Writing Belle: TRIGGER - Thrilling New Release/Guest Post by Jill Meengs

Trigger by Jill Meengs

Published by Booktrope

January 27, 2015

Genre: Spy Thriller

Jordan Shaw knows the only way to stop the man hunting her is to kill him. She also knows the other men who came after her are dead, some of their blood is on her hands, and she wouldn’t have survived this long without the help of the intriguing and secretive Chase Hudson. Even though she isn’t sure she can trust Chase, she believes she needs him to discover the truth.

Two days before, life was pretty good as she backpacked around Europe with her best friend. Now, everything has changed and she may not even live through the night. What started as a summer trip of self-discovery has become a dangerous journey across three countries as Jordan is forced into a world few know exist and even fewer survive. A clandestine international organization that will let nothing stand in their way has put a price on her head. Despite all the uncertainty, there are two things that she is absolutely sure of; she has one chance to out-maneuver a world class killer, and she has to make that move right now.

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Guest Post

What inspired me to write Trigger

by Jill Meengs

My husband Chad has always said that I should write a book. He kept bringing it up and getting very little reaction from me until he decided to offer me a bribe. For the price of a nice flat screen for the bedroom and a shopping spree, I agreed to give writing a book a solid effort. The first step in this process was to sit down and put together an outline. I sat down with several goals, one was to write a book that I actually wanted to read. Second, I wanted the main character be a strong woman that others could look up to, relate to, and who was perfectly capable of turning around and saving the leading man, even if she needed to be saved herself a time or two. Finally, I wanted to use my experiences while traveling in my writing. I have been to every location in Trigger and some of the content is based on things that actually happened to me.

Once I had what I considered a viable story I spent two to three hours writing every night. This was after a full eight hour day of work and two hours of commuting. My husband was usually sitting right next to me working on his computer as well. More than two years, and over 100,000 words later the rough manuscript was complete. While self-editing for the next three years I spent a considerable amount of time sending out queries to literary agents and learning to deal with rejection. I even started the sequel, but progress on it has been slow since my focus was on publishing Trigger.

Eventually, my sister-in-law introduced me to published poet and creative writing teacher, Ann Staley. Ann generously helped me edit Trigger and introduced me to own publisher, Booktrope. In June of 2014, over 5 years after starting to brainstorm ideas for a book, I received an offer from Booktrope to publish Trigger. Approximately six months later I was holding a hard copy of Trigger in my hand.

About the Author

Jill Postlewait Meengs grew up in a small town on the Oregon Coast. During and after college she spent extended periods of time backpacking in more than 30 countries. She has been to every location she describes in “Trigger” and some of the content is based on her own experiences while traveling. She met her husband, Chad, in the MBA program at Oregon State University. After getting married, they purchased and fully remodeled a house. It was Chad who encouraged, and then bribed her to write her first book, “Trigger.” He says that he very much enjoys watching the flat-screen he purchased as part of their deal. When Jill isn’t reading or writing, she is running, doing yoga or planning her next trip. Jill and Chad live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

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