Southern Harm - Book Tour and Giveaway

Southern Harm
Tyler's Trouble Trilogy Book 4
by Travis Casey
Genre: Romantic Comedy, Suspense

Twenty-seven years after Tyler left his troubles behind in his trilogy, he has a son, Oscar, who is proving to be a chip off the old block. As Kentucky's most eligible bachelor, he has everything--including a gambling problem. After getting on the wrong side of a notorious loan shark, Louie Gomez, Oscar Novak-Chambers must use his family's good standing with the governor's office to obtain a monumental favor to clear his debt. He targets the governor's daughter, Stacey Davenport. Sweet she is not. Ruthless she is--and she's looking to bring down Kentucky's criminal hierarchy--and Louie Gomez with it. But Stacey is no angel. When her skeletons begin to rattle, mayhem becomes motive.


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​Oscar meets the governor's daughter, Stacey Davenport …

Conrad swung the double doors open, prompting Oscar and the governor to stand. With a dash of pomp, the butler moved aside. Stacy Davenport bounded into the room looking as though she may have just stepped off the tennis court.
Oscar's eyes took a hike from her ankle socks to a single strand of hair on the top of her head, which had separated itself from the rest of her hair by standing at attention from a bolt of static electricity. In between, he didn't miss an inch of her athletically toned body. She flashed emerald green eyes at her father and gave Oscar little more than a polite nod.
Oscar's heart tempo increased. He checked her hands. She was free of matrimonial jewelry, which allowed him a more lustful gaze as she strode toward him.
"Stacey, this is Oscar," Governor Davenport said as she stood in front of them.
She extended her hand. "Oscar? I'm guessing you're named after the gold statue, not the hot dog."
He wasn't sure how to take that but decided to ignore the comment. "That's something you'd have to take up with my mom and dad. I didn't have a lot of say in the matter."
The stared at each other, sizing one another up.
The governor bounced on his toes. "Stacey, Oscar's going to be your golfing partner in Cincinnati."
"Umm, no he's not. I told you, I'm playing with Jett Johnson. My boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?"
"Well, kind of."
The governor closed the gap between them. "This is a state thing, Stacey. You need a partner from Kentucky."
Her eyes narrowed. "Jett spent a summer vacation in Bowling Green visiting his grandparents. That has to count for something."
Davenport spoke in hushed tones, aimed at Stacey. "Darling, Oscar's family are good people to know." He raised his voice to a bellow. "Besides, is this Jett Johnson a pro golfer? No. He's a baseball player. One member of the team needs to be a registered golf professional."
Stacey peered at Oscar. "You're a professional golfer?"
The governor twisted, addressing Oscar with a dip of his head, offering confirmation.
"Yes … yes, I am. I look forward to your company on the course, Stacey."
Stacey sharpened her tone, addressing her father. "And this is what you want?"
"Yes, it is. And what's more, it's not open for discussion."
"Fine." She folded her arms across her chest. "I hope you know what you're doing, Father. Jett was giving me lessons and we were getting pretty damn good." She sighed, then flipped her bangs out of her eyes. "Well, Oscar, looks like we're a team. I hope you're as good as you say you are. I know how important it is to my dad that we beat the team from Tennessee and gift him bragging rights in the battle between the moonshine states."
Oscar gave a reassuring smile. "I'll do my best."
"Right …" she crooned. "Is that along the lines of, 'It's not a matter of winning or losing, but how you play the game'?"
"Are we allowed to have fun while we're winning?" He hoped to get a chuckle out of her to lighten the atmosphere.
Her cool demeanor deepened. "Just so you know, Oscar, I have the Coach Lombardi mentality: 'Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.' And the only person who hates losing more than my father is me."

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**Don't miss the rest of the series here! **

Trouble Triangle
Tyler's Trouble Trilogy Book 1
**Get it FREE!!**
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Oceans of Trouble
Tyler's Trouble Trilogy Book 2
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Forbidden Trouble
Tyler's Trouble Trilogy Book 3
**Only .99 cents!!**
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Travis was brought up in Midwest America before embarking on a nine year Navy career that allowed him to travel the world and learn about life. He has ping-ponged across oceans moving from mainland United States to Hawaii, to Scotland, to Seattle, to England, to Minnesota, back to England, and back to Minnesota where he currently resides ... for now
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He writes easy-reading, light-hearted fiction and true stories about his own experiences that even the best fiction writer couldn't make up. Relax by the beach or curl up on the couch on a rainy day while Travis takes you on fun-filled adventures that let you forget about life for a while and have a laugh.


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Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
While living in England, after working as a production manager for a window manufacturer then owning a tearoom with my wife, I began doing property renovations. When the property crash of 2008-09 hit, I got my fingers burnt and had to offer my talents in the traditional job market. While I waited for the job offers to come flooding in, I began writing to pass the time of day when I wasn't filling in job applications. I wrote articles for several online websites across multiple genres—political, DIY, travel, but my favorites were classed as Creative Writing, with satire and humor being my favorite topics. Lo and behold, I became hooked on the process (writing, not job hunting) and went on to writing books.

