Elizabeth Lowell’s Death Echo
Book Release day is always fun. Well today is extra special because we have been given ONE COPY of Death Echo to give away to one lucky winner today! Yes, a free book and a great writer! So, take a minute, read this wonderful interview…and post a comment telling which was your favorite question and how you heard about our give away!
Check back here tomorrow to see if you are the winner! (USA residents only please)
As security tightens at the world’s airports and borders, international harbors and ports are becoming the new frontier for crime. In DEATH ECHO (William Morrow, on sale June 8, 2010, ISBN 13: 9780061629754, $24.99), New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell delves into the very dangerous and very lucrative world of transnational crime and illegal smuggling.
Former CIA agent Emma Cross thought she got out of dangerous work when she took a job with St. Kilda’s consulting. A little PI work and troubleshooting is certainly less stressful than Tribal Wars. At least it was until she found herself caught in the middle of an international incident.
Until five years ago, Mackenzie Durand and his Special Ops team were deployed into some of the world’s nastiest places. On the last op, he was the only survivor. After a rumor started circulating that the CIA hung his team out to dry with bad intel, he quit and never looked back.
Thrown together by an organization of bad guys with international ties more dangerous than either realizes, Mac and Emma must put aside their distrust for each other in order to save more than just their own lives.
About the Author
Elizabeth Lowell has authored more than 60 novels and one non-fiction book. She has more than 30 million copies in print and has 30 New York Times bestsellers to her credit. Her science fiction novels have been nominated for eight Nebula awards and a mystery, Just Enough Light to Kill, written with her husband, was named one of the best crime novels of 1984 by Time magazine. Elizabeth Lowell and her husband divide their time between Arizona and the Pacific Northwest.
Meet Elizabeth Lowell
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your experiences researching for this novel? What was it like living aboard a ship and cruising the Inside Passages?
A: The boating part of the research was the most fun I’ve ever had while working. I was desert-raised, so boating wasn’t a part of my childhood or most of my adulthood. Yet the first time I got aboard our cruising boat, I was hooked. My husband set himself to learning how to be a captain. With my writing, I already had a fulltime job, so I set about learning how to be a first mate, just like Emma Cross.
It was, and is, an adventure. The Inside Passage is gorgeous, treacherous, ever-changing water. Huge tides, currents like rivers between islands, winds piling up waves, fog, rain, and sometimes even sunshine. Not to mention fresh fish, crab, prawns, and clams. Yum!
Cruising is also work. Nobody is born knowing how to tie lines correctly, how to guesstimate wind, tide, and currents. Learning how to read charts, judge radar echoes, lay a course, stay on a course, navigate very, very narrow passages…the list goes on and on. And that’s not even talking about engine repairs on the fly, electronics trouble-shooting, landing something that weighs many tons without splintering docks, the fine art of anchoring—and staying anchored. So much to learn!
In DEATH ECHO I’ve tried to give a flavor of the joys and frustrations of living aboard a 42’ boat.
Q: Many of your previous novels have been inspired by current events. What was the inspiration behind Death Echo?
DEATH ECHO had multiple sources of inspiration. Following the shifting power politics of the world is a personal fascination. Speculating about drivers of change is a hobby. The What if? part of my brain never sleeps. I love putting together snippets of headlines and stories buried in the back of the newspaper, and wondering about possible connections. I’m not much for conspiracy theories—face it, that many people just can’t keep hot secrets that long—but I know there is much more to any story than what surfaces in a newspaper or blog.
One day I’m reading about stolen yachts. Then I’m reading about counterfeit currencies and wobbly governments. Then comes a story or three about private security agencies. Many, many stories about the fallout of empire in the Former Soviet Union and thousand-year-old grudges surfacing along with very modern weapons… Irresistible.
Q: What was the process like for writing this novel, and if at all, how did it differ from your others?
A: Writing a novel is like being at sea; some things don’t change and others change without warning. Each backdrop for a novel is different, requiring different knowledge from me and different demands on the characters. Whatever the backdrop, balancing the development of the characters and factual grounding with the need for fast pacing is always a challenge.
Q: In DEATH ECHO you talk about a shadow economy existing in the Pacific Northwest, can you talk a little about that?
A: Wherever there are borders, there is smuggling. Wherever there are different cultures, there are cultural conflicts. People who have lived a century or centuries in the same place have a different view than people who came from somewhere else to make a new life.
In other words, it’s not just the Pacific Northwest, it’s everywhere. The shadow economy, the one that isn’t taxed or regulated except by direct violence, is global. If there is money to be made, someone will make it. The more regulations that exist, the more money is made avoiding, evading, or ignoring laws. International borders exist for people who believe in and follow laws. For the inhabitants of the shadow world, borders are lines on maps that have little to do with reality—especially borders that aren’t based on solid geographic barriers such as mountains, big rivers and oceans. My books play out in the world of shadows cast by regulations and cultures.
Q: One of the main characters in this book is a yacht named Blackbird—that could also be a yacht named Black Swan—where did you come up for the names of these two identical vessels?
A: The Black Swan was taken from a book of the same name. The book described the impossibility of planning for circumstances that simply can’t be foreseen, such as Australia’s black swans when all of Europe only knew of white swans. It’s much the same as people from Europe having a difficult time understanding at a gut level that in America’s west, many, many rivers run down into valleys…and dry up.
Blackbird seemed like an easy companion to Black Swan.
Q: You write at length about surveillance bugs, how did you research these devices?
A: There are many ways, from specialty magazines to specialty sites on the internet. Books are useful, but mainly for historical research; by the time it hits print, it’s pretty much outdated. I take the existing information I can find and choose a device that suits my purposes. If I can’t find one that works, I remind myself that 1) the best stuff is classified and 2) my books are fiction.
Q: Who does the secretive and mysterious Alara work for?
A: If I told you, I’d have to kill you.
Q: You talk a lot about the volatility of the Russian Federation. Do we have a new Cold War on our hands?
A: A new Cold War would be easy. What we have is a seething stew of ancient grudges and modern weapons. A flock of black swans. Totally unpredictable.
And wonderfully useful to a novelist.
The most intruiginng question of the day concerned the shadow eoconomy.
your book sound cool
I like the question about her research.It’s nice to know she put the time in to learn about boats.
I liked knowing the inspiration for Death Echo. It’s interesting to know what causes an author to write a story, espcially when it comes with more than one inspiration.
I enjoyed the interview and all the questions were great. I liked the question about the yachts and how she named them Blackbird and BlackSwan. I also liked her response of “If I told you, I’d have to kill you” to question. lol
I found out from email sent from Coffee Time Romance.
Can’t wait to read.
Here is my favorite
Many of your previous novels have been inspired by current events. What was the inspiration behind Death Echo?
But aren’t you worried about maybe getting people up in arms over using current situations, like maybe boat pirates pissed because you using them?
The other favorite is
Who does the secretive and mysterious Alara work for?
I hear that answer from my hubby who is in the military.
Zina
I heard about this from the Coffe time newletter
Who does Alaric work for?
I always appreciate a good laugh!
Thanks for this!
-Caitlin G.
My favorite question has the best answer! I love it.
Who does the secret and mysterious Alara work for?
The answer is priceless!!!!!!
If I told you, I’d have to kill you….ROTFLMAO
Congrats on the release!! I havent read one of your books yet, but this sounds like a great one to start with. Thanks for sharing!
I think what's most impressive about Elizabeth Lowell's books (I've read several, though not this one) is the way she researches her topics so diligently–but then spins a story that has a strong forward narrative and doesn't get bogged down by the research. The research, however, is important because it makes her stories ring true. This was a great interview–thank you!