Karen Harrington | When a man loves a woman…who murders

When a central character is still deeply in love with someone you and I would judge harshly, for, say, murder, that presents a challenge for the writer. How can readers be sympathetic to a misguided, love-struck protagonist? And does a writer necessarily have to sympathize with him?
I know all about this challenge.

In my debut novel JANEOLOGY, Tom Nelson is still in love with the woman who has destroyed his life. He misses her. He craves her. He wants to touch her. He wants to talk to her over a cup of coffee the way they used to as friends. But this is never going to happen.

The story begins with Tom’s horrific discovery that his wife Jane drowned their toddler son. An act he feels is so out of character that it defies logic. Now, he judges himself harshly for still loving the woman he thought he knew. The world quickly vilifies Jane and urges him to join in their group hate. If that weren’t enough, prosecutors charge him with ‘failure to protect’ believing he should have known Jane was ill and shielded his child from her. This legal charge only makes Tom delve deeper into questioning his love for Jane. Was it misplaced, he wonders throughout his own trial? Is he, in fact, partially responsible as the prosecutor alleges? And what does he make of his attorney’s bold defense: that Jane’s nature and nurture conspired to make her ill-equipped to be a loving parent?

I began writing this story with the central question: what causes a mother to kill her own child? I could not ignore this question. It didn’t seem to add up that a mother could be pouring Cheerios one minute and be altered the next. Someone in her family, I reasoned, had to have witnessed the decline. It had to have taken place over a period of days, weeks and months – not overnight. While the horrible murder sets JANEOLOGY in motion, the novel is really a story of a man desperate to for understanding.

The idea that we sometimes miss changes in loved ones precisely because we love them began to take shape. I realized, at least in the fictional world of JANEOLOGY, that a spouse like Tom could indeed still love the person he originally knew without acknowledging the person she had become. We are all guilty of this at times. Time stands still in the face of love. And that is what happens to Tom Nelson to his profound detriment.

I invite you to read an excerpt of the novel by visiting my website http://www.karenharringtonbooks.com/

You can also view the video trailer for JANEOLOGY below, which so hauntingly couples water imagery with hints of dark family secrets trickling down among the generations of Jane’s troubled family. The unrelenting tribal drumbeat of the music ratchets-up the tension until you feel like the hairs on your neck stand at attention and you have to know what happens. (Fortunate author that I am, this trailer was created by THE inventor of the novel trailer art form, Kam Wai Yu, who has been developing this art since the 1980s.)



Thanks to FreshFiction for inviting me to blog here today among so many great authors.

See you on the bookshelves!

Karen Harrington

Linda Wisdom | Are you like the character you write and read?

I’ve been told that Jazz, the witchy heroine in 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover and I are very much alike. So let’s look at the similarities.

Jazz and I both speak our minds at times, but she can says what I’d love to say and have magic if she needs it.

She’s snarky. I’m snarky. She has red hair. I have red hair. She’s tall. I’m short. She’s gorgeous. I’m short.

I think many of us would say we echo at least one of our characters. I know that’s happened to me, but never more than with Jazz. She’s lived with me for quite awhile as I worked on the book and then had no choice but to work on the second book, Hex Appeal, which comes out this November.

She also gives me the chance to stick bits of history in the book. After all, she and her witch friends have been around for 700 years.

She’s lived history, had passionate ups and downs with Nikolai Gregorivich, a vampire enforcer from The Protectorate who’s now a private investigator. She’s dealing with a cranky ghost haunting her beloved 1956 T-Bird convertible and having to keep a tight rein on Fluff and Puff, the bunny slippers from hell and considering their background, it’s not far from the truth.

I like to say that I try to make the unbelievable believable. I hope my imagination allows you to consider that it’s possible to have a vampire living down the block. Just don’t expect him to mow the lawn midday. Or run into a witch at Starbucks or Victoria’s Secret. And just maybe some of those after-hour clubs have a pretty diverse clientele. And those Midways at the fairs? Maybe the Weres handle that.

So allow your own imagination to go a little wild. What would you see?

Enter and be one of three winners in my One Day Only blog contest.

