DEFINING AN AUTHOR'S VOICE

Nancy Mehl is a best-selling, award winning author who lives in Missouri, with her husband, Norman, and her Puggle, Watson. She’s authored almost thirty books and is currently writing a new series for Bethany House Publishing based on the U.S. Marshals. The first book, FATAL FROST, in her Defenders of Justice Series, released on November 1^st, 2016. The second book, DARK DECEPTION, hit store shelves in June of 2017. Book three, BLIND BETRAYAL, will be released in the spring of 2018. She is also working on a new cozy mystery series for Guideposts, The Mysteries of Martha’s Vineyard. 

Readers can learn more about Nancy through her Web site: www.nancymehl.com. She is part of The Suspense Sisters: www.suspensesisters.blogspot.com, along with several other popular suspense authors. She is also very active on Facebook.

Defining an Author's Voice

Although I rarely read my reviews, sometimes I’ll stop by Amazon or some other site just to see how a book is doing. From time to time I might catch one or two reviews. Every once in a while, however, I will run across a review I hadn’t planned to read. This can be a real encouragement, a downer, or possibly, a head-scratcher. The other day I stumbled across one of those “head-scratchers.” A well-meaning reviewer had noted that my newest book “wasn’t really my voice.” I found it funny that someone else was sure what my voice was. So…what is an author’s voice? Can they have more than one? Do you assume that the first books they wrote were in their voice but at some later date they suddenly changed for some reason? Actually, the reverse is usually true. And then again, it isn’t. Now that I have you scratching your head, what do I mean by that?

Many times authors start out writing what the market calls for. Their publishers decide what they want…and we write that. Readers may think that’s our voice, but many times, they would be wrong.

I believe I have two voices. One is cozy mystery. Yes, I originally wrote cozies because I was asked to – but I fell in love with them. Thankfully, I still write them for Guideposts. 

But I have another voice, and you can hear it in my Defenders of Justice series. Even more in a new, upcoming series. Will my readers follow me into even edgier suspense and mystery? Will they hang in there if the romance isn’t as strong? Will they give me a chance to win them as I go in a little different direction? I hope so, but no matter what I’m still going for it because I believe it’s what I’m supposed to do – and because it truly is my voice.

Just like you might decide to make a change in your life – go a different direction – sometimes authors do the same thing. You might be surprised by what happens. Maybe you’ll love that new direction too if you'll give it a chance.

Today I’m giving away books in both of my voices.

Two winners will have their choice of either an ebook copy of MISSING MABEL or FATAL FROST. (Two very different books in two very different voices.)

MISSING MABEL: Curl Up and Dye Series

Watch the tangled mess a Kansas hairdresser gets herself into when she reports to the funeral home that the body she is to work on is not the same as in her reference photo. Is she being punished when the director accuses her of stealing a diamond ring? Will Hilde Higgins’s former boyfriend help her unravel the issue or only bring more trouble to her life?

 

FATAL FROST: Defenders of Justice Series

Mercy Brennan followed in her father's footsteps in a law enforcement career, but she has no interest in any other connection to him. A U.S. Marshal in St. Louis, Missouri, she's assigned to a joint task force with the St. Louis PD that puts her back into contact with her father and in the sights of St. Louis's most powerful gang.

When the gang has reason to believe Mercy has possession of some highly sensitive and incriminating information, her boss assigns Mark St. Laurent--a Deputy U.S. Marshal and Mercy's ex-boyfriend--to get her out of town until they can guarantee her safety.

Initially unaware of the danger she's in and uncomfortable working with Mark, Mercy's frustration escalates when she discovers the extent her boss and Mark have been keeping her in the dark. It isn't until a freak ice storm hits, stranding them at a remote location and out of contact with the district office, that the full severity of their situation becomes clear. As the storm worsens, the forces of nature combine with a deadly enemy closing in to put their lives at imminent risk. Can they survive long enough for help to arrive--if help is even coming at all?

Leave a comment, along with your contact information, for a chance to win a Kindle copy of either MISSING MABEL or FATAL FROST!