AN INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN STEELE FROM PATRICIA BRADLEY'S NATCHEZ TRACE PARK RANGERS SERIES

Natchez, Mississippi

Today we sit down for a chat with Lincoln Steele from author Patricia Bradley’s Natchez Trace Park Rangers series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

I was a successful FBI investigator/sniper. And I didn’t have PTSD from almost killing a ten-year-old boy. Oh, and thanks for giving me an opportunity to rat out talk about my author.

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself? 

That I can adapt. If I can’t be an FBI agent, then I can feed my other love—history—as an interpretive ranger for the National Park Service.

 

What do you like least about yourself? 

I hate that I can’t overcome this thing about guns. After all, I was an FBI sniper…

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you? Going back to the gun thing—I just don’t understand why she had to do that. I mean, couldn’t she have just made me afraid of alligators? There’s plenty of them in the sloughs around Natchez.

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about? 

All the time. It’s always about the gun thing. I mean, how can a former FBI sniper be a hero without a gun?

 

What is your greatest fear? 

That Ainsley will be in danger, and I can’t save her. I let her down once, and I never want to do that again.

 

What makes you happy? 

Having Ainsley smile that special smile at me. The one that says, “I forgive you…I love you…”

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

I would never hurt Ainsley like I did when we were in college. See, she had this great dream of being a country/gospel singer, and I told myself the music industry would chew her up and spit her out. I told myself I didn’t want to see her hurt, but really, I was afraid I’d lose her. I lost her anyway,

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

The escaped convict bugs me the most. He’s like a chameleon and I’m afraid he’ll get to Ainsley when I’m not around. 

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why? 

Actually, none of them. Because her dad was so controlling, Ainsley doesn’t let anyone get close to her emotionally, so it wouldn’t do any good to trade places with one of them. I’ll just have to prove to her I’ve changed so she’ll trust me again.

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog? 

Patricia Bradley and her two rescue kitties Suzy and Tux live in Northeast Mississippi just four miles from Tennessee and twenty-five from Alabama. She’s a Carol finalist and winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense, and three anthologies that included her stories debuted on the USA Today Best Seller List. 

 

She sets most of her romantic suspense novels in the South, and they include the Logan Point series, the Memphis Cold Case Novels, and the Natchez Trace Park Ranger series. You can find links to her books at https://ptbradley.com/books/.

 

Patricia would love to connect with you on her blog—you see, on Tuesdays she writes posts with mystery questions, usually about dumb criminals. Three of the stories are true, but she makes up one of them. It’s up to the reader to guess which one she made up. Then on Fridays, she tells her readers about a book she’s read lately. And you can always connect with her at her website where you can find links to all her social media. 

What's next for you? 

Crosshairs, my third book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series released Monday, November 1, 2021, and I just turned in the fourth book of the series, Deception.

 

Crosshairs

Natchez Trace Park Rangers, Book 3

 

Investigative Services Branch (ISB) ranger Ainsley Beaumont arrives in her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to investigate the murder of a three-month-pregnant teenager. While she wishes the visit was under better circumstances, she never imagined that she would become the killer’s next target–nor that she’d have to work alongside an old flame.

 

After he almost killed a child, former FBI sniper Lincoln Steele couldn’t bring himself to fire a gun, which had deadly and unforeseen consequences for his best friend. Crushed beneath a load of guilt, Linc is working at Melrose Estate as an interpretive ranger. But as danger closes in on Ainsley during her murder investigation, Linc will have to find the courage to protect her. The only question is, will it be too little, too late?

 

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GUEST AUTHOR MAGGIE TOUSSAINT ON LOVE, ROMANCE, VALENTINE'S DAY GIFTS & MUDDY WATERS

Southern award-winning author Maggie Toussaint writes mystery, suspense, and futuristic fiction. Under her own name and her pen name of Rigel Carson, she’s published twenty novels, several short stories, and novellas. Learn more about Maggie and her books at her website. 

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Maggie takes over the blog today to talk about love and romance and special Valentine’s Day gifts all wrapped up in muddy waters. (Yes, it will all makes sense if you keep reading!.)

Chocolate or flowers or bears?

What’s your preference for Valentine’s Day? Decadent chocolate? Fragrant roses? A cuddly teddy bear? A sentimental card? The options are as wide open as your imagination.

Valentine’s Day is made for romance and love. Everyone secretly yearns to be swept off his or her feet and fall madly in love. For those who enjoy stories of the heart, romance writers are here to help! Though experiencing romance and love firsthand are the best, living vicariously through a well-crafted story can also bring satisfaction.

Speaking of romances, my Muddy Waters heroine yearns for love. Roxie’s the girl-next-door type, the one who helps others achieve their dreams, and sets aside her dreams of love.

In walks the town’s bad boy, all tall, dark, and dangerous, and real estate broker Roxie is tongue-tied. Sloan’s a charming rogue, definitely not her type, and yet there’s something between them. An intangible connection that makes her wonder if he is her type.

Atlanta security expert Sloan Harding is stunned at the tidiness of his yard. He hasn’t been down to the coast in years and not a blade of grass is out of place. If not for the tree on his roof, he wouldn’t be in Mossy Bog now. Belatedly, he realizes he owes Roxie and her grandmother, who have been acting as property caretakers in his absence. He doesn’t like to owe anyone anything.

Turns out he needs a property manager to oversee the roof repairs and Roxie wants the job. If not for his missing inheritance, theirs would be a match made in heaven. Evidence points to Roxie’s family, and the bottom falls out of their blooming friendship.

Meanwhile, Roxie juggles a difficult real estate client and tries to get on with her life. Accidents beset her, and it feels like someone is watching her. She doesn’t know why these things are happening, and she most especially doesn’t want anyone to tell Sloan.

She misses him so much it’s hard to draw a full breath. Sloan’s miserable too, as much as he wants his inheritance, he wants Roxie more. Something’s gotta give.

Though it isn’t Valentine’s Day, Sloan opts to surprise Roxie with a bouquet of red roses. What Valentine’s gift would sweep you off your feet?

Muddy Waters

A Mossy Bog Romantic Suspense, Book 1

Real estate broker Roxie Whitaker is juggling skittish clients, an anxious bride, and her wayward brother. She’d very much like to sell some property, soothe her friend’s wedding jitters, and knock some sense into her party-boy brother’s head. Meanwhile, she needs a date for the wedding. In walks Sloan Harding, the town’s former bad boy and now an Atlanta security expert, and Roxie believes he’s the answer to her problems.

Sparks fly as he escorts her to the wedding and asks her advice about his property. While he’s home, Sloan hunts for his missing inheritance. Sloan’s search uncovers family secrets and painful memories. To make matters worse, someone in the shadows is after his inheritance, someone who will do whatever it takes to walk away with the fortune.

When passion meets danger, will love win the day?

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