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Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Hot inspy suspense!
Monday, October 30, 2017
THIS WEEK ON THE SUSPENSE SISTERS!
We’re planning another great week on the Suspense Sisters. Check out our posts, our interviews, and our awesome giveaways!
THIS WEEK:
On Tuesday Dana Mentink will share What’s Hot in Inspirational Suspense and Mystery.
On Wednesday Suspense Sister E. E. Kennedy will talk about cliches. She will be giving away a copy of one of her Miss Prentiss books! Don't forget to leave your contact information.
On Wednesday Suspense Sister E. E. Kennedy will talk about cliches. She will be giving away a copy of one of her Miss Prentiss books! Don't forget to leave your contact information.
And on Friday, The Suspense Sisters interviews the incredible Dana Mentink, one of our own Suspense Sisters, about her new book, Cowboy Christmas Guardian.
Someone is dead set on stopping Shelby Arroyo from doing her job: assessing mineral rights in a mine in gold country. But after rancher Barrett Thorn rescues her from an attack, the handsome widowed cowboy seems to feel responsible for her. That is, until he discovers she's from the family that he'll never forgive for his wife's death. As the threats against Shelby escalate, cowboy honor and an unexpected attraction keep Barrett by her side, even at his own risk. And since Shelby won't back down, Barrett must protect the brave, loyal woman he has no business falling for…a woman someone wants to kill by Christmas.
The Suspense Sisters! We Love Books!
Friday, October 27, 2017
INTERVIEW WITH LINDA J. WHITE
Linda J. White writes FBI thrillers from her home in rural Virginia. Her husband, Larry, was a video producer/director at the FBI Academy for over 27 years. Mother of three grown children, Linda is also a national-award winning journalist and a women’s ministry speaker. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing with Keira, her Sheltie, reading a book, or dreaming of the beach.
Website: lindajwhite.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.comLindaJWhiteBooks?ref=hl
Twitter: @rytn4hm
INTERVIEW
Linda, welcome to the Suspense Sisters! We’re so glad you’re joining us.
First of all, tell us about your books. What kind of suspense do you write?
I write FBI thrillers, a natural choice for me since my husband made training videos for the FBI for over 27 years. FBI policies and procedures populated our dinner table discussions and many of our friends are agents. I try to portray the Bureau authentically, although I must say my characters get into a lot more trouble than most real agents! My books are straight suspense, although some have a romantic thread.
What do you do when you’re not writing? Any interesting hobbies?
I love dogs and have done obedience, rally, and conformation showing with them over the years. After thirty years of sporting dogs, I now have a Sheltie who happily lies at my feet while I write and takes me for walks on our country road.
I also love the Word; I’ve taught adult Bible studies for thirty years, I mentor a group of women, and I’m currently doing BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).
And I love going to the beach. Give me salt air, hot sand, and waves crashing on the shore and I’m happy!
What do you hope readers will take away from your books?
Life is hard, evil exists, yet God is sovereign. Knowing Him, you can find strength to get through any difficulty.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the third, (as yet unnamed) book in the Bloody Point, Battered Justice series. The niece of an agent is seduced by an older man and soon finds herself trapped in a human trafficking scheme.
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Linda's exciting new book, SNIPER! (U.S. only, please. Don't forget to give us your contact information!)
Website: lindajwhite.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.comLindaJWhiteBooks?ref=hl
Twitter: @rytn4hm
INTERVIEW
Linda, welcome to the Suspense Sisters! We’re so glad you’re joining us.
First of all, tell us about your books. What kind of suspense do you write?
I write FBI thrillers, a natural choice for me since my husband made training videos for the FBI for over 27 years. FBI policies and procedures populated our dinner table discussions and many of our friends are agents. I try to portray the Bureau authentically, although I must say my characters get into a lot more trouble than most real agents! My books are straight suspense, although some have a romantic thread.
What do you do when you’re not writing? Any interesting hobbies?
I love dogs and have done obedience, rally, and conformation showing with them over the years. After thirty years of sporting dogs, I now have a Sheltie who happily lies at my feet while I write and takes me for walks on our country road.
I also love the Word; I’ve taught adult Bible studies for thirty years, I mentor a group of women, and I’m currently doing BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).
And I love going to the beach. Give me salt air, hot sand, and waves crashing on the shore and I’m happy!
