Always a Booklover: Book Feature: Fit to Kill by Donnie Ray Whetstone

Hey guys! Welcome to today's book feature! Wow, its been a loooong time since I last featured a book that wasn't part of a blog tour! So yep, this is Fit to Kill by Donnie Ray Whetstone. It looks amazing, I hope you enjoy it:)

Fit to Kill

How do you stop a personal trainer, who fantasizes about killing his clients, then carries out his gruesome desire on someone else? Making matters worse, how do you stop desires for your own trainer, jeopardizing your marriage? More troubling, do you want to? That’s what Detective Tara Tanner must solve in this crime thriller.
La Flore is renowned for its elite personal trainers. This model city however, faces a crisis. Someone is on a killing binge. The killer is vicious and cunning. He harbors a profound irony for one of the nation’s fittest cities, and the way he selects his victims makes him untraceable, but this predator has a weakness.
Fit to Kill is a non-stop thriller of fantasy, temptation and redemption, a deadly game of chase, in which the line is marred between predator and prey, a game that reveals how far one will go to kill, and how far the other will go, to survive.

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Donnie Whetstone

Donnie Whetstone resides in Rochester, Washington with his wife Diane. He is a full time personal trainer with over twenty years of experience and more than 70,000 training hours in homes, gyms and his own private training studio. Donnie is currently the co-owner of Fit Stop 24 Fitness Centers located in both Olympia and Yelm, Washington.
Though Fit to Kill is his first novel, he is no stranger to writing, having written numerous articles on nutrition, weight training and fitness; appearing in newspapers, magazines and the Internet. In Fit to Kill, his experience as a trainer allowed him to truly immerse the reader into the world of fitness in this detective thriller.
Donnie also has 13 years of military service in both the US Marines and US Army serving as a platoon sergeant and acting first sergeant. His experience as a trainer and veteran was extremely helpful in writing Fit to Kill. He is currently in the process writing a new novel with the working title of Night Spear. It combines both the supernatural and military drama.

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And now, let's welcome Donnie to the blog for a short interview with me:)

Hi Donnie, it’s lovely to have you on the blog today!

Glad to be here.

For starters, why not you tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

I’m a former Marine and Soldier, a Gym co-owner, a professional trainer and nutritional consultant, and a competitive master’s bodybuilder aspiring to become a professional. I have a lovely wife, Diane and we have five grown kids, a grandbaby with another one on the way.

What made you want to become a writer?

I don’t think I chose writing as much as writing chose me. I’ve always been artistic. All of my school years, I was in honor’s art. I lost my touch for art my junior year and to this day I don’t know why. My senior year I had acquired all of my graduation credits and decided to take creative writing. The teacher thought I had potential but I didn’t think much of it, but the seeds were planted that spring of 1979.

Did you have other aspirations/dreams in the past, or have you always wanted to be a writer?

My lifelong goal is to become a professional bodybuilder; I’ve wanted that since age 11. Of course, spending over 20 years in the fitness industry, I also aspire to help the nation win its war against obesity. Being a chunky kid before discovering weight training, our youth holds a big priority with me.

What gave you the inspiration for the plot of the book?

The one element that stands out is all of the true crime TV I watch. I especially like City Confidential and find it intriguing how the series gets viewers attached to the community, the residents and their reactions to the forces of events. I wanted to get that same intrigue with readers in Fit to Kill.

Are your characters based off real people, or did they all come entirely from your imagination?

Both, with the story’s setting being the world of fitness, my 20 years in the industry gave me plenty to work with. However there are number of characters that were completely from my imagination.

Could you tell us a bit about your book and why it is a must-read?

A model city, La Flore faces its first serial killer in a deadly irony since being voted on of the nation’s fittest cities. The killer provides the irony because when he’s not brutally murdering La Florians, he’s motivating them in sweat drenching workouts in his private training studio. Detective Tara Tanner is the heroin that must solve this baffling case while grappling with her strong attraction and impending affair with her own trainer that threatens her marriage. Fit to Kill takes the reader to the dark side of fitness and is rife with conflict, twists and turns, and what story wouldn’t benefit with a nice helping of temptation…that’s why it’s a must read

What do you love most about the writing process?

With me it’s when after a few chapters, the story grows legs and takes its own path. I had the complete storyline written for Fit to Kill, but around chapter ten the story had developed to where other options opened up. The story had the same ending as the storyline, but in an entirely different way. Seeing those options open up, options I couldn’t remotely conceive before, is what I love most about the process.

And of course, do you have a particular favorite character? I know an author will love most if not all of the characters he/she creates, but I’m sure there must be a favorite of yours! So who is it, and why?

In Fit to Kill, I would say my favorite character is Detective Tara Tanner. Over the years, the vast majority of my training clients have been women with most falling in Tara’s age group. They are remarkable people in many ways yet they are not infallible. Detective Tanner embodies that. I guess you could say it’s my tribute to them.

Will you tell us a little about your plans for the future?

My immediate plan is to bump my freaking cardio to two hours in preparation for the Master’s Nationals in Pittsburg…ya gotta love it. Also, the rest of the year will be marketing Fit to Kill via book events, book contests, book trailers, bodybuilding and fitness competitions, anything to get exposure, which is more work than actually writing the novel…go figure.

And of course, are there any other books that are in the works? (Ideas thought out, perhaps even a rough draft?)

I’ll go one better. Here’s the synopsis to my current project: Night Spear

It is a military secret of the highest order, kept even from a President, whose anti terror successes in killing fifty of the world’s most notorious terrorists figures, including Bin Laden, has rewarded him with the highest foreign policy approval rating of any President. The secret is an assault team like no other. Deception is used to mask their operations. Reports of successful drone and SEAL team strikes are mere cover ups to conceal their grisly work. Though this pack of four carries no weapons, they are the most lethal team on earth. Their abilities border super human and folklore has made them infamous. One legend however, is true, which is why they only operate at night. Night spear is about a highly decorated Army Major, Clint Westland’s induction into this covert world. On the short list for lieutenant colonel and eager to command a Stryker Brigade, a calling summons him to another assignment, one where he discovers the lengths taken to ensure our national security, and not everything we see and hear, is to be believed.

I’m currently on chapter 10.

And now, just some little random questions!

Favorite colour?

Blue

Favorite place?

At a good movie with Di

Favorite book?

That’s a hard one

Favorite thing?

Eating

What you do when you’re free:

Can eating apply here to?