SUSPENSE SISTERS: OCTOBER GIVEAWAY

Suspense Sisters: October Giveaway

Coincidence...or Something More Sinister? Plus, A Suspense Sisters Giveaway!

 Hello, suspense lovers! Mary Alford here.

I have a question for you today.

Do you believe in coincidences?

I'm not talking about the little everyday coincidences, like running into an old friend at the grocery store or thinking about someone moments before they call.

I'm talking about the kind that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Imagine this…

Twelve years ago, a man was murdered along a lonely mountain road in a quiet Amish community. His killer was never found.

Now, more than a decade later, his son is discovered dead in almost the exact same location.

Authorities believe the young man took his own life.

But his sister knows better.

Two deaths. One lonely stretch of road. Twelve years of secrets.

Coincidence?

Or has someone been hiding a terrible truth all these years?

That's the mystery at the heart of my upcoming Love Inspired Suspense release, Secrets in Amish Country, coming October 27!

When Eve Lantz returns to Rachel's Crossing, Kentucky, following her brother's shocking death, she's forced to confront the painful memories that drove her away years earlier.

Eve has spent twelve years blaming herself for her father's murder. Now she's facing another devastating loss, and she's determined not to let her brother's death become another unsolved tragedy.

Fortunately, her childhood friend, Assistant Police Chief Casey Masterson, is there to help her search for answers.

But someone is watching.

Someone who knows what happened all those years ago.

And someone who will do whatever it takes to make sure Eve never uncovers the truth.

What happens when the past won’t stay buried?

One of the things I love most about writing suspense is exploring how the past can reach into the present.

Sometimes the most dangerous secrets aren't hidden in dark alleys or abandoned buildings. They're buried in the very places we consider safe.

And sometimes the people we trust most are the ones who have the most to hide.

But while I love creating mysteries that keep readers guessing, there's something even more important to me when I write Christian suspense.

I want my characters to discover that even in their darkest moments, God hasn't abandoned them.

In Secrets in Amish Country, Eve has carried the weight of guilt for twelve years. She believes her choices led to her father's death, and that burden has affected not only her life but also her relationship with God.

Now, as she searches for answers about her brother's death, Eve must confront something even harder than a killer.

She must learn to forgive herself and trust the God she's kept at a distance for so long.

One of the Scriptures that speaks to the heart of this story is Psalm 91:2 (KJV):

"I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

I love that reminder.

Life doesn't always turn out the way we expect. Sometimes we face heartbreak, unanswered questions, or circumstances that leave us wondering where God is in the middle of it all.

But even when we can't see what lies ahead, we can trust the One who does.

That's the kind of hope I want readers to carry away when they finish one of my books.

And it's a message that's especially close to my heart in Secrets in Amish Country.

Of course, before Eve can find peace with her past, she'll have to survive someone determined to make sure the truth stays buried.

And that brings me to today's giveaway!

I'm giving away one print copy of Secrets in Amish Country to a reader who comments on today's post!

Here's your detective challenge:

Two members of the same family die in nearly the same location, twelve years apart. The second death is ruled a possible suicide.

If you were the detective assigned to this case, what would be your FIRST move?

A. Reopen the father's murder investigation. There has to be a connection.

B. Investigate the son's final days. What did he know that might have gotten him killed?

C. Return to the crime scene. Maybe there's something investigators overlooked.

D. Start questioning family friends and neighbors. Someone knows more than they're saying.

Tell me your answer in the comments!

I'll randomly select one commenter to receive a print copy of Secrets in Amish Country. Be sure to leave your email address in your comment.

Mary Alford

WHAT'S HOT in Christian Mystery and Suspense

Marji Laine here. 

This sounds like an amazing ending to an amazing series. I love it when a series comes together! 

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Avenging Angel: A Christian Romantic Suspense 

by Madison Love

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Rather than hide from her past, she’s hunting it.

Twenty years ago, Sadie Alekseev escaped a nightmare no one else survived with only the clothes on her back and what little faith she had left. She never saw her captor’s face but refused to hide in fear. Instead, she changed her name to Daisy Zurkowski and became a sharpshooter with one mission: track down the man who took her.

Every October, another teenage girl disappears from a national park fitting the same profile. For years, Daisy has chased her captor’s shadow, always one step behind. Until now. A new lead puts her ahead of the next abduction, and she intends to end it for good. And this time, she isn’t alone.

Angel Conway is a field agent sidelined after disobeying orders and reassigned to cold cases. Still one of the CIA’s best agents, his instincts and tracking skills refuse to stay dormant behind a desk. Daisy’s case has haunted him from the start… and so has the woman behind it.

As the clock ticks down, Daisy and Angel pursue a pattern hidden in decades of disappearances. Every three years, the abductions form a near-perfect triangle on a map, pointing to something organized, calculated, and sinister.

With another girl’s life on the line, Daisy must decide if vengeance is worth the cost of her soul… while Angel must decide how far he’s willing to go to save the woman who refuses to stop.

When the truth is finally uncovered, will the pursuit that defined her destroy any chance at love… or lead them both to something worth saving?

Avenging Angel is free from foul language and promiscuity. Christian elements are woven throughout the story, focusing on redemption, mercy, and second chances. This is a standalone novel, but reading other books in the series is recommended.

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Get your own copy of Book three of the Southern Knight Protector series HERE! 

THIS WEEK ON THE SUSPENSE SISTERS

We have exciting things planned for you this week on the Suspense Sisters!

On Tuesday, Suspense Sister Marji Laine will tell us what’s hot in inspirational suspense and mystery.

Wednesday, Suspense Sister Mary Alford will talk about how two mysterious deaths, twelve years apart, connect to her upcoming new release, SECRETS IN AMISH COUNTRY. She’ll also be giving away a print copy of this exciting book!

The truth could cost her everything…even her life.

Eve Lantz’s life takes a deadly shift when her return home after her brother’s sudden death is met with gunfire from an unknown assailant. Still haunted by her father’s unsolved murder, Eve is determined to uncover the truth behind the tragedies surrounding her family. Joining forces with her childhood friend, Assistant Police Chief Casey Masterson, she plunges into a dangerous investigation. Casey vows to protect Eve and expose the secrets linking these crimes, but the deeper they go, the more perilous their search becomes. The shadowy perpetrator will stop at nothing to keep his dark secrets hidden—and Eve may be the next victim.

From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

PREORDER IT HERE

Friday, we’ll interview one of our own. Marji Laine will talk about her upcoming release, D-VALUED.

Someone is lying. Possibly everyone.

Tasha Sanderson came to her aunt's Texas farmhouse to disappear for a while — from the law firm that burned her, from the man she can't stop thinking about, from the version of herself she's not sure she likes anymore.

She didn't come to investigate a missing fiancé. Or a murder. Or the peculiar connection between a global tech scheme and a grieving man with nothing left to lose. But when a frightened woman at a roadside accident presses Tasha's hand and whispers find him — something clicks into place that Tasha can't ignore.

D-Street Investigations calls her a trainee. The police call her a nuisance. The killer hasn't called her anything yet.

But they've noticed her.

D-Valued is a Christian romantic mystery set in the small city of High Grove, Texas — where secrets run deep, connections run deeper, and one woman's instincts might be the only thing standing between the truth and another body.

ORDER IT HERE 

Don’t forget to enter our monthly contest!

THE SUSPENSE SISTERS

WE LOVE BOOKS

It's about Building Character

I've heard this since I was a "Bluebird," part of the "Campfire Girls" program. But character building is actually one of my favorite things. 

I just released the first book of a new series, and while this character isn't brand new, her development took weeks to complete. Tasha Sanderson was the spunky best friend of Dani Foster in GRIME BEAT and throughout the Grime Fighter series. She is now the "star" of my D-Street Mysteries beginning with my new book, D-VALUED.

When I build a character, I work on three levels, the presentation, the persona, and the pulse. Often I work on these at the same time, but if you really want to put it in order the pulse should go first because it is the central part of the character.

In the Pulse, will be the core values of the character. What are the things that the character will always do? What are the things that the character will never do? And probably more importantly, what happened earlier in their lives that caused these core values to develop? Is it relationships with family members or traumatic experiences that happened to her? Are these situations things that need to be resolved?

That leads me to the wounds. Oftentimes there are more than one wound. What caused the wound and how can it be resolved? Often times a wound cannot be healed, but it can be dealt with. Sometimes it just has to be overcome and lived with or another route needs to be found to bypass the issue that the wound causes. 

These particular situations are important for the development of the character and can make a huge effect on how the character responds to what goes on around her. The wound also tends to develop the a deep horror that the character holds. Oftentimes, this doesn't show up until a time of panic develops

Lies are another important part of the Pulse. Lies can be developed because of practices within the family or background issues, by the influence of others that are respected, or because of habits. The way the character talks to herself or the way others talk to her can develop lies that she believes, both good and bad. What are the lies that she believes about herself? Where did they come from? What could be the resolution? Especially in cases of a lie, the resolution can have a big part in the development of the story. And the same can be true about the lies that she believes about other people. Where did they come from and what could be the resolution for them?

