Mason Cross's Blog, page 8

Win books!

In the run up to the US publication of Don't Look For Me on January 2nd, I'm running some book giveaways over the festive season, so if you fancy entering to win, all you have to do is register to win below.

Remember, you can sign up to the readers club for more competitions and an exclusive free short story: Expiry Date.

These are all available worldwide, so good luck and Merry Christmas!



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Goodreads Book Giveaway The Time to Kill by Mason Cross Giveaway ends December 30, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

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Goodreads Book Giveaway The Killing Season by Mason Cross Giveaway ends December 31, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

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Goodreads Book Giveaway Don't Look For Me by Mason Cross Giveaway ends January 02, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Soundtracks - The Samaritan

Welcome to the second instalment of me looking at the music referenced in my books, and how I use it to create a kind of soundtrack to the action. You can read the first instalment, on The Killing Season, here.

The Samaritan was the second Carter Blake book, and I set it in Los Angeles because I wanted to channel that long history of noir from Chandler to Ellroy to Connelly. It's also a city I've visited, and found fascinating. The book sees Blake on the trail of a killer who preys on victims who have broken down in remote locations.



Black Hole Sun | Soundgarden



The first chapter of the book is told from the point of view of one of the Samaritan's victims as she drives through a rainy LA night. Black Hole Sun is playing on the classic rock station she's tuned to, and she thinks about how weird it is that something from the 90s is already classic rock.

It is a classic though, and I love the way both the music and the video become progressively more sinister as they go. In the story, it helps to foreshadow the 90s flashbacks, and the memories of a key character.

Desolation Row | Bob Dylan



I was reminded of this when I was Googling for Samaritan references (what, that's research, not procrastination. I don't know what you're talking about.) If I had gone with an epigraph for this book, it would probably have been :

The Good Samaritan, he's dressing, he's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight on Desolation Row

I think it gives a nice sense of foreboding about the book. The lyrics of this song are amazing (of course they are, it's Dylan) and it's the final track on what is, for my money, his finest album: Highway 61 Revisited.

In the book, Desolation Row is downtown LA after midnight, when all the people have left and it's a ghost town. Blake turns the radio on in his car (a recurring theme, given the killer's MO) and this is playing...


Girl of My Dreams | Gene Austin



I was looking for an old-time crooner song to be playing when Blake infiltrated the Samaritan's hideout, because if there's one thing guaranteed to make a serial killer's lair more spooky, it's a crackly old recording of a 1920s pop song.

I remembered this song from the movie Angel Heart, and thought if it worked for Alan Parker it would work for me too. It also hints at the end of the book, where we meet the girl of the antagonist's dreams.

My My, Hey Hey | Neil Young



Kimberley, the woman Blake suspects is the Samaritan's final target, uses the most famous line from this song: better to burn out than fade away as a yearbook quote.

Again, although this song was released in 1979 on the Rust Never Sleeps album, it's also a 90s reference, because Kurt Cobain quoted it in his suicide note. Speaking of which...

Polly | Nirvana



A key character in the book is a Nirvana fan. They're also one of my all-time favourite bands, and this is one of their most deceptively creepy songs. Just an acoustic guitar, none of the usual feedback or screaming, but quietly disturbing in both lyrics and mood.

This one isn't specifically mentioned in the novel, but I was playing it a lot while I wrote the book. Got some rope, have been told / Promise you, have been true...

Buy The Samaritan here
Buy 'Black Hole Sun' by SoundgardenBuy 'Desolation Row' by Bob DylanBuy 'Girl of My Dreams' by Gene AustinBuy 'My My, Hey Hey' by Neil YoungBuy 'Polly' by Nirvana
Next time: Young again, Hawkins and Creedence in Winterlong / The Time to Kill

Soundtracks blogs:


The Killing Season

Den Onde Samariten - Swedish edition

The Swedish edition of The Samaritan is going to be published by Modernista as Den Onde Samariten (The Evil Samaritan) next April. 
Really looking forward to seeing this one, as the Modernista hardback of Killing Season was one of my absolute favourite foreign editions.


If you're in Sweden, you can preorder a copy from Bokus or Adlibris. Tack för att du läser!

Soundtracks - The Killing Season

Looking back over the four books I've had published (and a fifth coming out next year), it's struck me how important music is to my writing.

That's not a huge surprise, because I love music. I'm one of those people who still has a physical CD collection, and laments the days where you could get an insight into a new friend by having a look at what albums they own. Asking to scroll through the songs on their playlist isn't really the done thing, and it's not quite the same.

