Hold On!-Tomorrow by Peter Darley-a review

HOLD ON! – TOMORROW (Hold On #4) by Peter Darley-a review

Hold On Tomorrow

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 1, 2016

Hold On! returns for one, stand-alone, epic event.

The year is 2042. Twenty-six-years after the events in the Hold On! Trilogy, devastating earthquakes and tsunamis are striking in the most unlikely locations. Scientists have no explanation for the phenomenon.

Brandon Drake, Jr., (B.J.) a rookie government agent, courageously ‘borrows’ the INT-Nine, an advanced prototype suit of armor in order to rescue his childhood sweetheart, Heather Addison. Their lives change forever as B.J. becomes the new Interceptor. However, tragedy strikes when the armor fails during a rescue.

While the world adores him, B.J is forced to become a fugitive when Congress orders Project: Interceptor closed down. His life is complicated further by his mother’s belief that he isn’t just his father’s son – but his father reborn.

With The Interceptor on the run, new bonds are made and new heroes arise. To save the world from annihilation, they must join forces to discover the meaning of the mysterious abbreviation – C.O.T.

•••••••••

REVIEW: HOLD ON! – TOMORROW is the fourth installment in Peter Darley’s adult, HOLD ON sci-fi / dystopian series. This is twenty six year old government agent Brandon Drake Jr. (aka BJ), and Heather Addison’s story line. HOLD ON! TOMORROW fast forwards Peter Darley’s HOLD ON series approximately twenty six years after the events of book three wherein Brandon Drake senior ‘sacrifices’ himself to save the world from the man known as ‘The Scorpion’. You do not have to have read the original trilogy to understand the concept of the current story line. Any important information is revealed where necessary.

Told from several third person points of view using varying time lines HOLD ON! TOMORROW focuses on a series of unexplained disasters that are currently befalling the United States of America. Brandon Drake Jr aka BJ, in an attempt to rescue his childhood sweetheart Heather Addison from the latest incoming wave of earthquakes and tsunamis, ‘borrows’ the government’s new experimental INT-Nine suit of armor and flies off to save the day. What ensues are Brandon’s attempts to use the new ‘Interceptor’ program to help those who are unable to help themselves and the struggle to get past the government bureaucracy demanding the program be shut down.

HOLD ON! TOMORROW is a sci-fi story line that reads like a comic book adventure – Ironman meets Superman – a hero with a weaponized suit of armor who flies in and saves the day but in doing so finds himself public enemy number one as a number of government bureaucrats deem his heroics a dangerous stunt without permission from the highest levels. BJ becomes the target of a zealous Senator whose actions are questionable at every turn; and threats of another nature from a group known only as C.O.T. are linked to the ‘natural disasters’ that may or may not be natural at all.

The writing style and presentation of the story line are simple; the conversations between the characters, especially BJ and those he ‘saves’ is almost child-like and innocent in nature.

If you are a fan of comic-book style heroes, HOLD ON!-Tomorrow may be just what the Saturday afternoon, sci-fi lover ordered.

Reading Order and Previous reviews
Hold On !
Go! Hold On Season 2
Run ! Hold On Season 3
Hold On! Tomorrow

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

About the Author

Follow Peter: Blog / Twitter / Facebook /

peter-darley1Peter Darley (P.D. to his friends) is a British novelist, whose professional history is in showbusiness. He is a graduate of the Birmingham School of Speech and Dramatic Art, and he studied television drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA.) His television credits include guest-starring roles is UK productions such as BBC’s Crime Ltd, Stanley’s Dragon for ITV, The Bill, and Sky One’s Dream Team, and numerous TV commercials. He has also worked as a model, presenter, and voice-over artiste for ten years, and has acted as an agent for several variety acts.

His lifelong admiration of heroes, and love of roller-coaster-style thrills have been a huge influence on his writings.

He is also a professional close-up magician, a keen athlete and body builder, and lives with his wife in rural England.

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Run! Hold On Season 3 by Peter Darley-Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

RUN! : Hold On ! Season 3 by Peter Darley-Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

Run Banner

RUN!
Hold On! Season 3
by Peter Darley
Release Date: August 17, 2015
Genre: adult, military suspense, sci-fi/paranormal

Run

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 17, 2015

Book Three in the Hold On! Trilogy.

