Victoria Dowd's New Release Body on the Island

 

Welcome to mystery author, Victoria Dowd! 
FYI, I'm a huge fan and can't wait to read Body on the Island!

Victoria is a crime writer and the author of the Smart Women mystery series. Her novel, Body on the Island, will be published on 23^rd February. It’s the sequel to her debut novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, which was published in 2020 by Joffe Books and was Classic Mystery’s Book of the Year. It is also a finalist in The People’s Book Prize.

She is an award-winning short story writer, winning the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction in 2019 and was runner up in The New Writer’s writer of the year award. She has been short listed by Writers’ Forum and long-listed for The Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition. Her work has been published in various literary journals, including Aesthetica: A Review of Contemporary Artists; Between These Shores Literary and Arts Journal; Dream Catcher magazine; and Gold Dust.

She also writes the Adapting Agatha series on her blog which can be found at https://victoriadowd.com/. She has spoken at various literary festivals about Agatha Christie.

Victoria is originally from Yorkshire and graduated in law from Cambridge University. She was a criminal defence barrister for many years until finally hanging up her wig for my fictional crimes.

Website https://victoriadowd.com/

Twitter Victoria Dowd (@victoria_dowd) / Twitter

FB Victoria Dowd | Facebook

Victoria Dowd | Facebook

Instagram Victoria Dowd (@dowdvictoria) • Instagram photos and videos

 What genre do you write?

Crime. The whodunit style.

Do your reading choices reflect your writing choices?

Oh, very much so! I read a lot of Golden Age Detective fiction, primarily Agatha Christie. I also like modern day writers in this area of crime such as Martin Edwards. I’m currently reading a wonderful series by Brian Flynn. I’m also revisiting Margery Allingham’s books which are perfect for dark, cold nights by the fire. I do also read a lot of gothic style novels such as Rhiannon Ward’s The Quickening. I like crime novels that have that cross over between mystery and the supernatural. That really influences my writing. I love evocative settings such as old, crumbling gothic houses. I enjoy creating an atmosphere that immediately has the reader on edge. I do like a sense in a murder mystery that it might not be one of the people we’re seeing but perhaps something else. When I was doing a live FB reading one of the listeners wrote a comment as I was reading that said, ‘It’s a ghost!’ I loved that someone actually thought that the murderer might be something a little more supernatural. I think the setting can conjure up all sorts of different responses almost as if the reader can imagine new ‘characters’ wandering around. I found Abbie Frost’s The Guest House was very evocative and had a really wonderful dark edge to it. I also love to get into a crime series such as Margaret Murphy’s amazing books and D.E. White’s. It really influences how I see the books developing over time and the arc of writing a crime series.

Which type of characters are your favorite to write?

I love writing strong female characters. I like how they interact with each other. There’s a lot of arguing and smart comments between the women in my book. They are a family and I’m not sure strong female characters in a close relationship are always conscious of the need to be ‘nice’ to each other. I think there are a lot more layers to their relationships than that. There is genuine love and affection. Nothing is fake or saccharine about these kind of characters. They don’t feel the need to sugar coat anything. I want the readers to have really genuine characters who are intelligent, funny but, more than anything, people they think are real who they can relate to.

Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the character you want readers to love?

Very much so. I have a strong image of Ursula, my narrator, and her mother. They’re not drawn from real life pictures but are more my own imagination. I spend a lot of time with these ladies so I can imagine every tiny bit of them now. I think that’s really important to me, to be able to visualize these women walking around in the story. I can see them in each scene I write and I know how they would react to certain events. They’re very real to me.

Do your characters come before or after your plot?

The characters came first. It’s a series so obviously for the sequel, Body on the Island, I already had most of my characters. But with the first book, I had a very strong idea that I wanted them to be a group of women who are at the heart of the books. The plots stem from these people and the kind of situations they might find themselves in.

How do you choose a villain and how do you make them human?

