March 29, 2012

Guest Post w/ author of Covert Dreams, Mike Meyer + Giveaway!

Hi GCReaders!
COVERT DREAMS

Today we bring you a guest post by Mike Meyer. He is here to tell us all about his travels, and how he came up with Covert Dreams.

How did I select the settings for my international thriller COVERT DREAMS? I got the traveling bug early in life, and it has stayed with me all these years. I love to travel internationally at least once a year. I have been a student overseas, and I have taught at universities overseas. I have visited, and know well, all of the locales in COVERT DREAMS, London, Rome, and the two major locales of Munich and Saudi Arabia. I have been to Munich so many times that I know it like the back of my hand. I can practically move about blindfolded and find my way. I love that city! As for Saudi Arabia, I was a professor for two years at the University of Petroleum and Minerals. I literally traveled all over the Middle East. Authenticity is in all of the local color portrayed in COVERT DREAMS.

I have always been intrigued by the relationship the United States has had with Saudi Arabia, one of the most restrictive societies in the world, where I have been witness to the fact that life here and life there is as different as being on two separate planets. What we take here for a given is nearly always a no-no there.

The area of parapsychology has always intrigued me, and where better to deal with something such as this than in a very hidden-from-the-rest-of-the-world location. The mixture of live and let live as practiced in Bavarian Munich, coupled with the fervent zeal of Arabia, enhanced by American involvement—and the plot just seemed to thicken, drawing me into it as I wrote, without my ever knowing precisely where or how it would end, but loving every minute of it.

The sites of London, the glory of Rome, the ebullience of Munich, and the mysteries of Saudi Arabia—they all find a home in my international thriller COVERT DREAMS.


Here's a book trailer of "Covert Dreams"


And here's the trailer for his other novel "Deadly Eyes"



Giveaway:

Mike is giving away one copy of each book mentioned above. Just one rule: Leave a meaningful comment. This giveaway will end one week from today.


-------------------------------------------

Author Bio:

I have resided in and have visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in some way to my own published writing. I have literally traveled throughout the world, on numerous occasions. I have lived in Finland, Germany, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, on the island of St. Croix. I gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left me. If anything, it has only gained in intensity as I have aged. I try to travel internationally at least once a year. In the interim, I spend lots of time traveling around both my home state of California and other nearby states.

I spent my early years in the small town of Lone Pine, California, the home of almost every western movie, in addition to a wide variety of other genres, made in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. In fact, Hollywood still films parts of big-time movies there today. My dad, the town’s lifeguard at the time, personally knew John Wayne, Lloyd Bridges, and Lee Marvin, all of whom came to the town’s pool, the Memorial Plunge, at times to cool off after a hectic day of working in the sun. I was even an extra in a movie filmed there in 1957, MONOLITH MONSTERS, a B-cult favorite even today. I was ten years old at the time. Even though I resided in a small town hours from the big city, I was exposed to the excitement of action and heroes at a formative age.

From the beginning of 5th grade until I finished my first two years of college, at my hometown’s community college, I lived in Ventura, California, just south of Santa Barbara, where I lived the magical life for which Southern California is so famous. The sunshine, the waves, the surf, and the idyllic location—I recognized the wonderment of all of them.

I taught at universities throughout the world, and my international thriller COVERT DREAMS was born, in my mind, as I traveled throughout Europe and the Arab Middle East, the two most prominent locales in this novel of suspense. I just recently completed my second novel of suspense, DEADLY EYES, set on the island of St. Croix, in the middle of the enticing Caribbean, where I spent four of my forty years as an English professor at the University of the Virgin Islands.
As a recent retiree from a Calfiornia community college, I now live in Southern California wine country with my wife, Kitty, and our two other cats.

† Amazon † Goodreads †



26 comments:

  1. Thanks for this amazing giveaway - I would love to win! This book sounds great. I too have always been fascinated by parapsychology and how the book weaves that theme using different countries and their different cultures/beliefs sounds like a very original idea!

    susanw28 (at) mindspring (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the area of parapsychology has always fascinated me too. Thank you for your nice comments.
      Mike

      Delete
  2. You said you traveled a lot in the Middle East. I would like toknow if they read a lot of books there and what genres they read? Did you observe anyone reading?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I very seldom observed people reading magazines or books other than in the reading room of the library, where I did spend a lot of time. On the streets, though, I saw lots of men (and men only, since I was in Saudi Arabia) reading newspapers as they drank their coffee or tea.