Linda

www.myspace.com/lindawisdombooks
www.myspace.com/magickbunnyslippers

Susan Whitfield | Tangled in seaweed and Testicles?

Genesis Beach, my first novel (published in 2007) tells the story of an investigative intern on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast, who is trying to solve the murder of a millionaire. Imagine her surprise when she discovers he was beaten to death with a sock! She pursues a prime suspect who is a slippery rascal (to borrow a phrase from the movie, Pretty Woman). While in pursuit, Logan Hunter must deal with a hurricane that wipes out most of her worldly possessions. At the same time she is having recurring sleep terrors that threaten to derail her when she realizes she may have been molested as a toddler. Her strength and determination keep her in the hunt, and she nails the killer even though she trusted the wrong person.

Just North of Luck evolved out of my need to carry on with Logan Hunter’s character. (Reader feedback indicated that she was likable and, perhaps, worthy of a few more adventures.) Logan is assigned to corral some bootleggers in the remote mountains of North Carolina when two murders occur. Once the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) is called in, Logan takes the lead and teams up with hunky Chase Railey, a local detective. Together they pursue the killer but not before more victims are added to the list. The serial killer is targeting school employees and using a diversity of means to off them, causing some of the murders to be classified as accidents. Over the months of investigation, Chase introduces Logan to Appalachian festivals, including The Testicle Festival. Yes, that’s what I said. Now, I must explain that there really is NO festival like this in North Carolina, as far as I know. However, I thought it would be fun to add such an event to an intense setting. It adds humor, I hope, (Logan is coerced into eating the delicacies), shock, and a much-needed break from the gruesome murders. Logan gets her first taste of love when Chase takes her to his cabin, and together they zero in on the killer. So, this book offers killing folks, eating testicles, and making love.

When I’m not writing, I’m reading. I keep a basket of books by my sunroom rocking chair at all times. I read all genres. At one time in my life I read only best selling authors, but the more I visit book and writings sites, the more unknown authors I read. I have found many writers who have become cyber friends of mine, “talking” through email and blogs, offering advice and encouragement, and reading each other’s work. Isn’t that great? Ah, the wide world! I’ve collected reviews as well as blurbs from some of these awesomely nice folks, and have reciprocated when asked to do so.

I’m often asked where the ideas come from. My answer? Reading, television shows, comedy acts, billboards, phone books, editorials, eavesdropping (just kidding). You get the idea. I have more ideas than I will ever be able to use! I’m also fortunate to live in a beautiful state where I can travel from the mountains to the sea in one day. There are many gorgeous regions here for inspiration.

My first video trailer (for Just North of Luck) is posted on my website, www.swhitfield.com/

I welcome feedback for this blog, my site, and the trailer.

Special thanks to FreshFiction for having me as a guest blogger. Keep reading! Susan Whitfield

Nancy Haddock | Invisible Friends: A Play Day with Characters

As a reader, don’t you just love finding characters you’d like to have as friends? Or for back up if life got down right dangerous? Or, oo-la-la, as a secret admirer if not a lover?

I adore it when I become attached to the characters in books. Those I meet in only one book, I’ll revisit by rereading over and over. Those I meet in a series, I get to revisit with each new book. And, yes, I have been known to reread every book in a series before I read the newest one, if only to touch base and catch up.

As a writer, I’ve grown attached to my own characters. So much so, that they are no longer merely “imaginary” friends – they’re full-scale invisible ones!

In my debut from Berkley, LA VIDA VAMPIRE, my heroine Cesca is a born and bred native of St. Augustine, FL, the city I now call home. When I go down to the Old Town – with friends or by myself – it’s all too easy to view the sites from Cesca’s point of view. In fact, it’s a struggle not to see through her eyes because she’s that real to me.

When Cesca and I go out for a play day in town, I’m fascinated by what she sees as “new” from her perspective. What is her perspective? Cesca was buried in silver-chained coffin in 1803, and doesn’t see the light of day until 2007. The oldest drug store, for instance, was in a different location in her time. The Huguenot Cemetery didn’t exist until at least 1812, if not later. The Castillo de San Marcos is no longer painted the distinctive white and red that marked it as a Spanish fortress. It’s interesting to feel both Cesca’s excitement about the changes in her hometown, and the sadness that she missed all those years of seeing things change firsthand.

