Murder She Writes

In keeping with what is fast becoming a MSW tradition, we’re happy to post some randomly selected winners from contest run by some of our bloggers this week. 

Karin Tabke is giving away a copy of WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE, a paranormal anthology that features three of our MSW authors (Karin, Allison, and Rocki) and includes a prequel to Allison’s new Seven Deadly Sins series that launched this week with ORIGINAL SIN.  The winner is….GSM!  Congratulations!  Email Karin at kltabke@aol.com with your snail mail addy and happy reading!

Roxanne St. Claire is giving away a rare out of print copy of her first Silhouette Desire, LIKE A HURRICANE, featuring that unforgettable “first meet” in the elevator.  The lucky winner is…Angie Trianta!  Email Rocki at roxannestc@cfl.rr.com and enjoy the elevator ride!

Thanks for all the great comments and stories, all the support, and stay tuned for more fun and giveaways next week!

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Or in this case, vamps, were’s and angels, oh, yessss! Yes!  Yes!

Ok, so first let me say right off the bat: I am not a front-runner! I have always, since I was a girl, had a secret desire to be bitten by Quentin Collins.  I found Dracula dark, hypnotic and oh, so romantic.  In my girl’s imagination, he was handsome, noble and so tortured there was only one thing on the earth that could redeem him:  Moi.  I dreamed of creating my own dark mysterious vampire one day, and I have. Call me a vamp tramp, I’ll wear the name proudly.

Werewolves or Lycan, is there a difference? Anyone see Hugh Jackman as that big black glossy were in Van Helsing?  Now that was one hawt werewolf!  Or how about team Jacob? Not hard on the eyes at all.  That said, I like my howlers a bit older, and mature.

Now what about those naughty arch angels?  Le sigh.  The things I could do to Michael! Of course then we would both burn in hell, but it might be worth it! In the antho I did with Allison and Rocki, WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE (which btw has Allison’s prequel to ORIGINAL SIN that released this week), I wrote about the fallen and my twist on the lore of the watchers. 

Syl’s Marked series features Cane and Able, two very competitive and very sexy angles.  Wow, those bros make a girl work up a sweat!

So, I just wrapped up a book that I can’t talk about (when I can, I’ll be screaming!!!), it began as a romantic suspense but after several conversations, my agent, editor and I thought, hmmm, how about a paranormal element?  What began as a minor element mushroomed into one of the most complex heroes I have ever written, and a heroine who amazes me.  As her creator let me tell you, it takes a lot to amaze me.  She is just so brave and smart and tenacious. The chemistry between her, a mortal, and the hero who is a vampire, leaps off the page.  He has met his match in her, and despite his vampire powers, she keeps him on his toes.  The story is pure suspense.  I love it.  My editor loves it.  She told me, “You have a lot to be proud of with this one.” 

Now, some folks would call me a front-runner. I say, call me whatever you want.  It’s the best contemporary I have written and the paranormal aspect of the book came easy. However, the story itself was a challenge because it was complex and layered. 

I just sold a paranormal trilogy to Berkley.  It was pitched as Sons of Anarchy meets Rise of the Lycan. Hello!  Hot lycan bikers! It was one of those things that just came to me one night and I had to write it.  Front-running again?  How can I be front-running when the characters just show themselves and natter away at me until I acknowledge them?  What’s a writer to do?  Write their damn story, that’s what.

I remember back in July of 2005, on the drive home from Reno, and Allison talking to me and the hubster about her seven deadly sins idea.  “One day, I’m going to write it!”  And voila!   Go, A!

I think many of us have or have had a story with paranormal elements or a little whoo-whoo lurking somewhere inside of our creative hearts.  I’m glad to be able to finally breathe life into mine.

Which brings me to the question of the day:  What is your paranormal pleasure?  Vamp, were, angel, demon, witch, warlock, zombie, or…what?

One lucky commenter, randomly picked will win a copy of WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE!

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Sometimes, I’m at a loss of what to say. Those who know me well are laughing right now–Allison can always find something to say! But this week is upside down. It’s release week. I’m woefully behind on my schedule. I’d planned on going out to local stores and signing stock today, but didn’t because I’m reworking the last 100 pages of CARNAL SIN, my July release. And I’m not done, so tomorrow, no stock signings either. And I’d wanted to get a newsletter out Tuesday, to announce that ORIGINAL SIN is on sale . . . but that, too, fell by the wayside because of these revisions. And this morning I woke up with a mild sore throat. I’m fighting it with zinc and Airborne (take THAT you damn germs!) and so far . . . it hasn’t gotten worse. That’s a plus!

