Revisiting Old Haunts

When I was younger, maybe high school, I discovered detective novels. Not modern ones. The old-school, hardboiled detective thrillers like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Agatha Christie -- crime fiction fraught with drama. I was immediately addicted.

My book heroes moved from the curious teens of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew storylines to the grizzled detectives, the private eyes with snappy wit, the keenly observant yet horribly vain inspectors. My love for a good chase led me deeper down the suspense rabbit hole to Gothic mysteries where I discovered the deliciously brooding Victoria Holt and Du Maurier.

My husband and I recently started on another reading aloud kick. We previously went through a few of Connelly's books. But this time I was in the mood for something nostalgic. Something that elicited the forlorn notes of a lone jazz trumpet or visions of hot steam rising off a dark street. So, we're reading The Maltese Falcon. My husband has never read it or seen the movie and I'm excited to see how he reacts to the twists and turns.

As a suspense writer myself, I love to see genuine surprise or worry at a turn of events in any story, not just my own books. We're having a blast!  I wonder what other books are worth another read through...and another. What are your favorites that you return to again and again?

Or better yet, what books do everyone love that you just couldn't get into? I'd love to know.

The Secrets Beneath the Streets

Photo by Yohei Shimomae on Unsplash

As an author, research is the icing on the book-writing cake for me. On top of feeding my thirst for newer and newer hobbies, it helps me to feel like I am writing in the most authentic way possible. For instance, I took gun and skip trace lessons to write my private investigator heroine in Purple Knot. I learned shorthand and found the courage to woman-up and eat alligator for my journalist character in the southern suspense, Bayou Blue. Its one of the best parts of writing because it forces you to stretch into the story. To learn something you might never have wanted or needed to study. That's why I love it.

This is even more true when it comes to the setting and location of my books. To better understand the local lore for Gothic mystery, Secrets at Crescent Point, I took underground walking tours of Seattle's "haunted" spots, learned about the mystifying lights seen off the shore of Orca's island, and of course, visited the famous Pike Place Market. Those fish mongers throwing massive fish over your head is a must see!

So when I began my current WIP, a Sci-Fi thriller set in near future Silicon Valley, I was super excited to use every part of my beloved state. From the aromatic and bustling China Town to the gleaming bastions of high tech innovation in southern San Francisco Bay, Veridian truly revels in the sights and sounds of California.

Photo by Randy Jacob on Unsplash

Something that truly piqued my interest were the stories and images by urban explorers of the abandoned tunnels and ghost stations that spiderweb undetected throughout the area. 

Apparently, there is a vast unknown commotion just beneath our feet. Closely guarded are the entrances and location to keep them from being sealed off by the cities, these places are fascinating to me. And in fact, are featured prominently in my upcoming novel. My heroine, Elara Savoya, tracks stolen tech wherever it goes no matter what. It takes her to some dangerous and breathtaking places.

If you are ever in California, I encourage you to slip in some exploration between Disneyland and the beach. All along the state but particularly from San Francisco to LA there are places to see that will definitely make an impression.

For instance, Los Angeles has underground sublevels that drill down as much as three stories beneath the street and once housed creepy veteran's hospital overflow rooms, dank storage space, and even fallout shelters. Needless to say, I was hooked on the legends and ghost stories surrounding these abandoned places, especially after seeing some of the elaborate décor of some of the abandoned stations. I wondered who would choose to live there as I've heard some do. I wonder why and what they were like.

What about where you live? Are there any places off the beaten track that just spark your imagination? I'd love to hear about them.

WIPjoy Wrap Up - What I Learned

Day 15: Genre of Art That Best Describes Your WIP

As you all know, I took part in #WIPjoy this month. It is a Twitter event that celebrates your Work In Progress and helps authors to connect and encourage one another.

Aside from the social aspect, the part of the fun of the event is that I find most helpful is that it forces me to look at my story from angles I wouldn't necessarily see otherwise.  The amazing Bethany Jennings @simmeringmind  and S.D. Grimm at

@SDGrimmAuthor 

did a flat out awesome job at coming up with the daily prompts.

Some of my favorite ones included other types of art that best describes your story. So for Veridian's main character, tech hunter, Elara Savoya, I used the future noir graphic arts.

Day 29: Fall, food, festivities, and family.

We were also asked to share our writing playlist which was a lot of fun. If you'd like to check it out, its on Spotify here: Veridian Playlist

But it was the more personal questions that really served to help me solidify my main character in my head. 

There was  a question about what my main character's loved about fall.

Or what childhood dreams she had that will never come true...that was a really hard one!

It made me think about her outside of the story...outside of the high stakes drama. What was she like at home?

Day 23: Elara dreamt of the stars.

She loves her family. They drive each other crazy because they work together in the tech recovery game.

I realized they may fight a lot...but they fight best together.

Graphics and playlists aside, I feel like I learned a lot more about my characters and story through this event. 

Overall I feel pretty excited to head into next month's craziness of NaNoWriMo. 

If you are taking part in the race to 50K add me as a buddy. I'm under Raquel Byrnes on the site.

As a reader, do you like to see more than the books? Do songs, art, and other fun stuff get you excited for the story? 

I'm off to plot for #NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck and see you soon!