A Little Hitchcock to Celebrate My Release Day

You don't know this about me, but I’m an Alfred Hitchcock fan. Rope, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, and I could go on. After all, he directed more than fifty feature films over six decades. There might be a very good reason I’m not overly found of birds. His use of camera to mirror a person’s gaze lent a sense of voyeurism to his films, Rear Window being the most obvious example and one of my personal favorites. He was a master at crafting suspense with plots ripe with violence, crime and murder.

“There’s two people having breakfast and there’s a bomb under the table. If it explodes, that’s a surprise. But if it doesn’t …” Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock calls this the ticking time bomb plot. There’s a bomb underneath the table that the characters are unaware of but the audience is and the audience also knows when the bomb is due to go off. Suspense is created by the gap of what the audience knows and the characters do not. Anyone watched Psycho lately? He was skilled at creating worst-case scenarios which he call frightmares, nightmares that happen in our waking lives.

I love using Alfred Hitchcock as an inspiration when writing. Creating those ‘frightmares’ for characters and sending their lives into chaos. That’s what suspense means to me. The unthinkable. The ultimate ‘what if’. I tried to bring some of that to my debut romantic suspense, Backlash.

It's also release day for Backlash! Yay! You can find Backlash at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon. 

What he's sworn to protect, she's willing to sacrifice to save those she loves...

 When dedicated teacher Lily Wheeler interrupts a vicious gang attack on one of her students, she vows it won't happen again. But her rash interference puts her in the path of a cold-blooded killer and the constable tracking him-a man she has little reason to trust, but can never forget.

Constable Chase Porter returned to Aspen Lake to see justice done, not renew old acquaintances. But when he rescues the woman he once loved from a volatile situation, he realizes his feelings for Lily haven't lessened over the years.

Now, the dangerous killer Chase has sworn to capture has Lily in his sights. Can Chase and Lilly learn to trust each other again before it's too late-or will old insecurities jeopardize their future?

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Backlash!

Karyn Good

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Launch Party

I'm having a Launch Party for Nowhere to Hide at my blog today. Lots of prizes, lots of chances to win. Please stop by!

Release Day - NOWHERE TO HIDE

I'm delighted to announce that my romantic suspense, NOWHERE TO HIDE is now available in digital and print format from The Wild Rose Press.

The trouble with running away is that you take yourself with you. After police officer Colleen McDonald is injured in a case gone south and her partner dies, she leaves her job and friends in small town Oregon for a fresh start as a civilian in Orlando. When a deputy sheriff comes to her door investigating a possible missing person, she's determined to get him out of her life by beating him at his own game.

Jeffrey Walters is missing-or is he? His stepdaughter insists he is. His aunt claims he's simply out of town on business. His former business partner knows nothing. There's a stranger living in his guesthouse.

To Deputy Sheriff Graham Harrigan, finding Jeffrey might be his ticket to a permanent slot in the Criminal Investigations Division. He's determined to prove he's worthy of the promotion despite an unearned reputation passed down by an unsavory training partner. The attractive woman living in Jeffrey's guesthouse complicates matters. Their rivalry becomes a partnership that stretches the boundaries of a professional relationship.

An early review says:

The plot is an interesting twist on a police procedural, giving the reader an insider's view of the workings of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. But the main appeal of the book is the characters. They are layered and complex-real people with real emotions.

You can read more at my website, http://www.terryodell.com

Digital versions here Paperback here

Counting Down to Nowhere to Hide

What with the moving, the renovations, and everything else that interrupts routine, I neglected the calendar. I really have to get my white board mounted on my office wall. It's less than a month to the release of my next book, "NOWHERE TO HIDE" from The Wild Rose Press. I have a million things to do. Sorry if this post is interrupted, but I've got to dash for a bit. While I'm gone, maybe you can poke around the Coming Soon link on my website. I'll be back as soon as I can.

......

