Meet Mitch Davies, Author of Stolen Breeze

MD: I’ve been writing now for about fifteen years although I’ve always thought of stories and how I’d turn events I’ve experienced into books. I grew up in Western Canada, Calgary to be specific, and moved to Arizona where I’ve lived since 1998. Since 2005 I’ve been very interested in Japan, the history, the food and sumo wrestling so I travel to Japan quite often.

MD: Stolen Breeze is based on something that happened to a man I used to work with. He told me how he’d been out of work and received an opportunity to be part of a sailing crew that would be sailing in Tahiti. He told me his story and I found it unusual and interesting. On a number of occasions I told his story to others and people were always a little stunned by what had happened to this man. Years later I decided it would make a great novel. I changed a lot of what happened and created entire adventures and circumstances that didn’t happen to my friend but in general it’s his story.
BBB: Tell us about your main character.
MD: The main character is someone who likes to work and accomplish goals in his life. He’s worked a few jobs and just left one he really liked. It ended due to the end of the construction project. He’s a little desperate for a new opportunity and doesn’t think his hometown in Idaho is going to provide much that will interest him. For him it’s time to do something exciting. He’s been a rough kind of man in the past and has given up that life as he gets older (about 26) but this new adventure and the people around him cause his old violent instincts to get aroused. Sailing is new to him but he wants to become a reliable sailor that any captain can count on. But the captain and the rest of the crew are a little hard for him to read. He’s enthused about sailing but reserved about how the experience is unfolding. When they get to Tahiti he tries to make the best of what has evolved because he wants things to turn out great.
BBB: What other books have you written?
MD: A Wind In Montana – Awarded the 2011 Bronze Medal in the eLit Awards in the Young Adult/Juvenile category
The Inn of Fallen Leaves – Finalist in the 2015 Best Indie Book Awards in the Contemporary Literature category.
BBB: What do you think readers will find most appealing about your book?
MD: I think that the escape to an exotic locale in the midst of a crime mystery is what readers will like most. The characters are odd and mysterious so trying to workout everyone’s motivation will help with the enjoyment factor.
BBB: How did you come up with the idea for your book cover?
MD: Well, there is sailing at the heart of the book so we wanted a yacht on the cover. Add in that there’s a crime with some mysterious characters and we thought that having a rough sea surrounding the yacht would help portray what the reader can expect inside. It’s not smooth sailing.
BBB: What are you currently working on?
MD: I’ve just completed the first draft of my fourth novel so I’m at the start of revisions on that project. Once I have my revisions complete I’ll offer it to my publisher, Book Trope, and we’ll start the process of getting it to the readers. It’s a mystery where you know who the murderer is in the first quarter of the book. The rest of the book is the mystery of how the protagonists deal with crime and how it could change their future.
BBB: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
MD: My web page is www.pensmithbooks.com. It has some additional author information and excerpts from all of my books.