Serial Killer by Suzanne Rossi

Hello, everyone.

Well, it's happened again. Somehow, the end of the month has crept up on me and here I am with only two days left on my blog entry deadline. Naturally, I had no idea what to write. Then I remembered the advice of an author friend, "When in doubt, blatantly self-promote." Sounds like a plan to me.

I'm happy to say that I recently signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for Killer Country Club, book #4 in my Snoop Group series. I'm expecting edits to come through any day now. I have to admit that when I wrote the first book, I had no plans to turn it into a series, but a friend told me she wanted more from this bunch of diverse women, especially Anne and Gil. Since I'd left the ending concerning the relationship between my hero and heroine up in the air, decided to give it a shot.

I can't quite recall how A Novel Death first grew in my mind. I played the "what if" game like I often do. What if a critique group decided to help solve the murder of one of their members? The seed germinated and took off. I gave them all motives and secrets. I also gave one of the ladies a love interest in the lead detective. The covers are all below.

So, before I knew it, I was writing book #2, Killer Conference. I used my favorite conference, Moonlight and Magnolias, as the basis for the get-together. Same for the hotel where it's held. I've been to M & M many times and decided it was the perfect setting--a large attendance, lots of editors and agents, and enough suspects to keep cops and critique groups busy for the duration of the meeting. Nothing like the heroine finding the bodies of two agents only to discover herself facing the killer to get the old heart pumping.

In book #2, I introduced a couple of characters readers would love to hate--Fran, dictatorial and just plain nasty; and Susan, paranoid, opinionated, and just plain nuts. By introducing those characters I knew immediately I had book #3 on the plotting grid. A Taste of Death practically wrote itself. I've been involved with enough RWA chapters and other writing groups to have witnessed back-stabbing and power grabs first hand. What a perfect time to put that knowledge to good use. It seemed natural to have a victim drop dead in front of dozens of witnesses during a chapter meeting luncheon. And to know it was no accident. Someone knew about her severe peanut allergy, right?

Since the relationship between my recurring hero and heroine is moving forward with each story, it wasn't long before I found myself working on book #4, Killer Country Club. This one created problems from the start. The setting of a country club brought in a ton of new characters, personalities, and a more complex plot. I can usually bang out a book in three or four months, but this one took over a year. Let's just say a lot of revisions went into it. Good thing, too, since my editor didn't have too may of her own to suggest. I don't as yet have the cover for the book, but here is the blurb.

Anne Jamieson and the Snoop Group are on the prowl to investigate a murder linked to the local country club. Anne decides to take out a trial membership to track down the killer. Then she stumbles upon a second body in the club hot tub. Before long, Anne is the target of an attempted murder. The further she and the Snoop Group delve into personalities, the closer they come to the truth. The suspect list grows along with the body count. And can Anne's fiance, Detective Gil Collins, keep her safe. Will Anne and her friends find the killer before another murder occurs?

By now I was getting tired of the Snoop Group, so decided to end the series. (Does that make me a serial killer? I know--really bad pun, but I love bad puns.) However, once again my friend said, No! I want a wedding and more bodies for the group to find. Now, I find my twisted mind working on how to get the Snoop Group along on the honeymoon. I'm happy to say I think I have the solution. I know the inciting incident, the killer, and the motive. I even have a tentative title for book #5, Honeymoon to Die For. (And no, I'm not killing off the hero or the heroine.) Unfortunately, that's all I have at the moment, but give me some time.

I guess I have succeeded indulging in blatant self-promotion enough for today. Hope you have a great 4th of July and I'll see you next month with more thoughts and comments. Aren't you all lucky? LOL.

Suzanne

Battered and Bruised, But Hanging in There

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all have had a smooth transition from summer into fall. Unfortunately, mine has been a little rough.

I have never been what you can call graceful. I'm not accident prone or a klutz--well, okay, I am. I constantly trip over nothing. At any rate one of the lingering memories of my mother is her telling me, "For Pete's sake, child, lift your feet!" Now, my mother was a big believer in the worse the medicine tasted or the more the topical application stung, the faster I'd get better or heal. Her favorite weapon was Methiolate--no Mecurachrome (not sure of the spelling so bear with me), but the stuff that stung like hell. I don't think either are available anymore. I went through my early childhood with orange knees, elbows, and band-aids. The situation didn't improve with age. I was always one of the last kids picked for team sports during Phys. Ed. Just not coordinated AT ALL.

So that brings me up to a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I were walking the dogs. Now, we live in an older neighborhood with mature trees. Those old tree roots have worked their way under the sidewalks in some places causing them to buckle and crack. In other spots, the sections built over utility lines have sunk causing more unevenness.

