Meet My Romantic Rival! Plus this week’s selection of book giveaways

Greetings from Mt. Ararat!

Or at least so it feels as I sit in my perch above my flooded backyard. We’ve been having a deluge of near-Biblical proportions here. It may not have rained for a full forty days and forty nights, but it’s getting close.

Anyway, my upstairs office is still dry–for now. So it seems like a good time to introduce another of my recurring characters to you. This time it will be my *other* leading man! Yes, I have a love triangle going in my Dr. Rowena Halley series. Last time I told you all about Dima, Rowena’s ex-fiance. This time I want to introduce you to Alex, the American who may be sneaking in there while Dima’s back is turned and stealing her heart.

Keep reading for the dirt on Alex, plus a selection of ebook giveaways.

Alexander James Miller

Born 1977. Graduated from UPenn with dual degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Computer Programming and commissioned in the Navy in 2000 as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer. Kept on active duty longer than usual because of the war and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005. Enrolled in the joint PhD program in History and Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard in 2006 and graduated 2012.

Alex was originally inspired by someone I used to ride the bus with in grad school. I never actually spoke to him, but we sat together almost every day. He was a short, rather dweeby-looking guy with dark golden hair and facial stubble that was all almost the same length. He carried a bag that had patches from various Naval deployments on it. I was always curious about his story, so in Alex I decided to create my own, probably more exciting and romantic, version of it.

'Christopher Robin' European Premiere - VIP Arrivals — LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Ewan McGregor attends the European Premiere of ‘Christopher Robin’ at BFI Southbank on August 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Alex looks only very vaguely like Ewan McGregor in my mind. But that’s the only actor I could think of who looked much like him at all. So we’ll go with that 🙂

When Alex morphed into a more important character and a romantic lead, I had to make him taller, better-looking, and more intense and less dweeby in my mind, but he’s still slender and wiry, and with dark golden hair in a fairly even stubble all over his head and face.

Deliberately trying to go for some less polished pictures to convey Alex’s general nature of scruffiness

Alex comes from a privileged upper-middle-class intellectual background. His father was a dean at Temple University, and it was always assumed that Alex would go into academia as well. Like Rowena’s brother John, Alex rebelled against his family’s expectations by running away and joining the military, something that in retrospect he feels very ambivalent about. In Permanent Position, the second book in the series (forthcoming), he describes how he felt after coming home from Iraq (based very loosely on a true story, FYI):

I was really fucked up after I got back from Iraq. Angry at everyone, especially myself. I’m lucky anyone who knew me back then will still speak with me.

That must have been difficult, I texted cautiously. Alex never talked much about his service, other than to say that knowing about it tended to make people jump to unwarranted conclusions about him, and take him as something that he wasn’t.

Mostly my own fault. Of course, the whole thing was mostly my own fault. But when I got back and got out of the service, I wanted to burn my uniform, did I tell you that?

No. You must have had a very difficult time.

S’okay. Other people had much worse times. Especially the Iraqi people we were “liberating.”

It was a difficult thing for everyone.

It was what it was. And when I got back and got out, I took my uniform out to my parents’ backyard and started a fire in our firepit. Because of course we’re the kind of folks who have a poncy outdoor firepit in our backyard. So no pity! So I started up a fire, and my dad came out and saw I had my uniform all laid out next to it, and he was like, “What the hell are you doing, son?” So I told him I was going to burn my fucking uniform, and what I couldn’t burn, I was going to smash with a hammer.

A recurring theme with Alex is people’s expectations vs. reality: he is very aware of the stereotypes about Navy servicemembers and compares himself unfavorably to Chris Kyle, Maverick from Top Gun, and the Richard Gere character in An Officer and a Gentleman. He, on the other hand, claims to have sat out his war writing reports in a broom closet, although judging by his intensely emotional response to his uniform, there may be more to it than that. Stay tuned for more updates!

Like John, Alex also acts as Rowena’s Dark Double sometimes. He is the one who voices a lot of the most vicious critiques of academia and academic culture, saying the things that Rowena can’t bring herself to say. Nonetheless, he finds himself sucked more and more into academic success, partly through his privilege and connections.

***

So there you have it! If you don’t already have a copy of Campus Confidential, the first book in the Dr. Rowena Halley series and the one in which Alex is introduced, you can pick up a free ARC in any of the giveaways listed below. Here’s the cover so that you can recognize it 🙂

The Hard Dame is Good to Find Giveaway is running for a few more days! Dozens of mystery, thriller, and suspense stories, all with female protagonists.

The Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense Giveaway has a wide variety of thriller and suspense books, free for a limited time!

The Best Thrillers Giveaway has thrillers of all subgenres.

The Thrillers, Chillers, and Serial Killers Giveaway has thrillers of all subgenres, including mystery, paranormal, and horror.

Meet (One of) My Leading Men! Plus Free Giveaways

I won’t lie: I was torn about which of the leading men from my Dr. Rowena Halley series to introduce first. Then I started to agonize over the fact that I have several. The current gender imbalance in my series seems severe.

