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.
“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
Buy links
Caitlyn
will be awarding three prizes: a $25 Amazon GC and Caitlyn Nicholas gift bag to
one randomly drawn commenter, and a Caitlyn Nicholas gift bag to two randomly
drawn commenters during the tour.(International)
9 comments:
Flick does sound smart & she sounds like she is in a lot of trouble.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Very timely to write about cyber mysteries. This one really sounds awesome. I love that the hero/heroine is female.
poor Flick....
Sounds like a good read.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks to everyone who stopped by to support Caitlyn.1729
You're welcome, Goddess
Hey Dez, thanks for stopping by. Appreciate ya.
sounds like a wonderful read and a book that would be right up my alley!! Thanks for sharing!
andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
Thank you for your comments :)
Cait!
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