Hello, Chris. I see you brought
Charlotte Dasheill with you today for an interview.
Why don't you both make yourselves comfy. Nice that you don't have to do any work today for this blog, Chris. So,you sit back and let's get right to Charlotte.
Charlotte answered
on the fourth ring. Caller I.D. showed “restricted.”
Charlotte Dasheill with you today for an interview.
Why don't you both make yourselves comfy. Nice that you don't have to do any work today for this blog, Chris. So,you sit back and let's get right to Charlotte.
I understand,Charlotte,that you are the heroine in both books of Chris’s
Dangerous Waters series: Golden Chariot and Byzantine Gold.
Yes, I'm so lucky.
Please tell us a
little about yourself.
I grew up in Chicago. My father was a Chicago cop. He’s
retired now and my mom was a housewife. Other than my parents divorcing when I
was a teen, I had a pretty typical and happy childhood. I have one brother,
Nick, who is a Chicago cop too. He’s with the SWAT team there. I love him to
bits and worry about him. It makes me crazy to hear him tell some of his dangerous
SWAT details.
Nick couldn’t care less about history but I can’t remember a
time that I wasn’t fascinated with the subject. I knew as a young girl of
twelve I’d be an archaeologist. I was a little girl when the Indiana Jones
movies were popular. I wanted to be the female Indiana but without the snakes
and people shooting at me.
While in college, I decided to specialize in nautical
archaeology. I now have my PHD and look forward to working on the recovery
teams of new shipwreck discoveries. I start getting excited in the spring
knowing the next dive season is only weeks away.
Is that why you live
in Turkey?
Yes and no. You can’t throw a rock and not hit something
historical in Turkey. The waters off the coast are beautiful and there are so
many wrecks filled with artifacts to bring to the surface. To me, each ship has
a unique story to tell. I love trying to uncover that story through the relics and
the wreck remains.
That said; the main reason I live in Turkey is because the
love of my life, Atakan Vadim, is there.
How did you meet?
Atakan is an archaeologist also but he’s employed as an
agent for the Turkish Ministry of Culture. We met last year when he assigned as
my dive partner on the recovery team of a Bronze Age wreck site. I’d been a
witness to the death of the government agent originally assigned to the
project. It was Atakan’s job to quietly investigate me and make certain I had
no involvement in the man’s murder.
It took some time but we developed a friendship and trust
between us. From there, one thing led to another and we fell in love.
When he’s not in the field working an archaeological site,
he conducts investigations of smugglers dealing in the sale of illegally
obtained artifacts to the black market. He and his investigative team work out
of an office in Istanbul.
When not in the
field, what do you do to stay busy?
I do preservation work with artifacts at a lab in Istanbul.
I clean, identify, tag, and catalogue the relics.
I’m also writing industry articles about the wrecks where
I’ve participated on recovery teams.
You recently finished
a project. Tell us about it.
A Byzantine Era warship was found off the coast of Northern
Cyprus. The ship carried a cargo of gold, coins, jewelry, and religious
objects. MIAR, the archaeological company I am associated with found this very
curious. If it was a merchant ship, we’d expect that type of cargo but not on a
Dromon, which is a ship meant for battle. Because it was so unique, the rich
find received a good deal of publicity.
The publicity caused a major problem and put the whole team
at risk. A cell of a terrorist organization found it more than curious. They decided
it was too tempting to ignore. The valuable relics would bring them much needed
funds. Their leader stole the identity of a diver assigned to the project and
infiltrated team. To make things worse, he was assigned as my dive partner.
Where was Atakan?
He was to be my partner but while we were on vacation in
Paris, an old enemy of his, a man he sent to prison, came after Atakan. He shot
Atakan as we walked down the street. Fortunately, it struck him in the
shoulder. A few inches to the right and he’d have been killed. Atakan continued
as the site’s Ministry representative, but the injury kept him from being able
to dive.
Did you catch the man
who shot him?
No, he escaped in Paris. Those months were a double
nightmare for us both. We had reason to believe he followed us to Cyprus so
Atakan’s life was at stake the entire time. Then, when we learned my partner
was a terrorist, Atakan and another Ministry agent had to race the clock to
capture the members of the cell before they could attack the camp.