The world believes Brandon Drake is dead, but he awakens in a secret government complex believing it to be 2012. The last four years of his life have been erased from his conscious mind. Only his true, malevolent self, The Scorpion, remains.

He soon finds himself dispatched on an assassination mission, but the mission fails as he is struck down by a debilitating pain in his head.

Before long, he discovers he’s been duped, and that four years have passed since his last memory. A bloodbath ensues as he escapes from the complex and sets out to find the truth about his missing years. He learns of a woman named Belinda Reese and associates her with his terrible pain. To be strong enough to destroy those who betrayed him, he sets out to kill Belinda, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.

However, a mysterious figure wearing a black helmet appears to him in the darkness. He is the true cause of Drake’s pain: an adversary who identifies himself only—as The Interceptor.

Past, present, and future collide as the Hold On! Trilogy reaches its jaw-dropping conclusion.

CAUTION: This entry contains violent and adult themes.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: RUN ! is the third installment in Peter Darley’s adult Hold On military suspense (slightly sci-fi/paranormal) series focusing on former soldier Brandon Drake.

NOTE: There may be some spoilers in my review if you have not read the previous installments.

Told from several third person perspectives RUN commences several weeks following the events of GO ! book two wherein Brandon Drake is presumed dead following an explosion aimed at ending his life. At a secret government facility in the Mojave desert Brandon is very much alive and unaware of the last four years of his life. The Brandon Drake we have come to love is no longer the Brandon Drake who awakens from a six week coma-he is a changed man; a man who has undergone a personality reassignment making Brandon one of the most dangerous men on the planet. While his former love grieves for what could have been, Brandon sets out to destroy everything that was and still remains in his life including the woman he can no longer remember.

Peter Darley’s RUN is the culmination of one man’s descent into H*ll and back; a former soldier whose entire life has been focused upon inflicting pain and suffering on anyone who stands between Brandon and his latest assignment. Brandon is a mercenary; a soldier for hire, whose earlier years of abuse and torture at the hands of his foster father, have shaped the beast known as The Scorpion. As The Scorpion Brandon is feared; a take no prisoners attitude whose aim is deadly with accurate results.

RUN is a storyline with graphic violence; an anti hero whose murderous spree and the resulting carnage will claim numbers in the hundreds as the FBI, CIA and secret government divisions hunt for the man whose need for revenge is a promise not a threat.

Once again, RUN, like the previous installments, has a large ensemble cast of supporting and secondary characters including Brandon’s family who become one of Brandon’s primary targets. A good portion of the storyline is driven by the others: some with murderous intent; some with aspirations of ultimate global powers; and others who are hoping to survive another day.

The world building no longer focuses on Brandon Drake and Belinda Reese but on Brandon’s slide into the abyss. Several government agencies will go in search for Brandon but most will find themselves on the receiving end of Brandon’s need for vengeance and death.

RUN! is a revealing, imaginative and suspense filled conclusion to Peter Darley’s HOLD ON series. The non-stop action finds Brandon Drake ferreting out his next victim with sensational and dramatic results; very few will survive a face to face meeting. Brandon Drake aka The Scorpion is the result of a government experiment gone horribly wrong; where mind control has yet to reach its zenith when love and emotions continue to war with what’s real, what’s unknown, and a mind previously destroyed by an abusive past.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

Series Spotlight

Hold On !
by Peter Darley
Release Date: July 7, 2014
Genre: mystery, suspense, action,romance

Hold OnClick HERE for Sandy’s review of HOLD ON !

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 7, 2014

Two lovers! A deadly conspiracy! A race to freedom!

When Carringby Industries, a government-contracted arms manufacturer, is raided by what appear to be terrorists, the CEO’s secretary, Belinda Reese, is rescued by Brandon Drake, a dashing young AWOL soldier. Using an experimental test aircraft, he flees with her to his remote, isolated cabin in the mountains of Aspen.

While assisting in the design of military weaponry, Brandon discovered a plot within his own government to attack its own facilities, under the guidance of immoral politician, Senator Garrison Treadwell. Belinda’s body was not found among the dead at Carringby Industries, and Treadwell suspects that Drake was responsible for rescuing her. In an effort to entrap him, Treadwell arranges for an all points bulletin to be placed on Belinda

Deeply in love, Brandon and Belinda attempt to escape from America, only to endure one harrowing experience after another as they try to evade and expose Treadwell’s corrupt faction.

