Murder and Mayhem in the Regency period

Camille Elliot/Camy Tang here! I’m working on my next Regency romantic mystery, and as I was plotting out the major disasters that happen, I had this conversation with myself:

Me: So after the murder attempt, how can I up the stakes?

Myself: How about a kidnapping?

I: You had a kidnapping in your last three books.

Me: Oh, that’s right.

Myself: Let’s blow up a house.

I: In the Regency period? Not happening.

Me: There was no C-4. I’d need barrels of gunpowder.

Myself: And barrels of gunpowder really don’t explode quite like it does in the movies.

I: We could frame the hero for murder.

Me: How? There were no fingerprints in the Regency.

Myself: No DNA, either.

I: I guess crashing a plane is out too.

Me: I could crash a carriage.

Myself: You don’t want to injure the poor horses.

I: Assassination attempt in the woods?

Me: They’d have to be close by to attempt an assassination, because the only guns were pistols or shotguns. No hunting rifles yet.

Myself: And military rifles back then were very inaccurate, too.

I: You’re such a killjoy.

Really, it should be easier to take advantage of the fact that the Regency period had no forensics, no internet databases, no cars, and no house alarms! I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me … unless you guys have any ideas?

Too Stupid To Live Heroines by Camy/Camille

Hi guys! I recently had my Regency novella, The Spinster’s Christmas, edited by a professional macro-editor (Meredith Efken at The Fiction Fix-It Shop if you’re interested). I had been in a bad place self-confidence-wise when I wrote the book last year, and I knew it had problems but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what they were.

What was really funny was that Meredith pointed out something glaringly obvious to her that I had completely missed.

I really hate how the cheerleader in those horror movies does the dumbest things when there’s a psychopathic axe-murderer after her. My writer friends and I fondly call her the “Too Stupid To Live” heroine.

Because of my biology research background, I’m usually pretty logical and have avoided the TSTL heroine in my books, but when Meredith edited The Spinster’s Christmas, she found a part near the end where my heroine did exactly that. Like the cheerleader who runs into the empty house and up to the attic when the axe-murdered is after her, my heroine ran away from crowds of people and into the dark creepy woods when the villain was after her.

[Head smack]

Why didn’t I see that when I was writing the book?????

Luckily I was able to fix it, so the revised version of The Spinster’s Christmas will not have her doing such a completely idiotic thing.

As suspense writers, we really have to avoid the TSTL heroine because otherwise the reader tosses our books against the wall, but the fact remains that I am often too close to the story to see something right in front of my face.

Did you read about or see a movie with at TSTL heroine? Sometimes they’re funny and sometimes they’re tragic and sometimes they’re tragically funny.

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Her romantic suspense, Gone Missing, releases May 2015 so pre-order it now. Also, her romantic suspense novella, Necessary Proof, is available for free. She is a staff worker for her church youth group, and leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she ponders frivolous things like knitting, running, dogs, and Asiana. Sign up for her newsletter to hear about new releases or sales on her backlist.

Camy Tang/Camille Elliot

Hi guys! This is Camy, and I’m thrilled to be joining the Suspense Sisters as a regular blogger!

I write contemporary romance suspense as Camy Tang and I also write sweet (“clean”) Regency romance with a suspense thread as USA Today bestselling author Camille Elliot. But you can just call me Camy. :)

We’ll also be shaking up the blogging schedule here at Suspense Sisters. You’ll still get the same great interviews and reviews, but we’ll also throw in some informal book recommendations—for example, when you’re suffering because Beth Goddard’s next book isn’t out for another few months, you can read a book she recently enjoyed and get your suspense fix. :)

We’ll also have more fun stuff—casual chats with each of us about our current projects, writing in general, and how to hide our Google searches so the local police don’t come knocking at our doors because we searched for “untraceable poisons,” “hiding GSR,” and “best sniper rifles” on the internet all in the same night.

If any of you have questions for us, be sure to comment or send us an email and we might answer your question in a fun group Q&A post.

I’m glad to be blogging here!

Camy

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Her romantic suspense, Gone Missing, releases May 2015 so pre-order it now! Also, her romantic suspense novella, Necessary Proof, is available for free. She is a staff worker for her church youth group, and leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she ponders frivolous things like knitting, running, dogs, and Asiana. Sign up for her newsletter to hear about new releases or sales on her backlist.