Dani Pettrey’s Release Celebration and Giveaway!

Hi friends,

Today I’m celebrating the release of 14^th book—The Deadly Shallows. I’m thrilled I get to spend part of it with you. In addition to The Deadly Shallows’ release, I’m also celebrating 10 years of publishing this summer. My debut novel, Submerged, came out in May of 2012. I still can’t wrap my head the fact that it’s been a decade.

Given that, I thought it might be fun to share some behind-the-scenes factoids about a three of my books leading up to The Deadly Shallows. Since Submerged kicked things off, I’ll start with Cole and Bailey’s story.

I often get asked where I get my ideas and I always answer, they come from all different places. The idea for Submerged came from a movie my hubby and I just happened to watch about cave divers. It got me thinking….who would do something so dangerous, and do it for a living? That question inspired Cole McKenna and the entire McKenna clan.

Once I knew the family, then I needed a setting. Where would be the best home for a family of extreme athletes who run an adventure outfitter company? I knew I needed extremes—things that would push my characters beyond their limits. I also wanted a location that would provide for a wide variety of adventures—everything from cave-diving to heli-skiing. I had a few options, but I settled on Alaska. Risk and extreme are inherent in the rugged, wild, and beautiful state.

Curious about your adventure style? Click on the graphic below and find out!

The first book in my Chesapeake Valor series, Cold Shot, starts out at Gettysburg National Military Park. It follows the story of former-Police sniper-turned-Park-Ranger, Griffin McCray. Griffin’s running and hiding himself away in an old military park seems the best place to keep the status quo in his life. That is, until Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Finley Scott walks into his life. She’s vivacious, intelligent and if he’s not careful he’ll fall hard. Finley, on the other hand, has nicknamed Griffin, “Ranger Grumpy.” The two are opposites in every way, but when a modern body is found in the Park, the two are thrown into the thick of the dangerous case together.

To go deep with research, I asked our historian guide where the best place in the Park would be to hide a body. I think he choked for a moment, but then he got into the fun of it and here’s the spot we picked:

I often get asked how I go about researching my novels, especially after I tell the Gettysburg story. LOL! I research in a varied of ways ranging from online, to books, to interviewing people in the professions or areas of service I’m writing about. When I turned The Deadly Shallows in my editors remarked how excellent the research was, particularly in the secondary suspense thread (don’t worry, no spoilers). They joked I must have an “inside” man. Truth is, I do. My hubby was my source for the secondary thread. It was fun brainstorming with him and learning even more about what he does. I hope you’ll enjoy Caleb and Austin’s adventure thread.