Trap and Trace by Megan Carney
Publication date:
July 18th, 2017
Genres:
Adult, Adventure, Thriller
A sabotaged CIA operation makes Navy Trent a captive. But surviving the kidnapping is just the beginning of her ordeal. The CIA will kill her if she doesn’t stay quiet. The saboteurs will kill her if she does. Navy is forced into a high-tech, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse where only her wits – and a little bit of luck – can keep her alive.
~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with M. Carney~
1) What gave you the inspiration for the storyline?
I wanted to write a book about a private, ordinary citizen who
survives what seems like an impossible situation. And I wanted the enemy to be
unexpected. Yes, there are terrorists in this book. But they’re not the
criminal masterminds. They’re being used by someone even more terrifying.
2) Are there any hidden themes in the
book that you hope readers will discover?
I think there’s poisonous idea in the
world that psychological resilience is something people are born with or not.
And that if you’ve failed at some point in the past, or you didn’t stand up for
yourself in a situation where you should have, that you just don’t have that
psychological resilience.
You can learn to be strong. You can learn
how to face panic and deal with anxiety. You can learn resilience. It’s just a
set of skills, like any other.
3) Are any of the characters based on
real people you know?
Very loosely. I’m certainly inspired by
all the wonderful qualities in my friends, but I don’t like to make my
characters too close to people I know. For one thing, it’s distracting while
you’re writing to try to predict what someone you know would do. But also, I
don’t want anyone I know to feel like they found a character that represents
them. They might assume I think something about them that’s not true.
4) Who has influenced you most as a
writer?
There isn’t just one writer. I’m a big
reader in a lot of genres. At one point I did a lot of reading on psychological
heuristics and the games your brain can play while you’re trying to make
decisions. I also like to read books that help me dig into the psychology of my
characters. What is a victim actually feelings? What are attackers actually
thinking?
I’m kind of a news junkie as well,
because there are always stories behind the stories. Global politics is as much
about the personalities of world leaders as it is about hard facts, like
military strength and GDP.
Fiction-wise, I like to read any book
that is character driven. I like Dennis Lehane and Gavin Extence and Linwood
Barclay. I really enjoyed ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel, even
though I don’t read much dystopian fiction. The pandemic that sets the stage
for the novel is a backdrop, not the focus. The characters feel very real.
5) If you could have any three literary
characters over to your place for game night, who would you invite, what would
you play, what would you serve, and why?
Well, Katniss, of course. And Matilda
from Roald Dahl. And Jennet Stearne from
‘The Last Witchfinder.’ All of those characters showed tremendous strength in
extraordinary situations. As for what I’d serve . . . whatever’s easiest on
that day. I don’t have a lot of time in my schedule for gourmet meals.
Author Bio:Megan Carney is an author, geek and amateur photographer living in the Twin Cities. She has ten years of experience in the field of computer security. Her previous short story publications include: ‘Flighty Youth’ in the Raritan, ‘Modern Mayhem’ in the Wayfarer, ‘Swing By Close’ in the Wayfarer, ‘Directions’ in the Bell Tower. ‘Swing By Close’ and ‘Directions’ both won first prize in the fiction sections of that issue. The Christian Science Monitor dubbed her self-published photography book, ‘Signs of My Cities’ as having “youthful zest.”
Her non-literary creations include: a robot to clean the bathroom tub, Zim and Gir costumes, No-Dig tomato stakes, StickFriend the bear bag hanger, and a burning coal costume so she could be Katniss for a night.
Thanks for being on the tour, Jen! :)
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