WHAT IS THE ONE QUESTION AUTHORS HATE TO BE ASKED?

By: NYT Bestseller Dianna Love

Giveaway for 2 lucky winners!

I heard a well-known author speaking at a recent event say that the one question an author really doesn’t like to be asked is, “Where do you get your inspiration?”

I wanted to hold up my hand and say I don’t mind being asked that, because I remember my “pre-author” days of wondering what caused an author to write a particular story.  In fact, I actually enjoy discussing those things with readers.  

So I thought I’d give you an idea of where some of my ideas come from.

Picture this: I’m  sitting in a lunch restaurant, minding my own business (as much as any writer minds her own business).  I’m trying to type a message on my phone and swearing silently at the auto-correct, when I hear something that escapes a private conversation—something said a tad too loudly.  No, I was not eavesdropping.  Not this time. *grin*

 A nice-looking, late-twenties blonde woman is sitting two tables over.   She says in a raised voice, “What am I supposed to believe?  The letter or that guy?”  Her brunette friend hushes her in the patently conspiratorial tone of one who has just heard the mother of all gossip.

Now, the referenced letter might have informed our rattled blonde that the bank can’t refinance her house for the amount she desperately needs, and that guy could be some shyster mortgage broker who’s trying to convince her to take a loan with his company.  

But for me, this outburst offered a story possibility.  It distracted me to the point that I forgot what text message I was trying to convince my crazy cell phone to type.   

Blondie was obviously in a panic and at wit’s end, but why?  That was the moment I went off into What If Land, a fiction writer’s favorite amusement park where characters walk on scene ready to play.  Being a romantic thriller author, I went straight to that dark place where the combination of suspense and romance germinates.  

What if … the man Blondie had been married to for the past two years had disappeared—before she could finalize the divorce she’d instigated because she was sure he’d been having an affair?  But then what if she receives a letter from her not-yet-ex husband, who apologizes for all the trouble he’s caused her?  He admits that he was never in love with her, but for what it’s worth, he never cheated on her while they were together. 

He goes on to say he was in this country for a reason and needed a cover that included being married.  The good news is that he’s left her money to make up for using her,  as it was only business for him.  

The bad news?  If she was reading this letter, then he was dead and she was in danger.  She should go immediately to the FBI and ask to be put into the WITSEC program.  

She’s in shock, but starts throwing clothes into a suitcase and trying to figure out how she’s going to walk away from her life.  What can she tell the FBI to convince them to protect her? She has no idea who her husband really was or if he is truly dead. She stops packing, at a loss for what she should do. Would the FBI believe the letter, or would they think she had killed him and was trying to cover her tracks with the wild claims?  

Then what if someone knocks on her door and she freezes? Could that be a threat?  She looks out a slit in the living room curtains to see who it is and doesn’t recognize the man standing at her front door. She’d remember someone that attractive and so much more imposing than her husband—correction…ex-maybe-dead husband—but when the stranger swings his gaze in her direction as if he could feel her watching him, she sucks in air at the deadly blue eyes staring at her.  She shakes herself loose and runs to the bedroom to grab her shoulder bag, abandoning her suitcase and racing through the house to the kitchen.  

What if the front door opens with that high-pitched squeak she’d been meaning to oil? Blondie snatches up her keys on the fly and dives through the garage access door in the kitchen, only to realize the stupid garage door was still stuck open a foot off the ground. Footsteps pound behind her. She runs toward the garage door wondering if those extra pounds are going to stop her from squeezing under.  The door to the kitchen slams back against the wall and a deep voice yells, “Don’t be a fool and run.” 

Blondie feels like a bad actor in a B action movie when she drops to the ground to roll under the overhead door.  She can’t stop herself from risking a glimpse at her pursuer as she scoots through the narrow gap.  The man coming for her is all of her worst fears rolled into one. The last thing she hears before clearing the space she knows he can’t get through is, “You’re a dead woman if they catch you or you go to the police.” 

Now she sits in a coffee shop, frantic to come up with a plan and expecting tall, dark and scary to come busting in at any minute.  

And that’s just one of the rides in What If Land. 

I love living in this world.  It’s where I go when I’m writing my Slye Temp romantic thriller series.  

Coming This Summer!

The inspiration for NOWHERE SAFE came along when I was writing about the hero’s sister, Trish, in the prequel to the series, LAST CHANCE TO RUN.  

I knew I wanted Trish to run an antiques store in a high-end area of south Florida.  So I was meandering through a real antiques store in Atlanta to get a feel for the setting when I glanced up at the TV behind the sales counter and there was a reality show on.  I poofed instantly into What If Land.  

