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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

WIP Wednesday: Authors Talk Works-in-Progress

Erin O'Riordan: I have found another anthology that I really want to write a story for. It's called (tentatively) Vampyres: A History Written in Blood, to be published by KnightWatch Press. In the vein (pun intended) of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the premise is to take a well-known historical figure and speculate as to what might have happened if that person were a vampire. I don't yet know which historical figure I might like to use, but it sounds like fun!

Read the call for submissions at Blood and Coffee Cakes.


Sunny Frazier: Is it possible to profile a killer using astrology?

That's the premise of my latest Christy Bristol Astrology Mystery, a WIP. I'm attempting to do a reverse horoscope in order to narrow down a description of the person killing off the citizens of a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills. True, some of the victims are not exactly pillars of society and everyone is a suspect--including members of the sheriff's department investigating the case.

My books in the past, FOOLS RUSH IN and WHERE ANGELS FEAR have been based on cases I worked while with the Fresno Co. Sheriff's Dept undercover narcotics team. The first dealt with a meth operation, the second with a sex club (we thought it was a fruit and vegetable stand). All of my writing takes place in the Central Valley, an area of California ignored and deceptively tranquil. I take readers into the rural environment and pull back the curtain to crimes that happen as never seen in big cities.



Image: Philip Burne-Jones, 1897. Public domain

14 comments:

Reticulan said...

Working on my second novel, "Jahannan's Children (working title). It's about a werewolf, a mage and a vampire trying to untangle themselves from a spell gone wrong while trying to stop an alien invasion...

Tabitha Shay said...

Working on the final installment of my Montana Men Series titled, WILD. It's a story of a woman on the run after witnessing the first lady being assassinated, but mostly it's a romance and a tale about second chances and the discovery that loving someone doesn't mean they'll love you back.
Tabs/Jaydyn

Sheila Deeth said...

Sounds a fun anthology. Must get back to writing.

Lesley Diehl said...

This is a refreshing approach using astrology for profiling. As a psychologist, I'm tired of psycholgical profiles of killers, but tis exciting. Can't wait to read it.
Lesley

Erin O'Riordan said...

Reticulan, that sounds amazing! I love anything with a vampire and a werewolf, and aliens are pretty cool, too.

Tabitha, so good to hear from you again! That also sounds pretty amazing. No witches this time, though?

Sheila, I bet it will be. At the moment I'm contemplating Bessie Smith.

Lesley, I have a background in psychology, too. I still find astrology a bit fascinating, especially in fiction.

Pat Brown said...

I'm currently working on a historical novel set in the early 1900s. It's a sequel to another historical book, with the same characters, set in 1888 New York. My agent currently has that and was the one who suggested a sequel.

The one I'm writing at this moment starts in a horse ranch and takes the main character to pre-Hollywood days when films were brand new and no one quite knew what to do with them.

It's fun and it's got lots of horses in it, which really makes sit fun to write.

Erin O'Riordan said...

P.A., horses are always a good thing. I've written before about my dad's family coming from a ranching background in Colorado. Although we live in the Midwest now, Dad's an urban cowboy, caring for horses at Reins of Life.

Patricia Gligor's Writers Forum said...

It's interesting to read what other writers are working on.
I've completed two women's mystery/suspense novels, "Mixed Messages" and "Unfinished Business," and I'm in the early planning stages of my third novel for the series. My first two novels take place in Cincinnati, Ohio but the third will move to Charleston, South Carolina.
http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/

Erin O'Riordan said...

Ohio to South Carolina - that's quite a change of locations!

Penny said...

Working on the first installment of my Invisible People Series titled, Dying For A Christmas Gift. It is the story of a close family who when they gather for holidays the patriarch recounts the cases they solved while the owning a janitorial service for fifteen years. Unlike characters who go searching to solve mysteries, they find as service providers they hear things because they are invisible to most people. Sort of "The Help" without the racial overtones.

Holli Castillo said...

I enjoyed both of Sunny's Christy Bristol novels immensely and am looking forward to the third in the series to come out. Sunny is not only a fantastic writer but a wonderful mentor and friend. (and a pretty good psychic herself from what I hear.)

I am currently working on Chocolate City Justice Justice, the third in my own series and the followup to Gumbo Justice and Jambalaya Justice.

Holli Castillo

Erin O'Riordan said...

Penny, that sounds quite moving - I think I would really enjoy that.

New Orleans setting, Holli? Books set in New Orleans remind me of L.A. Banks. I was so sorry to hear that she passed away.

Jim Barrett said...

I'm one of Sunny's posse and I've just finished Fools Rush In - a great read. I'm finishing up Daisy Chain Killers - based on the true story of two "businessmen" who were serial killers. They set up dummie overseas corporations - hired CEO's - got insurance and then killed them. Out soon.

Jim Barrett
www.maduncanbook.com

Erin O'Riordan said...

Jim, you're a true crime writer - fascinating. A local writer I'm friends with used to do that, but she found out she wasn't cut out for it. Yours sounds very 'American Psycho.' Chilling.