Wendy Tyson’s Likable Heroines, Solid Mysteries

I love this quote from author Wendy Tyson’s website: “Fiction is a bridge, a way for people to connect and share the human experience and I feel blessed to be part of that world.”

And fans of mystery are blessed that Wendy pens not one but two cozy series, The Allison Campbell Mysteries, and Greenhouse Mysteries.

Both series excel at allowing us to share her characters’ experiences and connect with them like old friends we care about. Her heroines are likeable, resilient, and intelligent. While most of us won’t come face to face with murder in our lives, we do encounter many of the same frustrations, setbacks, and rewards that her protagonists experience in their daily lives. That makes it easy to identify and root for them whether they’re fighting bureaucrats, taking the first steps toward romance, coping with difficult relatives, or trying to unmask a killer. 

Megan Sawyer, a lawyer who leaves a big-city practice to return to her rural hometown in A Muddied Murder, the first Greenhouse Mystery, is an excellent example of how Wendy has created a likeable heroine. While Megan, a young widow who lost her husband to the war in Afghanistan, occasionally succumbs to sadness, she’s a determined survivor who finds joy in the simple things in life and has the grace to love and forgive members of her family despite their flaws.

Wendy says the strong women in her life—mother, grandmothers, aunts, cousins and later, her husband's spirited grandmother—provided inspiration for her female characters. (They also offered support for Wendy’s own decision to go to law school.)  

Wendy’s legal background and her passion for organic gardening are life experiences that definitely have contributed to her creation of both a credible heroine and a small-town farm setting that readers can see, smell and hear. Her descriptions are rich and spot on. As many of this blog’s readers are fans of romance, I should also mention that Megan has a love interest, a veterinarian, who makes us want to root for a long, deepening relationship. Of course, he’s a hunk. He’s also sensitive, intelligent, and speaks with an engaging brogue.

So, if you’re looking for a summer read with a solid plot that will also make you feel good about at least some of your fellow humans, hurry out and buy one of Wendy Tyson’s books. You won’t be sorry.  

To learn more, www.watyson.com  

Introducing our Newest Genre-ista, Lauren James

Meet our newest Genre-ista, Lauren James. Lauren hails from "down under" and this will be her regular slot (4th Thursday) starting in December. Lauren writes contemporary romance set in a fictitious small town in Oregon.

Sarah and Judith were delighted to "meet" Lauren when she became a member of their home chapter, Rose City Romance Writers, because she won her category in the Golden Rose Contest.

Why? Long time Australian Historical Romance author, Margaret Tanner, had recently left RTG. And the Blog Queens (Sarah and Judith) are committed to maintaining diversity so finding someone outside North America was important.

Check out Lauren's website to see all of her awards!!! ⌣

The following is in Lauren's own words (we copied it from her website).

Lauren James is a country girl at heart. Raised on a small property surrounded by animals, it's no surprise she writes small town romance with lots of love for creatures great and small.

Having failed fabulously at painting, sewing and playing guitar, she finally found her creative outlet in writing strong, quirky heroines, and tough, handsome heroes with gooey animal-loving centers.

In 2016, Lauren's manuscript, Animal Instincts, won The Molly contest, The TARA contest, The Unpublished Maggie Award for Excellence, The Golden Rose contest, ​and The Lone Star contest.

Lauren lives on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, with her beloved rescue greyhound, Daisy.

Writing My Way Home

by M. L. Buchman

"Write what you know!"

How many kajillion times have you heard that? It's a rule I've lived by...or maybe not. I started in post-apocalyptic science fiction. I wandered into thrillers set at a national TV food channel's studio (and dozens of others exotic locations I've never been to). Then I wandered into military romances (though I never served and they're set in places I've never been).

So, I've always pushed back on: "Write what you know!" with: "Write what you're passionate about!"

I wrote post-apoc SF because I am fascinated by the power of the people who find a way to stand up and try to save/rebuild the future. I write military romance because a) I love a good love story, and b) the more I research the military, the more amazing they become to me. Those who choose to serve, not as a job but as a career, are making an astonishing choice that took me a long time to understand. The more I understand, the more I am knocked back by these amazing men and women. They have driven me to do my best to show who they are.

I don't write the grittiness of war (not much, and certainly not the blood and grime), but I do everything I can to get their stories right. Why they are there. Why they choose to stay and why they miss it so much when they go.

My writing career has been a constant struggle to get it right. I typically research an hour for every three hours of writing. Still, despite over thirty military romances (not counting short stories).

This year I decided that I would write my second contemporary romance series. I have mentioned it from time to time over these last months, but it is the difference in the storytelling that I'm looking at today.