What if there was a reality show based on antiques appraising … and what would happen if there was a rare piece that would bring in an international threat?  And, what if the hero in the story was working undercover at the DEA Task Force where Trish’s cargo-pilot brother contracted because of his military training? And … what if the hero was there to uncover a mole, and suspected Trish’s brother of being the traitor?

And … there I went again.   

What about you?  Have you ever unexpectedly poofed into What If Land? 

Dianna is offering one print copy of LAST CHANCE TO RUN to one lucky winner and one print copy of NOWHERE SAFE to another lucky winner.  Please leave a comment or submit an email entry.

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST May 22nd. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@justromanticsuspense.com with a subject title of JRS GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway. US and CANADA postal addresses only.

Bake A Pie, Make A Setting

By: Daco

Congratulations to "Maureen C." the winner of Daco's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

RT Reviews rates THE LIBRA AFFAIR 4 out of 4 ½ STARS!

“Debut author Daco weaves a convoluted spy game, rather like a Jason Bourne movie – only instead of the usual male secret agent, we get Jordan Jakes...” 

“BAKE A PIE, MAKE A SETTING: the right ingredients make a delectable story”

Setting is important because it creates the mood and flavor of a story. Like a pie crust, it is the backdropthat defines where the story starts and finishes as well as how it develops along the way. Choosing the correct setting for any story is not unlike baking an apple pie. The right kind of apple makes the pie, the wrong one only makes soggy mess.

When starting a romantic suspense novel, it is important to setup the story so that the reader can identify not only the genre, but also who the characters are. You order applie pie, so you have expectations about that first bite. If it turns out to be a coconut cream, well, you’re probably not going to eat it unless it’s your second favorite pie. Location  dresses the characters without having to spell out the details. If you place a woman CIA covert operative in Iran, you immediately sense that her degree of freedom will be limited and that she will be working within a dangerous situation. Behavior, dress, and the ability to blend in with the local culture will be key to the success of her mission. Placing the same spy in Huntsville, Alabama without considering any other factors does not invoke the same degree of intrigue. To engage the reader, it is important to establish elements of suspense right from the start. Like a good crust, little flaky, not overdone, setting is the starting point.

All stories have pauses and sprints. While most suspense novels tend to move rather quickly from start to finish, developing deeper emotions requires a pause for characters to reflect on what is happening and also to consider the needs of the other characters. It would be difficult for the heroine to be breaking up with the hero while they are dodging bullets. Although this may happen in stories, a more plausible break up is when the heroine breaks the news in a more sincere manner, as taking a bullet to the chest or leg might not be the most appealing time to tell the hero he's history. Nor is a chase scene the right time to tell the hero that it's time for sex, even though he may appear to be the sexiest man alive at the time he is rescuing the heroine. That said, often times it is fun to have a scene where you do mix up the setting and pace. Think of it like adding smoked bacon to the apples; for some people it's the absolute bomb, but it probably doesn’t do much for an apple pie. Pacing is important because it guides the reader when to speed up and when to take a breath.Ready for pie, yet? Right, we need the ingredients.

So why choose the settings of Washington, DC and the Middle East for The Libra Affair? Choosing a setting is like choosing the type of pie we want to bake. For a suspense novel, we need the ingredients of power, danger, and intrigue; like apples, cinnamon, and sugar. When we think of spy stories, the first powerful image that comes to mind is Washington D.C.: Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and all of our national monumental treasures. No words are necessary to establish the backdrop of power. Add the Middle East to the mix and danger is introduced. Throw in NASA, SpaceX, and the CIA, and intrigue is created. Walla!Perfecto!

THE LIBRA AFFAIR is the hero's and heroine's love story. On a larger scale, THELIBRA AFFAIR is about establishing world economic balance. Starting the story in Washington D.C. makes sense because it is the most powerful city in the world and gives credibility to the plot the Americans and Russians are concocting to level the international playing field. Heading into Iran mixes the ingredients. If all goes as planned, the pie will be served up warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Setting can be established not only by a place, but also by the use of landmarks, structures, and entities. The hero in THE LIBRA AFFAIR, Ben Johnson, is a NASA scientist whose laser experiment is scheduled to fly on SpaceX to the Space Station to perform testing on the destruction of space debris. Because he is employed by NASA, a governmental agency that denotes science and space exploration, it identifies him as smart and in touch with real issues today. When the heroine, Jordan Jakes, arrives in Tehran and drives past the Azadi Tower, the gateway to the capital city of Iran, this represent "freedom amidst the chaos" and the question of freedom is immediately raised. Like an apple pie, only add the ingredients that are necessary to the story; landmarks are like the fruit of a pie, you don’t add green peppers to the mix because it muddies the taste.

