Kelly Miller's Blog - Posts Tagged "suspense"

Interested in finding out how I'm similar to my main character Detective Kate Springer in Dead Like Me? Check out my blog post at http://apps.kellymillerauthor.com/blog

Kelly Miller asked me to stop by her blog and answer some questions. When I asked why the hell anyone would want to hear from me, she said people find me fascinating. Kelly had quite a few questions so this is the first in a two-part installment that gives you a little glimpse into my life.

1. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I’ve always wanted to fight for the little guy, for those who didn’t have a voice. Combine that with my strong sense of right and wrong and I guess it was inevitable I ended up in law enforcement. When I transferred to Tampa, I worked my ass off to make detective. Now that I’m in the homicide department, every day I’m battling for those who’ve had their voices prematurely silenced.

2. What group did you hang out with in high school? I was more of a loner in high school. Kept my head down, my grades up. Couldn’t wait to escape to college.

3. What do you do to unwind and relax? I like to take out my aggression on the gun range. If that doesn’t give me the release I’m looking for, I’ll head over to the gym and hit the punching bag. If that doesn’t do it, I’ll get into the ring and spar. Last resort—I’ll pick up a guy and take out all my aggression on him.

4. Morning Person? Or Night Person? I’m definitely a night person. I can work a crime scene all night long but get me up before the rays peek through my window shade and I’m a bear. At least until I’ve had my morning Coke.

5. If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be? I’m more the type to hold a grudge. The better question would be “Who owes me an apology?”

6. What would we find under your bed? Dust dogs. Normal people have dust bunnies under their beds. Not much of a housekeeper so mine are bigger and meaner.

7. What one word best describes you? Controlling. But I’m trying to work on that.

8. What makes you happy? Happy? Seems to me that’s such a fleeting emotion. Unattainable for any length of time. So many people pretend to be happy, pasting a smile on their faces just for nicety sake. The best I hope for on a daily basis is contentment.

9.What is something people would be surprised to know about you? If you're one of the lucky few I let into my inner circle, I’ll fight to the death for you. I’m loyal above all else.

I’ve read numerous articles discussing the fact that authors don’t really “make it” until they have 3+ books published. There will always be the exceptions like Stephenie Meyer or J.K. Rowling, but it’s rare authors find a large readership for their first book.

It's still important for me to market myself but not spend lots of money doing it. The most useful way I can spend my time is by writing. The more books I have available for sale, the better. Think about it. Readers stumble across my book, read it, and fall in love with my writing. The first thing they want to do is buy my other titles. So the best way to increase my sales is to have a variety of books out there waiting for them.

With this in mind, I’ve spent time but very little money on my marketing efforts. I’ve relied on word of mouth by friends, family, social networking, and book bloggers. There is one exception though. I’ve discovered a very inexpensive promotion through Goodreads. This is a website devoted to books, reading, and people who love reading books.

I’ve participated in two giveaways on Goodreads. Both have paid off big time. During the first one (done in March to US residents only), 711 people signed up for the giveaway. Even better 352 people put Dead Like Me on their “to-read shelf.” If you’re not familiar with Goodreads, this virtual shelf is a way for readers to keep track of the books they discover and want to read at a later date. It’s kind of a digital reminder list. In April, I opened the giveaway to international readers. An astounding 1,202 people signed up for a free copy of my book and 494 people added it to their “to- read shelf.” Not a bad promotion for about a $15 monthly investment.

I read a lot of blogs written by agents, writers, and publishers. Where some might scan the morning paper, I opt to read blogs so I can keep up with what’s happening in the publishing industry. Every once in a while, someone will hold a contest or offer a free service as a way to promote their blog. I love freebies of all kinds and when I get the chance to participate in something that helps my book, I always jump at the chance.

Recently, an editor held a first-page critique on her blog. I admire her work and would hire her in a second if I could afford her prices. So I quickly sent in my first page (though it turned out to be my entire first chapter because of the low word count). I waited a couple of weeks, hoping to see the critique of my work on her blog. But nothing showed up on her site, then all of a sudden I got an email from her that made my heart soar.

Here it is:

Hi Kelly,

I just read your first page and I have to tell you, I love it! It's awesome! It's just too good to critique - not enough wrong with it. So I'll be choosing another first page - one that I can really pick to bits! LOL.

I can't wait to read your book!

That’s such great feedback and it gives me confidence that my first chapter will pull readers in to this second book. You wouldn’t believe how many times I rewrote the first chapter of Dead Like Me. I believe chapter one is the hardest to write. It’s good to know my skills have improved. After receiving this wonderful feedback, I can’t wait to share the new story with all of you!

Ready for the second book in the Detective Kate Springer series? Well it just went to the publisher last week so it'll be awhile before it's ready. In the meantime I thought I'd reveal the title on my blog. Check it out at http://apps.kellymillerauthor.com/blo....