I like to choose the kind of people who can hide in plain sight. Because they are whodunit books I can’t make them obviously the villain but what I like to do is give them the sort of characteristics that when I reveal who the murderer is, the reader can imagine that might be the case. For instance, I might choose someone who has irritating aspects to them that most people find annoying and experience a lot in real life. Then when the killer is named, it’s a big reveal and shocking but there’s definitely that part of the reader that says, ‘Yeah, I can imagine that kind of person killing someone!’

 

 

BODY ON THE ISLAND

An uninhabited island.

Ten stranded strangers.

No way to escape.

Ursula Smart (not her real name), realising therapy alone cannot teach her how to survive this life, is determined to make some changes. She signs herself up for a survival course — along with her mother, aunts Charlotte and Mirabelle and Bridget.

But the promised gentle weekend of foraging and camping in the Outer Hebrides swiftly turns into a desperate battle for survival.

Their boat capsizes. Washed up on an uninhabited island, the Smart women face starvation, freezing conditions and — worse — no Wi-Fi.

Then the murders begin.

Someone is killing them off one by one. Will the Smarts escape or will they be next?

 

A Darkly Comic Golden Age Murder Mystery

Victoria Dowd’s brilliant whodunnit is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, Faith Martin and Stuart Turton.

 

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08W9F5ZKC

US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W9F5ZKC

  

THE SMART WOMAN’S GUIDE TO MURDER

A faded country house in the middle of nowhere.

The guests are snowed in.

The murders begin.

Withering and waspish, Ursula Smart (not her real name) gate-crashes her mother’s book club at an isolated country house for a long weekend retreat. Much to Mother’s chagrin. Joining them are Mother’s best friend, Mirabelle, Aunts Charlotte and Less, and Bridget with her dog Mr Bojangles. It doesn’t matter that they’ve read Gone Girl three times this year already, this retreat is their chance to escape bustling suburbia. But someone has other ideas.

A body is found in the grounds.

Is a lone killer hunting them? Or has one of their own group embarked on a killing spree?

What they need is to stop sniping at each other long enough to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again.

What they need is a guide to survive.

Book link for The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder https://geni.us/smartwomanvictoria

https://www.amazon.com/WOMANS-MURDER-classic-country-mystery-ebook/dp/B087C12B9L

 

Round Robin Blog Fest March 2021

I've been having fun this month with the launch of my new release All That Shines. Next week I have an entire Blog Tour lined up which will hopefully bring new readers!

This month's Round Robin Blog Fest question is: How do you develop tension in your writing?

It was a dark and stormy night...

Think about a suspenseful movie that you've seen lately. The tension builds when a character has no idea what's around the next corner. As they walk forward stealthily into the unknown, eerie music swells to add anticipation. Is the killer lurking? Will they fall into a trap? Is the bad guy the person we thought it was or the person we least suspected?

Tension comes from not knowing what is coming next. This evokes emotion in the reader. If we care about the character, we may become fearful for their well-being and invested in their fate.

When writing a novel, we can't cue the music to build. We can show readers how the protagonist's palms grow damp and mouth goes dry. As the lights go out and our character's heart races, we hope to build that same anxiety until either the bad guy is revealed or a cat jumps out for a cheap scare. As in the scary movies though, that cheap scare can and should be followed by something we didn't anticipate. 

In the big climax of my new book All That Shines, the fashion show at the end is predeeded by an impending  storm coming in off the ocean that may or may not add to any havoc Sage, our intrepid sleuth, expects. Thunder, lightening, torrential rain, these things already build a sense of tension. The threat of the lights going out and the killer being able to hide among the many guests, only heightens that suspense. When coupled with the climax of the novel, they can become as important as the characters themselves.

The weather isn't the only way to build tension. Sometimes the setting can provide its own tension. Think of the hotel in The Shining, for example. Isolated, dark, lonely and in the middle of winter. That alone is enough to create tension.

To buy All That Shines click here!

