Broken Toys by Glenda Thompson ~ Genre: Thriller
Texas Ranger Noah Morgan has his life together—with a great job and the girl of his dreams. Too bad it’s all based on a lie. A single phone call threatens to bring it all crashing down. After an irate citizen complains shoddy workmanship has left him with a booby-trapped driveway, and the local sheriff’s office is too busy to respond, Noah takes the call. The investigation of local scam artists uncovers a human trafficking ring. Noah fights to avoid being swept back into the sights of his murderous family—people he escaped at the age of seventeen.
Can he keep his past a secret or will his carefully crafted life come to a violent end?
A sixth-generation Texan with Scottish roots, Glenda Thompson can ‘bless your heart’ with the best of them. As a former emergency medical technician married to a south Texas Lawman, she’s used insider information from both their careers as inspiration to build her Broken world of Texas Rangers with hidden pasts and dark secrets. When she’s not busy embarrassing her children or grandchildren by dancing in the middle of a country road during a rainstorm, she can be found huddled in her writing cave with her law enforcement technical adviser/husband working on another story in her Broken universe.
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What kind of world ruler would you be?
Oooh, great question. What kind of world ruler would I be? I like to believe I would be a gracious, magnanimous ruler but my kids would tell you I’m more like a benevolent dictator. I believe people should have free will and be able to make their own decisions. However, I also believe that all actions have consequences. My dad used to say we could do whatever we wanted when we visited him, no matter what it was. He followed that proclamation with the statement that we also had to accept the consequences of our actions… no matter what.
What are you passionate about these days?
So many things…autism research, cancer research, family. Our youngest grandson is on the spectrum. I never realized what was meant by a spectrum disorder until I experienced first-hand. Autism is such an all-encompassing diagnosis. No two people with autism are the same.
Darlin’ and I were hit with hard news on November 5th this year. Good ole 2020, right? He was diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive form of bladder cancer. So rare that only one to nine people out of a million have it and there is no standardized treatment for it. We’ve gone from celebrating his winning his election to being plunged into an overwhelming world of curious doctors, round after round of chemotherapy and radiation. But it’s okay. We have faith and I firmly believe in miracles.
What do you do to unwind and relax?
Play with the Grands, read, physically make things, walk the beach with Darlin’, drive fast, and mow the lawn with a push mower.
How to find time to write as a parent?
I’m an empty nester now but when the kids were young, I would carve out time to write when they were sleeping or on my lunch hour from work. As they grew up and became active in sports and other school activities, I learned I could write while sitting in my vehicle waiting for the bus to bring them back from wherever they went. Track meets were the best. My daughter and son both ran the mile and the two mile. Any parent with kids in track knows the two mile race is the first of the day and the mile is the next to last race of the day. I could write all day long sitting in the bleachers between the kiddos races. It was great.
Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
Eclectic, contrary, family-centric, shy, passionate
Do you have a favorite movie?
Mel Gibson’s We Were Soldiers is my favorite movie. I love Sam Elliott and Madelaine Stowe. The movie shows both sides of the war…the soldiers and the family waiting at home.
Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
Broken Toys would make a great action film. It has shooting, romance, an explosion, and lots of unexpected twists and turns.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
The wolf, definitely. Wolves are solitary creatures, but they are also pack animals. They symbolize guardianship, loyalty, ritual, and spirit. They make quick and firm emotional attachments and teach us to trust our hearts and minds.
If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
I would love to spend time with Rochelle and try to undo the damage her father and his wretch of a wife have done. We would spend the day in nature, preferably near living water, just unwinding and talking or sitting in silence soaking up peace.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
My characters are a combination of people I know, stories I hear, and the phantoms who live in my brain. Most of them are a compilation of many people.
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
A little of both.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
Broken Toys is a bumpy ride down a twisty country road full of surprises. It’s compelling fiction with real emotions. It shines a light into the darkness of human trafficking and teaches readers without preaching that it’s important to be yourself, to love yourself, especially if you want others to love you, too. (Can you tell marketing/sales is NOT my thing?)
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Sunshine and gunpowder
What did you edit out of this book?
Three complete points-of-view. It was hard at first but I think it made the remaining POV characters so much stronger, deeper.
Is there any writer which brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?
Oh boy, is there. Several as a matter of fact including James Patterson, John Sandford, JD Robb aka Nora Roberts, Dean Koontz, and Janet Evanovich. I love each of their styles and have tried to take bits and pieces of each of their writing flavors and blended them into a new flavor all my own.
Nina Soden 