Peter E. Fenton Dreams Big

Peter E. Fenton And The Pattern of 5 ... Peter E. Fenton Goes International

Peter E. Fenton Dreams Big

For the next month, the newsletter will be coming out weekly as I prepare to launch The Burnt, the third book in The Declan Hunt Mysteries series. Here’s some of the latest news and ways that I am dreaming big for the future. So for starters, does the actor below look familiar?

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One of the processes for writing on a novel is getting ideas as to what your character looks like and sending those ideas and images forward to the artist who creates the covers for your books. When I was creating the characters for The Declan Hunt Mysteries, I thought the character of Charlie Watts had a similar vibe to the actor above… . Of course if you clicked on the link on his name, you will have discovered that this was the look he was sporting back in 2006. Now that artist Erin Dameron-Hill has created the cover image for Charlie Watts, he has his own look.

As The Declan Hunt Mysteries series progresses, people have started asking if the books will ever be turned into a movie or series. Well, I suppose it never hurts to dream big. People have also asked who I would cast as Declan Hunt. And the answer at the moment is an actor who was born in Canada and has had success on Grey’s Anatomy and more recently the CBC TV series Wildcards. I am of course referring to who is pictured below.

Who would YOU cast as Charlie Watts or Declan Hunt?

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When I write, I often start with a first draft which is about 50% longer than the finished book. Many scenes are edited or deleted. As I work through content edits I pare away extra story elements and through the process of reorganizing the structure, things get cut. I thought it would be fun to share a short scene that was cut from The Burnt. This scene involves the character Katherine O’ Grady. The plot of the book took a different turn and this scene wasn’t needed anymore. I share it with you (in unedited form) so you can see what type of material doesn’t wind up in the finished novel.

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Katherine O’Grady flicked to another channel. Then another.

“Why do they keep changing things around?” she muttered.

She was sure her show was on channel forty-two, but it wasn’t. It was some damned stupid game show. She paused.

“For one hundred thousand dollars, are you willing to…Risk It Or Run!” the host frantically shouted out. The audience yelled out the last four words with him. It was obviously the name of this waste of airspace.

“She’ll do it and lose,” Katherine said to herself.

“I’ll risk it!” The contestant said like a hyperactive ten-year-old on a sugar rush.

“Okay! The question is…”

The host paused, to build tension and get the pulse rates up on the viewers who relied on this as their only source of cardio, then dramatically pulled out the question card and read—“Who invented the famous rat poison Warfarin?”

“The guy who came up with the idea for this show, as soon as he’d figured out that he was part of the plot to dumb-down the world,” Katherine called out and changed the station.

The face of Angela Lansbury popped up on her screen. Katherine sighed and settled back into her chair.

Her reverie over finding her favourite murder mystery was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“What the…”

She was going to ignore it, but the person outside persisted.

“Oh, for crying out loud!”

She stormed to the door, ready to give whoever it was a piece of her mind. As soon as she opened the inner door, she realized what a terrible mistake she’d made.”

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In each newsletter, I’m trying to feature other writers in the genre of Male/Male romance. I really enjoy the work of Thom Collins who writes romantic suspense novels. The cover above is for the second book in the Basic Instincts series which just came out at the beginning of the year.

Here’s the description of the book above.

Three months after the death of his brother, Marc Glass faces a whole new dilemma. A tabloid journalist has made a connection between Theo and a prominent politician. Theo’s death might not be all it seems. Marc knew all about his brother’s secret sex work, but it’s a scandal that would destroy his family, who have already suffered enough.

Private Detective Jason Durham might be the answer. Marc enlists Jason’s agency to look into Theo’s unsolved murder. The police investigation is dead, but if they can solve the case on their own, they could head off the potentially damaging story. Marc isn’t sure who he can trust with the details of Theo’s life, but Jason seems like the man.

As secrets are uncovered, Marc and Jason must fight their attraction to each other, but when their prime witness is murdered, they are suddenly caught in a web of mystery and increasing danger.

As the nights grow darker, will either of them make it until morning?

If you like a tense and sexy read, consider picking up a copy of one of Thom’s books. You can link to all of his work by clicking here.

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It’s just 28 days until the launch of The Burnt. The paperback will soon be listed on retail sites, and I will be sure to let you know where you can order your hard copy. Next week, I’ll be back with some exciting news about the translations of my books, as well as some early reviews on The Burnt. In the meantime, wishing you a summer filled with sunshine and lots of time to put up your feet and read a good book.

Warmest Regards,