Kristi’s Comments (group member since Jul 05, 2013)

Kristi’s comments from the The Suspense of It All! group.

It means something bad IS going to happen. The reader knows it, and maybe even knows what the bad thing is, but the MCs don't. So the reader is saying 'don't go down stairs! The killer is there!' but the mc goes anyway.
In your book the reader knows Luke and the boss have plans for Claudia, but she takes the job anyway! (I'd say more, but I don't want to add spoilers. )

Of course you count, VL!
You had quite a bit of suspense in The Immortality Clause!

Welcome! Thanks for chiming in. Be sure to peruse the threads and see if there's anything you want to add or chat about.
(I'm trying, but I can't talk for everyone.) :-D

Had a great day today! wrote over 1000 words on the WIP, plus got a lot of great information on one of the plot lines involving the horses. The trick on that is going to be distilling all that great information into concise nuggets that are accurate but yet don't overload or turn off the reader who doesn't care what a Nokota is and what will give it laminitis. I totally feel up to the task, though!

Had an idea for my book today. I like to put as much realism add I can into my stories. Since my current project takes place on a ranch, there will be horses. I recently learned about a breed of horse called Nokota, the offspring of the horses the Native American's bred. They had been set for slaughter by the government, but a family in North Dakota rescued them. Anyway, I thought I would put some Nokota in my book to shed a little light on their story.
I guess I'm a sucker for a cause....

I agree. Nothing mucks things up quite so well as adding sex (or at least sexual tension) to the mix.

I know what you mean. I run a trucking company with my husband and I have an ein, plus I set us up as an s-corp which was/is a never ending PITA. I just want to drive my truck and write books, you know...?

My Husband and I spent Sunday with his middle son. This is significant because they haven't seen each other since 1996 (bad divorce.) It was a great day! My husband is ecstatic. His other two boys want to see him, too. What a blessing!

My current project is book two in a series, and I've got some things I'd like to get some input on.

I have an ex-con (drug trafficking) looking for redemption, and a woman who has had to deal with the stigma of being an unwed mother in a small town.

The suspense comes from his past coming to catch up with him.

The questions I have are these:
1- are readers going to care about an ex-con?
2- the hero is the brother of the heroine in the first book of the series, and the heroine of this book is the sister of the hero in the first book of the series. Is that cute, cheesy, distracting? Or is it a non-issue?

What do you all think?

My website is www.kristicramerbooks.com
You can read excerpts of my books, including my work in progress.
Link through to different sites for purchase options, including how to buy direct from me.
Check it out!

Welcome to the group!
I encourage you to check out the starter threads and comment, or create a thread of your own.
Now that you're here, let's talk!

"The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero."

Mary McCarthy

Well. Today is another day. In my defense, my hubby and I just drove coast to coast (3000 miles!) in 59 hours. Whew. I should have some time to write later today, though.

What price range do you spend on ebooks? Is there a price below which you say 'This book must be trash', or above which you decline to buy based on price?
Can you give writers a 'magic number' to set our prices?

Ah! I'm afraid my really big number days may have to wait until I'm home again in the winter. It is hard to knuckle down while on the truck. But these GoodReads groups inspire me. Unfortunately, they also distract me! *sigh*

I managed to squeeze out some time to write, today, and got nearly 700 words down in my latest project, Last Second Chance. Now, to do it again tomorrow!

I like that you can know who the bad guys are, but not necessarily why they do what they do, or when they are going to drop the other shoe.

I like exploring the depths of characters as they deal with worst case scenarios. Watching flawed characters grow because they must. And wondering if they are capable of growing, or if they will fail spectacularly.

I like the twists, too, as long as the final outcome was truly hinted at in the book. (I hate when the culprit is some minor character who was just thrown in to be a twist!)

I love it when I get surprised by the outcome!

The Suspense of it All! is affiliated with Some Like It Hot!, a lively group of folks who love to read, write, and talk about hot romance.

They are fun and very active, and if you love hot romance, too, you will enjoy the Some Like It Hot! Community.

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

"The rules of suspense are that you know, and you just don’t know when. In the Hitchcock rules of suspense, you are supposed to know that there is a bomb on the bus that might blow up, and then it becomes very tense – but if you don’t know that there is a bomb and it just blows up, then it’s just a surprise."
Gus Van Sant

My second Suspense novel, Blinding Justice, has a dash of Romance.

Detective Mitzi Reardon doesn’t know what she did to anger her boss, but he is gunning for her. Literally. Now a prostitute is dead, and she is the prime suspect with the law hot on her heels. With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Mitzi’s only hope lies in the hands of a sexy stranger.

Blue Thomas is a stranger in Denver. The bright lights and big city bustle are 250 miles and a world away from his family’s cattle ranch in Kansas, and he is out of his element. He came to find work and save the ranch from foreclosure, but on a rainy night a desperate woman finds him. Back home, he would never let anyone—especially a woman—face danger alone. Without fully understanding what he is in for, Blue pledges his help, whether she wants it or not.

As a trap closes around them, Mitzi must abandon her usual strategy of careful planning and situation management, instead relying on quick thinking and a bold, head-on approach that may just get her—and Blue—killed. Before the last bullet flies, Blue will find out just how far he is willing to go to live up to his old-school ideals of gallant chivalry