Thursday, June 20, 2013

Today's Special - - Suzanne Ferrell


It's always fun when Suzanne Ferrell drops in for a visit, especially when she's here to talk about a new book.  Whether it's straight contemporary, erotic historical or romantic suspense, I know I'm going to enjoy a good read when I pick up one of Suzanne's books.  

Today, Suzanne is blogging about SEIZED, the third story in her Edgars Family romantic suspense series.  Please give her a warm welcome!






When an author starts a new romance story she usually has brand new characters who are meeting for the first time, or perhaps meeting again after years apart. Their love story is new and exciting and unfolds as the book progresses. The author learns details that she brings out in little bits and lets the attraction turn to love throughout the pages.

But what happens when the characters are already married in a previous book?

This should be easy, right? I mean, the author already knows their names, some of their background, heck they’re already in love. Should be a slam dunk.

Yeah, I’m not much of a basketball fan, so slam dunks are not too impressive to me. And besides, only the really talented guys do the fancy ones. The rest of the players have to work at them. So, as I worked on the novella, SEIZED, the third installment in my Edgars’ family romantic suspense series, I realized there was nothing easy about it.

Problem #1: Dave and Judy Edgars are already married. They’ve been married 10 years and have three young children. They’ve already fallen in love. This isn’t a prequel. So, what’s an author to do?

I’ve seen authors kill off a much loved spouse and kids, just to give the hero something horrible to overcome on his/her way to a new love. I love books like this. But this isn’t that book.

I could give one of them an affair, then they either split apart or overcome it. Hmmm, doable but not too heroic for either character. This isn’t that book either.

How about if I give them a reason to find their love again. Say, put the heroine in jeopardy and the hero must try to save her?

AHA! I now have my premise.

They hit a rocky patch

Dave and Judy Edgars have always loved each other – they’ve been married ten years and have three kids. But ever since Dave, a SWAT team member, was shot on duty Judy can’t control the intense fear that grips her every time he heads out to work. It puts a strain on their relationship. Dave knows she’s scared, but damn it she knew he was a cop the day they met. His patience is wearing thin.

Until the tables are turned…

One icy winter night, Judy, an operating room nurse, is called into work. She's taken hostage by a crazed gunman with an agenda. Now with Judy’s life in danger and the SWAT team deployed elsewhere, Dave must face the same fear his wife does on a daily basis. Terrified he will lose her, he and his law enforcement family race to save Judy and stop her captor’s plans.

Problem #2: This is a romantic suspense. The suspense is there, but how the heck do I show the romance? After their first scene together, which is very rocky, my two protagonists aren’t in the same room for most of the book.

Okay. Now I’ve written myself into a hole. Perhaps if I let them each have brief glimpses of their life together, scenes that show how they met and fell in love? Intersperse this with their deadly situation in real time? What if Judy uses things she’s heard Dave say to help her deal with the gunman? What if Dave learns the fear of losing a loved one and the strength Judy shows in facing that daily?

Yeah, this might just work!


And that is how SEIZED came together. Hmm, wonder if it was a slam dunk after all?


Readers, what do you think of the story lines Suzanne considered?  

Do you like books where the couple is already together at the beginning of the story but face a crisis they must overcome to strengthen their love?  

What about couples separated by an affair who find their way back to one another?  Is an affair a deal breaker for you?  

Does killing off a much loved character make you want to throw the book against a wall or are you okay with this and the subsequent journey of the surviving character who has to learn to move on with life and find love again?

One randomly chosen person who leaves a comment will win a Kindle (or Nook) e-copy of KIDNAPPED, the first book in the Edgars Family series.  




25 comments:

  1. An affair is indeed a deal breaker. Killing off one of the couple can be very good, if done right. I like the idea of throwing them into some kind of trouble. They need to work together to overcome.

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    1. I'm a little more forgiving of affairs in a historical though I don't like them. In contemporaries though, it's a deal breaker.

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    2. Hey Mary! See, that's what I thought. Throw them into a life threatening situation and have their love, which has been dormant or stressed out, hold them through to the end. And I really don't like books where one or the other or both have affairs. Smacks of dishonor to me.

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  2. Love the idea of a struggle togather. An affair is a deal breaker - the character just gets untrustworthy whatever the circumstances. Killing off one - hmm thatz sadistic but if there is a story after than - yeah sure.
    And the book sounds very interesting :)

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    1. Hi Sunita! Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. Hey Sunita!

