The Trigger: It's Finally Launched!

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

After a long six-month wait, The Trigger is finally available!

Even better news: The ebook is $.99 for a few days—as a thank to readers who have supported my work.

Better yet: If you buy a copy of The Trigger on January 1 and email the receipt to lj@ljsellers.com, you'll be entered to win a trip to Left Coast Crime 2015 (airfare, hotel, registration)!

And on top of that: I'm also drawing winners for 10 gift certificates of $50 each. More details here. (Just click one of The Trigger links to get started.)

But if you're still reading this and would like to know more, here's the book description:
 

Agent Jamie Dallas loves undercover assignments that get her out of the Phoenix Bureau. But when a woman and her baby disappear from an isolated community of preppers in Northern California, she knows the risk of infiltrating the armed group is dangerously high.

Once inside the compound, she discovers that the brothers who founded Destiny are scheming something far more devious than kidnapping or murder. Meanwhile, her local FBI contact, Agent McCullen, is pulled from her team and assigned to investigate the murder of a woman with phony ID, found at the bottom of a motel pool.

Soon Dallas finds herself in deeper trouble than she's ever encountered—with no way to reach her contacts. Can she break free of the bunker and stop their bizarre end-of-world plans? Will Agent McCullen identify the killer in time to help?

The Trigger is a gripping story that highlights our greatest fear—how a megalomaniac and a hacker-for-hire can threaten civilization as we know it.

Early readers have given it 5 stars, calling it a "“An exciting mystery with a kick-ass heroine. Great fun!”

Grab an ebook now. And maybe one for a friend. At $.99, it's a steal.

Thanks for your support—and Happy New Year!

Would you share credit with 443 other writers?

by A.M. Khalifa, thriller writer

[Note from Jodie: I’m swamped with work so am ceding my spot again today to my friend and client,  talented author A.M. Khalifa, whose just-out (Aug. 30) gripping international thriller, Terminal Rage, is definitely a bestseller-in-waiting. But don’t take my word for it – read this stellar review. Take it away, A.M.!]

Collaborative Writing on Steroids

Writing is a lonely profession. It’s just you, the writer, interacting with your tools to create universes and characters of which you are master. If you are a mystery or thriller writer, you construct underlying puzzles and crimes and decide which characters you will send in harm's way to resolve them. Their lives and futures are in your hands.

But what if you decided to take a chance and surrender custody of your characters and plot line? This is exactly what I sought to do when I started a literary experiment called the 444project.org.

A few months ago, I had written a short story about a man who wakes up on a beach not knowing how he got there and remembering everything about his life except his name. I set it aside for a while as one of many writing projects I had going on at the same time.

When I came back to it, I realized it was exactly 444 words. And I had another thought: I couldn’t help but feel sorry for my main character. The mystery of how he got there and any chance of salvation and resolution lay with me, and me alone. Of course I knew how he got there and how it would all end. But what if there were alternate story lines that would bring forth different outcomes and endless possibilities?

 I decided on a whim I would for a change voluntarily give up my rights as an author to this story line and share it with other writers. But there were a few catches: Each subsequent chapter must always be exactly 444 words. And the story will end when 444 writers have participated. And each contributor must recruit the subsequent writer with only one guideline: That they firmly believe this writer to be better and more skilled than they are. The idea was to create a “fiction moving forward” momentum, where every piece is better than the preceding one.

The results of this experiment have so far been nothing short of astounding. Mass collaborative writing is highly instructional – and stimulating. I am learning from writers who are building upon the infrastructure I laid down. We are only up to chapter six, but never in my wildest creative spurts would I have imagined what my five co-conspirators have come up with so far. I am no longer just one of the writers, but I am also a reader – biting my nails, unable to wait for the next chapter.

Because I have no control on the recruitment of successive writers, something quite special is brewing. Writers from all genres are intersecting on this venture. I see myself primarily as thriller writer. But the people who’ve participated so far come from science fiction, steam punk, fantasy, and horror backgrounds. The identity of the story is developing almost as a genre of its own that mixes all of the writers' influences without coming across as disjointed or Frankensteinian.

Being the master of your narratives is a powerful and intoxicating aspect of being an author. So to be willing to give up that control has been difficult, but ultimately liberating. And it proves that collaborative writing is not only possible, but one with boundless possibilities and its own pleasures. Of course, the 444 Project is collaborative writing on steroids, but it has made me open and ready to co-write with someone else at some point in the future.

