Monday, September 20, 2010

This Week's Special Guest Tim Smith

This week's special guest is Tim Smith with a special interview with the hero of his action-packed romantic suspense novels, a former CIA agent named Nick Seven.

Tim Smith is an award-winning author of numerous books, ranging from thrillers to contemporary erotic romance. He is also a freelance photographer and when he isn’t pursuing these two passions, he works in the human services field as a case manager for adults with disabilities.

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Today we’d like to introduce Nick Seven, a former CIA agent who lives in Key Largo, Florida.
Nick, how do you feel about the renewed interest in your adventures?

Nick: I think it’s about time more people had a chance to read about my exploits, even though they’ll never hear the real juicy stuff I did when I worked around the world tracking down terrorists. I could tell some good stories, but I’d have to kill anyone who read them.

Yes, your adventures are now limited to The Florida Keys, aren’t they? How did you end up there?

Nick: When I decided to quit the bureaucratic nightmare known as the CIA, I couldn’t decide where I wanted to settle. I could’ve gone to Italy, Germany, Bermuda, Rio, you name it, but I’d been to The Keys and something about the laid-back atmosphere hooked me like a marlin and reeled me in. Besides, I’ve always loved fresh seafood and the sunsets are to die for.

Okay, inquiring minds have to ask about Felicia, the beauty from Barbados you’re living with. In your first adventure, “Memories Die Last,” you two are reunited when the CIA drafts you back into action, but we can tell there’s a spark there. Anything you can add?

Nick: To put it bluntly, Felicia is sex on two feet – bronzed skin, long woven hair, sensual eyes, the cutest West Indies accent and a body a supermodel would kill for. She also has a right cross that’ll bring a wrestler to his knees. Felicia was a member of my team when I was assigned to England. There were some sparks at first but I couldn’t do anything about it because I’d recently gotten married to a young Scottish woman I’d fallen hopelessly in love with.
Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be and after my lovely bride was killed by a terrorist who was after me, Felicia really came to my emotional rescue. When the spooks in Washington conned me into coming back for one more case, there she was. We just picked up where we should’ve started a few years earlier. Good things come to those who wait, right?

In one of your adventures, “Never Trust Your Dreams,” you both are used as pawns by the CIA and Felicia is kidnapped by a rogue agent to force your cooperation. How did you respond to that?

Nick: It was déjà vu all over again, a nightmare I wasn’t about to relive. I’d already lost the one person I thought I’d ever love and there was no way in hell I was going to lose my second chance at happiness. Before Felicia came back I’d been going through life on auto-pilot, from one meaningless hook-up to another. She reminded that there’s more to it than that. In that same story I got framed for murdering a former girlfriend and had to outwit the cops and the girl’s filthy rich S.O.B. of a father. Funny, but I thought when I left covert intelligence my life would be a bit less eventful!

One reviewer said “Nick Seven is the kind of guy your mother wouldn’t let you play with.” Is that an accurate assessment?

Nick: That probably explains why I had such a lonely childhood. Seriously, I suppose some of my rougher edges turn off a few people, but when they take the time to know me I’m really a pussycat. I just don’t show it very well or very often.

Except with Felicia?

Nick: Geez, what is this, a Dr. Phil segment? Okay, I admit she’s managed to housebreak me, but I’m still the same tough guy I always was. Can we get onto another subject now?

Sorry for striking a nerve. You thought you’d gotten away from the intrigue after your first two adventures, but in the third one, “The Vendetta Factor,” you really got thrown for a loop when you were dragged into the middle of a Mafia turf war in Miami. How did you feel about that?

Nick: I think thoroughly pissed about covers it. All I did was help out a friend, a professional gambler named Rock Moretti, who used to own my club in Key Largo before opening a floating casino off Palm Beach. ‘I’m having some trouble,’ he says. ‘Come out to the boat and check things out. Nothing to it.’ Ha! How the hell did I know some Don in New York was putting the squeeze on him to sell out? Moretti didn’t share that piece of information with me and I didn’t find out until it was too late that another Don in Miami had a vested interest in keeping this other guy out of his back yard. Sometimes I think I’ll never learn.