I'm walking Fred who pulls and tugs. He's always in a hurry, so much so that I call him FredEx. Anyhoo, he suddenly jerked to the left. My right foot hit one of those upheavals. I fell and did a face plant on the sidewalk. I've always heard about incidents occurring in slow motion. It's true. I remember the sidewalk slowly coming my way and not being able to do a thing about it. Kinda scary.

I tried to get to my hands and knees. That's when I saw my glasses shattered on the concrete with blood dripping on them. Then the pain hit. I rolled over onto my back and groaned. My husband had both dogs and couldn't help me up. Luckily, a neighbor was outside and came to our assistance. He and his wife got me to my feet and into a lawn chair where they wiped the blood away as much as possible and provided a baggie full of ice wrapped in a towel for my forehead. Hubby hustled the dogs home and picked me up for a trip to the the ER.

Three hours later I was back home. Thank goodness I wasn't badly injured and didn't even need stitches, just those little strips. The CAT scan and X-rays showed my brains weren't scrambled any worse than before. My head hurt like hell and the next day both of my eyes were black--and I mean black. I resembled a character in a horror movie.

This happened about two weeks ago. The bruises are slowly fading, although I may never again wear purple eye shadow. We still walk the dogs, but you better believe I keep my head down and watch where I'm going. On the up side, I don't have to do much for a Halloween costume. I'll simple go as a raccoon.

Oh, and FYI, did you know that the homeowner is responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalk in front of their home? The city reserves the right to dig up the slabs for routine utility work, but if they don't do a good job replacing the section, it's up to you to shoulder the correction if you want. Many of my neighbors are older and on fixed incomes. I would never sue a neighbor over something like this, but some people will. I plan on buying a lot of ice melting chemicals for the walk in front of our house this winter.

So that's about it. I wear a large hat and sunglasses whenever I need to go out. In today's climate of accusations and finger-pointing, I'd hate to have my husband stared at as a wife-beater. Nope, nothing like that. I'm just a klutz.

Geez, I almost forgot. Book #3 of The Snoop Group series will be released in both e-format and paperback on November 26, 2018. Books #1 and #2, A Novel Death and Killer Conference are out now and available through The Wild Rose Press and on Amazon.

I'll wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving and hope you have a great time with friends and family.

Until next month.

Suzanne

Setting As A Character by Suzanne Rossi

Hi, everyone.

I just want to take a moment to wish you all a wonderful Memorial Day and say thank you to the men and women in our armed forces. You do a great job and I appreciate it.

The two things that drive a good book are characters the reader can relate to and like, along with a plot that takes us on a journey around each and every bend of the story. Some authors are character oriented, adjusting the plot to fit the characters' actions. Occasionally, characters take on a life of their own and go with it. Not much the author can do except follow. Other writers structure the plot so that the characters must act and react to the situation. Both are effective, although as authors we must make sure one doesn't overtake the other. A great plot with weak characters is as unsatisfying as great characters following a weak plot line.

But there's one other thing that can drive both--the setting. Believe it or not, the setting of a story can project both elements of character and plot.

For instance, in my first book, Along Came Quinn, I set most of the story in Guatemala. I took a city girl, hooked her up with an adventurer (yes, opposites attract), and off they go to Central America to search for lost treasure. If this sounds a lot like Romancing the Stone, it is. I love that movie, and while my story is similar, it does have a nice plot twist.

At any rate, back to the setting. Have I ever been to Guatemala? No, and I'm not likely to go anytime soon. If you are going to use an exotic place but have never been there, then do extensive research. Find out the political atmosphere, tourist spots, food, rural life, the weather, the language(s) spoken, the customs of the people, and the flora and fauna. I'll bet I had close to fifty pages of notes in a folder by the time I finished. I used, perhaps, two pages in the story.

In Nearly Departed, I invented a dilapidated Antebellum mansion as the catalyst to bring my hero and heroine together. I set the story in Northern Mississippi, a locale I know. The house became as much of a character as Cybil and Max, not to mention the ghosts inhabiting it.

My book, Deadly Inheritance, was set on a Caribbean island that I imagined as a cross between Jamaica and Barbados. I used the size, food, and location of Jamaica, but since I had vacationed one year in Barbados, I utilized the physical features and the people. It was a blend that worked well. I had one reader tell me they felt like they were there the whole time. Always a good thing to hear.

At one point in time, I worked first as a dealer of blackjack and roulette, then later as a floor supervisor at a casino in Tunica, Mississippi. It became the setting for Death is the Pits. I brought my personal knowledge of how casinos are run (as opposed to should be run--there was a difference), the gamblers I have known, and how the games are played to this story. Adding a couple of bodies along the way was just plain fun.