My Eagle Cove series is at the very center of "Write what you know." It is set in a small town on the Oregon Coast. My first visit to the Oregon Coast was over twenty-five years ago. I took a catered bicycling trip down the coast with a dozen others from all over the country. I was actually the most "local" of them all, only coming three hundred miles down from Seattle. We spent a week staying in nice B&Bs, eating great food, and bicycling the rugged hills and gorgeous beaches of the coast.

A few years later, I would travel this same route on a fully-loaded touring bike as the beginning of my solo, eighteen-month, bicycle tour around the world.

Fifteen years ago I was back, this time as a writer, for a two-week, deep-immersion class on the coast. Since that moment, the Oregon Coast has been an integral part of my life. I've come down for workshops, vacations, family trips, and, finally, to live. I'm now a full-time writer living in a small Oregon town.

The central coast, my favorite stretch of it, is 150 miles of beaches, wild forest, and small towns. The monster is barely ten thousand people (if you don't count the tens of thousands of tourists who descend every weekend).

So, I created the small fictitious town of Eagle Cove, which is drawn from a dozen different places along the stretch.

I have to pause here and say just HOW MUCH I love my job. I love the writing and the storytelling. I've fallen in love with enough of my characters that I don't understand how my wife isn't screamingly jealous (maybe it's because they aren't real...at least not to her!). As much as I enjoy writing the fast-paced romantic suspense... As much fun as it is to streak across the sky with the Night Stalkers and the Firehawks, or to slip in and out of dangerous locales with Delta Force... I was completely charmed by the easy days and friendly folk of Eagle Cove.

A contemporary romance has a pace about it that is as comfortable as a favorite chair by the fire on a cold, wet day. Really, it's the best analogy I can come up with. It's true for the writing process as well as the reading. By "Writing what I know" I managed to slip deeper into the stories. Unlike a romantic suspense, a contemporary romance hangs entirely on the characters. I'm not saying the former doesn't require great characters, but there's a razzle-dazzle there that doesn't exist in contemporary. It was a simple joy to write, rather than a challenge.

Even unlike my Angelo's Hearth contemporary series set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, Eagle Cove is a slice of life in a town that is slow-paced and quiet...except to the characters living there. To them, their small town is a whorl of events and emotions, some small...some as big as falling in love for the rest of your life.

My joy is writing romantic suspense...but this year I discovered that my heart dances down the beaches in Eagle Cove.

Want a taste of Eagle Cove? This story was the monthly free story on my website for a week in July. Now I'm making it exclusively free to readers of Romancing the Genres for one week more.

Just click HERE to download a free copy from BookFunnel.com. Do it now! This link expires in 7 days.

And if you never want to miss one of my monthly free stories, just sign up for my newsletter.

Enjoy the trip...I certainly did.

M. L. Buchman has over 50 novels and 30 short stories in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year” and twice Booklist “Top 10 of the Year,” placing two titles on their “Top 101 Romances of the Last 10 Years” list. He has been nominated for the Reviewer’s Choice Award for “Top 10 Romantic Suspense of the Year” by RT Book Reviews and was a 2016 RWA RITA finalist. In addition to romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction.

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, and designed and built two houses. Somewhere along the way he also bicycled solo around the world.

He is now making his living as a full-time writer on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife and is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing and receive exclusive content by subscribing to his newsletter at:

www.mlbuchman.com.

Small Town Settings-Big Author Challenges

By Linda Lovely

I write romantic suspense and mysteries with romantic elements. My choice of setting—large city or small town—plays a large part in shaping each of my novels. Of the five books I’ve published to date, all but one feature small towns—well, actually small communities, which is slightly different.

My decision about setting is driven by two factors—familiarity and plot. Since I’ve lived in smaller communities most of my life, I have a good grasp of their social fabric and how things work, including who has power/clout and how it can be used for good or evil. This helps me construct credible plots that are intimate and personal.

In big-city thrillers, the villains (and heroines) tend to be individuals we’re unlikely to meet face-to-face. I find plots far more compelling if the villains could be signing my paycheck or passing the collection plate at church. I’m also more passionate about rooting for heroines and heroes who sound a lot like next-door neighbors who share my everyday joys and troubles.

That’s not to say there aren’t problems writing small-town fiction. Here are three biggies:

• Accuracy & Research. If your fiction is set current day in a “real” small town, you’d better be committed to doing solid research. You also have to expect disconnects between your research and readers’ experiences. The trendy restaurant where your heroine hangs out may have gone belly up by the time your reader visits it on the written page. The woods where you have a crucial chase scene may be leveled to make way for a used car dealership. Streets may be renamed. Courthouses may be moved. The list is endless.
• Permission If you plan to include real institutions and commercial entities in your book, seek written permission if there’s any chance someone might think the mentions put them in an unflattering light. An example? Saying your heroine is poisoned at her favorite restaurant—even if the villain (who has no association with the eatery) slips in the poison while your heroine visits the ladies’ room. Still most restauranteurs would not want “poison” and their business name coupled in the same paragraph. 
• Unintended Slurs. Okay, we’re talking fiction, but that doesn’t mean “real” police officers, sheriff’s deputies, bankers, preachers, developers, university presidents, or entrepreneurs who reside in your real burg won’t see the depiction of any unsavory characters in their professions or institutions as being a potential slap in the face.  