That story gave you one of your most dangerous adversaries, didn’t it?

Nick: You mean the hit man, Tony the Crease? Yeah, he was a tough character, but Felicia and I managed to show him a couple of new tricks when he came after me. We actually ended up having a hell of a time with that adventure, but we never did settle the argument about whether Frank Sinatra or Julius LaRosa had the bigger impact on pop culture.

Frank Sinatra or Julius LaRosa? What was that about?

Nick: Read the book and find out.

So what does the future hold for you and Felicia?

Nick: Probably more adventures, whether we want them or not. I’m just trying to live my life in my personal corner of paradise, but this Tim Smith cat won’t let me do that. What did I ever do to this guy, anyway? As to Felicia, I sort of proposed when she came to live with me, but I get the impression that if I don’t keep out of trouble, she’ll pack her bags and haul ass back to Barbados – which she’s threatened to do more than once, by the way.



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9 comments:

  1. Hi Tim, welcome to the Tiki Hut and thanks so much for being our special guest this week!

    What a great interview with your hero Nick Seven. Where did the inspiration for Nick come from and how much research did you have to do for your books?

    I love the fact that the prizes have gone down on your series, when everything thing else seems to be skyrocketing. This series would make a great Christmas gift for my dad, he's a big action/adventure fan. And Nick seems like he would appeal to men and women alike.

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  2. I want to say hi and happy to know you and your Nick Seven. I just found out about you now but the books sure do sound like my style of reading. I wish you luck and it would really be nice if some of the luck would come my way by me winning this contest. But either case..my good luck wishes goes out to you. I also need to know one thing..if you ever find that PERFECT pina colada..let me know. My mouth is watering already. ha ha susan Leech garysue@dejazzd.com

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  3. I really enjoy character interviews!
    Do you have more books planned for Nick?

    kissinoak at verizon dot net

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  4. Thanks for the great Author Island welcome! It's always a plesure to be here. To answer the questions thus far, the inspiration for Nick Seven came from several places, not the least being myself. He's my alter ego, since he gets to do all the things I can't. I designed him as part Phillip Marlowe and part Peter Gunn with a dash of Dirty Harry thrown in.

    Estella, I do have another Nick adventure in the works, which I've worked on for the past three years. When I find a decent print publisher, it will be out there. My current publishing arrangement is for e-books, and this book is way too long for that format.

    And Susan, the closest I've found to a perfect Pina Colada is at a place in Key Largo called Snook's Bayside. They have a bartender there with a magic recipe. By the way, I was so enamored of Snook's that I used it as the model for the club Nick Seven owns in all the stories.

    Tim Smith

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  5. A former CIA Agent writing about the CIA. It does not get much better than that.

    marypres@gmail.com

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  6. I love political thrillers. And this is such an interesting way to let readers get to know your character.

    I also like series, especially with a strong male lead. If your books were ever made into movies, what actor would you like to play Nick?

    I'll be checking your books out. Do they need to be read in order?

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  7. Thanks, CJ - thrillers with a politcal edge are interesting, and writers like me don't need to look further than the front page to get ideas - sadly. The books do not need to be read in order to be enjoyed.

    As for movies, I could see George Clooney because Nick Seven has a sarcastic cynical outlook and sense of humor. Of course I could also picture Mel Gibson, if he ever gets back on speaking terms with Hollywood.

    Tim Smith

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  8. Hi Tim and congratulations on the books. Are these the only ones in your series or are there ebooks also available, and are these books available in ebook?

    I just got a new ereader and I find I like it and am saving money on books.

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  9. Hi, Katie -

    The Nick Seven series is not currently available in e-book format, HOWEVER, I have 2 contemporary romantic comedies that are - "Anywhere the Heart Goes" and my newest, "The Sweet Distraction." If you check my page here at AI you'll see them and the buy links, or you can visit my website, www.timsmithauthor.com for purchase info and excerpts. Both are available on Kindle, too.

    Tim Smith

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