What do you hope readers will take away from your books?
Life is hard, evil exists, yet God is sovereign. Knowing Him, you can find strength to get through any difficulty.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the third, (as yet unnamed) book in the Bloody Point, Battered Justice series. The niece of an agent is seduced by an older man and soon finds herself trapped in a human trafficking scheme.
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Linda's exciting new book, SNIPER! (U.S. only, please. Don't forget to give us your contact information!)
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
When the Words Don't Come...AKA Writer's Block by Mary Ellis
Every
writer has wrestled for hours when they can’t string seven words together into
a concise sentence. We doubt ourselves, our mentors, the process we thought
we’d perfected, even the quality of beans that went into our cup of java. It
happens to the best of us. There is no one-size-fits-all solution since writers
are as different as that shade of navy you’re trying to match. I can only give
you my humble opinion to tuck into your first aid kit on possible cures.
When
the words won’t come I see two possible reasons, both of which involve turning
off and moving away from your computer. How many times have we fallen asleep in
our easy chairs, but tossed-and-turned in bed for hours? If you get out of bed
and put the TV back on, you’ll doze off by the next commercial. Same is true
about trying to force creativity in front of your laptop. Once you are seated
in a lawn chair or a booth at the coffee shop, consider the first reason your
well is dry: You need more story. This happens more often for seat-of-the-pants
writers than plotters, but even plotters can reach a lull when the action or
romantic drama needs help from a subplot to thicken the stew. Ask yourself: What
can come along to blindside your characters? What’s the worst thing they fear?
Make it happen. Often writers concoct a thrilling opening and know exactly how
to bring their story to a tasty conclusion. They might even have some plot
twists in mind, but in long novels, not even the most devout “plotter” can
pre-conceive enough scenes to keep the pace moving. Go where it’s quiet, where
you can roll your eyes back into your head. Suddenly story ideas will flow
faster than you can jot down on your Starbucks napkin.
The
second problem we sometimes experience is the haven’t-I-said-all-this-before-syndrome.
We’ve got our story; we’ve got our multi-dimensional characters. But we’re
trotting out the same old metaphors and tired verbs. It’s time to get away to
someone else’s creative work that’s not in
the genre you write. Read a book by a writer whose work you admire to see how
they craft a story. No time to read a full novel? Go to a movie, again one with
a screenplay by someone you love. Sit back, sip your soda, munch your popcorn
and enjoy. I’ve been known to utter things like: What a delightful black
moment, much to my husband’s dismay. The key is getting away from yourself. Then
when you return to your work-in-progress, the well will be primed with fresh
creative waters.
Mary
Ellis has just finished Hiding in Plain Sight, first of a
new series, Marked for Retribution Mysteries, set in Charleston, South
Carolina. When a roving PI rents a room above an Italian restaurant run by a
handsome chef, she lands in the middle of a family feud with robbery, arson and
murder as the daily specials. Hiding in Plain Sight will release in 2018. Mary can be
found on the web at: www.maryellis.net
Please leave Mary a comment to be entered in a drawing for a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate. US and Canada only. If you don't leave your email address you cannot win. Good Luck!!
Monday, October 23, 2017
THIS WEEK ON THE SUSPENSE SISTERS!
We’re
planning another great week on the Suspense Sisters. Check out our posts, our
interviews, and our awesome giveaways!
THIS WEEK:
This
week we’ll introduce you to a brand new Suspense Sister! We’re thrilled that Linda
J. White has joined us. If you’ve never read one of her books, you’re missing
out! Friday, you can learn more about Linda. Stop by and say, “Hello!” Someone
will win a copy of her newest book, SNIPER! One word of warning: You’ll stay up
later than you want to because it’s hard to put down!
On Tuesday Dana Mentink will share What’s Hot in Inspirational
Suspense and Mystery.
On Wednesday Suspense Sister Mary Ellis talks about writer’s
block. You’ll enjoy her article "When the Words Won't Come....aka Writer'sBlock." Mary’s giving away a $25.00 Amazon gift card to someone who leaves
a comment! (Don’t forget to leave your contact information.)
Friday, you’ll get to know our new sister, Linda J. White. Someone
will win a copy of her great suspense novel, SNIPER!
Shocked
by the murder of a friend, FBI Special Agent Kit McGovern vows to bring the
killer to justice. Then the shooter kills again, and again … and again.
