Tag Archive | murder

Writers: We shouldn’t always say what we think

Dec22

Today my guest is Linda Shenton Matchett, an author, speaker, and history geek. A native of Baltimore, Maryland she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historic places all her life. Linda is a member of ACFW, RWA, and Sisters in Crime. She volunteers as a docent at the Wright Museum of WWII and as a trustee for her local public library.

I’m not going to ruin it, so I’m not going to say too much because the topic of this post kind of says it all. Here’s what Linda has shared with us.

Last month I attended Crimebake, a mystery writing conference held outside Boston which is about a two hour drive from where I live. My husband and I currently own only one car, which is not usually a problem because we work walking distance from our home. But when either of us goes out of town for an extended period of time, we rent a car so the other person isn’t stranded.

Being the “frugal” person that I am, I typically rent the compact (read: cheapest) car option. Not typically a problem. However, this year I was in charge of the conference game for the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime. We decided on a twisted version of “Pin the tail on the donkey” called “Pin the wound on the corpse.” I purchased a 4’X2’ piece of foam insulation, wrapped it in gray fabric that was supposed to look like pavement, and had a friend of mine who is an artist draw the chalk outline of the victim.

Fast forward to the day I was leaving. My husband drove me to the rental car agency in our SUV. (Can you see where this is going yet?). The representative offered me a couple of vehicles to choose from, one of which was a Kia Soul. Not familiar with the car, I looked at my husband and blurted, “Do you think the corpse will fit in the back?”

The woman gasped, and her hands froze above the computer keyboard for a fraction of a second before she cleared her throat and continued to type. Even after my explanation, she looked skeptical and perhaps a tad bit nervous. Or maybe that was my imagination.

Next time, I’ll keep my question to myself.

Yeah, she sure had me, gotta love it.  Here’s some links I hope you will check out.

Website: http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/LindaShentonMatchettAuthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lindasmatchett

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lindasmatchett

Newsletter signup (receive a free short story for signing up): https://mailchi.mp/74bb7b34c9c2/lindashentonmatchettnewsletter

 

Murder of Convenience Purchase Link: www.amazon.com/dp/B07JVT42FW

A Crime Wave, In A Writer’s Head, Of Course

Nov17

Today my guest is Nike Chillemi. Nike N. Chillemi writes contemporary detective and/or suspense novels with a touch of wry humor, and there’s often a national security twist to them. She likes her bad guys really bad and her good guys smarter and better. Her newest endeavor is COURTING DANGER. She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and its Chair, a reader’s choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. For five years she has judged the Carol Awards in four categories. Her four novel Sanctuary Point series (out of print), set in the mid-1940s has finaled, won an award, and garnered critical acclaim. The first novel in the Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels/Dawson Hughes series HARMRUL INTENT won in the Grace Awards 2014 Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Thriller/Historical Suspense category. She has written book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and John 3:16 Marketing Network.

Check out Nike Chillemi on Facebook or Twitter.

A lot of things have to be considered when writing a detective or suspense novel, and it’s often hard to keep everything together.

Here’s what Nike thinks when she’s working on a book.

I have a picture in my head, now that I’m living in the Sunshine State, that I want to be a Florida mystery/suspense writer. I want to bring a crime wave to the state I love…in fiction, of courses.

COURTING DANGER is a detective novel set in northeast coastal Florida. I put a lot of effort into setting a semi-tropical locale for the novel. I paid attention to heat conditions in the story, making sure that characters were dressed for a beach town. And, of course, I threw in a hurricane.

My novels are a detective series, which is a cousin to a police procedural series. The tone tends to be a little more gritty than a murder mystery or a cozy. I’ve done quite a bit of research and pay attention to my police procedure so that it comes off as accurate. I like to give my readers somebody to root for. My main characters do have flaws, but they are definitely the good guys, on the side of right.

I do have plans for writing a few cozies in the near future that I hope will be as hilarious on paper as they are in my head. I think Florida is the perfect setting for cozies what with sun, the beach, water sports, and much more. I’d like to have a lot of fun with that. Of course, in a cozy, you have the sense that everything ends well, I go all out to make that happen in my detective novels as well. I like a happy ending.

COURTING DANGER in a nut shell…

Newly installed Pelican Beach, Florida detective Katerina “Kat” Andruko fears the prime suspect will get off in the murder of a teen with the help of the department’s forensics psychologist, a man she’s just started to trust.

This case has national security implications that gives former US Army Ranger, Dr. Dimitri Garmonin a chance to work with the FBI. The case could give him the chance to obtain the funds needed to expand his small Behavior Analysis Unit. He’s unmoved by the chic FBI agent sent to assist but is intrigued by Kat with whom he shares a Slavic heritage.

Kat and her partner detain two wrong suspects, giving the department negative press. The predator turns his anger on Kat, targeting her. Can Dimitri use his profiler skills to catch this killer before he hurts the woman he’s growing to love?

Now that’s a lot of details to make sure everything works out in the end! But yet, she makes them work.