Blog Tour & Guest Post: The Big Show Stopper by Ken Dalton

I was asked by Tribute Books to participate in a blog tour for Ken Dalton's new book, The Big Show Stopper.  You can click here to visit this blog tour's website to view the blog tour schedule, read chapter one of The Big Show Stopper and to read reviews of this novel. 

Guest Post by Ken Dalton:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer questions from my readers on your blog.

Your latest novel, The Big Show Stopper, is non-stop fun, but once in a while Pinky, Bear, or Flo will do or say something that bothers me.  Why do you do that?

The actions of Pinky, Bear and Flo should create a positive or a negative emotional response from the reader.  When that happens, I have done my job as a writer.  A character in a novel that doesn't move the reader, one way or another, should end up on the cutting-room floor.

So Pinky, Bear and Flo are sort of crazy on purpose?

The one-word answer is yes.  All three are infused with some positive, but mostly negative traits.

Look at Pinky.  He has a single positive quality - an attorney who may be your only hope if you are waiting trial for murder.  On the negative side, the height-deprived Pinky is greedier than Scrooge and spends more time than he should looking at himself in the mirror.

Bear, on the other hand, is big and tough, so his physical stature concerns some, but he uses his street smarts, rather than brute force, to accomplish his investigative needs.  Bear's main negative traits are his poor language skills and his concentrating on females with well-developed bosoms.

Last, but not least, is Flo.  Without a question this woman is hard to pin down.  At times she's easy to be around, then, as quickly as you can snap your fingers, she becomes a problem to both Bear and Pinky.  Flo's job is to keep the boat rocking, both figuritively and literally.

Will Pinky, Bear and Flo live on in future books?

Yes! The third novel of the series, tentatively titled, The Amethyst Corpse, will be released in the fall of this year and will be available on Amazon in both print and Kindle form.

Please email me at ken@kendalton.com if you have further questions or go online, www.kendalton.com, to post a comment.

About the Author:

(As given to me by Tribute Books)

Ken Dalton was born in 1938. In a turn of bad luck, the dreaded Polio virus found Ken. At the end of World War II, Ken's family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming for a year where he learned how to live through snow blizzards, avoid walking through the large pile of coal in the basement, and how to survive life as an Army Officer's brat on a base called Fort Warren.

By the age of sixteen, after eleven years of operations, therapy, and braces, Ken's luck changed dramatically when he met the girl of his dreams at a party. A few years later they married, produced three wonderful children, and settled into a happy life in Southern California.

In 1966, Ken, who worked as a technician for Pacific Bell, and his family left Southern California for the green hills of Sonoma County where they bought a home in Sebastopol surrounded with apple trees. A few years later, Ken and Arlene built a new home on three and a half acres. They raised cows, pigs, and learned how to build outstanding fences. While their children grew, they hosted two exchange students, Eva Reimers from Sweden, and Tanja Wuttke from Germany, both of whom are still loved members of the Dalton clan. Also during those years, Ken was promoted to management at Pacific Bell. He eventually ended up responsible for all the central offices, sixty-three, in an area that covered five counties.

In 1977, Ken, Arlene, Bob Wiltermood, and his wife Norma, designed, built, and operated a 2000 case winery named Pommeraie Vineyards. They produced award winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. However, after Bob died, the winery was sold. Ken and Arlene moved to a hilltop in Healdsburg.

With the winery gone, and time on their hands, Ken and Arlene started to perform with the Camp Rose Players. Twenty years and forty productions later, both are still acting and singing.

Life was good. All Ken had to do was learn some lines and bow when the audience applauded.

Then, ten years ago, in a moment of madness, Ken started to write. His first article was published in Golf Illustrated in August 1996. More golf articles followed in national and regional magazines including Golf Magazine and Fairways and Greens.

After a two-year stint on the County Grand Jury, Ken felt the need to begin his first novel.

Now, after a decade of struggle to learn the craft of writing, Ken has become the publishing world's latest overnight sensation.