I tend to listen to music without lyrics while I'm doing the writing itself - film scores, classical, jazz - but quite often I'll reference the music a character is listening to in a car, or that's playing on the jukebox in a bar. Readers have sometimes commented on the fact my books have a cinematic feel, which I take as a big compliment. Music is part of that - I like to think about the story as a movie, and what kind of music would enhance the scene.

I thought it would be fun to use this as a jumping off point for a series of blogs looking at the songs and artists I've namechecked in each book, and how I use them to set the atmosphere and comment on the story.

Since it's the first book, I thought The Killing Season would be a good place to start.


Nebraska | Bruce Springsteen




Killing Season ranges across the Midwest, taking in several states, including the one this song (and its parent album) is named after. It's one of the very best Springsteen albums. The stripped-down, mostly acoustic style creates a haunting atmosphere that's a world away from his stadium-filling anthems.

The subject matter song is appropriate for a thriller, because it's a true crime story, based on the case of teenage spree killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming in the winter of 1957/58.

Told from the point of view of the killer on Death Row, it resonated with me as I started to write the novel. One line in particular stuck out: when the narrator is asked why he did the things he did, he responds simply "there's just a meanness in this world."

I liked that so much I used it as an epigraph, although I didn't find out until later that you have to pay to do quote lyrics in a book, even just for a couple of lines.

America | Simon & Garfunkel


I've always loved this song. My mother had the Bookends LP and I'd heard it at an early age and then forgotten about it until it was used in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.

I started writing Killing Season in January of 2010. I knew I wanted to set it against the backdrop of the big, wide-open spaces of America. The first chapter of the book is told from the point of view of a man who is a passenger, being driven across open country. I had this song in my head, as it's one of the most evocative road songs I know.

As the chapter progresses, you start to realise the character isn't a romantic drifter like the characters in the song, he's a convicted murderer being transported to his execution. But just like the characters in Paul Simon's lyrics, he ends the chapter going to look for America.

One of Us | Joan Osborne



Unlike the two previous, this song was kind of a one hit wonder, but it was utterly ubiquitous on the radio in 1995.

I've always found something enjoyably sinister about the song. It reminds me of the way some psychopaths see themselves as gods among a sheep-like mass of humanity. A serial killer is also one of us, after all.

It inspired a nice little scene towards the end of the book where the villain Caleb Wardell toys with a waitress who suddenly realises who she's found herself alone with.

I try to avoid quoting lyrics these days, but I like to scatter references to songs throughout the books. It helps me build the atmosphere, and hopefully it adds something for readers who are familiar with the music, or are inspired to go check it out.

Buy The Killing Season hereBuy 'Nebraska' by Bruce Springsteen Buy 'America' by Simon and GarfunkelBuy 'One of Us' by Joan Osborne here
Next up, Dylan, Cornell and Young in The Samaritan.

Don't Look For Me - US release date

Don't Look For Me is published in a beautiful hardcover edition by Pegasus Books on 2nd January 2018, which, insanely, is less than two months away.

It's already picked up a nice advance review in Booklist , which said:

"With few pauses for reflection, and plenty of heart-pounding, visceral action, this one immediately calls to mind Lee Child."
...which I will definitely take.

If you're a blogger or reviewer in the US, you can request an advance ebook from Netgalley, or request a review copy or press kit direct from Pegasus.


If you would rather just wait a few weeks and buy a copy, I would obviously be delighted with that outcome too, so here's where you can get it:
HardcoverAmazonBarnes & NobleIndiebound
ebookKindleNookKoboiBooks
AudiobookAudible
Kobo Audio
(Brits, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis - it's available where you are already.)

And because Pegasus are nice like that, they're also running a Goodreads giveaway to win my entire back catalogue:

The Killing Season giveawayThe Samaritan giveawayWinterlong giveawayDon't Look For Me giveaway
However you get hold of it, I hope you enjoy this one.


DON'T LOOK FOR ME 
A nail-biting new thriller ― perfect for fans of Jack Reacher, Alex Cross, and Jason Bourne ― about the desperate hunt for a woman who has a secret to kill for...

Six years ago, the woman Carter Blake loved disappeared and told him not to ever look for her. For six long years, he kept that promise. She was a woman on the run ― a woman with a secret many would kill for. It was better that she stay hidden.

But now someone else is looking for her. Trenton Gage is a hitman with a talent for finding people ― dead or alive. And his next job is to track down the woman Carter Blake once loved, a woman on the run. With both men hunting the same person, the question is: Who will find her first?

Presumed Dead UK preorder

Presumed Dead, the next Carter Blake book, is published in the UK on 19 April 2018. You can pre-order at the links below, and scroll down further to find out what it's about.