I would like to hear from other mystery, crime and thriller writers: Would you be willing/able to collaborate with another author? And what do you think the main challenges of such a venture would be?

And readers, would a mystery or thriller written by more than one person be an attractive read, or would you be troubled by the potential duality of voices? 

A.M. Khalifa, author of international political thrillers, writes exhilarating stories pulsating with life and unforgettable characters. Khalifa speaks three languages, and has lived, worked or studied in fifteen countries across five continents.
 
Terminal Rage is Khalifa's debut novel. 

Participation in the 444project.org is by invitation only. However, interested authors can submit an expression of interest on the project's web site for possible inclusion should circumstances change.

An Interview with J.H. Bográn, author of Firefall

We're pleased to welcome J.H. Bográn as a guest on Crime Fiction Collective. José, who is active in the International Thriller Writers organization, has just released his riveting new novel, Firefall, through Rebel E Publishers.

He’s offering a free e-copy to a lucky commenter, so be sure to leave a comment below to have your name entered in the draw.

 

CFC: Welcome to CFC, José. Can you tell us, in a nutshell, what your new novel, Firefall, is about?

JHB: Firefall is a harrowing tale of a grieving man seeking a reason to live while dealing with insurance fraud and an international ring of car thieves.

New York City firefighter, Sebastian Martin, seeks sanctuary in spiraling alcoholic oblivion following the loss of his wife and child in an air crash. Consumed by rage and resentment, mostly directed against his brother and uncle, he takes a last-ditch job in Dallas, Texas, investigating insurance fraud. Sebastian ends up strapped to a chair facing torture at the hands of Howard Gonzales, a former KGB trainee who enjoys playing with fire on his victims to get answers.
 

CFC: Tell us about the symbiosis between the protagonist and the antagonist in Firefall.

JHB: When Sebastian Martin is not looking into the car theft operation, he is searching for missing persons. His nemesis, Howard Gonzales, will stop at nothing to protect his auto-theft business.   

Their confrontation is just as inevitable as two freight trains racing toward each other on the same track.

And their clash is just as spectacular.
 

CFC: Can you share an excerpt to illustrate that point?

JHB: Of course! Here’s an excerpt from near the climax when they meet face-to-face for the first time.

A man wearing large reflective sunglasses stood beside him. In one hand, he held a cigarette butt, and a handkerchief on the other. The man’s skin was dark, a local. He wore khaki cargo pants and the black polo shirt seemed to blend with the poor light, giving the impression of a hovering head standing over him.

“I will make this easy for you, Gringo.” The heavy accent told no tales about his mother tongue. “Just tell me what I need to know.”

Sebastian looked up with a frown. He had no idea what he could possible know that would interest big sunglasses. As if in response, the man did something strange. Extending his arm, he squeezed the handkerchief until a drop of clear liquid fell on Sebastian’s arm. It itched on contact, but that wasn’t the end of it. The man put the lighted tip of the cigarette in the exact spot. A blue flame flared, burning the hair. The pain was sharp and intense.

Sebastian did his utmost not to scream. He looked at his right arm. An irregular circle formed; the skin raw. He recognized it as a first-degree burn, but he hadn’t known it would cause such pain. However, the sharpness passed as swiftly as it had begun, leaving a sting in its wake. He looked up to the man. Sebastian figured the rag must be soaked in gas or rubbing alcohol. Damn, it hurt!

“That should give me your full attention.” Big Glasses repeated the process and, if possible, it hurt more.

“What the hell do you want?” Sebastian spoke through clenched teeth.

“You know, Gringo. I used to do this for a living, trained by the best – your own CIA. Can you believe that?”

Sebastian remained quiet. He wondered if his own countrymen would teach somebody how to torture human beings. He was not naïve. He knew it must be true, but never expected to come this close to such techniques.

“Man, I miss the Cold War. Back in the eighties, we had no limitations. Your President Reagan spared no expense.” The man laughed a sinister laugh. “We had a limitless budget. And the training sessions? Everybody looked forward to the end of the course. There was booze, broads, the works.

“Our primary target was to keep the commie bastards at bay! We excelled at that. We captured, we tortured, we created panic in their ranks, until they had nowhere to go but back to Russia. Then, when the elections in Nicaragua finalized the return to democracy, the flow of money stopped and we had an army with no cause. So we each found our own line of business.”

Another drop, another ignition. This time on his left arm. He sniffed something akin to pork skin burning. Sebastian’s heart pumped hard against his chest. He did not know where this conversation was going. The man kept rambling about the good ole days against the Red aggression.