There are always so many things I want to do release week, but there’s that little thing of only 24 hours a day. And this Tuesday, the day my book came out, we had back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back (yes, five) basketball games. I made it to three and a half–catching both my daughters, the varsity boys and half the younger middle school team. And in between games, I had my laptop out–that not-so-insignificant issue that I need to fix the ending of CARNAL SIN.

And tonight Dan had a meeting and I had to do double-duty on practice drop-off and pick-up, so didn’t sit back down at the computer until 10 pm.

So you can see that thinking what I should write about is hard. As I often do when I get stuck, I look at my bookshelves. Sound weird? Well sometimes just staring at the books filling my shelves I can come up with an idea.

It didn’t work this time. So I looked at my desk. I have one stack of my Rita books–seven books, but I’ve already read two so I’m happy. Then another stack–with included a copy of ORIGINAL SIN (because I always pre-order a copy from both Amazon and BN.com–I’ve done it with every release and I think I’m a bit superstitious because I fear if I DON’T pre-order it’ll jinx it. I know, I know–dumb. But there you go.)

The book on top of ORIGINAL SIN is THE NEXT BEST THING by Kristan Higgins. I discovered Kristan when she entered the RITAs and I judged her book (I know, we’re not supposed to say anything, but this was two or three years ago and she won.) I loved it. (I can’t remember the title–was it CATCH OF THE DAY? It had the dog in the picnic basket on the cover, but my mom stole the book so I don’t have it on my shelf.) It is exactly the opposite of what I write. She writes warm, funny, heartwarming books that I adore. And THIS one has a cat instead of a dog (Go Felines!) So I always buy Kristan’s books ostensibly for my mom, but then I get another copy because my mom wants to keep the copy she “borrows” from me. (And yes, before anyone asks, I’m bringing my mom to RWA this year, okay? I think people are more interested in talking to her than me!)

So I stared at Kristan’s book for awhile (admired the cat–it looks like a Russian Blue persian on the cover, which reminds me of my old cat named Raider–yes, after the football team–though white and orange cats are my absolutely favorite.) Her book is about second chances, family, lost loves . . . second chances? I stared, hoping for blog inspiration, worried about my opening week sales (knowing you don’t get a second chance for opening week), frustrated that my revisions are taking longer than I thought (if only I could stop tweaking and ONLY address my editor’s concerns–but no, I have to touch every damn page); and stressed about the new release date for MORTAL SIN (8.31.10) because I don’t know how it starts. (Well, I was stressed more yesterday, because I didn’t know how it started or what happens in the book, but this morning driving to Starbucks I had a flash of the opening scene, so I think I’m okay now.)

And I thought, what would be the next best career after writing books for a living? I can’t imagine doing anything else. With all the warts and stresses and worries, I love what I do.

In fact, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I thought I should be an English teacher first (but I dropped out of college) and then I thought maybe a reporter. There was also a time, for about two years, where I wanted to be a Forensic Pathologist–like Quincy, MD. That was until I dissected a fetal pig in biology in 8th grade and went back to wanting to be a teacher/reporter on the way to author. (As an aside, I did observe an autopsy and didn’t almost faint–cough cough Brenda Novak cough cough–so maybe I could have been a forensic pathologist. We’ll just never know now, will we?)

So honestly? The next best thing to being a writer . . . is writing about other careers. I have the best of both worlds (hey, Kristan! That sounds like a good title for one of your books–THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. Ha.) Seriously, though. I get to talk to cops, FBI agents, forensic pathologists, lab techs, coroners, doctors (with a special SHOUT OUT to CJ Lyons who has always answered my questions with aplomb. (I’ve never used that word in a sentence–”aplomb”–meaning with “ease” “self-confidence” and “style.”) I learn about the job, go deep in my characters so I can find out what they think of their job, and for a few months, I become a cop . . . or a criminal psychologist . . . or a demon hunter. And that is the next best thing . . .

Now it’s time for some of that Blatant Self Promo. I can’t help it. It’s release week. ORIGINAL SIN is on sale . . . and I have had some amazing reviews I’m tickled about (because as you all know, especially Toni and Rocki and Karin who have seen the worst of neurotic me, I’ve been a teeny-tiny worried about changing genres.)

Becky Lejeune at Book Bitch wrote:

“Brennan’s first paranormal outing is a winner. I love the detail that has gone into this book and can’t wait to learn more as the series develops.”

From Fantasy Rambler:

A terrific mixture of suspense, mystery and a lot of action with a hint of romance . . . I found myself repeatedly surprised by the turns in the plot. I have definitely been pulled into the world of the Seven Deadly Sins and I cannot wait until Carnal Sin releases later this year.

