Today's #Guest #Interview #romanticsuspense ALL THOSE MILES I WALKED by @ViviMackade

Welcome to Romance Books 4 Us, a place for all romance and all genres. We’re very happy to have you here with us today. First, tell us a little bit about yourself…

I’m Viviana, from south Florida by way of England and, before that, Italy. I write contemporary suspense, but ready to dip my laptop into the Fantasy genre (this is kind of a newsflash).

-What kind of research do you do for a novel and how extensive do you get?

It depends of the subject. As a general rule, I research enough to get me started, then I research as I go. Which sometimes gets me stuck for a day or two because I’m nuts and I at that point I want to know EVERYTHING about a subject.

-Is there any other genre that you would love to try writing?  If so, what is it?

Fantasy. There. I said it. Which means when the third and final book in the Crescent Creek Series will be done (September–just saying) I’ll have to start writing this new thing buzzing in my head.

-Do you ever see yourself as the heroine/hero or find yourself relating to them when you write a story?

Oh, no! I’m nowhere near that interesting and/or gutsy. I’d be the lamest Heroine ever.

-What is your favorite method of writing...as in laptop, desktop, iPad or the old-fashioned pencil and paper?  And do you plot out your story or go with the flow of your muse?

It’s computer for the actual writing, but good ole’ pencil and paper to plot, note, and the such. I’m a hybrid, meaning I need to have a general idea about the book, for which I’ll plot, and then let the character move through it freely.

-When you need a break or some time off from the trials of being a writer, what can you be found doing?

Taking a walk with my earbuds blasting music. It used to be jogging, but I have MS and jogging doesn’t happen anymore. So, I walk.

-Share your favorites:

Favorite color – purple

Favorite dessert/snack – tiramisu (when I make it) / cinnamon rolls

Favorite Season – Spring when I was in Europe. Here in Florida, winter.

Favorite sad song – Tonight I’m Gonna Cry by Keith Urban

Favorite Romantic movie – Australia

Favorite Actor – Too many I like–I’m such a tramp….

Favorite way to relax – walking or pool

Where can our readers find you?  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ViviMackade

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011982152461

Website/blog: www.viviana-mackade.blog

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B01KKY6WLQ?redirectedFromKindleDbs=true

Is there an upcoming or current release you would like to share with us today and where can we find it? 

All Those Miles I Walked

by Viviana MacKade

At eighteen, DJ made a choice–her heart or her dreams. Neither was wrong, yet either would break her heart. She chose the world. Over a decade later, she returns to Crescent Creek and to the one regret she's ever had–Scott.

Scott’s always been steady as a rocky reef. He’d loved once and when she’d left, his strong heart had crumbled like a sandcastle. Now DJ is back, and Scott wants nothing to do with her. If only Eva, his and DJ’s old friend, didn’t need their help. Because of her, he’s stuck with DJ and he’d be damned, she still gets under his skin.

DJ is a free spirit who needs the road under her feet. Scott is a family man who wants to groom his roots. With danger on their doorstep and a baby to keep safe, how much are they willing to compromise for love?

Amazon ebook  paperback

Writing as a Career with @AuthorDebCamp #Romance #Suspense #RB4U

       I’ve earned my living as a writer since I graduated from college. I had sold articles to magazines and had written newspaper articles before I graduated. Writing is the only career I’ve had – which makes me very fortunate.

Journalism was my major and I was a newspaper reporter for several years before I sold my first novels. After I signed a contract for my fourth novel, I quit the newspaper business and have worked as freelance writer/novelist ever since. I’ve had more than 45 books published and have written hundreds of articles.

There have been very lean years and very fruitful years. That’s the way of the writing life for most of us. While we dream of having financial independence, 99 percent of us live extremely frugally and rejoice when we receive a royalty check in the mail. Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t change it. I love writing and I’m so thankful that it has kept a roof over my head, food in my tummy, and a car to drive. I’ve never taken it for granted, which is why I reach out to my readers as often as I can with thanks and gifts.

Someone is stalking women and murdering them in Key West.

Psychics Levi Wolfe and Trudy Tucker join forces to help identify the murderer and stop him. Levi can channel the deceased victims and Trudy can tap into the mind of the killer. As a psychic detective team, they’re formidable. As lovers, they discover that they’re insatiable.

As they grow closer, Trudy wonders if Levi will ever completely trust her and let her know his heart. Levi struggles with his new, tender feelings toward Trudy and worries that she might be in over her head with him and with the case they’re working on.

Because if Trudy can see through the killer’s eyes, can the killer see her?

Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J39TSLQ/

AUTHOR BIO:
Author of more than 45 novels, Deborah lives in Oklahoma. She has been a full-time writer since she graduated from the University of Tulsa. She worked for a few years as a reporter for newspapers before becoming a freelance writer. Deborah's first novel was published in the late 1970s and her books have been published by Jove, New American Library, Harlequin, Silhouette, and Avon. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Authors Hall of Fame and she is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America. She is also a member of the Author's Guild.
Deborah likes to write about strong, independent women and the men who are their equals. Her books are available on Amazon and she’s an Amazon best-selling author.

Website: www.deborah-camp.com
E-mail: deborahcampauthor@yahoo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialdeborahcamp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorDebCamp
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/debbycamp44/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/170310-deborah-camp-and-her-happy-campers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=group_widget
Blog: http://deborahcampwritersdesk.blogspot.com/
YouTube Book Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCySHBg4OJZRLv5Q9xVybraQ

#DNA, #Neanderthals and #HumanGenome, oh, my! with @anitaphilmar

Do you remember those scientist classes where they talked about the Neanderthals and other Homo Sapiens?

No?

Funny, but I do. I watch a number of special programs where scientists argued as to whether or not humans and Neanderthals existed at the same time. Each side argued for and against the possibility. Then I found research proving Neanderthals and humans did have fun together because Neanderthal genome is in human DNA.

The book “Neanderthal Man – In Search of Lost Genomes” by Svante Paabo is about what the scientists had to go through in their search to find answers as to whether or not Neanderthal genome was in human DNA. The book is not an easy read, but I couldn’t let that stop me. So I skipped over those long technical words and tried to get to the meat of what the author/scientist was trying to tell me.

It was a fascinating adventure, which spanned the globe. Dr. Paabo is from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. It is truly an amazing story and if you are interested in how scientist discovered Neanderthal DNA in the human genome, I recommend spending time with this book.

Now, after reading about Neanderthals, I had to work them into a book. I loved the idea that we as humans may have inherited some special skill from our Neanderthal ancestors. This is how I created my new series, the Ancient Warrior Prophecy. 

The series is built on the idea that people with Neanderthal DNA have special skills such as psychic abilities, and they are using those abilities to save the world. Add in a murder and a hot romance, the first book is all about the story behind the story of the announcement that Neanderthal DNA is in the human genomes.

     

The Warrior in Me – Erotic Murder Mystery/ Romantic suspense

Special Security Agent Sebastian Berlin is eager to track down his partner's killer. Instead, he’s assigned the job of baby-sitting a scientist. His boss thinks she's the key to an Ancient Warrior Prophecy. Science never interested Sebastian, but the know-it-all female standing at the end of his Alaskan dock could persuade him to do a little experimenting. That is, if he can keep his Neanderthal Warrior genes from taking control.

DNA specialist Lily Sinclair is in need of a vacation, or so her over-protective ex-husband tells her. Arriving in chilly Alaska instead of sunny Cancun, she's tired and cranky and so not in the mood for her bodyguard's he-man tactics. Still, there's something about the sexy eye-candy that makes her want to lick him all over even as she's demanding to go home.

Then Lily's ex is poisoned, and Sebastian is certain the two murders are connected and she could be next. She knows he's hiding something, but with the worldwide release of Neanderthal DNA project only days away, she has no choice but to trust him to protect her. But can she trust him with her heart?

Available at 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9C5QLQ

http://wildcatalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-erotic/4749-the-warrior-in-me.html

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-warrior-in-me-anita-philmar/1124858213?ean=2940156758746

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-warrior-in-me-1

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thewarriorinme-2158657-153.html

or

Pick up my free read at https://www.instafreebie.com/free/3JMW4

Bio Anita Philmar

Anita Philmar likes to create stories that push the limit. A writer by day and a dreamer by night she wants her readers to see the world in a new way.

Influenced by old movies, she likes to develop places where anything can happen and where special moments come to life in a great read.

Naughty or Nice?