So, how can an author solve these problems? Here’s what I’ve done on a book-by-book basis.

DEAR KILLER: I lived on a barrier island outside Beaufort, South Carolina, for a dozen years. I wanted to capture the special flavor of the Lowcountry and life in a small residential/resort community. However, I didn’t want to use any real island since the plot included less than admirable characters in the island’s power structure. My solution? Fictional Dear Island, a composite of several islands. I located it near Beaufort, but in a fictional adjacent county. This compromise allows my characters to visit many favorite tourist spots in Beaufort, Hilton Head, and Charleston without the risk of accidentally impugning anyone’s reputation.  

NO WAKE ZONE: My second Marley Clark mystery is set in Spirit Lake/Lake Okoboji, Iowa. I love this real community, having spent many wonderful summers there with my aunt, uncle and cousins. There’s a statue of my late cousin Steve Kennedy on the waterfront, honoring his contributions to the area. I collaborated on the history of the area with Steve. After he died, I asked for special permission to include the Queen II excursion boat, the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum, and Arnolds Park, a century-plus old amusement park, in the plot. It’s worked out beautifully.

DEAD HUNT: This is the second romantic thriller in my “Smart Women, Dumb Luck” series. I now live in Upstate South Carolina, and wanted to incorporate real and very special Foothills wilderness locations and state parks in this plot. However, I once again decided on a fictional town and county. In this case, the heroine is head of security for a private university, and I didn’t want to associate threats with any real university so I created fictional Blue Ridge University.  

LIES:  Unlike my prior novels, this romantic suspense is not set current day. It takes place in 1938 in a real Mississippi River town, Keokuk, Iowa (my hometown). While I did considerable research to make things as accurate as possible, I also asked two librarian/historians to review the manuscript for accuracy. While I attempted to get most things “right,” I did create a fictional bank to avoid maligning the history of any current institutions. At the suggestion of one of the reviewers, I’ve also changed the names of a couple of my fictional characters to avoid any possibility of offense. For example, I had no idea that the name I picked for one of my characters was the owner of a bank in 1938 and his relatives still live in the town. LIES is set for release this summer.

If you’d like to know more about my settings or my writing process, please visit my website— www.lindalovely.com —or add in any comment here that you’d like to receive my newsletter. Don’t worry, you won’t be inundated. I tend to send an average of one newsletter a year!  

Small Town Girl

By Jenn DeCuir

I grew up in a small town on the coast of Maine. One of those everyone-knows-everyone-else’s business type of places. And much like my character, Cady Eaton, in Trapped in Tourist Town, I couldn't wait to get out.

I met my now-husband over the internet (through a friend who had actually met him in person, so I knew he wasn't an ax murderer), dated long distance for a year and then decided to join him in Los Angeles. I packed up my car with as much as I could stuff in it, brought along my cat and his prescription downers, and I was off. Los Angeles, was an amazing experience. As was San Diego, where we moved about a year after we were eventually married.

I thought I’d be thrilled to see the last of my hometown. Instead, I pined for it. Especially when I had my first child. I wanted her to have the kind of childhood I had. The safety of riding a bike all around the neighborhood, joining other families at the local swimming hole on a hot evening, picking blueberries in the woods behind the house and not knowing whether you’ll encounter a skunk, a porcupine or a deer on this particular outing.

So we were beyond excited when the opportunity came to move to the Pacific Northwest for my husband’s work. Driving toward our temporary rental, I marveled at all the evergreens. It reminded me of home.

It wasn't Maine, but it would do.

My kids might not be able to explore miles of woods behind our house, but there are TONS of forested areas and state parks really close by where we do explore. Every 4^th of July we attend the town parade. Not everyone knows us, in this slightly bigger town, but that’s okay. Downtown is still one charming two lane road full of family run businesses. We might not get the more exotic wildlife out here, but the rabbits and possum that stop by to visit in our yard are more than welcome.

Jennifer DeCuir

And if I want to visit Maine on a daily basis? I start a new book in my series. Scallop Shores is a quaint little town on the coast of Maine. There is a cast of quirky characters, plenty of town gossip, old loves and couples just starting out. And if I throw in a happy memory or two from growing up in my own hometown, well, that’s just my way of staying in touch with a town that has a special place in my heart.

Learn more about Jennifer at  www.jenniferdecuir.com

Connect with Jennifer on her favorite social media site  

https://www.facebook.com/JenniferDeCuirauthor

 

Small Town Quirks by Paty Jager

The small town topic this month is easier for me to write about than the theme Hope.