Trade paperbackAmazonWaterstones

ebookKindleKoboGoogle PlayiTunes
***
THEN
Fifteen years ago, an unidentified killer terrorised northern Georgia, killing hikers with two shots from a pistol, before disposing of the bodies along the remote trails and in the rivers in the vicinity of Devil Mountain.
The killer was never brought to justice.
NOW
Carter Blake has returned home for the first time in many years. The visit stirs old memories, including a girl from school who vanished without a trace.
Blake runs into the mother of the girl, who mentions a case she's come across in Georgia, where someone is convinced their relative is still alive, fifteen years on.
Adeline Connor was the Devil Mountain Killer's last suspected victim. She vanished without a trace.
So why is her brother so convinced she's still alive?

Published April 19, 2018 (Orion)

Grantown-on-Spey CrimeFest and how to win a book

Next weekend (November 3-5) I'm going to be at the Grantown-on-Spey CrimeFest for the first time, as part of a great lineup including Douglas Skelton, Michael J. Malone, Caro Ramsay, James Oswald, Lin Anderson, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Daniel Shand.

I'll be around all weekend, and on the Sunday morning I'll be chatting to Douglas Skelton and Caro Ramsay about crime over a bacon roll - they had me at bacon.

You can find out more and book tickets at the festival Facebook page.

In other news, you can win a signed copy of the nifty American Harlequin Worldwide Mystery edition of my first book, The Killing Season at Goodreads. Click on this handy link to enter before November 12...

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Goodreads Book Giveaway The Killing Season by Mason Cross Giveaway ends November 12, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Free short story

If you're signed up to my readers club, you should have received an exclusive free ebook short story today.

This one isn't a Carter Blake story, but if you enjoy the exploits of Mr. Blake, it should be up your street.

It's called Expiry Date, and it stars a guy called Nathaniel Cage, who never met a problem he couldn't brute-force. His day begins with him plunging through a window on the 18th floor, and gets worse from there.

The story was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine a couple of years ago. Since then, it hasn't been available anywhere else... until now.

I'm setting up an automated response so that if you sign up in the next few weeks, you'll be emailed the story the next day, so there's still time if you missed out.

Join up here:

Email Address * First Name Last Name Where I'm from * United KingdomUnited States of AmericaAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua And BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic Republic of the CongoDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard and Mc Donald IslandsHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJersey (Channel Islands)JordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth KoreaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRepublic of KosovoReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoa (Independent)San MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSt. HelenaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan Mayen IslandsSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks & Caicos IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUruguayUSA Minor Outlying IslandsUzbekistanVanuatuVatican City State (Holy See)VenezuelaVietnamVirgin Islands (British)Virgin Islands (U.S.)Wallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe Email Format
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A heads up...

If you're not already signed up to my Readers Club (and really, why wouldn't you be?), you may want to do so over the next few days.

It's completely free, you can unsubscribe at any time, and I promise not to spam you.

I'll only email you when I have something to tell you about, like a new book, or a special members-only exclusive.

Ahem.

So, like I say, what are you waiting for?

Join up here:

Email Address * First Name Last Name Where I'm from * United KingdomUnited States of AmericaAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua And BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic Republic of the CongoDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard and Mc Donald IslandsHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJersey (Channel Islands)JordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth KoreaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRepublic of KosovoReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoa (Independent)San MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSt. HelenaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan Mayen IslandsSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks & Caicos IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUruguayUSA Minor Outlying IslandsUzbekistanVanuatuVatican City State (Holy See)VenezuelaVietnamVirgin Islands (British)Virgin Islands (U.S.)Wallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe Email Format
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Writing tips / musings: omnibus edition

I've written a few blog posts over the years on how I write, and been asked to contribute various 'top tips' articles to other publications.

I thought I'd group the ones which have been most popular together here.

I get irritated by writing tips blogs which hand down knowledge from on high as though graven in stone (talking of which, bonus tip - clichés are fine, used sparingly), so you should always go with the advice that works for you, and not feel bad about discarding the advice that doesn't.

Everyone's different, and your mileage may vary, as they say.


~~~




Writing a first draft

Revising a book

Top 5 tips on being a writer

Editing

Grizzly murders and the perils of quoting the Boss

The next one

If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything

What works for me

Why I wrote The Killing Season

The fine detail

5 tips on plotting

The 500 words method

Structuring a novel in Word

Settings and Samaritans

Why America?

Top 10 locations to set an action thriller

Q&A with Magna Books

The Problems of being a writer

Writing a series