A Cure for Deceit by Margie Miklas - Audio Book Tour

Author: Margie Miklas

Narrator: Blair Seibert

Length: 7 hours 16 minutes

Publisher: Margie Miklas

Released: Apr. 28, 2021

Genre: Medical Thriller

What happens when a top surgeon begins to crack under the strain of his personal life and patients start to die? A sudden spike in patient deaths drives an impassioned ICU nurse to launch a clandestine investigation, targeting a powerful cardiac surgeon whose corrupt connections could destroy her career. Allison Jamison, an experienced intensive care nurse, becomes suspicious when a recent wave of major surgical complications results in unnecessary patient deaths. She enlists the professional expertise of her friend, Detective Mark Derning, whose interests include more than an investigative role. When her probe targets Dr. Gary Tamarino, the powerful, narcissistic chief of cardiothoracic surgery at San Francisco Bay Hospital, she encounters a staggering level of deceit and revenge while delving deep into his far-reaching web of corruption. Abuse of power, manipulation, callousness, and desperation drive the dark side of a man who also saves lives on a daily basis. Will he destroy her career before she can do anything to stop him?

An award-winning author, Margie Miklas writes medical thrillers and travel memoirs about Italy. Creator and owner of the travel blog, Margie in Italy, and a contributing writer for an Italian-American newspaper, she is a member of the Florida Writers Association and makes her home in Florida. In her medical thrillers, Margie’s years of experience as a critical care nurse provide the foundation for the realistic storylines inside a hospital. Her characteristic conversational, storytelling approach in her travel memoirs makes readers feel as if they are traveling beside her. Margie has won numerous awards, including two from the Florida Writers Association, Readers Favorite, and Book Excellence awards. A Cure for Deceit won the Silver Award in the thriller genre in the 2020 Royal Palm Literary Competition from the Florida Writers Association, along with the Bronze Award in the 2020 Reader’s Favorite Competition in the thriller category.

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Blair is a full-time voice actor living in Los Angeles, CA with 20+ previous years’ experience as a green building architect. That experience draws her to books that offer the listener new knowledge about things of interest to her: relationships, women’s issues, medicine, psychology, and environmental issues, while also being entertained. Blair recently completed a ten-hour non-fiction book for Penguin Random House called “New Women In The Old West”. Genres she narrates are: romance, Rom-Com, cozy mystery and non-fiction. When Blair is not narrating, she’s gardening, cooking, recycling, biking or quilting (the skill she learned during the COVID shutdown). She’s passionate about books and is typically listening to one fiction and one non-fiction at a time while also reading a non-fiction book.

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Q&A with Author Margie Miklas

Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
- I used the ACX platform because of its ease, and my previous experience with it when I produced my Italy travel memoir audiobooks, which I narrated myself. Narrating these books myself is another entire process, which I won’t go into here. Suffice it to say that there is a learning curve, so by the third book, I found it to be much easier.
How did you select your narrator?
- I knew I wanted to collaborate with a narrator other than myself for this book, since it’s a work of fiction, and most listeners of fiction prefer an experienced professional to narrate the book. I searched on ACX for narrators with experience that met my criteria for voice, age, etc, and after reading their bios, and listening to their samples, I auditioned three. Blair Seibert won out, and I couldn’t be happier. The final result is exactly what I had hoped it would be, and what she says is true: a narrator gives a performance, not simply a reading.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- Blair and I worked well together. Communication is very important in creating an audiobook, and we had numerous emails, and a phone call or two during the process. Since this book is a medical thriller, there were quite a few words that needed pronunciation clarification, and kudos to Blair for getting them all right. In addition, our communications included context explanations, tone of voice, and accents. She’s very professional, and sent a packet to me once we confirmed the contract. In this packet was a ton of information which would make the process run smoothly, based on her experiences. I found it so helpful, especially since this was my first audiobook, that I didn’t narrate myself.
Were there any real-life inspirations behind your writing?
- Absolutely. As a career critical care nurse, I’ve experienced numerous life-and-death situations in hospital ICUs. All the medical situations in this book originated in reality and many of the characters’ traits, behaviors, and lifestyles were inspired by people I’ve worked with. Let me say, none of the characters are patterned after one particular person, but I drew from experiences I’ve had with several to create various characters’ personality quirks and mannerisms.
What's your favorite:
- Food: Caprese salad
- Song: Con Te Partirò
- Author: John Grisham
- Television show: The Resident
- Movie: Moonstruck
- Band: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
- Sports team: Cleveland Indians
- City: Positano, Italy
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- Don’t lose sight of your dream. Start writing about whatever moves you, and write every day, at least 20 or 30 minutes. Don’t worry about the grammar and word structure at first; that can come later in the editing process. When you get an idea, jot it down in a notebook or on your phone. Maybe even use a voice memo, so you don’t lose the thought. Keep your goal in mind and you can achieve amazing things.
Where is your favorite place on earth?
- I always want to be at the beach and after that, anywhere in Italy, preferably the Amalfi Coast, where I’d have the best of both worlds.
Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?
- Since I’m very active on social media, I hear quite often from readers, and I like engaging with them. I love it most when they tell me they feel like they are there with me, inside the character or the setting, and that it takes them back to a place they remember.
How do you handle negative reviews or criticism about your writing?
- When I was a new writer, I took any negative comment or review personally, but now I view it as a learning experience and realize not everyone is going to like what I write, and that’s okay. I appreciate that they took time to leave a comment.
What’s next for you?
- I plan on a follow-up medial thriller next year with one or two of the same characters from A Cure for Deceit. I’m still formulating the setting and plot in my mind and am open to feedback from readers on what they’d like to see.