The Alias by Mandi Tucker Slack

The Alias by Mandi Tucker Slack – Blog Tour

Welcome back to Author Mandi Tucker Slack

Mandi Tucker Slack grew up in Orangeville, UT, where her father worked as a coal miner for eighteen years. In 1987 the coal mines shut down for a time and her father joined the U.S. Army. They were stationed in Hanau, Germany, and she had the opportunity to explore Europe. Mandi’s family returned to Utah in 1992, and they settled in Orangeville once again, where she attended and completed High School. She then attended the College of Eastern Utah, where she studied Geology. Eventually Mandi changed her major and moved on to Utah State University while she completed a degree in Special Education. She then married her best friend, Charles Slack. They have three children, with one on the way, 6 chickens, and a lizard (sometimes several lizards).Their family loves to spend time together. They enjoy 4-wheeling, camping, and especially rock hounding. Her house is littered with rocks and fossils. As a child Mandi spent many weekends with her parents and sister exploring abandoned mining towns and searching for relics among the brick ruins. Her adventures with her family are often the inspiration for her stories.

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Interview

If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?

Definitely, the past. I love antiques, old buildings, and anything that has a “history”. My new book “Tide Ever Rising” begins in an old ghost town near my hometown. I’m obsessed with exploring these old, abandoned towns.

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

My journal, a pen, and a giant bag of gummy bears

What is one book everyone should read?

Mrs. Mike by Nancy and Benedict Freedman

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Kroger Brand Butterzinger

One food you would never eat?

Cow stomach

If you could jump in to a book and live in that world, which would it be?

Anne of Green Gables

What inspired you to want to become a writer?

I was always an imaginative child. I made up stories and play acted them out all the time. As an adult, I’m still just as imaginative, but I can’t act, so I write. I always have new stories popping up in my head, and I feel driven to write them down.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

“[Mandi] has a natural way of bringing her characters together and sealing their bonds with exciting circumstances!”… Ranee S. Clark, author of A Contemptible Affection

What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring author?

Never give up.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Newport, Oregon. We have vacationed out there a few times. I absolutely love to beach-comb for fossils along this stretch of beach. The forests are so amazing and mysterious. I think I could be very happy living there.

What’s the craziest writing idea you’ve had?

Tide Ever Rising, my new novel that is set to be released Feb. 12th, was probably my craziest idea. When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in ghost towns with my parents exploring old buildings and looking for treasures. As an adult, I spend quite a bit of time in the ghost towns near my hometown. One night, after spending the day with my husband and children exploring a town near Eureka, Utah, I had a crazy dream about exploring an old house and finding a journal inside the foundation. When I awoke, the idea wouldn’t leave. I wrote it down on a piece of paper with a note that said, “Could make an interesting beginning for a book”. A year or two later, while I was cleaning under my bed, I found my dusty note. Intrigued with the idea, I sat down and wrote the first chapter of Tide Ever Rising, and the book just took on a life of its own after that.

Favorite Food?

It changes from time-to-time. Right now, I’m pregnant, and my most recent craving is Jalapeno Poppers. I can’t get enough of these!

Favorite Candy?

Gummy bears

What is your favorite Quote?

“My ideas usually come not at my desk writing, but in the midst of living.” … Anais Nin

The Alias

Jacey Grayson is an average, young, divorced mother struggling to build a new life for her son, Blaze. But when the FBI discloses some disturbing information about her ex-husband, Jacey’s life becomes anything but average. At the risk of losing her identity, her future, and her heart, Jacey and Blaze flee to Utah, hoping to hide and start over once again. But no matter how far she runs or who she pretends to be, her past is always lurking nearby, bringing old fears with it. Thrilling action and a suspenseful plot make this novel an edge-of-your-seat-read.