What’s also a kick is to shop with Cesca. She is a far more intense shopper than I ever want to be, and I nearly feel her scan everything at once when she walks in to a store. She was “with” me in a Tuesday Morning once when I was looking for the special coffee makers advertised. I found what I wanted, but I also bought a retro wall clock that Cesca wanted. That’s right, I said I bought the clock my character wanted. Am I nuts? Not entirely. The clock was a reasonable price, and, though it’s not what I would’ve bought, it grew on me. It’s in my office, and even has a separate “egg” timer that I set to keep myself from spending too much time on e-mail.

The very coolest thing about going out for a play day with my characters is that I come back to the story refreshed and with a new depth of understanding what they’re like as people. That’s the energy I want to pour onto the pages. That’s the energy I hope readers will resonate with so that my invisible friends will become theirs, too!

And, hey, so long as I don’t buy that surfboard Cesca has her eye on, I haven’t gone too far ‘round the bend, right?

Nancy Haddock’s debut book La Vida Vampire is an April release from Berkley Trade. You can visit her website and play the Where’s Cesca contest at: http://www.nancyhaddock.com/

Dianne Castell | North or South... Which one are You?

One of the reasons I wrote Hot and Bothered (Kensington BRAVA April 08) was to set a book in the South and not just geographically but in characters and language and food! Characters in NY are way different than characters in Savannah. You won’t hear the doorman at the NY Hilton say Y’all come back now, ya’ hear. And food? Just try getting a cream egg in Savannah or sweet tea in Manhattan.

I’m more Savannah then Manhattan. Not that I don’t looove NY City, I do. But I live in Cincinnati and feel connected to the South. I fry chicken and make cream gravy and make my own pumpkin pie. I don’t have a hidden tiara in my panty drawer but I do subscribe to Southern Living, think Paula Deen is the cutest thing on earth and have actually waited in line for two hours to eat at Lady and Sons. Yep, it’s worth the wait! And I can twirl a baton!

I have a pair of white gloves in my drawer and use cloth tablecloth and napkins and set the table proper with flowers for Sunday dinner. If my kids don’t mind their manners they get “the look of death” from their mama and I buy hair spray two bottles at a time and wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without putting on my face.

I love the South. My heart is there...except for those Palmetto bugs. I’m sure they are what keep me from moving south of the Ohio River. Sweet mother, are those things ugly as sin!

So, who are you? North or South? Even if you’re Midwest you probably lean more one way or the other and I’m willing to bet you have a little Southern in you just begging to get out. Let me know by entering my ONE DAY ONLY BLOG CONTEST and I’ll give away two Hot and Bothered T-shirts from the answers.

Thanks for chatting.

Hugs,

Dianne Castell
http://diannecastell.com/

Diana Holquist | What Makes You Mad?

Some writers start their books with a character they love. Others start with plot. Then there are the folks who look to the market to see what’s hot: a vampire lesbian spy thriller shape-shifter historical—count me in!

And then there’s me.

Me, I get mad.

Here’s something that made me mad: reading a twenty-something’s blog about her search for the “perfect” husband. He had to be tall, rich, successful, etc. I wanted to smack that woman. I wanted a mysterious Gypsy psychic to swoop in and rock her world by telling her that her one soul mate on this earth was a penniless single father, down on his luck.

Hey, wait…that would make a good book. (My first book, Make Me a Match.)

But I was still mad. Which was good, because I had another book due.

This time, I was mad about reading my 7,436th kick-ass heroine romance novel. Enough already with the spy/killer/half-beast/vamp woman who does it all in heels. Not that I don’t love those books; but I needed a change. I wanted to read about a heroine like me, an overweight mother of two…

...um. Okay, so I didn’t want to read that. But what about a shy heroine who kicks ass in her own quiet, low-heeled way? So I wrote my next book, Sexiest Man Alive; the shyest woman alive finds out her soul mate is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.

What makes you mad? Hey, you never know, maybe some author here will read your idea here and write it. Maybe it’ll even be me, since I’ve got another book due soon...

Diana Holquist

http://www.dianaholquist.com/