Why can't I ever take the easy road?

By Gayle Carline
Author of Mysteries and More!

Whoever said timing is everything deserves to be my next murder victim, because he's right and I hate him for it.

While I was writing From the Horse's Mouth, I was thinking about what kind of adventure to send my series character, Peri, to chase. I'm not a cookie-cutter author, so I had to have something happening in her personal life that would collide with her professional one.

That's the way Peri rolls.

I couldn't think of a damn thing, but I did get an idea for a mystery with new characters. Horse shows are interesting places, because everything looks healthy and happy on the outside, and there is a web of backstabbing and illegal practices underneath. Not in my barn, but I've heard rumors.

So I decided to not only write a standalone mystery, set at an AQHA horse show in Burbank, but to throw in some romantic suspense. Mostly this was because I wanted the heroine in this book to be kind of the anti-Peri. She's younger, a sleuth, and unattached. 'Unattached' is the code word for let's hook her up with someone.

(Between you and me, I also kept thinking of cowboys, which fueled the whole romance thing.)

NOW THEN, I could have made it a straightforward mystery with a dash of romance between my sleuth and a handsome cowboy. But NOOOOO, that would be too easy. That would enable me to actually write this book in a timely fashion. Why would I want that, when instead, I could give the cowboy a rival, set up an entire herd of murder suspects, let everyone think the murderer is one person, then reveal it to be another one in a spectacular twist?

Are there no drugs I can take for this desire to be difficult?

I currently have two strong rivals for Willie's affections - such strong men that I don't know how she will chose one of them. I also have a crime with a dozen suspects to corral. In addition, I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that "romantic suspense" as a genre comes with a set of rules I haven't read.

Hey, I read all the directions on every gizmo in our house. Is there a Big Book of Genre Guidelines out there to download to my Kindle?

Oh, and to make it interesting, I'm halfway through writing this book and I suddenly figured out what to do with Peri next. Had I waited, I'd be writing another Peri book. Now I keep chasing her story out of my brain so I can finish this one.

In honor of my penchant for swimming upstream (holding a bowling ball), here's a little Jim Croce song that sums up my life:



Anyone else feel this way?

Portrait of a victim (sort of)

By Gayle Carline
Author of Peri Minneopa Mysteries (and other fun books)

Peg's recent post about characters that shrinks love to read was very timely for me. I'm in the midst of writing a brand new mystery with spankin' new characters. It's not set in my hometown this time, but it is set in my world - the world of American Quarter Horse Association horse shows.

My murder victim (at least the first one, so far) is a man who is popular and charming but not nice. I had a general mental picture of him before I started writing him and thought I didn't need much more, since, well, tick-tock, his life is on a short timer. Physically, he reminds me of this guy:

(Sorry, Guy Fieri - love you on Food Network!)

Then I realized I needed to write a chapter in his point-of-view. He had a lifestyle and some practices that I needed to show instead of tell. This meant I had to figure out what made this smarmy guy work.

Hello, Journal. Meet Bobby Fermino.

I want to win. Doesn't matter what at - I want to win at everything. It's my parents' fault. If they hadn't spent so much time fawning over my big brother, I wouldn't have had to try so hard. Tony could do no wrong. He was so shiny and perfect. I don't get it.

I mean, for Chrissake, he always had his head stuck in a goddamned book. Yeah, he got the grades, but what fun is that? They gave him everything, just for a few goddamned A's. A free ride to college, hell, a car to get there. Not just a car, a brand new car.

School was boring. I couldn't wait to get outta there. Mom and Dad kept telling me I was smart enough to apply myself. To what? Didn't really know what I wanted to do, so I spent most of my time out with the guys at the ranch. Watched them ride fast, rope cattle, then drink a few beers. That looked like fun.

As soon as I was old enough, I started riding and roping and drinking with them. They were good guys. Not book smart. Not worried about anything. That's the way to be. When you're not worried, you can figure out how to get ahead.

Tony graduated from high school and got a BMW. I graduated from high school and got the boot. No car, no college, just an invitation out the door to the "real world" and a promise to take me back when I "straightened up."

Don't do me no favors.

Good thing I'd been playing the angles. I met a gal, Gillian, whose parents owned a big spread in Arizona, near Phoenix. I managed to bullshit my way into starting their young horses which gave me some income while I was banging their daughter. She was a nice kid. So nice I married her when she said she was knocked up.

Turns out, she was a sly one. There was no baby, but at least now I was in the family so I could slide my chair up to the big table.

Soon I had a real trainer shingle, Bobby Fermino, All Around and Performance Horses. I could take a mediocre horse and turn them into a champion. Okay, so sometimes I needed a little more than just "training." Better living through chemistry, as they say. And of course there are procedures.

The clients didn't mind. Their horses were winning at shows. I was winning. Winning money at reining. Winning prestige and a name at pleasure events. Being paid for endorsing products. I didn't even have to advertise. My clients took out ads in the AQHA Journal telling everyone what a hot shot trainer I was.

The key was to get clients who didn't want to show their own horses. None of these amateur riders for me. I worked with horses, not people. That way, I didn't have a lot of eyes scrutinizing what I do. Who cares how I did it?

Not that I don't like people. The horse show world is a great place to meet folks, especially the female kind. Could I help it if these girls flirted with me? My wife was hounding me for kids. I wasn't in the mood to raise any brats. Besides, she was starting to look her age. I still needed an outlet for my urges, though.

Gillian walked into the tack room one night to find me with one of my outlets, Brittany. Funny, I never saw her until Britt had put on her panties and left. That Gillian is sharp. She had pictures. Lots of pictures, and not just the action shots of me and young girls.

Pictures of my training methods.

So my methods are harsh. So what? They're just horses, for Chrissake. The clients can't care, they're winning. But the AQHA would care. I'd be lucky to get a suspension. Probably banned for life.

I was given choices: get out of town or else. She didn't even care if my crimes tainted her family's name. "Daddy's got enough money to shield us." She tossed me the keys to the ranch foreman's 15-year-old Chevy pickup.

"Daddy can buy him a new one. Send me an address and I'll ship your clothes."

Luck is a funny thing. Bad luck had put my ass on the road at two in the morning. Good luck had put me on the road at the exact time to take pictures of my own - pictures that would keep my bills paid for life.

Actually, that last sentence is not what his journal says. But a writer's gotta have some secrets.

So... show of hands: How many of you want to kill Bobby yourselves? How many of you think he just needs a hug?

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