Fabulous Friday-Nike Chillemi-Crime Stopping Mystery Author

Today I welcome an author who writes Crime Stopping Action Stories spiced with humor: 

Nike Chillemi

Enter to win Nike's book, 
Harmful Intent

Scroll to the end of the post to see how to enter.

Nike is the leader of my ACFW crit group. She keeps our gang of varied genre writers together with her godly spirit and love for helping other writers. While we've prayed for each other's needs, I was truly touched when reading her post for today. Nike has several books published and has just released her latest. When I heard the good news I asked her to visit with us and share how God had led her on her writing journey. Here is what she wrote:

When I Listened

I'm not one to say, "God told me to write this novel," still, I do feel it's been God nudging me to write fiction. I do get inspiration for my stories, seemingly out of nowhere. Of course, we know what this type of silent and sudden muse is all about. It's the Holy Spirit trying to get something across to us. So, while God does not dictate stories to me, no, not at all, He does impart ideas and themes, and if I'm listening, I use them. There have been times when something was given to me and I didn't write it down and later forgot it. Then I had to pray that I would get across what He wanted in spite of myself.

I've been a foster mom and the adoptive mom of three girls who came to us through an adoption agency specializing in the adoption of children who were in foster care. I have seen how early abuse and neglect damages children, and growing past that is hard, and becoming a fully functioning adult is hard. I'm committed now to writing a mystery "couples series." When the series is complete there will be four different couples who are my sleuths. Each couple will have more than one novel in which to tell the totality of their story. At least one member of each couple will have been damaged by something devastating in their childhood. It could be the heroine or the hero. It might be both. Whatever this damage is, will pop up at the most inconvenient times to stress and confound that character.

HARMFUL INTENT, a Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels/Dawson Hughes Novel, is the first in this series. Ronnie is a private investigator from Brooklyn (NYC) who finds herself in west Texas, and a suspect in her cheating husband's murder. On the spiritual front, she's a bit jaded, but she's also a seeker. She's just beginning to ask questions about the meaning of life. She's taking a look at Christianity for the first time. Dawson is a deputy sheriff from the hill country of Texas and is the one suspecting Ronnie of murder. He hails from a Christian background and has lost the faith he had as a child. This is something he struggles with throughout the story.

I wrap up the murder mystery in HARMFUL INTENT, but not the spiritual journey or the romance. Book two for Ronnie and Dawson will be DEADLY DESIGNS, where they join forces once again to find a missing child.

~~~

Like so many writers, Nike Chillemi started writing at a very young age. She still has the Crayola, fully illustrated book she penned (colored might be more accurate) as a little girl about her then off-the-chart love of horses. Today, you might call her a crime fictionista. Her passion is crime fiction. She likes her bad guys really bad and her good guys smarter and better.

Nike is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and is its Chairman, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. She writes book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. Her four novel Sanctuary Point series, set in the mid-1940s has won awards and garnered critical acclaim. Her new contemporary whodunit, HARMFUL INTENT released in the spring of 2014 under the auspices of her own publishing company, Crime Fictionista Press. 

She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Christian Indie Novelists (CHIN), and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers.

Want to connect with Nike? 
http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/
You'll also discover some great crime stopping tips on her site.

~~~

HARMFUL INTENT :

Betrayal runs in private investigator Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels' family. So, why is she surprised when her husband of one year cheats on her? The real shock is his murder, with the local lawman pegging her as the prime suspect.

Ronnie Ingels is a Brooklyn bred private investigator who travels to west Texas, where her cheating husband is murdered. As she hunts the killer to clear her name, she becomes the hunted.

Deputy Sergeant Dawson Hughes, a former Army Ranger, is a man folks want on their side. Only he's not so sure at first, he's on the meddling New York PI's side. As the evidence points away from her, he realizes the more she butts in, the more danger she attracts to herself.

Sweet, askance romance, warm intimacy, sophisticated themes presented tastefully.

Purchase Link for Harmful Intent:  Amazon

To enter the contest for an eBook copy of 

Nike Chillemi's book: "Harmful Intent":

leave a comment (and email address)

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International Readers are also invited to enter!!

Winner announced on my facebook page.

Thank you, Nike, for Joining us This Weekend!

Nike's crime stopping series sure looks exciting. I've read this first book and wrote a review in my last post. Scroll down to Wednesday's post to read it. 

There is something exciting about whodunit stories. We try to guess the answers. Sometimes we are right. Usually we are wrong. Hah. Still we try again.

Your turn: Have you read mystery stories? If yes, what do you like about them?