Polly Iyer's Blog - Posts Tagged "police-procedural"
I'm Jealous of My Character
I’m psychically deprived. Don't have a psychic bone in my body. No premonitions, no spooky hair-standing-on-end moments. So what inspired me to write a series with a psychic character?
Jealousy.
I would love to touch someone and see inside them, or hold a missing person’s article of clothing and get a vision of where that person was. My character in MIND GAMES, Diana Racine, can’t make up her mind whether having those abilities is a gift or a curse.
She’s a psychic entertainer. She’s also a fraud. That’s right, fraud, as in charlatan, huckster, and even witch. Those are only a few of the epithets she’s been called. She employs a computer hacker to dig up information on the people in the audience by cracking the credit cards they use to buy a seat for one of her performances. But with every reading, she reveals a fact known only to her subject, whose reaction assures the audience that Diana is not the fraud people claim. So is she for real, or is she a con artist?
Diana’s story goes back over twenty-five years. Her first psychic experience as a six-year old was an accident. A neighborhood boy went missing, and Diana picked up one of his toys. Wham! She saw where he was clear as day and led the search party to his body in a ditch not far from his house.
After a few more astonishing discoveries, law enforcement began calling on her to help find people who’d disappeared, and those who’d given up hope of locating their missing kin paid her to do the same. Many didn’t believe a child could possess that much power. Some even accused her of setting up the disappearances and the discoveries. Most put their skepticism to rest after institutes all over the world proved she was the real thing.
Along with worldwide fame came the stress of finding lost people―children who’d strayed, Alzheimer patients who’d lost their way, murder victims. Sometimes finding those victims led to clues that put some bad people behind bars. When the pressure became too much, Diana told her manipulative father that she’d lost her gift. Unwilling to give up the life to which he’d become accustomed, he created her act. That’s how she segued from famed child psychic to more famous psychic entertainer.
One of the killers who wound up in prison because Diana found clues that led to his arrest, has festered for twenty years about exacting revenge on the child who sent him there. He’s out, and though Diana doesn’t know it yet, she’s in big trouble. The twist is that the killer has the same psychic abilities as Diana, which makes for a duel of mental dominance.
Are there really people who have psychic abilities? Yes. Are there frauds? Yes again. The only thing that separates one from the other is their track record and/or a good PR person. Some have websites and claim their teachings can help followers find their spiritual selves. They make generic predictions and promote their own beliefs; others claim they can speak to the departed, and most perform for a price.
I have a friend who’s had psychics tell her things they couldn’t possibly know. She’s a believer. Personally, I don’t want a psychic reading. I know what’s already happened, and like a character in the second book of the series, GODDESS OF THE MOON, I’m too old to want to know the future. We all have the same end. I’d prefer not to know mine. I like surprises.
Jealousy.
I would love to touch someone and see inside them, or hold a missing person’s article of clothing and get a vision of where that person was. My character in MIND GAMES, Diana Racine, can’t make up her mind whether having those abilities is a gift or a curse.
She’s a psychic entertainer. She’s also a fraud. That’s right, fraud, as in charlatan, huckster, and even witch. Those are only a few of the epithets she’s been called. She employs a computer hacker to dig up information on the people in the audience by cracking the credit cards they use to buy a seat for one of her performances. But with every reading, she reveals a fact known only to her subject, whose reaction assures the audience that Diana is not the fraud people claim. So is she for real, or is she a con artist?
Diana’s story goes back over twenty-five years. Her first psychic experience as a six-year old was an accident. A neighborhood boy went missing, and Diana picked up one of his toys. Wham! She saw where he was clear as day and led the search party to his body in a ditch not far from his house.
After a few more astonishing discoveries, law enforcement began calling on her to help find people who’d disappeared, and those who’d given up hope of locating their missing kin paid her to do the same. Many didn’t believe a child could possess that much power. Some even accused her of setting up the disappearances and the discoveries. Most put their skepticism to rest after institutes all over the world proved she was the real thing.
Along with worldwide fame came the stress of finding lost people―children who’d strayed, Alzheimer patients who’d lost their way, murder victims. Sometimes finding those victims led to clues that put some bad people behind bars. When the pressure became too much, Diana told her manipulative father that she’d lost her gift. Unwilling to give up the life to which he’d become accustomed, he created her act. That’s how she segued from famed child psychic to more famous psychic entertainer.
One of the killers who wound up in prison because Diana found clues that led to his arrest, has festered for twenty years about exacting revenge on the child who sent him there. He’s out, and though Diana doesn’t know it yet, she’s in big trouble. The twist is that the killer has the same psychic abilities as Diana, which makes for a duel of mental dominance.