      I've seen lots of authors kill of a spouse, (usually the hero's wife) so they can write a longer, more poignant book. This is a novella, I didn't have time to do that. Literally. The whole book takes place in one night!

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  3. Hey, lookee here! The lovely Romance Dishes and the equally lovely Suzanne Ferrell! Just loveliness abounding! Suz, just swinging by to congratulate you on the release of SEIZED! Sounds like another fab story for all your fans!

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    1. Hey Anna Campbell!!!! You are quite lovely yourself! Thanks for the congrats. I hope my readers enjoy SEIZED. It is a novella, but from what I've heard so far, it's a page-turner and full of punch.

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  4. Many couples face crises during their lives. It’s the depth of their love that allows them to overcome them.

    An affair is never a deal breaker. I think people make mistakes in life and a family should not be torn apart because of it. Love can be mended.

    Killing off a character is not bad because people face that every day in real life. It’s how strong the surviving character is that matters. Overcoming grief and being able to find love again is a multi-faceted process and people do this at their own pace.

    I’m certainly looking forward to reading “Seized” and congratulate Suzanne for pushing herself to try something new in her writing.

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    1. Hey Connie!

      You've made some great points! That's the thing in romance, all three scenarios would work and have different themes.

      1. Working together. Love can overcome anything
      2. Trust issues. One of the most important parts of marriage and hard to reclaim once lost.
      3. Fear. If I love again, who says she/he won't die on me, too, and leave me lonely again.

      Thanks for the congrats. I seem to always be trying something new. I hope you enjoy SEIZED.

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  5. Seized sounds like a winning premise to me--and I'm not big on romantic suspense.

    Killing off an important character is a deal breaker for me. I was a waiting-at-the-bookstore-on-release-day fan of Elizabeth George until With No One as Witness. No longer. Generally, I consider adultery a deal breaker too, but some authors--historical and contemporary--have shown me I can like a book with an adulterous and appropriately remorseful, suffering, groveling character.

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  7. Hey Janga!

    LOL on the appropriately remorseful, suffering, groveling character. That's about the only way I'd like a book like that, too!

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    1. appropriately remorseful, suffering, groveling character. That's about the only way I'd like a book like that, too!

      Ditto!

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  8. Great article, Suzanne. Hi, PJ!

    I love the scenarioes you've considered, but I especially like the first one. It gives the husband a chance to experience the fear his wife does every day she sends him off to work!

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    1. Hey Jo! I like twisting things around on him. People, especially of the male persuasion, seem to learn best when they have to walk in the other person's shoes.

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  9. Hi Suzanne, thanks for the great blog today! One of my favorite books kills off the male protagonist in the very first chapter: Linda Francis Lee's "Emily and Einstein." However, he does to get to come back as a dog to right his wrongs and what a real dog he was as a human! He sticks around long enough to set things right with his under-appreciated wife before moving on to his after-life.

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    1. Flora, that's one of the books where killing off the spouse works for me. It's really all in the writing. If it's written well, I can be convinced to accept many (not all, but many) things that would normally be deal breakers for me. Also, if it's early in the book and not a character that I've already developed a "relationship" with, it makes it easier. Oh, and if the character is a jerk, even better! ;-)

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    2. Hey Fsbuchler!

      Now that's Karma. If you were a dog in real life, have to learn the errors of your ways as a real dog in the second one!! Love it!

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  10. Suz is in the house!

    This is a quick drive by post to say buy Suzanne's books early and often..they all rock. As to killing off a much loved character? No way Jack! One word Summersby...STILL am not over that one!

    Now off to a 6 yo's birthday party!

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    1. One word Summersby...STILL am not over that one!

      Exactly!

      Have a great time at the birthday party, Joanie!

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  11. LOL, Joanie...are you channeling your inner "Uncle Si" again?

    Yeah, Summersby was so disturbing on so many levels. I can't help but thing what a great movie if it had been had a romance writer written the script!!

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  12. Suz, congrats on your new release! I love the cover, and the book sounds fabulous.

    I would rather not see a familiar character I've cared about die. I wouldn't throw the book at the wall--probably--but I don't love that.

    I'm fine with a crisis separating a couple so that they have to find their emotional path back to each other. An affair isn't a deal breaker if it happens off-page, preferably before the story begins. Once I'm in the romance, I don't want the characters to be as involved with each other as I am with them, even if they don't think they can make things work.

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