Laurence St John writes thrillers with scifi/fantasy elements. I write women’s fiction, but over the course of my five books, I’ve seen most every plot benefits from elements of thrillers. Take my newest book, Never Retreat. In it, a feisty single mom clashes with an ex-military, macho corporate star at a business retreat in the wild Colorado mountains, where only one can win a huge prize. But when a massive flood imperils their love and survival, they learn the meaning of true partnership.
Potentially thrilling,
right? Even if you discount the thrill of new love. I certainly thought so as I
was writing the novel. Living in Colorado, I get news every few years about
flash floods, forest fires, blizzards. And all of these have the potential to
be featured in my fiction. The only one I’ve actually lived through is blizzards,
so I depend heavily on narratives, videos, and news to fill in my gaps.
As the writer, I have to
ask myself why I’m obsessed with thrilling disasters. Two reasons occur to me.
The first was writing itself. A disaster allows me, the writer, to compress
action into a short time to keep the story moving. It encourages characters to
act their best, or worst, to reveal their personalities. The manner in which
they occur--random and uncontrolled--crises provide challenges readers can
relate to as well as experiences characters learn from. And like humans,
fictional characters learn waaaay more from struggles and failures than they do
easy successes.
What does my obsession
with disaster reveal about me, personally? That I’m a fraidy-cat. Anything and
everything scares me. Example: in the middle of the night yesterday, I woke
when the furnace turned on. A strange new noise accompanied the forced air. I
immediately thought the equipment was going to explode.
When I take road trips, I
worry not only about the car breaking down but also over the possible
appearance of a murderer. (By the way, this scene appears in my third book
along with the wildfire.) A rash on my kid’s arm is probably lyme disease. A
recently discovered error on my taxes means the IRS will charge me with fraud.
So I have a whole load of
fears. What do I do about them? I write about people who take steps to meet
their challenges and control their anxiety. I’ve learned that doing something,
almost anything, positive enables me to restrain real as well as imaginary
fears. Witness the recent “March for Our Lives.” These teens are taking a
positive action in the face of terrible possibilities and thereby freeing
themselves from paralyzing fears.
As a writer, I’ll leave
authors like Laurence to handle the really scary possibilities of evil nemesis,
superheroes, and terrorists. But I’m grateful all kinds of books exist, with
all kinds of thriller sequences.
THE BOOK: Years ago,
Ramona (‘Raye”) Soto faced harsh reality when a roving con man knocked her up.
Now at thirty-something she’s concentrating on her career in a major
telecommunications firm and funding college for her teenaged son. Enter Desmond
Emmett—a fast talker and smooth operator. New to the office, the ex-serviceman
possesses every negative quality for a guy Raye should avoid. Thrown together
at a corporate retreat in the wilderness, the reluctant duo struggles to
complete management’s extreme mental and physical tests for a huge reward. But
only one can win the prize, and Des needs the money to underwrite medical
treatments for his adored younger sister. See-sawing between attraction and
antagonism, the mismatched couple face their biggest challenge: learning the
meaning of true partnership. When a massive flash flood sweeps down the rocky
canyon and threatens their love and survival, they must put aside their
difference to rescue their colleagues—and their future as a couple.
THE AUTHOR: Bonnie McCune
has been writing since age ten, when she submitted a poem about rain rushing
down the gutter to the Saturday Evening
Post (it was immediately rejected). This interest facilitated her career in
nonprofits doing public and community relations and marketing. She’s worked for
libraries, directed a small arts organization, and managed Denver's
beautification program. Simultaneously, she’s been a free-lance writer with
publications in local, regional, and specialty publications for news and
features. Her true passion is fiction, and her pieces have won several awards. Never Retreat is her third novel and her
fifth book of fiction.
Visit her at www.BonnieMcCune.com
About her new release:
NEVER RETREAT FACT SHEET
CONTACT: Bonnie McCune,
303-377-1455, Bonnie@BonnieMcCune.com
BLURB: A feisty single mom clashes with an ex-military,
macho corporate star at a business retreat in the wild Colorado mountains,
where only one can win a huge prize. But when a massive flood imperils their
love and survival, they learn the meaning of true partnership.
Years ago, Ramona (‘Raye”)
Soto faced harsh reality when a roving con man knocked her up. Now at
thirty-something she’s concentrating on her career in a major
telecommunications firm and funding college for her teenaged son. Enter Desmond
Emmett—a fast talker and smooth operator. New to the office, the ex-serviceman
possesses every negative quality for a guy Raye should avoid. Thrown together
at a corporate retreat in the wilderness, the reluctant duo struggles to
complete management’s extreme mental and physical tests for a huge reward. But
only one can win the prize, and Des needs the money to underwrite medical
treatments for his adored younger sister.
