Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2017 THE “BEST OF” 2017 Anxiety at the Highest Level MARCIA CLARK MARC CAMERON WRITER'S TOOLKIT CHRISTOPHER RICE ALAN JACOBSON ANNE RICE DEADLINE DREAD DEAN KOONTZ DENNIS PALUMBO FORENSIC FILES D.P. LYLE Excerpt: "Two Girls Down" LOUISA LUNA WE LOVE A MYSTERY “Coyle is the real deal, and this is the best PI novel “D. P. Lyle delivers again with A-List—snappy, I’ve read in years, period.” sexy, and speedy on every page.” —STEVE HAMILTON —LISA PRESTON NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF EXIT STRATEGY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF ORCHIDS AND STONE ON SALE NOW WWW.OCEANVIEWPUB.COM From the Editor CREDITS John Raab I know I say this every year, but this time I President & Chairman really mean it! Where the heck did the year Shannon Raab go? Talk about watching time fly, it seems Creative Director like only yesterday (yes, I sound like the Romaine Reeves old guy at the bar talking to the 22-year- CFO old about life) that we were giving Greg Amy Lignor Hurwitz the Crimson Scribe award for his Editor book, “Orphan X.” But now we must flip the Jim Thomsen page and write a new chapter (like the way I Copy Editor did that?) as Greg departs and the 2017 winner is placed into history. We have sifted through thousands of books published this year to come up with the Contributors Mark P. Sadler very best in eight different categories: Cozy Mystery, Debut, Romantic Suspense, Horror, Susan Santangelo Dark Urban Fantasy/Paranormal, Historical, Young Adult, and Thriller/Suspense. As it Kaye George Weldon Burge was in the past, we then contacted each author and asked him or her a few questions. Not Ashley Wintters every author was able to contribute, but we got some great responses from the ones who D.P. Lyle M.D. Kathleen Heady did. When you get that Amazon gift card for Xmas, we have definitely given you a solid Andrew MacRae Melissa Dalton place to start when searching for the greatest titles of the year. Elliott Capon The “Best of” list may be the star of this issue, but we also have some fantastic J.M. LeDuc Holly Price interviews, highlighted by a true “master of the written word,” Dean Koontz. In addition, Kari Wainwright the issue is packed with reviews, short stories, articles, and so much more. David Ingram Jodi Hanson We would like to personally thank each and every one of you for all the support Susan May you’ve given us over the past nine years. We keep doing this for you, and hopefully Jenny Hilborne Anthony J. Franze we’re able to bring you exactly what Kristin Centorcelli you’re looking for when it comes Jerry Zavada Leslie Borghini to thrills, chills and suspense. Next Mary Lignor Julie Whiteley year we have some great new things Sara Guisti in store, as we constantly transform Jeff Ayers Elise Cooper to make sure that every author has a Joseph Badal voice where they can showcase their Customer Service and talent to all the fans of the genre. Subscriptions: From the entire Suspense For 24/7 service, please use our website, www.suspensemagazine.com or write to: Magazine team, we raise our glasses SUSPENSE MAGAZINE at 26500 Agoura Road, #102-474 high and toast all of you! Enjoy your Calabasas, CA 91302 holidays, and we’ll see you again Suspense Magazine does not share our magazine subscriber list with third-party real soon in 2018. companies. Rates: $24.00 (Electronic Subscrip- John Raab tion) per year. All foreign subscrip- CEO/Publisher tions must be payable in U.S. funds. Suspense Magazine ■ “Reviews within this magazine are the opinions of the individual reviewers and are provided solely for the purpose of assisting readers in determining another's thoughts on the book under discussion and shall not be interpreted as professional advice or the opinion of any other than the individual reviewer. The following contributors who may appear in this magazine are also individual clients of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: J.M. LeDuc, Leslie Borghini, Susan Santangelo, Jeff Ayers, Joseph Badal, and Amy Lignor.” SuspenseMagazine.com 1 CONTENT SUSPENSE MAGAZINE November / December 2017 / Vol. 079 Deadline Dread By Dennis Palumbo . 3 Darling House By Philip Vernon . 5 Forensic Files: Carotid Artery Compression By D .P . Lyle, MD . 8 The Writer’s Toolkit By Alan Jacobson . 10 Excerpt: “Two Girls Down” By Louisa Luna . 13 The Fall By Derrick R . Lafayette . 17 Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews . 22 Suspense Magazine Movie Reviews By Jeff Ayers . 33 Featured Artist: Hazel Arts . 34 Mike’s Surf Shop By Ryan Benson . .. 39 2017 “Best of” Introduction . 41 A Burden of Truth By Tim Ruth . 81 DEADLINE DREAD By Dennis Palumbo Press Photo Credit: Provided by Author omeone once said, “The problem with being a writer is that it’s like always having homework due.” S Which is as good a starting point as any for a discussion of deadlines, a fact of life for pretty much every writer. Whether a novelist on contract, a screenwriter on assignment, or a struggling author who’s promised his or her agent a terrific new book proposal, everyone’s faced a deadline at some point. But not every writer views a deadline in the same way. Like most “facts of life,” this aspect of writing holds a different meaning for different people. And most of these meanings were formed years ago, embedded in a writer’s childhood experiences concerning ideas of expectation and performance. For many of my writer patients, a deadline is viewed with dread—the same pressure to “deliver the goods” that they experienced in school when homework was due. Or a big final exam was to be given. Or some try-out in team sports. The same fears of failure, and concern that they would fall short of their own and others’ expectations. For some, then and now, a deadline represents the date at which their long-held belief in their own inadequacy and unworthiness is finally confirmed. For these writers, the approaching deadline is like the ticking clock in High Noon, or the moment right before Poirot names you as the culprit, or any time you see Hannibal Lecter reach for a knife and fork. In short, not a good thing. We’re all familiar with this “deadline dread,” and the stereotypical way that most writers cope: namely, procrastination— which can take the form of household chores, distracting social activities, or just anxious fretting. Experienced procrastinators can spend hours “researching” on the Internet, or re-writing again and again the stuff they’ve managed to produce so far. The point is, the dread is the same: the potential danger of shaming self-exposure. The fear that once written and handed in, the finished product exposes us as inadequate, untalented or unentitled. On the other hand, there’s a smaller group among my patients for whom a deadline, despite its attendant anxiety, is an absolute must. These writers feel they need the prod of a deadline, or else they’d never finish the work (or even start it!). While this may seem an acceptable state of affairs, I think it’s a good idea to investigate a bit further. Often, there’s a kind of “negative reinforcement” in this line of thinking, the meaning being that the writer feels him- or herself to be a lazy, unmotivated slacker who needs to be whipped into compliant productivity by the authority of an imposed deadline. As one patient of mine, a veteran novelist, confessed, “Without a deadline to meet, I’d go all to hell...I mean, I’d just screw Experienced procrastinators can spend hours “researching” on the Internet, or re-writing again and again the stuff they’ve managed to produce so far. SuspenseMagazine.com 3 around, not accomplishing anything...” A noted screenwriter in my practice put it this way: “Deadlines just put a big gun to my head...if I don’t get the damned thing in on time, BANG!...” Now there’s a pleasant way to spend the next twenty or thirty years of one’s life! Regardless of how you view deadlines, they offer an opportunity to explore and maybe temper the self-critical, self-shaming ways you might be viewing yourself. When the next deadline for a writing project looms, take some time to investigate your feelings about it. Look beyond the almost automatic response of anxiety and dread to see what kind of message you’re sending yourself. For example, do you feel the same way with every deadline? Or does it change depending on the type of project, the person you’re delivering it to, your perceived (or their explicit) level of expectation? How are these ways of experiencing deadlines similar to the ways you felt as a child in your family or a student at school? Whose authority and judgment evoked these feelings the most? Do you experience your project’s potential reader—the editor, your agent, etc.—in some similar way? By exploring and illuminating these issues, writers can sometimes get the perspective needed to ease the grip that “deadline dread” has on them. Moreover, they can develop coping strategies based on these understandings. For instance, if you use deadlines as a motivator, but suffer significant anxiety, you can gain some measure of control by setting a series of private, personal deadlines for yourself. Points at which you not only see where you are on the project but also take some time to assess your feelings about it, identify various creative and emotional concerns, and re-group.