Are there really people who have psychic abilities? Yes. Are there frauds? Yes again. The only thing that separates one from the other is their track record and/or a good PR person. Some have websites and claim their teachings can help followers find their spiritual selves. They make generic predictions and promote their own beliefs; others claim they can speak to the departed, and most perform for a price.
I have a friend who’s had psychics tell her things they couldn’t possibly know. She’s a believer. Personally, I don’t want a psychic reading. I know what’s already happened, and like a character in the second book of the series, GODDESS OF THE MOON, I’m too old to want to know the future. We all have the same end. I’d prefer not to know mine. I like surprises.
Character Blog - Diana Racine
Good friend Jim Jackson, or as he’s known in the literary world, James M. Jackson, invited me to participate in a character blog. Since I had a new release featuring my character, Diana Racine, I thought why not? You can find Jim’s books, Bad Policy and Cabin Fever, at your favorite bookstore or online venue. His blog describing his character, financial investigator Seamus McCree, is at this location:
http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/20...
Financial crimes investigator Seamus McCree returns in this thrilling sequel to Bad Policy. With his house in Cincinnati in ruins, Seamus retreats to the family cabin for some well-earned rest and relaxation. But his plans for a quiet, contemplative winter in the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are thrown out the window when he discovers a naked woman on his porch during a blizzard. The mystery woman is suffering from hypothermia, frostbite, high fevers, amnesia—and rope burns on her wrists and ankles.
I never intended to write a series when I wrote Mind Games, but I got an idea for book two, and Goddess of the Moon was born. It all fit so perfectly. Diana, a character in mythology, was Goddess of the Hunt and Goddess of the Moon.
Then readers asked for book three, and I panicked. Could I write a third?
Backlash was released September 30, 2014. People have already asked me about a fourth. To that I say, maybe.
What makes the series a natural is Diana herself. Here’s why:
Diana gained celebrity when she was six-years old after she found the body of a missing child. From that point until she was twelve, her father pushed her to find missing persons both for the police and for individuals searching for their missing kin, most of whom are dead.
The pressure on the young psychic took its toll, and to save her sanity, she claimed she lost her gift. Unwilling to lose his meal ticket, Diana’s father created a psychic act that traveled the world. How does a psychic who’s supposedly not psychic anymore star in a psychic act?
Easy. Daddy hired computer experts to hack into audience participants’ credit cards and any other trough of information to aid Diana pull off her ruse. Besides what her hackers unearthed, she somehow managed to find something in everyone’s psychic reading that no one else could have known.
So, is our heroine is a fraud, a charlatan, and a quack, or is she the real thing?
That’s what New Orleans police lieutenant Ernie Lucier had to decide in the first book, Mind Games, when she told him she saw the body of a dead woman in a vision when a masked man touches her at a Mardi Gras ball.
Diana is described by many as trouble looking for a place to happen. She’s fearless, reckless, and smart, but the one thing that sets her apart and makes it difficult for her to do anything clandestinely is she’s famous. People recognize her wherever she goes.
Here are some Diana facts:
She’s 5’2”, has a mass of black curls, wears only black and white with a touch of red to match her lipstick, and she might do an occasional private reading for an exorbitant fee. She won’t, however, perform in front of crowds, although in book three, she’s snookered into doing just that.
Diana is a fun character to write because I never know what she’s going to do. She learns more about the bad guys from touching them, and that’s why she’s always a target. They’re afraid of her. Ernie Lucier is totally smitten, and though a quiet, thoughtful man, he’s had to adjust to her celebrity. They make a great team.
My choice to pass along the character blog is Aaron Paul Lazar and his character Sky Lissoneau: the “Bad Boy” from Tall Pines Mysteries.
When Sky returns to the States after being MIA for eighteen years, his first love, Marcella, is stunned and deeply conflicted. Sky suffered badly in the war, forced to abandon his platoon when his best friend’s life was in danger. Captured and held as a prisoner of war for years, all he could think of was Marcella, his darling Marcella. It was the thought of Marcella’s soft kisses that kept him going. Her infectious laugh helped him survive the cruelest torture. And when he returns with a gang of vicious hi-powered crooks chasing him, she saves his life. Somehow, he just knew she’d be there, still waiting. But he didn't know she'd be married to Quinn "Black Eagle" Hollister.
Here's the link to Aaron's blog: http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2014/10...
http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/20...
Financial crimes investigator Seamus McCree returns in this thrilling sequel to Bad Policy. With his house in Cincinnati in ruins, Seamus retreats to the family cabin for some well-earned rest and relaxation. But his plans for a quiet, contemplative winter in the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are thrown out the window when he discovers a naked woman on his porch during a blizzard. The mystery woman is suffering from hypothermia, frostbite, high fevers, amnesia—and rope burns on her wrists and ankles.
I never intended to write a series when I wrote Mind Games, but I got an idea for book two, and Goddess of the Moon was born. It all fit so perfectly. Diana, a character in mythology, was Goddess of the Hunt and Goddess of the Moon.