From Casee at Book Binge:

Original Sin is the start to what promises to be an amazing paranormal series. . . . I’m pretty sure that Moira will be on my list of top five heroines of 2010. She’s that good.

From RT Book Reviews:

“Suspense maven Brennan takes a decidedly supernatural turn with her new demon fighter series. . . . Her style of suspense readily adapts to the Urban Fantasy genre, giving it a darkly powerful edge. It’s shiver inducing!”

And here’s part of a review that is supposed to appear in the Providence Journal soon . . . cross your fingers that it makes it so I can use it, because I was floored when I got it.

“A scintillating new series… evokes memories of William Peter Blatty at his level best… Brennan shows a deft command of all things both normal and otherworldly in crafting one of the best tales of its kind since Dean Koontz and Stephen King were still writing about monsters. There’s no shortage of those here and the result is a new genre classic.”

I also want to thank my fabulous partners here at Murder She Writes for being so terrific and supportive, and how about our new bloggers? Amazing women, all of them.

What would be the next best thing for you? Or if you could have a second chance at something, anything . . . what would it be?

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My best friend from high school, who I hadn’t seen for 20+ years, popped in for my book signing in Sioux Falls last Saturday. I knew she was coming, as a mutual friend who had no idea we knew each other (yes, South Dakota IS a small state) set it up in a round about way.

I looked at her, this woman who knew so much of my history, and I of hers, a girl/woman who was so important in my life for so many years…well…when we really saw each other, we both sort of burst into tears. Once we composed ourselves, we talked a mile a minute, like we used to.  Laughed like we used to. And although we have different lives that have taken us in surprising paths (however, she reminded me that I wrote two solid pages in her senior yearbook, so she always knew I was “wordy”) we’ve grown up, gotten older, sprouted a few gray hairs and the start of wrinkles, when I was with her, it didn’t feel like 20 years had passed. Nothing had changed, even when everything had changed.

I’ve been mulling this over in the past few days, how thankful I am for another chance to rekindle that friendship. I’ve made friends over the years. I count people I’ve met online among some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Sure, I’ve lost track of people in my life, some intentionally, some not, some I rarely go beyond the fleeting “I wonder what ever happened to?” thought. Especially since I’ve never bothered to go to a high school reunion even though I still live in my hometown. And since my grandparents and members of my husband’s family have died, we’ve somehow severed even more connections, to people and places. Sad, but some times there is no choice.

Thanks to Facebook people are re-establishing those ties. I’m a late-comer to Facebook, I just joined in the last month. I dragged my feet for a long time, even after everyone and their dog told me how necessary it is for promotion. That part? I get. But I have little desire to connect with people from my past. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I don’t care, but because I *do* care. Because I am one of those people who feels the need to respond to every person single who contacts me. Right away. God forbid anyone ever thought I’d gotten snooty over the years. I swore that I’d curtail my online hours in 2010. I’d focus on spending more time with flesh and blood friends and family I’ve neglected.

Yeah, I hear you asking how that’s going. Not like I’d hoped.

During my travels in the last few weeks, I’ve realized I’m not ready to own a crackberry, I have no self-discipline and I’d never get any work done if I had access to email/the internet all day long. However, I’m now part of the twitter community. Facebook is addicting. I can see how cool it is to have people ask and care about what you’ve been up to since the last time they saw you — be it 20 years ago or 20 hours ago.

I’ve also stuck a toe in the tweet world. I had fan pages set up for Lorelei James and Lori Armstrong (which still is too bizarre to comprehend). I’ve accepted every friend request, because again, I don’t want to be impolite. But nothing beats meeting face to face. My BFF and I exchanged phone numbers and email and we’ll stay in touch online, but I cannot wait to sit down with her, over a beer, and pick up where we left off.

What’s the best reconnection you’ve had with a person from your past either via Facebook or by chance?

**Slight self-promotion** I”m going to be signing books  in Tucson, AZ tonight at Clues Unlimited (and I’ll be seeing my good buddy J. Carson Black!) at 7:00 and Thursday night in Phoenix, AZ at the Poisoned Pen at 7:00. If you’re in the vicinity, come on out, I’d love to meet you!

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Whether it is cute, sexy, embarrassing, unforgettable, conflict-rich or sparking like a live wire, I love that magical moment when gazes lock and toes curl and rational behavior is trumped by irrational hormones. This obsession started long before my romance writing career, probably a result of being well and truly single throughout my twenties, so how Boy first meets Girl became a passion of mine as I kissed all those frogs in search of my prince. Was he hiding in the supermarket? At a business meeting? In line, online, or under a rock? As it turns out, my beloved was in an elevator, and when those doors opened on the fifth floor and he was standing there, it’s fair to say the bottom dropped out of my world.