Read her books and decide.

Website:  http://www.anitaphilmar.com/

Email: anitaphilmar@yahoo.com

Blog: http://www.anitaphilmar.blogspot.com/

FB: www.facebook.com/anita.philmar

GR: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1329767.Anita_Philmar

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anitaphilmar

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Anita-Philmar/e/B002BMBE8C

It Takes a Bit of Luck Too By Karen McCullough #RB4U #Romance #Mystery #Suspense

I spent a fair amount of time during the month of August watching the Olympics and found a lot of lessons in those competitions that could be applied to writing.

The athletes who compete at the Olympic Games are the best in the business, but they didn’t get there by accident. Those men and women worked their tails off to get there. They trained, practiced, watched their diets, kept in peak physical shape, every day for many years to get to the top rank of competitors in their sports.

Authors need to write, write, write as well. You don’t get better at it by sitting around reading books about writing but never doing it yourself. Yes, the books are like coaches who can make you better if you listen to their advice and put it into practice. But without that practice you don’t improve.

You have to compete and test yourself against others to discover how good you are and what you need to work on. As authors we are always competing for the attention of agents, editors, and readers. It can be useful to run your manuscripts by friends, critique partners, and beta readers first to get an idea of what you need to work on. Entering contents can help you assess where your skills stand in relation to other authors.

But one thing the Olympics made clear and you also learn as you spend more time in the publishing industry: there’s a lot of luck involved in making it to the top.

It helps to be born with the right genes. I was never destined to be an Olympic athlete. I did gymnastics in high school and college, even competed in a few regional meets. I never won, though I placed once or twice. I was more than willing to put in the practice time but I wasn’t born with enough natural talent to go any farther than that. It took me months (and a lot of bruises) to learn to do a twist on a handspring and it was clear my body was at its effective limits with that.

As a writer there are a lot of things you can learn – punctuation, proper grammar, story structure are all basic skills every writer needs. But the talent needs to be there too and that means deep insight into character, a feel for the right details to convey the story, and an understanding of the nuances or word usage and meanings. Those are things that can’t really be taught.

Which brings me to the luck part. Just as every Olympian has to master all the little nuances that go into a winning performance, every author has to master their craft on the basic level. You have to hone what talent you have and strive to get better all the time. But once you’ve reached a high level, there’s still the luck factor.

Gymnast Ali Raisman did some magnificent gymnastic routines in her events. She scored higher on several routines than every gymnast from every other country competing. Many years that would have been good enough to win everything in sight. But she happened to have a teammate who is a phenomenon unlike anything the gymnastics world has seen. Simone Biles isn’t just fabulous, she’s one of the all-time greats and, with the exception of one flawed balance beam routine, she won everything. Raisman kept coming in second to her. Ali has been nothing but graceful about it, but you know it must eat at her.

Writers experience the same thing. After a certain, level getting an agent or getting a publishing contract is a case of hitting the right person with the right thing at the right time. A lot of others are trying to do the same thing, so the odds aren’t good.  You can improve them by writing the most fantastic story possible, and sending out as many proposal as you can, but that won’t insulate you against rejection.

In fact, I have hundreds of rejections in my files, from the standard form ones to many nice ones.  One proposal I sent out got two rejections on the same day and both said the same thing. “Good story but no marketing hook.”

I once sent a proposal to an editor I’d worked with before. She liked the story idea. A lot. But she couldn’t buy it because they’d just acquired something very similar the month before. I self-published my most recent mystery novel, Wired for Murder, because the publisher who’d brought out the first book in the series, Five Star/Cengage, decided to cut their mystery line. I’ve had one other publisher fold entirely. It’s a tough business. If you want to be in it, work as hard as you can at the craft and then hope you’re the one who gets that lucky break. And keep in mind that you can improve your odds by keeping lots of proposals and books in circulation.

Karen McCullough is the author of a dozen published novels and novellas in the mystery, romantic suspense, and fantasy genres as well. She has won numerous awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy, and has also been a four-time Eppie finalist, and a finalist in the Daphne, Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, and Vixen Awards contests. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. She has three children, six grandchildren (plus one on the way) and lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband of many years.