But then I was like: why worry? Just enjoy! But be warned: there may be spoilers ahead!

Last time I introduced my main character, Rowena Halley. This time around I thought I’d introduce her on-again, off-again Russian fiance, Dmitry Kuznetsov.

But first! Now seems like an opportune moment to mention all the anti-romance giveaways I’m participating in. Especially since Valentine’s Day is coming up, and Rowena is dealing with a lot of heartache. You can pick up a free Advance Review Copy of Campus Confidential, the first book in my series, in all these giveaways, plus dozens of other free mysteries and thrillers.

campus confidential front cover with baskerville

In case you don’t have a copy of the free ARC of Campus Confidential yet, here’s what it looks like, so that you can pick it out of the lineup.

Unlucky in Love square-banner2

The Unlucky in Love Giveaway is for mystery fans who are tired of all this romantic, happily-ever-after nonsense.

Gritty Thriller Giveaway

The Guns Before Roses: Gritty Thriller Giveaway is full of, you guessed it, gritty thrillers.

A Hard Dame is Good to Find Header

And last but definitely not least, my very own A Hard Dame is Good to Find Giveaway has dozens of crime and thriller stories featuring female protagonists.

So now that you know how and where to stock up on all your mystery, thriller, and suspense reading needs, let’s get to meet Dima! He’s a small presence in the beginning, but he’s going to play a bigger and bigger role as the series continues.

Dmitry Vladimirovich Kuznetsov

Dima was born in 1979 in Moscow. His mother is Galina Ivanovna Kuznetsova, a medical doctor who dabbles in philology, especially the study of poetry, as a hobby. His father, Vladimir Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov, was a Red Army officer who was killed in Afghanistan in 1980.

Dima is, as you would expect, tall and fit, with light skin and brown hair and eyes. Like most Russians, he has a vaguely biracial appearance, with Northern European coloring and more than a hint of Central Asian bone structure. Since as a romantic lead he has to be good-looking, I imagine him as looking something like the actor Danila Kozlovsky.

danila kozlovsky 1

Danila Kozlovsky looking intense

danila kozlovsky with puppy

Danila Kozlovsky with puppy

Like most Soviet/Russian men, Dima started his mandatory two years of military service at the age of 18. He served his initial term from 1997 to 1999, and was just finishing it up when the Second Chechen War broke out. This, plus the lack of economic opportunities, led to him re-enlisting, this time as an OMON officer. He served in OMON until 2004, much of the time in Chechnya.

During his time in Chechnya, Dima witnessed (and perhaps participated in?) a number of heinous human rights abuses. Thoroughly disenchanted with OMON, the war, and the current regime, he resigned from OMON and became a journalist, getting his journalism degree in night/correspondence school while working as both a journalist for the opposition newspaper Nezavisimaya Pravda (Independent Truth), and a security guard or bouncer in order to bring in some extra cash.

Dima met Rowena in early 2005 when he was asked to give evidence regarding the mistreatment of Chechen civilians. They immediately began dating, and became engaged (he proposed, FYI and FWIW) in 2007. Dima’s precarious status as an opposition journalist was a major impetus for Rowena to return to the US and start grad school, with the goal of providing some form of stability and safety for the family.

Although Dima is a fictional character, aspects of his biography are taken from real life sources. Nezavisimaya Gazeta is loosely based the real-world opposition paper Novaya Gazeta, and bits of Dima’s story are inspired by current and former Novaya Gazeta and Kommersantъ journalists Anna Politkovskaya, Yuliya Latynina, Arkady Babchenko, Zakhar (Yevgeny) Prilepin, and Oleg Kashin, all of whom get name-dropped throughout the books. For example, Zakhar Prilepin was also an OMON officer before becoming a journalist, Yuliya Latynina’s family was threatened, Yuliya Latynina and Arkady Babchenko have both had to flee the country, and Oleg Kashin was severely beaten for his activities. Also, Dima’s reference to “a few insignificant injuries and minor threats to my life from my Ukrainian brothers before I was able to convince them of my journalistic credentials” in Permanent Position, the second book in the series and my current work in progress, was inspired by Arkady Babchenko’s own experience of being captured, beaten, and subjected to a mock execution by Ukrainian forces in 2014. Furthermore, the threat of being assassinated like Anna Politkovskaya hangs over his head.

Dima only appears by hearsay and a few cryptic emails in the first few books in the series, but is constantly on Rowena’s mind. Rowena’s brother John thoroughly disapproves of him, and hopes that he’ll disappear from her life completely. But when true love is in the mix, all bets are off…

Here are those giveaway links again:

A Hard Dame is Good to Find Giveaway

Guns Before Roses: Gritty Mystery and Thriller Giveaway

Unlucky in Love Giveaway

Meet My Main Character, Rowena Halley

Hi All! Today I thought I’d introduce everyone to the main character of my new academic suspense series. But first, if you haven’t already picked up a free Advance Review Copy of Campus Confidential, the first book in the series, you can get get it and dozens of other free thriller and suspense books in the Mystery and Suspense Giveaway, which will be running until January 31.

