Counting on Trust, Audio Book
by Mary Ferguson Powers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Mystery/Suspense
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
In this suspense-charged, touching novel, Counting on Trust, information is stolen from a U.S. genetic engineering company (Omniprotein) by an employee promised payment by a Chinese general who wants to profit from selling the company’s technologies in the military region of China he commands.
• To force quick payment the thief attacks fellow employees and threatens to continue until his money arrives. Will his next targets be: young lovers, computer geek Gabriel and gorgeous biologist Selena, who are discovering loving sex while trying to overcome post-traumatic effects of Selena’s girlhood rape.
• Company president, Eleanor, who’s determined to keep some privacy and intimacy although her job’s high profile and her husband, Charley, has just had prostate cancer surgery.
• Venture capitalist, John, who plans to duplicate Omniprotein’s facility in China and reunite with his ex-wife, fashion designer Ziyi, who returned to Shanghai after their only child died.
The personal stories of these couples explore how privacy, intimacy and trust are changing in our social-media age. They paint a compelling portrait of our time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt Two:
Excerpt – Disturbance - https://www.facebook.com/countingontrust/videos/391102768302904/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Themes of novels by M. Ferguson Powers reflect the author’s varied interests, including preservation of the natural world and its creatures;
Challenges of building and maintaining loving relationships in a culture with decreasing respect for personal boundaries and privacy
Influences of globalization on world events and how the U. S. and other nations relate to one another
Public policy issues such as controlling the military-industrial-political complex and requiring the health care industry to be more respectful of its clients
The need for cooperation across governments, cultures, and societies to address global challenges such as climate change
Developments in business and university administration and management
Powers has taught microbiology, headed a university office of research, served as executive director of two university-business partnership programs, and co-authored two books on university administration. She has a bachelor of science degree in bacteriology from The Pennsylvania State University, a master’s in experimental psychology from George Mason University, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
She lives on an island near Seattle with husband David R. Powers and their two shelties. Her first novel, Each Unique and Fascinating, about a bullied young girl whose father has gone to war, was published in 2012. OrcaSpeak, a novel of relationships and suspense, was published in 2013, and its prequel, Counting on Trust, was published in 2017.
Website: http://www.mfergusonpowers.com/
Buy Links for audio book:
Interview with Mary Ferguson Powers
1. What is your favorite part of this book and why?
I actually have several favorite parts. These all relate to the three relationships that Counting on Trust follows. In each relationship, there is an issue of trust. As the main plot heads toward climax, each of the couples is forced to confront the problem in their relationship and make some difficult choices. These were both difficult and exciting for me to write, and I would count them as my favorite parts of the book.
2. If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
That would be Eleanor Locke. In the book, she is a co-founder and president of Omniprotein, Inc., the company at the heart of Counting on Trust. She is smart, wise and resilient in the face of tremendous stress in her personal and business life. She exemplifies a successful woman who has not scarified her empathy and humanity in achieving her success. In many respects, she reminds me of my mother who was a determined, hardworking and compassionate single mother during the Depression.
3. If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?
It would have been any of the Jane Austen books. My biggest inspiration for writing was Jane Austen. I appreciated the way she deconstructed relationships and the social norms around romance and marriage in her day. She had the courage to interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry in her time, especially as regards things such as the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security.
4. Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Like many writers, my characters are built up from an amalgam of people I have known at different points in my life. I like to mix and match physical traita, personality, temperament, and behavioral quirks. Often I will exaggerate these a bit to provide more depth and interest for my readers. Then I like to give each character a backstory that provides a rationale for their behavior. Lastly, I decide how they would probably interact with each other based on all that, and make adjustments. I like to think of it as being a chef: you might have a recipe of sorts, but the real fun and creativity comes with experimenting and tweaking until it you get something that feels right.
5. What made you want to become a writer?
There were several factors that motivated me to become a writer, and in particular to write Counting on Trust.
First was my interest in globalization and its impacts, especially with regard to China and its relations with the U.S. . This began when I accompanied my husband on a trip to China in 1978 with a delegation of faculty members from the University of Pittsburgh. At that time, China was just opening up to the West.
Next, the idea for a story about corporate intrigue came while my husband and I were living in Nebraska. There was a lot of research on GMO foods being done at some of the universities there. We lived on a small lake, and I decided to invent a company, Omniprotein, that was doing research on GMO fish. The theft of this company’s intellectual property by a Chinese general kicks off all the subsequent action.
Finally, my interest in Jane Austen. I wanted to explore how relationships are changing in modern times. I also wanted to examine the fragility of trust in relationship: how easily it can be broken and how difficult it can be to repair. To that end, Counting on Trust follows three couples of different ages and background, each struggling with issues of trust.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
A randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter will receive a digital and an audio copy of the book
Follow the tour and comment; the more they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDelete