Romantic Suspense anyone?

SelmaW said:

So! What's everyone working on? I'm doing edits on my female bodyguard story.

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By the way- very nice cover Selma! Checked out your blog, too, and your books sound like my kind of read.

I'm currently editing a book I thought I was done with (at least until a publisher/agent picks it up). I decided to increase the pace a little in the first bit of chapters by adding another murder attempt on the main character, which, of course, means more small changes throughout.

I've become very familiar with the saying: Revise, revise, and revise again!

gcsalamon said:

By the way- very nice cover Selma! Checked out your blog, too, and your books sound like my kind of read.

I'm currently editing a book I thought I was done with (at least until a publisher/agent picks it up). I decided to increase the pace a little in the first bit of chapters by adding another murder attempt on the main character, which, of course, means more small changes throughout.

I've become very familiar with the saying: Revise, revise, and revise again!

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Aww thank you!

Yes... revisions are like a whirligig carousel with a battery that won't die.

I think I might go on a writing break. Just to refresh and clear my head. The frustration is greatly outweighing the joy/non-frustration.

Silver - No shame in that. If the frustration is outweighing the joy, a breather might help things even out again.

Calle - You sound like a busy bee! The forensic pathology stuff sounds interesting, but yeah, I'm sure it's very detail-oriented. Doing executive protection research was difficult for the opposite reason: it's surprisingly difficult to find a wealth of information on the technicalities. It can be done, but it takes sifting.

SelmaW said:

Silver - No shame in that. If the frustration is outweighing the joy, a breather might help things even out again.

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As much as I enjoy writing, I think I might need to start maybe pacing myself better. And right now, I just need a break from it. Give my brain to just relax.

Speaking of breaks, I'm just coming off four weeks of nothing new on my current WIP. The only writing I did during that time was working on my query and synopsis for "Sleepless" book one of a new series - which is the MS I'm now revising. I'm hoping to get back to book two "Visual Contact" by next week.

But, I must say the break was NOT pleasant. I couldn't stop thinking about the story I should have been working on, and the fact that I wasn't writing!

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I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself - or more specifically my writing.

I write pretty much strictly contemporary romantic-suspense, or what could also be categorized as mystery/suspense/thriller. And, unintentionally, I seem to find aspects of the paranormal creeping into every story.

The series I am working on at present (mentioned above) I'm calling: Paranormal Crime Solving Mysteries.

I would (very very humbly) compare my writing/stories to those of Jayne Ann Krentz, Julie Garwood, Karen Robards, or (I wish) Sandra Brown's thrillers.


I'd like to know about the rest of you and how you would describe your general writing genre.

I think you'll get your wordage back, Calle Jay.


And, gsc, the last time I took a break, I did the exact same thing. All I could think about was writing. But not because I felt I had to write or I wanted to write, I felt I should be writing. So, now, I'm taking another break. Because my brain is just completely fried right now I think. I hope I can actually enjoy this break and my brain will have time to think and relax and all of that.

o.0 That is my worst nightmare, Calle Jay. I lost 20k once and it was pretty hard to get over.

All I have is an old desk top PC but I save every paragraph in three different places including two memory sticks. When I got a virus and lost everything I was fine because 90% was on memory sticks. (The other ten percent I lost were ebooks that I'd forgotten to back to memory sticks. I just read ebooks on free ebook reader on my desk top.)But I didn't lose any of my manuscript even though everything on my hard drive was wiped.

Okay, since we're discussing suspense here, I need some help on a scene. I'm collecting opinions and I'll go with the average. To move or not to move - this is the question:

You're driving down a dirt road in the middle of no where. You're alone in the car, except for your trusty German Shepard, who, of course, is in the car with you. Your friend, who happens to be a deputy sheriff, just left and is maybe two minutes ahead of you.

A shot rings out - your windshield shatters - the bullet misses you by inches. (I've skipped some but the rest isn't important)

Naturally, your initial reaction is shock. Your dog goes nuts, you grab a hold of him - hug him to your chest and duck down. Pull your cell out of your pocket and call your friend back to the scene.

OR

In shock or not - and your dog going nuts or not - never mind the shattered windshield - you step on the gas and get the hell out of there.

Which scenario would you choose?

I'd step on the gas. I'd rather be a moving target than an idle one!

When I got some basic security awareness training, I was taught the natural reaction of most people (who have not taken some sort of personal awareness course) is to floor the brakes and freeze. This would be the absolute wrong reaction because the best thing to do is keep your eyes on the road and drive away as fast as you can (preferably in reverse, until it is safe to do a Y turn).

Since I only took that course for a week, and I only practiced the whole reverse/Y turn thing a few times, my bet would be that natural instincts will take over and I'd freeze (and most likely die/get captured)

I agree with everyone else basically.

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Hey, guys, quick advice. I'm still on a writing break. But I still wanted to ask this.

