This newsletter is your newsletter. If you are a subscriber writing in the mystery or suspense genres and have an upcoming pre-sale date or new book release, please let me know in advance so I can include your news with applicable links.
If you are a reader in the mystery or suspense genres and have read a book you’d like to share with others, please let me know (and please include a link to your Amazon or other marketplace book review link).
As Long As She Lives, Ida Lupino, and Last Heartthrob
As Long as She Lives
Over 1.1m reads in serialization.
now available in Kindle and Paperback
"Conroy's writing draws you in and make you feel what her characters are feeling. And we all know there's nothing better then getting swept into a fictional world. Cait is full of fight, full of love. You couldn't ask for a better female character." Amazon Review
Never underestimate a woman who survived.
Suspense, international intrigue and romance, set in Melbourne, Australia.
"…give everyone a different part of your story, then the gossip will be all about putting your story together, not questioning it."
After four years teaching in central Africa, Caitlyn Lancaster returns to her family in Australia, telling them she's been sent home because of looming political unrest. But Cait is more fragile than she and her Federal police handler anticipated. She's forced to accept that childhood family friend, now police detective, Riley Duncan must be told the brutal truth if she is to keep herself and her family safe.
With Riley's support, Cait begins to recover her strength but civil war erupts around her friends in Umoja and her harrowing secret becomes the key to that nation's future.
Putting her faith in her handler, Cait takes the ultimate risk only to discover that Agent Koffa has failed to take into account one vital detail.he's not as good at his job as he thinks he is."
The Sound of Murder, Double Indemnity, and Last Heartthrob
The Sound of Murder Pre-Sale
I just found a great way to relieve stress. I pre-ordered Cindy Brown’s “The Sound of Murder.” Now it will automatically show up on my Kindle thingie when it’s released on Oct. 6. Phew! One less thing to worry about. This should also be a great stress reliever if you’re trying to come up with holiday gift ideas for the actors, musical theater lovers, and cozy mystery fans in your life. There’s a paperback version, too!
“The setting is irresistible, the mystery is twisty, and Ivy is as beguiling as ever, but what I really loved was the depth and complexity of painful human relationships right there in the middle of a sparkly caper. Roll on Ivy #3!” – Catriona McPherson, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-Winning Author of The Day She Died
All Ivy Meadows wants is to be an actor. And a private investigator. Plus she’d really like a pair of clean underwear, a place to stay since her apartment caught fire, and to overcome her fear of singing in public. Minor inconveniences aside, Ivy might be on a roll. She’s just landed her first real PI case, a seeming suicide in a retirement community. Not only that, but a big New York producer is coming to Arizona to see Ivy in the world premiere of The Sound of Cabaret (singing nuns AND Berlin burlesque).
But all is not raindrops on roses. A creep in a convertible is tailing Ivy, a local posse member is way too interested in her investigation, and something is seriously wrong with one of her castmates. And that suicide—could it be murder? As the curtain rises, Ivy finds herself smack in the sights of a serial killer.
Thu, 16 Jul 2015 07:55:45 -0700
The Author Biz: Serializing your Fiction to Create an Audience, with Michelle Miller
Some subscribers to this MailChimp are authors. If that’s you, the most helpful thing I can write this week is “subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher for Android right now.” You’ll find something in this episode that will make a lightbulb go off above your head.
Here are some excerpts about why Michelle Miller chose to explore serialization.
“I just got really excited about fiction, and excited about…thinking through how you revive fiction for a new audience. I think that, unfortunately, fiction has gotten sidelined behind non-fiction media, which is seen as more productive. And frankly, I don’t think that’s true at all. I think that fiction taps into empathy and compassion and opens our minds to see the world differently…non-fiction media just makes us more set in our ways.”
“I really started thinking about why people don’t read books any more…I came down to this fact that I spent a lot of time in the office. I was at work for twelve hours a day. And while I was there, I was reading the whole time…and by the time I got home in the evening, the thought of picking up a 400-page novel was, frankly, daunting, and I was tired of reading.”