“You want answers? Then ask the damn questions!” he blurted out.

“No, not yet.”

The man put out the cigarette on his arm. It hurt like hell, but he remained quiet. Then the man exited the room without asking anything. What the hell was he playing at?
 

CFC: You’re from Honduras and also write in Spanish. How difficult it is to switch from writing in Spanish to writing in English or vice versa?

JHB: It takes a while to get in to the proper frame of mind to sit and write. I usually put some music in the opposite language to which I’m writing. Why? Heck if I know, really!

However, one important thing is, I think and construct the sentences in the language that I’m writing, rather than translating from one to the other. Of course, I’m far from infallible. Enter proofreaders ­– can’t live without them!

The fun part—and I’m using the word “fun” very loosely here—is getting the right grammar and syntax. For example, Spanish places the adjectives after the noun, while English is the other way around. Thus, the “carro rojo” becomes the “red car.”
 

CFC: Tell us about your job coordinating the weekly Roundtable for The Big Thrill.

JHB: It’s been wonderful. I’ve been running the Thriller Roundtable since its relaunch back in April of 2012. Since I had participated in them back in 2011, I approached them to find a new spot for the promotion of a recent release; instead I got offered the opportunity to run it.

Every month I contact ITW members with upcoming releases to offer the spots. Coming up with the questions is fun, and I get to meet some of my all-time writer stars, like David Morrell and Raymond Benson. I recall bragging to my wife, “Hey, I’m exchanging emails with the authors of Rambo and James Bond!”

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist. He ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José’s genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw a twist of romance into the mix. His works include novels and short stories in both English and Spanish. He’s a member of the Short Fiction Writers Guild and the International Thriller Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator and contributing editor to their official e-zine The Big Thrill.

Find J.H. Bogran at his website, on Facebook, at Goodreads, or on Twitter: @JHBogran.

Find Firefall at: Rebel E Publishers, Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

 “FIREFALL is smart and engrossing. It's an intelligent, multilayered riff on international crime and punishment that has atmosphere to burn. It's a damned fine book.”

~ Jake Needham, author of THE UMBRELLA MAN and five other international crime novels

“From the power plays of an international band of car thieves to the behind-the-scenes of insurance fraud cases, all topped with a riveting and suspenseful climax, FIREFALL is an action-packed thriller. The small-dosed chapters, amidst exotic locations, won’t let you put the book down until you reach the end of this hell of a ride!”

~ Joe Moore, international bestselling co-author of THE BLADE and THE PHOENIX APOSTLES.

Does a protagonist have to be miserable?

By Sheila Lowe, author and forensic handwriting expert

Everyone alive is flawed in some way or another. None of us gets to be an adult without experiencing a load of crap that we’ve had to deal with. But I’ve noticed an extra helping of flaw and misery for the protagonists of many books I read. From the descriptions on the daily list of free or low cost books from BookBub, I’m struck by how many unhappy ones there are: alcoholics, drug abusers, “nearing 40 and desperately unhappy;” murdered spouse; broken heart; fighting cancer; “one tragedy after another.” And then, of course, there’s the perennially unhappy Kay Scarpetta.

Trust me, I understand the importance of “tension on every page.” I clearly remember a workshop I attended given by big time agent Donald Maas, who told us that to be successful writers, we must make things as bad for our protagonist as they could possibly be. Then make it worse. Then make it even worse. In fact, he spent most of a day repeating that mantra: make it even worse.

That’s a tough assignment if you like your protagonist. Putting him or her in dangerous situations is hard enough, but killing off their friends, making them ill, blowing up their house etc., takes real dedication to the craft. Claudia Rose, the heroine of my Forensic Handwriting mysteries is an ordinary person who, through her work, is thrown into extraordinary circumstances where she is forced to dig deep for courage, fortitude, and the other admirable characteristics that get her through. She’s been through her share of losses and difficulties, and I take it personally (crying real tears) when something awful happens to her.

Alcoholism, drug abuse, and all that other unhappy stuff is an ongoing part of life for many people. And when done well, those challenges can provide an interesting dimension to a character. The key, I think, is to make sure s/he is struggling to overcome those problems while keeping a sense of humor, not taking himself (or herself) so seriously that the reader can’t relate to him. We need to see the character arc—over the book, or through the series. Otherwise, there’s a danger of disliking that character, which could mean putting down the book and never picking it up again—the bane of an author’s existence. And, speaking from my own POV, I’m too old and leisure time is too limited  to spend it with people I don’t like, even in books.