But on the run, with danger around every corner, Brandon makes a discovery so devastating that it shatters the very foundations of his reality.

___________

GO!
(Hold On Season #2)
by Peter Darley
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, romantic, suspense

GoAmazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk /

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of GO!

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 26, 2015

Brandon Drake has escaped from Leavenworth, aided by a new player who has entered the game. Tyler Faraday is the heir to an empire––and Brandon’s long-lost brother. Tyler enables Brandon’s reunion with his lover, Belinda, but Brandon is no longer the man she once knew. Haunted by memories of a life that never happened, he succumbs to the lure of alcohol.

Tyler has discovered he and Brandon have another sibling. Having been raised in a convent, their sister, Emily, has a crisis of faith and flees. On the road, she is kidnapped by a ruthless human trafficking organization run by a mysterious kingpin called Sapphire. Brandon, Tyler, and Belinda learn of Emily’s plight and begin their search for Sapphire’s location, hampered by Brandon’s growing alcohol dependency.

Meanwhile, Andrew Wilmot, new leader of a rogue government faction, seeks to use Brandon for his own nefarious plans, and hunts him down.

Brandon, Belinda, and Tyler’s quest leads to Los Angeles, where they search for the only one who knows Sapphire’s location––a former captive known only as Siren, and who may not even exist. Their quest is destined to lead to the most explosive action in the series so far.

Guest Post

The End? Or the REAL Beginning?

Well, what can I say? It’s been one hell of a ride through a cavalcade of cliffhangers to rival even those in the Hold On! series, itself. However, this time, it has resulted in a contender for the most extraordinary alliance in the world of contemporary literature. J

First, I will say a few things about Run! – Hold On! Season 3. Unlike Hold On! and Go! I knew exactly where the story was going before I even started writing it. The first two seasons introduced numerous concepts and characters that only received mentions. In a couple of cases, certain characters had been introduced previously, but wound up on the cutting room floor due to third party interference. Run! gave me the opportunity to bring these characters back into the official canon. Brandon’s commanding officer, his superior at Mach Industries, his abusive foster father, and Belinda’s mother-from-hell, all finally appear in the Trilogy’s conclusion.

I knew that I had to do something unexpected with the final act, and this one turns the entire concept on its head. Brandon’s malevolent, true persona, The Scorpion, only ever appeared fleetingly in the previous two novels, and was never explored as an actual character. He was just something that came over him during times of crisis. In Run! we get to experience who The Scorpion really is, and the extent to which the series’ hero could be irredeemably evil. Where before he saved his loved ones from certain peril, he is now the one they need saving from. The opening chapter tells the complete origin story, snippets of which had only previously been mentioned, or seen in flashbacks with no context.

However, fear not. The Interceptor – the heroic Brandon from Hold On! and Go! – is still around. Run! concludes all existing plotlines – but also leaves a door open for an entirely new one. I endeavoured to ensure that the hypothetical ‘next story’, Hold On! – Tomorrow, wasn’t absolutely necessary, and left it to my readers to decide if it should happen. So far, the idea has been received with great eagerness, which has thrilled me enormously.

But then I received a message on Facebook that made the next book an absolute certainty. Several months ago, just for fun, I created the hypothetical Hold On! soundtrack video, made up of the melodic rock songs that drove the original novel, and posted it on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsPF7E6zgAM

I took the title ‘Hold On’ from the fact that it is, hands down, the most used song title in the AOR/Melodic Rock genre.

Nothing really happened with the music video until a few weeks ago when Pierpaolo ‘Zorro11’ Monti, the founder of one of the bands featured in the video, contacted me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierpaolo_Monti

He was so intrigued that I’d used one of his tracks in the video that he plugged it on rock sites across the internet. Suddenly, I was getting tagged and ‘friended’ by rock celebrities, and Pierpaolo and I quickly became friends.

Pierpaolo is the mastermind behind critically-acclaimed rock album projects, Shining Line, Charming Grace, and Room Experience, and he dropped a bombshell on me that literally blew me away. He wants to write and record the official theme song for Hold On! – Tomorrow, for inclusion on his next album. Movies and TV shows have ‘songs from’ soundtrack albums. But I don’t think this has ever happened with a book before.

