Highway
Thirteen to Manhattan
The
Six Train to Wisconsin Series
Book
Two
Kourtney
Heintz
Genre:
Paranormal and Suspense
Publisher:
Aurea Blue Press
Date
of Publication: 11/1/2016
ISBN:
978-0989132688
ASIN:
TBA
Number
of pages: 420
Word
Count: 94,000
Cover
Artist: Creative Paramita
Book
Description:
His
secrets almost killed her. Her secrets may destroy them both.
Kai
is recovering from a near-death experience when she realizes
something isn’t right. Her body is healing, but her mind no longer
feels quite like her own. Her telepathic powers are changing, too.
She can’t trust herself. The darkness growing inside of her pushes
her to use her telepathy as a weapon.
Oliver
clings to the hope that he can save their marriage, even though he
was the one who put her life in jeopardy. As his wife slips further
and further away from him, he becomes increasingly obsessed with
bringing the man who ruined his life to justice.
The
sequel to The Six Train to Wisconsin is a genre-defying tale of love
and consequences. Once again, award-winning author Kourtney Heintz
seamlessly weaves suspense and paranormal intrigue into a real-world
setting, creating characters rich in emotional and psychological
complexity.
"Family
secrets, paranormal suspense, and romance collide in Heintz's
fascinatingly original tale. A compelling read that will keep you
guessing and haunt you long after the last page is turned."
-Gretchen Archer, USA Today Bestselling author of the Davis Way Crime
Capers
Grab Book One for
Free October 1- December 1
The Six Train to
Wisconsin
CHAPTER
1
Kai
Like most daughters,
I loved my parents, but right now, I wanted them anywhere but here.
Hospitals are always hard, but my parents managed to make it harder.
My head was already pounding from all the thoughts and emotions
coming at me. Not just from the patients and their families and the
doctors and the nurses, but also from my mother and father. Instead
of shielding their thoughts and trying to make it better for me, they
let their emotions crash into me.
My mind wasn’t
strong enough for all this. Neither was my body. Tubes eviscerated my
right hand. A giant bruise blossomed beside the newest IV line. A
cast wrapped around my left wrist. My broken pinky finger had been
set and taped to my ring finger. The back of my head was held
together with stitches. Beneath the blanket, my body was covered in
bruises.
I didn’t feel any
physical pain because of the medications the doctors pumped into me.
They said I needed it to recover, but it made my body feel like it
wasn’t mine. And the steady drip of opiates didn’t just steal my
physical pain; it left me unable to form the psychic shield I needed
to protect myself from the misery swirling around me.
Mom sat in the chair
closest to my bed. She wore one of her flowing peasant blouses and
faded jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and light brown
strands slipped loose to hang around her face. The corners of her
hazel eyes were pinched with worry.
Her hand hovered
over my arm, unsure where to touch me—if she should touch me.
Finally, she laid her hand gently on my thigh. “You just need to
rest here for a few more days.”
She was wrong. I
needed to get out of here. Away from all these thoughts as soon as
possible. “I want to go home.”
Mom shook her head.
“You need to let the doctors help you.” Like they did last time.
Her thoughts slammed
into my brain. She thought hospitalization was the solution to
everything.
“Please. Look at
what’s happened to you. You can’t go home until you’re better,”
she said. I can’t lose you. I won’t let that happen.
I didn’t know how
to reassure her. Yes, I’d almost died, but being here was hurting
me more than it was healing me. I swallowed all the words I wanted to
say and hoped for Caleb to come back soon. My brother would know how
to talk to Mom, how to make her understand.
The doctor came in
to check on me and Mom’s agonizing fear rose up. Don’t let her
have brain damage.
Dad patted Mom’s
shoulder. He looked like an older, surfer version of Caleb. Both were
tall and muscular with curly blond hair. Dad’s hair was a darker
blond streaked with platinum from decades in the sun and salt water.