See-sawing between attraction
and antagonism, the mismatched couple, Raye and Des, face their biggest
challenge: learning the meaning of true partnership. When a massive flash flood
sweeps down the rocky canyon and threatens their love and survival, they must
put aside their difference to rescue their colleagues—and their future as a
couple.
WRITING: This is the new fiction for you: unafraid to debate
contemporary concerns. . . pulls no punches. . .provides a fresh look at
age-old issues. This is your kind of writing if you think. . .People are
smarter than any phone. . .Feminism is just starting to come alive. . .You’ll always
take a human over the most advanced app. . . .You can laugh at yourself. . .
Women use four-letter words, including l-o-v-e.
AUTHOR BIO: Bonnie McCune has been writing since age ten, when
she submitted a poem about rain rushing down the gutter to the Saturday Evening
Post (it was immediately rejected). This interest facilitated her career in
nonprofits doing public and community relations and marketing. She’s worked for
libraries, directed a small arts organization, and managed Denver's
beautification program.
Simultaneously, she’s been a
freelance writer with publications in local, regional, and specialty
publications for news and features. Her civic involvement includes grass-roots
organizations, political campaigns, writers' and arts' groups, and children's
literacy. For years, she entered recipe contests and was a finalist once to the
Pillsbury Bake Off. A special love is live theater. Had she been nine inches
taller and thirty pounds lighter, she might have been an actress.
Her true passion is fiction,
and her pieces have won several awards. Never Retreat is her third novel and
her fifth book of fiction. For reasons unknown (an unacknowledged optimism?),
she believes one person can make a difference in this world.
Visit her at www.BonnieMcCune.com
PUBLICATION INFO: PUBLISHING MARCH 15, 2018, 978-1-77223-350-6 Kindle
ebook, 978-1-77223-351-3 Trade paperback, 240
pages. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079SY632Z http://getBook.at/NeverRetreat
or. Imajin Books, www.imajinbooks.com
Ebook and paperback.
ADVANCE PRAISE: “A breathtaking page-turner that will leave you
exhausted but wanting more!” —Corinne Joy Brown, award-winning author of Hidden
Star; “Likable, relatable characters…a real treat!” —Cindi Myers, author of The
View from Here; “Intriguing…engaging…A great vacation read for sure!” —Meg
Benjamin, author of the Brewing Love Trilogy; “A compelling story about a
hard-working single mom who faces adversity head-on, learns from her mistakes,
and perseveres.” —Kim McMahill, author of Marked in Mexico; “Few novels operate
on such different levels, moving their characters to challenge not just each
other, but their own not just each other, but their own perceptions. . .McCune
provides just the right blend of comic relief, interpersonal encounters, and
outside environment changes to make her story a powerful blend.” --Midwest Book
Review
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Thanks, Laurence, for the nice feature. I appreciate the chance to reach your readers.
ReplyDeleteWe tend to think that to be a thriller a story must involve some sort of monster, whether it be one of fairy tale proportions or one of human failings. However, as Ms. McCune notes even the sound of the furnace can provoke fear in us. However, it is this fear that moves a story along. How many times, as we are watching a television show or movie, think “if he just did not do that” then his life would be better. But then, what would be the plot of the story? What would move the storyline? The same is true of everyday life. The “thrill” need not be something to fear; it can be something which brings joy. The “thrill” is the impetus to get past it or to get to it.
ReplyDeleteI like your observation that "thrill" can certainly be something positive as well as a method to develop the plot.
DeleteI'm not so much fearful as risk averse, particularly physical risk averse. This is partly a result of living--I wasn't quite so risk averse when I was young, although never did I rush into risky situations. Reading books like Never Retreat creates for me more suspense than fear, so I suppose it's a kind of vicarious excitement I feel as I rip through the story. But I also appreciate competent characters meeting trouble head-on, and I particularly enjoyed the character development in Never Retreat. Now more than ever, we live in a world where anything can happen to anybody. I might be risk averse, but that doesn't mean risk won't find me. I always hope that if something happens to me, I'll rise to the occasion, as the characters in Never Retreat do. I hope even more that my experience of risk continues to be in reading books!
ReplyDeleteI usually confine my risk to those I encounter in novels. Some young people seem to be virtually risk-free!
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