Contemporary author T.M. Clark - and A house is a home when...

A house is a home when…

What does a house or a home mean to characters in a book? With the release of my fourth book in the Swallow’s Fall series, The Turnaround Treasure Shop, I decided to go outside my four walls and ask my neighbours - authors of contemporary and historical fiction. 
Over 12 days special guest authors talk us through A house is a home when…

It's THURSDAY and I'm welcoming T.M. CLARK!
(And there's a giveaway too.)

“T.M. Clark is a contemporary author of romantic suspense set in Africa – and a nominated author for Queensland Literary People Choice Award 2014.”

(Did you know that TM Clark (Tina) also writes for children with the author name Tina Marie Clark?)

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The Book: Shooting Butterflies  - Released December 2014 – A romantic Suspense novel set predominantly in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Character: Shilo Jamison Khumalo is my secondary hero in Shooting Butterflies. 


Tina is offering one commenter the chance to WIN a paperback copy of Shooting Butterflies! (Open to Australian postal addressees.)

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Character: Shilo Jamison Khumalo is my secondary hero in Shooting Butterflies.

Character bio:  Trying to keep his past buried, hard working ex-paratrooper Jamison has built himself a new life after walking away from his Captain Buffel’s madness, and is now known by his middle name in attempt to stay hidden from Buffel.  He finds love with Ebony when least expecting it, and has everything to lose if Buffel ever finds him. Despite knowing this, he still tries to protect ‘The Butterfly’ from Buffel’s reach...

The House: Jamison builds a safari camp in the trees for his employer Madam Rose Crosby, and it has revitalised her life.  His own home, made of stone and thatch, is also built at the site. The whole farm within the game fences of Amarose Private Game reserve, in Karoi, Zimbabwe, is a home for him and Ebony, untainted by violence or memories of Buffel. 

What makes a house a home for Jamison?

Jamison always knows that Buffel could find him, so his home is his wife Ebony. Any structure is a home, as long as his Ebony is with him. But the animals around him, the elephants and the wildlife are what makes this home on Amarose unique as he lives beside the game, and has a breathing space away from the madness of his destiny for a moment in time.

For Jamison, each day he lives is precious. Having a house to share with Ebony is important to him because at times they have both lived in single quarters, farm hostel style accommodation which was acceptable in yesteryears in Africa, and living in a hut growing up, so a real house is not only proof to him that his country is changing and is a better place to all its people, its also a symbol that he has improved himself, and he is a good provider for his wife. 

An excerpt of Shooting Butterflies by T.M. Clark:

They were almost in the camp by the time Wayne realised it was there. Apart from one huge building with a steep thatched roof and what was obviously the kitchen and stores area built of bricks to the left, he had to look carefully for the sleeping quarters for the guests.

They were tree houses. Eight in total. They were built into the large forest that had never been cleared for tobacco, one of the few areas that had been left wild on the farm. The tree houses blended into their environment totally. They were elevated, built of wood, and instead of windows, there were clear all-weather blinds to pull down should it rain, that would also allow fresh air to circulate through the house, keeping it cooler. Nothing marred the view in front of each tree house towards the waterhole.

Each roof had a different animal motif cut into the thatch grass on its roof. Giraffe, buffalo, lion, rhino, zebra, kudu, monkey and warthog. Wayne looked over and saw that the main eating area had a large elephant on its roof.

Wayne smiled as Jamison stopped and everyone climbed out the bakkie.

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Shooting Butterflies by T.M. Clark

The back cover blurb for Shooting Butterflies by T.M. Clark:

He sees The Butterfly in his dreams.
She is the key to setting a child’s soul free.
She is the perfect sacrifice.

Ex-soldier Kirkman ‘Buffel’ Potgieter lives by the motto of his former military unit: ‘Tiri Tose’, which is Shona for ‘we are together’… and also for ‘there is no escape’. So when Shilo Jamison Khumalo betrays Buffel by saving a neighbours child, Tara Wright, from becoming the latest addition to his sinister ‘butterfly’ collection, it sparks Buffel’s obsession with hunting them both down.

After Tara witnesses the murder of her father and uncle, she and her remaining family leave Zimbabwe for a new life in South Africa. There, a teenage Tara meets Wayne Botha — but finds she isn’t prepared for the price she is asked to pay for falling in love. After Tara secretly flees the conservative rural community, Wayne never gives up hope of ever seeing his one true love again.

But years later, out of the blue, Tara makes contact with Wayne to reveal a secret – and some potentially devastating news. In a twist of fate, Wayne and Jamison find they have far more in common that just a passion for African Wildlife and join forces to protect Wayne’s new family. But the threat of Buffel is still looming – and Jamison knows only too well that there will be ‘no escape’ for him and Tara, ‘The Butterfly’.

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T.M. Clark’s books:

Finalist Australian Romance Readers Association 2014 Awards Shooting Butterflies  
"A vivid and suspenseful portrayal of the contradictions of Africa and her people, traditions and superstitions."   

Queensland Literary People Choice Award 2014 nominated My Brother-But-One 
"History has already been written that women rarely last the distance in rural Africa, will Ashley beat the odds?"

Coming December 2015 and on pre-order now Tears of the Cheetah

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You'll find all the links of where to buy and discover more about 
African Romantic Suspense author T.M. Clark over on: tmclark.com.au

Tina is offering one commenter the chance to WIN a paperback copy of Shooting Butterflies.
(Open to Australian postal addressees.) Good Luck!

And pop back tomorrow. 
Last day of special guest authors for this blog series and you’ll find an author with a new perspective on desire and its dangerous edges, and a main character who also happens to be a bit …
(… come back tomorrow and find out!)
A tragic death. A family divided. One truth can set them free.

Jennie, in the company of T.M. Clark x

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After you’ve left a comment for T.M. (Tina), why not scroll down or click the links and visit previous days and maybe win a book:

Monday 18th: USA & Australia bestselling author Anne Gracie with The Spring Bride
Tuesday 19th: Award winning author Fiona Lowe with Truly Madly Montana
Wednesday 20th: Historical fiction author Eliza Redgold with Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva
Thursday 21st: Much loved international bestseller Rachael Johns and The Road to Hope 
Friday 22nd: Me, Jennie Jones - and The Turnaround Treasure Shop 
Saturday 23rd: Multi award winning contemporary author Barbara Hannay and Moonlight Plains 
Sunday 24th: Much-loved small-town fiction author Alissa Callen and Down Outback Roads
Monday 25th: International bestselling historical author Michelle Diener and A Dangerous Madness  
Tuesday 26th: USA Today bestseller Annie West and The Sheikh's Princess Bride 
Wednesday 27th: Bestselling Rural Romance author Cathryn Hein and The Falls