Now, let’s dish up! Who wants a scoop of ice cream?

Daco will be giving away a digital copy of THE LIBRA AFFAIR to one lucky person leaving a comment or email.

Daco’s debut novel released in eBook on April 8^th, 2013, print to come later this year, is a romantic suspense entitled, THE LIBRA AFFAIR.

HER MISSION: Launch Libra.

HER OBSTACLE: Love.

Nothing can stand in the way of Jordan Jakes launching a missile in a remote desert of Iran. Not even Ben Johnson, the NASA scientist she’s targeted. Against all odds, Ben follows Jordan, placing not only the mission at risk, but also the fate of the world. Everything hinges on the strength of their love.

Short EXCERPT:

Chapter 1

“But you kissed that guy.”

“It was a game. A stupid bar game.” Jordan’s heart began to race, but she spoke in a calm, deliberate voice as she gripped the phone in her hand. “You were working, remember?” This was the hardest breakup speech she’d ever delivered, but it wasn’t her choice. It was time for Jordan Jakes to go to work.

He struggled to speak. “Jordan, I — ”

“Ben,” she interrupted him, “let’s not make this any more difficult than it has to be.” She knew he was trying to tell her that he loved her, but he was paralyzed by fear of rejection. It was better this way. If he actually said the words, she knew she’d drop to her knees and sob.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was soft, emotional. “I overreacted … ”

“A relationship is built on trust.” Her stomach clenched. “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me.” As she said the words, she felt the sting of irony in her lie.

Why couldn’t her target have been the typical lab coat scientist? Why’d he have to be Isle of Mann’s perfect blend of Scotch and Nordic served with a twist of dark brown curls? And why’d he have to look at her that way with those melancholy eyes of his?

“That guy you saw going crazy, that wasn’t me,” he tried even harder.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Her heart was breaking and there was nothing in the world she could do about it.

That first night at the bar when he’d sauntered over to her like he didn’t have a care in the world and asked, “What will you have?” the only answer that came to her mind was you. I want you … forever. But that was a dream, a dream that lasted exactly one year, and now the dream was ending; she had accomplished exactly what she’d been sent to do. There was never going to be a forever, no matter how much she wanted it.

She was leaving him and it was time to make this final.

The bell hanging on the front door to the dry cleaners jingled. She’d worked as a clerk in this lousy job for the past year, too. But it was the perfect cover for her: no stress, no brainer, no suspicions.

“Can’t we talk about it?” he said. “Over dinner?A bowl of beef barley?”

“No.” All Ben needed now was closure — to hear her say it was over and beyond repair. Not a dot, dot, dot.

“I don’t want you to go,” he said.

She didn’t want to go either, but when Chou, her Chinese handler, called a week ago and said, “It’s time,” any fantasy of her sticking around vanished. It had taken the American Central Intelligence Agency and Jordan three long years to get into bed with the Chinese National Security Bureau, and now that the Chinese trusted her, a boyfriend who had been solicited as no more than a pawn in an international game of espionage and cold war could not stand in the way of accomplishing the rest of this mission.

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and all major eBook retailers.

Author Bio:

Daco was born at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and raised in Wernher von Braun’s Rocket City of Huntsville, Alabama. She holds a B.A. and M.A.S. from The University of Alabama in Huntsville and a J.D. from Samford’s Cumberland School of Law. When not practicing law or encouraging her children to become scientists, she spends her time writing novels.

On the Bookshelf:

Currently reading: The Tailor of Panama by John le Carre

A few waiting on the shelf: The Anatomist’s Wife by Anna Lee Huber; Lost and Found by Amy Shojai, Sweet Little Lies by J.T. Ellison

How to find her on the web:

Website:www.authordaco.com

Twitter:  @AuthorDaco

Goodreads: Daco

Facebook: Daco author

Contact email: authordaco@gmail.com 

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST May 20th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@justromanticsuspense.com with a subject title of JRS GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway. 

Our Love Of Chaos

By: Nichole Severn

We humans love chaos. Whether it’s on TV or in a book, we can’t seem to get enough of it and within the past five years or so it seems bikers fit into that category perfectly. With the craze of Sons of Anarchy, along with JC Burton’s The Wild Riders Series, the romantic suspense genre has taken a dangerously sexy turn.

The thrill and freedom of speeding down the highway, the possibility of crashing and the brotherhood between members of motorcycle clubs all contributed to my newest release, Sour Cherry. Even further, however, I found the high-octane rivalries between clubs even more inspiring.What better way to exploit that conflict by placing my hero and heroine on opposites sides of the rivalry?

