Latest Posts

Tybee Island H-Bomb by Michael Houtchen - Book Tour

By 3:00 AM , , ,


Discover a new voice in the realms of thrillers and suspense on the Tybee Island H-Bomb Blog Tour featuring Michael Houtchen! Suspense, thrills, mystery great characters, and even some humor awaits you!

In addition to being Michael’s debut novel, Tybee Island H-Bomb is the first of an exciting new series of thrillers!

Follow the blog tour running from November 20-27 with a variety of activities, from reviews, to guest posts, to top ten lists, to interviews!


Synopsis of Tybee Island H-Bomb: The government lost a hydrogen bomb around Tybee Island, Georgia, in 1958, or is that an old wives’ tale?

If it is only a tale, then why are three young men trying to find it, in hopes of selling it to make a dirty bomb?

Before the week is out, six friends from Kentucky will get caught up in kidnapping, murder, and treason, while trying to save one of their own and perhaps the citizens of Tybee Island and Savannah, Georgia.

___________________________

Guest Post
What do you love about thrillers (reading them or writing them, or both)?

I love reading thrillers probably more than writing them.  While I’m reading someone else’s work, I don’t know who did it, or where the story is taking me.  Whereas, when I’m writing a thriller, somewhere along the way, I have to know who did it.  I have to know the plot and all the twists.  When reading, all the work’s been done for me.  It’s just a matter of sitting back and getting drawn into the story.

I love the idea of a normal day being interrupted by “something.”  Something could be a natural disaster, or someone evil or a group of evildoers.  There must be a puzzle to solve, as in, solving a murder, or surviving an earthquake or forest fire.  I want to be kept sitting on the edge of my seat.  I like nail-biters and page turners.

For me, the best thrillers aren’t paranormal or supernatural.  Thrillers are ordinary people being caught up in real life situations.  Here are a couple of my favorite stories that I consider thrillers.

Twelve Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose.  The play concerns the deliberations of the jury of a homicide trial where a dozen ordinary men decide the fate of a Puerto Rican teenager accused of murdering his abusive father.  Will they convict the boy or let him go free?  To me, that’s a thriller.

1974’s The Towering Inferno by Irwin Allen featured an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.  Who will survive the burning skyscraper?  Who will not?  Again, we have common ordinary people caught up in a horrible real life situation.

How about Tybee Island H-Bomb?  Okay, that’s a plug for my own novel.  Here you have six ordinary, common people caught up in murder, kidnapping, and terrorism.

A good thriller needs to have an ending, a good ending.  If the author plans on having a series, that’s great.  But, I’d like the book I’m reading to end.  I don’t want to buy the next book for the outcome of the current book.  That’s just me.



About Michael Houtchen:
Kentucky has always been my home. I was born in Owensboro and raised in Daviess County. Life was simple back then. I grew up with outhouses, hand-pumps, and coal stoves. If you wanted hot water, you heated it on the stove. Both of my parents have passed on. I have a half-brother, Danny, but most of our younger lives he lived with his father, so we didn’t get to see each other often. Looking back, sadly, it was like being an only child. My closest friends were the cows, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, geese, ducks, and horses my dad kept on our small farm. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. Farm animals can be so jealous. Our grocery store – mason jars of mom’s canned vegetables and the occasional trip into town to the IGA.


My dad was a woodsman. You could give him a shotgun, a box of shells and a book of matches, and he could disappear into the forest for weeks. I used to hunt with him, but I was never the woodsman. I can’t tell you how many deer, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and ground hogs I’ve eaten.
My wife, Stephanie, and I have five kids (three boys and two girls) and eight grandchildren (five boys and three girls). All but one son live here in town. You should see Christmas day at our house.


I’ve had several jobs during my lifetime. When I was thirteen, I had a summer job. I was a soda-jerk at the Utica Junior High School playground. The school is now defunct. It is not my fault the school went defunct. As an adult, I started out as a janitor. Loved the work, but not the pay. Mapping came next. In other words, I was a draftsman who created maps from surveys. I did that for over twenty years. Mapping fulltime and going to Brescia College (It’s now a University) at night, I got a BS in Computer Science. Career change. I was a Computer Analyst for over twenty years.

There came a day when I realized I was the dinosaur of Computer Science. Technology had passed me by. So, I up and retired. That was in 2014, and I haven’t missed working a day. Truth be known, I do miss the people I worked with. Notice, I’ve said nothing about writing. I could tell you a pretty good story, but putting it on paper was another thing. Stephanie, my wife, asked, “And why not?” I had no answer.

I should keep this short, so, I will tease you with two important events that happened in my life; two events that I haven’t already discussed. When we meet each other, don’t hesitate to ask me about them.

Monday, September 6, 1965, was a Labor Day, and I was out of school. On that day, I came in contact with a high voltage powerline. Seven thousand two hundred volts entered my hand and exited my head and my feet.

That’s not a typo. It was seven thousand two hundred volts. I was given up for dead for three days. There is a “rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say. Ask me about it when we meet.

The second event: September 17, 2017, I was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church. It keeps me busy these days. If you’re not sure what a Permanent Deacon does, Goggle “Permanent Deacon of the Catholic Church.”

There you have it. My life story summed up in 1000 words or less. It sounds like a writing contest doesn’t it. There’s so much I left out. I could tell you about riding the rails, or the time I hung myself. But, those will have to wait until we meet.



Author Links:






Tour Schedule and Activities



11/20   Infamous Scribbler     http://www.infamous-scribbler.com/            Author Interview




11/21   The Seventh Star Blog http://www.theseventhstarblog.com            Guest Post




11/22   Jazzy Book Reviews     https://bookreviewsbyjasmine.blogspot.com/          Guest Post




11/23   The Literary Underworld        http://www.literaryunderworld.com                   Guest Post




11/23   The Writing Process    http://kimsprocess.wordpress.com    Top Ten's List




11/24   Carol Preflatish, Mystery Author        http://CarolPre.blogspot.com            Author Interview




     Author Interview



11/26 Sheila's Guests and Reviews http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.com Guest Post



Links for Tybee Island H-Bomb







, , ,

You Might Also Like

0 Comments

Please try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.