Sit-down Saturday with Kate James and Giveaway

Today we’re celebrating the release of When I Found You.

This is the third book in your K-9 trilogy. What was your inspiration for writing the trilogy?



Kate: I have tremendous respect and appreciation for law enforcement personnel who dedicate their lives to keeping us safe, and I love all animals, with a particular fondness for dogs. In that context, the K-9 trilogy was a natural outcome for me.

How did you come up with the story idea for When I Found You?

Kate: I wanted the story to have a plot that dealt with emotionally-charged, current-day issues that readers would find intriguing. I considered the most common specializations of police service dogs and their handlers, and since the first and second books in the trilogy featured search and rescue, and narcotics detection respectively, for the third book, I chose explosives as Logan and Boomer’s specialization.

I have been fascinated by airports and the aviation sector for as long as I can remember. Professionally, I have had involvement in the industry. As such, I have more insight into an airport’s operation than the average person might, and I also tend to pay more attention to media coverage of airport or aviation related incidents. Although I write fiction, my personal belief is that for a reader to be drawn into a story (among other attributes) it has to be genuine and credible. There are a number of elements to this story that I refer to as fictionalizing facts!

Tell us about the research you did for the trilogy.

Kate: I really enjoyed doing the research for the trilogy. My husband put me in touch with some of his law enforcement contacts. After obtaining the requisite security clearance and necessary approvals, I had the great pleasure of spending a considerable amount of time with PC Jim Hilton of Ontario’s York Regional Police. PC Hilton is a K-9 expert and trainer, and is partnered with explosives detection dog, Max. PC Hilton was extremely generous with his time, knowledge and expertise, and I loved meeting the dogs.

How did you come up with the title for When I Found You?

Kate: My editor and I had a challenging time coming up with a title for this book. I wanted it to start with “When” to keep it consistent with the first two books in the trilogy. We considered a number of titles, but none seemed quite right. So we asked readers! I was thrilled to see the tremendous enthusiasm demonstrated by many readers.

As it turned out, we didn’t have just one winner but four. As a token of appreciation, each of the four winners received autographed copies of all three books in the trilogy. (Summer Halls and June Smalls, please contact me, if you are reading this, so I can send you a copy of When I Found You!)

What’s next for you? 

Kate: Mid-June, I submitted the manuscript for my next release, which will likely be the first book in a mini-series set in a small town in the Adirondack Mountains region, the heroine’s home being loosely based on our cottage in Ontario (please see picture below).

For readers who enjoyed my K-9 trilogy, here’s a nice little surprise! When I submitted my most recent proposal to Harlequin, they added an extra book to my contract. There will be a fourth book in the K-9 trilogy! I suppose we’ll have to start calling it the “K-9 series!” It’s the story of rookie K-9 officer, Shannon Clemens, and her rookie police service dog, Darwin, both of whom readers will get to know a little in When I Found You. I’m also writing in the characters for a possible fifth book!

J

If you could pick actors to play the hero and heroine, who would they be?



Kate: We had a Facebook party for our July releases and that was one of the questions I asked participants. There were a lot of great suggestions made, including the actress and actor I had in mind, Megan Fox for Ariana and Ian Somerhalder for Logan.

What would you like your readers to know?

Kate: I would like them to know how grateful I am to everyone who chooses to spend some of their valuable leisure time reading one of my books. I am also very appreciative when those same people take a moment to send me an e-mail or post a review to let me know how they enjoyed one of my books. Ultimately, that’s what being an author is all about!

© © ©

Excerpt from When I Found You

While Logan and Boomer worked the area between Gates 16 and 18, Ariana wandered ahead to the next section of the concourse. She watched the members of her team and other airport personnel undertake an orderly evacuation. People had obviously been shaken by the explosion, but the staff were communicating that it was a minor incident to keep everyone calm. She followed in the wake of the evacuation, scanning the area for anything that might’ve been out of the ordinary, although she knew it was futile.

     She was glad she hadn’t dismissed the letter as a ruse. Ariana had been in her job long enough to know that the airport received a considerable number of false threats on a regular basis.

     In this case, the threat just hadn’t felt like a prank, and Ariana trusted her instincts. Whoever was behind it had access to her office, making it far more likely that he’d have means of entry to other secure areas, as well. Granted, security in most areas of the terminals was electronic and far more advanced than the rudimentary manual lock on her office door. And she always kept her door locked when she wasn’t in it. Electronic security was harder to breach, but if someone wanted in badly enough, there were ways. No easy feat, but possible.

     Ariana checked in with her team to get status updates about the search. For the time being, they believed that they were dealing with an individual. Even so, they couldn’t assume that only Terminal 1 was targeted. They had to check the entire airport.

     She monitored the evacuation process for Terminal 1, and she kept Calvin and Molly informed.

     From the cryptic updates Logan received, Ariana surmised that Sergeant Vasquez and his dog had left Terminal 2 and were heading to Terminal 1.

     She caught up to where the passengers were exiting the concourse and paused. She watched Logan as he supervised Boomer. When he glanced at her, she could picture the bright blue gleam of his eyes, although he was too far for her to discern their color. It was only a moment in time, but Ariana felt a spark pass between them, across the nearly empty concourse.

     Disconcerted, she broke eye contact and made her way toward the concession area, still seeking anything that might not appear right.

     Suddenly, Boomer rushed by her in a blur and she heard her name called from a distance. Swinging around, she saw Logan sprinting toward her. She felt the floor shudder, and an earsplitting sound reverberated around her. Before she could process what was happening, she was flying through the air.

© © ©

To celebrate the release of When I Found You, I have set up an Amazon giveaway. You can enter here. (Sorry, Canadian friends. Amazon wouldn't let me set one up for Canadian residents. L)

Finally, I am pleased to announce the winner of my Prism Book Tours blog tour K-9 trilogy prize pack. Congratulations Tracy Snyder! Here is what you have won!!

Happy reading, everyone!

Kate James spent much of her childhood abroad before attending university in Canada. She built a successful business career, but her passion has always been literature. As a result, Kate turned her energy to her love of the written word. Her writing has been recognized with a number of awards. She and her husband, Ken, enjoy traveling and the outdoors with their beloved Labrador Retrievers, Harley and Logan.

Kate would love to hear from you. You can connect with her by e-mail (readers@kate-james.com), through her website (www.kate-james.com), her Facebook page (www.facebook.com/katejamesbooks), Twitter (@katejamesbooks) or mail at PO Box 446, Schomberg, ON, L0G 1T0, Canada. 

When I Found You (Book 3 in the K-9 Trilogy)

Is she part of the solution…or the problem?

It could be a terrorist threat. Or is it some other sinister plot? An unprecedented rash of security breaches at San Diego's international airport is putting passengers at risk and bringing the competence of the airport's chief of security, Ariana Atkins, into question. With explosives the weapon of choice, police K-9 unit captain Logan O'Connor and his bomb detection dog, Boomer, might be Ariana's best, if not only, line of defense. Logan is certain his belief in Ariana, and his growing love for her, aren't misplaced…but it wouldn't be the first time he's misjudged someone's intentions.

Buy Links

Harlequin © Amazon © Barnes & Noble © iTunes

Or  you can by all three books here.