Q&A with Brenda Novak

May is a BIG month for NY Times Bestselling author Brenda Novak.  It’s the month she runs her Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research.  If you’re a book lover, you shouldn’t miss the auction!  You can bid on amazing items, autographed books, and more.  I really hope you’ll check out the auction, and ENTER TO WIN one of two totes full of Brenda’s books AND a $25.00 gift certificate to use at the online auction!

1.  The Last Stand Series has been phenomenally successful and deals with woman who’ve risen above difficult circumstances and are empowered to make change in the world.  What inspired you to write these powerful women?

When my youngest child was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes, I was devastated. No mother wants to hear such news. But my devastation quickly grew into anger and a strong desire to fight back, to stop the disease that threatened my child and so many others. It was this passion that provided the inspiration for these novels. The Last Stand serves a different cause–those in this organization are fighting for the victims who are falling through the cracks of our criminal justice system–but their drive and passion is the same. They’re on a mission, and so am I!

2.  You work tirelessly to raise money to find a cure for type 1 diabetes through your annual online auction.  In fact, the auction is set to start on May 1st!  What inspired you to launch this auction?

Diabetes is the fifth deadliest killer, and it’s on the rise. I recently heard some statistics that one-third of the population of the U.S. will soon be affected by diabetes–and this simply isn’t acceptable to me. We have to do something to stop what’s happening. It isn’t as if this disease is a big mystery to us. It’s a problem we can and will solve, if we put enough resources toward it. I want to see a cure for diabetes in my lifetime.

3. Are their books available on the auction?

There are TONS and TONS of books available at the auction. Almost all of them are autographed by the author. Some are complete collections. Others are Advanced Reading Copies–so you could be the first to read the new release of your favorite author–or hard-to-find and out of print books, providing an opportunity to pick up that early book you might have missed.

There are lots of other things for book lovers at the auction, too, including meet and greets with some of biggest names in the business (or even a stay in Cherry Adair or Susan Wigg’s guest house).

4.  We’d love to hear about what’s in the pipeline for you!  Please share with us!

I’m launching a new series this summer called the Department 6 Hired Gun series.

Here’s a little more about it:

Created by a wealthy businessman determined to cash in on the need for more effective policing options, Department 6 is a private security contractor located in L.A. They have six operatives, four men and two women, most of whom are former special forces or police officers. Because they are essentially “guns for hire” they aren’t limited by jurisdiction or geography but typically work domestically. They can accept any offer that interests them, and pride themselves on tackling the toughest cases out there.

In WHITE HEAT (August 2010), Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop, two members of Department 6, are hired to infiltrate a dangerous cult that has recently settled in the former ghost town of Paradise, Arizona. Members of this cult worship at the feet—and in the bed–of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff. But with one woman claiming to have been stoned, and another missing, Wycliff might be more of a devil than the prophet he claims to be….

In BODY HEAT (September 2010), Police Chief Sophia St. Claire finds herself out of her investigative league when someone starts shooting people at pointblank range and leaving them to rot in the desert sun just outside her small town. Help arrives in the form of California’s Department 6 Roderick Guerrero. But as the half-breed bastard of a wealthy local rancher, he has a history he can’t get past–a history that includes Sophia St. Claire.

In KILLER HEAT (October 2010), the remains of seven women have been discovered in Skull Valley, Arizona. It’s up to Jonah Young, from Department 6, to assist the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department in solving these murders. But he doesn’t anticipate the complications that arise when he’s forced to work with an old flame. Then everything grows more complicated—and far too personal. They quickly zero in on the most likely suspect, but betting on the wrong man might be the last thing they ever do….