What is something unique/quirky about you?
I've been to all 50 states and 29 different countries, but I've never been to a country that begins with the letter "I" (Ponder that one for a while.) Italy, Iceland, India, Israel, Indonesia …

Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you!
I met my British wife while I served in the US Navy in Hawaii. She was a green card holder living in San Francisco at the time and came to Hawaii on holiday. We met, had a few Mai Tai's, she went back to SF, but we carried on a long-distance relationship. I eventually sent her an engraved invitation to "Come join me in Paradise." Seriously, I did, and she accepted. We rented an apartment in Waikiki until I got my next set of orders three months later to Scotland! I asked her to come with me, and she accepted, along with my proposal of marriage. We got married by a Glaswegian Justice of the Peace we couldn't understand, but nodded when we thought it was time to say "I do." Twenty minutes later he handed us a piece of paper declaring us man and wife. 35years later, we still have that piece of paper.

Where were you born/grew up at?
I have been around. I thought my dad was a fugitive from the law because we moved around so much. Come to find out, he was a Salvation Army preacher spreading the gospel throughout Midwest America. I was born in Sterling, IL, then we moved to Coffeyville, KS, Ark City KS, Wichita KS, Cape Girardeau MO, Detroit MI, Fort Wayne IN, and Evansville IN before I joined the Navy at age 19 and REALLY started traveling. Since then, I've been to all 50 states and 29 countries.

What do you do to unwind and relax?
Golf is the activity that gives me great pleasure.

How to find time to write as a parent?
I don't have kids and an understanding wife! Both by choice.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I got my first rejection letter from an agent. It's part of the process. But until you get rejected, and then after being published, getting your first one-star review, one is not a full-fledged writer.

Do you have a favorite movie?
I love comedy. Timing is everything in comedy and I try to translate that into my writing. #1 is Trains, Planes, and Automobiles because Steve Martin and John Candy have such great timing and their deliveries are magic. Other favorites are My Cousin Vinny, Stripes, and Trading Places.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
I think all of them. I don't think it's unusual for a writer to see the scenes unfolding from their mind onto the screen. We try to create visuals with our words which translates to cinema. I write it, you see it.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
In 2012, I went to Author Fair in London. That was the first one they held and it offered great insight for aspiring writers.

What inspired you to write this book?
I had finished writing my first three books, Tyler's Trouble Trilogy. I had to think, "Okay, what's next?" Those three books were written in first person from Tyler's POV. I really enjoyed that perspective, but wanted to see if I could write in the third person. I was stuck on how to get started, so I needed some familiar characters to get me going. Once I brought Tyler and his wife in as Oscar's parents the book began to flow.

What can we expect from you in the future?
I didn't know if I would write a sequel or not when I finished NO HALO REQUIRED but the book received good reviews and I decided to write the next installment THE MAYOR'S RACE. I've recently committed to writing a third book in the Carolina Callings series.

Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
Whenever I write a novel, once I formulate the characters in my mind, I go online and find pictures of them. Not celebrities, but real people. Once I get the male and female MC, I print off their pictures and hang them over my desk the entire time I write the novel. I sometimes stare at their picture when I'm stuck and ask them, “What are you thinking?” I have pictures of all the main characters from all my books.

Where did you come up with the names in the story?
I'm very quick to come up with characters' names. I rarely spend more than thirty seconds naming a character. First, they have to be pronounceable to the reader. I don't try to get clever and do stereotype to some degree. It's easier for me to identify with the character when the bad guy is named Louie Gomez and an arrogant mayor is named Butch Kimber.

How did you come up with the title of the book?
I always research Amazon to see if there are any other books with the same name. My first choice for this one was "The Governor's Daughter." There were bucket loads of books with that title so I scrapped that. One cannot copyright a title, so I could have used it but I didn't want people buying another book with that title thinking it was mine. Then I looked up Southern Charm. Again, there were many. But as I studied the title on the screen, I noticed if you take away the "C" you're left with Harm. And that was perfect!

Who designed your book covers?
I did the original cover myself. I really liked it, but the book didn't sell. I asked a publishing professional what was wrong with it and she said she could tell what it was about. So I got together with Mich Fisher at Artful Cover who did my covers for the Carolina Calling series and we came up with this cover. Although I originally tried to separate Southern Harm from the rest of the trilogy, I found it works better as part of the series.

What is your favorite part of this book and why?
I love writing bad guys. So anytime I had to write scenes with Louie Gomez, I had fun.

