Renee Benzaim's Blog, page 9

“No Witnesses to Nothing” – a great read by Garry Rodgers

When I find great books I’ve read in the crime fiction genre, I like to let my readers know about it. This book really blew me away and I recommend it to everyone.

Here’s a brief synopsis:

Based on a true police story straight out of CSI or The X-FILES where many believe that paranormal intervention occurred!

Sergeant Sharlene Bate of I-HIT, Vancouver’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, pries open Pandora’s Box when two drug informers are brutally executed and a tragedy occurs where two young Mounties attempt to capture a madman terrorizing the Canadian Yukon wilderness.

No ordinary madman, the Tlingit people say. It’s The Kushtaka. The Wildman-of-the-Woods. The mythical being who tricks you, kills you, and steals your soul. Sergeant Bate exhumes more of the Aboriginal legend: After a gun-fight with the shapeshifter, the officers’ souls are trapped in a twilight zone – the world in-between.

So begins a life and death quest for the truth of why the informants had to be murdered. From the treacherous Hells Angels conspiracy in the prisons of America and the jungles of Colombia – to the spiritual journey in a Shaman’s sweatlodge, deep in the Australian Outback – is there a supernatural entity now hunting for Sharlene Bate’s soul?

I’m waiting anxiously for the sequel, it was that good!  Check it out!  Available in print edition or for the Kindle.

No Witnesses To Nothing 

 

No Witnesses To Nothing

Garry Rodgers is a retired RCMP homicide detective and forensic coroner. He served as a sniper on British SAS-trained Emergency Response Teams and is a recognized expert-witness in firearms. He definitely knows what he’s talking about.  You can also check out his website: Dying Words.

“No Witnesses to Nothing” – a great read by Garry Rodgers is a post from: Renee Benzaim, Writer

“Cause of Death” 1st Draft Finished!

Hi everyone,

I am so excited! I finished the first draft to my female detective novel, “Cause of Death” a couple of days ago. It’s the novel I started in November through NaNoWriMo.

Now, I am looking forward to the revision and editing process. The word count for my first draft was 80,492. I’m curious to see if that will increase or decrease by the time I finish revising and editing.

Here’s a ‘blurb’ about my book:

Annie Avants turns her back on her Southern roots and becomes a homicide detective in Kern County, California. Her partner, Tom Weston, suffered a life tragedy six years earlier when his wife was killed on live TV during a bank hostage situation.

Noura Zapata breaks all her personal rules as a Paralegal to a high-powered defense attorney to do a favor for her brother who is a member of the gang, SouthSide Bakers.

Jesse Greyeyes wants to be District Attorney instead of just a Deputy DA. He also wants Annie, but his Native American roots make him both arrogant and defensive about both goals.

Laine DelMonte, Chief of Technical Investigations (CSI) has a secret she’s kept hidden for five years and is always looking over her shoulder

Can this diverse group solve a slew of serial killings in Kern County? The serial killer targets young Hispanic women and holds them captive for nine days before they die, or he kills them.

His cause of death? Black widow spiders.

I will publish this book as an eBook on all the various Amazon sites, as well as on SmashWords.  So, it will be available in just about any format you have.

Would you like to be notified right before the book is published?  Great!  Just subscribe to this blog and you will get an automatic email.

Thanks!

Renee Benzaim

“Cause of Death” 1st Draft Finished! is a post from: Renee Benzaim, Writer

NaNoWriMo Update – I Finished! Yeah!

 This year I participated in National November Writer’s Month for the first time.  The goal was to write a 50,000 word novel between November 1st and November 30th.  That’s 1,667 words each day.  I didn’t know if I could do it or not, but now I’m happy to announce that at 8:00AM this morning, I wrote one last scene that brought me over the 50,000 word mark!

My novel, “Cause of Death”  is about two Detectives – Annie Avants and Tom Weston – who work out of the Robbery/Homicide Division of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.  They have a serial killer on the loose in the south end of the County whose favorite Cause of Death seems to be 13 black widow spider bites.  The detectives are truly puzzled and, when a second victim turns up, fear that a serial killer will panic their County.

My book isn’t even close to completion.  I’d say I’m about half-way there, but I learned a lot about myself during this month of November.  I can commit to writing a certain amount of words each day and persevere; I do best with a good plot and a tight timeline to keep me organized; I printed off day planner sheets to help me schedule each characters time flow every day in order to keep things straight; and I made a lot of soup to keep in my freezer to keep me and my husband going.  Also, I couldn’t have done it without Scrivener software which made changing scenes around and plotting so much easier.

So, what now?  I’m looking forward to Camp NaNoWriMo in June and August.  I already have ideas for several more books featuring these characters whom I’ve come to know so well.  I’d like to thank Werner at www.1000words-a-day.com for his article on How to Plot a Mystery Novel, which was of tremendous help in getting me started.  Also, Nick Thacker, at www.livehacked.com, whose free writing course led me to Dwight V. Swain’s “Techniques of the Selling Writer”  which taught me so much!  Then, I discovered Holly Lisle’s website, www.howtothinksideways.com, and gained more training through her wonderful books, “Mugging the Muse”, “Professional Plot Outline Mini-Course”, and “Create a Character Clinic” which were invaluable aids when I didn’t know what to do next.  I will be buying more of her books as this book progresses.

My goal now is to write 1,000 words a day, without fail or excuse, and finish “Cause of Death” so I can move on to the next book!

NaNoWriMo Update – I Finished! Yeah! is a post from: Renee Benzaim, Writer