Christina Dodd's Blog - Posts Tagged "virtue-falls"
Readers' Guide/OBSESSION FALLS
Part 1: Taylor
1. In the first chapter of OBSESSION FALLS, we discover Taylor Summers has suffered failed personal relationships and seeks a way to put interest and meaning into her life by pursuing her dream of being an artist. As an adult, what dreams have you abandoned as impractical? What skills would you now pursue if you had the chance?
2. Taylor goes alone in Idaho's isolated Sawtooth Mountain Wilderness region to sketch. She realizes she's about to witness a child's murder by paid assassins. She's armed with nothing more than a drawing pad and her pencils, yet she knows she has to somehow distract the killers. What would you risk to save a child's life? If you could look into your futures and see the consequences she faced — loss of reputation, identity, poverty, hardship and pain — would your answer remain the same?
3. After Taylor saves the child, she's on the run in the wilderness, winter is coming on, and she faces the constant challenges of finding food, shelter and warmth. Would you survive such extremes? Why or why not?
4. As the harsh winter gains strength, Taylor survives by breaking into unoccupied vacation homes. While reading the news on the internet, she discovers her character has been maligned; she has been accused to orchestrating the child's kidnapping. Do you believe, based on what she read, that Taylor was justified in believing that she should not return to civilization, that there is no justice for her there? She steals food, shelter, and firearms. To survive, are you willing to commit a felony?
6. Using a pseudonym, Taylor at last gains employment at a company catering parties to the wealthy homeowners in the area. She believes she can escape the desperate life she's been leading… then in one of the most chilling moments in the novel, she witnesses a brutal assassination. Once again she barely escapes with her life. When at last she arrives in Virtue Falls, she makes friends, builds a business and an identity. Yet she decides to seek justice for herself, claim her true name, and somehow defeat the relentless villain who pursues her. If you had survived such harrowing circumstances to reach a safe haven, would you risk all you had gained to clear your reputation and live o fear? Or would you take your chances and live quietly for the rest of your life?
Part 2: Kateri
1. In the novel VIRTUE FALLS, Kateri Kwinault was the local Coast Guard commander. During the devastating earthquake and tsunami, through no fault of her own, she lost a Coast Guard cutter and (almost) her life. She is court martialled (standard Coast Guard procedure with the loss of a vessel) and forced to resign her post. Many Virtue Falls residents, already prejudiced against Native Americans, judge she has proved herself incompetent. Because of gender, nationality or race, have you ever faced this kind of injustice?
2. Kateri believes she saw consumed by the Native American Frog God and reborn to this earth, and in fact she holds special powers. When Taylor arrives in Virtue Falls suffering from injury and hypothermia, Kateri is able to breath life into her. And under the right circumstances, Kateri is able to make the earth move and with that gift she changes the chain of Coast Guard command. Do you believe in the supernatural? Have you ever had anything otherworldly happen to you: seen a ghost, had a premonition, other? If you had powers, would you use them and in what circumstances?
Part 3: Friendship/Women in jeopardy/Themes
1. Because of the role Kateri plays in saving Taylor's life, the two women become fast friends. What do you think their friendship contributed to their successes? Taylor and Kateri face incredible, difficult challenges. In their own ways, they both triumph, yet they both also pay a terrible price. Do you believe reading novels in which the female protagonists strengthens your own ability to face the trials of your life? Discuss your reasons. You may share your own stories and experiences.
2. Both Taylor and Kateri find themselves manipulated by wealthy, powerful men playing at life according to the rules of a deadly online game. Yet Taylor tells Kennedy, "You don’t know jackshit about survival," and in the end, she saves her own life and his with cunning and strategy — and by breaking the rules. Do you believe that women are more likely than men to "think outside the box" and find an unlikely alternative strategy? If so, do you believe that's a learned behavior or a gender-based behavior? Or are such gender generalizations unfair and, based on the person, a matter of degrees?