One plot line, for Suspense or Thriller anyway, I like a lot is the "person-who-turns-out-to-be-actually-crazy" (think Fatal Attraction, Single White Female, and A Thin Line Between Love and Hate). And while I do still like this plot line a lot, it can also get old to write over and over. I'm trying to come up with other ideas for Suspense/Thrillers. But I just can't.

I think it might be because with these, most of the time, the main character figures out who the "bad guy" is a little bit easier maybe, provided they don't know it's them in the beginning. And my main issue or fear when it comes to M/T/S is proving that the person who did it, well, did it, without it being something completely out of left field naturally.

So, do you know of any other scenarios in which the main character(or one of them anyway) would know that the bad guy was the bad guy without needing complete, like 100% clues? You know what I mean.

And if not, and this may even still apply if the MC knows the killer, do you have any tips for laying down clues?

Those two things are like the hardest for me to pick up on and write. I have read Romantic Suspense and Suspense, Mystery, and Thrillers. Those two things end up affecting me the most. I think so far.

Absolutely agree with Layla and the rest of you too. Most untrained people's reaction will be to freeze - actually, most trained people will freeze too, but the difference is they'll snap out of it. You'd want to hightail it out of there, though.

Silver, have you tried going through books and reading like a writer - you know, highlighting lines where you see authors dropping clues that become significant later, etc? That might help.

You can check out the 'tropes' website for some ideas.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MadnessTropes

I think this may be the one you're looking for:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MaskOfSanity

I write Regency Romances. I don't think they're very big on suspense so far, but it's a concept i could learn. So long as no one minds me writing in archaic language and having no forensic investigators. So Yes, I think it's a good idea and please keep me in the loop.

Thank you everyone for your votes. I'll incorporate her fleeing the scene.

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Now to answer Silver, I've pulled up a little info that might help you get some ideas.

Top motives for murder:

11. Hate Crime (religious, racial, etc)
10. Robbery
9. Murder-for-hire (hitman)
8. Thrill Killing
7. Mob Contract
6. Gang Vengeance
7. Jealousy
6. Crime of Passion
5. Initiation
4. Obsession (Fantasy)
3. Revenge
2. Mental Illness
1. Money (most common: insurance policy)

Also:

1. Anger
2. Copy-cat (possibly to break the original record)
3. The "need" to be "noticed" (believe it or not, many cases are caused by
a motive of attention by an outcast).
4. Unplanned murder during a current crime that was not well planned
(i.e. a serial rapist turns into a murderer when the victim sees his face
before she can be blindfolded)
5. Drug deal gone wrong (one of the biggest reasons now, actually)
6. Elimination (victim knew too much)
7. "Urge to kill"...always had an urge (could also be linked to mental illness)

As for ways to set out clues, unfortunately, I'm not even sure how to explain it. I can tell you that for myself, I pretty much started by doing exactly what Selma suggested: I went back and read a few books that I knew had what I was looking for, but this time I read them as a writer, watching for and noting when the writer did just that.

How did she work those clues in without it being obvious either to the MC or the reader?

While I plot/write I lay a trail of bread crumbs. My goal is to make sure the crumbs are rarely right in front of my MC's face, but at the same time, not so subtle as to be missed completely. By the time my MC has reached the end of the trail, they should have all they need to identify the baker.

Do you remember all the little (subtle) clues set out in Back to the Future? All the little items that were placed in the background in and around Marty? I get a real kick out of re-watching that movie just for the purpose of looking for all those little things. It's a lot of fun to note how the writer/director managed it.

Ann_Mayburn said:

You can check out the 'tropes' website for some ideas.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MadnessTropes

I think this may be the one you're looking for:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MaskOfSanity

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Thanks, Ann! These two pages look interesting. I might have to go through them a little bit more thoroughly though. Read all of the different tropes.


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Thanks, Gina!! Nice list.



Thanks, guys.

Hey, just adding to what Gina said, I found this TV Tropes page:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MurderTropes


Here is a page on Victims(or Victimhood):

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VictimhoodTropes


Here's also one on toxins/poisons:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ToxicTropes

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And here's the complement/related pages to what Ann posted:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WomanScorned

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathByWomanScorned

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IfICantHaveYou

I love the tropes page. If nothing else it's good for jogging a story along if I get stuck on some plot point. Gives me alot of 'oh, duh, why didn't I think of that' moments.

Ann_Mayburn said:

I love the tropes page. If nothing else it's good for jogging a story along if I get stuck on some plot point. Gives me alot of 'oh, duh, why didn't I think of that' moments.

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It does seem very useful, especially for someone like me who can use the same plot/death over and over again quite easily. Haha.

ETA: Okay, one more TV Tropes links.

Here's one for Romance Novel Plot Tropes:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanceNovelPlots

ETA 2: Okay, now this is the real last one:

Motivations for characters, just to add to what Gina said. (Thanks again for those Gina; really helpful.)

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MotivationIndex

Wow Gina, nice job! Those are some great comprehensive lists that really break things down into their simplest forms. Kudos to you.

*steals everything away, like a thief! muahahahaha I shall never be apprehended! I know too much!*