There’s no moral to this post. Just meandering in my mind, wondering whether any of you have had the same thoughts. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I spent mine a bunch of mine fighting with Word (I’m a dyed-in-the-wool WordPerfect user).

The Trigger: Cover and Title... Finally!

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

As only a writer could do, I spent the week obsessing about the word the. I’ve had a title for my new thriller for months—The Trigger. But I started considering those powerful one-word thriller titles: Stolen, Missing, Inferno, Bombshell, Shiver, Dust (seriously, a new Patricia Cornwall), and I thought maybe I should title it just Trigger.

We developed a cover, and the single-word title looked great. I asked people in my house what they thought, and everyone said, “Yeah, I like Trigger better.” But it bothered me. Whenever I would talk about the story, I would stumble over the title. It started to sound funny.

Then my editor questioned the new title and said it made her think of a name, like the horse. So I knew it wasn’t right. Especially for people who might only see the title in text  (sans cover) and be confused by it.

So I’m back to The Trigger, which works well with the story, which goes like this:

Agent Jamie Dallas loves undercover assignments that get her out of the Phoenix Bureau. But when a woman and her baby disappear from an isolated community of preppers in Northern California, she knows the risk of infiltrating the armed group is dangerously high.

Once inside the compound, she discovers that the brothers who founded Destiny are scheming something far more devious than kidnapping or murder. Meanwhile, her local FBI contact, Agent McCullen, is pulled from her team and assigned to investigate the murder of a woman with phony ID, found at the bottom of a motel pool.

Soon Dallas finds herself in deeper trouble than she's ever encountered—with no way to reach her contacts. Can she break free of the bunker and stop their bizarre end-of-world plans? Will Agent McCullen identify the killer in time to help?

The Trigger is a gripping story that highlights our greatest fear—how a hacker and a fanatic with grandiose ideas can threaten civilization as we know it.

The book is scheduled for release January 1, and I have a great contest planned with a huge prize—a trip to Left Coast Crime. More details can be found on my website.

If you’re interested in an early copy of The Trigger (ebook and some print) and are willing to be on my street team to help launch it, please email me. ARCs will be ready in about a month.

So what do you think of the title? The cover? Story concept?

What is success?

by Stacy Green, author of psychological suspense with a dash of romance

What is success?

That is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. My second novel, TIN GOD, recently became an Amazon bestseller. It was a wonderful, euphoric feeling, but I shun the idea of being called a bestselling author. Thanks to great advertising, I simply sold a lot of copies at a sale price. It’s been great for visibility, but I don’t think it’s fair to call myself a bestseller. Sales are steady now, and it’s a wonderful feeling, but I’m still new at this gig. I don’t expect to have massive numbers thanks to amazing readers telling all their friends about the book.

And to me, that’s what a true bestseller is. A book that is so good (or at least has so much reader buzz) that you just have to try it out yourself.

I’m not there yet. But I’m working on it. 

But the experience has raised the question: what is success, and how do I measure it?

As an indie author, I invested a lot in the editing and cover of my book, and I’m finally crossing into the green side of the investment spectrum. So yes, there’s financial success. Like the majority of us, money has to be a major factor in my decision making. 

But there’s also critical success. Reviewers have loved the book in a way I never expected. Talk about the warm fuzzies! Nothing like praise to make a person want to work harder. 

And then there are the plain old numbers–the ones any business obsesses over. And in the publishing world, numbers mean bragging rights. 

But you know what? None of that truly equates to success. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but what success really means (or SHOULD mean) is that we are happy with the product and effort. Whether we are writers or engineers or executives or salespeople, at the end of the day, happiness in our career is more than money and accolades. It is feeling like we are doing something we truly love and something we’re meant to do. 

Not everyone is lucky enough to say that, but I am.

So I’m calling today a success. 

What about you? Have you been lucky enough to be able to pursue your dreams?

TIN GOD
**Semi-Finalist in The Best Indie Book Awards for Mystery/Suspense 

**A Kindle Bestseller in Mystery and Suspense.

Trapped by poverty and without many allies, Jaymee Ballard is determined to reunite with the daughter she believes was stolen from her. But when the one person willing to help Jaymee ends up murdered in one of the historic mansions in Roselea, Mississippi, she realizes the secret of her past has come back to haunt her.

Now any hope Jaymee has of making things right rests in a man she barely knows and is afraid to trust, a man with his own demons to fight. Up against years of deception, they rush to identify the killer before the evidence-and Jaymee's daughter-are lost.

TIN GOD is an action-packed romantic suspense/psychological thriller featuring a strong woman determined to find a demented serial killer and find justice for her child.

Purchase on Amazon

Paperback                                                                 

About the author :

Born in Indiana and raised in Iowa, Stacy Green earned degrees in journalism and sociology from Drake University. After a successful advertising career, Stacy became a proud stay-at-home mom to her miracle child. Now a full-time author, Stacy juggles her time between her demanding characters and supportive family. She loves reading, cooking, and the occasional gardening excursion. Stacy lives in Marion, Iowa with her husband Rob, their daughter Grace, and the family’s three obnoxious but lovable canine children.

Website: www.stacygreen.net

Amazon Author Page

Facebook Stacy Green, Author                  

Twitter @StacyGreen26

 

Rules and breaking them

by Jenny Hilborne
Author of mysteries and thrillers

Someone once said (or wrote somewhere) that there are only so many plausible plot lines for writing mysteries and thrillers. When I'm watching TV, I see truth in that statement. Mysteries can be formulaic with similar and overused plot lines.

A while ago, I came across a list of mystery writing "rules" on another blog post, where one of the rules was to "not reveal the bad guy too early on, or the reader will have no reason to continue reading." In this same list of "rules", the writer was also advised to not wait too long for the big reveal, or the reader will feel cheated. It's confusing and a challenge for the mystery writer. Following "rules" can make a book or a movie predictable. I've read plenty of comments about predictability in various negative reviews left by readers.

As a mystery/thriller reader, as well as a writer, I enjoy pitting my wits against the detective and trying to solve the crime first. I also enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the bad guy get his comeuppance. However, I also enjoy reading books by writers who break the "rules" and tell me upfront who the bad guy is, or dare to write their book with mixed 1st and 3rd person points of view. Harlan Coban does this brilliantly.

At my book events, I ask mystery readers what kinds of mysteries they like. Some are clear in their answer and name the sub genre or the authors they enjoy. Others aren't as aware of the sub genres that exist within the mystery/thriller genre, which opens the door for a great discussion. For me, and a lot of readers I talk to at events, the most important part of a mystery is the plot. It has to be plausible and contain lots of fast moving action.

When I wrote Stone Cold, I had the plot in mind, and the sub plot, but I wanted to include chapters in the killer's point of view. I wanted to try something different and reveal the killer's identity early on in the book. This goes against the "rules" I've read for writing mystery, but perhaps not for writing suspense, or a thriller.

The reviews, so far, have been mixed. Some readers I talk to believe if you know who the bad guy is upfront there is no mystery. Knowing who the villain is early on is one of the differences between a mystery, and a suspense or a thriller. Stone Cold is a psychological thriller. It delves into the motivations of each of the characters. It is not a mystery and the detective is not the main character. Not everyone likes it (I knew that would be the case going in).

When we know the bad guy upfront, a book (and a movie) can still be loaded with tension and suspense. It lies partly in the chase; how will the villain be captured? Will he be captured? As one reviewer for Stone Cold wrote: "Justice is a strange commodity and it isn't always served."

Psychology is a fascinating subject. Psychological thrillers are always filled with tension. It isn't always what a villain does that's so shocking, but why they do it. What makes them behave this way? How many lives will be put at risk when they take the law into their own hands? The 'why?' was likely the most fascinating aspect of the Jodie Arias trial. We know upfront what she did. Viewers found it riveting to watch the trial. We all wanted to know why.

Villains have different motivations. Maybe Jodie Arias is plain evil, but not all villains are. When a villain has redeeming qualities, it causes conflict. In fiction, the villain is not always placed in the book to create hurdles for the hero/heroine. In Stone Cold, there are three villains, all with different motivations, and each one provokes a different level of either sympathy or abhorrence in the reader, necessary for the story.

An interesting villain should be able to fool readers into believing there is an element of good in their character. Their true intentions, and the motivations behind them, often lay hidden until much later. This creates complex layers to the story and more suspense, even when we know their identity early on. The hidden traits of the villain are still a mystery. When we know his identity upfront, we can see more easily that he is a skilled and cunning liar, and we can see his determination. He may not always win, but he will test the hero/heroine.  

Readers: how do you feel about knowing the identity of the villain early on in a thriller? Do you find the chase compelling?

Writers: do you follow the "rules" when writing mysteries or thrillers?