R.E. Donald's Blog, page 6
February 9, 2012
A new hero for mystery fans – meet Hunter Rayne!
"Those were the best mysteries I've read in a long time!! As soon as I finished the first one I bought the second and felt empty when I finished it! The characters were awesome and so there that I somehow think they are in my life and I should be bumping into them at IGA or Gibson's Building Supplies!" Judi H., Roberts Creek, B.C.
"… this book caught my attention from the very first pages and it only got better. …I recommend this book to anyone who has a love for a good mystery. I usually figure out who the guilty party is when I read a book but this time it was a surprise. I think that Hunter Rayne would make a great TV detective, driving around the country in his rig visiting different states and helping to solve crimes. He is that interesting of a character." See full PRG review of Ice on the Grapevine by Linda Tonis.
"The Hero to me is the heart of the story and having only just discovered a second book in this series I'm anxious to read more." See reviews for Slow Curve on the Coquihalla on Amazon.
"Great trucking detail, hardboiled characters, no-nonsense dialogue, and a surprise ending. If you enjoy mysteries, you'll like Ice on the Grapevine … I hope to see the Hunter Rayne series become movies and audio books." See reviews for Ice on the Grapevine on Amazon.
Look for "Ice on the Grapevine" and "Slow Curve on the Coquihalla".
The first mystery in the series is Slow Curve on the Coquihalla. When a well respected truck driver, the owner of a family trucking business, is found dead in his truck down a steep embankment along the mountainous Coquihalla highway in British Columbia, his distraught daughter wants to know how and why his truck left the road on an uphill curve. Her resemblance to his own daughter compels Hunter Rayne, a fellow trucker and former homicide detective, to help her find answers.
As he uncovers signs of illegal cross border activity originating in a Seattle warehouse, Hunter recruits an old friend, an outlaw biker, to infiltrate what appears to be an international smuggling ring. But while Hunter follows up clues and waits for critical information from his old friend, the wily biker starts to play his own angles.
Finally, putting all the pieces together, there in the dark on the same uphill curve on the Coquihalla highway, Hunter risks it all to confront the murderer.
Slow Curve on the Coquihalla is the first in a traditional mystery series featuring "semi-" professional sleuth, Hunter Rayne. After serving over 20 years in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and becoming a skilled detective, Hunter resigned from the force and took to the road as a long haul trucker. His ex-wife is convinced he is running away from the personal tragedy that made him leave a job he loved. Hunter himself doesn't know why, he only knows he has to keep following the white lines.
The second mystery in the series is Ice on the Grapevine. The story opens on a July morning with the discovery of a frozen corpse at a brake check just south of the Grapevine Pass in L.A. County. Hunter, who is in southern California making a delivery, is persuaded by his irascible dispatcher, Elspeth Watson, to help clear two fellow truck drivers who are arrested for the murder. His job is made more difficult by the fact that the suspects, a newlywed couple, won't speak up in their own defence.
The circumstantial evidence is strong, and a rookie detective from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is eager to score a win. The investigation crosses the Canada-U.S. border when the victim is identified as a second rate musician from Vancouver, and it turns out there were more than a few desperate people happy to see him dead, including the accused couple. Hunter has to use all his investigative skills to uncover the truth.
Hunter's ex-wife maintains that by taking to the highway Hunter is running away from his past, but he believes that the solitude of days on the road is helping him to heal from guilt over the failure of his marriage and the suicide of his best friend. His life gets more complicated when he feels an unwelcome attraction for a lawyer representing one of the
accused.
Tangled relationships and multiple suspects emerge throughout the novel, as Hunter butts heads with more than one officer of the law to solve the crime.
Feel free to post comments!
February 5, 2012
Five Sentence Fiction – shiver
Deborah shivered involuntarily. The man in the sheepskin jacket and cowboy boots was surveying the tavern with narrowed eyes, an intense stare that was somehow threatening. Deborah took a sip of her wine and tried to relax, but when she looked up again the man in the sheepskin jacket was looking right at her. He nodded once with a crooked smile.
Damn, he'd recognized her!
Inspired by Lillie McFerrin's blog at http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.com/p/five-sentence-fiction.html
January 28, 2012
Five Sentence Fiction – Clandestine
No light, no sound, no shadows, to all outward appearances the house was empty, but she'd just seen the two punks jimmy the basement window and climb inside. Elspeth asked herself what she was doing, an overweight, out of shape civilian following a couple of strong healthy young men up to no good. What if she got out of her pickup and snuck up to the window to look inside? What would they do if they found out she'd seen them? "Hell! Sitting here in my truck isn't helping the cause any," she said to herself as she pocketed her keys and pushed open the door.