      Delete
  3. One of my favorite things is to experience different countries through a story. These books sounds wonderful!

    wihockeycall(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the great giveaway!! I would absolutely love to travel!! It would be so amazing to see all those places! :)
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seeing the world is one of my great pleasures and desires. There is so much to see.
      Mike

      Delete
  5. Thank you for the cool giveaway, travelling always leaves me feeling fresh. edysicecreamlover18@gmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the awesome giveaway. I have never read any of your books but I would like to. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your interest in my work. I greatly appreciate it.
      Mike

      Delete
  7. I enjoyed the post. The book sounds very good. I like that you incorporated so many places into your book.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love to travel, and bits and pieces of my experiences and observations ultimately do end up in my books. Thank you for your post.
      Mike

      Delete
  8. Hi Mike,
    Thanks for such an interesting post, I would love to travel but unfortunately it is too painful due to my disability. I therefore do all my travelling through books such as yours, I especially like it if the locale is visible in my head as I read. I would love to win either of these books, I review every book I read on my blog. http://adelesymonds.wordpress.com
    All the best for your next adventure
    Adele

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. p.s. I am in the UK so probably won't win anyway but it was still nice learning about you

      Delete
    2. Greetings from across the pond, Adele. Traveling the world through books is great. I do the same. The locales of both COVERT DREAMS and DEADLY EYES are true to life. I lived in both Saudi Arabia and on St. Croix. I felt I was back in both places as I was writing since I am a reader as I write, not quite knowing what will happen next.
      All the best to you, Adele, and happy reading!
      Mike

      Delete
  9. I enjoyed reading your book 'Covert Dreams' and look forward to reading your newest, 'Deadly Eyes'. You have a talent for writing and it's always nice to see talents being utilized and limits tested.

    Retirement is a strange concept, I find since being retired...not at all what it is thought to be from a distance. It is refreshing to see that you are using yours to live out a dream and to stay active in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you, Jan. Yes, I thoroughly enjoy my retirement. I do miss my students, colleagues, and the halls of academia, but I love all the free time I now have to do as I desire. There is so much to enjoy about life. I hope DEADLY EYES brings you the enjoyment that its older sibling, COVERT DREAMS, did.
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  11. You have some wonderful reviews - I am looking forward to reading Covert Dream with my book club. I too am a life long traveller, having lived in Central Africa as well as my native England. keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You have some wonderful reviews! I look forward to reading Covert Dreams with my book club. I too am a lifelong traveller having lived in Central Africa as well as my native England. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you, Wendy. I hope you and your book club get as much enjoyment from reading COVERT DREAMS as I did--since I was a reader as I wrote. Many happy greetings from across the pond.
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  14. This book sounds so interesting. I love thrillers, and this sounds like one of the best. All of Mike's travels sound wonderful, and I though I had done a lot of traveling, but nothing like he has. Thanks for having this giveaway.
    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Michael, I tuned in on your site because I have written a book called Deadly Pleasures and I wanted to see your book, Deadly Eyes. It looks absolutely fascinating and I will purchase it on Kindle. Covert Dreams is equally tempting as I've always fancied an Arab Shiek ever since I first saw Lawrence of Arabia adn Desert Song. I hope you will check out my Deadly at: http//maryfirmin.blogspot.com. Also look at my video where we have at least one scene in common. Great minds think alive, Michael!
    Regards, Mary Firmin

    ReplyDelete
  16. I made a mistake on my blog address. Sorry! It is:
    http://maryfirmin.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you, Mary. I just purchased a copy of DEADLY PLEASURES on my Kindle. I look forward to reading it. I will post my review on your Amazon site. Yes, maybe it is true that great minds think alike.
    Mike

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! We love reading your comments and we try to reply back to each comment. So make sure to check back with us.