So why do we love chaos?

Imagine yourself caught up in the middle of your favorite suspenseful show, such as Sons of Anarchy. You’re in the season finale, arguably the most frightening episodes of the series. You’re gripping the couch with both hands until your fingers hurt. Your jaw is tense. You’re leaning forward, eyes glued to the television to avoid missing a single moment. The buildup is unimaginable. You don’t know how your body can take another moment as your heartbeat increases, your breathing becomes rapid and your mouth goes dry.

And then it happens; the twist.

You jump off the couch, flinch at unfairness of it all, scream at the screen. We’ve all been there. One of our favorite characters might have died, another war between clubs might have started or another element to the series’ romance may have just fallen apart.

Seconds pass. The show ends and you have your breathing under control. Your body’s systems return to normal. How do you feel?

Simple. You feel relaxed, as if you’ve just completed a workout or had a huge amount of stress taken off your shoulders. Did you know this warm feeling of rested mental alertness can be addictive?

Enter our love of chaos.

In all actuality, it’s not the chaos that makes us crave those high-octane situations. It’s the release, like an orgasm, and with one woman’s desire to get out of the biker life,a hero’s need to stay in for his own safety, and the fact mere sightings together could get them both killed, romantic suspense readers will be drooling for that release in Sour Cherry.

About Sour Cherry

The Wild Rose Press, May 2013

Cherish "Cherry" Williams has been betrayed by her own motorcycle club. After a late night package delivery goes bad, the club president wants her head. With every member of the club out looking for her, she seeks help from the last place they'd suspect--behind enemy lines.

Cooper Nolan was supposed to be a one-night stand. Now he's her only hope of survival. But the Vice President of Satan's Army has secrets of his own, and war between their clubs is inevitable if he doesn't turn Cherry over to her president.

As connection after connection unravels, Cooper and Cherry's days--and lust-fueled nights--become a race against time. Will she and her hot, sexy bartender choose love and trust over duty and image--or will murder, corruption, and lies turn Cherry and the best night of her life into nothing more than a memory?

Where to Buy
Amazon exclusive until May 29, 2013

About Nichole Severn
As a thriller and romance writer, Nichole Severn fills her stories with edge-of-your-seat-suspense, psychological trauma and bad guys readers love to hate. She graduated with a degree in psychology from Utah Valley University, which stemmed from her obsession with serial killers, and is currently seeking her bachelors in English Literature. The obsession has toned down…a little.

She resides with her very supportive, albeit patient, husband in Las Vegas, NV, where she enjoys running, rock climbing, snowboarding, and action movies.

Nichole can be contacted through her website at www.nicholesevern.com, email at nichole@nicholesevern.com, Twitter at @nicholesevern or Facebook.

  

Stranger Than Fiction

By: Kallie Lane

Congratulations to "Shelly P.", the winner in Kallie's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

News headlines are sometimes less believable and harder to comprehend than book plots. One day of scanning the top stories and I'm convinced. The conviction of a beautiful, successful woman, who murdered her fiancée by shooting then stabbing him multiple times, shocked me. She seemed so certain she'd walk on the charges although she'd captured the murder on film (she's a photographer). Three women held against their will for ten years. Police weren't able to find them, although they'd been called to the address where the women were held on two occasions, the location close to where the women were abducted. Yet, the police never entered the house when no one answered the door. And a young husband and father who left his home to take prospective buyers for a test-drive of his vehicle over a week ago, and is still missing. There is one perpetrator in custody, but no new leads. Such heartbreaking events are truly stranger than fiction.

I prefer to create chilling plots myself, where no one gets hurt but the villains, and heroines and heroes always triumph!

I have two new releases this month. The first is Reckless Abandon, book 3 in the Shadow Soldier series. Here's the back cover copy:

Filled with regret over his rocky past, Reece Morgan has no desire to go home after ten years away. But when Billie Bradshaw becomes the target of killers, he returns to defend her with a vengeance born of salvation. He charges to the rescue, only to realize she's the bait to tempt him into the open.

Billie has a choice to make. She can risk violent death, or allow the man she considers her worst nightmare--the man she's already loved and lost, the man who fell off the grid a long time ago, taking her heart along for the ride--to keep her safe. What could be worse? Maybe the fact he's unknowingly brought death to her door.

As Billie and Reece follow the twisted trail of a psychotic mind, their reignited passion takes a front row seat in their struggle to stay alive.

My other release this month is Silent Deceit, a novella launching my Black Force Renegades

series.