Inspired by Lillie McFerrin's blog at http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.com/p/five-sentence-fiction.html
January 20, 2012
Five Sentence Fiction – Radiance
It was the third job he'd lost since he and Monique were married, and Sorry knew it was going to hurt her more than it hurt him. She worked so hard to hold things together for him and the kids, and he wasn't looking forward to seeing the disappointment on her pretty face. Although he'd been an ace at the job, he – uh – he just didn't take direction well. He wheeled his Harley out of the garage, admiring the way the afternoon sun lit up the old panhead's chrome as he straddled the bike and fastened his helmet. He had time for a good ride before Mo got off work, and a good ride always made things better.
Inspired by Lillie McFerrin's blog at http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.com/p/five-sentence-fiction.html
January 12, 2012
Five Sentence Fiction – Secrets
The waitress smiled at him as she poured his coffee, and he tried to return the smile but couldn't get it past his lips. "What can I get you?" she asked.
He ordered a sandwich and the waitress went away. He saw her talking to the cook, jerking her head in his direction. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, then slapped five dollars on the table and stood up, saying "Changed my mind" over his shoulder as he went out the diner door.
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Inspired by Lillie McFerrin's blog at http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.com/p/five-sentence-fiction.html
January 9, 2012
Five sentence fiction – Hunger
Sarah was shivering so hard her teeth chattered as she stood at the edge of the pool, arms crossed, her bathing suit clinging to her skinny torso like chilled frosting. She watched her mother and Mrs. Thompson, the owner of the big house with the pool, drinking their tea and talking under the patio umbrella, a plate of matrimonial cake slices between them. Mrs. Thompson was a big woman with a big bosom and a big voice, and always asked Sarah stupid questions, then laughed at her no matter what Sarah said, making her feel small and silly. Sarah was cold and tired of swimming and hungry for cake, but she didn't want to go near Mrs. Thompson. She took a deep breath, pinched her nose shut and jumped back into the water.
Inspred by Lillie McFerrin's blog at http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.com/p/five-sentence-fiction.html
January 5, 2012
Save a tree, read a Kindle
Since publishing my first two mystery novels as ebooks on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com, I've given a lot of thought to the whole digital publishing concept. Of course, originally I was trying to get published the way everyone else was doing it, back in the mid to late '90′s when the Kindle was just a twinkle in cyberspace. My first novel got shipped to New York in manuscript form a number of times, and I was rewarded for my weeks of nervous anticipation with mild encouragement from a number of agents and publishers.
A few Bouchercons, writers' conferences, and a weeklong novel writing workshop with Elizabeth George at the Book Passage in Corte Madera, California and it was back to the computer for a complete revision of Slow Curve on the Coquihalla, with a better understanding of how to construct scenes that rewarded the reader with enhanced entertainment. Off it went to a few more agents, with less enthusiasm on my part as I worked on my second novel. More rejection letters, but soon my second novel was also ready to be sent out into the world to seek my fortune.
Ice on the Grapevine, in my own humble opinion and that of most of my new readers, was better than my first novel, more dynamic somehow. (I owe that to Elizabeth George and Diana Gabaldon. Although I don't always enjoy their books, they know the craft and teach it well.) Again, some encouraging remarks from some very successful agents: "I like your writing." "I like your protaganist." "I like your idea." "You write good action scenes." "I enjoyed reading your novel but I couldn't sell it." "I just don't feel excited enough about it." … but again, no takers. It made me wonder what I was doing wrong.
I've often seen it written and heard it said that fiction writers should write the kind of books they love to read, and also write about what they know. I'm a woman, but often feel that I was blessed with an androgynous life view. I write about characters and stories that appeal to me, and try to create mysteries complex enough to keep the reader guessing. That's what I like to read. What do I know well enough to write about? I'm not a lawyer, I've never been a police detective or a private eye, but I did work in the transportation industry for a couple of decades and was married to a special man who, at one time, was an undercover operative for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Driving a truck was his cover. Great concept for a character! Or so I thought.
Perhaps it came down to dollars: a long novel is more expensive to publish than a short novel, and I like a novel you can sink your teeth into. Perhaps the truck driver character was too much of a novelty to take a chance on. Perhaps there were just so many other mystery novels that used a tried and true formula so were less of a risk. Perhaps the agents (mainly men) who liked the truck driver idea wanted more action, more of a thriller, and those who like character driven mysteries (mainly women) didn't like the idea of a trucker hero. Perhaps I just didn't get my query letter to the right agent at the right time. Or perhaps I just didn't write as well as I thought.
