Breakfast with Stairway Press: Yvonne Walus is On Thin Ice

By - August 23, 2013

It's 5 a.m. EST and time to start a new segment of TRADE THE DAY.  In honor of my publisher partnering with me on this event, I'm featuring some of my fellow authors published by Stairway Press during BREAKFAST WITH STAIRWAY PRESS!  First up, we'll continue the conspiracy vein we've been on with Yvonne Walus, author of new thriller Operation: Genocide!  Don't forget to check out the bottom of this post for details on how to win Yvonne's giveaway, as well as an additional giveaway from yours truly!

 

CM:  In your new thriller, Operation Genocide, your main character discovers a terrifying secret surrounding her husband being commissioned to develop a biological weapon.  What sort of research did you do when writing this story?

YW: I've always been fascinated (in a horrible, unhealthy way) with the idea of scientists developing new viruses. Smallpox and Black Death are scary enough, imagine if somebody engineered something even worse? This fear drove me to looking up the issue (on the Internet, where else). I discovered that to make a deadly virus, you need to give it the potency to kill, the means to reproduce (so instant death is not a good idea because when the host died, the virus can't spread) and resilience. I also discovered that for various reasons it's easier to modify an existing virus than to generate one from scratch. So that's what happened in the book: the scientists "improved" a virus in all sorts of evil ways. 

CM: The genocide in your novel begins along racial lines.  Do you feel this is a scenario that could still happen today in such a modern society that seems to promote “tolerance” and why or why not?

YW: Somewhere in the world, possibly. In South Africa, not at present. Nelson Mandela taught our country tolerance and what it means to be a hero. I'm confident the country will remember his lessons for generations to come.

CM: What scares you the most?

YW:  Yvonne: That some whacko out there reads my books and uses my ideas for real...

CM:  Why do you think people enjoy reading thrillers and books about scary events like the ones depicted in yours?

YW:  Hmmm, I've often wondered about that. Why do I like reading Lee Child or Harlan Coben? I think it's because in thrillers the stakes are super-high. The hero could get hurt, or his family killed, or the world destroyed... and so we keep reading. And when we put down the book, we sigh with relief that "it was only a story" and "it could never happen in real life".

CM: What’s something readers would be surprised to know about you after they read one of your books?

YW: That I have a super-sensitive personality. I don't watch violent films or read sad books. When we went to see "Paranorman" (rated PG), my 8-year old squeezed my hand and said, "There, there, mamma, it's only a movie."

CM: What’s the best book you’ve ever read and why?

YW: gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. It's a who-dun-it and a love story and a book about maternal love, and so many other things. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, and it sorts out racial issues beautifully.

CM: If your house caught fire, what are the four things (rather than people) you’d save?  (Because everyone asks “three,” and I think you should get four!)

YW: LOL. Cats and dogs are safe outside, yes?

1. My hard disk (because I'm sure I haven't backed up all my writing ideas, half-finished stories, abandoned novels).
2. My husband's hard disk, with all the photos of the kids.
3. My jewellery box (yes, some of the pieces are gold and valuable, but more importantly, it's all the stuff my dad gave my mom over the decades they've been together).
4. My credit card so that we can go stay in the most ridiculously expensive hotel in town, one that won't bat an eyelid at the two cats and one dog we're toting, and one that will make us forget about the trauma we've just had.

CM: What is your favorite word?

YW: I think it's "ocean", but my husband insists it's "discuss" ....

CM: Least favorite word?

YW:  "Synergy" - I come from a corporate environment...

CM: What is the one question you’ve always wanted to be asked that no one has ever asked in an interview?

YW: When are you available to fly to LA to visit the movie set of "Operation Genocide"?

 

***Yvonne is giving away prize to two lucky commenters on this post: one will win a copy of Operation: Genocide (comes out Sept. 2013!), and the other will win a $10 gift voucher to Amazon. So, be sure you comment for your chance to win!***

 

ABOUT YVONNE:  Yvonne Walus writes crime fiction set in South Africa because she believes it’s a misunderstood country. South Africa means a lot of things to a lot of people: lions in long yellow grass, diamond mines, apartheid, Nelson Mandela, rugby. All of those images are right, yet none of them - according to Yvonne - are representative of the country or its people. None of them describe what it’s like to live in South Africa, both in the 1980s and today.

Yvonne would like her readers to smell the red dust of the continent and to fall in love with Africa the way she did when she first set foot there as a teenager. Through her books, Yvonne shows that South African people, despite the recent history of discrimination, are no different to any other people. Not worse, not better. Just people. Find out more at www.yvonnewalus.com. 

 

With An Additional Giveaway From

COLBY MARSHALL

 

***Another lucky commenter will win a The Trade coffee mug from Colby Marshall!*** 

ABOUT THE TRADE:  Stolen lives…
Reporter McKenzie McClendon is on the trail of her next hot story, tracking a sadistic serial killer known as The Cradle Robber. This brutal murderer preys on pregnant women, slicing their infants from their wombs, leaving the helpless women to die while he disappears with their babies.

The trade of innocents…
Jonas Cleary is out of options. McKenzie, his former sweetheart, is his last hope. Jonas believes his slain wife was The Cradle Robber’s first victim and that his son is still alive, lost in the underground world of the black market baby trade, where ruthless people are happy to prey on the desperation of those willing to pay any price to have a child, and infants are just another commodity.

Before another one dies…
Aided by former Navy SEAL Noah Hutchins and a clever FBI data specialist, McKenzie races to unravel the web of lies, drawing dangerously closer to the ruthless, brilliant surgeon at the heart of the maze. With a child’s future hanging in the balance, the lives of five people careen toward a terrifying collision. It’s up to McKenzie to discover which key will unlock the puzzle, and which will get her killed.

 

Comment for your chance to win both Yvonne's and Colby's giveaways!

Do you enjoy reading books about scary events like the ones depicted in Operation: Genocide?  Why or why not?