#booknews #protips #friends #reviews #suggest
This is Mystery Ahead, the
newsletter for readers and writers. Together, we find out what makes for a compelling mystery.
Remember to share! Friends love mysteries, too. #booknews “She inherited a secret her soul doesn’t know.”
That’s the tagline for AWAKENING MACBETH. My latest novel is a romantic
thriller with a paranormal twist waiting to be discovered at Amazon’s Kindle Scout, a place where readers help decide if a book gets published by Kindle Press.
I hope this description helps readers choose
AWAKENING MACBETH:
"Shattered by her father’s death, professor Brodie Macbeth has terrifying nightmares. In her sleep, people will kill for a secret Brodie doesn’t know. It’s grief, everyone says, and when Brodie meets Joe Birnam, an Iraq War vet with his own demons, she’ll let go and finally learn to love. Yet a colleague’s shocking claim makes Brodie realize that the
nightmares are a real and deadly game. Joe’s immortal soul is the prize. But Brodie doesn’t know how to play, let alone win."
The cover design was selected by a reader poll on Facebook! I especially loved the response from thriller author Khaled Talib (SMOKESCREEN, INCOGNITO) who wrote simply, “This one.”
Thanks to all who helped choose such an eye-catching design and for your Kindle Scout votes.
But AWAKENING MACBETH was not the only cover that rolled out this month. MADE IN ACAPULCO: The Emilia Cruz Stories got a facelift by Matt Chase in keeping with his artwork for the full-length novels.
Finally, THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY’s new cover more appropriately reflects the relationship at the book’s core.
#protips One thing that authors focus on is pacing. Especially when writing a mystery, you don’t want to it to
drag.
Keep up the pace with short sentences and paragraphs. Think snap, crackle, pop.
Robert B. Parker, late author of the
Spenser mystery series, was a master of the short sentence and quick pace.
For example, COLD SERVICE, in which his wingman Hawk seeks revenge on a mob boss for killing a family, is built with short paragraphs and staccato dialogue. Until we hit the end.
At a pivotal moment, however, Parker gives us a page-long paragraph as Spenser preps for the ultimate gunfight. The difference in pacing shocks us and builds even more suspense.
If you haven’t read the Spenser series, do so now. Immediately.
#friends This month I’m talking to Lorne Oliver, a suspense-writing Canadian chef! His first published novel was RED ISLAND, a police thriller. His latest novel is THE PASS, about a chef who meets a
mysterious end in the wilds of Alberta.
It's the third novel in his Alcrest mystery series which could be The. Next. Big. Thing. So you can say you found out about Lorne Oliver right here.
Carmen Amato: Lorne, thanks so much for stopping by. I know you are busy juggling two careers: chef and mystery author! How did you decide to combine the two in The Alcrest
Mystery series? Lorne Oliver: I've always wanted to write a novel that tells the behind the scenes of working in a restaurant. A lot of strange things happen back in the kitchen. Plus I love mysteries. Why not write a mystery that takes place in a restaurant? I had written a novella about a restaurant almost the same as the Alcrest Gastropub and I had written written a mystery
novella with a male and female sleuth team. For The Alcrest Mysteries I combined the two.
CA: How do you create multi-dimensional fictional characters, including the brother and sister duo Spencer and Chrys Alcrest, who are very different? Where do you look for inspiration when creating characters? LO: I cheat. Probably a third, if not more, of my characters are based on actual people I know. Sometimes it is their physical appearance, sometimes just their name, but once in a while the character is completely based on the real person. Most are with permission.
CA: We
recently discussed THE PASS, the third book in The Alcrest Mystery series. Some of the scenes that take place in the wilds of Canada were so riveting, I had to remind myself to keep breathing. To be honest, there aren’t many books that have that effect! What is your secret for writing great suspense? LO: We all have 5 senses. Part of writing a great scene is utilizing
all of your senses and hopefully sparking a memory in the readers mind. Sure, I can tell you about the sticky black muck in a swamp but if I describe the putrid stench of rotting vegetation or mention the suction sound as you pull your boot from the mud and the constant buzzing of mosquitoes in your ears you can feel it. When writing suspense I look at the scene from every angle. I don't see it like a movie, I see it like I'm there. I think being in martial arts for many years and planning many
fighting displays has helped me to plot out how a suspense scene would happen.