I feel that this is an astonishing and unique alliance between fiction writer and musician. After a devastatingly harrowing journey through the writing world, I now have the opportunity to take the series farther, with the might of the rock world behind me. J

I have just begun working on Hold On! – Tomorrow, and over the next year, Pierpaolo and I will be liaising about the plot, and subsequently – the lyrics. I hope to release the new book – along with the theme song – toward the end of summer, 2016.

Run! – video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmvcyqLurMg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PDAutho

Web: www.peterdarley.com

Peter Darley

About The author

Follow Peter: Blog / Twitter / Facebook /

peter-darley1Peter Darley (P.D. to his friends) is a British novelist, whose professional history is in showbusiness. He is a graduate of the Birmingham School of Speech and Dramatic Art, and he studied television drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA.) His television credits include guest-starring roles is UK productions such as BBC’s Crime Ltd, Stanley’s Dragon for ITV, The Bill, and Sky One’s Dream Team, and numerous TV commercials. He has also worked as a model, presenter, and voice-over artiste for ten years, and has acted as an agent for several variety acts.

His lifelong admiration of heroes, and love of roller-coaster-style thrills have been a huge influence on his writings.

He is also a professional close-up magician, a keen athlete and body builder, and lives with his wife in rural England.

Giveaway

Peter is offering an ecopy of HOLD ON!, GO! and RUN ! (The Trilogy) to ONE(1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe. ONE commenter will win a copy of all 3 ebooks.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please LIKE and Follow Peter Darley on Facebook

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

5. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

6. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

7. Please FOLLOW us on TSU for an additional entry.

8. Giveaway is open internationally

9. Giveaway runs from September 16-20, 2015

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Hold On ! by Peter Darley-Review, Interview & Giveaway with the Author

HOLD ON! by Peter Darley-Review, Interview and Giveaway with the Author

Hold ON Banner

Hold On !
by Peter Darley
Release Date: July 7, 2014
Genre: mystery, suspense, action,romance

Hold On

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 7, 2014

Two lovers! A deadly conspiracy! A race to freedom!

When Carringby Industries, a government-contracted arms manufacturer, is raided by what appear to be terrorists, the CEO’s secretary, Belinda Reese, is rescued by Brandon Drake, a dashing young AWOL soldier. Using an experimental test aircraft, he flees with her to his remote, isolated cabin in the mountains of Aspen.

While assisting in the design of military weaponry, Brandon discovered a plot within his own government to attack its own facilities, under the guidance of immoral politician, Senator Garrison Treadwell. Belinda’s body was not found among the dead at Carringby Industries, and Treadwell suspects that Drake was responsible for rescuing her. In an effort to entrap him, Treadwell arranges for an all points bulletin to be placed on Belinda

Deeply in love, Brandon and Belinda attempt to escape from America, only to endure one harrowing experience after another as they try to evade and expose Treadwell’s corrupt faction.

But on the run, with danger around every corner, Brandon makes a discovery so devastating that it shatters the very foundations of his reality.

•••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: HOLD ON is the first instalment in Peter Darley’s action, suspense series focusing on former solider Brandon Drake and secretary Belinda Reese.

The premise of the storyline finds Belinda and Brandon on the run. Brandon has been targeted for destruction by the very people with whom he has worked; and Belinda has been charged as an accomplice in what appears to be a home grown terrorist cell. What ensues is a cross -country trek for two people running for their lives as a government conspiracy threatens to take everyone down.

HOLD ON is first and foremost a story of suspense. The writing style is simple as the reader is pulled into a roller coaster of what ifs and whys: there are so many sub plots and organizations involved in the search and destroy mission that at times I wasn’t sure if they were all working towards a common goal-take down Brandon Drake-at all costs. There is mystery, action, murder, abduction, threats, torture and romance. And speaking of romance, the relationship between Belinda and Brandon is quick to build-from a high flying rescue to lovers, it is only a matter of hours to a few days where we find our leading couple discovering a little more about one another while being pursued by the government’s best (and worst).