Have you written any other books that are not published?
Not knowing how to write, or what to write about, I wrote my first manuscript in 2010. A 76,000-word memoir about my nine years in the Navy titled TINCANS and BUBBLEHEADS. I sent it out to twenty-three agents and in due course received twenty-three rejections. Thinking a just needed to tidy up a few commas and un-dangle a few participles, I joined an online writing group. Wow! That was when I realized how bad it was, but I got great help and advice. I submitted it to the group chapter by chapter and rewrote the entire thing. I was so excited when I posted my final chapter and boasted to the group that I would be sending it out to agents again. One of my partners asked me a question that changed my whole outlook on writing. He said "Congratulations on finishing the book. However, I'm not trying to be nasty, but if you intend on selling this book, who is going to want to read the memoir of a nobody?" He was right. I wasn't a warship captain nor have I ever captured a terrorist kingpin. I was just a simple sailor who had a damn good time on Uncle Sam's dime. But I had too much good material to simply throw away.

So, I scraped Travis Casey and invented Tyler Chambers, who did a lot of the things I did plus a whole lot more. And I got four books out of Tyler and his antics instead of just one book I'd never want my mom to read.

Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book.
I spent five years off and on with this book. I started it right after the trilogy in 2014, but my wife and I moved from England to America. It was so crazy, I halted work on Southern Harm to write a memoir, Foreigner In My Own Backyard. Once we settle in America, I went back to SH but was encouraged to write a sequel to the memoir, so I wrote Foreigner On My Own Front Porch. I went back to SH but was approached by another author and stopped again to write Enemy Of My Enemy with Melissa Mayberry. Back to SH again, but then my wife and I moved back to England from the US which inspired another memoir, RV There Yet? Back in England I finally finished Southern Harm and released it in 2019.

What book do you think everyone should read?
1984 by George Orwell.

How long have you been writing?
12 years

What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
When we moved from the UK to America, part of the plan was to pick up my parents in Florida and drive them home to Minnesota. On the way, I insisted we stop in Frankfort, Kentucky as a lot of the book takes place at the governor's mansion in Frankfort. I had looked at a lot of pictures on the internet, but boy did I get a lot of it wrong!
I managed to get onto the grounds and wandered around for a minute or two with my tape recorder making notes before a Kentucky Secret Serviceman came out of the mansion and asked what I was doing. I told him I was writing a book. He wished me luck and told me to get the hell off the property.

What do you think about the current publishing market?
I think Fifty Shades of Gray did for publishing what American Idol did for the singing industry. A lot of hidden talent has emerged, but there is also a huge number of people who should have never been put on the stage or into print.

Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
I have to have absolute silence. Somebody once asked me how many words a minute I can type. I replied, "It depends on how fast I'm thinking." When I'm in the zone the slightest distraction can make three paragraphs in my head vanish before I can get them down. I am a focused person which means I suck at multi-tasking.

Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I do one at a time however, I have a rather long editing process. So when I hand over my current work in progress to an editor or beta readers, I work on another book. But as soon as my WIP comes back from whomever I'm right back into editing it.

Tell us about a favorite character from a book.
In my third book, FORBIDDEN TROUBLE, I needed a friend for Tyler so he could talk about his feelings. I came up with a bumpkin from Kentucky named Billy Earl McClure. I would write Billy Earl and whenever I read it back I'd laugh out loud. I think he was my funniest character to date.

Do you have any advice to offer for new authors?
Be patient. Don't rush to get the first book out and into the public's hands. I know that is the exciting bit but don't rush the editing. Editing is the most important part—it is also the most expensive, the most time-consuming, and the most rewarding.

Describe your writing style.
Very simplistic and humor is always included no matter what I write. I'm not a great writer in terms of lavish detail and deeply emotional characters, but I'm a good storyteller. I create difficult situations for my characters to see how they get out of it. Part of the fun of writing is writing myself into a corner without any idea of how to resolve it and let the character figure it out. They surprise me time and time again. And I don't often send the reader to the dictionary—the odd character might now and then, but not me.

What makes a good story?
Unpredictability. I love it when readers tell me "Wow, I didn't see that coming."

What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
After I come up with a basic idea, I let it formulate in my mind for weeks without writing anything down. I visualize the characters, their personalities, and the obstacles they must overcome. I let it resonate. By the time they hit the page, I know them. They may surprise me and evolve into someone different to make a better story but that's where the editing aligns my original thoughts with their paper persona.

What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Telling not showing, but I didn't even know how to do that until I joined a writing group. A very basic example is: Karen was standing by the jukebox. You just told the reader what Karen was doing.
Karen's hips swayed as she stood next to the jukebox as Bryan Adams sang Everything I Do. Now you've shown the reader what Karen did and created a better visual. Don't rely on self-editing alone. If you can't afford editing services join an online writing group such as CritiqueCircle.com or Scribophile.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I try to be more original. That's why I write across so many different genres. When I meet people and tell them I'm a writer, the next question is "What do you write?" And that's when I give a silent "Uh Oh." I can't summarize it in one or two words because I don't have twenty books about billionaires with different haircuts. But if you want originality, I write romance, comedy, suspense, noir, satire, memoir …

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from other genders?
Oh I love it! When I write a female character, it is the only time I can control what a woman thinks, says, and does.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?
3-4 months writing it, 4-6 months editing it.

Do you believe in writer’s block?
Yes. It's when your imaginary friends quit talking to you.

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