His eyes were greener than Caleb’s, but like Caleb’s, they were
rimmed with purple bruises. When Dad smiled, sun lines radiated from
his eyes and cut across his cheeks. But I hadn’t seen them since
he’d arrived at my bedside. Instead, waves of exhaustion rolled off
him and rippled over me, right before I heard his thoughts. I can’t
go through this again, watching you slip away.
My younger sister
Naomi lounged in the chair in the corner as far from me as she could
get. She had Mom’s light brown hair and thin frame and Dad’s
green eyes and height. She looked nothing like me and only distantly
related to Caleb. Her long legs looped over the armrest as she
flipped through a magazine. Thanks for ruining Christmas break. I’d
rather be anywhere but here.
I felt the same way.
At least Oliver was
gone for the moment. Mom had convinced him to go home, take a shower,
maybe even sleep. I couldn’t bear his guilt; it was so thick it
choked me.
Oliver. My husband.
God. I’d never loved and hated someone so much at the same time. I
still couldn’t believe he’d called my parents. He knew how bad
they were at handling me. How could he have thought that having my
family here would be good for me?
Bitterness frosted
my thoughts. I was in a hospital, bruised and battered. I’d almost
died. That’s what Caleb had said. He was the only one willing to
tell me the truth. Oliver had said it was bad, but he wouldn’t say
how bad. He couldn’t bear to admit what happened to me.
About
the Author:
Kourtney
Heintz is the award-winning and bestselling author of The Six Train
to Wisconsin (2013), the first book in The Six Train to Wisconsin
series. She also writes bestselling young adult novels under the
pseudonym K.C. Tansley. Heintz is a member of the Mystery Writers of
America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Heintz has given writing
workshops and author talks at libraries, museums, universities, high
schools, conventions, wineries, non-profits organizations, and
writing conferences. She has been featured in the Republican American
of Waterbury, Connecticut; on WTNH’s CT Style; and on the radio
show, Everything Internet.
Kourtney
resides in Connecticut with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, and three
quirky golden retrievers. Years of working on Wall Street provided
the perfect backdrop for her imagination to run amok at night,
envisioning a world where out-of-control telepathy and buried secrets
collide.
You
can find out more about Kourtney and her books at:
http://kourtneyheintz.com
***
Do you
plan everything or just let the story flow?
I start
off with storystorming. It’s kind of like a Choose Your Own
Adventure Book unfolding inside my mind. I create the setting, the
characters, the conflict, and then I map out the plot. It’s like a
decision tree that I follow to its conclusion. If I don’t like
where I end up, I go back and try another set of choices. I spend a
month or so playing with the story inside my head.
After I
storystorm, I create a 3-5 page synopsis to guide me. It lets things
change but provides a direction to the story, so I don’t meander
way off and end up cutting tons of chapters. I plan a lot, and then
the story takes me unexpected places. I’d say I’m a plantser.
Do
your characters ever want to take over the story?
Yes and
they do. Sometimes I sit at the keyboard flabbergasted at what just
happened because I didn’t see it coming and yet the characters are
doing it. It happened often in Highway Thirteen to Manhattan.
What
is your favourite food?
Austrian.
You might notice it plays a big role in The Six Train to Wisconsin
series. I wrote that after a trip to Austria, where I indulged in all
the foods that Oliver loves in the books.
Are
you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl.
I can work until 3 a.m. no problem. Getting up at 7 a.m. feels like a
shock to the system. I stumble around and grunt at anyone who dares
to speak to me. I really don’t like to be spoken to until after
I’ve had my coffee and breakfast.
Where
do you dream of travelling to and why?
Hawaii has
always been on my travel list. Oddly, I’ve been to Thailand, but
not Hawaii. I love beaches and the ocean and islands. I don’t know
why, but they fascinate me. So also, the Maldives.
Do
distant places feature in your books?
Yes. But
not as the actual setting of the story. I use my travels to give my
characters richer backstories. So Oliver and Kai spent a summer
abroad in Austria and went to Venice once. Kai’s family went
surfing in Kata Noi and she mentions how her brother’s eyes remind
her of the color of the water there.