Even today, I like to ask married friends how, where, and when they had that momentous first encounter, and every week I peruse the wedding announcements in the Sunday New York Times, drawn to the longer columns that include a recap of how the couple met.

This is probably why “the first meet” is both completely fun and wildly challenging for me to write. It’s also the point in other people’s books where they either sell me or lose me because I judge a book not by its cover but by the power of a great first meet.

Recently, I threw a question to the twitterverse to ask how people met, and the responses were such a blast to read. Someone started a hashtag to follow the conversation (you can check it out at #1stmeets, if you’re a twitterer) and I spent a day or so immersed in some of the best first meets, every one worthy of its own HEA.

Agent Deidre Knight met her husband when he was awakened by her laugh and had to get up (and, we will assume, get dressed) and head outside to find out who was making that noise…and proceeded to fall in love. Border’s Romance Buyer Sue Grimshaw confessed it was her honey’s tight shorts in aerobics class that caught her eye…nineteen years and many sit ups ago. My author friends had great stories: Louisa Edwards met her main squeeze in a stage play where she played the wife, and he the husband.  In the course of the play, she hated him, murdered him, and was sent to the Chair.  Mr. Louisa is so glad life isn’t imitating art.

Author Shannon Stacy was a waitress, and her beloved was a coffee counter regular. (Extra sugar and your phone number, sugar!) Tessa Dare was in choir, singing “Go Tell It On the Mountain” when cupid shot his arrow, and our own MSW regular Terry Odell snagged her UCLA Bio Teaching Assistant, giving me a few memories of UCLA TAs I lusted after. There were scads of college romances, blind dates, post-elementary school reunions, several secret boss/underling affairs, two other lucky elevator riders, and the occasional steal from a friend. (Including the ever popular: we were on double date, but he wasn’t mine…)

Great stories and I thank everyone who played my game. I admit my motivation was a little selfish, though. I’m always looking for first meet ideas for my books. When I reach the page in my manuscript when I need my Boy to meet my Girl, I know I’m in for a tough writing day. (Or writing week.) This scene, whether the characters have known each other in the past or are strangers encountering one another for the first time, sets the tone for the entire book. Will there be fireworks or a slow burn? Delicious banter or pauses thick with unspoken emotion? What will he notice first…her eyes, her body, her actions, or, like Mr. Deidre Knight, her infectious laugh? Whose point of view will have the most impact on the reader? What actions will show their true character? Will there be deception, dismay, or disgust? How quickly will there be lust, and how long can they wait to act on it?

My guiding principle for a first meet scene is simple: there are three people in this love affair, so the reader has to fall over that precipice of love as well. It’s no wonder that my first meet scenes can take days to write, but are often my favorite long after the book is finished. When I look up at my “wall of covers” a few things jump out at me for every book: the hero, the HEA, and the first meet scene. My personal favorite? No surprise there – an elevator meet in my first Silhouette Desire, Like A Hurricane. (The elevator doors open for the hero, and he finds his future love dangling out of a ceiling panel, attempting to fix a broken cable.  Fortunately, he’s a leg man.)

Let’s talk first meets – real life and fiction! Where did you meet your spouse? Or, what’s your favorite fictional first meet? One commenter will win an out of print, first edition (don’t get excited, there was only one printing!), autographed copy of Like A Hurricane. Not many of these around…and I promise a wild ride on the elevator!

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Sorry to be behind with my Monday post! I left for Houston early Friday morning and came home late last night on a delayed flight. By the time I got one of my kids to school (late) this morning and settled down to draft my post, it was 10 AM here in California (and later in the day for those of you on the East Coast.)

As Sharon Sala and I were heading over to the hotel from the airport, we laughed at how we’d both once thought that being a writer meant we’d be able to write all day in our pjs. Who knew we’d be expected to be seen and heard so often?

“Writers should be read but not seen.” – Edna Ferber

“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.” – Daphne de Maurier

Hmm… I thought that was the way this writing gig worked back when I didn’t know the writing gig at all. It was reassuring to hear another writer say that she, too, thought authors were mostly invisible entities. Embossed names on a cover and a picture on the back flap, but not much more than that.