CA: What’s next for Spencer Alcrest, his restaurant The Alcrest Gastropub, and his sister Chrys? LO: A psycho is leaving body parts hanging like
wind-chimes and seems to be targeting the Alcrests.
Wow. Thank you, Chef Lorne Oliver!
#reviews In case you have been living under a rock lately and don’t know, the US presidential elections are 8 November.
I recently looked around for some
less exhausting entertainment and found better election thrills of the literary variety with 5 presidential election thrillers.
You can thank me after the elections.
War hero Sergeant Raymond Shaw was brainwashed by North Korean captors into becoming a sleeper assassin. Given the right signal, he’ll kill without question or mercy. Back in the US, his programming will cause him to carry out a hit on a candidate for
president. Shaw’s former commanding officer, Major Bennett Marco, is the only one who knows but he’ll encounter a deadly conspiracy spread like a spider’s web throughout the government. Two movies, but the book is still the best way to experience this gripping story.
In this compelling 2012 thriller, Mexico’s First Lady wants to succeed her husband. Her lover, Mexico’s Minister for Public Security, makes a deal with an El Chapo-type drug kingpin to fund her campaign in exchange for territory. Attorney and ex-cop Eduardo Cortez Castillo uncovers the deal, triggering a deadly pursuit as the cartel attempts to
destroy him, starting with his Cinderella-story relationship with a housemaid. The First Lady and money-for-influence themes harken to #Election2016 but the political slogans and sex scenes are much, much better.
In this 1986 political thriller, a prominent DC attorney and close friend of the president simply vanishes after a round of golf at Burning Tree Country Club. As presidential elections loom, the White House press secretary Gene Cullen becomes the unwilling linchpin in a secret investigation that touches national security agencies as well as the president’ re-election campaign. The book’s pace is swift, Cullen is an
appealing anti-hero, and the Watergate scandal hovers between the lines like Knebel’s ghostwriter. Another Knebel presidential politics classic is the equally famous 7 Days in May, both books sadly only available in hardcopy.
In 1982, the thought of an ultra left-wing government in Britain was a real possibility and the novel captures such a rise—and the backlash—with brilliance and humor. Steel worker Harry Perkins wins the prime minister’s seat, vowing to remove American bases, bring
banks under government rule, and dismantle the media. British Establishment fights back, in a series of moves that years later were revealed to be uncomfortably truthful, according to the author in a 2006 interview in The Guardian. The book became a much-awarded television series starring Ray McAnally as
Perkins.
The novel has terrorists who use passenger jets as weapons and hacked voting machines that rig a presidential election, all of which
appeared far-fetched when it was first published 30 years ago. Set in the 1990’s, the setting is bleak as socialist policies in both the US and the UK have led to unemployment and squalor. The uber-liberal US president facing reelection orders the murder of an Islamic terrorist about to use nukes against Israel, but it’s a decision that could lose him the election. His opponent is a former president who wants to serve a non-consecutive term but has his own issues to cover up. Complicated
characters, complex plot. Part dystopia and part prophecy.
Jean B. asked how do I come up with all the names of characters in the Detective Emilia Cruz series?
It may sound funny, but I have a collection of Central American newspaper notices of people who are being publicly called out by banks for defaulting on loans. These are similar in intent to public notices in US newspapers.
I mix and match from these lists to create character names.
Thanks for asking!
That's all for this edition of Mystery Ahead!
Thank you for sharing this great adventure with me.
Until next time, keep reading and keep exploring the mystery ahead :)
All the best, Carmen
About 1 in 1000 people who download books leave a review. Let's not gamble on those odds for the 4th Detective Emilia Cruz!
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