When undercover cop Natasha Roberts sets out on her own to find her missing brother, the trail leads to a biker bar where one false move will get her killed.

Skip McQuade doesn't like her chances for survival, and forces her to trust him.

Together they continue the search while fighting the passion between them.

Will they find her brother and stop a killer in time?

~ Purchase Links ~

Amazon

Apple

Barnes and Noble

BAM

Kobo

The Wild Rose Press

~ Website ~

http://kallielane.com/

Giveaway—Thank you so much to Just Romantic Suspense for having me here today. I will be giving away a digital copy of both Reckless Abandon and Silent Deceit to one commenter.

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST May 17th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@justromanticsuspense.com with a subject title of JRS GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.

Authenticity

By: Dale Mayer

Congratulations to "bn100", the winner of Dale's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

Authenticity is important when I write. I want the readers to feel and see what I see in my mind. And my mind is a wild and wacky place to describe!

The only problem with authenticity is when I write paranormal stories – such as my Psychic Vision series, or my Vampire Series. It's not like I can cross over to the ethers and give you all an accurate description of life on the other side [Or can I? ;)] But one way or another, I have to make the reader believe that the characters can. That can be challenging.

In my Family Blood Ties, there is a whole paranormal world building to consider. It's a dystopian story where vampires and humans co-exist peacefully – at least on the surface. But in the Psychic Visions series, these characters live in our contemporary world. As this is fiction, I can invent some stuff, but I can also draw on the many different paranormal studies that have been done, and are continuing to be done around the world.

And some of that material is fascinating. Consider some of the great psychics in history like Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, Lydia Clar, Elizabeth Baron and of course John Edward. These are just a few of many – some well known and some that prefer to say hidden.

The issue isn't whether you believe these people can do what they say they can do, but that they raise that wonderful question – can they do these things?

Because it's that question that is so important to my fiction.

I don't need my readers to believe in the paranormal, but they need to be willing to suspend their beliefs and take a journey into the paranormal through my books.

There are so many different paranormal or psychic abilities to work with. A few examples include:

1.       Clairaudience: is the ability to hear things that are normally inaudible to others. 

2.       Clairempathy: is the ability to feel emotions from beyond natural realms.

3.       Divine Intervention: Spontaneous spiritual visions that can guide and direct the seer.

4.       Empath: A psychic empath - or sensitive - takes on other people's feelings of pain or pleasure, actually feeling the emotions of others. 

5.       Energetic Healing: A psychic ability to clear, repair and balance the body's energy systems by seeing and manipulating the aura.

6.       Lucid Dreaming: The ability to wake up inside a dream and experience an alternate reality.

7.       Medium: A psychic who connects with spirits of people who have died and sometimes with entities such as angels.

Part of the fascination readers have with my series is that eternal – What if...?

I doubt I'll run out of ideas for this series any time soon, because like my readers...this field is fascinating. And what a writer can do with a little bit of fact is...well...amazing! :)

Do you believe in the paranormal? I am giving away a digital copy of Garden of Sorrow – book 4 in the Psychic Vision series. Book 1 – Tuesday's Child is free!

Garden of Sorrow 

Her world is in chaos. His world is in order. She wants to help the innocent. He wants to catch the guilty. But someone is trying to make sure that neither gets what they want.

Alexis Gordon has spent the last year trying to get over the loss of her sister. Then she goes to work on a normal day...and reality as she knows it...disappears.

Detective Kevin Sutherland, armed with his own psychic abilities, recognizes her gift and calls in his friend Stefan Kronos, a psychic artist and law enforcement consultant, to help her develop her skills. 

But Kevin has never seen anything like this case - a killer with a personal vendetta to stop Alexis from finding out more about him...and his long dead victims.

The killer can be stopped. He must be stopped. But he's planning on surviving...even after death.

To find out more about Dale and her books, visit her at http://www.dalemayer.com. Or connect with her online with Twitter at www.twitter.com/dalemayer and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dalemayer.author

Books by Dale Mayer

Psychic Vision Series

·         Tuesday's Child

·         Hide'n Go Seek

·         Maddy's Floor

·         Garden of Sorrow

·         Knock, knock... – out summer of 2013

Single Title Romantic Suspense/thrillers

·         Touched by Death – out now!

Novellas

·         It's a Dog's Life- romantic comedy

Young Adult Books

·         In Cassie's Corner

·         Dangerous Designs – Book I

·         Deadly Designs – Book 2 – out now!

·         Vampire in Denial – Book I of Blood Ties

·         Vampire in Distress – Book 2!

·         Gem Stone Mystery Series- out now!

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST May 15th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@justromanticsuspense.com with a subject title of JRS GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.