3. What did you think of the ending of OBSESSION FALLS? Have you read the alternative ending? Do you like it better?
4. Finally: What are the themes you see in OBSESSION FALLS? What inspired you? What angered you? What haunted you? What scene or scenes will you remember best about OBSESSION FALLS?
1. In the first chapter of OBSESSION FALLS, we discover Taylor Summers has suffered failed personal relationships and seeks a way to put interest and meaning into her life by pursuing her dream of being an artist. As an adult, what dreams have you abandoned as impractical? What skills would you now pursue if you had the chance?
2. Taylor goes alone in Idaho's isolated Sawtooth Mountain Wilderness region to sketch. She realizes she's about to witness a child's murder by paid assassins. She's armed with nothing more than a drawing pad and her pencils, yet she knows she has to somehow distract the killers. What would you risk to save a child's life? If you could look into your futures and see the consequences she faced — loss of reputation, identity, poverty, hardship and pain — would your answer remain the same?
3. After Taylor saves the child, she's on the run in the wilderness, winter is coming on, and she faces the constant challenges of finding food, shelter and warmth. Would you survive such extremes? Why or why not?
4. As the harsh winter gains strength, Taylor survives by breaking into unoccupied vacation homes. While reading the news on the internet, she discovers her character has been maligned; she has been accused to orchestrating the child's kidnapping. Do you believe, based on what she read, that Taylor was justified in believing that she should not return to civilization, that there is no justice for her there? She steals food, shelter, and firearms. To survive, are you willing to commit a felony?
6. Using a pseudonym, Taylor at last gains employment at a company catering parties to the wealthy homeowners in the area. She believes she can escape the desperate life she's been leading… then in one of the most chilling moments in the novel, she witnesses a brutal assassination. Once again she barely escapes with her life. When at last she arrives in Virtue Falls, she makes friends, builds a business and an identity. Yet she decides to seek justice for herself, claim her true name, and somehow defeat the relentless villain who pursues her. If you had survived such harrowing circumstances to reach a safe haven, would you risk all you had gained to clear your reputation and live o fear? Or would you take your chances and live quietly for the rest of your life?
Part 2: Kateri
1. In the novel VIRTUE FALLS, Kateri Kwinault was the local Coast Guard commander. During the devastating earthquake and tsunami, through no fault of her own, she lost a Coast Guard cutter and (almost) her life. She is court martialled (standard Coast Guard procedure with the loss of a vessel) and forced to resign her post. Many Virtue Falls residents, already prejudiced against Native Americans, judge she has proved herself incompetent. Because of gender, nationality or race, have you ever faced this kind of injustice?
2. Kateri believes she saw consumed by the Native American Frog God and reborn to this earth, and in fact she holds special powers. When Taylor arrives in Virtue Falls suffering from injury and hypothermia, Kateri is able to breath life into her. And under the right circumstances, Kateri is able to make the earth move and with that gift she changes the chain of Coast Guard command. Do you believe in the supernatural? Have you ever had anything otherworldly happen to you: seen a ghost, had a premonition, other? If you had powers, would you use them and in what circumstances?
Part 3: Friendship/Women in jeopardy/Themes
1. Because of the role Kateri plays in saving Taylor's life, the two women become fast friends. What do you think their friendship contributed to their successes? Taylor and Kateri face incredible, difficult challenges. In their own ways, they both triumph, yet they both also pay a terrible price. Do you believe reading novels in which the female protagonists strengthens your own ability to face the trials of your life? Discuss your reasons. You may share your own stories and experiences.
2. Both Taylor and Kateri find themselves manipulated by wealthy, powerful men playing at life according to the rules of a deadly online game. Yet Taylor tells Kennedy, "You don’t know jackshit about survival," and in the end, she saves her own life and his with cunning and strategy — and by breaking the rules. Do you believe that women are more likely than men to "think outside the box" and find an unlikely alternative strategy? If so, do you believe that's a learned behavior or a gender-based behavior? Or are such gender generalizations unfair and, based on the person, a matter of degrees?
