Teufel and New Austrian Order
by LD Towers
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GENRE: Military fiction
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BLURB FOR NAO:
1938. Germany is moving faster than Standartenführer Hagen Kohl thought possible. Sent down to Vienna to investigate a potential threat to Hitler’s plans for Austria, Hagen is drawn in to an aristocratic world he’s never encountered before. Without Hauptsturmführer Eugen Friesler at his side, Hagen is in more danger than he could have imagined as he hunts for a shadowy organization called the New Austrian Order. Back in Germany, Galiena von Steinberg returns to Riesa and the von Steinberg Gesellschaft, but taking over the reins of her Grandfather’s empire comes with many challenges. Can she protect her family holdings while keeping true to the new sense of self she has worked so hard to find?
BLURB FOR TEUFEL:
Against the politically charged background of Nazi Germany’s police state, Standartenführer Doctor Hagen Kohl is trying to carve out a profession for himself in the SS. A middle class intellectual with a doctorate in Literature, Hagen is a an investigator who hunts criminals within the party apparatus itself. Hagen justifies everything by his personal code and patriotism, unable to see the flaws of the regime he serves. When he is ordered to investigate members of the army, he discovers patriotism is entirely a matter of perspective. His eyes are further opened by exposure to Galiena von Steinberg; an aristocrat whose own experiences bring him into the entanglements and intrigues at the highest levels of Third Reich society.
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Excerpt for NAO:
Hagen nodded at his acquaintance, Standartenführer Heinrich ‘Gestapo’ Müller, as they passed on the walkway. Gestapo Müller and Hagen worked well together and were polite to one another, but there was always something between them. Hagen was a highly educated man; he held a doctorate in German literature. Müller was a former Munich vice detective who had worked his way up through the ranks before being brought into the SS by Reinhard Heydrich. Hagen was known to be ruthless, but Müller was a step beyond. Cold, calculating and completely without morality when it suited him, Müller’s penchant for physical brutality and torture were well known in the Gestapo. Müller thought nothing of beating a man to the edge of death to wring a confession from him, and Hagen could not look at Müller’s coarse hands without thinking he could see dried blood on the skin. It was that image which always leapt to Hagen’s mind whenever he saw the man. Blood crusted fingernails.
“Well, afternoon, Teufel! What brings you outside on this piss poor day?” Müller always called Hagen by his nickname, echoing their mutual master, Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
“Going to see the boss,” Hagen nodded, aware Müller would know which one.
“Lucky you,” Müller replied snidely. “But then you are the fair haired boy, aren’t you?”
Hagen cocked a brow at Müller. “Is that what they’re calling me?”
“Heydrich might have said it, yes, but then he is out of favour at the moment and he so hates competition,” Müller snorted derisively. “Watch yourself. The RF might like you, but you don’t want Heydrich to get jealous. He isn’t above making your life difficult.”
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Interview with the Author:
1. How long have you been writing?
I wrote my first full length novel when I was 16. It was a Star Trek:TNG book about Mr. Worf and is presently available over at fanfiction.net. As for poetry, short stories and the like? I think I’ve been writing since I was younger. There have been a lot of half finished things since that time. Then I wrote Teufel in 2003, published it in 2007, and have been going ever since.
2. How long have you been a published author?
That’s almost a trick question. I was published as a poet in 1992 in grade 10. It was a poem that would never get published if you wrote it in today’s climate. It was about a hitman, and the poem was called 1-800-666-SLAY. It was in a school district anthology. I was a morbid little thing back in the day. To be truthful, not much has changed. My first published novel was Teufel in 2007.
3. What titles do you have available?
Teufel, New Austrian Order (the new one! Hooray!) and a novella called The Airport. I went into a bit of a doldrum for a while when I was in Berlin. Lots of acting like an artist without doing my art. Berlin is a strange place. People move there to become artists and end up creatively moribund. I know four artists who had the exact same problem.