Then readers asked for book three, and I panicked. Could I write a third?
Backlash was released September 30, 2014. People have already asked me about a fourth. To that I say, maybe.What makes the series a natural is Diana herself. Here’s why:
Diana gained celebrity when she was six-years old after she found the body of a missing child. From that point until she was twelve, her father pushed her to find missing persons both for the police and for individuals searching for their missing kin, most of whom are dead.
The pressure on the young psychic took its toll, and to save her sanity, she claimed she lost her gift. Unwilling to lose his meal ticket, Diana’s father created a psychic act that traveled the world. How does a psychic who’s supposedly not psychic anymore star in a psychic act?
Easy. Daddy hired computer experts to hack into audience participants’ credit cards and any other trough of information to aid Diana pull off her ruse. Besides what her hackers unearthed, she somehow managed to find something in everyone’s psychic reading that no one else could have known.
So, is our heroine is a fraud, a charlatan, and a quack, or is she the real thing?
That’s what New Orleans police lieutenant Ernie Lucier had to decide in the first book, Mind Games, when she told him she saw the body of a dead woman in a vision when a masked man touches her at a Mardi Gras ball.
Diana is described by many as trouble looking for a place to happen. She’s fearless, reckless, and smart, but the one thing that sets her apart and makes it difficult for her to do anything clandestinely is she’s famous. People recognize her wherever she goes.
Here are some Diana facts:
She’s 5’2”, has a mass of black curls, wears only black and white with a touch of red to match her lipstick, and she might do an occasional private reading for an exorbitant fee. She won’t, however, perform in front of crowds, although in book three, she’s snookered into doing just that.
Diana is a fun character to write because I never know what she’s going to do. She learns more about the bad guys from touching them, and that’s why she’s always a target. They’re afraid of her. Ernie Lucier is totally smitten, and though a quiet, thoughtful man, he’s had to adjust to her celebrity. They make a great team.
My choice to pass along the character blog is Aaron Paul Lazar and his character Sky Lissoneau: the “Bad Boy” from Tall Pines Mysteries.
When Sky returns to the States after being MIA for eighteen years, his first love, Marcella, is stunned and deeply conflicted. Sky suffered badly in the war, forced to abandon his platoon when his best friend’s life was in danger. Captured and held as a prisoner of war for years, all he could think of was Marcella, his darling Marcella. It was the thought of Marcella’s soft kisses that kept him going. Her infectious laugh helped him survive the cruelest torture. And when he returns with a gang of vicious hi-powered crooks chasing him, she saves his life. Somehow, he just knew she’d be there, still waiting. But he didn't know she'd be married to Quinn "Black Eagle" Hollister.
Here's the link to Aaron's blog: http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2014/10...
New Publication and a FREE Book to Celebrate
For everyone on the planet, 2018 marks a new year, a new beginning. For writers, it marks another year to produce a book for publication. I haven’t published a new novel since September of 2015. I reached 35,000 words on one, decided I didn’t believe the premise, and gave up, though I think it has future possibilities with a little more thought. I did write The Last Heist, a novella for the anthology, Lowcountry Crime, but that was it.
On January 9th, I published The Scent of Murder, the fourth book in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series, my ninth suspense novel, and my twelfth book overall, including erotic romance books written under a pseudonym.
When I published Backlash, the third book in the series, I thought it was the most difficult book I’d written, not because it was a hard book to write, but because I didn’t want the series to diminish in quality.
We’ve all read reviews of books deep into a series that suggest the author should move on, that s/he had written the best of the books and now the characters, story, and suspense have become tired and repetitive. A few writers have been able to pull off a long series and keep readers engaged, but it's not easy to keep the plots and characters fresh? I thought about how to make the fourth book as good or better than the third book. Here are the answers that work for me.
Characters.
Characters.
Characters.
How many times have you read that the characters in a book were unlikeable? It takes an amazing plot to overcome that. I’ve stopped reading books because I didn’t care what happened to the main character. DIDN’T CARE! I want my characters to be likeable. Damaged, maybe, but I want the reader to care about them enough to follow them into subsequent books.
Developing relationships in a series is essential. My lead series characters meet in the first book, Mind Games. I personally don’t like cat and mouse games for too long in a romantic relationship. A little tension in the beginning is fine, but their constant back and forth irritability is annoying, and if a writer keeps that going in subsequent books, especially stand-alones, readers know what to expect, and the books become formulaic. Characters grow to like each other; get on with the story and quit messing around with their hot and cold emotions, especially in a suspense/thriller.
I had posed a question to writer friends if a series character always needs to be in danger at the end of every suspense/thriller. The answer was a resounding YES! How many times can a writer make that fresh? Different dangers, different rescues, different, different, different. It’s a terrific challenge to keep the reader alert and engaged. Of course, he or she is rescued unless you want to end the series, but how it’s pulled off is crucial.