For The Good Twin, I adopted my brother-in-law's lake house in North Central Illinois as one of the houses in the book. I'm not sure if it was really a character, but the ambiance was what I wanted to achieve. The real lake area works well as my fictional one for the suspense of prowlers in the woods, and intruders by water.

So, the next time you pick up a book, pay attention to the setting. Do you feel like you're there with the characters? Is it a place you might like to visit? Can you identify with it in some way--your hometown, your favorite relative's home or city, or where you currently live? If so, then the author has done his or her job.

Before I let you go, I want to celebrate by sharing with you the blurb and cover of my next book, Killer Conference. It's the second book of a series I call The Snoop Group. Book #1 was A Novel Death. I don't have a release date yet, but will let you know when I do.

"Anne Jamieson and her critique partners are once again thrown into murder and mayhem while attending a writers conference. Anne starts to believe she is a dead body magnet when she finds obnoxious agent, Carmella Radcliff, stabbed to death in the ladies room. This brings Detective Gil Collins onto the scene. Anne was hoping for a relationship when he was the lead detective on an earlier case she helped investigate, but lies and secrets drove them apart. The Snoop Group as they have named themselves, decide to assist again, but then, a second agent is killed. The conference offers a long line of suspects and motives. Was it the best-selling author? A disgruntled editor? An angry agent? An attendee whose work was rejected? Or someone else? Time is running out and the conference will only last so long. Amid the commotion, can Gil and Anne rekindle the spark from months ago before the murderer claims Anne as a third victim?"

One more thing. May marks my first anniversary as a member of this blog team. I want to thank Caroline Clemmons for inviting me to join such wonderful authors. I've loved participating and look forward to a long relationship with them and the readers of Smart Girls Read Romance.

Thanks to all, and I'll see you again next month.

Suzanne Rossi

WELCOME SUZANNE ROSSI TO SMART GIRLS READ ROMANCE

By Suzanne Rossi

Hi everyone.

Before I say anything, I’d like to thank Caroline Clemmons for inviting me to join the “Smart Girls Read Romance Blog.” I’ll be here on the 30^th of each month (guess I get February off ) with what I hope will be interesting views into my world of writing.

Let me begin by introducing myself. I am Suzanne Rossi. I write romantic suspense for The Wild Rose Press. My two latest releases are “Through My Eyes” and “A Novel Death.”

Sasha Bellwood hates being psychic, but is forced to deal with her abilities when she witnesses a murder through the eyes of the victim. She is not fond of skeptics.

Detective Reed McIntyre hates being stuck on the cold case desk. Almost killed in the line of duty, he’s itching to get back into the action. He thinks psychics are frauds.

With Sasha’s abilities increasing daily, the two must overcome their suspicions of each other and their growing attraction to track down a serial killer before he strikes again. Unfortunately, the murderer already has both in his sights and is stalking them through the streets of Memphis.

How far can Sasha push her powers of the mind, and will she and Reed survive to claim a future together?

Finding the bludgeoned body of bestselling author Isadora Powell sends Anne Jamieson and her four remaining critique partners into a panic. All have secrets and motives for seeing the woman dead.

mysterAnd the victim, a genius at research, knew what lay hidden. With Anne leading the way, they attempt to help the police solve the crime. But each bit of evidence unearthed peels another layer from those secrets. Lies to the police and each other trip them up at every turn. Can they find the murderer before he or she strikes again? Could it be one of them? And can the budding relationship between Anne and lead detective Gil Collins flourish under a cloud of suspicion?

Okay, now that I have the blatant self-promotion out of the way, let’s move on.

I was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana—actually, a small town north of there called Carmel. Well, it was small when I grew up. Not so much anymore. I’ve been married 46 years (which conflicts with the fact I am only “39” years old and have been for some time now) come August to a man who thoroughly gets what I do, God Bless him. I have two sons and seven grandchildren. I’m also a dog lover. The more, the merrier—both grandkids and dogs.

At present I live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida living just five miles from the beach. That’s far enough away to avoid the crowds, but close enough to enjoy the sand and surf on occasion.

My passions are my family, reading, writing, wine (must have wine!), shopping, and sitting on my lanai watching the boats go down the canal heading for the ocean. I love Italian and Mexican cuisines, but, in order not to resemble the Goodyear blimp, try to follow the Atkins diet. Sometimes I even succeed.

As time passes, you’ll discover I can be sarcastic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I use a lot of it in my books along with humor. Can’t live without humor. It keeps me sane, especially during the times when that stupid plot line just won’t come together like I want.

This is me in a nutshell—I love clichés. I hope you don’t find me bland or boring. In June I’ll get down to the nitty gritty (see, told you I loved clichés) and give you some insight on how I view the world and my writing.

Thanks to all of you. See you soon.

Suzanne Rossi