When you’re not
dodging danger, what’s life like for the two of you?
We like to travel. In the winter, we ski. In the warm months,
right after the dive season, we enjoy staying places with lots of water sports.
At home we entertain fairly often. Atakan and I both are
decent cooks so we have friends over for dinner a lot. We also have an
apartment in a lovely location with a view of the Bosphorus. If the weather
allows, we like to relax on the patio with a glass of wine and just watch the
ferries as they come and go from the Asian side of the city to our side.
What would surprise
people the most about you?
I belly dance and I’m not too bad at it. (Smiles)
What would surprise
people the most about Atakan?
Outwardly, he appears stern and cold. But those who know him
will tell you he is warm and outgoing with a wicked sense of humor.
Anything else you’d
like to say?
I hope everyone will be intrigued to read about the dangers
that surrounded this recovery project and Atakan, in Byzantine Gold.
Thank you, Charlotte. Good luck to you in the books.
Chris, since you are here, why not give us a little excerpt from Bysantine Gold.
Excerpt
“Hello.”
“They are called,
Angelique tulips. You admired them in the hospital garden in Paris.”
Charlotte froze,
holding her breath as she listened to the nightmare voice, remembering how his
Eastern European accent rounded certain sounds and how he stressed the last
syllables in his words. Called became cawl-d.
Tischenko.
“Everything in
time,” he said and hung up.
Charlotte dropped
the phone on the table. She turned to Atakan.
The shock must’ve
shown on her face. “What is wrong?”
“That was
Tischenko,” she said, finding her voice. “The flowers are from him. He was
watching me in Paris when I was at the hospital. He—”
Atakan didn’t wait
for her to finish. He rushed into the living room, grabbed his gun from the
bookshelf, and ran out of the apartment.
Charlotte followed
as he flew down the four flights of stairs to the street.
“Stop.” Catching up
to him on the sidewalk, she hooked his elbow with her hand. Fearful an armed
Tischenko hid nearby, she positioned herself in front of Atakan, thinking to
shield him. “We can’t stand here. He could be anywhere taking aim at you right
now.”
“Go back inside.”
“Not without you.”
She tugged on his shirt, pulling him toward their building. “Atakan please,
let’s leave. Call the Director.”
Atakan shoved her
behind him. Silent, his eyes searched the dark doorways of neighboring
apartment buildings and parked cars.
“Atakan please.”
“Get inside.”
She stepped in
front of him again. “We stay here together or we leave together.”
An eternity of
seconds passed. Neither moved or blinked.
They both jumped
and turned at the bellow from the horn of a passing truck. Thankfully, the
driver was waving to another coming the opposite direction. He never saw the
man in the sling pointing a gun at him.
“Please,” she
repeated.
Atakan nodded. He
stopped at the building’s entry door and took a last look, surveying the
street. “He moves us around like pawns in a private game.”
~~~
Wow, sounds like an exciting adventure, Chris. I can't wait to get my little paws in it.
Leave a comment for Chris and Charlotte, readers.
I'm sure they would love to hear from you.
Sounds like a great book for a movie. Intrigue, archaeology, a little romance. What's not to like?
ReplyDeleteHi Marva,
DeleteI would dearly love to have it made into a movie. What fun. I'd like to see who Hollywood cast as the different characters, especially Charlotte and Atakan. I like Stana Katic for Charlotte and Oded Fehr for Atakan. I have my "dream" cast in a book board on my pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/chriskarlsen
Chris
I want to thank Lorrie for hosting my heroine, Charlotte today.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
Chris Karlsen
I'll speak for Lorrie to say she's really happy to have Chris Karlsen and her MC, Charlotte, on her blog today. Unfortunately, Lorrie is under the weather and, thus, her unintended absence from the comments.
ReplyDeleteGreat insight into Charlotte, I love her. I think that we would be great friends, we have the same naughty sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteI'm halfway through this novel and love it so far. I wish I was a quick reader but I tend to savour every word which is why I read so slow!