We can add tension due to a chain of circumstances where the protagonist is sent further off his goal due to events beyond his control. Think of the character who has to get from point A to point B to rescue a loved one. Along the way, he misses his plane, is shot at, falls into the ocean, and so on. Each thing that happens to him, builds tension. Will he make it on time to rescue them or will he die trying?

Just when a writer paints their protagonist into a corner, suddenly there is a way out. The "cavalry" may come to his rescue in the form of another character. The police arrive just in the nick of time. The house could fall down around him. He could dig his way through the wall using his pocket knife. If this way out is not believable though, readers may not be sympathetic enough to read future books!

I'd love to hear how other authors increase the tension in their novels! Join me to find out more,

Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/

Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2fU

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

For some added ways to create tension in your writing, check out:

 https://thejohnfox.com/2021/02/ways-to-create-suspense-in-your-plot/

Marie Powell featuring Water Sight and Spirit Sight

 

LAST OF THE GIFTED SERIES!

Historical Fantasy at its best from Award-winning

Young Adult Author, Marie Powell

Spirit Sight (Book 1) - Winner of the Moonbeam Young Adult Fiction - Bronze Medal

Water Sight (Book 2) - Released November 2020

Published by Wood Dragon Books, the books are available worldwide, in digital and print across all platforms!

“Amazingly written, emotionally driven, and fantasy-fueled …a must-read for fans of the historical fiction/fantasy genres … 10 out of 10.”  Anthony Avina

Wales, 1283: A world at war

Catrin can see the future in a drop of water.

Her brother Hyw can take the shape of any bird or animal.

Only their magic can thwart the invading English forces
determined to bring down the country.

The Prince of Wales needs three magical relics to rally the straggling Welsh forces. Catrin’s gift of Second Sight may be the only hope for success - if she can outwit the English lord who wants to use her gift to capture the prince.

Her brother Hyw is on the run with the prince and the dwindling Welsh army. To escape the betrayal dogging their heels, Hyw takes refuge in his evolving gift—until shifting shapes puts his humanity in jeopardy.

With Hyw trapped in his magic and her betrothed imprisoned, Catrin faces an impossible choice: save her brother, or save the man she loves.

Winner of the Moonbeam Bronze Medal for Best YA Fiction

Two siblings pledge their magic to protect their people from the invading English, with the help of the last true Prince of Wales -- after his murder.

Warrior-in-training Hyw can control the minds of animals. His sister Catrin can see the future in a drop of water.

Hyw wants to use his gift to win a place in the Prince of Wales' bodyguard. Then ambush and murder stretch the gift in unexpected ways as the slain prince's spirit melds with Hyw to help guide him in fighting back against the invading English army.

Catrin visions hold only disaster and death. She must convince the young nobleman she’s pledged to marry to help prevent the genocide she foresees.

Can the gifts be trusted? Or will their world shatter around them?

This award-winning medieval fantasy combines magic, mythology, and historical legends with the realities of 13th Century Wales.

"Weaving history with romance and fantasy—elegant yet immediately accessible. Highly Recommended." - Top Shelf Magazine

More Praise for Spirit Sight: 

"…Powell does a great job mixing elements of fantasy, mythology, and historical conflict... Overall, a meticulously researched young adult medieval fantasy with compelling characters and high-stakes action. Recommended.” - J. Lynn Else, Historical Novel Review, Issue 95 (February 2021)

 “…Well researched and beautifully written, Powell keeps us riveted with this, her debut historical fantasy. History and magic are intertwined effortlessly to cast a spell over the reader...” - Wendy Hawkin, Ottawa Review of Books 

Booklinks:

Amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1989078281

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GFK8BSJ/
Kobo (ebook): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/spirit-sight-1

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spirit-sight-marie-powell/1137496305
Chapters/Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/

Spirit Sight: https://books2read.com/u/3n8A95 

Water Sight: https://books2read.com/u/4A701d  

 

​ABOUT MARIE:

Marie Powell’s adventures in castle-hopping across North Wales resulted in her award-winning historical fantasy series, Last of the Gifted. Spirit Sight (Book 1) and Water Sight (Book 2). Marie is the author of more than 40 children’s books, along with award-winning short stories and poetry. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from UBC, among other degrees. Marie is an experienced speaker/panelist, and presents her specialty "Castles of Wales" talk to audiences ranging from Regina’s St. David's Day banquet to middle-grade classrooms throughout the region. Find her at mariepowell.ca.