Website: http://www.kmccullough.com

Blog: http://www.kmccullough/kblog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenMcCulloughAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kgmccullough

Blurb for Wired for Murder: Most of the time, Heather McNeil loves her job as assistant to the director of the Washington DC Market Show Center. Because she’s a good listener and even better at solving problems, her boss assigns her to handle a lot of the day to day issues that arise during the shows, exhibits, and conferences being held there.  When Heather becomes an unwilling audience to murder during the Business Technology Expo and later finds the body, she’s willing to let the police take care of it. But she soon learns more than she wanted to know about the victim and all the people who really didn’t like him very much.

Buy:

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F81SNDQ

·         Amazon print: https://www.amazon.com/Wired-Murder-Market-Center-Mysteries/dp/153502027X/

·         Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/649290

·         Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wired-for-murder-karen-mccullough/1124077937?ean=9781535020275

·         iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/wired-for-murder/id1133875090?mt=11

·         Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/wired-for-murder-1

Do You Believe In Banshees?

September is flying by, and Halloween is around the corner, so the theme of banshees seems like a timely topic.

According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a banshee is a female spirit in Irish and Scottish stories who cries loudly to warn people that someone is going to die soon, and another of their meanings is: a female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die.

It’s easy to put it all down to too much whiskey or superstitious nonsense, but banshees actually exist. I’ve known Irish families that have had banshee activity over several generations. Furthermore, Irish folklore tells us that the “bean sidhe” was a fairy woman from the realm of the fairies, and that humans were very unhappy to see her combing her hair or wailing on their property. Such families saw her as a sign that one of their own would soon die.

Perhaps the most famous account of an ancient Banshee is that of Aibhill. She was attached to the tribe of Brian Boru, from the royal house of O’Brien. She haunted the rock Craglea near the palace at Kincora near Killaloe. The night before the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, she visited the old king and told him he would not survive the battle. With that, his fate was sealed.  

Irish history tells many stories of banshee sightings, experiences, visitations and subsequent family deaths.

~*~

I grew up reading the stories of Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney, Daphne du Maurier, and other classic Gothic authors. I’m thrilled when I find a contemporary Gothic story, but sadly it’s an *underpopulated* genre. So, I was excited to be invited to write a contemporary Gothic mystery novella for the new series, A World of Gothic. I’ve blended a sprinkling of the paranormal with Irish mythology and the Gothic formula.

Here’s a blurb about my novella, Raven of Blackthorn Manor. It’s now available for a limited time exclusively on Amazon for $0.99.

When Morgana Pierce accepts an invitation to visit Blackthorn Manor, known as Ireland’s most haunted property, she hopes to convince the gloomy owner, Sir Dermott Blackthorn, to let her crew film the property for her paranormal television special.

But Morgana has a secret reason for being at Blackthorn Manor. Her only clue to the whereabouts of her father is a thirty-year old letter on the manor’s letterhead. Her quest leads her to this bleak property on an isolated windswept Irish peninsula.

Morgana’s ability to communicate with the dead soon lands her in danger as she learns about several suspicious deaths and disappearances in recent years. Threats against her life then force her to figure out how to navigate an ever darker reality.

Dermott Blackthorn’s ancestral line was cursed for nine generations, and he is the last. His death is imminent if things unfold as they have for the previous eight Blackthorns.

Morgana is attracted to Blackthorn’s mysterious and moody house guest, Ronan McIver. He is both protective and dismissive, sending mixed signals. Why is he staying at Blackthorn Manor?  

As danger intensifies, the setting becomes ripe for the perfect storm. The time arrives when she must rely on someone, but who can she trust?

RAVEN OF BLACKTHORN MANOR ~~ AMAZON BUY LINK: http://a.co/5qGdAdS

~*~

Have you got a banshee story to share? Are you from a culture where a creature similar to the banshee announces an impending death?

~*~

GEMMA JULIANA has traveled the world and lived in many countries, so she enjoys placing characters in international settings and sprinkling magical spice into her stories. Whether she’s turning up the heat on a character or playing matchmaker, writing gives her great satisfaction, especially when her muse cooperates. She shares a cozy Texas cottage with her true love, teen son, and a very crafty dog, who rules them all. Her muse is nourished with the finest fuel for creativity – chocolate.

