Stephen Campbell's CrimeFiction.FM
If you're reading these words, chances are extremely good that you're already a subscriber to the CrimeFiction.FM podcast.
So I'll just ask, wasn't that a great interview with Tana French? Didn't you enjoy learning about her rationale for writing a series with rotating protagonists?
Wasn't it interesting to learn the story behind Rebecca Forster's Witness series and her shift from traditional to indie publishing?
While the witness in the first book of that series may be hostile, I can assure you that Rebecca is not.
She also spoke to Stephen Campbell on his The Author Biz webcast, where she shares what she's learned about publishing a best-selling series, including a set of links to the people who help her do it.
What do readers think of the series? With over 3400 Amazon reviews, the average score for "Hostile Witness," the first in the series is (4.3 of 5 stars)
Here's an excerpt from one of them. "Hostile Witness is just a fantastic, completely absorbing read, the kind of book that makes you hate your job because having to get up early for work means having to set the novel aside in the wee hours of the morning just so you can get a few hours of sleep. Any thriller is best judged by the number of hours' sleep you miss, and Hostile Witness is right up there with the best of them."
I just downloaded my Kindle version for free. Can't get less hostile than that!
Rebecca was also kind enough to answer a geeky tech e-book publishing question that I had.
Thanks, Rebecca!
If you missed any of these interviews, just follow the links.
Review of "As Night Falls" by Jenny Milchman
"I had given Cover of Snow, Jenny Milchman's first published novel, three stars as a solid first effort. That's not bad, but... I have to say... As Night Falls is in a whole different league... WOW! This book is Misery meets Psycho... an intense, nail-biting, heart wrenching, page-turning psychological thriller that I could NOT put down. I want the next book. Right now."– Kristen Elise Ph.D., author of The Death Row Complex.
Thanks Kristen for letting me share your Goodsreads review. It pays to be a Murder Lab newsletter subscriber. Good luck with your San Diego author event Saturday.
More Love for "The Irises" by Cynthia Lott
It's been great fun following the progress or Cynthia's second Southern Spectral Series book through Facebook posts, sharing her publication news in this newsletter, and watching its warm reception.
"In her sequel to The Feathers, where wicked winds and evil tear through New Orleans, Cynthia Lott gives us another bolt of literary lightening. The Irises is an electric tale of the supernatural, of murder at an old cemetery, of a demonic being who lays wait in a funeral parlor he calls home, and where the unsuspecting proprietors of a modern day business find that present day life is as much a part of history, as is each corpse they embroider with their craft."–David Marks Full Goodreads Review
Thanks Cynthia and David.
Again, thanks for posting reviews. Remember to post them on Amazon if you haven't already, to make your favorite authors' works are more visible to others to fellow readers.
Keep sending those bananas to feed the MailChimp!
Last Heartthrob (10/12)
We'll Find Out When We Get There
And a Touch of Vertigo
(Reading time: approx. 20 min.)
Previously on Mysterious News.
This is not a spoiler, but these are the final words of episode nine. "He [Walter Forbes] slept more soundly than he should have, blissfully unaware that if he were a film noir detective he would have been able to piece things together a full two days before the gunshots."
Episode Ten
I hope you called in your consulting detective at the end of episode nine, because it's time to ask the question: having seen what Forbes saw and heard what Forbes heard, could you put the pieces together in time to stop the gunshots that rang out in episode one and (as you've probably guessed from the episode titles) will echo in episode twelve?
I won't say that all the evidence is in. I will say that the final three chapters of this serial are subtitled: The Gray Area. As Forbes proceeds with caution, he's about to discover, like Scottie in Vertigo, that no one in the story is capable of revealing the truth. That's something he'll have to work out on his own.
In "We'll Find Out When We Get There" Walter Forbes does some actual private investigator-type following, the way Jimmy Stewart does in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.
While you're reading this episode, you might want to be on the lookout for other similarities.
This week's extras include a clip of the woman Hitchcock tried to recreate, the Hays Code compliant ending to Vertigo that was shot but never used, and Bernard Herrman's hypnotic score.
Read Episode Ten We'll Find Out When We Get There (with all the good stuff).
If you find it confusing to be walking in on episode ten, don't worry. This isn't the old days when you had to wait for the picture to start over. This serial is on demand.
Read Episode One FREE online or on Kindle.