Today I have the pleasure of welcoming fellow-author Claire Stibbe, who is here to tell us about a very special promotion.
Welcome, Claire!
Hi
Sue!
Thank
you so much for inviting me to your blog this chilly, snowy December morning.
Well, it is here in New Mexico, USA, where cedar fires are burning in every hearth
and people are already slugging down that eggnog by the jug.
I
just want to say WOW, is it December already? That means National Novel Writing
Month (NaNoWriMo) has ended. Congratulations to some of the Crooked Cat
Publishing authors who took part in it and finished.
Crooked
Cat Publishing released the first in my Detective Temeke series, The 9th Hour, in November of this year.
One of the hardest obstacles of writing is the perfectionism we authors have
with our books. Does it read well? Does it makes sense? Is it even interesting?
We know that every word counts, and venturing onto that blank page with words that
either stick or get deleted the following day is a daunting task. I’m always
wandering between the park and my office in the search for scenes, words and
great dialogue. I brainstorm, tell and re-tell. I watch the weather for signs,
smells and sounds.
In
my fictional world, the characters are the ones who lead the book. They take me
to places my structure never knew existed and trample on any specific sequence
of events I may have penned in advance. With fiction, it’s all smoke and mirrors
and outlines… Eh? What’s an outline anyway?
I
loved writing The 9th Hour because it
became spontaneous, exciting and nothing like I imagined it would be. Detective
Temeke strayed off those pages into a world of his own and I had to run to keep
up. He can be downright stubborn and thoughtless, but his sniffer is the most
accurate yet. The only problem is, Temeke is the one who, by hook or by crook, always
raises the stakes. Any conflict with him is going to be high.
Malin
Santiago becomes larger as the series grows. In the second book, Night Eyes, she is more settled in her
role as Temeke’s partner. She watches and learns as one does in a new job. It’s
not until the third book that she literally jumps off the page. I have tremendous respect for her and Temeke
as I do for real detectives in the real world. If it wasn’t for the detectives
I’ve spent valuable time with, these characters would be as flat as a cow pat.
When
I finished the second book, Night Eyes,
there was a round of applause in my house and a time of great celebration. As I
embark on the third in the series over the next nine weeks, I’m reminded of a
small voice saying - finishing is the single thing that separates those who want to write from those who actually
have. So I keep learning and I keep writing. There’s nothing I’d rather do.
If
you enjoy psychological thrillers mixed with a little Scandinavian noir, The 9th Hour is available on Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords. It is also on sale for 99c /
99p for a short time over the Christmas season.
Thank
you for hosting me!
It's been a pleasure, Claire. Please come again!
Links:
http://authl.it/4h5 (all
regions)
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