There are numerous secondary characters that play an integral part in the hunt for Brandon Drake-from former platoon buddies to CIA operatives to Special Forces, everyone and every department is dirty in one way or another. No one will come away clean and unscathed. As the mystery builds so too does the amount of background information and history behind Brandon Drake and the secrets, of which, the military is willing to kill.

Overall HOLD ON is an interesting and imaginative storyline but one that was slow to build. Most of the action takes place in the second half of the story where the writing is more descriptive, spirited and passionate in nature than the earlier text. As this is the first book in the series, HOLD ON ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

Interview

TRC: Hi Peter and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of HOLD ON!.

peter-darley1Peter: “Hi Sandy, and thank you for having me on the blog. ☺

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

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Peter: “My background is in showbusiness. I was an actor for many years, and I’ve appeared in several UK television productions. I also worked frequently as a model, presenter, and I appeared in a number of TV commercials. When the recession hit, work dried up, so I diversified into variety entertainment, and became an agent for a number of acts for awhile.

The need for a more stable career pushed me into law school in 2004. I graduated with honors in 2007, but I had decided by then that the law was definitely not a career I could ever be happy with. That’s when I started writing, and spent the next few years developing my style, writing my first novel, and then I endured a harrowing two year journey towards publication.”

TRC: HOLD ON! is your July 2014 release – an action, suspense storyline focusing on soldier Brandon Drake and Belinda Reese. Would you please tell us something about the premise?

Hold OnPeter: “Certainly. From the outset, Hold On! was a book made up of nail-biting cliffhangers. I recognized the power and compelling, page-turning nature of the cliffhanger when I saw the TV shows Prison Break and 24. Nevertheless, statistics show that 80% of novel readers are ladies. As such, I incorporated the action and suspense into a burgeoning romance between my two lead characters, which, I feel, brought a powerful and emotional component to the narrative.

I introduced my leading lady, Belinda, as an ‘everywoman’ whom millions of people would be able to relate to. In the first few pages of chapter one, she is a corporate secretary whose life is stuck in a rut. She works to survive, but she’s bored and uninspired. Her eyes are always on the clock wanting the day to come to an end so that she can go home. (How many people can relate to that?) I took this concept from the undeniable fact that ‘winning the lottery’ has so much social appeal. This was important in order that my readers would empathize with Belinda, thereby causing what comes next to have a powerful impact. I hoped that it would help the readers to put themselves in Belinda’s place.

On page 6 – all hell breaks loose! After what appears to be a terrorist attack, Belinda fears for her life and attempts to escape, only to find herself trapped by smoke and flame. By now it isn’t just Belinda who’s going through this. It’s the reader too.
But, just when all hope seems to be lost, she is rescued by a mysterious stranger wearing a smoke-proof helmet, and fire-resistant armor. This is our hero, Brandon Drake, who flees with her to his secret cabin in the mountains of Aspen.

This concept is a compelling classic that I have always passionately adored. My all-time favourite movie scene is the helicopter emergency scene in Superman – The Movie with Christopher Reeve, where he opens his shirt for the first time and takes off to rescue Lois Lane. It brings me to tears with awe every time I see it. In Hold On! it’s ‘The Princess in the Tower’ brought into a modern, culturally-relevant setting, but as you go through the pages, you will find that I’ve given it a number of new and unique twists.

After dealing with their own issues of trust, Brandon and Belinda learn more about one another, and fall in love. Brandon finally explains to her who he is, what the attack was all about, and how he went AWOL from a government weapons-testing operation in order to thwart the conspiracy responsible. They finally leave the cabin in an attempt to escape from America – only to be met with one cliffhanger after another, devastating revelations, and a relentless fight for their mutual survival.”

TRC: Who or what was the inspiration behind the leading characters of HOLD ON!?

Peter: “I think that Brandon is an amalgamation of a number of fictional and real-life characters that I have admired or encountered. There’s certainly a lot of me in him (lol.) I’ve always been an incurable rebel with a resentment for authority (rightly or wrongly) – hence why I’ve always insisted on being self-employed. I don’t think many of us have been able to avoid the experience of driving our cars, perfectly within the speed limit, then spotting a police car and our hearts coming into our throats – even though we weren’t doing anything wrong. It’s certainly not a pleasant feeling, and it immediately creates a moment of resentment beyond our own conscious control. For me, Hold On! arises from my personal obsession with freedom, and this is the part of the human psyche that I wanted to tap into.