I’ll be doing character sketches of all my recurring characters in the series, and today I’m starting with Rowena Halley, PhD, the main viewpoint character. So without further ado, here you go:

Rowena Arwen Halley

Born 1980. Grew up largely in Georgia, where she spent much of her childhood in a commune loosely modeled off The Farm in Tennessee. Her parents met while serving together in the Peace Corps and are unrepentant hippies, although they did go mainstream enough to get advanced degrees; Rowena’s mother is a medical doctor and her father is a social worker. Both of them work in a non-profit addiction clinic in Atlanta at the opening of the series, although they later go off to do a stint with Doctors Without Borders.

Rowena is “Black Irish,” meaning she has dark hair and light eyes. In Campus Confidential she mentions a couple of times that people thinks she looks vaguely like Elizabeth Taylor, only taller and with a yoga body. In my mind she looks a bit like the actress Tara Breathnach:

Rowena’s dark hair and light eyes, combined with her exotic-to-Russian-ears name of Halley (“Khalli”), frequently cause her Russian-speaking acquaintances to assume that she is Pashtun. This causes a number of amusing interchanges.

Rowena’s first name is from Ivanhoe and her middle name is from The Lord of the Rings, in keeping with her parents’ 1970s hippie ethos. Her last name is my nod to Dick Francis’s recurring character Sid Halley, which is also the inspiration for my own pen name.

Rowena graduated from the University of Georgia in 2002 with a BA in Russian. She then spent 2002-2008 working for a human rights NGO in Moscow, where she acted as an election observer and gathered the stories of refugees and victims of political repression, particularly those affected by the Second Chechen War. During this time she met and became engaged to opposition journalist Dmitry Vladimirovich Kuznetsov, AKA Dima.

In 2008 Rowena, with the encouragement of Dima’s mother Galina Ivanovna, enrolled in a PhD program in Russian literature at Indiana University. The plan was for her to have steady long-term employment that would ideally allow Dima and Galina Ivanovna to join her in the US. Instead, the engagement was called off by Dima in January 2014.

Rowena defended her dissertation and graduated in Spring 2014. The first book in the series, Campus Confidential, begins in Fall 2014.

Rowena’s dissertation was on the Silver Age (early 20th century) poet Marina Tsvetaeva.

Marina Tsvetaeav

Since I seriously considered writing my own dissertation on Tsvetaeva, this gave me a nice opportunity to engage in a little more Tsvetaeva research. It also provides a connection between Rowena and Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Politkovskaya

(assassinated October 2006), who wrote her thesis on Tsvetaeva; opposition journalists are a major theme in the series and Politkovskaya gets name-dropped from time to time.

Tsvetaeva’s “Magdalene” cycle plays a significant role in the series (translations to come, I hope). Rowena’s association with it is one of the things that mark her as a Sacred Prostitute. The theme of prostitution comes up repeatedly in the books, with Rowena contemplating it as a career and comparing what she does now to prostitution. Rowena is associated both with Mary Magdalene and with other Sacred Prostitutes in Russian literature, notably Dostoevsky’s Sonya Marmemaledova from Crime and Punishment and Liza from Notes from Underground. Dostoevsky’s The Idiot is also a recurring theme, so there may be a hint of the wronged Nastasya Filippovna from that book as well.

Fun fact: Rowena’s repeated thoughts of taking up stripping and prostitution are based on my own real-life experiences! Several of my childhood friends became strippers, and, like Rowena, I have a long-running semi-joke with some of my colleagues about taking up stripping as being more lucrative and dignified than academia.

So now you’ve met Rowena! And once again, that link to the giveaway is here.

Hello, and welcome to my website!

I’m Sid Stark, the author of the forthcoming Doctor Rowena Halley Academic Suspense Series. I’ll be adding more things to this website as I get closer to launch, but in the meantime, you can pick up a *free* Advance Review Copy of Campus Confidential, the first book in the series, here. Cover, blurb, and my contact info are also below. Enjoy!

campus confidential front cover with baskerville

Doctor Rowena Halley needs a job. But it may cost her more than she’s bargained for.

During one of the worst years on record in the academic job market, newly-minted PhD Rowena Halley has, against all odds, gotten a job. For one semester. At poverty wages. In New Jersey. But with so many of her fellow PhDs bagging groceries—or worse—instead of teaching Russian, this is the best chance she has.

New jobs come with a lot of stress, everyone knows that. But Rowena has more problems than just learning her way around a new campus and convincing all these Yankees that yes, she really is from Georgia. Tensions in the department are high, her family wants to know when she’s going to get a decent job and a decent man, and her ex-boyfriend is as usual in trouble with the Russian government. It’s when students start coming to her for help that she really gets into trouble, though. Rowena got where she is because she wants to help people and save the world, but if she’s not careful, her idealism may get her killed.

Witty and suspenseful in the vein of the Stephanie Plum novels, Campus Confidential is an insider’s look at the gritty underbelly of academia, where the struggles are so vicious because the stakes are so small. Only sometimes, they’re a matter of life and death.

*Content warning: Adult language*

That link for that free copy again is here.