Secondary characters in a series—the ones in every book—should be as developed as you can make them short of having them take over the story. As the series develops, so should they. Readers get to know them, like them, see their different personalities. In some cases, a secondary character can be the story, and that’s okay. Think John Sandford’s character Virgil Flowers in the Prey series becoming his own series. Why? Because he was interesting and well developed.
In The Scent of Murder, I introduce a ten-year-old boy and thought long and hard about whether to keep him as an ongoing character in the series. I didn't decide until the end of the book.
Then, of course, there's the plot, or in the case of this book, two plots that have nothing to do with each other. Could I switch from one plot to the other without jarring the reader? That was the question I asked beta readers. One plot also takes Diana, a retired psychic entertainer, into another realm of her otherworldly gift. It was tricky and risky. I’m sure my readers will let me know if I succeeded or if I opted for sensationalism and failed.
Because I have two plots, I have multiple villains. Remember characters, characters, characters? Even though villains appear in only one book (unless s/he is a recurring villain - think Professor Moriarty), they should be as well developed as the main characters. Writers can make them nasty, irredeemable, or sympathetic. I’ve written them all, but they must be memorable.
To celebrate the publication of The Scent of Murder, I’m giving away the ebook of Mind Games, the first book in the series, January 11~14 on Amazon, and I’ll be interviewed on the Writers Who Kill blog on January 13th. www.writerswhokill.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Polly-Iyer/e/B...
Happy writing. Oh, and happy reading too.
On January 9th, I published The Scent of Murder, the fourth book in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series, my ninth suspense novel, and my twelfth book overall, including erotic romance books written under a pseudonym.
When I published Backlash, the third book in the series, I thought it was the most difficult book I’d written, not because it was a hard book to write, but because I didn’t want the series to diminish in quality.We’ve all read reviews of books deep into a series that suggest the author should move on, that s/he had written the best of the books and now the characters, story, and suspense have become tired and repetitive. A few writers have been able to pull off a long series and keep readers engaged, but it's not easy to keep the plots and characters fresh? I thought about how to make the fourth book as good or better than the third book. Here are the answers that work for me.
Characters.
Characters.
Characters.
How many times have you read that the characters in a book were unlikeable? It takes an amazing plot to overcome that. I’ve stopped reading books because I didn’t care what happened to the main character. DIDN’T CARE! I want my characters to be likeable. Damaged, maybe, but I want the reader to care about them enough to follow them into subsequent books.
Developing relationships in a series is essential. My lead series characters meet in the first book, Mind Games. I personally don’t like cat and mouse games for too long in a romantic relationship. A little tension in the beginning is fine, but their constant back and forth irritability is annoying, and if a writer keeps that going in subsequent books, especially stand-alones, readers know what to expect, and the books become formulaic. Characters grow to like each other; get on with the story and quit messing around with their hot and cold emotions, especially in a suspense/thriller.
I had posed a question to writer friends if a series character always needs to be in danger at the end of every suspense/thriller. The answer was a resounding YES! How many times can a writer make that fresh? Different dangers, different rescues, different, different, different. It’s a terrific challenge to keep the reader alert and engaged. Of course, he or she is rescued unless you want to end the series, but how it’s pulled off is crucial.
Secondary characters in a series—the ones in every book—should be as developed as you can make them short of having them take over the story. As the series develops, so should they. Readers get to know them, like them, see their different personalities. In some cases, a secondary character can be the story, and that’s okay. Think John Sandford’s character Virgil Flowers in the Prey series becoming his own series. Why? Because he was interesting and well developed.
In The Scent of Murder, I introduce a ten-year-old boy and thought long and hard about whether to keep him as an ongoing character in the series. I didn't decide until the end of the book.
Then, of course, there's the plot, or in the case of this book, two plots that have nothing to do with each other. Could I switch from one plot to the other without jarring the reader? That was the question I asked beta readers. One plot also takes Diana, a retired psychic entertainer, into another realm of her otherworldly gift. It was tricky and risky. I’m sure my readers will let me know if I succeeded or if I opted for sensationalism and failed.
Because I have two plots, I have multiple villains. Remember characters, characters, characters? Even though villains appear in only one book (unless s/he is a recurring villain - think Professor Moriarty), they should be as well developed as the main characters. Writers can make them nasty, irredeemable, or sympathetic. I’ve written them all, but they must be memorable.
To celebrate the publication of The Scent of Murder, I’m giving away the ebook of Mind Games, the first book in the series, January 11~14 on Amazon, and I’ll be interviewed on the Writers Who Kill blog on January 13th. www.writerswhokill.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Polly-Iyer/e/B...
Happy writing. Oh, and happy reading too.
