Tag Archives: mystery

Swiss Vendetta goes audio!

Fiction, Writing, , , ,

Swiss Vendetta recently released as an audiobook and it’s generated a little curiosity on my part about the recording process. I’m not an audiobook devotee – like many of my friends. However, I might turn to the audio version of a book for a long solitary drive. When I do, I typically select a familiar title since I tend to zone in and out of listening – an unbreakable habit. A familiar book is best for me. I need to be able to fill in the blanks when I miss something. (This may come from listening while driving up and down the California coast. It’s best to not be distracted in LA traffic!)

As an author, I am a firm believer in craft. That translates into respect for the professional narrator’s craft. Because of this, I trusted that the narrator chosen by my publisher would do for Swiss Vendetta exactly what needed to be done. That meant creating the characters’ voices, setting the tone, and invoking atmosphere. All with her voice.

My narrator, Cat Gould, has a long and distinguished resume, particularly with accents, both as varieties of English and foreign. I’m so pleased to have her on this project. She makes the listen feel like they are in Switzerland!

Curiosity about the life of an audiobook’s narrator led me to a great article giving Steve Marvel’s perspective about his ‘reading’ experiences and process. http://bit.ly/2mUCIfk

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Cat Gould

I hope all audio listeners enjoy Cat’s reading of Swiss Vendetta. Hat’s off to our audio collaborators!

Book tour and bookstores. It’s all good!

Fiction, , , , , ,

Week Two of the book tour for Swiss Vendetta!

A few confessions. First, meeting strangers can be daunting, but when the strangers want to talk about books – and possibly your own book – then it’s incredibly fun. I’ve met people in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Arkansas with Tennessee, Virginia, Texas and New York to go, have driven through a snow storm and heard tales of local flooding, crossed the Mississippi River a few times in a car, and traversed the Arkansas River on foot (via a pedestrian bridge in case anyone envisions my walking on water).

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Speaking at Joseph-Beth in Lexington, KY

I’ve met writers and readers and convinced a few people to buy their very first mystery (a special shout out to Josh, a high school senior hoping to go to film school who purchased Swiss Vendetta. I expect to see him walking across the stage to accept his Academy Award in about eight years).

Part of the delight of a tour is visiting so many bookstores. Every time I enter, I am struck by a dozen titles I want to buy, and the sight of familiar covers that make me want to dive in for a re-read.

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Near the Arkansas River dam bridge at Little Rock

With eight stores in ten days I feel like I should have a preference in stores types, but I don’t. Each and every one has its own charm. Tiny and crowded – feels like entering a personal library! Huge and multistory – clearly they have every title I could wish for! I believe that each one plays an important role in our lives as readers.

What’s your bookstore preference?

The joys of community

Fiction, Writing, , , , , , ,

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Today I’m a guest on Jungle Red Writers. If you read mysteries you will recognize the individual Reds. A stellar group!

It was an honor to guest blog for them, but not a complete surprise because that’s how the mystery/thriller community is. A real community. Supportive and – now that I think about it – inclusive. After all, the ‘community’ extends from cozy mysteries to traditional, up the chain of chills to police procedural and suspense before landing at thriller.

Think about the elements of cozy. I’m not the Webster definer of the type, but sex and violence are typically ‘off the pages’ with the reader learning about it peripherally. That’s doesn’t mean cozies are without tension! Tension is at the heart of moving the story forward. But hopefully not tension that will make the reader keep their lights on all night. (I am reminded of Susan Breen’s Maggie Dove series. Her books are a ‘puzzle’ built around interesting characters. And at the end you are pulling for Maggie, hoping that her search for truth won’t mean a bad end for her! (She’s had some close calls….)

Bruce Coffin’s John Byron Mysteries are police procedurals, and boy does he do it right! Bruce is a retired detective so the details are spot on. There’s more reality, more grit. You might even witness a murder!

Suspense your thing? Then you likely are a fan of James Patterson or Robert Dugoni.

Moving toward the ‘keep the lights on’ end of the mystery continuum and you will eventually get to Stephen King. Never, ever turn your lights off again.

What do these folks share? A love for the puzzle created by what happens when we humans break the law. What happens when someone is killed or kidnapped, or when a bomb is planted and you only have 12 hours to find it and cut the wires? We love people in jeopardy – from the small crime to worldwide intrigue (think Dan Brown)!

The writers in this community must get all of their penchant for violence out in their writing because one-on-one they are the nicest bunch of people you will ever meet. Not a bad group to spend even virtual time with.

What’s been your experience in the writing community?