KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
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THE OLD COUPLE
Never Underestimate Old People
BY RAY WENCK
BLURB
Tim and Lena just started making plans on how best to enjoy their retirement when a mysterious man arrives and everything changed.
Timra and Angelena Caldwell had lived under those names for fifty years. They considered themselves Americans more so than whatever they had been previously. No one from their past had contacted them for more than thirty years. They had been forgotten. They felt safe. That made them happy.
When the man slipped into their house with news and a mission, Neither Tim nor Lena wanted any part in what was to come but with advanced warning about the sinister and far-reaching plot, they began to prepare for the worst.
Now, with the deadly attack days away and likely to change the entire country, Tim and Lena must decide where their allegiances lie, but is it too late? With people from their past hunting them and time running out on not only them, but the entire population, Tim and Lena must stay alive to make things right.
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THE OLD COUPLE
Never Underestimate Old People
BY RAY WENCK
Character Interview
- What is your name? Do you have a nickname?
Danny Roth. No nickname but my best friend Tony just calls me Bro. I don’t think he remembers my name.
2. Where were you born? Where have you lived since then? Where do you call home?
Dearborn, Michigan. Toledo, Ohio. Still Toledo although I did live for several years in Cleveland when I played for the Cleveland Indians.
3. If you have a family, how do you get along with them? If you don’t, are there people in your life that you consider family? How do you get along with them?
My mom now lives in Toledo. We ran an Italian restaurant together until we sold it. She just got married to now retired detective Michael Morrisey. I also have two sisters who have families of their own and I don’t see very often.
Other than that, I’m pretty much on my own.
4. What’s the one thing you’re afraid of losing? Why?
Myself. I’ve had a hard past. When I got injured and could no longer play baseball I became a cop. My mentor and partner was killed. I survived the attack and went on a killing rampage to get my revenge. Since then I’ve been involved in a lot of deadly situations and have tallied a high pitch count, or body count. I don’t feel like myself anymore and worry about the fact killing no longer bothers me.
5. You’re doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for you to throw out? What is difficult to part with, and why?
I have recently downsized selling off most of my possessions. I don’t have much to throw away. The things I keep are my baseball trophies such as the baseball from my first win and my first baseball card.
6. Do you have a secret? If so, who do you need to keep the secret from and why?
If I tell you that it’s no longer a secret. It’s not something I’m proud of or wish to discuss. No one can know.
7. What makes you laugh out loud? What makes you cry?
I know what used to make me laugh I’m just not sure those times will ever come again. I may have gone too far this time.
Failure to save a friend.
8. It’s Sunday morning. What are you doing? Give details.
Sunday I make a big breakfast and watch old westerns. My mother is a great cook and owning a restaurant with her made me a good cook. I’d make a frittata with ciabatta bread toast.
9. Has anyone broke your heart? Who was she?
My one love was Natalie. She left me because she feared I had fallen into a pattern of danger and sought it out. I can’t blame her but when her life was in danger, I was her first call.
10. What’s the one thing you want out of life that you don’t think you can have? Why can’t you have it?
Love and someone to share my life. It’s hard to find someone to love you when you have no love left for yourself.
About Author Ray Wenck…
Best-selling author Ray Wenck taught elementary school for 35 years. He was also the chef/owner of DeSimone’s Italian restaurant for more than 25 years. After retiring he became a lead cook for Hollywood Casino Toledo and the kitchen manager for the Toledo Mud Hens AAA baseball team. Now he spends most of his time writing, doing book tours, and meeting old and new fans and friends around the country.
Ray is the author of more than ninety novels including the number one best seller, Toledo Fall and the post-apocalyptic thriller, Random Survival series. He also writes the mystery/suspense Danny Roth series and the Bridgett Conroy series. He is the creator of The Resurrection Project World and the post-apocalyptic thriller, The Old Couple.
A list of his other novels can be viewed at raywenck.com. You can also read some of his new and old works on Patreon. Patreon.com/AuthorRay
His hobbies include reading, hiking, cooking, baseball, and playing the harmonica with any band brave enough to allow him to sit in.
BONUS INTERVIEW WITH RAY WENCK
Before we get started talking about your writing, tell us a little about yourself, where you’re from, what you do for a living (if you’re not a full-time writer) what hobbies you have, etc. Whatever you’d like to share to introduce yourself.