Do you
listen to music while writing?
Absolutely.
I usually have a couple albums devoted to each book. So for Highway
Thirteen to Manhattan, it was mainly Sarah McLachlan’s Afterglow
and Birdy’s Fire Within with The Civil Wars Poison and Wine song
too. When I’m revising, I prefer no music because sometimes it’s
the music and not the words on the page that are inspiring the
emotions inside me, and I want to make sure it’s my words that stir
readers since they won’t have the same soundtrack playing as they
read.
Could
you tell us a bit about your latest release?
Highway
Thirteen to Manhattan is all about love and consequences. In the
second installment of this paranormal suspense series, Oliver and Kai
must deal with the aftermath of her abduction and his lies. And
they’re forced to confront the consequences of Kai’s own sins of
omission.
What
have you learned about writing and publishing since you first
started?
Enough to
fill a couple books, actually. I have a huge respect for what the big
publishers do. It’s a tremendous amount of work to be an indie
author. The writing is actually the easiest part and it is by no
means easy. The promoting, the event coordinating, the social
media—those take a very different skill set and can be draining to
an introvert.
Is
there anything you would do differently?
Of course.
I was very stubborn with my cover design concept for book 1 in this
series. I wish I had redone it earlier because I don’t think it
helped readers grasp what the book was about.
Who,
or what, if anything has influenced your writing?
The Harper
Connelly series by Charlaine Harris taught me that it’s okay to
write flawed characters. Her Sookie Stackhouse series inspired me to
write my own version of a telepath. I love the language of Alice
Sebold’s and Alice Hoffmann’s books. I wanted to give this story
a little literary bent. I like an element of mystery and suspense in
my stories. The darkness and the suspense in the Mara Dyer trilogy by
Michelle Hodkin definitely influenced how I handled this installment
of the series.
Anything
you would say to those just starting out in the craft?
Enjoy this
time. Much like childhood, you will outgrow it and it will never be
like this again. When you start out, there are no hard deadlines and
no promo pressures. You get to take your time with a story. You get
to play so much more in the beginning. So play with your characters
and plot. Try different things. Write twenty drafts. It’s all time
well spent because you are gaining experience and knowledge.
What
are three words that describe you?
Focused,
efficient, and creative.
What's
your favourite book or who is your favourite writer?
Favorite
book would probably be Wuthering Heights. I just loved that story so
much. It had everything that makes a book great to me—a love story,
a gothic setting, paranormal elements, and suspense.
Blurb
of your latest release or coming soon book:
His
secrets almost killed her. Her secrets may destroy them both.
Kai is
recovering from a near-death experience when she realizes something
isn’t right. Her body is healing, but her mind no longer feels
quite like her own. Her telepathic powers are changing, too. She
can’t trust herself. The darkness growing inside of her pushes her
to use her telepathy as a weapon.
Oliver
clings to the hope that he can save their marriage, even though he
was the one who put her life in jeopardy. As his wife slips further
and further away from him, he becomes increasingly obsessed with
bringing the man who ruined his life to justice.
The sequel
to The Six Train to Wisconsin
is a genre-defying tale of love and consequences. Once again,
award-winning author Kourtney Heintz seamlessly weaves suspense and
paranormal intrigue into a real-world setting, creating characters
rich in emotional and psychological complexity.
List
of previous books if any
The Six
Train to Wisconsin (The Six Train to Wisconsin Series Book 1) by
Kourtney Heintz
The Girl
Who Ignored Ghosts (The Unbelievables series Book 1) by K.C. Tansley
Tour
Giveaway
5
signed copies shipping to anywhere in the world
And
Kourtney’s
Giveaway open from October 1-December 1 - prizes include naming a
character in her next book, Butternut gift basket, and a $50 Amazon
gift card. Enter on her Facebook page: http://gvwy.io/bwh02f9
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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