My apologies for the delay in meeting my next guest. She was waffling on about cocktails (the Molotov kind) and 'they' took her a little too seriously. Silly really. They wouldn't know Molotov from Sex on the Beach or a Slippery Nipple – though those two could be the same thing in certain circumstances.

Ahem. Anywho...

What's your name?

Sal Mason

Hi Sal. Good to finally meet you. Where are you from?

Germany

Ah, guten tag! Erm... Zwei bier bitte. Erm... Moving on (that's the extent of my German, my apologies). Do you like living there? If not, where would your favourite place to live be? Is yes, where would you least like to live?

I have already lived in so many places in the world that I don't really have a favorite. I've always wanted to live on every continent before I die, and I was able to check off three of my list so far (working on number four). However, if someone rang my doorbell tomorrow and offered me a job in Cape Town, South Africa, I would probably jump at the opportunity. Worst place to live: somewhere with lots of snow and ice and sub-zero temperatures for most of the year.

A globetrotter? That's very cool. It's unlikely you'll make it now, though, you realise that? You don't need a passport or visa to get in here, but they make sure you don't leave. Snow is great, but maybe not all year round. Unless you're Olaf, of course. As you're a writer, is this your 'day job'?

Nope, unfortunately, it doesn't pay the bills (not yet anyways), so I am sitting behind a computer all day and trying to get my company's finances in some type of order.

Now that sound like loads of fun. That Shaun geezer, when he's not working, is still working doing his company's finances. It leaves me out in the cold. Maybe I should get to know Olaf! Tell me about your latest project.

Which one, LOL? Seriously, there are quite a few on my plate at the moment. I am writing the sequel for War Bride while trying different things with my thriller mystery series, mainly Survive, and experimenting with a romance (Caribbean Magic). My main focus is on the War Bride series which is the journey of Stacy, an ordinary girl from Indiana, who gets herself entangled in a game of political power play, terrorism and deceit when she visits her boyfriend Felipe who she met on the internet. Add a radicalization subplot and a thriving drug business and you get the full picture. It's a planned trilogy, so Stacy still has quite a journey ahead of her.

Stacy sounds like a very busy girl! I was just an ordinary guy, as it happens. She found terrorism and radicalisation, I found... a two pence coin. No contest really! How do you feel about bacon? A crazy person once said it was the food of the gods. OK, I admit that person was myself...

I'm more of an egg and French toast kind of gal, but there is no harm in a nice side order of Canadian bacon. Now you got me hungry. I shouldn't answer these types of questions before lunch.

Bacon is like dessert. And there's always room for pudding! What is your favourite film?

That would be Back to the Future. Time travel has always fascinated me and my very first novel was even a time travel story which turned into a 180K indigestible monster. If I look at it today, I cringe. It's a case study for tell v. show.

https://youtu.be/yosuvf7Unmg

What a choice! That is one of my favourite films ever. It's one which I hope they NEVER decide to try and 'reboot'. It's a classic in its own right and shouldn't be diluted by a money making remake. Have you always wanted to be a writer, or is it something you found yourself doing one day?

I have always liked writing stories, but I never really thought I was good enough to make a nice chunk of money that would feed the family. So I did the "sensible" thing and studied Accountancy and Law, working as a criminal defense attorney for many years. That's a gold mine for the type of stories I write–they often have legal elements and plenty of courtroom scenes. Oh, and not to forget those shady characters that might be closer to real people than you think.

Shady characters? Don't know anything about no shady characters. Oh, you didn't mean me... In that case, yes, I bet it does give lots og material! Do you have so many ideas they dribble out of your nose if you don't get them down, or do you have to hunt around the floor and the back of your sofa to find where your Muse is hiding?

My ideas are my greatest enemy. Writing totally depends on my mood and I lose interest easily when a new project just pushes its way into my mind (or maybe my fingers since I type very fast). I have to always rein myself in and stick with certain ideas or no story would ever get finished. Sometimes, I can't resist, though, so I write a couple of new chapters of a new story, but push it afterwards on the back burner to be explored at a later date or never to be touched again (50/50 chance)

Phew, I don't like those odds! If Shaun were you, I might not even exi... Ha, only joking. Still, I feel a little sorry for all those characters with half told stories, wandering around the back alleys of your mind. It's be like a cardboard city back there, with them huddled around braziers for warmth and scrabbling for scraps of food. Bless 'em. There's a story there! If you were in an asylum, what would your particular delusion or psychosis be?

I'm like Kristin and tend to talk to my characters (I actually thought all authors do that, LOL), so I guess a split personality disorder of some type.

Sometimes I think I suffer from that and Shaun is actually a figment of my warped imagination. Scary thought! What genre(s) do you write?

Mostly reality fiction and suspense thrillers at the moment though I have experimented with a lot more genres like fantasy, SciFi, paranormal and even some chicklit/romance.

Cool. I'm finding quite a few visitors write cross genres. I like that. What genres(s) do you read?

Pretty much everything that holds my interest.

No holding your imagination back, hmmm? If these are the same, what attracts you to them. If they're different, why do you think that is?

I'm an escapist when I read, so I can get lost in any story that I enjoy. Different when I write, since I often incorporate real elements of my life into my books. I guess I write what I know but read what I would like to know, so that's the difference.

That's a great way to explain the difference! I've not heard it described that way before. Well said. Bacon – just cooked or crispy?

Definitely crispy.

Of course. What else is there? You're entering your work into the Wattys for 2016. Watt story (do you see what I did there?) are you entering? Tell us about it!

I'm entering War Bride, Survive and Caribbean Magic. Three totally different genres, but since I already told you about War Bride earlier, I guess it's time to give Survive some spotlight. It's the second book of my mystery/thriller series and the heroine Aeree is facing a sniper on the other side as she fights for survival in the Green Mountains. There is a lot going on in the background which I can't tell you about or I would give away spoilers. Though Aeree is rather kickass on the surface, she is a highly flawed character who struggles with bulimia and the constant guilt that her father went to prison for her. If she actually gets out alive is yet to be seen.

Ohhh I like the sound of that. Do you think Aeree and Stacy would get along? They both sound like empowered women with a vulnerable side. Good for them! If they survive, that is. And now you're in the asylum with me, how do you aim to get out? Do you have an escape plan?

Explosives. I had to research for one of my stories how to make homemade Molotov cocktails and I am sure the asylum has the required ingredients. Hopefully, the hole in the wall won't be too big, or the others might escape as well and you'd be all alone :)

You haven't seen the food yet. Ingredients of any kind are in short supply here, but good luck. And if the others do get out, I'm ok with that. I'd rather be alone than have my friends 'enjoy' the 'care' Connors gives.

So, Sal. Whilst she's doing her Tom Cruise routine and mixing the cocktails which will go with a bang, here's a little more about her.

Born and raised in Germany, I just recently returned to my home country to give my two kids access to the apprenticeship programs that are probably unique to Germany. Our family is complete with our pug Einstein.

When I don't write, I usually hang with the kids, taking them to the movies or water parks. We are also big on theme parks and do tons of cultural stuff like visit museums or theatres. I am huge American Football fan (go Seahawks) and enjoy the outdoors in the summer.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sally-Mason/

Wattpad: https://aztruyen.top/tac-gia/SallyMason1

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/SalMasonAuthor