Visit Gemma’s website, join her mailing list, and chat with her on social media.

www.gemmajuliana.com

http://gemmajuliana.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/author/gemmajuliana

www.twitter.com/gemma_juliana

www.facebook.com/gemma.juliana

https://www.pinterest.com/gemmajuliana/

Guest Blog: The Key to it All in One Question by Karen McCullough #RB4U #Mystery @kgmccullough

The Key to it All in One Question

By Karen McCullough

As an author, plotting has always been my biggest problem. I’m a pantser who tends to start a project with some idea who the characters are, a pretty clear picture of how the story gets underway, and some vague notion of how it should all come out. That’s about it. Beyond that I tend to wing it.

And inevitably at some point I get bogged down and have to take a break to figure out what to do next. And that’s where things start getting hairy. I make lists, consider options, and try to figure out what my hero and/or heroine would do in the situations they’re on.

Obviously they’ve got problems. It wouldn’t be much of a story if they didn’t. And just as obviously, they have to try to figure out how to handle the issues they’re facing. Usually I’ve got several options and I’m trying to puzzle out which of those would be the best way to go with my story.

Then someone told me the secret. She gave one great piece of advice that has helped me make sense of plotting and character development issues. 

She said to figure out the one thing your character would never do and then create a situation where they’re forced to do just that. You build your plot backwards from that one piece of information. Somewhere early in the story you have to let the readers know what that one thing is. Every decision you, the author, make along the path of the book leads to that moment when the character has to decide to do the thing they least want to do.

It forces you to build in both serious conflict and significant character development, because obviously it’s going to take something serious and desperate to make your heroine do something she’s always said (to herself at least) she would never do.

Good examples from movies include Indiana Jones and the snakes, Luke Skywalker turning off his lightsaber during the climactic battle with Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi, Dorothy confronting the witch in The Wizard of Oz, etc. I’m sure you can think of many more examples if you try since it’s such a fundamental piece of storytelling.

Remember how near the beginning of Casablanca, Ricks says, “I stick my neck out for nobody.”? And then of course, in the end, he does just that, giving up everything, including the woman he loves dearly, for a higher cause, by allowing her to escape with her husband.

The higher the stakes, the greater the potential loss, the more difficult the decision is for the character, the more powerful and gut-wrenching the story becomes.

I tried to do this in my mystery novel with romantic elements, A Gift for Murder. The heroine, Heather, has a job she loves as assistant to the director of the market center. Her main role is being the troubleshooter during shows and exhibits, and she’s good at it.  But when a murder occurs and Heather begins to sniff out the motives for it, she’s forced to risk more and more to get to the bottom of it and see justice done. Initially it’s just the irritation of the people she works with, including her boss, threatening her, but as the show moves on and time gets short, she’s warned that she’ll lose her job if she doesn’t stop asking probing questions. She’s forced to ask herself if finding the answer is worth losing her job and the decision isn’t an easy one. And in the end she has to risk even more…

A Gift for Murder

For fifty-one weeks of the year, Heather McNeil loves her job as assistant to the director of the Washington DC Market Show Center. But the Gift and Home trade show, the biggest show of the year at the center, is a week-long nightmare. This year’s version is worse than usual. Misplaced shipments, feuding exhibitors, and malfunctioning popcorn machines are all in a day’s work. Finding the body of a murdered executive dumped in a trash bin during the show isn’t.  The discovery tips Heather’s life into havoc.

The police have reason to suspect the victim’s wife killed him, but Heather doesn’t believe it. She’s gotten glimmers of an entirely different scenario and possible motive, but questioning exhibitors about the crime doesn’t make her popular with them or with her employers. Still, other lives might be at risk, and if she doesn’t identify the murderer before the show ends, the culprit could well remain free to kill again.

Her only help comes from a company executive with ulterior motives and the Market Center’s attractive new security officer, Scott Brandon. Despite opposition from some of the exhibitors, her employers, and the police, Heather seeks to expose the killer before the show ends.  To solve the mystery she will have to risk what’s most important to her and be prepared to fight for answers, her job, and possibly her life.

• Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGKYNT6
• Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gift-for-murder-karen-mccullough/1100204419?ean=2940016665269&isbn=2940016665269
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/308556
• iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-gift-for-murder/id641857648?mt=11
• Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/A-Gift-for-Murder/book-5L2aq9_WEkWGv_Jz7hBgzQ/page1.html?s=h5XtGABwv0WxX_DLMA81fw&r=1

Karen McCullough

Karen McCullough is the author of more than a dozen published novels in the mystery, romantic suspense, and fantasy genres and has won numerous awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy. She’s also been a four-time Eppie finalist, and a finalist in the Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, and Vixen Awards contests. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. She has three children, three grandchildren and lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband of many years.

