tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post3826651780956348774..comments2024-03-28T16:46:13.756-04:00Comments on Writers Who Kill: Sometimes You Can Come Home AgainJim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-13897599233269717162013-04-15T20:47:30.520-04:002013-04-15T20:47:30.520-04:00Yes, Deb, I do care about Skeet and Brian and all ...Yes, Deb, I do care about Skeet and Brian and all the rest of my people in Brewster, even Jeremy. Of course, I have to be mean to Skeet whenever I write about her, or there would be no book. I'm always happy to be back in that world making up stories about Skeet and all her loved ones, friends, and enemies.<br /><br />Like you, I feel I know those locales because I've read so much about them and experienced them so strongly. And now brain research backs up our feelings.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-18860751202996348242013-04-15T20:43:25.610-04:002013-04-15T20:43:25.610-04:00Thanks, Kara. I'm glad to be back. Working on ...Thanks, Kara. I'm glad to be back. Working on Skeet #3 right now. (Publishing is a slow business.)Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-45375431791033080572013-04-15T20:03:20.338-04:002013-04-15T20:03:20.338-04:00Linda,
It's great to know I can once again re...Linda,<br /><br />It's great to know I can once again read an actual blog post by you on a regular basis!<br /><br />Your Skeet and Brian are so real to me that I have had nightmares about them being in danger. When I read your book for the second time it happened all over again. Are you sure you're not writing about friends of yours?! It's obvious that you care about them! <br /><br />I am quite certain I would recognize the neighborhoods that Deborah Crombie writes about and that I could accurately describe Three Pines to anyone who has never read any of Louise Penny's books. I feel as though I have suffered frostbite in Julia Spencer-Fleming's Millers Kill! In fact, I think I might need to wait until summer to read any of her future books set during winter! I've had to wrap myself in a blanket when I've read some of the winter settings during the winter.<br /><br />As for graphic descriptions of murders, I can no longer read a book that describes torture or maiming. If I find myself unknowingly reading a book with that sort of content, I skip over it. If the book is so full of extreme descriptions I just do not bother to finish reading it,and I do not read anything else by that author. It's too disturbing.<br /><br />It's exciting to know that your next book will be out in less than a month!<br />Deb Romanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-56054577547511986082013-04-15T15:19:37.719-04:002013-04-15T15:19:37.719-04:00Welcome back, Linda!
Very interesting informatio...Welcome back, Linda! <br /><br />Very interesting information. Fictional characters sometimes become my friends. I actually miss them when I finish reading or writing a story. So, I'm happy to hear that Skeet will return in EVERY BROKEN TRUST.Kara Cerisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16484336785514235707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-16337757112630683902013-04-15T14:04:48.854-04:002013-04-15T14:04:48.854-04:00Peg, I think you're right. There's always ...Peg, I think you're right. There's always a little extra fillip of pleasure when we encounter the familiar in a book. It may be familiar because we live or have lived there, or it may be familiar because we've read and experienced the place through our reading. I think of Louise Penny's Three Pines, which is so familiar to me, yet I've never been to Canada.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-63324605854656479812013-04-15T10:56:27.603-04:002013-04-15T10:56:27.603-04:00I love stories set in places I have never been, bu...I love stories set in places I have never been, but I also love stories about the familiar. I am amused all over again every time I think of Joel Goldman's ex-FBI Jack Davis, (forget which story) who thinks he has rented a house in Brookside, only to be bamboozled later when the real owner shows up unexpectedly.Peg Nicholshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07442026513439378111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-22873114535236532832013-04-15T10:39:12.867-04:002013-04-15T10:39:12.867-04:00Carla,I think you're absolutely right. Making ...Carla,I think you're absolutely right. Making that connection with the protagonist is crucial.<br /><br />I feel lucky that people have come to care about my own Skeet Bannion and her young ward, Brian. I like them and care about them, but I know that's often not enough. So I hold my breath with each book, hoping it still works. :-)Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-36163342060491193862013-04-15T10:36:53.188-04:002013-04-15T10:36:53.188-04:00KM, I would also like to have that guide to creati...KM, I would also like to have that guide to creating a totally believable, lovable character.<br /><br />I was going to say a writer must be able to like her/his character, but then I thought of Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle, who both came to hate their characters Poirot and Holmes but had to continue writing them anyway. So I guess that's not the way!<br /><br />Christie wrote a great hilarious send-up of herself as Ariadne Oliver, successful mystery writer, in some of the Poirot mysteries, in which Ariadne goes on at great length about how she detests her character.