Oh, Good. Hi, everyone!

Terry's off running errands and she left her computer on. My name's Colleen McDonald, and I'm going to sneak in for a bit. Don't say anything to her, okay?

Not Without Risk by Sarah Grimm

The last thing he wanted...

Was what he needed most.

"NOT WITHOUT RISK is a gripping suspense, rife with raging sexual passion and spellbinding intrigue... This one is a must read!" - The Romance Studio

NOT WITHOUT RISK

Available today in eBook & Print

The Wild Rose Press

Six agonizing months after a slug collapsed his lung, Sergeant Justin Harrison manages to return to the one place where he shines—the San Diego homicide division. Nothing will stand in the way of proving he is fit for active duty. Especially not the long-legged brunette who just stumbled into his crime scene.

Photographer Paige Conroy spent years hiding from her past. Then a late night telephone call brings it crashing back. An old friend is in town and needs her help. When she arrives at his hotel room four hours later, he's dead. Suddenly, she's the target of a madman, and Paige must turn to Sergeant Harrison for protection.

But who is the bigger threat to her... the faceless assailant she fears will steal her life or the dark-eyed detective she knows could steal her heart?

EXCERPT:

Justin’s frown deepened. “I know what you’re thinking, you know. And you’re wrong.”

Paige swallowed past the lump in her throat. “What am I thinking?”

“Making choices that keep you alive does not make you weak. It would be much simpler to just give up and let this bastard win.”

“I could stay where I am, refuse to run and face him.”

“You could die in the process.”

The thought sent a ripple of alarm through Justin. What if she refused? He couldn’t hog-tie her, couldn’t make her come with him. He understood her ill-ease, for he felt the same stirrings of discomfort as she at the low hum of sensual awareness that circled about them like a hungry shark. Even right now, he had to fight against the urge to haul her into his arms. And not to ease the clawing panic clearly visible in her eyes. No, his motives were not that heroic.

Against his better judgment, he allowed his gaze to drop, to caress the shape of her body outlined by her suit. He knew just what that suit of hers covered for he’d had his hands all over her just the night before. A high, tight rear end, slim hips, endlessly long legs that would pull him deep into her warmth. Desire shot straight to his stomach, swirled there. The palms of his hands begin to itch.

Paige wore her clothing like armor, each piece carefully chosen to broadcast an image, a strength she alone believed she lacked. She’d have chosen this one to disguise the fear he knew filled her. To tell him, in no uncertain terms, that she could handle anything thrown her way.

Anything.

Even the need to turn to him for help.

God, she impressed him. Aroused him, challenged him as no other before her had done. Justin scrubbed a frustrated hand across his face. He focused on the cool green gaze of the woman before him, the woman his brain told him to stay away from. He’d yet to fully recover from his injury. The last thing he needed was to get involved with a woman who screamed commitment. He was a loner. He didn’t do commitment.

His body wasn’t listening. He wanted Paige. Above him, below him, it didn’t matter. He knew it was bad timing, but he wanted her just the same. And he would have her, sooner or later. If he had to keep his hands in his pockets, pants zipped until the threat that chased her was destroyed, he would. He could.

“Suppose I promised not to do anything you don’t ask me to do?”

Paige eased out a breath. “What if I said, it isn’t you I worry about?”

Shock and awareness filled him, stole his ability to reply. Heat surged through his limbs, tingled in his side. A groan slid past his clenched lips. Justin curled his fingers around her upper arm and urged her a step closer to him. He drew the scent of her greedily into his lungs, wanting more than ever before to cover her mouth with his.

“How do you expect me to ignore a comment like that?” he asked roughly, his palm drifting upward to cup the side of her throat.

Enough color flashed into her face to tell him she hadn’t meant to reveal that bit of information to him. The fingers of her left hand locked around his wrist. “I don’t.”

Sarah Grimm
dangerously sexy suspense

http://www.sarahgrimm.com/

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