Enter the Kindle and all the e-readers that have followed. There would be no expense to publish my novels, so no financial risk to take (only my ego). No trees will die in order for my stories to reach interested readers. My story and my characters have not been modified to suit the tastes of an editor (which may be a bad or a good thing) so they are mine all mine from beginning to end. I like that. I like it a lot. I am sharing something I have labored over and cared about with people who are like me, and who like to read what I like to read.
Do I care that my books won't ever be published on paper? At first I did. I thought that digital publishing was a second best outcome, that it was an admission of failure. (Although my novels would still be languishing in my virtual desk drawer because I'd long ago grown tired of sending out query letters and waiting weeks for what would sometimes be no answer at all, and I'd stopped writing, which was truly a failure.) I do admire authors who have become successful in print, and the agents and editors who have carved out careers in the traditional publishing industry – they have paid their dues and they all deserve a cut of the $15 or so that a pbook costs a reader. However …
The more I think about it, the happier I am with being one of the legion of pioneers in the brave new world of digital self-publishing. Yes, there are many self-published works available on-line of the unpolished quality that used to reside solely in student notebooks. Yes, there is an ever swelling ocean of stories out there that will make it difficult for my novels to be found by the readers who will appreciate them. But when my books do reach the right readers (and only cost them $2.99!), it's a joy to hear back from them how much they enjoyed my novels and how much they are looking forward to my next one.
After several years of lying dormant, my characters are coming back to life and the joy of writing has come back to me. I feel like I'm doing what I was born to do, and I am grateful for the chance.
November 8, 2011
Mysteries with character!
I was delighted to receive an email today that said:
"Those were the best mysteries I've read in a long time!! As soon as I finished the first one I bought the second and felt empty when I finished it! The characters were awesome and so there that I somehow think they are in my life and I should be bumping into them at IGA or Gibson's Building Supplies!" Judi H., Roberts Creek, B.C.
Mysteries with character. Don't let the big trucks on the cover fool you: they were written by a woman to appeal to both women and men. Look for "Ice on the Grapevine" and "Slow Curve on the Coquihalla".
The first mystery in the series is Slow Curve on the Coquihalla. When a well respected truck driver, the owner of a family trucking business, is found dead in his truck down a steep embankment along the mountainous Coquihalla highway in British Columbia, his distraught daughter wants to know how and why his truck left the road on an uphill curve. Not long afterwards, while driving the same highway, her husband's brakes are tampered with, almost creating another fatal accident on a treacherous incline, This compels Hunter Rayne, a fellow trucker and former homicide detective, to help her find answers.
As he uncovers signs of illegal cross border activity originating in a Seattle warehouse, Hunter recruits an old friend, an outlaw biker, to infiltrate what appears to be
an international smuggling ring. But while Hunter follows up clues and waits for critical information from his old friend, the wily biker starts to play his own angles.
Finally, putting all the pieces together, there in the dark on the same uphill curve on the Coquihalla highway, Hunter risks it all to confront the murderer.
Slow Curve on the Coquihalla is the first in a traditional mystery series featuring "semi-" professional sleuth, Hunter Rayne. After serving over 20 years in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and becoming a skilled detective, Hunter resigned from the force and took to the road as a long haul trucker. His ex-wife is convinced he is running away from the personal tragedy that made him leave a job he loved. Hunter himself doesn't know why, he
only knows he has to keep following the white lines.
The second mystery in the series is Ice on the Grapevine. The story opens on a July morning with the discovery of a frozen corpse at a brake check just south of the Grapevine Pass in L.A. County. Hunter, who is in southern California making a delivery, is persuaded by his irascible dispatcher, Elspeth Watson, to help clear two fellow truck drivers who are arrested for the murder. His job is made more difficult by the fact that the suspects, a newlywed couple, won't speak up in their own defence.
The circumstantial evidence is strong, and a rookie detective from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is eager to score a win. The investigation crosses the Canada-U.S. border when the victim is identified as a second rate musician from Vancouver, and it turns out
there were more than a few desperate people happy to see him dead, including the
accused couple. .Hunter has to use all his investigative skills to uncover the truth.
Hunter's ex-wife maintains that by taking to the highway Hunter is running away from his past, but he believes that the solitude of days on the road is helping him to heal from guilt over the failure of his marriage and the suicide of his best friend. His life gets more complicated when he feels an unwelcome attraction for a lawyer representing one of the
accused.
Tangled relationships and multiple suspects emerge throughout the novel, as Hunter butts heads with more than one officer of the law to solve the crime.
Feel free to post comments!
