Book Tour/Giveaway My Irish Dog by Douglas Solvie

My Irish Dog by Douglas Solvie

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GENRE: Suspense (Psychological)

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BLURB:

Spencer held on to the faintest of hope, but still he knew the trip to Ireland had almost no prospect of remedying his internal dilemma. Then again, he never imagined that a chance meeting with a lost and dying dog named Shandy would change his life forever.

Step into the small Irish village of Galbally, where the unwitting Spencer stumbles headfirst into a parallel world that will test his will, sanity, and even physical well-being.

Time and promise are running out. Will unnatural forces and events scare Spencer away before he can connect again with the mysterious dog? Will he find his way forward before Shandy meets her inevitable fate? Or will suspicious locals and a nefarious Dublin innkeeper force Spencer from the village before he completes his life-altering mission?

Follow Spencer as he races to save a little Irish dog named Shandy. If he only realized that it is Shandy who is trying to save him...

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Excerpt:

“You should not be here,” said the old man.

“What? What do you mean?”

“You should not be here,” the man repeated without the slightest emotion.

“What are you talking about? The sign over there clearly says that public fishing is allowed here.” Spencer set his fishing rod on the ground and pointed in the direction of village, not remembering exactly where he had read the information.

He studied the odd fellow. The man wore an old woolen trench coat that hung to the top of his thighs, and underneath a tattered brown sweater. Rubber boots extended to his knees, the kind of boots a farmer trudging through the mud would wear. His beard was an unruly mess of gray whiskers that encompassed the lower half of his weather-beaten face, and on his head sat a tweed cap. Everything about him was dirty and unkempt.

His dog didn’t look much better.

The man spoke again. “Everything you say is nothing. Everything you think is nothing. Everything you believe is nothing. You are just a bystander; you are just a voyeur. You do not belong. You must leave.”

Spencer took a quick look around the area, thinking this crazy man’s caretaker surely would soon be coming to the rescue. “What are you talking about, old man? Do you know me? What do you mean I must leave? You mean I must leave this area, this village? Why?”

“Can’t you see that it resides around you? It is there around you and inside you. It is shallow, and ugly, and hollow. You must leave.”

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From The Author:

BRING ON THE BOOS

(VILLAIN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT)

When I had finished the initial draft of my manuscript, I sent it to a friend (a beta reader in a way). I knew I needed some help, and I also knew this particular person was someone who would actually read the darn thing.

He got back to me several weeks later and kindly pointed out some inconsistencies and some misconceptions, things that I honestly did not recognize. Perhaps the most important element he discovered was that all of my characters were too nice. It wasn’t so much that they were all nice, but rather that the book completely lacked a villain. That fact hadn’t occurred to me, and I knew he was right – a psychological suspense novel certainly requires a bad character or two to make it interesting. Sure, I had antagonists of a sort, notably an evil spirit and the mental anguish of the protagonist, but I knew now that I needed more.

I sat on the manuscript for a few days, wondering how I could bring a true antagonist into the fold. Introducing a new character out of nowhere seemed a bit intimidating. So how could one of my present characters become a villain? The answer soon came. In the first chapter, my protagonist Spencer becomes acquainted with the owner of a B&B in Dublin named Mike. That character Mike was initially a nice guy as well, but I thought perhaps I could turn him. I maintained Mike’s amiable disposition, but at the very end of that beginning chapter I added a slight twist to make the reader believe that the innkeeper had a sinister side.

Still, a problem remained: Mike is in Dublin and Spencer would spend the rest of the book in another part of Ireland. How could I possibly keep them connected? Problem solved: I’d simply give Mike an accomplice of sorts, an old friend and sometimes business partner who did Mike’s bidding.

So, enter Owen. He operates near where Spencer is spending his time, and Mike enlists Owen to carry out his nefarious plan. Mike is a bad man in his own right, but I knew I needed to take Owen to a higher level, someone who has no qualms about doing whatever is necessary to get what he wants. He needed to be as loathsome as possible, someone the reader would love to hate as the story progresses.

Owen doesn’t get a ton of page time in the story, but enough to make him an integral character. Without him, the story could never reach its climax. His methods and intent know no bounds, and his first and last direct meeting with Spencer offers a heart-pounding scene. (Thank goodness for a little Irish dog that saves the day.)

Just when the reader’s disdain for Owen can’t be any worse, I thought it appropriate to send him off in the most unceremonious of ways. Writing the demise of a character is never easy, but I doubt there are few readers who would disagree that Owen receives his just deserts. Mike gets his as well, but in a different and less profound way. And Spencer, a rather sympathetic protagonist, eventually benefits from his ill-fated association with Mike and Owen.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

My Irish Dog is the debut novel by Douglas Solvie and was motivated by a trip taken to Ireland and the chance discovery of a lost dog there. After spending most of his adult life living and working in Japan, Douglas is currently living in his home state of Montana. He hopes to make a new career out of writing and to travel the world, looking for inspiration for that next book, perhaps another set in beautiful Ireland. My Irish Dog is, after all, a story with a lot of unanswered questions.

https://twitter.com/DSolvieAuthor
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-solvie-44210333/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08619VT25

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.in/My-Irish-Dog-Douglas-Solvie-ebook/dp/B08619VT25



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Douglas Solvie will be awarding $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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