About The Author:
CR HIATT is a writer of screenplays and an author of YA and adult action-thriller novels. The daughter of a military veteran, CR grew up in a small town where she became an All-American athlete. CR knew early on that she wasn't cut out for the nine to five type of job - her tendency to day dream about adventures often got in the way. But, being the daughter of a Navy Veteran she also knew one had to do what was necessary to be secure, so she disciplined herself to push those dreams aside and settled on working in the entertainment legal field. When those dreams invaded her world once again, CR finally gave in and set out to write her own adventures. What the heck, right. If you can't live 'em, you might as well write about them. The McSwain & Beck series are works of fiction, only based on real life events. Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 is the first in the series, and available now. Fireworks on the 4th will be released in late July or August.
Guest Post:
When did you start writing, and was there a significant event that prompted you to do so?
My dad
said I came out of the womb telling stories. I fear he may have meant I was
prone to fabricating fictional tales for attention from my family, though I
could be wrong about that.
I didn’t
start writing until much later, and I must admit, the desire to do so didn’t
come from an altruistic place, but merely because I wanted to entertain. I was working at a large entertainment law firm that handled
film-related projects. Every day, I was surrounded by manuscripts that were
being adapted into screenplays, and screenplays that were being prepped for
production. I devoured the material. The more I read them, the more I wanted to
see if I could write one.
So I did.
I started by writing an
action/adventure screenplay. When it placed well in contests, and I started
receiving emails from producers who not only wanted to read it, but gave me
some excellent feedback, I was hooked. During the next few months, I continued to
write. At the same time, I was given access and permisson to interview big city
detectives and local police officers regarding some of the unusual crimes they
investigated during their time on the job.
Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00, as well as the sequel, Fireworks on the 4th, were developed from
some of those real-life crimes, mainly because of the age and identities of the
victims and perpetrators. I merely added fictional plots, characters and
locations.
Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00:
Title: Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00
Author: CR HIATT
Publication Date: March 30, 2012
Three childhood friends…
Sydney Marie McSwain - a tomboy who yearned for a father.
Cody Beck - a wannabe filmmaker, wisenheimer and flirt.
Jaden White - the star who led the high school hockey team to two championships, and was now on the A-list for NHL scouts.
Sydney Marie McSwain loves her mom, Anna - a private investigator in the coastal city where they live - but they had a major issue between them. Anna refused to give Sydney the identity of her father. On the day of her high school graduation, they were battling it out, once again. An hour later, Sydney, Cody and Jaden were at the local café, and watched as Anna was gunned down.
Faced with immediate responsibility, Sydney and Cody agreed to take over the agency, only they changed the name to McSwain & Beck. At the same time, Sydney convinced Sutter Beach Detective, Ace Carter, to help her track down her father.
Then out of the blue, a model walked in and hired them to follow her step-brother. While Cody was busy editing a trailer to solicit new clients, Sydney settled into her lemon-yellow pickup to do surveillance, and wound up staking out a secret club called The Devil’s Door whose suspicious members wore the tattoo of a devil.
That same night, Sydney received a call from one of her mom’s former clients, but the client was gunned down at the location where they agreed to meet. The mysterious discovery of a DVD revealed the possibility that teenagers were being abducted, only nobody reported them missing.
On the hunt for the victims, McSwain & Beck were chased by men in ski masks, nearly gunned down by a group of outlaws, Sydney’s precious pickup was broken into; then the step-brother they were hired to follow, was found dead and Sydney was the number one suspect.
If things weren’t bad enough already, they had to figure out how to crash a red-carpet Mardi Gras bash being held on a private cruise ship, before it sailed off into the sunset.
Now, the clock was ticking…
And time was running out…
How was she ever going to find her father, now?
Find Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 Online:
Excerpt :
DETECTIVE CARTER crept
up the hills above an exclusive mansion keeping in the shadows to stay out of
sight. One hand was firmly clasped around the 9mm Glock clipped at his hip. The
other held the end of a Pelican
LED police-issued flashlight which he used to guide his way. He followed
the footprints noticeable in the mulch, size seven and ten if he had to take a
guess. Sloppy for would-be prowlers looking to rob the place, or crazed killers carrying large weapons—at
least that was the description given by the frantic woman when she phoned police
dispatch after she spotted suspicious activity in the hills while she was
jogging.
SNAP!
Hearing the sound, Carter whipped out his
gun and waived his flashlight over the area. He noticed a camera perched on a
tripod, peeking out through a row of bushes that was pointed toward a window on
the second floor of the mansion.
A camera,
that’s the large weapon the caller
complained about?
“Ready, and action!” he heard a male
voice say.
“Sutter
Beach Police!” Carter moved the
flashlight toward the voice; then pushed his way through a set of bushes to get
a look. He shook his head at what he saw.
“McSwain & Beck, I should have
known.” He put his gun back in the holster, and watched with an amused look on
his face.
Cody was squatting down in the brush
behind the camera, filming. He was painted in camouflage to blend in with the
brush, and wore an ear piece with a built-in microphone.
He spoke into the mic. “Looking for two
hotshot sleuths?” He veered the lens of the camera toward a set of branches high
up on a tree.
That’s where I was, decked out in black
Under Armour tights and a long-sleeve athletic shirt, with a ski-mask to hide
my face. I was dangling upside down like a bat by a rope I affixed to the tree.
I had my own camera zoomed in, and filming the escapades taking place inside
the window of the mansion. After I got the footage I was looking for, I yanked
on the rope, pulled myself upright and slithered back down.
Cody kept the camera on me until I hit
the ground. Then, we posed in front of the camera with my face still hidden
behind the mask.
Cody said into the camera, “Have a
cheating spouse? Looking for a runaway teen? Need to verify facts, gather
information, or have an employee take off with your funds?”
I added,
“Or maybe you just need good old-fashioned surveillance services performed? No
job is too big, or too small. Look no further, McSwain & Beck, the
reluctant sleuths are here for you…”
Happy reading until next time!
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