This project is made possible through Creative Saskatchewan's Book Publishing Production Grant and Market and Export Development Grant Program.

To request additional review copies or an interview with Marie, please contact: Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.

A Talk with Heather Chavez, Author of No Bad Deed

 

Welcome to debut thriller author, Heather Chavez! 

 

Heather is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley’s English literature program and has worked as a newspaper reporter, editor and contributor to mystery and television blogs. Currently, she’s employed in public affairs for a major health care organization where she writes human interest stories. She lives with her family in Santa Rosa, California, and is at work on her second novel.

https://heatherchavez.com/

https://twitter.com/iamHRChavez

https://www.facebook.com/heatherchavezauthor/

https://www.instagram.com/iamhrchavez/

Publisher's site and buy link:  https://www.harpercollins.com/products/no-bad-deed-heather-chavez?variant=32126586945570 

What would you say are your strengths as an author?

I love reading and writing stories that focus on strong female characters, and I hope one of my strengths is bringing these women to life. As a former newspaper editor, I also learned to sacrifice words for the sake of the story. I learned the importance of revision. I would hope that this has made me better at creating tension, portraying action, and establishing pace. That’s always been my goal as a writer: to create a story that will keep readers turning pages.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?

I wish I had a strict routine! Life has a way of thwarting any attempts I’ve made at establishing one. That’s why it’s so important for me to steal the moments I can to write, whether that be on a break from the day job or that hour at night when everyone else is already in bed. I try to write each day, but I also cut myself slack on the days when I just don’t have the energy. By writing as often as I can, even if it’s just a few hundred words, the story remains in my head, and the words come more quickly.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

In five years, I would love to be writing full-time. But even if I can’t reach that goal, I intend to keep writing a book each year, because writing is what gets me out of bed each morning. Standalone thrillers and domestic suspense are my passion and likely what I’ll be writing five years from now, though I’ve also considered series and suspense with science fiction or supernatural elements. Whatever I’m writing, it will be dark, twisty and fast-paced.

If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?

Believe in yourself, and respect your writing time. It’s so easy to dismiss writing as a hobby, especially pre-publication, or to sacrifice writing time if there are dishes in the sink or a TV show you’ve been wanting to stream. Even now as a published author, when people ask what I do, I find myself reluctant to answer, “Author.” Give yourself permission to call yourself a writer and to find a quiet corner—whether that be in your car or at your kitchen table—and write as often as you can. Celebrate those days when you fill pages, but also those days you write only a paragraph—because you wrote. Then edit mercilessly. Also, be kind to yourself on the days you don’t meet your goals, because sometimes you really do need to wash those dishes or get some sleep.

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?

I’ve had readers mention nearly falling off their treadmill or needing an extra cup of coffee the next morning. That’s the ultimate compliment: that a reader was fully immersed in the story and couldn’t stop reading.

What are you working on now?

My next book is currently in edits. It’s another standalone thriller. Briefly: Cleaning up after her wayward sister, Izzy, has long been Frankie Barrera’s job. When Frankie learns her truck was spotted at a missing girl’s house, she fears Izzy might be involved—especially since it’s not the first time Izzy has been linked to a missing persons case.

And now for some bonus questions Heather sent!!

Is it true you had the idea for this book while in an elementary school parking lot?

