Today it is my pleasure to welcome Andy Kutler and his political fiction novel, Honorable Profession.
Author’s description
Honorable Profession: A Novel of American Politics is a compelling, hopeful story of a cynical former Secret Service agent and his idealistic daughter as they follow a long-shot candidate into the perilous arena of presidential politics.
After resigning from his agency under an ethical cloud, 46-year-old Dan Cahill commits himself to rebuilding his relationship with Megan, the college-aged daughter in Las Vegas he has long neglected. She persuades a reluctant Cahill to join the student-led campaign of a popular professor competing in the Nevada presidential primary against impossible odds. As they face powerful forces conspiring to clear the field, Cahill’s deep-seated disdain for electoral politics collides with Megan’s higher ideals. Each of their faiths are tested by political allies and adversaries, all desperate for victory, no matter the costs.
Crafted by award-winning author Andy Kutler, Honorable Profession is an absorbing, modern-day political drama filled with authentic and indelible characters, each struggling with their own loyalties and principles as they duel with unscrupulous rivals and the meaning of public service.
Not in the blurb!
I got the chance to ask for something about this book that wasn’t in the blurb. Here’s Andy Kutler’s answer:
I see our country at a political crossroads. Not Democratic or Republican, but what kind of model of governance we want to have in this country. This story is really about the path I’d like to see us take, and that path begins with the choices of young people. They truly are the future.
About the Author
Andy Kutler is a writer and author of two award-winning novels, The Batter’s Box and The Other Side of Life. Andy has also written extensively for The Huffington Post and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Over a 28-year professional career, he has worked in the United States Senate, the U.S. Secret Service, and the national security community. A Wisconsin native, Andy lives with his wife and two children in Arlington, Virginia.
He must have been an interesting child
Outside of Andy Kutler’s official biography, I’ve learned that he wanted to be the administrator of a philanthropic trust when he grew up, “so he could give away someone else’s millions to an assortment of worthy causes.”
Not sure if that is totally true, or an at least partially tongue-in-cheek answer to an interview question, but either way he must have been an interesting child.
Find the Author
Website: https://www.andykutler.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andykutlerfanpage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyKutler
Buy the Book
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Honorable-Profession-Novel-American-Politics/dp/1684338891
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honorable-profession-andy-kutler/1140042789
Yes, there is a giveaway
The author will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
This post is part of a tour sponsored by Goddess Fish. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.
My Favorite Excerpt
Her eyes were pleading. “You have to win next week. Let me help you.”
“You are helping me, Hope. And I appreciate your good intentions. Your passion to fix what ails your brother, desperate for any solution, I’ve been there. I know what that pain in your heart feels like. But I didn’t get into this race to destroy others. I never wanted to be in a competition among rivals and enemies. I wanted to be in a competition of ideas. Ours are better, that I am certain of. And if this election proves I’m the wrong messenger, I want to see an army of others, like you, who will carry our movement forward. And make the Cure Initiative a reality.”
Hope stood, unenthusiastic, but at least offering a grudging nod as she lifted her tripod again.
Walter smiled at her. “Your integrity, my dear, and my conscience, will remain intact. But fear not, the Vice President will one day learn the same inescapable lesson I am now experiencing.”
“What’s that?”
“As the Buddhists say, there are three things that cannot long stay hidden. The sun, the moon, and the truth.”
Thank you!
Andy Kutler — we appreciate your sharing your book Honorable Profession with us! Best of luck with sales, and with all of your future writing.
Michael Leon is an explorer, writer and author of the new novel, Sentient. Professionally trained in international trade, Michael has spent the last decade reading and writing SFF novels about new worlds to be explored in the future. His latest work, Sentient, imagines Earth in the year 2120. His next novel, Chandelier, will be released in 2022. Michael has traveled extensively around Europe, walking the paths of his characters, from the famous European opera houses in Phantoms to the mountain tops of Switzerland in Emissary.
The twilight between tired revellers and early morning risers had become Erik’s refuge, a place where the pains of past and present could coalesce in his ritual of the macabre. He’d dreamt of his tormentors again, beasts controlled by masters who understood their canine’s savagery as intimately as a mother knew her child and recurring nightly, taunting his mind.
From his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, John Andrew Karr (also John A. Karr) writes of the strange and spectacular. He is the author of a handful of independent and small press novels and novellas, and also leaves in his wake a trail of short stories.
The debris would be recovered by the drones for re-purposing.
The announcement of another flight jolted her back into the present. It wasn’t her flight. She relaxed again into her seat and put her feet up on her carry-on.
Larissa Soehn is a budding new author from the cozy city of Red Deer, Alberta, where she lives with her husband, daughter, two cats and a dog. She started this journey as a recovery method for severe depression. She found that creative writing helped her process her emotions and work through the struggles of depression. As a child, Larissa enjoyed writing and telling stories, a passion that has recently reignited inside of her. Currently she is working to finalize the Gatlin Series, as well as publish a series of children’s books to help families discuss the importance of mental health, amongst other social issues facing children today. Larissa is an advocate for mental health and uses her personal experiences to help others work through their struggles. She uses social media platforms to help spread her message and give people permission to speak up and speak out.
With Stellie’s last words still hanging in the air, the lights go out and Alex is slammed into darkness. Immediately, her mind begins to race, and she can feel the panic rising in her stomach, starting to choke her throat. Darkness has always been a weak point for her. It’s the moment where she is left alone with only her thoughts to keep her company. With a strangled feeling in her chest, she manages a breath, and then another.
Roland hails from Davis, California, where she spent most of her youth lounging at the pool, soaking up the sun, and daydreaming. She had a key ring that read ‘I’m running away to join the circus,’ and her favorite moment of the day was when the local movie theater went dark, and the slogan ‘escape to the movies’ appeared on the screen. As an adult, her passions include all things melodramatic and beautiful — everything from classic movies, British romantic poetry, ancient tragedy and epic, to Italian opera. She is now a professor of Classics in a small midwestern town, where she lives with her Greek husband, her fraternal twins, and a Bernese mountain dog named Franco Corelli.
(Context: 15-year-old Marieke is disguised as Marek, and she’s serving as a squire to the Journeyman archer Tristan at the archers’ guild of Saint Sebastian. She’s in love with him, but she’s sworn an oath never to let him find out she’s a girl. In this scene, after Tristan and Marieke find an abandoned windmill, and spend an idyllic afternoon daydreaming in its shadow).
Destiny Hawkins is a multi-genre author with a dark imagination and a love for magic.
I let my hand drop to my side and began walking but didn’t even make it a few feet before hearing twigs and leaves crunching on my left. When I turned my head to see who or what it was, I froze, and my lips parted to inhale.
Seven Troublesome Sisters 