Wednesday, May 1, 2013

VBT: The Danger Game



This sounds like an interesting read. What drew you to computer programming for your premise?


The Danger Game is not so much about computer programming, more about a geeky girl who is a mix of MacGyver and genius programmer!

Flick is one smart heroine, always one step ahead of everyone else. Give her an algorithm to write and she’s on it, a cyber-war to stop, no problems, a hot guy helping her out of trouble… er…Okay, so the hot guy slows her down a bit!  If only there was some kind of formula she could apply.

Crime in the cyber world fascinates me. Reliance on the internet and computers is part of our modern lives, but it makes us vulnerable in many scary ways – and that’s why I like to write about it.

I also have a source of inside information… My husband.  Geek-extraordinaire.

He works every day to keep essential computer systems up and running.  From defense to banking to airlines.  My stories are based on thorough research and occasionally real world situations in which he has been involved.  Of course all embellished by me.  But there is always a kernel of truth (or conspiracy theory) in there somewhere.

I wrote The Danger Game over Christmas 2011.  The idea sparked when I read an article about cyber-war, and it inspired a plot about an unstoppable cyber-weapon. By early February I had the first draft done. It was also the first story I’d based in my home city of Sydney, and it was a real pleasure to write about the city I love.  The Danger Game was one of those sweet stories that just come together nicely.  I wish all my stories were as easy to write!
 BLURB:
1
 Flick likes computers. She’s good with them, and they do what she tells them, mostly. People, however, are more of a challenge.

But when a terrifyingly dangerous program is stolen, and her mentor killed, Flick finds herself on the run. The police are convinced she’s committed murder, and a sinister weapons developer will stop at nothing to force her to work for him.

In Ben’s line of work being suspicious keeps you alive. So when Flick turns to him, he quickly realises that she’s up to her neck in trouble and hasn’t fully grasped the danger she is in. 

First he has to keep her safe, and then, together, they have to figure out how to save the world from an epic meltdown.
EXCERPT:
“It’s your last chance with the Vice Chancellor.”

“I said I’d be there.” Flick didn’t bother to hide her irritation. “I just won the man a million dollar grant, what more does he want?”

“Your bubbly and fun personality?” There was amusement beneath Andy’s sarcasm.

Flick snorted. “All right. Okay. I’m leaving now.” She growled the words, and hit the off-button on her phone.

They both knew she lied.

She dropped the phone onto the desk. Then, scowling, she clicked on the icon that’d run the Bellona program.  It crashed instantly, and took the computer with it.

“Awesome.”  She threw herself back into her chair and stared at the ceiling panels, running the changes she’d made to the code through her mind.  Realizing it’d be a waste of time to unpick what she’d done, Flick rebooted her computer and went in search of a clean copy of the program on the backup server. 

There were two versions. Usually they only kept one, but she thought nothing of it, and after saving a copy to her hard drive, she opened it up.

She scanned quickly through the code, looking for the section she’d been working on, so preoccupied with figuring out how to manipulate it into doing what she wanted, she nearly missed the strange command, her eye travelled straight past it. But then she hesitated, and went back to the unusual group of letters.  They hadn’t been there before.

A logic bomb? Some little joke Andy was playing?

She ran the command and it brought up a whole section of Bellona that she’d never seen before.

“Bloody hell -” For a moment she simply stared at the screen. 

It was no joke.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
I began writing in 2005. Exhausted, pregnant (sure I was going to expire from morning-sickness) and coping with a demanding toddler, I decided the time was right to embark on a writing career. (In hindsight I may have been suffering from a scorching case of sleep-deprivation).

Still, it kinda worked out. My debut novel - and the first manuscript I'd ever written - Running Scared, was published in January 2007.  My next book, Secret Intentions followed.  Then I had a short story published in the Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance (MBSOR) in 2010 - my story is called The Grey Man.

In 2012 my novel Drive Me To Distraction was published, and my novella The Danger Game came out just before Christmas.  My next book, The Bunker, will be published in July 2013.
Author Links
You can find me online at: http://www.caitlynnicholas.com

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9 comments:

Mary Preston said...

Flick does sound smart & she sounds like she is in a lot of trouble.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

MomJane said...

Very timely to write about cyber mysteries. This one really sounds awesome. I love that the hero/heroine is female.

DEZMOND said...

poor Flick....

Rita Wray said...

Sounds like a good read.

Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to support Caitlyn.1729

Sandra Cox said...

You're welcome, Goddess

Sandra Cox said...

Hey Dez, thanks for stopping by. Appreciate ya.

Andra Lyn said...

sounds like a wonderful read and a book that would be right up my alley!! Thanks for sharing!

andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

Unknown said...

Thank you for your comments :)

Cait!