It is. Years ago, I was picking up my daughter from afterschool care when we noticed this boy around 14 years old walking alone. Suddenly, two other boys rushed him and attacked. The fight ended as quickly as it had started, the boys scattering before I could react. Still, the rest of the day, I kept asking myself questions: What had motivated the fight? What should I have done? Should I have called 911? Would my reaction have been different if the attack had happened at night? And what if my daughter hadn’t been with me? That inspired the first sentence, and ultimately the plot, of No Bad Deed.

You got your first novel published at the age of 50. What advice do you have for other aspiring writers?

Spend at least as much time editing as you do writing, and be ruthless with your revisions. Before No Bad Deed, I wrote a few “practice” novels. It wasn’t until much later that I realized those early manuscripts weren’t working because they were essentially first drafts. In contrast, No Bad Deed started in third-person with multiple points of view, but after drafting, I cut about two-thirds of the words and switched to first-person. It was painful, but it was the right decision for the story.

You have two kids. How did you balance parenting and writing?

When my children were younger, they didn’t even respect a closed bathroom door. How could I expect them to respect a closed office door? By the time I got the book deal, though, my youngest was a teenager, so that part at least became easier. Of course, I still had to contend with family demands and a full-time job. But we all have lives and distractions. For me, I find balance by writing when and where I can, whether that is at the dining room table while dinner’s cooking or in the car on my lunch break. If I waited for a block of uninterrupted time and a quiet house, I would never write.

The hardcover of your book came out right as Covid hit. How has the virus impacted its promotion?

I was fortunate to have a bookstore event—and then everything shut down. In those early months, it seemed like everyone was still trying to figure it all out, so the events that were canceled weren’t rescheduled as virtual. They just didn’t happen. Now, thankfully, the support for virtual events is more robust. I just presented to a writers club I might not have been able to otherwise visit, and soon I’ll be on a panel with a group of talented authors from all over the world. And I’ve managed to connect with readers on social media.

Your main character, Cassie Larkin, stops her minivan a mile from her house on a rainy night, to help a stranger who is being attacked by a man named Carver Sweet. How does that one incident change the course of her life?

In that opening scene, Carver warns Cassie: Let his victim die, and he’ll let Cassie live. Cassie’s not about to go along with that. But just because you do the right thing, it doesn’t mean the universe is going to reward you. Sometimes, stepping in can ruin your life, which Cassie learns. The next night, her husband disappears, and her life begins unraveling. The main part of Cassie’s journey is trying to figure out if that incident helping a stranger is really connected to everything else that’s going wrong. And if so, how?

Your book is classified as a thriller. For those of us who don’t know the category well, what are its basic tenets and what draws you to it?

Thrillers are known for being fast-paced and action-driven. I enjoy putting ordinary characters in danger and then making them work hard to get out of it. I also love asking the questions: What would happen if…?  and Why would someone do such an unspeakable thing? It’s probably the former journalist in me. Over the years, I’ve heard so many stories about people hurting the ones they’re supposed to love. A mom abuses her children. A man kills his wife. What prompted them to do something so horrible? And what are the consequences of that act, both in that moment and many years in the future?

Your book takes place in California’s Sonoma County. Why did you choose that as your setting?

Having lived in Sonoma County since I was 18 years old, the roads Cassie drives and the places she visits are the same ones I have. As a writer, I’m inspired by being able to smell and see and taste the same things as my characters. Wine Country is also such an interesting place. Within a short drive, you’ve got redwoods, the coast, wineries, mountains, San Francisco. A lot of beautiful places for really ugly things to happen.

I assume the title of your book is a play on the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.” At first I thought the bad deed was a reference to Sweet’s attack and subsequent stalking of Cassie. Am I right that the bad deed in question—and even its perpetrator—becomes murkier as the book goes along?

The concept of right versus wrong definitely becomes murkier as the novel progresses. I liked that idea for the title since a theme in No Bad Deed is the duality of human nature—good people do bad things, and vice versa, and sometimes the “bad” choice is the right one for that particular situation. Still, what one person believes is a good deed can be perceived as a very bad one by someone else, and circumstances might compel someone to commit an act they previously believed unthinkable. How far would you go to protect someone you love? Where is that line, and what would it take for you to cross it?