“The more you understand how publishers work, I don’t think their economics are good enough any more to really take risks. As a first time author…if you can come to them saying, look, I just proved this many followers, but I need you to get me bigger, I actually think they were really excited by that…I think the fact that I had proven that there was an audience for this story was really appealing to them.”
You’ll find more about Michelle Miller’s serial (now book) The Underwriting at her website hashtagmm.com
Thu, 09 Jul 2015 07:08:03 -0700
The Death Row Complex, CrimeFiction.FM and Last Heartthrob Episode Four: Hollywood Endings
The Death Row Complex (The Katrina Stone Novels Book 2) Published June 10!
"An anonymous warning is sent to the White House, and a genetically engineered biological weapon is released in a California prison. The unpublished data of biologist Katrina Stone may hold the key to harnessing the lethal bacterium--and to its creation within the desperate world from which biotechnology is born."
Exciting set-up, right?
Kristen Elise, PH.D. knows what she's writing about, too. She's a drug discovery biologist.
Her book is off to a good start. The reviews are looking great.
"An excellent medical thriller that kept me anxiously reading long into the night, and home until I was finished! I just could not put it down! An intelligent read, and well worth your time."
"The final denouement is a surprise, and I had to go back and reread earlier portions to pick up on the subtle clues leading to that final reveal."
"This story was a great ride, with twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end."
"I couldn't put this book down, I found myself reading late into the night! It is so well written, with each chapter ending on a suspenseful cliffhanger that makes you want to keep going.
Thu, 02 Jul 2015 06:30:34 -0700
Last Heartthrob: Episode Three - Did My Heart Skip a Beat?
Preview: Then Tom did something Forbes couldn’t imagine was in the ad man’s wheelhouse. He rose, deliberately walked across the floor to the woman, and, as the song went into its instrumental break, stood with his arms out in an unmistakable invitation to dance. She could easily have rejected him, and he could have saved face by returning to Cristina’s booth in a drunken stagger. But she didn’t. They both flinched at the static shock when he took her in his arms. Forbes wondered if Tom were a dancing drunk, but that didn’t explain the singer whose nerves suggested sobriety.
Read Episode Three online or send to Kindle Docs.
Movie: The Big Lebowski (1998)
This week's episode of Last Heartthrob refers directly to our memorable introduction to The Dude. Tom Kahane also has an unusual reaction to a drink, althought this time it's not a White Russian but a Sailor's Tattoo. Also, the City of Roses is as central to Last Heartthrob as the City of Angels is to The Big Lebowski.
No exploration of film noir would be complete without Raymond Chandler. So why is this week's movie The Big Lebowski, not The Big Sleep?
Wed, 24 Jun 2015 10:03:35 -0700
Last Heartthrob: Episode Two - Out of the Past
Preview: “See, I told you not to go back there,” Corky said. “Shibano’s never going to trust you. It’s no different from the movie business.”
“It’s entirely different,” Tom countered. “Out there I couldn’t trust anyone. I can’t help it if Shibano doesn’t trust me. I’m loyal.”
“I wouldn’t want the Chief Operating Officer monitoring my computer and logging my calls.”
Pause. Forbes made a note to see what existing spy software was on Kahane’s computer before he started peeking in files himself. He also noted that Shibano didn’t trust Kahane. That could be a deal breaker. Shibano had handled the Sternwood Auto Group account for ages. Play.
“Everybody does that,” said Tom.
“With employees they’re looking to fire.”
Read Episode Two online or send to Kindle Docs.
Movie: Laura (1944)
This week's episode of the serial takes a look at an advertising world very different from the one inhabited by Laura Hunt.
There is one very obvious reference to one of the characters in Laura, but there are thematic echoes of the piece throughout the series. It's unavoidable, as Laura is prototypical noir.
Wed, 17 Jun 2015 14:35:59 -0700
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If you are a subscriber writing in the mystery or suspense genres and have an upcoming pre-sale date or new book release, please let me know in advance so I can include your news with applicable links.
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