Good news, my mystery novel, Dead Like Me, is FREE today (6/29) and tomorrow (6/30). If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app on the iPad, computer, or phone you can download a free copy using this link: http://ow.ly/gXD3q.

Even if you've read the book, I'd really appreciate it if you could take a quick moment to download it. The more downloads the book gets, the better its Amazon ranking will be. And the better the ranking, the more exposure the book gets. So this will really help me out.

I’d also appreciate it if you could forward this message along to your friends or post the first couple of paragraphs in your FB newsfeed. Thanks for your support!

I'll be keeping an eye on the ranking and share the news with you next week. Right now the ebook's ranked at 170,821 on Amazon. I have quite a ways to go to break the top 100!

If you didn’t get a chance to download Dead Like Me for free on the Kindle in June, today’s your lucky day. Click on this Amazon link to get your copy now. It’s free Wednesday, June 24 and Thursday, June 25.

If you’ve already read the book, please share your opinion and include the link to the free book on your social networking sites. Feel free to email an announcement to your friends, post on Facebook, tweet, or blog about the freebie. Here’s the link you can copy: http://ow.ly/gXD3q

In June, my book got over 14,000 downloads. I don't know if I can repeat that kind of success but I'll sure try. As always, thanks for your support!

If you’re a fan of Dead Like Me and can’t wait until December to read the second book in the series, I've got just the giveaway for you. When you sign up for my author newsletter, I’ll email you the first chapter of Deadly Fantasies.

Simply fill out the web form on my website (www.kellymillerauthor.com/contact#!co...). I'll need your first and last name, and use the word "newsletter" somewhere in the subject line. Then type in "newsletter" or something similar in the comment section. You’ll receive an email containing chapter one of Deadly Fantasies within 48 hours.

You’re probably wondering why you should sign up for my newsletter if you already receive my blog. Two to three times a year, I plan on sending out my author newsletter updating fans on my publishing journey. You’ll get behind-the-scenes photos, interviews, special giveaways, and one-of-a-kind information.

Thanks again everyone for your continued support!

Have you read my first book, Dead Like Me? Today, I’m going to tackle a question that’s come up in a couple of the book clubs I’ve met with. The same issue’s also been mentioned in a few of the reviews for Dead Like Me. SPOILER ALERT: STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK.

The question has to do with the believability that Detective Kate Springer kept her traumatic past a secret from her partner Patrick Jessup. In the book, Kate gets called out to a crime scene where the murdered girl reminds her of herself at the age of thirteen. Seeing the body of the girl brought back memories that Kate had buried long ago. This pushes her deeper into crisis as she’s already trying to deal with her childhood sexual abuse in therapy. Crisis is a term psychologists use for sexual assault survivors who are in the emergency stage of the healing process. This stage happens when a survivor is beginning to deal with memories of abuse and the suppressed feelings that come with it.

The childhood trauma that Kate endured was so horrific that in order to keep doing her job, to even put one foot in front of the other, she had to lock away all of her emotions into a mental box. By exposing her true feelings to her therapist, all of the once tightly sealed emotions began seeping through the cracks of this box. Kate was doing her best to keep control of everything. But in order to do that, she had to lock away anything that reminded her of the past.

Normally, Kate had keen detective skills but since she was in crisis, any clues reminding her of her past were brushed under the rug. This is why she didn’t realize what the daisy really meant.

When Robert White left Elgin after Kate’s mother confronted him with the knowledge of the sexual abuse, Kate completely shut out any memory of him. Again that was one of her coping mechanisms. She had to block it out in order to function. So when things started showing up that reminded her of Robert, her response was to shut it out.

Then to actually see Robert in her interrogation room, it completely turned her inside out. It was like all of her nerve endings were exposed and her feelings were all at a heightened state. She started acting illogically which made her keep things from her partner. Many readers held this against Kate. They couldn’t empathize with this part of her story because they had never experienced something like this or known anyone who had. Thus they thought it was all too unbelievable.

Did you have a problem with the believability factor? Hopefully this gives you a peek into my mind and why I wrote the story in this way.

I have a double dose of good news. First, I want to share with you the cover of Deadly Fantasies, the second book in the Detective Kate Springer series. Head over to my blog to check it out. In my not so humble opinion, I think the graphic designer, Dave King, did a phenomenal job creating a wonderful work of art. It also marries well with the first book, Dead Like Me. Stand the two novels side by side and you can tell they belong in the same series.

Another bit of good news is that Deadly Fantasies is ready for presale on my publisher’s website. Reserve your paperback copy at Black Rose Writing. If you order early, the publisher will ship it to you on the debut date, December 19. You might even get it in time for Christmas. But I'm not making any promises. The paperback and e-book will be available everywhere else (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc.) two weeks after the debut date on January 2, 2014.