Tell us about Sudden Autumn

After his brother dies under peculiar circumstances, guilt ridden Craig Ruger arrives in Costa Rica searching for answers. He enlists the help of tropical researcher Kathleen Devereaux and is immediately swept up into an environmental catastrophe that rapidly spreads across the Atlantic and to the United States. Pursued by assailants and viewed as suspects by the FBI, Craig and Kathleen hasten their quest to stop the lunacy.

With clues buried in a COLD WAR past, they race to a National Historic Landmark, under siege by a high tech method, more lethal than Vietnam’s Agent Orange. They confront the terrorists and find themselves in the fight of their lives.

SUDDEN AUTUMN is a fast-paced novel of continent hopping legwork and sleepless pursuits, sinister traps and unexpected twists. It is a story of tragic family losses and the redemptive power of new love.

What genre is it?

Sudden Autumn is a thriller, with environmental, romantic and emotional underpinnings.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?

This novel will appeal to readers who are outdoor enthusiasts with a love of the natural world, technocrats who like scientific underpinnings and those who root for the person burdened with a serious illness.

Complete this sentence for us: If you like ­­­­­­­­­­___________, you’ll love Sudden Autumn.

The Hades Factor by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds, or any novel that has a clock ticking.

Is Sudden Autumn a one-off, or the first in a series?

It’s a one-off.

How do you keep up the breakneck speed of your story? Does it take a huge amount of discipline to get rid of everything superfluous?

The characters do not sit still.  They are constantly on the move, chasing and being chased, the locations changing from Costa Rica to England and to the United States, action and danger at every turn.  It does take discipline when writing a novel like this to not take the wrong fork in the road when following the plot.  To trail off into what first may appear to be a promising situation; only to later find it didn’t work is a recipe for disaster and a time-consuming nightmare.  I research extensively to develop a plot that is plausible with realistic schemes.  This research keeps me headed in the right direction and allows my scenarios to be coherent and believable.

Imagine Sudden Autumn was about to be turned into a huge Hollywood blockbuster and you’re put in charge of the casting. Who would play Craig Ruger, and who would play Kathleen Devereaux?

I would recommend Matt Damon as Craig, the everyday man and Rachel Weisz as Kathleen.  If not Matt Damon, then maybe Rachel’s husband in real life, Daniel Craig could play Craig.

Writing a book is never easy, but other than that, what has been the toughest part – editing or marketing?

I’m a so-so editor, but marketing may well be the toughest part.  The new reality of the publishing business is now to the point where authors have to provide most, if not all of the marketing.  This is a part of the business I consider on-the-job-training.  It is a new experience and a definite challenge.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I love everything wild, travelling, immersing myself in other cultures, outdoors experiences.  Having first-hand knowledge of the areas I write about is a great advantage.  I have a great passion for things logical.  As a retired structural engineer, I have a tenacity to solve problems with tools in mathematics and science.  I view science as a form of art with the universal language of mathematics.  In my coming novel, THE PERSIAN QUANDARY, I develop math in a way that it intrigues, but does not make it unattainable for the verbal soul.

That sounds intriguing. Can’t wait.  How can we monitor your progress? Have you got a blog where we can keep up with your work? Do you use social media?

My social network pages are being developed.  My webpage should be up and running in a couple of weeks, at the latest by the end of this year, 2012.  Webpage is www.leelindauer.com.

Where can we buy Sudden Autumn?

Presently, it is only on the eBook platform and can be found at Amazon (US, UK), Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

What’s next?

The Persian Quandary will be released in September, 2013 as a hardback and is the first in a series with woman mathematics professor, Mallory Lowe who uses her mathematics and logic to zero in on the psychopathic minds of terrorists and power-hungry despots bent on domination.