The Next Witness

 

The Next Witness

by Kirstyn Petras

 

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GENRE: Thriller

 

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BLURB:

 

Alexander Covington is hunting a traitor: Melody Karsh, a missing girl accused of treason, a Party member who has forsaken her country. But, letters are appearing in mailboxes, being slipped beneath doors, and in the pockets of passersby. “Free Melody” is being spray painted on walls. Her image – cold, shivering, pathetic – has captured the public’s attention and sympathy.

 

Melody has no idea that her name is being used to start a movement, not until the executions of those demanding her freedom start airing on television.

 

Derek Lin would feel sympathy, if he didn’t blame Melody for the deaths of those who have disappeared without a trace, caught up in the investigation to find her.

 

Melody must choose to join the fight or stand aside. Derek will become a leader or break under the pressure. Alexander will decide how many bodies must fall to save his own life.

 

 

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EXCERPT

 

“Well, we thank you very much, Detective Covington, for your time and encourage the public to cooperate fully. And now, a word from our sponsors.”

 

“Clear!” Morgan called, and Covington stood up. He ripped the microphone off his blazer, and, without a word, strode out of the studio. Morgan started screaming the second he was out of earshot.

 

“Do you want us shut down?! Do you have any idea what you've done?!”

 

“Morgan, what is he going to do?” Denise asked, leaning back. “Look, he didn't want me to ask a question, and I did anyway. They never actually announce stories like this. I wanted to know why - how far she could have gotten - the fact he didn’t answer doesn’t make that look good, does it?” 

 

Morgan gaped at her, before returning to the mixing booth. Derek followed her and peeked over her shoulder to watch the playback.

 

There, on the screen, were the pictures of the so-called terrorists. And there was her picture. She'd been at the bar, waiting for Sean, however long ago. He'd seen her picture, the background of Sean's phone, heard Sean talk about her, mope about her, drink himself stupid over her.

 

“We have a problem.” He muttered to Morgan.

 

“What?” Morgan jumped, not having seen him following her. “Why?”

 

“Because I’m pretty sure that girl’s been gone a hell of a lot longer than you think.”

A Word With the Author

1.Did you always want to be an author?

 

I knew I wanted to write, but I don’t know if I thought of “author” as a serious career title for most of my life. What I thought I wanted changed quite a bit growing up. I suffered from the “anywhere but here,” mentality. I knew I wanted to travel, and I wanted to do something that flexed my creative muscles. Aside from that, the picture changed quite often. Writing was always included, but as a dream, and in conjunction with, other aspirations. 

 

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

 

So this story has been such a long time in the making it’s hard to know where to begin with that question. I finally finished a draft of the story in 2018, I think, and then started sending it out to friends, asking what the fix and how to improve it. But I didn’t start submitting the book until 2020. My friend, and another author, N.B. Turner and I, started our own podcast focused on Dark Fiction. From there we gained a little traction within the indie noir writing community on Twitter. Twitter is how I found Cinnabar Moth Publishing, they accepted the story, and now, a bit less than a year later, here we are. 

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

Oh, I don’t know if I could pick just one, especially because I wouldn’t classify myself as having a defined genre. For short stories I tend towards horror, and Joe Hill has been such an inspiration there. I think early Chuck Palahniuk, particularly Lullaby, was also influential in terms of story structure, and not being afraid to let bad things happen to main characters. Clive Barker has some influence too, as well as Jeff Vandermeer’s tendency to let the reader figure out the story - he’s frustratingly good at that. 

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst?

 

I think the best part is the excitement of having people read to and viscerally respond to my story. The ending of The Next Witness has prompted a lot of angry texting, but that’s good! It means that readers felt something for the characters and the world in which those characters exist. 

But the worst part is the same - you have to handle the criticism as well as the praise. And that’s hard, when it’s a story you hold dear and poured your soul into. But that’s a part of the process, universal popularity doesn’t exist.

5.What are you working on now?

Currently I’m working on a story that’s more speculative/magical realism. It revolves around former best friends April and Priscilla, a bartender named Jack, their former teacher Scott, and a couple in the early 1900s with a child of questionable parentage. It’s still in the first draft, but when all’s said and done will involve a road trip from Indiana to Arizona, a motorcycle chase scene, and lots of blues music.  

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Kirstyn Petras is a fiction writer and commodities reporter but primarily identifies as caffeine in a human suit held together by hair spray and sheer force of will. She currently resides in Texas, though claims home as a combination of New York and Edinburgh. When not writing, she trains contortion and aerial hoop. She has been published in Punk Noir, and is the co-host of Dark Waters, a literary podcast exploring all that is dark, ready, and wonderfully twisted.

 

https://twitter.com/Kirstyn_Petras

https://cinnabarmoth.com/kirstyn-petras/

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

 

Kirstyn Petras will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway