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Emerging Writers: Guest Post #18 How a romantic suspense writer dreams up her ideas
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Arlene Kay has written a number if romantic suspense novels. As erotic fiction is doing so well these days I wanted to ask her a question, how sexy and steamy are your books, Arlene?
Arlene — Actually they’re pretty tame. True, my characters make physical contact but the scenes tend to be sensuous, not smutty. After all, these books are ROMANTIC suspense. Besides, any sentient female would launch herself at the kind of alpha hunks that I dream up!
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Readers and writers of mysteries know that a well-constructed plot with plenty of twists is crucial. Here are a few resources that have aided me in accomplishing this task.
1. Newspapers. Trite as it may sound, I get some of my best inspiration from reading news accounts of actual crimes or things that should be. For instance, the main plot element from INTRUSION was gleaned from an article in the Boston Globe Science section about the vulnerability of implantable medical devices. Subsequently (well after my book was published), that same plot element was used in both NCIS and Homeland.
Two accounts in the New York Times sparked my plot in DIE LAUGHING. One was a puzzling suburban murder; the other mentioned the recent sale of a high-end comic for over 1 million dollars! The point of course, is that by combining actual events with the writer’s imagination, good things can happen. I scan the NYTimes, Boston Globe and Washington Post each day and clip things that might be useful later.
Confession time: I also read the obituaries to find unconventional names and/or life events that resonate with me. One of my favorites, Euphemia Bates, is featured in SWANN DIVE.
2. Internet bonanzas—at your fingertips. Time and money issues often prevent us from actually visiting the places we write about. Don’t worry—authors can find a wealth of detail right on the Web that will anchor their story. For instance, most restaurants feature menus, photos and other descriptors. Every town has its own website with a wealth of detail about the community.
Check out real estate sites for virtual tours of the homes and neighborhoods your characters populate. Blogs and websites are often useful for capturing particulars related to your topic.
Finally, when building my protagonists and fellow travelers, I find photos that portray these imaginary friends as I see them (they are impossibly gorgeous, frequently famous faces) and construct a poster-board. Using all these elements makes the creative process less onerous for me.
Order Intrusion
Author web site & blog
Author twitter feed
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Thanks Arlene for being our eighteenth guest post writer. I am very interested in where writers get their ideas from and I am sure other writers will be too. You are absolutely right about the internet being an amazing resource in so many ways for us.
This guest post is part of an ongoing series in 2013 where I will be showcasing emerging writers on this blog.
You can help by clicking through to their sites, buying their books, sharing this site on Twitter or Facebook and coming back, or by Following this site (click the button above right), to see who is next in a few days.
And if you are a writer and want to be featured send me an email lob@yourasms.com and I will send you the submission guidelines. If you have sent me a post and are waiting to be featured and promoted to my 125,000 followers on my Twitter accounts, please be patient, I will get to you.
Emerging Writers: Guest Post #2 A Cape Cod Cozy
This is all about, DIE LAUGHING, a cape cod mystery, what they call a cozy, by Arlene Kay. Take it away Arlene!
I’ve been a mystery buff since birth. I cut my teeth on Christie, sashayed through Sayres and worshipped at the well-shod boots of The Great Detective.
Small wonder that I’m a mystery writer! My first published novel (INTRUSION) combined romantic suspense with a medical mystery.
I switched to a third person cozy for my latest, DIE LAUGHING, and back again to first person for my next two. Odd as it may seem, my characters dictate which point of view best fits them.
As a reader, I adore unearthing clues, evaluating motives and finding the murderer. Any author who deprives me of that pleasure is guilty of foul play! Each of my novels allows astute readers to unmask the culprit. In the process, I want them to enjoy the ride while keeping their tongues firmly in cheek. Droll observations and wry humor are my weaknesses and strength.
In the Christie tradition, I set DIE LAUGHING in a small Cape Cod town. It’s not St. Mary Mead but passion, greed and jealousy still abound. Now picture this:
A Cape Cod village, a grisly murder, and a priceless comic book collection. Mix these ingredients, stir in a side of romance, and serve a cozy mystery that thriller author C.E. Lawrence calls, “a rollicking good story.”
Die Laughing presents a cast of intriguing characters with secrets to hide and motives for murder.
Author Kevin Symmons had this to say about Die Laughing, “Agatha Christie meets Susan Isaacs … on steroids!”
I hope you enjoy it. A visit to Cape Cod is always interesting.
Author web site & blog: http://arlenekay.com
Author blog site: http://www.mysteryminx.com
Author twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AKMysteries
View video Die Laughing – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh-YgdzxBW0
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Thanks Arlene for being our second guest post writer. Your story is very interesting. I want to visit Cape Cod, but they only way that will happen in the near future will be by reading one of your books!
This guest post is the second in a regular series in 2013 where I will be showcasing emerging writers on this blog.
You can help by clicking through to their sites, buying their books, sharing this site on Twitter or Facebook and coming back, or by Following this site (click the button above right), to see who is next in a few days.
And if you are a writer and want to be featured send me an email lob@yourasms.com and I will send you the submission guidelines.
Get Your Writing Noticed: Advanced social media for writers – what works and what doesn’t?
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This is the last in a series of seven posts. The previous post on using emotion in your writing is here.
The question of what works and what doesn’t in terms of social media for writers is complicated by two key factors; each of us will have a unique social media experience based on our own situation and personal preferences, and each of us brings our own baggage to the social media table.
Luddites will deny that social media has any relevance to writing. Social media lovers will say it will change everything for writers and writing.
I fall in the middle somewhere. Here is what I can tell you that has worked for me, and what disappoints me:
* Social media helped me win a global publishing contract with Harper Collins and my first novel is being translated into 9 other languages, partly because I had a presence on social media, (Twitter, a blog, YouTube). I also had a good novel, but the publisher was interested in the fact that I had a following too. This may be unfair, but for me it wasn’t. I’ve been on the other end of unfairness too often in my life to complain about it when I get a break.
* Social media has helped me get through the day. I work at a desk in a small house in a bleak suburb. My social media friends make me smile, make me look at the world outside my little corner, and make me feel connected. Rubbish this if you want. But don’t try and take my social media away. I need it.
* My sales are good for my first novel, The Istanbul Puzzle, the novel has continued to sell nine months after publication and the presales of my new novel, The Jerusalem Puzzle, are surprisingly good too (order it on the right). Yes, you have to have a good novel to sell, but social media allows me to get the word out, to tell people it’s been edited within an inch of it’s life and it’s available .
* Not everything I have done on social media has been a success. I am on Pinterest, Foursquare, Empire Avenue, Sulia, Tumblr, Instagram and a lot of other sites. Their impact has been limited. Much of my time spent exploring the outer reaches of the social media universe has been wasted. The truly most important things I do are my two blogs, this one and www.socialmediaisdynamite.com, my Twitter profile and my Facebook page, because they generate a lot of interaction with readers all around the world. I got 400 hits on my two blogs yesterday. It’s not James Bond, but for me, someone who got only a hundred hits in his first month with a blog, it’s good.
So if you are a writer these are the things I recommend, stick to the main sites, develop a blog and follow people on Twitter and talk to people on each service.
If you want to know more about my views on social media come to one of the courses I will be teaching in Dublin from early next year, or sign up for my blog updates at www.socialmediaisdynamite.com.
Here is a link to my last post in this series on using emotion to keep readers involved.
Please leave feedback, make suggestions and engage. This series of posts needs you to get involved to make them fly.
And please sign-up using the secure sign-up button above right to receive notifications in your inbox when new post’s are released.
If you would like to discuss this post or for me to review your writing and give brief feedback without charge (page 1 of your MS only please) contact me via the comments below or by email: lpobryan@gmail.com
Here are some links to useful information for writers:
socialmediaisdynamite.com for my blog on using social media to get noticed.
The reality of being published – 2 months after my first book came out all over the UK I wrote this post
The Accessible Author – how the author’s role is changing
Frantic Editing – a post on the editing process my first novel went through in the summer of 2011
Finally, a big thank you to all my readers, everyone who comments and everyone who visits. I hope you find this information useful on your journey to getting your writing noticed.
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