Let the fun times begin

Summer vacation....

That can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people.

For me, it means, more writing and this year I am looking forward to it much more than usual.

I have been on hiatus lately. I've been doing so many things, for so many people; that I have forgotten to do the one thing that I loved.

Enter..."Shawny". She is the Stiletto Stalker and she tapped me on the shoulder. Well, not really, she kind of kicked me in the head on night and jolted me from my sleep and told me, "you better start writing my story or you will be sorry".

At first I blinked hard and then said, "really because you aren't real and you can't do anything to me." Her response...."watch me"

I tried to go back to sleep and for some reason, I couldn't. I was restless with all of the scenarios playing out in my head and before I knew it, I was up with a notebook in my hand re-writing the first scene of The Stiletto Stalker. I guess she told me, huh?

After a day of writing her, she came back and said..."let the fun times begin...now let's see if you can figure out how I killed him." What...you killed a man? Was my response and she walked off in her stylish shoes and turned to me with a wicked grin and said..."hey, it wouldn't be a murder mystery without a crime, now would it?"

I was shocked, dismayed and confused. I have never written a murder mystery and need a little help. So I guess I need to call up my good friends +Lauren Carr or +Austin Camacho and his problem solver, Hannibal Jones because this looks like it might be a problem only the three of them can help me with.

Let the fun begin....I think.

Lauren Carr-Blast from the Past

Lauren is such a great writer that I had to have her on my blog again when she started her blog tour for her new release; Blast from The Past.
Here she tells us about some of her favorite things from this latest novel in the Mac Faraday Mysteries.

Do you have a Favorite Character in Blast from the Past & Why?

For all of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, readers have loved Gnarly, Mac’s German Shepherd. Gnarly was dishonorably discharged from the United States Army. Let’s just say, he has issues. He is incredibly intelligent and has a mind of his own. He’s also a hopeless kleptomaniac.

However, while writing Blast from the Past, Archie Monday jumped out at me to become my favorite character in this book. In the previous books in the series, I purposely gave Archie a hint (only a hint) of mystery because I knew there was a secret to her past that would be revealed. This is the book where her secret comes out.

Readers discover that Archie Monday witnessed a horrible murder while she was a graduate student at the University of Maryland. In the prologue, readers learn that Kendra Douglas (whose name is changed to Archie Monday) was a hopeless romantic, who fantasized about the Mickey Forsythe, the fictional detective created by Robin Spencer, Mac Faraday’s birth mother. She had become friends with Robin Spencer while working as her teaching assistant when the famous author taught a special course at the university.

In a blast, Kendra’s life changes. She witnesses the brutal murder of a university professor. Shivering in the bushes, she thinks, “What would Mickey Forsythe do?”

Ten years later, Kendra Douglas is now the sophisticated, lovely Archie Monday, who has been placed by the Witness Protection Program to work as the late Robin Spencer’s assistant. When two paid assassins try to ambush her, Archie takes them out single-handedly with her pink handgun.

One of my favorite scenes in Blast from the Past (besides the scene where Archie takes down the gunmen with her pink handgun) is where she explains to Mac Faraday the transformation that she had gone through since that night that she witnessed mobster Tommy Cruze killing a professor who he had thought was sleeping with his wife:

Archie stood up. “I’m not locking myself in this mansion and closing the blinds and never leaving again. If I do, then he wins. We’re not going to let them scare us out of living our lives.” She pointed at the shepherd on the bed. “I’m taking Gnarly to see Misty tomorrow, and then we’re going to lunch at the Spencer Inn.”

Yet, while Archie is capable of taking care of herself, she is still a soft feminine woman with a very gentle side. After the attempted hit on her life, she breaks down when she is forced to reveal her secret to Mac. She loves gardening, fine wine, gourmet food, and the color of rose. (Police chief David O’Callaghan calls it pink, which infuriates her.) She wears designer suits and expensive perfume, and insists on taking Gnarly to only the hottest dog groomer in town. She enjoys the finer things in life that her mentor Robin Spencer had introduced to her.

Simply, Archie Monday is who I want to be when I grow up.

Thank you Lauren for your time and let me just say this...for me, the best line in the book was: “a girl who prefers guns to diamonds.” Because it shows us just what us girls can do.

We Rock!

So there you have it. Lauren Carr's newest novel will intrigue you and make you fall in love with the good guy. Be sure to pick up your copy today.

Mystery Writers make great friends

Today I have a guest blogger by the name of Lauren Carr. We met recently due in part to a posting on LinkedIn about an upcoming event next year on Sept. 13-15, 2013; C3 Conference.

She regularly posts for Buried Under Books blogs and today she decided to drop by.

Ten Advantages to Having a Mystery Author for a Friend (in person or on Facebook).

1.       If you’re ever locked out of your home, your mystery author friend will know best how to break in.

2.       Who better to show you where best to conceal a weapon?

3.       At Pampered Chef’s parties, they are very handy in detailing what kitchen utensils make the best weapons for use in self-defense … just in case your family launches a coup after serving them your world infamous tuna casserole once too often.

4.       Mystery authors are less sappy at conferences than Romance authors. We don’t hug as much. That isn’t because we’re standoffish. It’s because we don’t want you to detect our concealed weapons. Since we don’t hug as much, this means we don’t spread as many germs and you’re less likely to catch a cold when you get home.

5.       Mystery authors are more exciting. They are the only friends able to plot out your murder and list your friends and family as suspects in order of interest when you’re fifteen minutes late for lunch. (If your friend reveals that the babysitter did it, you may want to take a closer look at the sitter’s text messages.)

6.       During those paranoid moments when you think your next door neighbor is a mob assassin because he has been acting suspicious, your mystery writing buddy is the one friend you can count on to not only support your belief, but break into his house to illegally search it for proof. Of course, you can depend on your friend to bring the lock pick kit and know how to use it. (Don’t ask her how she knows how to use it.)

7.       If your spouse leaves you for another woman, your mystery author friend can advise you on how to fake your death and make it look like he killed you so that he will spend the rest of his life in jail for what he did.

8.       Your mystery author friend is more than happy to run a background check on that new mate you met online.

9.       On that first date, you can count on your mystery writing friend to tail you and your date all evening to make sure you don’t end up in a plot for their latest book … whether you want her to or not.

10.   We know what countries don’t have extradition.

So make a Mystery Writing friend today!

I’d love to make your acquaintances at any of my sites:

Website:  http://mysterylady.net/
                    http://acornbookservices.com/

Blog: Literary Wealth: http://literarywealth.wordpress.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lauren.carr.984991

Gnarly’s Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/GnarlyofMacFaradayMysteries