Faith is a big part of the Pulse as well. What is the foundation the background and the growth of the character's faith. How does she interact with God, how often, and in what mindset? The mindset is crucial to discovering and growing the depth of her faith. If the only prayer is in times of need, the relationship is shallow. If prayer is a natural part of the day when anything, good or bad, happens, there is depth to her relationship and a natural acceptance of the constant presence and dwelling with God.

The Persona and the Pulse go hand in hand and sometimes can be developed together. The Goals and Hopes and Fears live in the Persona. Once the Pulse elements are developed, these can be generated. Then, I generally take a Myers-Briggs test for my main character. Keeping her Pulse in mind, I answer the questions to best my ability to develop their personality. The Myers-Briggs test often reveals how my character will react to the situations in which she finds herself.

The beauty of the Myers-Briggs is that the website, 16personalities.com develops the personality of the character for me., telling me the basic behavior of the character and how she will interact with other people. I generally read through it and then summarize it on my character sheet, so that I get it deeply ingrained in me, because I'm the one that needs to know it so that I can stay true to the main character.

So developing the persona is fairly quick and easy. The presentation is a little harder and takes a little longer. Based on my core values and the persona of the character I can give a presentation of my character. Some of the elements of the presentation are not character driven, such as height, body type, eye color, and some day-to-day activities.

Other things can be character driven depending on the personality of the character and what is naturally given. This includes things like hair color, length, and style. Weight falls under this topic along with clothing style, hobbies, strength, and pastimes.

This section is probably the one that I have to refer to the most when I am writing. It will include the type of car the character drives, the type of music the character listens to, the type of snacks she eats, and quirks she has. Favorite colors, likes and dislikes along with dreams and wishes are here. Habits can be defined here as well as attitudes, insecurities, and the fears, values, goals, and lies that are part of the pulse and persona will be reflected in this area. The job or extracurricular activities are often a result of the attitudes, insecurities, fears, values, goals, and lies that she has.

I have to tell you, this list generally starts out as about 6 pages, but by the time I'm done it tends to turn into almost a book itself. It's full of backstories and how my character came to be the way she came to be. My readers won't find that as part of my book or even my series, but the effects of those little pieces will be sprinkled all through the stories. And sometimes some flashbacks will come up to explain where the different wounds developed.

In my new series, Tasha actually gets her beginning in my very first series. Tasha is one of the secondary characters in Grime Beat and the rest of the books that follow that one. She has a desperate wound that develops in Grime Beat, and we learn that she has two other wounds that developed prior to Grime Beat. Then she has a couple of wounds that develop after that series is complete. And one of them is set up in a prequel that will release on November 21st as part of our Suspense Sisters anthology, HOLLY AND HOMICIDE. I can't wait for that release!

If a character is developed well, she feels authentic, true to life, and almost like a friend, albeit temporary. So what type of character do you most like to see in a Christian suspense story? Somebody who's quiet and unassuming? Someone who's gregarious and popular? Or maybe something in between?

Let me know your thoughts and don't forget to include your email address. One of you responding will get a free Kindle copy of Grime Beat.

Thoughts on Winter

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

I am finding that I set a lot of my suspense books in winter. One reason for that is that a cold, blizzard prone setting adds to the danger the characters face. The other reason is that I know winter well because I live in a part of the world where winters are long and sometimes harsh. Feedback from readers indicates that they find my descriptions of this season believable. One reader told me she could feel the cold as she read my books. My book that comes out at the end of December, Taken in Wyoming, takes place mostly in the icy frozen month of January. 

Though I have lived in a place where long cold winters were a reality, I have a love hate relationship with the season. I love being where it snows at Christmas time and I love cozy winter days when I have nowhere to go and can stay inside and watch the snow fall. I love the feeling of having been out in the cold and then coming inside for a hot cup of tea. I don't even mind shoveling snow as long as it isn't cold enough to freeze my nose hairs. It's good exercise. 

There is plenty I don't like about winter. I've never been a winter sports person. So even though I see bumper stickers that say "think snow" for the people who love to ski, that has not been my thing. As I get older, driving on the snow and ice wears on me. Having to plan an extra twenty minutes to let your car warm up before you can go anywhere is a pain. Slipping on the ice is not fun. 

I love to live in a place where the is a distinct change in the seasons, but sometimes I wish winter was just a little shorter and a little warmer. What are your thoughts on the coldest season? Maybe you live in a place where winter isn't a factor. What do you love about that? Leave a comment with your email address. I will pick three people for two copies of Taken in Wyoming so you can experience winter while in your cozy warm house. 

Sharon Dunn