First of all, I want to extend a big warm Thank You for
inviting me to the blog. I’m excited to be here!
Parts of my novel Undercover are set in Russia. I haven’t
been there, I would love to go and see what it looks like, but thus far I
haven’t gotten around to it.
Russia both tempts me and scares me. When I was a little
girl growing up in Sweden, the cold war raged (if it is possible for a cold war
to rage) and my country attempted to keep a neutral stance in spite of the
physical closeness to Soviet. I’m still biased by this, of course. I grew up
with news reports keeping a focus on any movement in the East, and with Soviet
submarines snooping around our coastline. My imagination ran rampant even back
then, and I spent a lot of time wondering what it was really like.
So much has changed in the world during the last few
decades, but in my mind, Russia is still a daunting place. The thinking, reasoning part of my mind knows
it isn’t true, but some biases are difficult to remove. I really do need to go
there and see it for myself…
Anyway, the hero of Undercover comes from a city in Siberia
called Severodvinsk. To me, the name is filled with mystique. Severodvinsk… It
could be anything! It is a city, but
to me the word could just as well be a treasure, a dragon, or snowy tundra that
stretches out in all directions.
The city exists in reality, but probably isn’t much like I
describe it. Odds are I made it much gloomier than it is in real life. It has
an interesting history, though. The first Soviet submarine was built there, as
well as the largest sub in the world. Because of its status as a strategic
military site, Severodvinsk used to be closed to foreigners, and its residents
weren’t allowed to travel outside the country even after the break up of the
Soviet Union.
April 12 Guest blog
Roxanne’s Realm
April 16 Guest blog
Books, Books the Magical Fruit
April 27 review
Bookworm Babblings –
April 30 Spotlight
Mythical Books
May 2 Guest blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
May 10 Interview
Musings of Mistress of the Dark path
May 14 Spotlight and review
Faerie Tale Books
May 23 Interview
Simply Infatuated
May 31 interview
Books & Tales
Undercover
Maria Hammarblad
Maria Hammarblad
Genre: Romantic suspense
Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61252-216-6
ASIN: B0098TGWTW
Word Count: 77000
Cover Artist: Gwen Phifer
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/YePFbRgPP9o
Book Description:
When Jenny Moore meets Alexei Roshenko, it's love at first sight. The tall, dark and handsome stranger appears to be the answer to every romantic fantasy any woman ever had. There is however more to him than meets the eye, and a dark and violent past is catching up with him. When Jenny decides to follow him back to Russia, she gets entangled in a web of deceit and secrets beyond her wildest imagination.
Author Bio:
Born in Sweden in the early 1970's, Maria showed a large interest for books at an early age. Even before she was able to read or write, she made her mom staple papers together into booklets she filled with drawings of suns and planets. She proudly declared them, "The Sun Book." They were all about the sun. She also claimed, to her mother's horror, that her being on Earth was a big mistake and that her alien family would come and bring her home at any moment. This never happened, but both the interest in space and the passion for bookmaking stayed with her.
As an adult Maria's creativity got an outlet through playing bass in a number of rock bands, and through writing technical manuals and making web pages for various companies and organizations. She did write drafts for a few novels, but the storytelling muse was mostly satisfied through role playing online on Myspace. It was here, while writing stories together with people from around the globe, she stumbled onto Mike. They started talking out of character, and she moved over to Florida to him late 2008. Today the two are married and live in the Tampa Bay area with three rescue dogs.
Besides writing and playing bass, Maria enjoys driving off-road, archery, and Tameshigiri.
Upcoming releases
Flashback, to be released by Desert Breeze Publishing June 2013
Operation Earth, to be released by Desert Breeze Publishing August 2013
Borealis XII, to be released by Desert Breeze Publishing November 2013
Fun Facts
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite food: Chicken with cashew nuts
Doesn't eat: Mammals
Favorite TV Show: Star Trek TNG and Leverage
Favorite animal: Border Collie
Quotes: "Full Speed Ahead" and "Caffeine is good for you"
Find Maria on the web
Website: http://www.hammarblad.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Twitter: @mariahammarblad
Publisher's website: http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com
1 comment:
Thank you so much for having me. I always enjoy visiting your blog! =D
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