted at all. Honest. Visit her online at http://www.tamara-jones.net.

Tamara is represented by Laura Bradford at Bradford
Literary Agency.

For more information you can also visit Tamara Jones on her
Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and on Samhain Publishing. 

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