But even though the amount of traveling I do far exceeds my long-ago fantasies of what it would be like to write for a living, I’m not complaining because I find face-to-face time with readers, writer friends, and industry professionals to be so valuable. I learn so much about what my readers enjoy, what I did that pissed them off, what they’d love to see next (characters, storylines, settings, time periods). I brainstorm with friends and talk strategy with the pros. I’d miss out on so much if I didn’t travel as much as I do (I’m away from home several weeks a year). I have yet to return from an event where I didn’t think, “It was worth the trip.” (and that’s really good, since I have to publish this post then finalize travel arrangements for two trips in March and another in April…)

Still, it’s good to be home! I’m getting ready to open a new document and start my next historical romance. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple weeks now, and it’s time to get some words on the page. I’m excited! It’s an idea that I think is just so delicious, that I’m hoping I pull it off. *g* Plus… I have a couple books to read for quotes and a lovely, lovely stack of RITA books. I’m soooo excited about digging into those. So, despite being tired from the trip, I’m ready to jump into the week.

How about you? What’s on your agenda this week? Anything you’re excited to tackle?

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Leigh Duncan is the winner of a signed copy of Erin Bried’s HOW TO SEW A BUTTON!  Please let Sophie know where to send it – contact her at sophie@sophielittlefield.com.

Congratulations to Kendra who won a signed copy of UNTRACEABLE by Laura Griffin. Please email laura@lauragriffin.com with your mailing address to that you may receive your prize.

Toni’s winner is Emmanuelle, and she will receive her choice of an Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Borders online gift card. Please contact Toni at toni[dot]causey[at]gmail[dot]com and let her know which retailer you prefer, and  which email address you’d like for Toni to use to send her gift card.

Congratulations to all our winners!

I have to share what happened to me this week!

Now, in order to appreciate how cool this is, you must know that a) I got my start as a newspaper reporter and love, love, love to interview people, and b) On the keeper shelf in my office is a hardback copy of Presumed Innocent, one of the first suspense novels I ever read.

So when the editor of RT Book Reviews asked me if I’d like to interview Scott Turow about his upcoming sequel to Presumed Innocent, you could say I was excited. Actually, dancing around the living room in front of my startled family would be more accurate.

You mean there’s a sequel to one of my all-time favorite books? And I get to talk to Scott Turow, who helped inspire me to become a writer in the first place?

The answer is YES!

Needless to say, I accepted the assignment. And then like magic, a manuscript of the new book, Innocent, landed on my doorstep so that I could read it before the interview. I’ve never been so eager to put on my slippers and curl up with 500-plus pages of copy paper. With just forty-eight hours until the interview, I didn’t quite get the book finished, but I still had plenty of questions to ask the talented Mr. Turow. Here is a glimpse of my notes:

“How did you decide to write a sequel?”

“Is there talk of a film?”

“If there is a film, will Harrison Ford play Rusty Sabich again?”

“How do you juggle your writing career with your law practice?”

“If there’s a film, will it feature Harrison Ford?”

“And about Harrison Ford…???”

You may have noticed I’m a bit of a Harrison Ford fan. What can I say? I grew up in the Star Wars era, and as far as I’m concerned Han Solo is the original alpha hero. (Luke was always just a little too prissy for me.)

Sorry, I digress. Back to the interview, which was fascinating.  I was impressed with Scott Turow before this, but once I had a chance to research him.. wow! Aside from pioneering an entire genre (the legal thriller) and writing non-fiction, this man also manages to practice law, head ethics committees, serve as president of the Authors Guild, do pro bono work (such as the 1995 case in which he got a wrongfully convicted man who had spent eleven years in prison released from death row)… And that is not even a full list of his accomplishments.

Going into this interview, I was a little intimidated.

But it turns out, along with all his achievements, Scott Turow also happens to be a nice, easy-to-talk-to guy. We had a great conversation about writing, law, film, and yes, the latest adventures of the fictional Rusty Sabich. (Remember the prosecutor framed for murdering his mistress? Remember his diabolical wife?) Well, Rusty is back, and IMHO the sequel is just as enthralling as the original book.

I won’t spoil Innocent for you, but let me leave you with this, the opening scene: Rusty Sabich, now chief judge on an appellate court, sits on a bed with the body of his dead wife, Barbara. She has died under suspicious circumstances….

To see interview, check out the the April issue of RT Book Reviews. (Innocent comes out in May, from Grand Central Publishing). And I don’t always say this about sequels, but in this case, the second book lives up to its predecessor. Innocent is riveting from the very first page.

Are you a Scott Turow fan, too? Have you enjoyed a sequel recently? Leave a comment and get a chance to win a signed copy of my latest release, Untraceable. And thanks for sharing my fun week!