Saddled
with an unpredictable partner, forced to put her personal life on hold, Kit
doggedly pursues the sniper. Quantico sends a geographic profiler to help
identify him, but the killing of a young woman outside the probability zone
casts doubt on that technique. As panic grips the Hampton Roads area, pressure
mounts, and Kit soon finds herself in the crosshairs of failure—and death.
The Suspense Sisters! We love books!
Friday, October 20, 2017
A Chat With Author Janet McHenry-By Linda Kozar
Annie's Attic Antique Shop Mysteries |
Author Janet McHenry |
See below for today's giveaway!
All About Janet...After Janet graduated from the University of California,
Berkeley, with a degree in journalism, she married her high school sweetheart
Craig and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. They eventually
settled down in the Sierra Valley in northern California, where Craig is a
rancher and where there is not a single stoplight in the entire county. In
their town of 700+ folks, she says they have raised four pretty good children –
all done with college and married – and are now enjoying the grandkids, all of
whom are perfect. Visit
the Family Gallery. As a busy writer, speaker, prayer coordinator at her
church, and board member of The Sierra Schools Foundation, Janet says the
only pastime she has time for is friends! And she looks forward to
knowing you better! Find her on Facebook or her Looking Up! blog.
1. I read about the story behind what inspired you to write Prayer Walk. What is prayer walking? Prayer walking is praying for whatever God puts within your eyesight. I live right on Main Street in my little town in the Sierra Valley. So, as I walk past businesses, I pray that God will favor the owners and workers in their business and families and that they will know that blessing is coming from God and serve them with their lives.
2. What are your favorite elements of mystery and suspense? I love quirky characters with secretive pasts. It's fun bringing them into a story, each with means, motive, and opportunity--and then let the sleuth do the digging to better understand that person. I believe characters should always drive a story--even with the mystery form.
3. Who is your favorite or most memorable character in one of your books? If you could, would you want to meet that character in real life? I really like Maggie Watson, the sleuth in the Antique Shop Mysteries, published by Annie's. She's a 40-some widow who inherits her Aunt Evelyn's estate on the Maine coast, complete with an antiques shop on the property. I love hunting for antiques, and I love the stories behind them. I can picture myself doing what she does in her stories.
4. Do you incorporate settings in your books from your real-life travels? I did travel to the Maine coast before writing Bride and Seek, the mystery I wrote for the Antique Shop Mysteries series. I wanted to take in all the sights, sounds, and smells of the area. I particularly loved the small towns, the lighthouses, the beaches, and the fresh ocean air.
5. Tell us your favorite book signing or book launch story. For one of my books on prayer, the local newspaper in my small town hosted a signing for me. A friend bought a couple books and then said, "Oh, pray for 'John.'" This was a person I HAD been praying for for several years, so I said, "Wow! I have been. What's going on?" She said, "Well, he's been coming to church and reading the Bible all the way through." This good news truly touched my heart, because I knew he had had a troubled past. That he was now seeking a personal relationship with God was good news indeed.
6. What advice would you give to a beginning author? Go to a writers' conference--a good one of many days. It's the best investment I made in my writing career. In fact, I went to THREE of them the first year I sensed the call to write. At those conferences I began to understand the various forms of writing--both articles and books. I kept going to the Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference for at least 15 years. At those conferences you not only get professional instruction; you also get to rub shoulders with agents and editors and to get professional critique and help so you can get better as a writer.
7. Name one of your favorite classic books or authors. This is a great question for a former high school English teacher! The quintessential American classic, I believe, is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In fact, we should all read it again and again. It encourages us to put ourselves in other people's shoes before we judge them or think ourselves superior. The novel not only deals with racial prejudice, but also delves into social class discrimination, religious intolerance and hypocrisy, and sexual discrimination. A contemporary Christian novelist I'm especially enjoying right now, though, is Cynthia Ruchti. She weaves strong thematic ideas through her beautiful prose. I want to be like her when I grow up.
8. Tell us about the book you're giving away to one lucky reader on Suspense Sisters today. I will be delighted to mail a copy of The Secret of the Locked Trunk, the second in the Annie Shepard Mysteries that I wrote for Cook Publishing years ago. It's a fun little series for juvenile girls--sort of a Christian Nancy Drew read.
TODAY'S GIVEAWAY!
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