3. What did you think of the ending of OBSESSION FALLS? Have you read the alternative ending? Do you like it better?
4. Finally: What are the themes you see in OBSESSION FALLS? What inspired you? What angered you? What haunted you? What scene or scenes will you remember best about OBSESSION FALLS?
Vote for the next book cover
Dear Ones,
I'm still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of being a Goodreads author, and I don't know if this is the place to post this. Let me know if I've stepped wrong! Anyway …
My publisher, St. Martins Press, and I need your help! Today, Sunday January 10, we’re asking you to choose the cover of my third full-length Virtue Falls suspense, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING! We're doing it with a Google survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10vuz... (I would post an image of the two choices, but I'm not even sure the links will work. You might have to cut and paste.)
I love the colors, the way the title and my name pop, and most of all, that creepy handprint on the window. But opinions are all over the map on which head shot best says, “Woman in Jeopardy.” Please vote! Then come back here and let's discuss your choice.
You can read the excerpt here: http://christinadodd.com/book/because... Click the green "Read an Excerpt" button.
Or you can read the description here on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Thank you!
Best, Christina Dodd
I'm still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of being a Goodreads author, and I don't know if this is the place to post this. Let me know if I've stepped wrong! Anyway …
My publisher, St. Martins Press, and I need your help! Today, Sunday January 10, we’re asking you to choose the cover of my third full-length Virtue Falls suspense, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING! We're doing it with a Google survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10vuz... (I would post an image of the two choices, but I'm not even sure the links will work. You might have to cut and paste.)
I love the colors, the way the title and my name pop, and most of all, that creepy handprint on the window. But opinions are all over the map on which head shot best says, “Woman in Jeopardy.” Please vote! Then come back here and let's discuss your choice.
You can read the excerpt here: http://christinadodd.com/book/because... Click the green "Read an Excerpt" button.
Or you can read the description here on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Thank you!
Best, Christina Dodd
Cover Winner BECAUSE I'M WATCHING
Dear Ones,
You picked the cover for the next full-length Virtue Falls thriller, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING! The survey had 2143 responses and some very vehement opinions posted on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and here on Goodreads. The decisive winner is cover #2 with 1398 votes (65.5%.)
If you'd like to:
— See the survey graph, it's here: http://christinadodd.com/news/news/
— Put BECAUSE I'M WATCHING on your Goodreads “To-Read” list: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— Read the BECAUSE I’M WATCHING excerpt, it's here: http://christinadodd.com/book/because...
Thank you for making this easy for my publisher, St. Martins Press, and me. We appreciate your input!
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
http://christinadodd.com
(P.S. I realize the image is big, but I'm pretty amazed I figured out how to put it in at all so let's pretend it's perfect. ;) )
You picked the cover for the next full-length Virtue Falls thriller, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING! The survey had 2143 responses and some very vehement opinions posted on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and here on Goodreads. The decisive winner is cover #2 with 1398 votes (65.5%.)
If you'd like to:
— See the survey graph, it's here: http://christinadodd.com/news/news/
— Put BECAUSE I'M WATCHING on your Goodreads “To-Read” list: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— Read the BECAUSE I’M WATCHING excerpt, it's here: http://christinadodd.com/book/because...
Thank you for making this easy for my publisher, St. Martins Press, and me. We appreciate your input!
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
http://christinadodd.com
(P.S. I realize the image is big, but I'm pretty amazed I figured out how to put it in at all so let's pretend it's perfect. ;) )
My Husband's Inspiration for LOVE NEVER DIES
Dear Ones,
How did the idea for LOVE NEVER DIES come about? My husband's background is in structural engineering and he loves architectural history, so when he read a book about Seattle, he was fascinated by the fact that Denny Park, the oldest in the city, was originally a cemetery. They moved the graves to make it a park and my husband asked, "What if they missed a grave and one ghost was trapped?"