Author’s links:

Website: http://www.kmccullough.com

Blog: http://www.kmccullough.com/kblog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kgmccullough

What Draws Me Into a Story by @kgmccullough #RB4U #Contemporary

I recently read a couple of anthologies that groups of authors have been putting together to showcase their talents.  Between the two collections there were probably about two dozen stories, most by authors I’d never heard of before.  And from that batch I found only two stories that intrigued me enough to make me look up more of that author’s work.

That led me to reflect on why so few of those stories really worked for me. In most cases, I knew within the first few pages that the story wasn’t grabbing me, but except for a couple that were so badly written I couldn’t bear to continue, I did read most of them all the way through. And in every case, my initial impression of the story was confirmed.

So what was the apparently rare factor that made me want to continue reading a couple of authors’ works that most of the other stories lacked?

My initial thought was that it was the characters, because those generally make or break a piece for me, but after looking at them a little more closely, I decided it was something more than that. Certainly characters are part of the answer because one of the major differences was that I liked or sympathized with the protagonists in the stories I liked.  But I sometimes felt some of the same for characters in stories I didn’t care for.

It was more than just that sympathy factor, though. The characters of the stories I liked were interesting. They had depth and dimension, not just quirks, which some of the authors seemed to use instead of showing a real character. The characters that worked for me felt things, thought about things, and acted from those thoughts and feelings, but they weren’t just simple things like generalized anger or fear. Their emotions and reason had complexity and depth.

It wasn’t just the characters, though. The settings, action, description, all had that little bit more depth that made the writing vivid and sucked me into the author’s world.  I realized that many of the stories that didn’t work for me felt thin, as though the author hadn’t dived deep enough into the story, didn’t know her world and characters well enough to be able to make them come alive.

I finally decided it was a combination of doing many things well, but the two that seemed most prominent were showing everything rather than telling, which put me right into the story, and picking the right detail to make me see exactly what was going on. Both of those are things that writing instructors, books on writing, and blog posts on writing all harp on. Yet, as these stories showed me, it’s not as easy to do as it sounds.

As an author myself, it felt important for me to figure this out because I hope I’m writing the kind of story that will draw readers in deeply and refuse to let them go.  I’ve tried to do that in The Detective’s Dilemma, my Daphne-award nominated romantic suspense story from Kensington/Lyrical Press.

It was especially important to me to get the reader deeply into my heroine in that story because in the very first chapter she is forced to do something horribly, mind-blowingly awful. I want readers to feel her shock, her horror, her helplessness, and her fear. I want the reader to experience that scene right along with her and then stay with her and cheer for her as she tries to rebuild a shattered life, find the villains, and beat them at their game.

The Detective’s Dilemma

Although Sarah Anne Martin admits to pulling the trigger, she swears someone forced her to kill her lover. Homicide detective Jay Christianson is skeptical, but enough ambiguous evidence exists to make her story plausible. If he gives her enough freedom, she’ll either incriminate herself or draw out the real killers. But, having been burned before, Jay doesn’t trust his own protective instincts…and his growing attraction to Sarah only complicates matters.

With desire burning between them, their relationship could ultimately be doomed since Sarah will be arrested for murder if they can’t find the real killer.

http://www.amazon.com/Detectives-Dilemma-Karen-McCullough-ebook/dp/B00OA9WFQY/

Karen McCullough’s wide-ranging imagination makes her incapable of sticking to one genre for her storytelling. As a result, she’s the author of more than a dozen published novels and novellas, which span the mystery, fantasy, paranormal, and romantic suspense genres. A former computer programmer who made a career change into being an editor with an international trade publishing company for many years, she now runs her own web design business to support her writing habit. Awards she’s won include an Eppie Award for fantasy; three other Eppie finals; Daphne, Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, and Vixen Awards, and an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. She lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband of many years.

Website: http://www.kmccullough.com

Blog: http://www.kmccullough/kblog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenMcCulloughAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kgmccullough