Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Release Party Day 3- What Is The IPN?

 
And we're back for more partying! Fractured Paradise is the 2nd book that discusses the International Protective Network, or IPN. Because this fictional organization is so important to me and my Honor Guard stories, I thought I'd share a bit about it. 
(Released March, 2012)                                                       
 



HOW IT CAME ABOUT

I've always been interested in reading books and seeing TV shows and movies that deal with justice organizations such as the FBI, CIA, soldiers, police, detectives. I wrote a few stories before with characters in each of these organizations, but getting the details right is difficult if all you have to go on is Hollywood. So, when I had the opportunity to write for Decadent Publishing, I decided to create my own business.
 
Creating my own business has been very interesting. Coming up with the name and what they did wasn't too difficult, but when I started having to figure out where its headquarters were and the company's background....wow! It suddenly became just like creating a "real" business. I had to know who opened the company and why. I had to know who worked in the technical side of the business and who they helped. I had to figure out what the lobby looked like and what hours the head office was open. At times, it's still overwhelming, but for the most part it's exciting because it's all from my own head!
 
 
THE ORGANIZATION
The International Protective Network is a world-wide organization of bodyguards. When other legal agencies can't guarantee a person's safety, the IPN can get the job done. The headquarters are located
in Edinburgh, Scotland. A Scottish couple, Russell and Mary MacLeod, started the agency after their youngest daughter testified against a criminal even after she was threatened. The police couldn't protect her and the criminal's friends eventually found and killed her. Russell, Mary and their remaining children opened the IPN soon after.

The IPN protects everyone from foreign dignitaries, to politicians, to Hollywood celebrities and even ordinary folks who can't get help anywhere else. They operate officially within the law, as true bodyguards, but they also have a more clandestine branch for more difficult and dangerous jobs. The men and women hired by the IPN come from all walks of life. At the moment, the company is still fairly new. So they only have offices in Edinburgh and Boston. But the agents will go wherever they're needed because in the end, justice must win.
 
THE IPN OPERATIVE OF FRACTURED PARADISE
In Fractured Paradise, the IPN operative is Rachel. She is a senior technical analyst. She's been known to get information on just about anyone and honestly, no one asks how she gets it. She worked for a computer company in the States until Russell and Mary MacLeod contacted her and asked her to join their company. Knowing exactly what it was like to feel all alone, as many of the IPN clients feel, Rachel accepted the job offer in hopes of helping people fight for justice. She moved to Edinburgh the week after her online interview.
 
Although Rachel's on vacation in this book, her IPN skills come in handy when someone tries to scare her away from her grandmother's cottage. Too, she calls her best IPN friend for advice.
 
AND NEXT....
I'm already hard at work planning 3 new IPN stories for next year (one in Scotland, one in Thailand and one in Mexico)! Plus, you've got Simple Treasures coming out next month with a Scotsman who hopes to join the ranks of IPN operatives.


Remember to comment on any of the posts this week to be in the running for the PRIZES!

3 comments:

  1. The IPN sounds very interesting. Thanks for the inside look!

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  2. I got here from Decadent Publishing's site. I'm glad I did! The Honor Guard series sounds good!
    suz2(at)cox(dot)net

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  3. Brenna, it's been SOOOOOO much fun working on it! Of course, I keep finding more and more people whose stories I just HAVE to write too!

    Susan, how wonderful! Thanks for coming! I love the Honor Guard line! It's perfect for me. Hope you'll hang out the rest of the week with us too.

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