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Today Shonell Bacon is here with Into the Web, a genre-busting crime novel about the lure of social networking and murder. You all know how much I love suspense, so I’m on the edge of my seat for this one. Join me? (Well, I’d suggest the edge of *your* seat. Mine could get crowded, LOL.)

Welcome, Shonell, and congratulations on your release! Can you tell our readers about Into the Web?

Hi there, and thanks for having me! Yes, I can tell you all a little about Into the Web. ITW follows twins and mystery novelists Jovan and Cheyenne Parham as they join an investigation into the kidnappings and murders of young girls who are lured off a popular social networking site to their demise. Needless to say, the investigation keeps the girls from getting their writing done. The investigation also taxes the twins’ relationships in ways they didn’t imagine.

I love the plot—in particular the suspense elements. (You all know those are my fave! *grin*) Your book is second in a series. Tell us about the series and how each title is related.

YES, Into the Web is book two in the Double Inkwell mystery series that kicked off with Death at the Double Inkwell. Both are standalone books, so readers won’t be confused with what’s going on in ITW. When we meet the twins in DDIW, Jovan and Cheyenne find themselves working to prove they are not killers after a devastating death mirrors one that occurs in one of their novels. In the midst of trying to prove themselves innocent, both women fall into the arms of men neither would have given a second glance to before. ITW takes place about two years after DDIW ends.

WOW! I’d freak out if something happened in real life as it does in my books. What a great element! Now that I’m all giddy, LOL, what might readers be surprised to learn about the plot or characters of Into the Web?

Hmm. Surprised? Not sure it’s evident in the story; however, I am probably the #1 fan of Murder, She Wrote, and I do consider my twins contemporary versions of Jessica Fletcher!

Now *that* is cool! Let’s have some fun with Into the Web. What’s the first sentence?

Here ya go: Except for the glow that resonated from the laptop’s screen, the room was devoid of light.

Draws me right in. Sounds like my bedroom every night, LOL. What’s your favorite line in the book?

It comes at a time when Jovan is trying to explain evil and how one turn can move someone into evil tendencies. She concludes by talking about how many of us are lucky because we don’t choose that evil path. I love the entire passage there, but the concluding sentence always makes me nod like GOOD: “We’re able to live and live well and love and love well because we see the difference between the two ways of living and we choose right.”

Awesome quote, Shonell! Now how about an excerpt … three sentences long! Yep, that’s it. Three!

I’m mad at three sentences, LOL! OK, let’s see. But it gives me an opportunity to add further to the above sentence! This is Jovan, talking about evil or the evil that might try to fester and grow:

“That something has a voice, and we work so hard to keep that voice well hidden because to let it loose can evoke unimaginable horrors that most of us can’t stomach. But there are those, those who let that voice burn inside them, burn in their throats and in their minds until it consumes and then there’s nothing to do but kill it—through others.

“I’m lucky,” she would point at the reporter, “you’re lucky,” she would look at the camera, into the homes of the millions who watched, “most of you out there watching this are lucky because there are things we love more in this life than we hate this one burning thing.”

Wow. That’s a pretty intense excerpt. I’m impressed! Which scene of Into the Web was most difficult for you to write? Why?

Any scene where I have to do bodily harm to a main character is difficult to write. To someone that’s never read a book and felt the realness of the characters, to a writer that’s never spoken to her characters as if they are real, this might sound silly. My characters are as real as I am. It hurts me, physically, to see them hurt. And to know I inflict that hurt? Not good. But sometimes, a character needs to take a good thrashing to keep the story moving, and often the lead main character, Jovan, is the victim of these thrashings.

It’s a testament to the strength of your writing for your characters to affect you so profoundly, and I bet they do your readers as well. ;c) Which scene would you most like to experience for yourself? From whose POV?

Having people come up to me, knowing me as an author without me wearing a T-shirt or a sign (LOL) and telling me how much they love my work and wanting me to autograph something for them.

Ah, yes. That would rock! What inspired Into the Web‘s title?

The basic premise that sparked the story: young girls being lured off the Internet to their demise. They went into the web, but they didn’t make it out alive.

*Shivers* It *is* a great title, Shonell. Before we take a closer look, can you tell us what you’re working on now?

Actually, I’m working on a sensual romance novella, Between the Pages, that needs to be done ASAP, so I got some work to do! Also I’m doing some mental writing on the next Double Inkwell mystery book that I hope to churn out a draft of during NaNoWriMo this year. No title on that project yet.

INTO THE WEB

The minute twins and mystery novelists Jovan and Cheyenne Parham find their lives settling into a nice rhythm, all hell breaks loose – in their personal lives and in the latest crime they find themselves mixed up in. Jo is trying to build a relationship with Mark Brockman, but the deaths of her husband and Mark’s wife, and the sordid nature of their coming together keeps her from jumping into the relationship with both feet. Cheyenne is head over heels in love with former detective-now P.I. Ian Davenport, but unexpected news and Ian’s involvement in a new case causes Chey to second guess the deepness of their love. Trying to figure out their love lives becomes all the more complicated when Jo and Chey are thrust into a series of kidnappings and murders involving young girls who seem to make the wrong friends online. When a mayoral candidate’s daughter is kidnapped, Ian finds himself on the case, much to the chagrin of Chey considering he spends an awful lot of time holding and caring for the candidate’s wife. Bringing the girl home safely and finding the killer pushes the twins to the limits of their personal and professional lives. Going into a web of infidelity, lies, deception, and murder often leaves all involved in disarray. Will Jovan and Cheyenne find themselves, once again, trying to pick up the remaining fragments of their lives once this is all over?

Find it @ Amazon

Shonell Bacon

Shonell Bacon is an author, doctoral candidate, editor, educator–everywoman. She has published both creatively and academically–novels, short stories, essays, and textbooks. In addition to her love of writing and what the future holds in her literary life, she is also an editor who loves helping writers hone their literary craft. Since 2001, she has edited for hundreds of writers who have gone on to pursue self-publishing careers and have been published within the traditional publishing arena. Her love for helping writers also moved her to begin writing articles and commentaries regarding the writing life and craft, and she publishes these articles on various websites. She is an educator, having taught English and mass communication courses in addition to fiction writing and other courses related to creative writing. And while taking part in all of those things, Shonell also finds the time to pursue her Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric at Texas Tech University. Now a doctoral candidate, she is conducting research and writing her dissertation.

Learn more @ Website | Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter

Shonell, thanks so much for sharing your book with us! (Have I mentioned how much I love the cover? It gives me chills!) Readers, I hope you’ll give her a warm welcome. Have a fabulous day, everyone!