Welcome to my stop on A.B. Gibson’s The Dead Of Winter blog tour, with Love Books Tours!

Many thanks to Kelly @ Love Books Group for arranging the following interview with A.B. Gibson…..

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?
Until the last four years, my writing was limited to scholarly papers about Linguistics during a few years in graduate school, and thirty and sixty-second television and radio commercials during my life-long career in advertising.

My first book, The Dead of Winter, began as a screenplay. My partner and I owned a destination farm, with a pumpkin patch, an apple orchard, and a scary corn maze. On a flight to LA one day, I decided to write a horror movie script based on our Moonlight Hayride going terribly wrong for some unsuspecting guests. It didn’t make it to the screen back then, but I’d had so much fun creating the story, I decided to write the paperback. I realize, this is backwards.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?
My poor brain has been full of stories, forever. Everywhere I look I see characters and new situations to include.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?
Alain de la Pomme, one of the protagonists in Tracked to Kill is loosely based on me. I used to own an apple orchard, and I own a tech company on the side.

How do you pick your characters’ names?
I have so much fun picking their names. Names of villains naturally come from real people I’d rather not run into again. Sometimes the name on an Interstate exit sign sounds about right for a first or a last name. In my latest book, Summer Thunder, I named the lovely protagonist Lily, my nephew and his wife’s newborn.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?
I need an outline. I start with the story arc, following the classic three-part, 27-chapter format. Then I create character arcs. When I start writing, it all changes.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?
Somerset Maugham, Evelyn Waugh, Elizabeth Strout, Donna Leon

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?
I’d ask Somerset Maugham to take me to the South Pacific with him.

Were you a big reader as a child?
I devoured every book and story I could get my hands on.

When did you start to write?
Until the last four years, my writing was limited to scholarly papers about Linguistics during a few years in graduate school, and thirty and sixty-second television and radio commercials during my life-long career in advertising.

Is there a book you wish you had written?
I wish I had written the screenplay, The Princess Bride, because it is absolutely perfect.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?
Around the Edges.

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?
I’d take Pip, from Great Expectations, because I’d like to slap him and tell him he was an idiot.

What are you working on right now?
I finished my latest book this morning, so I’m working on its book jacket. I won’t start another book for a month, to give my partner, and other friends a break.

Tell us about your last release?
Summer Thunder is a romance that began as a dare from an author friend while we sipped whiskey around a fireplace in Scotland. I accepted the challenge and came up with the storyline on the spot. As the author of mystery, suspense, and thrillers, the romance genre was completely out of my wheelhouse. Turns out I am crazy about the book, which will publish on October 20 this year, and I’ve already outlined the next two in the series.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?
I’m launching Summer Thunder with the Queen of Romance herself, Nora Roberts, at a book signing in her store on October 26, 2019.

How can readers keep in touch with you?
I’m all over the usual places. (Twitter) @abgibson1
(Instagram) @alanbgibson
(Facebook) ABGibsonAuthor
Of course, I have a webpage. http://www.abgibson.me

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

The Dead of Winter is currently available as an audiobook, and I plan to roll out my others soon. High Voltage is scheduled for production next month and Tracked to Kill will follow in December.
I haven’t selected the voice for Summer Thunder, but I’ve narrowed down the pool.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!

Blurb

Four young professionals pick the wrong weekend to visit a popular Pumpkin Patch Bed and Breakfast. It’s the last day of the season, and the weather and the farm are picture-perfect. Ma and Pa Winter are the consummate hosts, and they immediately win over Dillon, Tara, Josh and Julia with their homespun authenticity. Like the thousands of other visitors to Winters Farm and Orchard, the four are eager to pick apples and pumpkins and take the challenge of the Giant Corn Maze. But Ma Winter has other plans. A scary moonlight hayride spirals into a frantic twenty-four hours of deception and mayhem, and the group find themselves unwilling participants in a horrific family tradition.