However, I was also aware that the most compelling characters are ones that are flawed and/or tormented in some way. Brandon has a side to him that even he can’t come to terms with. I can’t say too much about it because spoilers abound; suffice to say that I adopted what I considered would be one of the most horrifying discoveries any human being could (hypothetically) make about themselves.”

TRC: Are any of the storyline plot points taken from reality?

Peter: “I think that depends on one’s perspective. Corruption in government is always on the six o’ clock news. But the idea of the ‘powers that be’ initiating hoax terrorist attacks against their own nation was based on some of the more popular 9/11 conspiracy theories. Given the high numbers of demonstrable refutations, and the overwhelming lack of evidence for such claims, I have to say that I cannot bring myself to believe a word of them. Fiction, for me, therefore, was the perfect media for the concept. Additionally, I have never found another concept which offers up so many opportunities for cliffhangers. Aside from a handful of emotional and philosophical points raised in the book, Hold On! is, first and foremost, a literary roller-coaster ride, which exists to satisfy the prerequisite of all fiction – entertainment.”

TRC: If you could virtually cast the leading characters of HOLD ON!, which actors or models would best represent your ideal image?

Peter: “Great question! From my earliest reviews of Hold On! the most frequent comment I received was that it would make a terrific TV series. This even found its way onto the cover as its tag line: “The TV Thriller Series You Can Only Read.”

Brandon Drake has never been anyone other than Australian actor, Chris Hemsworth (Thor.) His was the face I had in mind from the moment Brandon first removed his helmet. He’s absolutely perfect for the role.

In the beginning, I had no specific image for Belinda in mind. Generally speaking, however, she had dark hair and was very attractive.
And then I came to the end of watching the TV series, Spartacus: War of the Damned. Actress Jenna Lind (also Australian by coincidence) played a Roman slave named Kore. In a shocking addition to the otherwise-historically-accurate ending, Kore was crucified with the defeated slave warriors. When I saw this, I was mortified, and thought: “I’m not having that! There’s a beautiful lady in need of rescue, and I’ve got just the man for the job.”
Jenna Lind looked as much like Belinda as anyone could. Since then, she has been my leading lady. ☺”

TRC: What challenges or difficulties (research, logistics, background) did you encounter writing this particular series?

Peter: “The most difficult aspect to writing Hold On! is that I wanted it to be authentic ‘American’. You can’t write a fugitive-type story like this and set it in England. There is simply nowhere to run. It would have come to an end by chapter two. This led to a potentially-fatal problem – so many words are spelled differently in America, and many common expressions in England are unknown in the US. For example, would an American know that a flash drive (that little computer information storing device) is called a ‘pen’ drive in England? It’s almost like a different language on occasion. These are issues that one cannot research, because to research them, you first have to know that there’s an issue with a particular word or expression to begin with. You either know it, or you don’t. For this, I have my dear American author friends, Anne B. Cole, Rafeeq McGiveron, and my editor, Garrett Marco, to thank for getting me out of trouble with these issues.”

TRC: What do you have planned for the next instalment in the series? Release date? Premise?

Peter: “The sequel to Hold On! entitled Go! – Hold On! Season 2, has been signed, and is due for release sometime early next year. I can’t say too much about the premise at this stage because it would be virtually impossible to avoid spoiling the ending of Hold On! I’ve had the video trailer for Go! in my hard drive for months, but we can’t release it yet. It’s very frustrating. The ending of Hold On! is revealed in the very first text caption of the Go! trailer.

However, Go! has been received, from my friends who have read it, with such high acclaim that it stunned me. I didn’t think that I could pull it off a second time, but my reviews so far have been that Go! is actually superior to Hold On!

I am extremely confident that Go! will provide my readers with even more nail-biting suspense, and a chance to share the journey of a fallen hero as he struggles to restore himself to his former greatness, along with an exploration of the meaning of ‘family.’ And, of course, it ends leaving you with a gnawing desire to find out – what happens next? ☺”

TRC: Did you face any difficulties getting your series to publication?

Peter: “Boy, did I! I implore all authors reading this NOT to let it dissuade you. What happened to me was extraordinary, and was not representative of the norm. (This story is also featured on my website.)