Hi all, I am a full-time writer. I was a teacher for 36 years while also owning and operating an Italian Restaurant, which is featured in my Danny Roth series, for 25 years. I love to write mysteries, but I’m best known for my post-apocalyptic series. I write two mystery series and seven post-apocalyptic series. Random Survival and Toledo Fall were bestsellers.
I have written more than 90 thrillers in several genres, including, fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal.
My hobbies include baseball, cooking, hiking, and playing harmonica.
- What appeals to you about the genre that you write?
Apocalyptic events intrigue me. I like pitting average people against extreme situations to see how they will survive. In an apocalyptic world, nothing works. Survivors are stripped of basics and must adapt. They not only succumb to human nature but must battle against it. I love the chaos.
2. Are you a plotter or a pantser (one who writes “by the seat of your pants”)?
I consider myself a pantser, however, in truth, subconsciously we have a good idea where the story is going. I can’t plot. It would take too much away from the excitement I feel as the story unfolds. If I’m excited writing the story it will transfer to the story and the reader will feel the same thing.
3. What is your favorite part of writing?
The initial draft. That’s when the story first comes to life. The characters develop and the storyline begins to take shape. The real work comes on the second and third times through when the story gets fleshed out, finalized, and polished. But that first draft. That’s my favorite part.
4. If you had to give up writing and do something else, what would you do instead?
Play harmonica in a blues band.
5. What’s your favorite meal of the day?
Dinner. I find the preparation and creation calming. I seldom eat breakfast and lunch is whatever is quick, so it doesn’t interfere with my writing time.
6. Which are your favorite characters to write, the female characters or the male characters? Why?
Most of my characters are male but the females I write are hard core and strong. One of those, Bridgett Conroy, is my absolute favorite. A strong woman who becomes so broken she can barely function and what she needs to do to find herself again. It’s that process of finding themselves that intrigues me.
7. If you had a superpower, what would it be, and how would you use it?
LOL. I can think of several but I think superspeed, like Flash so I can write faster. Sad, huh?
8. Many writers dream of having the ideal location to write. If you could live anywhere in the world or live a particular lifestyle, where would you be answering these questions right now?
In a cabin with a porch overlooking the Smokey Mountains. If there’s a lake or river running along the bottom, all the better.
9. Do you have any rejection stories to share? Reviews that meant something special to you?
Wow! So, many. I still keep a file with all my rejections. I have a more positive story to tell. I joined a local writer’s group years ago that was all women except for me. It was a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. It was the only professional group in the area and if not for those amazing ladies, I’d never be published today.
Many of us had accumulated so many rejections we were gun shy about submitting again. I came up with a plan. We all met at a Panera and sat around a circular table. We typed in our submission packages, had everything ready to submit, then we all got up, moved one spot to the right, then on the count of three, we pushed send on someone else’s submission.
It was a great bonding moment and that submission was the one a publisher offered me a contract on. You just never know. Never give up.
10. Tell us about your next book & when is it being published?
I usually write 6-8 books a year. One was just released December 5th and I have two ready to pop within the next two weeks.
The first release was through a publisher and is a new series. It hit number 1 new release in teen post-apocalyptic.
The next to come will be book 4 in the Bridgett Conroy mystery series. I’m just waiting on the cover.
The last one is book 16 in the Random Survival: The Road post-apocalyptic series.
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Links to Ray’s websites, blogs, books, #ad, etc.:
Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/44Iii05
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/4arKx6P
Website: https://www.raywenck.com/
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Special Giveaway: Ray will gift an ebook copy of THE OLD COUPLE to one lucky winner who comments on his Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog. Good luck!
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nice interview
Good morning, your book sounds like a great read, Thank you for sharing about it. May you and your family have a Very Merry Christmas. Not entering this ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy, but Thank you.
This was a most interesting excerpt…50 years there, 30 years since last contact… Now this. 🤔
Thanks, Ray, and thanks , Karen.
Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, Ray. I’m so excited about the premise of this book. I’m intrigued. I don’t think I’ve read anything like it. It’s going on my TBR list. Thanks for sharing your book, and the insights into both you and your character!