Guest Post & Giveaway with Liz Strange

Hello everyone!  LITERAL ADDICTION and Book Monster Reviews are happy to have Liz Strange back with us today.  (And if you were wondering, YES that is her real name! J) 

  

Liz was born and raised in Canada where she still lives with her family and a menagerie of pets.  If she’s not working, writing or spending time with her family, Liz enjoys reading, watching horror flicks, eating spicy food, and/or hitting the gym. 

A self-professed Sci-Fi Nerd, Liz loves anything to do with mythology, history, anthropology, ancient Greece and Easter Island, in addition to her expected fascination with Star Trek, the X-Files, and Torchwood.

Liz loves to read, has been an avid reader since she was little, and even then was attracted to the dark side.  She loves mysteries, crime novels, and pretty much all things paranormal/supernatural.  Her undying love for vampires was born when she first obtained a copy of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot”, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today we are helping Liz promote her David Lloyd Investigations series.  Let's take a look at the first book in the series…..

"Missing Daughter, Shattered Family"

David Lloyd Investigations, Book 1

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When a brutal homophobic attack ended David Lloyd's career as a police officer, his life was changed forever. Five years later David is running his own private detective agency, where a missing person's case comes to his attention. Digging into the circumstances of her disappearance forces David to realize he has not dealt with what happened to him, and that he can no loner deal with his long-time partner's fear of being honest about their relationship.  

Solving the case might not only bring peace to a shattered family, but could finally put David's own demons to rest.

Sounds great right?!  Now, let's let Liz take over the blog so we can check out her awesome post.

As in intro to the world of “David Lloyd Investigations”, here’s a summary of the first novel, Missing Daughter, Shattered Family: When a brutal homophobic attack ended David Lloyd’s career as a police officer, his life was changed forever. Five years later David is running his own private detective agency, where a missing person’s case comes to his attention. Digging into the circumstances of her disappearance forces David to realize he has not dealt with what happened to him, and that he can no longer deal with his long-time partner’s fear of being honest about their relationship. Solving the case might not only bring peace to a shattered family, but could finally put David’s own demons to rest.

And a short except to highlighting the relationship between the main character, David Lloyd, and his long-time partner, Jamie Brennan:

He’d met Jamie at court. He’d been a detective then, called to testify in a fatal hit-and-run that he had come across one unforgettable evening. Jamie was a prosecutor in the Ministry of the Attorney General’s office, there to make sure the responsible party lost their right to drive and would spend a number of years behind bars. It had been the man’s third DUI and the accident had killed a young mother and injured two children.

David never forgot the way Jamie’s face had looked as he questioned the defendant, or the way his loathing for the man had been so apparent though he had never raised his voice or been insulting in any way. He would also never forget how good he’d looked in his navy suit.

That was the moment, as he sat watching the lawyer from his seat on one of the courtroom’s hard, wooden benches, that he’d finally accepted he was gay. He’d come out, as people liked to call it, to friends and family, even to a few that he was close to at the police department, but had yet to give himself that complete, unrestrained permission to find another man attractive and be alright with the knowledge. He’d had a few encounters with other men, always rushed, hidden moments that had often left him embarrassed and frustrated. Most of his life he’d hidden behind his own self-induced pressure to be straight, passing years in relationships with women where he was little more than a shell. He knew then things had to be different.

Jamie had made eye contact with him a few times during the course of his day at court, and when he’d been on the stand himself, the proximity to the man he given him a colossal case of the butterflies. He was sure he’d been blushing, and several times had realized he was smiling, not an appropriate response in such a serious proceeding. Afterward he’d waited for Jamie to come out of the building, leaning against his car in the back parking lot of the court building. By the time the man had appeared the place was all but deserted. When he’d seen David he’d paused, then came to his vehicle.

“Officer Lloyd, right?” he’d said, looking David right in the eye. He noticed then that Jamie Brennan was as tall as he was, and that his eyes were an odd shade of green.

“David,” he’d responded, holding his hand out. When Jamie had taken it, giving a firm shake, fire raced up his arm.

“Jamie.” He took a quick perusal of the parking lot, finding it empty. “Are you waiting for me?”

“Yeah, I thought you might want to grab a bite to eat, or maybe a drink?” Now that he was in the moment, asking the man out, he felt his nerve slipping. Had he gotten the wrong impression?

Jamie took another look around, this time seeming a little nervous. “Are you asking me out?” His voice was even, like in court, but touched with a different tone.

“Yes, I was. Sorry, maybe I thought I picked up on something I didn’t. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” David was stammering, poise crumbling. He started to turn away.

Jamie touched his arm. “It’s fine. I’m just surprised, no one here knows about me, and I like to keep it that way. This is a tough business already, but having everyone know my personal business would make it impossible. I’m sure you know what I mean, being a police officer.”

“So far, so good for me,” David had answered, the incident still a ways in the future.

“Well, good for you. I’ve heard the attitude of some of the men in this office, and unfortunately I don’t think any of them would take too kindly to working with a homosexual. And believe me that’s not how they would be referring to me.”

“Right. I get it. There’s still a lot of prejudice.”

“So where did you want to go?”

“I guess that’s up to you. I don’t want to take you somewhere that you might have to explain something you don’t want to.”

“As far as anyone’s concerned, we’ll just be a couple of colleagues winding down after a tough case.”

David was feeling much less enthused than he had even minutes before. His first foray into an open lifestyle and the object of his affection was still in hiding. Figured.

“Now I’m sorry. I’m not making myself very appealing am I? We can go wherever you want to.”

David went with that. “How about the Italian place just down the block?”

“Sure, should we take both cars?” Jamie looked uncertain.

“That’s a waste. Come with me, and I can drop you back off at your car after we eat.”

That had been their beginning, and despite the trials and tribulations of having a relationship like theirs in the overly machismo world of law enforcement, they were still together. They were good together on many levels, but were always overshadowed by Jamie’s need to keep his personal life hidden from his colleagues. Sometimes it made no difference, other times it chaffed at David like a sore that would not heal.

~~~~~

Interviewer: So why don’t we clear the air right of the top. How are you two doing?

David: Good, better than ever I’d say.

Jamie: I totally agree. I was pretty angry when David gave me the ultimatum (to come out), but really it was the push I needed to do something I should have a long time ago. He was right, I was being totally disrespectful to him and our relationship. I’m lucky he put up with it as long as he did.

David: It’s fine. I understood how hard it was for you.

Interviewer: Can you give us an idea of how your families reacted, and your co-workers? How did life change?

David: I think most of the anxiety was self-induced. For the most part everyone was fine. I mean my dad freaked a bit, but in the end we worked it out. My mom, brother and grandma were great, even my ex-wife and I remained friends. At work, well there were a few jerks, but again it went ok.

Jamie: Same for me. I was nervous about what people would do when they found out, and it turned out to be pretty anti-climactic. At work, no one even batted an eye. My mom and sisters were fine, even my nephews. My dad is still working through his feelings, but I think he’ll come around eventually.

Interviewer: Now David, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, right? I mean you were attacked. Can you tell us about that?

David: Yes, I got jumped one night when I was out with my brother. It happened really quickly and I didn’t get a good look at my attackers, but I’m certain there was more than one.

Interviewer: And you think this was motivated by you being gay?

David: I do. There were a couple of guys on the force who’d been giving me a hard time, and they happened to be there that night. I can’t prove anything though, and believe me I’m not happy about that.

Jamie: It was a pretty vicious attack.

David: Jamie, it’s over and done with.

Jamie: It’ll be over when the bastards who are responsible get punished for what they did.

Interviewer: It did change the course of your career though David.

David: Yes. The injuries I sustained, my hearing being the big one, forced my retirement. I was super pissed at the time, but now I like the way my life is. I like being my own boss.

Interviewer: Which brings us full circle. What can you tell us about this latest case you worked on? It caused quite the sensation in the papers.

Jamie: (Joking) David loves being the center of attention.

David: Not. This case did shake up a number of people’s lives, and when something shady involves members of the social elite it’s bound to strike a chord with the public.

Interviewer: Now, this didn’t just involve top of the food chain did it? I mean I know Arthur Barrowman, a VP with CIBC was indicted on a number of charges, but there was also some type of gang involvement wasn’t there?

Jamie: We should be careful about what we say here. There is still some investigation underway, and the court cases are ongoing.

David: Let’s just say there is a number of surprising people are involved in organized crime in the Toronto area. Drugs and abuse are not just problems for the lower class of society, these kinds of things are everywhere. Like the saying goes, you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

Interviewer: Now this case also brought you two together on a professional level?

Jamie: Yes, it was the first time we ever really worked together, I mean, we’ve discussed cases before, and David’s come to me for legal advice, but I have definitely never had first-hand exposure to the kind of stuff I did here. We even got shot at.

Interviewer: Did it give you a new appreciation for what David does for a living?

Jamie: Absolutely. I always knew David was a tough guy, but he’s the real deal.

David: Aw, thanks.

Jamie: Seriously, my hat off to you. You really pulled off something I don’t’ think most would have been able to. You never backed down and in the end managed to uncover a couple of other crimes being committed. You really helped people with this.

Interviewer: Any chance you’ll work together in the future?

David: It’s looking that way.

Jamie: Agreed.

Interviewer: Well thank-you both for speaking with me today. Good luck to both of you with your careers. Stay safe!

Find out more about David and Jamie’s next adventure in A Fresh Set of Eyes.

Liz is giving away an eBook copy of "Missing Daughter, Shattered family" to a winner from Book Monster and another winner over at LITERAL ADDICTION.

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