When you are an unknown writer with no author platform whatsoever, you will seriously have your work cut out for you. Hold On! has a history steeped in as many cliffhangers as there are in the story. After receiving an initial 60 rejections from publishers and literary agents, I engaged the assistance of my dear friend, former New York Times bestselling literary agent, Mark Malatesta. Whilst my original query letter contained some desirable factors, it lacked a few technical details, which Mark helped me to correct.

Soon afterwards, Hold On! attracted the interest of a literary agent in Florida, who told me that it would take her five to six months to get to it. However, she was very understanding, and encouraged me to try to find a publisher in the meantime. If I was successful, she asked only that I let her know. A few weeks later, a publisher in Michigan literally pleaded with me for Hold On!. Having a ‘bird in the hand’, I let them have it.
Almost a year later, the publisher folded – a week before Hold On! was due to go to press. I immediately contacted the literary agent in Florida again, only to discover that she had now retired.

A week later it was tentatively picked up by Writer’s Coffee Shop in Australia (the publishers who first published Fifty Shades of Grey.) We worked together on the project for four months, during which time some key plot lines were removed from the manuscript. And then suddenly – silence. There had been no contention between me and Writer’s Coffee Shop. No disagreements. No arguments. Nothing! They simply ignored all of my emails, and with no explanation.

Last October (2013), after picking up a total of 130 rejections, and three failed acceptances, Hold On! was snapped up by Soul Mate Publishing. It had finally ended its two year journey from Central England, to Florida, to Michigan, to Australia, to ultimately land in New York.”

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Peter: “Another terrific question. I can only speak for myself, but I always begin with a basic premise. Beyond that, I really don’t know where the story is going. As I begin to write, one idea after another comes to me, and the book literally writes itself. So the answer is – the characters (or story) direct the writing.

Having said that, I know more about what’s going to happen in the third instalment than I did when I started the first and second. This time, I even know how it ends (if my publisher permits me to do what I want to do with it.)”

The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

“I will say this: you cannot convey emotion unless you’ve felt it yourself. I have a slight advantage over many writers in this respect by virtue of my former career as an actor. We studied emotions and character development to the extent that we were assigned with the exhausting task of dredging up all manner of harrowing episodes from our pasts, until the class was literally filled with sobbing wrecks.

The secret is to look inside yourself, draw upon your life experiences, and try to recall, as clearly as you can, what you were actually feeling at any given point in your life, and then transcribe those feelings into words. Often you may find you are writing a scene which neither you, nor anybody else, could possibly identify with. Nevertheless, there will always be a common denominator.

Here’s an extreme example – let’s say, hypothetically, you have a character who’s just discovered that the world is going to end in seven day’s time. Nobody you know could possibly identify with horror such as that. But what feelings would that cause in you? I would imagine a sense of panic. Urgency. Desperation. Absolute terror. When have you felt such emotions in the past? What went through your mind during those occasions? What were the physical manifestations that it put you through? (A pounding heart. An inability to think straight. Shivering and shaking uncontrollably, etc.)

Once you have those descriptions, you write them down and give them to your character.

Be mindful also of what genre you are writing in. If you are writing a genre romance, you can probably afford to labor emotions more than you could in a thriller, because emotion is the primary raison d’être of the romance genre. However, thrillers today are required to be fast-paced, and while emotion is an important component of thriller characters, you cannot afford to labor the emotional aspect to the point that it slows the pace. Just inform the reader of the character’s emotional state with a reasonable degree of description, put them in the picture, and move on. Don’t be repetitive and waste time on that which is unnecessary.”

TRC: Writer’s Block is a very real phenomenon. How do you handle the pressures and anxiety of writer’s block?

Peter: “I can’t say that I’ve experienced this yet. As I mentioned earlier, I won’t have a clue what’s going to happen next, so I start writing just so that I can find out (lol.) It’s the weirdest feeling in the world. I’m on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happens next – and yet I’m the one who’s made the whole thing up! I’m the only one who can come up with the answer, but at the beginning, I simply don’t know. My books literally write themselves. Even when I have a clear plan for a chapter, some of the coolest, hitherto-unknown ideas come to me while I’m actually writing it.

