School psychologist writes sinister thriller

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I'm delighted to welcome author and school psychologist S. B. Redstone to my blog today with a guest post and sample from his new book, A Sinister Obsession. The author is offering a generous giveaway, so don't forget to read to the end of the post and visit the rafflecopter and other exciting Sinister Obsession tour stops.

And don't forget to look at the book cover too. One glance has me haunted and wanting to know more, especially given the author's background, so...

Please tell us, Mr. Redstone...

How has being a school psychologist

played into being a thriller writer?

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It’s not just being a school psychologist that endeared me to being a thriller writer. I began my career as a caseworker in Child Protective Services, where I investigated the abuse and neglect of children. After attaining master’s degrees in social work and school psychology, and receiving post-graduate training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, you can see that I was deeply involved in social issues and understanding human nature and relationships. I even wrote a psychology book on those topics, examining our predatory ancestry and genes. With that said, all my clinical experiences, my education, and interest in understanding human nature, focused me on the too often sad and dark side of humanity. Although my novel, A Sinister Obsession, is a mystery thriller, its story centers on an unresolved social issue that intensifies the passions in people. My work is also highly psychologically oriented because that’s who I am. Different than other writers, my therapeutic background allows me to portray accurate and realistic characters, good and villainous. I like to use my characters to point out human folly, which Charles Dickens and other great writers have done.

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When you are involved in such sadness, as I was in my career, I needed a diversion. Writing a mystery is fun and making it a thriller gives me even greater pleasure. I can’t write boring and I can’t write ordinary. Although I try and create truly evil villains, they are never as evil as real life. I believe mystery thrillers give people a diversion from their too often stressful, sad, and uninteresting lives as well, and that is healthy. People want to express their hate toward someone and if it can’t be a boss, family member, or at a societal institution, it can be at a villainous character. In a way I am still helping people without the use of a couch! In addition, as a school psychologist and therapist, it wasn’t that I told patients and students how to have happier lives, I made them think of their own solutions if they could. People love to think and analyze, and be amateur detectives. That’s what I’ve created for the readers. They have an equal chance of solving the crimes.

Thank you S. B. Perhaps that's why mysteries fill so many shelves in the bookstores these days. But yours is certainly one I would quickly pick up to find out more, so here, for my blog readers, is more information.

Title: A Sinister Obsession

Author: S. B. Redstone

Published: August 2013

Publisher: Black Opal Books

Word Count: approx. 94,000

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Content Warning: Violence and Sexual Content

Recommended Age: 21+

Synopsis: A psychopathic killer on a quest leaves behind a string of brutal murders, and to find the Who, the police must first discover the Why…

Detective Aubrey McKenzie has been assigned to investigate the murders. A lovely, fabulously wealthy, dark-haired Scot, whose iron will was forged in the inferno of human tragedy, Aubrey is stymied by the lack of solid clues. Now she must rely on her paranormal ability to apprehend the killer—an ability that has been invaluable in her police work but has made a disaster of her social life.

Fate teams Aubrey with Detective Joshua Diamond, a handsome, talented, and compassionate man who is more than happy eating a greasy bacon-cheeseburger and wearing clothes that should have been thrown out with the trash. In a race against time, Aubrey and Joshua must overcome their vast differences—and their attraction for each other—and discover the identity of this elusive killer, and the quest this fiend is on, before more lives are destroyed.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads

If you're anything like me, after picking up a book and reading the blurb, you like to look inside, so here's your chance. Enjoy

Excerpt from A Sinister Obsession by S. B. Redstone:

When Aubrey arrived home, she glanced at her answering machine. There was one message. Since she didn’t have friends, she knew who it was. She pressed the button and heard that cold, authoritative voice. “Aubrey. This is your mother. I am reminding you of Randal’s birthday party tomorrow night. He would be quite disappointed if you did not make an appearance. The time—”

Aubrey quickly pushed the delete button. She hated being reminded of times and dates by her mother, as if she was a forgetful child. It pissed her off.

After taking a hot shower, she slipped into green satin pajamas. Sitting in her entertainment room, watching the late evening news, she sipped 1981 Armagnac Cames Brandy and ate crackers with brie.

Nearing three in the morning, Aubrey turned off the television, and went into bed. In the darkness, she obsessed about the murder case, feeling a rising anger toward this heinous criminal. Her last conscious thought before falling asleep brought a smile to her face. She knew the perp had failed to take one essential factor into consideration before deciding to perpetrate the crime. A factor that he didn’t predict, and in fact, couldn’t have predicted. And that factor would eventually lead her to discover his identity and get a conviction. He didn’t know I’d be assigned to the case!

Are you hooked yet? Before S. B. Redstone leaves, he's got some general information about himself for us as well.

I write under the name S. B. Redstone. I began my career, after graduating from Hunter College, as a caseworker for the New York City Department of Social Services, Protective Services, investigating the horrors of the abuse and neglect of children. After attaining master’s degrees in Social Work and School Psychology, and then completing a post-graduate education in Psychoanalytic Therapy, I became a School Psychologist in the New York City Department of Education and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in a private therapy practice on Long Island, treating adults, adolescents, children, and couples. Always striving to improve my understanding of human nature, I researched and then wrote a personal improvement book, Taming Your Inner & Outer Bullies: Confronting Life’s Stressors And Winning, which offers remarkable insights into behavior, societal institutions, and relationships. I have written articles on the web concerning human nature, relationships and the abuses of societal institutions, given lectures, and appeared on radio shows.

Always having a vivid imagination and a desire to write fiction, I developed my writing skills by becoming a successful writer of short stories, all of which have been published on the web and in print. As an expert in the field of human psychology, I have been able to develop realistic characters from the dark side of human nature where my villains don’t aspire for happiness through personal achievement, but rather from their demented narcissistic schemes. Many of my characters have been taken from my clinical experiences and interesting people I know. I love romance in my stories. It is an essential element in my mystery thriller A Sinister Obsession and horror novel. Now that I am obsessed with writing “senior” romances, it has become further developed and heartfelt. I have two seeking publication at this time. I am a member of the International Thriller Writers Organization and Romance Writers of America.

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And there's a giveaway!

Giveaway Details:

There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following: