Suspense Magazine February 2016
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Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction JUNE/JULY 2016 Sleuthing Women With Sizzling Summer Reads With LOIS WINSTON WARREN C. EASLEY She’s Your Agent, Not Your Mother L.J. SELLERS DENNIS PALUMBO LISA UNGER Suspense Talks Writing With ANTHONY FRANZE BRAD MELTZER Craft Corner With GRAHAM MASTERTON JOSEPH BADAL & & Meet Debut Author ALLISON LEOTTA EZEKIEL BOONE the very best in mystery fiction 978-0-7387-4762-0 978-0-7387-4672-2 978-0-7387-4774-3 “Catriona McPherson writes “Readers who enjoy Harlan Coben “A gritty police procedural that mystery stories that are both cozy and Joseph Finder will happily will make you rethink everything and creepy, which accounts for the get lost in the nightmare you know about justice.” quirky charm of Quiet Neighbors.” presented here.” —Robert Dugoni, New York —The New York Times —Booklist Times bestselling author 978-0-7387-4643-2 978-0-7387-4766-8 978-0-7387-4225-0 “A dark and disturbing read . “Gwen Florio filed stories from “Keeley’s solid third Peyton Cote I loved it.” active war zones . She confers novel finds the U.S. Customs —Amanda Jennings, that experience on Lola Wicks, the and Border Protection protagonist of a gutsy series.” agent stationed in Maine.” author of Sworn Secret —The New York Times —Publishers Weekly 1-888-NITE-INK www.MidnightInkBooks.com @MidnightInkBook www.facebook.com/MidnightInkBooks From the Editor One thing I observe a great deal are posts CREDITS from people saying: “I can teach you how to John Raab sell more books!” I read these and continue President & Chairman to be amazed that none of them say the most Shannon Raab important thing: “Write a good damn book!” Creative Director Let’s go on a journey…back to a time before cable TV. Some of you might not Romaine Reeves CFO remember that time, others will know the definition of rabbit ears. Back then, we only Amy Lignor had four stations, including PBS, and TV was Editor great. Even with the rules, such as, you actually had to watch the show at the time it was on, Jim Thomsen otherwise you missed it. Now we have 400+ stations that include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Copy Editor Prime, YouTube Red and more. We have so many options we can’t watch everything. We rely on binge watching. Contributors Now, let’s look at this from a book perspective. Back when you had to go to a Mark P. Sadler bookstore and buy a book, you would walk through the aisles reading the back covers to Susan Santangelo DJ Weaver find one you wanted. You’d go home, read it and, hopefully, enjoy your purchase. These CK Webb were the days of four channel TV, and bookstores could only hold a certain amount of Kiki Howell titles on their shelves. If you waited too long to purchase a certain book, you missed it. Kaye George Weldon Burge You could go to the library and try to find it, or be put on a waiting list for when one of Ashley Wintters the library’s two copies was finally returned—by the reader who always went over the two Scott Pearson week limit they were given to read it. Bookstores could also order the book, but waiting D.P. Lyle M.D. Kathleen Heady isn’t something we like to do and we would just find another book to read. Stephen Brayton At this point you’re saying: “Okay, John, but what does this mean?” I’m so glad you Brian Blocker asked, because it’s time to tie our lesson together. Take a great TV show like M.A.S.H. It Andrew MacRae Val Conrad still has the highest rated finale of all time. Today, however, you will never see ratings like Melissa Dalton that because we don’t watch live TV as often. We watch On Demand or wait until it gets Elliott Capon to a streaming service. There is no longer a “have to” when it comes to jumping on the J.M. LeDuc Holly Price bandwagon of a TV show ASAP. But, oddly enough, M.A.S.H. is still being aired. Even Kari Wainwright new generations pick up on it and become fans. David Ingram Books are the same way. No longer do books die in the bookstore, nor are they simply Jodi Hanson Susan May placed out of print. With EBooks they are always alive and, yes, now it takes people a little Jenny Hilborne longer to discover your work. If you are an author, think about that. You must remember Anthony J. Franze that we need to let books marinate for a while now. Kristin Centorcelli Jerry Zavada You need to keep writing and stop worrying about Leslie Borghini sales all the time. We still watch certain TV shows Mary Lignor made ten years ago, so why can’t books be the same? Julie Whiteley Sara Guisti No longer can we measure the “success” of a book Jeff Ayers in such a short time. You must take into account Elise Cooper the longevity of the book or series in order to gauge Customer Service and success. Not every book will sell a million copies, Subscriptions: but it doesn’t need to in order to be a great book that For 24/7 service, please use our website, provides the author with a good living. www.suspensemagazine.com or write to: SUSPENSE MAGAZINE at I only have so much space to write my letter, but 26500 Agoura Road, #102-474 my hope is that you got my point. If not, as always, Calabasas, CA 91302 please email me at [email protected] if Suspense Magazine does not share our magazine subscriber list with third-party you have any questions. companies. John Raab CEO/Publisher Rates: $24.00 (Electronic Subscrip- tion) per year. All foreign subscrip- Suspense Magazine ■ tions must be payable in U.S. funds. “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 reviewers who may appear in this magazine are also individual clients of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: Mark P. Sadler, Ashley Dawn (Wintters), DJ Weaver, CK Webb, J.M. LeDuc, Leslie Borghini, Susan Santangelo, Jeff Ayers, and Amy Lignor.” SuspenseMagazine.com 1 CONTENTSUSPENSE MAGAZINE June / July 2016 / Vol. 071 When Real Life Events Form the Basis for Fiction By Joseph Badal . 3 Writing a Thriller Based on Your Day Job By Allison Leotta . 5 Ezekiel Boone: “Hatches” a Frightening Experience . 7 Skagle By J . Allen Whitt . 11 She’s Your Agent, Not Your Mother By Dennis Palumbo . 16 Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews . 18 Movies with Jeff Ayers . 45 Featured Artist: Katarina Nilsson Embraces Life . 46 Rules of Fiction with Anthony Franze . 50 Steering Clear of Clichés: Meet Warren Easley . 54 Sleuthing Women with Lois Winston . 56 Excerpt: “Dark Angel” By Ron Felber . 59 Forensic Files: Tight Corsets By D .P . Lyle, MD . 63 It’s Hard Changing Genres: Why do it? By Daryl Wood Gerber . 68 Excerpt: “Shooting the Sphinx” By Avram Noble Ludwig . 81 CRAFT CORNER WHEN REAL LIFE EVENTS FORM THE BASIS FOR FICTION By Joseph Badal Photo Credit: Provided by Author “What do you want to study in college?” “Creative writing. I want to be an author.” “You’re only 16 years old and have no life experiences. What can you write about that anyone would want to read?” “I have a good imagination.” “That’s wonderful; but life experiences are what make for great writing.” I had the above conversation with my father when I was a junior in high school. The upshot of that conversation was that I became a finance major and didn’t author my first novel until I was 56 years old. In a sense, my father was correct. A fertile imagination can be a wonderful foundation for a writing career but, when complemented by real life experiences, that foundation can be broader and deeper than it would otherwise be. The 40 years between that conversation with my father and the release of my first novel were replete with experiences that ran the emotional gamut, from gut-wrenching fear and profound sorrow to the positive highs that accompany successes and Olympian joy that comes with falling in love and with the births of children and grandchildren. Many of those experiences have become integral parts of the 10 books I have already published and of other stories that are currently in process. The back story in my first novel, “The Pythagorean Solution,” was borrowed from personal experiences I had while serving in Vietnam with the U.S. Army. The book’s plot was heavily influenced by time I spent on the Island of Samos. Without the experiences I had in Vietnam and on Samos, “The Pythagorean Solution” would probably never have been written. Much of the content in my Danforth Saga (“Evil Deeds,” “Terror Cell,” “The Nostradamus Secret,” “The Lone Wolf Agenda,” and “Death Ship”) is based upon life experiences I had while serving in highly classified positions in the military in Greece and upon subsequent travel to the Aegean region. The first book in the series (“Evil Deeds”) was inspired by the most difficult experience of my life—the attempted kidnapping of our 2 1/2-year-old son. This one event formed the basis for the entire series.