August 30, 2010

Guest Post by Linda Weaver Clark - Romance VS Mystery!

Romance VS Mystery!

I have written five historical romance novels but have changed to mystery. The writing process between romance and mystery is quite a change with a completely different mind set. It’s so different from telling a love story. With romance, you plan out the plot around the meeting of a couple. As you write, you develop some sort of charisma between the characters, making the reader feel excited that one day they're going to hit it off and fall in love. You, as the reader, know what the outcome will be. But with a mystery, the reader is in the dark. The author has to come up with a plot that no one knows about until towards the end of the story and hope they haven’t figured it out. In a mystery, you may or may not allow your reader to know who the bad guys are, according to whether it’s just a mystery or mystery suspense. Do you know the difference between a mystery and a mystery suspense novel? In a mystery, when a knock is heard at the door, the reader doesn't know who's behind it. With mystery suspense, the reader knows who's behind the door and yells to the heroine, "Don't open the door!"

Anasazi Intrigue is the first book in a mystery adventure series called “The Adventures of John and Julia Evans.” It’s about a devastating flood that takes out several homes in a small town, the importance of preserving ancient artifacts, and a few puzzling and mysterious events. Julia is a reporter, and when she finds out about a possible poison spill that kills some fish and neighbor's pets, she has a feeling that something isn’t quite right. Before she realizes what is happening, Julia finds out that this incident is much bigger and more dangerous than she thought. With dead fish, a devastating flood, and miscreants chasing John and Julia, they have their hands full.

Artifact theft is a very intriguing subject. That’s why I call it the Intrigue series. In my research, I found that archaeological thievery is becoming more and more of a problem every year. Did you know that looting is only second to selling illegal drugs? While researching the second book in this series, Mayan Intrigue, my eyes were opened to the problems they have in southern Mexico. When an ancient ruin is discovered, it doesn’t take long for thieves to take it apart. The reason why is because the Mayas used astrological alignments when planning their city. Looters have learned the layout of the Mayan cities so they know where to dig. With this knowledge, they can loot a sacred temple in a few days. I also found that artifact theft in Mexico has been taken over by drug dealers from Columbia. In other words, since organized crime has taken over, there is also an increase of violence.

Mayan Intrigue will be released on August 30th and I’m having a week long celebration with a book give-away at my Blog at http://lindaweaverclarke.blogspot.com. Mayan Intrigue is about the discovery of a priceless artifact that puts Julia’s life in great danger. While on assignment for the newspaper, John and Julia try to enjoy a romantic vacation among the Mayan ruins, but when Julia accidentally comes upon a couple suspicious men exchanging an item, she quickly turns and leaves but it’s too late. Before John and Julia realize what's going on, they find themselves running for their lives through the jungles of the Yucatan. To read an excerpt from each of my books, you can visit www.lindaweaverclarke.com.

February 28, 2010

Review: The Séduction of Simone by Chérie De Sues




When her aunt Celeste dies, Simone Devereux is shocked for two reasons. First her family didn't learn about Celeste's death until after her accident and cremation. Second, Simone inherits Celeste's estate which would be perfect for her business as a portrait painter. Since her clients pose with their partners in the nude the estate makes the perfect place to offer privacy and comfort if she can turn it into a bed and breakfast.

But danger threatens not only her safety but that of her guests. It seems that Celeste was really murdered. Since Simone looks surprisingly like her aunt right down to the birthmark on her chest seeing this gets the killer ramped up again. Together with her handsome neighbor Simone and Trent need to gather enough evidence against him before he strikes again.

Oh and did I forget to mention??? There are two hot Irish poltergeists that are trapped in the mirrors of Simone and Trent's estates. Being poltergeists they have the ability to come to Simone in that moment between being awake and falling asleep and prove their reputation as womanizers who love sharing one woman between them.

Three words... hot, hot, hot. Okay, technically that's one word but The Seduction of Simone is a heart pumping erotic read that is not overly graphic as most erotics I have read are. It has a storyline with meat on it's bones and loveable characters. I highly recommend this one for anyone who enjoys a read that can get you hot and bothered. Hopefully you're lucky enough to have someone nearby to take it out on. But in that case they'll be the lucky ones. LOL

BookBlips: vote it up!

February 21, 2010

Review: Without Hesitation - The Rasner Effect II by Mark Rosendorf




In book one of this series, The Rasner Effect, Jake Scarberry was forced into cleaning up after frat boys as part of his cover in the Witness Protection Program. Now three months later he's back in the program and working in a bar but it's not as bad as it seems. He's met a woman who just may be the one to allow him to leave the past behind him and begin a normal life.

But just when things are looking up for Jake the government comes knocking. The new head of The Duke Organization, Jennifer Duke, has plans of reuniting the group. The only trouble is that those who aren't dead are in prison or in the case of fifteen-year-old Clara Blue, in The Brookhill Children's Psychiatric Residence. Jen's plan starts with infiltrating the residence by posing as a therapist. Once there she manipulates Clara into recruiting the toughest of her fellow schoolmates. For the withdrawn Clara this is harder than it seems. When all doesn't go as planned its up to Jake to save everyone from Jen but can he be convinced to assist in time?

Mark Rosendorf himself admits to being only 83% sane and I believe it! How else can you think up such mind boggling action scenes? As with The Rasner Effect the good guys and bad guys change with each turn of the page which makes for one very intriguing suspense thriller.

I highly recommend both books for suspense and thriller lovers but I don't feel that Without Hesitation is a standalone read. With all the twists and turns you'll definitely need to have read The Rasner Effect to know who's who and remember what's going on. But get started now because there is a huge cliffhanger that I'm absolutely positive means there will be a Rasner Effect III and I can't wait.

BookBlips: vote it up!