Makes a shiver run up your spine, doesn't it? It did for me! Together we plotted LOVE NEVER DIES:
A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by the past.
Only one woman can right all the wrongs…
If she can survive the night…
I hope you enjoy LOVE NEVER DIES and all of the Virtue Falls series!
#1 THE LISTENER: A Virtue Falls short story
#2 VIRTUE FALLS: The First Virtue Falls Full-Length Suspense
#3 THE RELATIVES: A Virtue Falls short story
#4 OBSESSION FALLS: The Second Virtue Falls Full-Length Suspense
#5 LOVE NEVER DIES
#6 BECAUSE I'M WATCHING: The third Virtue Falls Full-length Suspense, coming Sept. 6, 2016 to your shelf and your Reader!
Warmly, Christina Dodd
How did the idea for LOVE NEVER DIES come about? My husband's background is in structural engineering and he loves architectural history, so when he read a book about Seattle, he was fascinated by the fact that Denny Park, the oldest in the city, was originally a cemetery. They moved the graves to make it a park and my husband asked, "What if they missed a grave and one ghost was trapped?"
Makes a shiver run up your spine, doesn't it? It did for me! Together we plotted LOVE NEVER DIES:
A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by the past.
Only one woman can right all the wrongs…
If she can survive the night…
I hope you enjoy LOVE NEVER DIES and all of the Virtue Falls series!
#1 THE LISTENER: A Virtue Falls short story
#2 VIRTUE FALLS: The First Virtue Falls Full-Length Suspense
#3 THE RELATIVES: A Virtue Falls short story
#4 OBSESSION FALLS: The Second Virtue Falls Full-Length Suspense
#5 LOVE NEVER DIES
#6 BECAUSE I'M WATCHING: The third Virtue Falls Full-length Suspense, coming Sept. 6, 2016 to your shelf and your Reader!
Warmly, Christina Dodd
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT RELEASE DAY!
Today, A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT is out and most of you, my dear and faithful readers, do not care. A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... includes the three previously published Virtue Falls short stories … and you already have them. But some readers are new to the series and some readers prefer a compilation. So! A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT includes:
THE LISTENER: Misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
THE RELATIVES: When relatives invite themselves to visit a wealthy couple’s Virtue Falls home, events take an unexpectedly dark—and fatal—turn. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
LOVE NEVER DIES: A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by his past. Only one woman can right all the wrongs… If she can survive the night… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
These Virtue Falls short stories are available for purchase as singles.
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT also includes the alternate conclusion of acclaimed action-filled adventure OBSESSION FALLS, Readers’ Guides and excerpts from the newest Virtue Falls thrillers, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING (out now) and THE WOMAN WHO COULDN’T SCREAM (out September 2017.) It also includes previously unpublished extras from the full-length suspense VIRTUE FALLS.
You can purchase A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in eBook (even with the extras it’s too short for paper.) Kindle, Nook ,Kobo, iBooks
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
THE LISTENER: Misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
THE RELATIVES: When relatives invite themselves to visit a wealthy couple’s Virtue Falls home, events take an unexpectedly dark—and fatal—turn. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
LOVE NEVER DIES: A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by his past. Only one woman can right all the wrongs… If she can survive the night… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
These Virtue Falls short stories are available for purchase as singles.
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT also includes the alternate conclusion of acclaimed action-filled adventure OBSESSION FALLS, Readers’ Guides and excerpts from the newest Virtue Falls thrillers, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING (out now) and THE WOMAN WHO COULDN’T SCREAM (out September 2017.) It also includes previously unpublished extras from the full-length suspense VIRTUE FALLS.
You can purchase A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in eBook (even with the extras it’s too short for paper.) Kindle, Nook ,Kobo, iBooks
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