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-89665444943651924832013-04-15T10:32:56.069-04:002013-04-15T10:32:56.069-04:00E.B., I'm very happy to be back with all you g...E.B., I'm very happy to be back with all you great bloggers. EVERY BROKEN TRUST launches on May 7. coming up fast. I just received my first copy of the actual hardcover book. It's even more gorgeous than the cover image, but I can't take a photo of it because my new Android phone needs a memory cartridge before it will take photos. *sigh*<br /><br />I think you've put your finger on one the problems with the real extreme serial-killer novels that veer into what some call "torture porn." If we're putting those experiences into our brains when we read, are we traumatizing or desensitizing ourselves with such stuff? Either way, it's not particularly good.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-22026168398821664822013-04-15T10:26:31.588-04:002013-04-15T10:26:31.588-04:00It's good to have you "home" again. ...It's good to have you "home" again. I have a pre-order in for EVERY BROKEN TRUST. I try to use all of the senses in what I write to invite the reader into the story. And Thanks for your review of HEARTLAND.Warren Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789270258599769915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-42871019293127869752013-04-15T10:19:04.848-04:002013-04-15T10:19:04.848-04:00Welcome home, Linda. It's so good to have you ...Welcome home, Linda. It's so good to have you back, and I look forward to reading EVERY BROKEN TRUST.<br /><br />That bit about the brain is fascinating and many of the characters you mention, I feel the same way about. Three Pines is a real place to me. Last summer on a trip through Canada with three sisters, a brother and a brother-in-law, the ones who had also read Penny's books,(all but two) understood when I said I wanted to find Three Pines while we were in the Quebec area. They felt the same way. I'm also one of those who miss certain characters when I finish a book and there's not another one to bring them back.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-24828619006807811582013-04-15T10:17:26.750-04:002013-04-15T10:17:26.750-04:00Jim, I certainly know fictional characters who are...Jim, I certainly know fictional characters who are more interesting and likeable than some people I know in real life.<br /><br />I think some of the things I've learned from fiction have helped me deal with tough aspects of real life. I came from a violent, very dysfunctional home as a child, and novels helped me to understand that the bad things I was undergoing were not my fault and to learn how to behave like normal people instead of the violent, negative role models I was given.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-4854117013034781702013-04-15T09:51:42.376-04:002013-04-15T09:51:42.376-04:00Fascinating. One key to the success of any mystery...Fascinating. One key to the success of any mystery writer is how well the reader connects with the protagonist. Sometimes, they are like old friends we can't wait to see again. carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15985823239660829148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-9928316796484152382013-04-15T09:07:53.805-04:002013-04-15T09:07:53.805-04:00Truly fascinating research!
I have a feeling tha...Truly fascinating research! <br /><br />I have a feeling that this phenomena is exactly why romance is such a popular field (I have to admit I seldom get that from it, but I know lots of people who describe their involvement with the characters that way) I remember reading that in the first of the series romances, the authors were told to generalize physical descriptions of the heroine so that each reader would have an easier time identifying with her, thus enhancing the "I'm there" sensation.<br /><br />The first book I ever enjoyed after I learned to read (a convoluted tale in itself) was Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan. The characters felt like my best friends! <br /><br />A few of the early Dick Francis characters hit me like that, too. And when that feeling is present, I'm totally hooked.<br /><br />If someone comes up with a guideline for how to create that in a character, I hope they share it with all of us!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-41410732276754274072013-04-15T06:34:30.632-04:002013-04-15T06:34:30.632-04:00Welcome home, Linda. We've missed you!
One o...Welcome home, Linda. We've missed you! <br /><br />One of the reasons that I must vary my reading is due to that experience factor you cite occurring in the brain. How people can read or watch traumatic events and come away unmoved is beyond me? I had to stop reading Konrath because my dreams became nightmares. Guess that proves that he can write well. <br /><br />What is the release date for Every Broken Trust?E. B. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16746747050278597888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-54788070893778071692013-04-15T06:32:02.247-04:002013-04-15T06:32:02.247-04:00Linda, welcome back.
I wholeheartedly agree that...Linda, welcome back. <br /><br />I wholeheartedly agree that I am often more interested in fictional characters than real ones – perhaps it is because fictional life is oftimes more interesting than real life. And it's certainly easier to deal with than some of the tough aspects of real life.<br /><br />Wishing you the best on the release of EVERY BROKEN TRUST. I’m looking forward to reading it.<br /><br />~ Jim<br />Jim Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.com