After the attack, when Cassie’s husband disappears, we’re not sure what happened to him and neither is she. What’s on her shortlist?

When Sam goes missing, he’s trick-or-treating with their 6-year-old daughter. So when Cassie finds their daughter but no Sam, her first thought is that something terrible has happened to him. She’s confident she knows her husband and, at first, that’s the option that makes the most sense. After all, Sam is the parent who is usually home with the kids each night, while she’s working late at the veterinary clinic. He’s the one who makes the kids dinner. Coordinates their schedules. So Cassie believes that even if he would leave her, he wouldn’t leave the children, especially in such an abrupt and perilous way. But then she gets a text from her husband: I’m sorry. As she digs deeper into what happened that night, she learns her husband may have been keeping some pretty disturbing secrets.

As a writer, what’s harder—starting a book or ending it?

I’m a plotter, so starting a book is more intense. I put so much pressure on that first scene, and that first sentence. With No Bad Deed, for example, that first sentence is probably the only one I didn’t touch during my many revisions. That said, I think ending a book is harder. By that point in the process, I’ve invested so much in the characters, and readers will have invested so much in the story that I want to do right by them, and myself. The beginning of a book is full of possibilities but, by the end, those possibilities have narrowed significantly. It’s much easier to scrap a first chapter than a climax.

 

NO GOOD DEED

Now a mom, Cassie Larkin has long since outgrown the anger and recklessness of her own childhood – or so she believes until the night she witnesses a brutal attack.

Driving home on a remote Northern California road, Cassie spots a man and woman arguing. The fight escalates. After calling 911, Cassie does the one thing the dispatcher warns her against: She gets out of the car. The ensuing violence leaves her with a few bruises and the fleeing attacker’s threat: He’ll let Cassie live if she lets his victim die.

A veterinarian trained to heal, Cassie isn’t about to let the woman die. But while she’s examining the unconscious victim, the attacker steals her car. Now he has her name. Her address. And he knows about her children. Though they warn her to be careful, the police assure her that the perpetrator—a criminal named Carver Sweet—won’t get near her. Cassie isn’t so sure.

The next day—Halloween—her husband disappears while trick-or-treating with their six-year-old daughter. Is Cassie’s confrontation with the road-side attacker connected to her husband’s disappearance? Her husband has been growing distant—is it possible he’s become involved with another woman? Or, worse, one of his students?

As she desperately searches for answers, Cassie discovers that nothing is as random as it seems, and that she is more than willing to fight—to go to the most terrifying extremes— to save her family.

 

ORDER NOW

Amazon

Harper Collins 

What Others Are Saying:

“A sensational debut – compelling, hypnotic, full of suspense and quiet menace.  Don’t miss it!”- Lee Child

“The kind of twisty, jet-fueled thriller that explodes on page one and has you happily abandoning work, sleep, and life as you race to the stunning end. Don’t miss it!”- Lisa Gardner

“An extraordinary thriller… that may well become the book everyone is talking about…In a mesmerizing first-person narrative, [Cassie’s] fear is palpable, then vanquished by an astonishing ferocity she finds within herself. Where does that come from? Wait until you find out. This one glows in dark.”- Booklist (starred review)

“[A] propulsive debut… Chavez peoples her tale with credible, flawed individuals, presenting even the multiple antagonists with harrowing backstories and convincing psychological motives… Chavez is in full command of plot and pacing… Domestic thriller fans will be well satisfied.”- Publishers Weekly

“Chavez’s breathless page-turner will have every aspiring Good Samaritan thinking maybe they should let the NEXT guy help.”- Linwood Barclay, author of The Noise Downstairs and No Time for Goodbye

“Heather Chavez’s debut novel starts at a sprint and never lets up, twisting its way to an exhilarating, you’ll-never-guess-it ending.”- Peter Swanson, author of Before She Knew Him