The ski resort/community in my Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series is set in Idaho, but I've incorporated some of the area where I grew up in NE Oregon. The mountains, a community that relies on tourism, and locals who know everyone's business.

Growing up in a small community, I know all about feeling like you live in a fish bowl because so many people know what you are doing. If we tried to cut school someone would see us and tell this person who told our parents and we'd be in trouble before we even walked through the door after school. Same went for getting in trouble at school. Your parents knew before you had time to tell them your side of the story.

We had a party line. Which meant that we were on the same phone line as two other neighbors. One neighbor, we heard their four rings and knew not to pick up the phone. The other one, we could hear a clicking noise when they were dialing the phone. We knew to pick up the phone when it rang twice. My grandmother would listen in on our neighbors' calls. I didn't think that was right, and when my parents would complain that a neighbor was listening to their phone conversation, my grandmother would make a big deal out of how bad that was.  Some of my grandmother's quirks are showing up in other members of the Huckleberry Mountain Resort residents.

The events and people I grew up surrounded by are making wonderful fodder for my characters and stories in Huckleberry Mountain.

Deadly Aim: A Shandra Higheagle Mystery

Book three of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

The dead body of an illicit neighbor and an old necklace send potter Shandra Higheagle on a chase to find a murderer. Visions from her dead grandmother reveal Shandra is on the right path, but the woods are full of obstacles—deadly ones.

Detective Ryan Greer believes Shandra’s dreams will help solve the mystery, but he also knows the curious potter could get herself killed. He’s determined that won’t happen.

Until he’s blind-sided. Are Shandra’s powers strong enough to save them both, or will the murderer strike again? 

Excerpt

Shandra sat at the counter in Ruthie’s Café sipping on her caramel shake, waiting for her cheeseburger and sweet potato fries.

“What can you tell me about Vivian Randal?” Shandra asked Ruthie. It was mid-afternoon, and she was the only customer.

“That woman has her manicured fingers in every charity in this town,” Ruthie said through the window between the counter area and the kitchen.

“What’s your impression of her? You know, bossy, soft-spoken, egotistical?”

Ruthie laughed. “Why do you want to know my opinion of the woman?”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be your opinion. What have you heard others say about her?” Shandra wanted to learn more about the woman who, in her opinion, was cold enough to kill her husband.

“She doesn’t come in here much. I don’t think she’s the burger and shake type.” Ruthie placed Shandra’s meal in front of her, filled a glass with ice and water, and came around the counter to sit on the stool next to Shandra.

She swallowed half the water and set it down. Ruthie ran her fingers up and down the glass chasing the condensation. “June Hasting, who works for the Randals, comes in quite a bit. What I’ve heard from her is J.W. wasn’t nice to his wife, but he treated his help well. She said Mrs. Randal was confrontational and expected one woman to do the work of three.”

“What about the niece? Cicely, I think.” Shandra picked at her fries.

“She’s in here a lot. Usually with a different guy. I haven’t heard her say much about her aunt and uncle.” Ruthie took another swallow, set the glass down, and faced Shandra. “Why so many questions about the Randals?”

“It was J.W.’s body I found yesterday.” Shandra figured if Ruthie didn’t already know she would soon enough.

“I heard it was some hiker tangled with the wildlife.” Ruthie took another sip.

“Someone shot him and left him for the animals.” Shandra shivered. It was one cold-blooded human that murdered another.

“You think it was his wife?” Ruthie’s eyes widened.

“I don’t know. I was over there this morning when Ryan interviewed them. She didn’t seem too shook up about the whole thing.” But if he treated her poorly, perhaps his death was a relief.

Ruthie shook her head. “I can’t see Vivian Randal picking up a gun, let alone shooting someone.”

“You never know what some people are capable of.” Shandra thought of the professor in college she’d fallen in love with only to find out the hard way he hid a side no one knew about.

“Can you think of anyone who would like to shoot J.W.?” Shandra took a bite of her burger. Ruthie made the best cheeseburgers.

“There is probably a whole line. I’d think the first person on the list would be the Takagi fella who got caught in the illegal hunting-tag mess.”

The door jingled as an older couple wandered into the café.

Ruthie smiled. “Afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus.” She picked up menus and sauntered over to the booth where the couple sat.

Shandra continued eating and puzzling things in her head. She’d noticed two pieces of art in the Randal home by an artist that her friends, Ted and Naomi Norton, supported in their gallery, Dimensions. That would be her next stop to learn more about the Randals.

Windtree Press: http://windtreepress.com/portfolio/deadly-aim/

Kindle  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V90NRNW

Nook  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1121612772?ean=2940151519793

Kobo  https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/deadly-aim-1

Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/deadly-aim/id980404811?mt=11.

www.patyjager.net
Writing into the Sunset