4. What made you choose the subject of this book?
It’s a continuation of Teufel, which is set in Nazi Germany in the 1937. That time period really fascinates me. I was a military historian who only studied WWI. Absolutely wasn’t interested in WWII. Then I saw a documentary about the Third Reich in Colour, and it just twigged something. It almost felt like a memory of a place I had never been, but seeing it in colour, it made it seem real. My research focus changed- I became very interested in the paramilitary organisations of the National Socialist party and decided to write a book which would show them as they were.
The SS in particular- the truth is stranger than the fiction. When you see the footage on the history channel, you see men in terrifying black uniforms and it seems monolithic. Start researching that organisation, and you find so very many unexpected things. An example- if two SS officers had a beef, they were allowed to sort it out in a duel. They had an entire handbook devoted to the subject. How odd is it that as late as the 1930s, two men could go have a legally sanctioned shootout to sort out an argument?
5. Do you have any new titles coming soon?
I do! A book about a Canadian officer hunting for a serial killer on the Western Front of WWI, which will come out early next year and really new, genre busting piece with my take on vampires but as yet nameless also coming. I’m pretty nervous about that one. It’s right off my reservation in terms of topic. I don’t really do supernatural.
6. What is your favourite genre and why?
Military and historical fiction. It’s easy for me. I can do the research and the story flows. Human history is so full of amazing events. I particularly like military history because of how people change in times of conflict. It’s like a crucible. It renders us down to our most basic parts. The seemingly brave can become cowards and mice can become lions. It shows us at our very best and very worst. It’s brilliant for character development.
7. What, to you, is the most exciting part of the writing process?
I love the research. It can get a bit all consuming when I’m in the zone. Then my poor family suffers with me spouting off about my latest historical nuggets. I also like character development. Often my characters go off in directions which surprise even me. The Grandmaster of the New Austrian Order is absolutely not who I originally intended then suddenly it just fit for that character to step into that role. But who that actually is- well, that’s a secret for the sequel to New Austrian Order- Anschluss.
8. If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would you choose and why?
David Eddings is my God. If I could have 1/10th of his skill at dialogue, I would be happy. I love his character interaction.
Thank you for spending a few minutes with me and my readers.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
LD Towers travels the world like a rootless vagabond! A military historian, she searches out places of conflict to find a deeper insight to the things she writes about. Presently enjoying the warm weather and azure seas of Central America, she has lived all over Western Europe, including 5.5 years in the incomparable Berlin.
Primarily working in Historical and Military Fiction, LD sometimes sneaks in the odd Dystopian or Modern Thriller piece. Also look for a series of novellas about the despicable yet intriguing Meinrad von Steinberg from the Riesa Series, coming in fall 2015.
Website: http://www.ldtowers.net
Twitter: @L_D_Towers
FB: shttps://www.facebook.com/LDTowerswalk
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/LD-Towers/e/B00ZMFTJTQ
Page for Teufel: http://www.amazon.com/Teufel-Riesa-Book-LD-Towers-ebook/dp/B00ZLT5LCW
NOTE: THE AUTHOR IS OFFERING A SMASHWORDS COUPON TO ALL BLOG READERS for New Austrian Order!
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/590036
The list price is $6.99.
Promotional price: $4.96
Coupon Code: YM67N
Expires: March 3, 2016
Also, Teufel is on Kindle countdown as follows:
Amazon US:
November 19, 2015 at 12:00 AM (PST) — $0.99
November 20, 2015 at 6:00 PM (PST) — $1.99
November 22, 2015 at 12:00 PM (PST) — $2.99
November 24, 2015 at 6:00 AM (PST) — $3.99
November 26, 2015 at 12:00 AM (PST) – Back to original list price $4.99
Amazon UK:
November 19, 2015 at 8:00 AM (GMT) — £0.99
November 22, 2015 at 4:00 PM (GMT) — £1.99
November 26, 2015 at 12:00 AM (GMT) — back to original list price £3.27
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Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.
The tour dates can be found here:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/10/nbtm-riesa-series-by-ld-towers.html
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LD Towers will be awarding a $40 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour
Enter to win a $40 Amazon/BN GC -a Rafflecopter giveaway
