The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom: Interview and Giveaway: No Biz Like Showbiz by Julie Moffett

Please share a little about yourself, your genres, any other pen names you use.

I’ve written historical romances, time-travel romances and Scottish historicals. I started the “No” series in 2010 and have been having a blast with them ever since.

Tell us a little about your latest or upcoming release.

NO BIZ LIKE SHOWBIZ is a geek’s perspective on a reality dating television show. I put my self-conscious but brilliant geek girl, Lexi Carmichael, behind the scenes on a Hollywood show called Geeks Get Some, to try and track down a hacker who is skewing the online voting. As soon as she catches the attention of the hacker and the game show contestants, it’s game on!

Are you a mom?

I’ve got two boys aged 7 and 18. I’m a single mom and they keep me very busy!!

If yes do you find it hard to juggle writing and parenting?

Extremely difficult. The hardest part is finding quiet time to write when I’m not already brain dead. J

Have you ever based your book or characters on actual events or people from your own life?

Every book has characters to have my qualities or those of people I know or have met. I always take from my own life experiences to enrich those of my fictional characters.

Is there a theme or message in your work that you would like readers to connect to?

It’s okay to laugh at yourself and with others.

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

The CIA recruited me when I was in college studying the Russian language. I ended up as an international journalist instead.

When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

I really have very little free time, but what free time I do have, I spend doing activities with the kids.

What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?

More funny Lexi stories are coming up. NO TEST FOR THE WICKED is out Dec. 1 and NO WOMAN LEFT BEHIND is out Summer 2015.

No Biz Like Showbiz

Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series

Book 5

Julie Moffett

Genre: Mystery/Romance/ Action Adventure

Publisher: Carina Press

Date of Publication: July 21, 2014

ISBN: 9781426898730

ASIN:

Word Count: 75,000

Book Description:

Lexi Carmichael: Helping Geeks Everywhere Get Some

Okay, so it’s not exactly as it seems, but that’s what is happening on the dating reality television show called “Geeks Get Some” that I, Lexi Carmichael geek extraordinaire, am called to work on. Not that I’m a fan of reality shows (I can barely deal with my own reality), yet I’ve been sent to Hollywood to find a hacker who’s screwing with the results of the show’s online voting system.

So what happens when I get there? Well, the producers convince me to continue my investigation from the inside. What should be an easy hunt for the hacker turns ugly when he sets his sights on me. Add to that a studio obsessed with ratings, a bunch of nerdy contestants, and my own confusing love life, and unraveling this mystery might make me a star—or get me killed.

Catch up with Lexi in No One Lives Twice, No One to Trust, No Money Down, No Place Like Rome!

Book Trailer: http://animoto.com/play/Uvjf5YdOcTrKr1qTkhdUwA

Excerpt:

No Biz Like Showbiz . . .

My name is Lexi Carmichael and I have a problem with most of today’s television programming. Not because of the sheer implausibility of a majority of the shows—although that does factor—but because too many programs seem to feature a tech genius who can solve the problems of the world with one stroke of a keyboard.

Here’s how it happens… a tech head is desperately trying to hack into a system. Death, the collapse of the free world, or the apocalypse is imminent if he fails. (Yes, tech heroes always seem to be guys since I guess in Hollywood a woman doesn’t know her way around a keyboard.) He types commands frantically as the clock ticks down to Doomsday. As the scenario continues, our frazzled hero takes a moment to run his fingers through his perfectly styled hair before he types just one more command and bingo, he’s in. He’ll then have a whole millisecond to navigate a completely unfamiliar system, find the magic switch, and shut down the entire system in time to save the day, world, girl, whatever, with one stroke. All of this while the super expensive, cutting-edge government system or expensive black-market technology used by the show's villain will aid our intrepid hero by providing helpful visual prompts like Access Denied or Access Granted in big bold letters across the screen as he works his hacking magic.

Just shoot me.

I’m a real hacker and yes, I’m female. I double-majored in mathematics and computer science at Georgetown University and have spent most of my twenty-five years learning how to bypass cryptographic protocols, exploit system vulnerabilities, and finesse distributed denial of service attacks. I’ve never had to avert an apocalypse, but if I did, I’m pretty sure it would take more than one freaking minute, and I wouldn’t be worried about my hair while doing it. My first successful hack on a relatively simple system took five hours. It might have taken four, but my mom kept distracting me by yelling through my bedroom door that if I gave ballet class just one more try she’d give me a hundred dollars to spend however I wanted. So, watching these types of shows and movies is hard on both my nerves and stomach.

About the Author:

Julie Moffett is the award-winning author of thirteen published novels in the genres of historical, paranormal fantasy, and time travel romances, and action/adventure mysteries.

She grew up as a military brat (Air Force) and has traveled extensively. Her more exciting exploits include attending Kubasaki High School in Okinawa, Japan, backpacking around Europe and Scandinavia for several months, a year-long college graduate study in Warsaw, Poland and a wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland where she fell in love with castles, kilts and brogues.

Julie has a B.A. in Political Science and Russian Language from Colorado College, a M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and is nearly finished with her M.Ed from Liberty University in Virginia. Able to speak Russian and Polish, she worked as a journalist for the international radio station, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Washington, D.C. for eleven years, publishing hundreds of articles. She now works as a proposal writer and research advisor for a defense contractor in the Washington, D.C. area.

Julie has two sons who keep her quite busy. She belongs to Romance Writers of America and Washington Romance Writers where she served six years on the organization’s Board of Directors. She was also the Market News Columnist and Feature’s Editor for the organization’s monthly newsletter, Update, for eleven years.

Website: www.juliemoffett.com

Twitter: @JMoffettAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julie-Moffett-Author/123804877633091

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/190485.Julie_Moffett

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