I have found that rushing through a manuscript will not yield the best results. Giving myself time for those golden ideas just ‘pop in there’ produces the most hair-raising storylines. Let the process breathe. I can’t sit down and rationally plan a storyline. That usually leads to some fairly boring and sterile ideas because I’m using the intellectual/academic side of my brain rather than the creative. It’s the ideas that involuntarily pop into my head that get the finest reactions.

And one more thing: don’t try to write when you are under the spell of depression. Draw on the experience afterwards if you need to (if depression is relevant to your story), when you have a clearer head. But during an attack of depression, everything about you will be drained, and all you will see on the screen before you is an empty page. Be kind to yourself, and allow yourself the right to be human.”

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information with other authors or friends and family. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Peter: “Honestly, I swear on my life – absolutely nobody. I work alone. It’s my gig. Once a first draft has been completed, I will then pass it around to my friends, and I take on board what they say with regards to statements or matters of demonstrable error – such as American spelling, geography, or politics. I have had publishers ask me to remove certain plot lines and add in new ones, but these were people who were never destined to play any part in me getting published. Another publisher would tell me to restore what the previous publisher told me to remove, but to change the ending. And so it went on . . . (This actually spawned the ‘deleted scenes’ page on my website. I love my original plotlines, and the deleted scenes page was my way of keeping them alive.)

Publishers can’t ALL be right. They can, however, ALL be wrong. YOU are the ultimate authority on YOUR creation. That’s my opinion, and I have yet to be shown any evidence to the contrary. If I was to ever encounter a unanimous objection to a storyline, then I would listen. But a singular, subjective viewpoint carries even less weight than mine, since I’m the one who created the concept in the first place. It’s a delicate balance between deciphering constructive criticism, from someone who wants you to write their book rather than yours.”

TRC: What three things would you like to accomplish in the next five years?

Peter: “My ultimate aim is to hear the four words that would completely change my life:

“Previously, on Hold On!”

I think that covers all bases – and I’ve already made a little headway in trying to make it come to pass.

Oh, and I would love it if my deleted scenes created a cult following. Vindication is the greatest feeling in the world. ☺”

I can’t think of a third agenda relevant to this. Once you have the highest possible achievement in your sights, no lower ambition is noteworthy, really.

TRC: What is something that few, if any people, know about you?

Peter: “I’ve always been very open, extremely outspoken, and pragmatic, but I don’t broadcast the fact that I’ve been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, simply because it’s rarely relevant. It’s not a big issue for me, really. I can assimilate myself among people very successfully. I very much doubt that you would ever know, and I say that based on my wealth of social experience.”

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Peter: “Run! – Hold On! Season 3.”

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Peter: “I hope that anybody who reads Hold On! enjoys it, and that it captures their imagination. I would also like to convey my very best wishes to everybody reading this, and I hope that all of my brother and sister writers achieve the success that they all surely deserve.”

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food – Chinese crispy shredded chicken with fries.

Favorite Dessert – Chocolate cake.

Favorite TV Show – The Incredible Hulk (1977-1982.) Factual statistic: its largest audience was actually adult females.

Last Movie You Saw – Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Only I could get away with admitting that.☺)

Favorite Musical Group – Abba

Dark or Milk Chocolate – Both

Secret Celebrity Crush – Um . . . don’t have one. (Gawd, I must be getting older. ☹)

Last Vacation Destination – Isle of Wight.

Do you have any pets? – Two cats, Poppy and Snooky. A few months ago, a little black and white cat, barely more than a kitten, came to my door. He’d been abandoned and dumped out in the street. He was still wearing his ID collar, but his previous owners had ripped off his ID tag. He was hungry, scared, and alone. I’ll never know where he originally came from, but he’d been out on the streets for some time, because he’d stopped grooming himself. He came to me in the same way that Brandon’s bear cub came to him at the back of the cabin in Hold On! For that reason, I gave this little cat the same name as the bear cub – Snooky. You’ll all be happy to know that he’s very happy, extremely playful, and well-cared-for now. He follows me everywhere I go. ☺

Pet Peeve – Traffic jams.

TRC: Thank you Peter for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish you all the best.

Peter: “Thank you, Sandy. It’s been an honor.”

giveaway

Peter is graciously offering an ecopy of his novel HOLD ON ! to one lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

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3. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

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6. Giveaway is open internationally

7. Giveaway runs from September 13-17, 2014

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